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

"Speak if you have something to report; otherwise, court is dismissed."

After half a year, standing once again beside the dragon throne in the Taiji Hall, amidst such grandeur, Fan Qi was filled with mixed emotions.

The Taiji Hall remains the same Taiji Hall.

The officials were still the same officials.

However, the resentful gazes of the officials made Fan Qi feel a sense of unease, as if she were sitting on pins and needles.

Nothing's wrong?

How could nothing have happened!

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a glance, but before they could speak...

Behind him, Li Jing, the Minister of Revenue, stepped forward first, looking distressed.

"Your subject, Li Jing, has a memorial to present!"

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the heartache of having 100,000 strings of cash swindled from him by his own crown prince that morning, Li Shimin, sitting on the dragon throne, nodded.

Li Jing spoke in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, our dynasty is now gradually implementing the new policies of Bingzhou as Your Majesty has instructed. The results in Chang'an and the surrounding counties are already evident, with a surge in the number of merchants in Chang'an and Luoyang. As a result, many local officials in our dynasty are unable to properly handle some of the measures related to commercial reform."

"In particular, there is a shortage of officials and vacant positions in areas such as commercial tax collection, financial accounting, and supervision of collusion between local officials and merchants. Many departments have requested the appointment of more officials..."

Without a second thought, Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "If we need people, we'll recruit them! Is the world short of people who want to be officials?"

“Uh…” Li Jing was speechless.

She glanced cautiously toward the Crown Prince, who was resting with his eyes closed to the side.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue currently has no surplus funds. Should we resume the imperial examinations to recruit officials..."

Li Shimin's eyes widened: "No money? There are so many new merchants in Chang'an, haven't they already started collecting commercial taxes? How can there be no money?!"

Fang Xuanling coughed twice, stepped forward, and bowed.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue truly has no surplus funds. In fact, not only does it lack surplus funds, the court still owes Bingzhou Circuit a substantial debt..."

"What?! I owe him money?!"

Li Shimin straightened his back. He had just been extorted out of 100,000 strings of cash by the Crown Prince that morning, and his head was still throbbing. Now, as soon as he went to court, he heard such bad news again.

He couldn't help but turn his head to look in Li Chengqian's direction, but he saw that Li Chengqian, who had just opened his eyes, also looked completely bewildered.

Pei Ji whispered a reminder from the side.

"Your Highness, the books, paper, writing brushes, inkstones, chalk, and other supplies that are currently used to operate the government offices and schools in Chang'an, the surrounding counties, and even throughout Guanzhong are all temporarily allocated by Bingzhou Circuit."

"There should be about 300,000 strings of cash in IOUs from the imperial court in Bingzhou..."

Li Chengqian: "......"

His gaze was deep and unsettling, a half-smile playing on his lips as he looked at his father, the emperor, who sat on the dragon throne.

Li Chengqian found the world today utterly ridiculous.

"I never thought I would overlook something. But never mind, this 300,000 guan was for the sake of the cultural development of our Great Tang Dynasty, so that the children of the people could afford to study. I'll just let it go."

Immediately, Zheng Jiang of the Xingyang Zheng family, Pei Ji of the Hedong Pei family, as well as Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xiao Yu and other court officials, all bowed and made a solemn announcement.

"His Highness the Crown Prince is benevolent!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand, then smiled as he looked at his father, the emperor, whose face was gradually turning somewhat ugly.

"Let's forget about the current debt of over 300,000 guan, but it's not good to keep relying on Bingzhou Road to cover it in the future. After all, not only Bingzhou Road, but also Zhenbei Road, Longyou Road, and the Tuyuhun concession, I need to vigorously develop education, and Bingzhou Road can also be useful in terms of expenditure."

Immediately, all the officials nodded in unison, and everyone's eyes turned to Emperor Li Shimin, who was now in a rather awkward position.

"Ahem, Your Majesty, if it's only half a month at most, the new batch of salt funds will be transported back to Chang'an, so perhaps..." Li Jing coughed twice, feeling that being the Minister of Revenue was simply an agonizingly long-term job.

If the officials didn't want to be the first to speak out and didn't mention the matter, how could he, as the Minister of Revenue, choose to remain silent?

Li Shimin's eyes widened.

Just as he was about to object, he suddenly thought that Bingzhou Road was able to develop so much because it had as many industries as his own crown prince and invested a lot in them.

"I will consider it..."

He had originally hoped that this salt payment would help replenish his empty private treasury.

It seems that my personal treasury will be in a state of disreputable disarray for a long time to come, a situation that even rats would shake their heads at.

Li Er felt a deep sorrow in his heart.

On the surface, however, they still had to brace themselves and deal with the backlog of matters that the court had accumulated.

A morning assembly lasted from dawn until noon, and after lunch, it would continue.

However, Li Chengqian was completely absent from the afternoon court assembly.

For nothing else.

His two younger brothers, Li Ke and Li Tai, finally returned to Chang'an.

"Hahaha! Royal brother! Royal brother!"

At the gates of Chang'an, Li Chengqian smiled as he watched his younger brothers, Li Ke and Li Tai, dismount from their carriage and rush toward him.

