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

"Your Majesty! Prince Han and Prince Wei have returned!"

Fan Qi rushed into the Taiji Hall to report.

This prompted Li Shimin, who was already overwhelmed by the political situation where everyone was talking about "lack of money," to give a rebuke.

"They're back, so what? Do I have to personally go and welcome them?"

Li Shimin glared at Fan Qi with annoyance, but to his surprise, Fan Qi looked troubled and hesitated for a while.

"Your Majesty...why don't you go out and take a look? His Highness the Prince of Han has hunted a sea monster off the coast of Dengzhou! It's currently heading towards the palace from Zhuque Avenue...the sea monster is just a skeleton, but it's already tens of meters tall!"

"what?!"

Sea monster! This is the understanding of whales among the people of the Tang Dynasty and other countries around the world, who currently have limited knowledge and development of the ocean.

Even in the Tang Dynasty, the largest living creature was still the elephant, while larger creatures were legendary creatures associated with mythology and fantasy.

Hearing that his son had hunted down a sea monster.

Regardless of whether he was short of money or not, Li Shimin was instantly interested.

And at the same time.

Having just dealt Li Er a decisive blow yesterday, leaving him like a "stray dog," the retired Emperor Li Yuan is now planning his next move to punish this unfilial son.

Suddenly, a frightening report came: the King of Han had hunted down a giant sea monster and was now passing through Zhuque Avenue.

At first, he didn't think much of it, assuming it was just a large fish. But when he heard that the skeleton was thirty or forty meters long, he immediately became unsettled.

The imperial palace, atop the city walls.

When Li Yuan arrived, he happened to see Li Shimin, the rebellious son who had been resented by him for half a year, who had arrived earlier.

He snorted coldly, not going up to deal with the other party at this moment.

He picked up the long telescope handed to him by the eunuch and immediately looked towards the direction of Zhuque Street.

then.

"Damn it! That's really a bone?!"

Li Yuan was startled. Under the magnification of the telescope, even the whale skeleton, which was still some distance away, was now crystal clear in his eyes.

The oppressive feeling emanating from the other side, being slowly pulled towards the palace from the platform by several enormous carriages, gradually intensified as the scene zoomed in.

Li Shimin also looked shocked.

Instinctively, his mind began to compare legendary figures from the Classic of Mountains and Seas with the approaching whale that was causing a stir in Chang'an.

"Such a terrifying creature exists at sea? With a size like that, it could easily capsize a large ship..."

Li Shimin's eyes were filled with solemnity.

"If we were to collide with a swarm of these sea monsters, wouldn't we inevitably perish at sea?"

The convoy was not moving fast, and both sides of Zhuque Avenue had already been blocked and cordoned off by a large contingent of military officers who had come after hearing the news.

Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde stood on a platform.

Looking at the whale skeleton, which was difficult to fix with nails and other things, their expressions were more interesting than the last.

Yuchi Jingde: "Good heavens, this is huge! Could it swallow a hundred people in one bite?"

Cheng Yaojin: "......"

Cheng Yaojin, who was always seen as a crude and vulgar warrior by outsiders, was now filled with worry.

For no other reason than that his two most outstanding sons, Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chubi, are currently receiving naval training and study in Dengzhou...

In the future, they will inevitably go out to sea on ships, and they have even begun to train for navigation now.

If you encounter such a sea monster at sea...

Cheng Yaojin couldn't help but feel conflicted.

The whale skeleton arrived at the palace gates. Fortunately, the gates were large enough that they opened, allowing the convoy to pass through and enter the palace.

"Your son pays respects to Your Majesty, and to Your Majesty the Emperor..."

After leaping off the platform made of a whale skeleton, Li Ke and Li Tai bowed to Li Shimin and Li Yuan, who were descending from the palace wall.

Li Shimin nodded, but his eyes remained fixed on the whale skeleton, which looked even more terrifying up close.

Swallowing hard, he pointed at the other person and looked at Prince Li Ke of Han with a horrified expression.

"Ke'er, what kind of sea monster is this? Did you encounter it at sea?"

Li Ke smiled and bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

"Your Majesty, this is not a sea monster. According to my elder brother, it is a huge creature in the sea called a whale. The skeleton you saw is that of an adult whale. There is also a smaller one, but it is too far away to bring it here."

Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian, who was standing in front of a row of carriages, watching the guards carry wooden boxes down one by one, and quickly walked up to him.

"Your Highness, are there many of these sea monsters... uh, whales, in the sea?"

Li Shimin's face was filled with worry. At this moment, he didn't care how his crown prince knew these things. He hurriedly asked with a solemn expression.

Li Chengqian nodded: "Many! And whales aren't just one species; there are even larger ones in the frigid polar regions..."

Li Chengqian thought of sperm whales; those things are really big.

Seeing that his father clearly wanted to say something, Li Chengqian smiled faintly.

"Father, rest assured, they are just bigger than you. They are still beasts. As long as it's not a large-scale head-on conflict, with the explosive crossbows and ballistae on our Tang Dynasty treasure ships, these big guys will be nothing more than fish on a chopping board."

