Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

"Xuanling, why did you come back so late today? How did Chengqian deal with Qingque and Fuji?"

Li Shimin frowned, his eyes full of anxiety. He paced back and forth in the hall, every step filled with anxiety and uneasiness.

Fang Xuanling had just stepped into the palace, followed by Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Yaojin, and Li Ji. They all had solemn expressions, dark faces, and did not say a word, like dark clouds before a storm.

Seeing this situation, Li Shimin became more anxious, and the bad premonition in his heart continued to rise like a surging tide, almost drowning him.

"What's wrong with you? Are you all mute? Speak to me?"

Li Shimin raised his voice a few notches, with a hint of majesty in his rebuke.

Fang Xuanling slowly raised his head and glanced at Li Shimin quietly, his eyes full of complexity.

"Your Majesty, the King of Wei and Lord Zhangsun are both fine. The Crown Prince has pardoned them, but has only confined them to their homes and fined them their salaries."

After hearing Fang Xuanling's words, Li Shimin's tense nerves finally relaxed a little and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I wish there were no fratricide!"

However, his frown did not completely relax, and doubts in his heart gradually arose again.

"Since Qingque and Auxiliary Engine are fine, why do you all have such gloomy faces?"

Li Shimin frowned and swept his eyes across everyone's faces one by one.

Hearing this, Fang Xuanling sighed helplessly, and that sigh seemed to carry endless worries.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince killed many officials from aristocratic families today and also sent people to thoroughly investigate every official in the court. Only those who found no problems could leave the Taiji Palace. Currently, nearly half of the officials are still in the Taiji Palace, and most of them are from aristocratic families."

Having said that, Fang Xuanling paused and his eyes became more serious.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must be planning to take action against the aristocratic families."

After hearing Fang Xuanling's explanation, Li Shimin finally understood why these people came in with gloomy faces.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he felt a mixture of emotions. Attacking aristocratic families—what a heavy and sensitive topic.

Throughout the dynasties, which emperor did not want to take action against these aristocratic families? Did they not dare? Of course not.

The real reason is that it is not possible!

Children of aristocratic families have books in their hands, which are a treasure trove of knowledge. In this era of limited cultural heritage, books mean wisdom and power.

If the imperial court wants to govern the world, the first thing it has to do is rely on the children of aristocratic families for help.

Killing may be easy, but once you kill indiscriminately, the consequences will be disastrous.

When the court is empty due to killing, the government will inevitably be neglected, and the aristocratic families will watch coldly from the sidelines. The overthrow of the dynasty is like the collapse of a building, which is only a matter of a moment.

This was just one reason. The emperor's decrees were often only effective in limited areas like Chang'an City, making them difficult to implement at the local level. Local governments were controlled by various small aristocratic families, who were responsible for disseminating the court's decrees to the people.

In this era, governing the country requires the assistance of the aristocratic families, disaster relief requires their resources, the selection of officials cannot avoid their recommendations, and paying taxes also requires their cooperation.

If the relationship between imperial power and the aristocratic families wasn't properly handled, the downfall of a great dynasty would be imminent. Even the always wise and powerful Li Shimin began to suffer a headache at the thought. He pressed his hands against his temples, trying to ease the pain.

"What's the situation now? How many people have been killed?"

Li Shimin asked with a frown, a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Today, anyone who participated in the rebellion was killed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. They were immediately taken out of the Taiji Hall and beheaded at Caishikou. These people came from all the major families."

Fang Xuanling spoke slowly, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

"As for the rest...I don't know either."

He shook his head helplessly, his face full of worry.

Li Shimin seemed to have been drained of all his strength. He collapsed in his seat, his eyes full of despair, and sighed helplessly.

"It's me. I didn't teach Cheng Qian well. I didn't tell him how to be a good emperor."

His voice was a little hoarse and full of self-blame.

"It seems that the Tang Dynasty will follow the same fate as the Sui Dynasty and perish in the second generation. The feud between my Li family and the aristocratic families now seems to be irreconcilable."

A hint of determination flashed in his eyes, "Tomorrow you will follow me to the palace. Even if the Li Tang Dynasty is to perish, it must not be at the hands of Cheng Qian, who will bear the same eternal infamy as Emperor Yang of Sui.

Let me, Li Shimin, bear the guilt of this subjugation of our nation!"

Li Shimin's eyes flashed with brilliance, just like when he was the general of Tiance.

Even at this moment of life and death, he still has his own sense of responsibility, which is the responsibility of a king.