Faced with the two men's seemingly coordinated punches coming from the left and right.

His feet were moving in opposite directions, one in front of the other, his steps meandering and turning backwards.

In the blink of an eye, before either of them could react, two hands grabbed their collars, one on each side.

With a forceful upward lift.

With a powerful twist of his waist and abdomen, he instantly pulled the two of them into his arms, one on each side, his arms wrapped around their necks, laughing and scolding them.

"Well, it's only been less than a year, and you already have the nerve to challenge me?!"

"Hey, hey, hey? Royal brother, I was wrong, I was wrong. It was all Third Brother's idea. Royal brother, you know me. I'm your most obedient younger brother..." Li Tai betrayed his teammates at lightning speed.

Li Ke's eyes widened in surprise. Just as he was about to say something, Li Chengqian suddenly tightened his arms, grabbing both of them from either side and leading them toward a nearby carriage.

"Hahaha! You can't escape either of you. You like practicing, huh? Very well, let's go back to the palace! Let me see if you two have slacked off in your martial arts while you're down!"

The harmonious relationship among the brothers drew smiles from the officials from the Ministry of Rites who had come with them.

The Crown Prince has not yet come of age, yet he already possesses such power and ability.

From now on, as long as the Crown Prince does not encounter any accidents, none of these princes will dare to rebel, nor will any of them be able to rebel.

The Tang Dynasty was about to enter a golden age; it was only a matter of time.

"Brother, brother, wait a moment. Once the whale bones are pieced together, we can enter the city together."

Li Ke called out.

Only then did Li Chengqian notice that at the rear of the grand convoy, more than a dozen carriages were unloading goods, and then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the craftsmen quickly opened the boxes and took out huge pieces of bone.

Even if someone told you that those bones, which were longer and taller than a human, were fish bones, no one would believe it, let alone if there were no clue.

This was also the first time Li Chengqian had ever seen the skeleton of this enormous creature.

In front of the gate of Chang'an City.

As the whale skeleton was pieced together, it was slowly transported through the city gates on a huge wooden platform, pulled by several horse-drawn carriages, immediately causing an uproar among the onlookers.

"Good heavens! What is this? Is it bone?!"

"How could that be a bone? If it's so big, wouldn't it be a dragon bone?"

Why does it look like a fish to me?

"Where in the world can you find a fish that big?"

The crowd was abuzz with discussion, and the military officers patrolling the streets of Chang'an also rushed over. Upon seeing the enormous skeleton of a monster that seemed to have crawled into the city from the city gate, everyone's expression changed.

"Quickly! Go and inform the general!"

Li Chengqian and his brothers stood on the fishbone platform. Li Tai, that show-off, once again drew his short-handled flintlock pistol from his waist and pointed it at the head of the fishbone.

Surprisingly, he even brought several artists with him.

He was currently on one of several carriages, sketching the other person's portrait through the carriage window.

Li Chengqian and Li Ke both chuckled to themselves.

"If you have time to go to Dengzhou, Fourth Brother, Third Brother will take you out to sea and personally hunt one with that crossbow. You can often see those things at sea further out."

Li Ke spoke with his hands on his hips, and now, as a prince with "blood of the previous dynasty," he spoke with increasing confidence.

Li Chengqian nodded.

"Indeed, whaling is a good business. As long as the number is controlled and the fish are not overfished, Dengzhou can have another pillar industry that makes money."

Receiving praise from his elder brother, the Emperor, made Li Ke even more excited.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she moved closer to Li Chengqian.

"Brother, before I returned this time, I received a letter from the Queen of Silla."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow.

My mind drifted to certain unofficial historical accounts of the love affair between the Silla queen and my father.

A playful smile crept onto his lips as he looked at his younger brother.

"What? Could it be that the Queen wants to become the Princess of Han? If you like it, Third Brother, I'll help you arrange it. It's just a small country; even if the Queen wanted to become the Princess of Han, it would only be a stretch..."

However, before he could finish speaking, and before the "Third Brother's Singles Plan" was even in his head, Li Ke coughed.

Suddenly, he took out a sealed letter from his pocket and handed it to Li Chengqian.

"Brother, you're overthinking it... The Queen of Silla seems to be more interested in you."

Li Chengqian: "???"

Although he was very rational, he was not Li Zhi.

Li Chengqian had absolutely no interest in Old Li's woman, let alone the fact that she was a foreign woman.

"Ahem, Your Majesty, I sent an envoy to Silla to discuss the construction of Busan Port in the concession. At first, Silla made various excuses, but now... the remnants of the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families have recently suggested to Yeon Tae-jo that they go to Silla to plunder people and conscript them into the army."

"Life in Silla seems to be going badly."

Li Ke was clearly still a boy, but the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile that any man would understand.

"Brother, the Queen of Silla has a younger sister, and it is said that both of them are exceptionally beautiful, truly the epitome of beauty..."

Li Chengqian: "......"

Well, historically, it was Li Yuanchang who presented the emperor with male prostitutes to satisfy his desires.

Now you, Li Ke, have presented me with a pair of Silla royal sisters?

Li Chengqian pursed his lips and didn't even bother to answer the letter.

"I don't want women! I only want Busan!"