In my previous life, whaling had continued for far too many years, causing a crisis in marine resources and whale populations.

Therefore, whales have become protected animals, but nowadays... humans need to be protected even more.

Li Chengqian pointed to the boxes of unloaded goods, opened a wooden box, and inside were salted sea fish in earthenware jars, similar to the glass jars of Bingzhou Road today.

"Father, the land of the Eastern Turks is now firmly under the control of our Great Tang. Millions of cattle and sheep are either free-range or penned. The people of Bingzhou can have a meat dish with a piece of meat every two or three days."

"As long as our Great Tang continues to develop the sea, I dare say that the people of the Great Tang will be able to eat meat every day!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Li Ke of Han hurriedly nodded in agreement.

“Father, you don’t know, the meat of this whale alone weighs a full fifty tons, or one hundred thousand catties! When I captured it with the navy, I dragged it back to the port and had to gather all the butchers in Dengzhou to barely dismember it within a day.”

"The entire population of Dengzhou received dozens of kilograms of meat, and many people couldn't eat it all, so they made it into dried meat..."

"Nowadays, it's not unusual for people in Dengzhou to eat meat."

As Li Ke spoke, a hint of pride appeared on his face.

It took my elder brother, the Emperor, two years to make meat affordable for all the people of Bingzhou.

However, thanks to Dengzhou's coastal location, he managed to ensure that the local people had enough to eat and wear within just one year.

Li Shimin: "......"

100,000 jin of meat...

The image of a mountain of flesh immediately appeared in his mind. In times of chaos, if one had 100,000 jin of flesh, one could easily raise an army.

Thinking about how the imperial court's treasury is now empty due to the implementation of some new policies, one can see that the court's treasury is now depleted.

And then there's his own salt business, which is practically no longer his own.

Li Shimin couldn't help but cough twice.

"Ke'er, how is the finances in Dengzhou these days?"

Li Ke was taken aback, not understanding why his father, the emperor, had suddenly become concerned about this.

"Public finance? Public finance is great! We have money but nowhere to spend it!"

Li Shimin: "???"

Li Tai subtly tugged at Li Ke from behind, signaling him to be careful and not to be targeted by the old Bi Deng in front of him.

however.

Who would have thought that Li Shimin, who was already desperate for money, would act even faster than him.

Before Li Ke could receive any hints, Li Shimin grabbed his shoulder and half-dragged, half-pulled him towards the Taiji Hall.

"Hahaha! I haven't seen you for a year, Ke'er, come and tell me properly about what happened on the high seas..."

Li Shimin laughed loudly, and while speaking, he also winked at Fan Qi who was standing next to him.

"Quickly summon Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Li Jing!"

"Brother, Father is eyeing the money in Dengzhou!" Li Tai exclaimed anxiously, and hurriedly found Li Chengqian, who was still playing with a set of whale bone artifacts.

However, Li Chengqian simply smiled faintly.

"Don't worry, your third brother knows what he's doing. The money in Dengzhou was borrowed from the national debt and was specifically used to build ports and ships. He knows what's important."

Li Tai was still somewhat worried. As a legitimate son himself, he knew even better just how terrifying his father could be when he became shameless.

He wanted to say something more, but was pulled aside by the suddenly approaching Emperor Emeritus Li Yuan.

"Hehe, Chengqian..."

Li Yuan's smile was rather strange, bearing a striking resemblance to Li Shimin, who seemed to have something to ask of others.

Li Chengqian asked with a puzzled look, "Grandpa, is something the matter?"

Li Yuan coughed twice, glanced around, and pulled Chengqian aside.

"Chengqian, are you satisfied with the grand gift your grandfather sent you?"

Li Chengqian thought of Li Shimin's secret stash of money and Wang Xuance, the SSR character, and nodded.

"Grandson hasn't thanked His Majesty yet..."

"Hey, hey, hey? What are you thanking me for? You are my most outstanding grandson. That money is more useful to you than to your father's treasury. For the country, I am doing this for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. For myself, what is a little something for my own grandson?"

"And not a single official in the entire court uttered a word of dissent?"

With so much groundwork laid right from the start, Li Chengqian couldn't help but wonder what his retired emperor's true purpose was.

Li Yuan glanced around again, and seeing that no one was around, he spoke in a low voice.

"Ahem, Chengqian, it has been quite a few years since I last left the palace..."

Li Chengqian suddenly realized, and a relaxed smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Simple! Your son will provide you with a detachment of the Crown Prince's Six Guards cavalry, and another detachment of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for your covert protection. You can go out and play whenever you wish..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Yuan stopped him.

"No, no, Chengqian, you've misunderstood me..."

Li Chengqian was puzzled, but then he heard Li Yuan cough twice.

"Chengqian, do you want the Western Turks or not? Just say the word, and I will personally lead the army to conquer them for you!"

Li Chengqian: "???"