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

A court meeting.

The retired emperor and the current emperor, Li Er, were arguing fiercely.

Generals like Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, Chai Shao, and Zhang Shigui, eager for military achievements, also chimed in to lend their support, and the veteran ministers of the Wude era also unleashed their full force.

"Pei Ji! You old bones like yours still want to go on a military expedition? Putting aside your disastrous defeat as the commander of the army, aren't you afraid of dying in the Western Turkic Khaganate!"

"I, an old man, will die in the Western Turks? You're really talking nonsense! I am Pei from Hedong! My sons are skilled in martial arts and are good at fighting. How can you commoners compare to me?!"

"Duke of Song, you're getting on in years. Do you really have to come out and mess around with the retired emperor? At your age, even riding in a carriage can hurt your health. I, Yuchi Jingde, would never harm you. You should stay in Chang'an, walk your birds, fish, and enjoy your retirement!"

"Hmph! I may be old, but my eyes and mind are still sharp. I'm not afraid to tell you, I, Xiao Yu, am going to the Western Turks! I will manage the army's provisions and weapons. Do you think fighting is just like you bunch of idiots, just charging forward relentlessly?"

"Who the hell are you calling a scoundrel?!"

"I'm talking about you! You're all brawn and no brains, all you can do is yell at me. If you dare to lay a hand on me today, the petition from the Duke of Song's mansion will be sent all the way to Chang'an!"

"You scoundrel! You have utterly disgraced the Xiao family!"

"Face? You idiots don't even deserve to talk about face!"

The two sides immediately started arguing, and as they began to insult each other's parents and relatives, it gradually escalated into a full-blown brawl in the Taiji Hall.

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly, while Li Tai, standing to the side, watched with considerable excitement.

He wished he could draw his flintlock pistol from his waist right then and there and fire a shot into the air to entertain these veteran officials of the Wude era and the Zhenguan era elders present.

"Hahaha! Your Majesty, these people are really panicking..."

Li Tai said with a smile.

Actually, he was quite interested in fighting the Western Turks, but the situation in Luoyang was clearly more important.

“Brilliant! Look, it’s not that your grandfather is being unreasonable. It’s your unfilial father who’s being unreasonable. He’s the emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, and he’s been using the Zhenguan era name for half the year. What kind of behavior is that?”

"How will the people of the world view my Li Tang imperial family? The emperor has run away, and they're abandoning us?"

Li Yuan stood beside Li Chengqian, seemingly enjoying the breeze.

Upon seeing this scene, Li Shimin, who was sitting on the dragon throne, could no longer remain seated.

With a wave of his hand, he hurriedly instructed Fan Qi to announce the end of the court session.

He immediately grabbed his own crown prince.

“Brilliant! Do I need to explain my own strength? I am the Supreme General of the Heavenly Strategy! I conquered most of the Tang Dynasty's territory. You said that quite a few times back then too.”

Li Chengqian was being held by one of the two men, one on each side, with one arm of each man on either side.

Upon seeing the two of them, their faces would turn red, and they would immediately start arguing.

He quickly interrupted.

"Alright! Bring all your men to my Eastern Palace. Tell the other officials to disperse."

Upon hearing this, some officials immediately wanted to leave.

Suddenly, Li Chengqian seemed to have thought of something.

"Li Jing, stay!"

Li Jing: "......"

East Palace.

At a long table, Li Chengqian sat in the main seat, with Li Jing behind him, his face full of bitterness. He felt a chill run down his spine as he was stared at by pairs of fiery and sincere eyes.

He kept his head down, not daring to meet the gaze of the retired emperor and the emperor, who seemed to want to devour him whole.

"Knock knock knock!"

Li Chengqian tapped the table, and Wang De pushed a huge plaque depicting the territory of the Western Turks towards him.

"I do not wish to hear any meaningless arguments. If any cursing or swearing is heard in my Eastern Palace, I will have him thrown out of the palace the very next second!"

Li Chengqian's gaze lingered on Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde for a long while, seemingly casually.

Seeing that no one objected, he took a deep breath.

He tapped the map of the Western Turkic Khaganate behind him.

"Alright, tell me, Father and Grandfather, if you two were to lead the army, how long would it take to conquer the Western Turks, how much are you prepared to invest, and what are your plans?"

Li Chengqian started talking about serious topics.

His gaze lingered between his father and grandfather.

Li Shimin, who was sitting to Li Chengqian's right, immediately gave Fang Xuanling a wink. Fang Xuanling had dark circles under his eyes and looked old and frail.

The latter coughed and took out the plan that he had come up with with Du Ruhui and others during his days off, working overtime late into the night.

"Ahem, Your Highness, we do not need Your Highness to mobilize troops. We will directly use the army stationed near Chang'an. A total of 30,000 cavalry and 50,000 soldiers will be mobilized. Your Highness will provide food, weapons and supplies, as well as medicine."

"We will launch our attack from the Longyou Road, heading north from Shanzhou, directly into the territory of the Western Turks. Taking advantage of the Western Turks' vulnerability, we will use our iron cavalry as the spearhead, advancing at top speed towards the Western Turkic capital..."

Li Shimin smiled and nodded with satisfaction.

