Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

emperor?

work to earn a living?

Even Li Chengqian, a person who traveled from the future, would find it difficult to connect these two words.

Not to mention the ancient figures like Consort Yang, Consort Yin, and Consort Wei in the pavilion at this moment, and even Li Zhi, who was tied up and lying on the bench, was gasping for breath and struggling to lift his head.

He looked at his mother in disbelief.

I almost doubted my own ears.

Making Father Emperor work for Brother Emperor?!

A scene involuntarily appeared in Li Zhi's mind.

"Little Li, go and fetch me some fruit candy..."

"Whoo!"

"Little Li, go and finish today's homework for this prince..."

"Whoo!"

"Little Li..."

"Hehehe..." A series of eerie low laughs came from Li Zhi's mouth, which brought the group of people who were still in a daze back to their senses.

Li Chengqian looked at his younger brother with a strange expression. Seeing the other's smug and smug face, he immediately realized what the other was fantasizing about.

Beside her, Empress Zhangsun slightly furrowed her brows.

Without realizing it, he found himself gripping the board again.

"Snapped!"

This move is like a gazelle hanging by its horns, or a shepherd wielding a whip.

With a crisp, loud sound that made the wooden board tremble, Li Zhi's smiling face, which had been beaming just a moment ago, was replaced by fear and pain the next.

"Eek~"

Watching his younger brother, who could only cry out in pain under Li Shimin's whipping, but wriggle like a maggot after Empress Zhangsun struck him with a board.

He writhed and struggled in agony on the bench.

Li Chengqian's temples twitched involuntarily a few times.

Looking at Empress Zhangsun again, I saw that she was still sitting there with an elegant posture, gently placing the wooden board in her hand on the table next to her, as if she were putting down a small trinket to play with in her spare time.

He had a peaceful smile on his face.

They started talking about Emperor Li Shimin again.

"Your father's recent antics were ultimately due to him having too much free time."

"Moreover, the way and model of handling government affairs in the Tang Dynasty, starting from Chang'an, is gradually converging with that of Bingzhou. If your father can adapt to the way government affairs are handled in Bingzhou, he can return to Chang'an in the future."

"It won't draw criticism from the officials, and you, Gaoming, can relax a bit more..."

"Your mother knows you are ambitious and determined to succeed once you start something, but many things cannot be rushed. I believe you understand the principle that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish."

"Let your father handle those political affairs, so you can have some free time to spend with Yingying and the others, enjoying the scenery..."

aside.

Consort Yang and the others were so shocked by Empress Zhangsun's idea that they didn't know what to say.

Indeed, in this world, even a virtuous and extraordinary woman like the Empress is inevitably prone to showing favoritism towards her sons, the Crown Prince and the Ninth Prince.

Looking at Ninth Prince Li Zhi, who was still panting heavily and lying face down on the bench, no longer daring to misbehave, one could see...

Now look at His Highness the Crown Prince before us.

One of them is so mischievous that it's a real headache.

She's so sensible that it breaks your heart.

Li Chengqian pondered.

The more he pondered his mother's suggestion, the more feasible it seemed.

He wasn't worried about Li Shimin seizing power, since everyone in Bingzhou was his man. Even Wang Ming and Wang Qingyun, the father and son from the Wang family of Taiyuan, were staunch supporters of the Crown Prince.

What he was pondering at that moment was... how much salary should he pay his father, the emperor?

......

The next day, noon.

"What?! Work for him?! I'm working for him?! Guanyinbi, are you kidding me?!"

Li Shimin stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Today, the Crown Prince is handling state affairs, so he doesn't need to be in such a hurry. He went to the Shougong Hall early in the morning.

I slept straight until I woke up naturally.

However, upon waking up, he was met with this devastating news from his own empress.

Empress Zhangsun skillfully knitted a scarf.

"Your Majesty may not wish to go, but I would suggest that Your Majesty return to Chang'an as soon as possible. After all, you know how much the Emperor Emeritus dotes on his grandson Chengqian."

“If you haven’t returned by the time the next batch of salt payments is sent back to Chang’an, His Majesty’s private treasury might be emptied again.”

Li Shimin was immediately enraged.

"My father, the Emperor, is also working against me alongside Chengqian!"

Empress Zhangsun did not respond, but slowly stopped what she was doing and handed a stack of documents to Li Shimin, who was still wearing his pajamas.

"The choice is in Your Majesty's hands. I am now staying in Taiyuan and do not want to leave. Last night, Chengqian said that if I am interested, I can go to the Imperial University to attend classes in my spare time. I heard that there are foreign instructors there who teach some exotic painting and sculpture techniques."

"Your Majesty and Sister Yang are both very interested..."

Li Shimin gritted his teeth and opened a document in his hand.

Li Shimin, Secretary-General of the Secretariat of Yangcheng Palace in Bingzhou, Tang Dynasty.

An identity document with a style reminiscent of the new policies of Bingzhou Road, even featuring a portrait of Li Shimin that appears to have been engraved or printed on it.

They do look about 70 or 80 percent similar.

Li Shimin casually tossed the document aside and then looked at the other two documents.

One is an employment contract, and the other is a description of job requirements and salary.

"15 strings of cash per month?!"

Li Shimin exclaimed in surprise, his tone strangely indescribable.

She seemed somewhat tempted, yet also appeared to be putting on a brave face.

"That unfilial son took my private funds, and now he wants to use my money and make me work for him? This is outrageous!"

