Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

Therefore, An Sishun was hesitant and even guessing about Li Mao's purpose in doing so.

One hundred thousand young and strong fine warhorses may not be enough to train one hundred thousand cavalrymen, but they can still produce sixty or seventy thousand.

Such a large cavalry force was enough to establish a separate regime.

"Your Highness, please allow me some time to consider this."

"His Majesty will probably not agree to such a large number of cavalry."

"Moreover, this involves a wide range of issues. I wonder if Your Highness Prince Shou is confident in resolving it?"

Li Mao smiled indifferently and said, "These are not problems."

"If you want to expand the size of the cavalry, you just need to bribe the Ministry of War and the regional military governors."

"However, Lord An is now the military governor, and Hexi is a frontier region, far from the emperor's reach. When the number of cavalry expands, who will be able to detect it?"

An Sishun became increasingly alarmed as he listened.

I'm afraid His Highness Prince Shou wants more than just 100,000 cavalry.

They should be vying for the entire world.

"Your Highness Prince Shou, I am a rough man and do not know how to be tactful. If I agree to your conditions, what benefits can you offer me?"

An Sishun has now risen to the position of Jiedushi (military governor) of Hexi.

If you want to rise higher, you need to enter the imperial court.

The imperial court is governed by complex rules and regulations, and various factions are deeply entrenched in their own power structures.

Why not become a local tyrant in the Hexi region, where you can control everything?

If we agree to Li Mao's conditions, it's not worth the risk unless we can be granted land and be made kings.

Li Mao understood the implied meaning in An Sishun's words.

He didn't beat around the bush, but said directly, "Lord An simply wants a title to ensure the well-being of his descendants."

"As long as Lord An is willing to lend me a hand, I will certainly not let Lord An down in the future,"

An Sishun hesitated again.

At the same time, he weighed the power behind each prince, as well as the power behind Prince Shou and his own abilities.

In retrospect, Prince Shou was wealthy and had once enjoyed the favor of Emperor Xuanzong (Li Longji).

After Consort Zhiwu's death, she was at the height of her power; otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to help the regional military governors launder gold.

In the long run...

This is indeed a good opportunity for cooperation and mutual benefit.

Even in the end, Prince Shou failed to win the position of Crown Prince.

He could also obtain warhorses and financial support from Prince Shou.

No matter how you look at it, it's a win-win situation. If Prince Shou eventually rises to a high position, it will be an extremely worthwhile deal for him.

Li Mao was not in a hurry, but patiently waited for An Sishun's answer.

I believe that as long as he's not stupid, he'll definitely be able to figure out the pros and cons.

An Sishun slowly stood up, bowed to Li Mao, and said with his hands clasped, "If Your Highness Prince Shou can truly be consistent in word and deed, I am willing to lend Your Highness a helping hand."

Li Mao smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "Very well, I am willing to believe Lord An."

The two have essentially completed the initial stages of their collaboration.

Later, An Sishun brought up the matter of breeding warhorses again.

Li Mao waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, Lord An, I'll take care of this small matter."

"In the past ten days, the issuance of the Red Iron Token has caused a great upheaval in Chang'an."

"Everyone wants to lose, so the best horses are hidden. Ten days later, Lord An, please send your warhorses to the horse farm. This will make it easier for me to send them to Hexi."

After hearing this, An Sishun burst into laughter.

"Your Highness Prince Shou is so generous. Aren't you afraid that after I take Your Highness's warhorse, I might turn against you in battle?"

Li Mao smiled indifferently and said, "Since you are willing to trust Lord An, you are naturally not afraid."

“Very well, since His Highness Prince Shou is so sincere, I can’t refuse any longer.” An Sishun said with a hearty laugh.

He was clearly very satisfied with today's negotiations.

Little did he know that he had already fallen into Li Mao's open conspiracy.

Li Mao was willing to risk his life to clear his name.

Moreover, even if An Sishun really did trick him into giving away his warhorse, it would still be a great achievement.

After all, without his own involvement, he couldn't take away a single warhorse, and even if he did, he would have to obediently return them, because every warhorse was recorded in the Ministry of War's register.

In a racetrack, it's a racehorse; outside the racetrack, it becomes a warhorse.

Meanwhile, the regional military governors held considerable military power, leaving Li Longji with virtually no legitimate reason to weaken their strength.

If he dares to embezzle it.

Wouldn't that give Li Longji a reason to send troops to quell the rebellion?

After chatting for a few minutes, An Sishun happily went to bet on horse races.

Li Mao secretly sent the message to all the princes.

"Tonight, we are holding a banquet for the Prince of Shou, and we cordially invite all the princes to attend."

After the message was sent out, all the princes were overjoyed.

"His Highness Prince Shou is so generous. He has helped us so much and even invited us to dinner."

"Now that we've won money, how can we let our eighteenth brother pay for everything himself? I'll cover all the drinks tonight."

"Would your eighteenth brother be short of your money? You think you can make him owe you a favor by offering him drinks? That's wishful thinking."

"That's right, that's right, Brother Eighteen would never be so stingy."

"The chefs in the imperial kitchen originally came from the banquets for the Prince of Shou, so they are in for a treat tonight."

"If it weren't for that old bastard Zhang Jiuling's impeachment, we could eat like this every day."

"Now, the only place to find such delicious food is in the new city where the Shouwang Banquet headquarters is located."

Everyone thought that Li Mao was trying to appease these princes who loved horse racing.

It can not only help him create a buzz, but also help him increase his popularity.

This attracted wealthy merchants from all over the world to gamble on horse races.

Here, you can not only make connections, but also take the opportunity to make money.

Wealthy merchants from all over the country were enjoying this immensely.

In the eyes of these idle princes, Li Mao had this purpose.

Little did they know that their food had already been laced with the same poison as Li Longji's.

They've already gotten in touch with An Sishun, the military governor of Hexi. It won't be long before they meet An Lushan.

When the time comes for secret planning and detailed discussions, the prospect of launching an uprising will not be far off.

When Li Mao thought of this, he sighed inwardly.

That old man, he doesn't do anything else worthwhile, he just has a lot of kids.

He was so many that he wouldn't even feel bad about killing one or two.

As the eighteenth prince, aside from the crown prince and his brothers who died young.

Above him are many princes with impeccable lineage and powerful backgrounds, who could compete with him for the throne.

At that time, the world will be in chaos, and the civil and military officials of the court and the regional military governors will inevitably take sides.

Therefore, a longer-term plan is needed to successfully seize the throne.

"Alas, it was only to protect Yu Huan back then. Now the situation has changed, and if I were to kill that cheap father of mine, none of the princes would let me go."

"Not only will they see me as a gold mine, but they will also try every means to kill me."

"It's too late to retreat now. We have no choice but to use every means possible to kill these brothers before they can react..."