"Your Majesty!" Fang Xuanling and others could no longer bear it.

He knelt on the ground with a plop, tears in his eyes, which showed his admiration for Li Shimin and his worry about the fate of the Tang Dynasty.

At the time of Si, the ministers who were going to court rushed to the gate of the palace one by one.

Unlike yesterday, there are many new faces in today's team of officials.

They were dressed in official uniforms of various ranks, brand new and neat. The only thing these young officials had in common was their youth and vigor.

Their faces are as energetic as the rising sun, and their eyes sparkle with anticipation for the future.

Compared with the old ministers in the court who have experienced many vicissitudes of life, they are like a fresh spring breeze blowing into this ancient and dull officialdom.

Even Fang Xuanling, an old man, felt younger when he sat in the carriage and looked at the young officials outside.

The vibrant atmosphere seemed to have a kind of magic that made him temporarily forget the gloom in the court.

Li Shimin was also sitting in the carriage and saw the young officials outside through the gap in the curtain.

He seemed to be thinking about something, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Xuanling, the situation seems to be different from what I expected?"

Originally, Li Shimin thought that since Cheng Qian had killed so many officials last night, there should only be a few old ministers outside the palace gate today. The scene was dead and bleak, like the fallen leaves in late autumn.

But I didn't expect that the outside was such a lively and vibrant scene.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I don't know where His Royal Highness the Crown Prince found so many young people to serve as officials, and I don't know what their abilities are."

Fang Xuanling looked at these new faces with interest, his eyes full of curiosity.

Li Shimin originally wanted to say that these people were probably conscripted by Li Chengqian.

But when he thought of his son, he was afraid that he would be slapped in the face again as soon as he said this, so he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and just watched silently.

"Forget it. Xuanling, I won't show up today. I'd rather go to your house. It's a good opportunity for you to go to court and see the abilities of these young people."

There was a hint of anger in Li Shimin's tone.

"I guess I can't compare to my ministers."

Listening to Li Shimin's words, Fang Xuanling knew that His Majesty was angry with the Crown Prince again. He smiled slightly and didn't say much, just nodded.

Inside the Taiji Hall, today's court seemed much more relaxed than yesterday's.

This is mainly because of the new rule Li Chengqian made yesterday - to go to work at 9:00 PM.

Sishi, or nine o'clock in the morning, was undoubtedly a great benefit for these officials. Gone were the days of having to set out at three in the morning and waiting anxiously at the palace gate.

Nine o'clock in the morning, this more humane court time, made the officials feel relieved and made the atmosphere in the entire court less depressing.

Li Chengqian was dressed in red and walked into the hall with a nimble figure. His steps were a little casual, but with a unique confidence.

He slowly sat on the dragon throne with a calm expression.

In front of the Prime Minister, the head of all officials, stood Mr. Qi, who was equally casual.

Mr. Qi looked exhausted. He had been exhausted the previous night. He had barely slept the entire night, busy arranging various official posts and arranging those vacant positions.

Because Li Chengqian had not yet officially ascended the throne, he did not wear the dragon robe. He was even too lazy to wear the prince's clothes, thinking it was too cumbersome.

He just casually wore a red casual dress when he came to court. The red dress looked particularly dazzling, like a flame.

"My dear ministers, I have something to announce today."

Li Chengqian's voice echoed in the hall, clear and loud.

"Everyone, there is no need to be confused. You are all the pillars of our Tang Dynasty. The officials who are not here today will not come again in the future. The faces you see now are here to replace them."

His words caused a flurry of whispers in the court, but because 50% of them were young officials promoted by Li Chengqian, these young people's eyes were full of excitement and expectation, so it did not cause any big disturbance.

"From today onwards, for the next three years, the format of court sessions will be changed. I don't need you to refute me. What you need to do is very simple. I will give you orders, and you will carry them out. Of course, if you have any good suggestions, you can submit them to me."

Li Chengqian's eyes became sharp as he glanced at the ministers below.

The audience fell silent, no one spoke out to refute him. Even Wei Zheng, who was always outspoken and courageous in his criticism, remained silent. He stood there quietly, deep in thought.

Seeing this situation, naturally no one else would jump out.

"I will wait for your instructions."

The young officials took the lead in receiving the orders, their voices were in unison, loud and full of vigor.

Although those old ministers were somewhat reluctant in their hearts, after all, they were accustomed to the previous court model, but they still had to abide by the new rules on the surface. They bowed slightly to show that they accepted the order.