"The proper etiquette between ruler and subject! The hierarchy between father and son! Did all those books he read end up in the dog's belly?!"

Empress Zhangsun pretended not to hear and continued knitting the scarf.

“If Your Majesty does not wish to go, then I will help you refuse. However, the salaries of officials in Bingzhou are higher than those in other provinces, but even the highest-ranking Bingzhou governor, Wang Ming, only earns eight thousand strings of cash a month.”

"His Majesty earns 150,000 strings of cash per month, which adds up to 1.8 million strings per year. If bonuses are included, reaching 2 million strings per year is easily achievable..."

Empress Zhangsun paused slightly, then looked up with a smile at her husband, the emperor, whose expression was somewhat blank at the moment.

"Your Majesty is here wholeheartedly helping and assisting Chengqian. Even if the Emperor Emeritus is dissatisfied with you leaving him in Chang'an, he can't very well touch your private treasury, can he?"

"The annual salt revenue is at least five million strings of cash, so His Majesty could have seven million strings of cash a year..."

"Your Majesty, seven million strings of cash!"

"How much tax does the Tang Dynasty pay in a year? You can collect so much in a year. If the imperial treasury is short of silver, Your Majesty can just let some slip through your fingers."

"Aren't those the kinds of things that can make all the officials bow down and shout 'Long live the Emperor!'"

Li Shimin: ".......Gulp"

He wanted to argue back and question whether his son could come up with that much money, but he had witnessed how wealthy the various industries in Bingzhou were.

Li Shimin was incredibly greedy in his various commercial taxes.

But no matter how you look at it, you can't bring yourself to question it.

He looked at the employment contract in his hand, knowing that if he signed it, his son, the Crown Prince, would not be polite to his father and would surely make him work himself to death if anything happened.

but.....

It's because he gave so much!

Li Shimin's lips trembled slightly, and his hand, somewhat uncontrollably, picked up the brush beside him. He then, again somewhat uncontrollably, used his proud flying white calligraphy style to sign his name as the Emperor Zhenguan of the Great Tang Dynasty.

Shougong Hall.

Near the end of the shift.

Wang Yuyan and the other female staff members of the secretariat were preparing for tomorrow's work arrangements.

Suddenly, the Crown Prince's figure entered the side hall, and behind him was another familiar figure.

Your Majesty, Your Majesty? !

Wang Yuyan and the others hurriedly stood up and bowed.

Li Shimin's expression at this moment was indescribably strange. His eyes were like those of a crown prince in court in Chang'an, looking up at the wooden structure of the side hall's dome.

Sometimes she crosses her arms in front of her chest, and sometimes she swings them behind her back.

He stood one step behind the Crown Prince.

Li Chengqian barely suppressed the urge to burst out laughing, coughed twice, and pretended to be serious.

"Yu Yan, Shun'er, come here for a moment. I'd like to introduce you to your new colleague, who will also be your boss..."

He had barely said two sentences when Li Chengqian hurriedly took a deep breath, trying his best to recall some unhappy things.

Wang Yuyan, Wu Shun, and other female secretaries: "..."

Everyone stared blankly, their expressions clearly embarrassed, not daring to look at their Emperor. Suddenly, they seemed to realize something.

Everyone gaped in astonishment.

Li Chengqian: "Ahem, you all know this person, so I won't introduce him further. From now on, he will be my secretary-general, which means he will be your direct superior..."

The secretariat ladies-in-waiting waited until the two had left to find out exactly what His Highness the Crown Prince had said.

They had long since forgotten everything, lost in a daze.

Wang Yuyan subtly pinched herself with two fingers.

hiss!

It hurts a lot, it's not a dream!

So everything that just happened was real!?

The emperor became the crown prince's deputy?

What has become of the Tang Dynasty? Why are the books we read since childhood and the things our elders taught us becoming increasingly useless?

"Sister Yuyan, what should we do? Are we really going to work directly with His Majesty from now on?"

There was a little girl who looked scared.

As someone working in Yangcheng Palace, I dare not discuss how absurd His Majesty was a few days ago, even injuring the Duke of Yi, who was fighting for the country.

But deep down they all knew something about it.

Wang Yuyan felt her head was in a mess, and she was also frowning, thinking about how to deal with it.

Wang De's figure then walked in from the side.

He came to stand before her.

"Eunuch Wang..."

Wang Yuyan and Wu Shun, despite being practically destined to marry the Crown Prince, dared not be presumptuous at this moment.

Wang De smiled and returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

"Secretary Wang, Secretary Wu, His Highness the Crown Prince has decreed that you should complete the handover of your work with Secretary Li as quickly as possible in the coming days... His Highness has other arrangements for you, Miss Qian, and General Hou."

Upon hearing this, all the female secretaries present were stirred.

Looking at Wang Yuyan and Wu Shun, his eyes were full of envy.

It's quite obvious that His Highness is about to prepare for his engagement and wedding.

The next day.

Inside a side hall of the Shougong Hall.

Li Shimin lowered his head and was reviewing a document.

On the other side, Wang Yuyan and Wu Shun, who were sitting in their seats, exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and encouraged each other with their eyes.

Then he got up.

Under the watchful eyes of the female officials, they approached Li Shimin's desk.

"Your Majesty... Secretary Li..."

Li Shimin raised his imposing eyes without showing any anger.

Wu Shun instantly hid behind Wang Yuyan.

o(╥﹏╥)o.

No, it's still too scary...