He met the gaze of his father, Emperor Li Yuan, who sat opposite him, making no attempt to hide the smugness and confidence in his eyes.

"Hmph! Thirty thousand iron cavalry, fifty thousand soldiers, and such a well-equipped army. Even if you tied a pig to the commander's position, you could easily take down the Western Turks!" Li Yuan scoffed disdainfully.

Li Shimin's old face immediately fell, and he tapped the table.

“Father is ignorant of military affairs. Although the main force of the Western Turks has gone to the west to conquer, they are still Turks! If the local tribes realize this, they can easily gather an army of 100,000.”

"I need 80,000 men; that's the safest way!"

Seeing that Li Yuan still looked disdainful, Li Shimin immediately snorted coldly.

"Does Father think he can do better than me?"

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian couldn't help but look curiously at his grandfather, waiting for him to speak.

Unexpectedly, instead of refuting Li Shimin, the latter turned to look at him with a smile.

"However you command me to fight, I will fight!"

Li Chengqian: "???"

Li Shimin: "!!!"

"Father! We are discussing matters of great importance to the nation and its people! This is not child's play!" Li Shimin was so angry that he almost slammed his fist on the table.

However, Li Yuan just sneered.

A sarcastic, half-yin, half-yang expression.

"I'm nothing but a decrepit old man who was overthrown from the throne. I'm stuck with an emperor who likes to visit brothels in his son's territory. You, the emperor, can just conjure up an army of 80,000 with a flick of your wrist. I don't have that kind of ability..."

He ignored his son Li Shimin, whose old face was flushed red, whether from shame or anger, it was hard to tell.

Li Yuan turned his head and looked at Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who was seated in the main seat, with a smile on his face.

"I have not really fought any major wars, but that does not mean I am ignorant. Although I am not as proficient in battle formations and military strategy as the Duke of England, I have been an emperor and know that wars are always waged for profit."

Li Yuan was smiling, but Li Shimin, sitting opposite him, felt a sudden jolt of fear after noticing a subtle change in his son Li Chengqian's expression.

"Brilliant! I can't fight as well as your father, but... I'll obey!"

As Li Yuan finished speaking, his voice carried a hint of pride.

He tilted his head back.

"If you want me to launch a northern expedition to fight the Western Turks, I will fight however you want, wherever you want me to go, I will go, and wherever you want me to develop land reclamation, I will lead my soldiers to dig it up on the spot!"

"How many slaves do you want? I'll get you as many as you need!"

In short!

"When I'm on campaign, I'm not some retired emperor, nor am I your imperial grandfather. I am your General Who Conquers the North!"

Li Yuan's old face wore a smug expression that made Li Shimin's expression stiffen.

"I keep my word and will never put on airs like an emperor emeritus. I just don't know if your father, our Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty... can present himself as the Crown Prince's General Who Conquers the North in front of everyone?"

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

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui had already silently drawn a period to the end of their overtime work in their hearts.

His eyes, which had been somewhat lifeless, began to wander off into a daze.

With the retired emperor having said this much, their current emperor was completely no longer involved in personally leading the expedition.

This made Fang Xuanling and his companion breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, Chai Shao, Duan Zhixuan and others standing to the side were getting anxious.

Cheng Yaojin retorted angrily, "Your Majesty, you are cheating! A general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders! This is an age-old principle!"

However, the next second, Pei Ji, who was sitting next to Li Yuan, gave a cold smile.

His aged face was full of disdain.

“We can accept this imperial decree! We are all old bones, and we don’t have much time left to live. All we want is to have some achievements in the Northern Expedition and territorial expansion before we die, so that we can face our ancestors in the afterlife.”

"We are fighting for His Highness the Crown Prince's cause in the Northern Expedition, and everything we have conquered belongs to His Highness the Crown Prince. If you, Cheng Yaojin, are not satisfied, you are welcome to propose better terms than us!"

Yuchi Jingde stiffened his neck and said, "Me too, our Emperor can too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Gui, who had been silent until now, spoke up quietly: "Even if we win the battle, all the spoils of war, territory, and slaves shall be handed over to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Chai Shao set up a table, ignoring Li Shimin's already somewhat embarrassed face.

"His Highness the Crown Prince is the heir apparent, His Majesty's son! We can give these things to the Crown Prince as well!"

"Our Emperor Emeritus was willing to bear the infamy and coerce the local Turkic people to build cities and roads for our Great Tang! Even if it meant killing hundreds of thousands of people, he had no complaints!"

"Our Emperor can too!"

"The retired emperor can appear in history books as the Crown Prince and the General Who Conquers the North!"

"We..." Zhang Shigui angrily stood up to accept the order, but was pulled back by Du Ruhui, who was quick-witted and agile.

"What the hell are you talking about? His Majesty's affairs are not something you can decide!!"

Du Ruhui was speechless. These military generals had all been blinded by the easy victory of conquering a country.

The Emperor Emeritus's posture today clearly shows that he is determined to obtain this qualification.

They would even be willing to call the Crown Prince "Grandpa".

Do you bunch of scoundrels really intend for His Majesty to address the Crown Prince as "Father Emperor"?

Li Shimin's face was somewhat gloomy. He gritted his teeth and looked at Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who was in the main seat.

"The situation in the Western Turkic Khaganate is complex, with its forces constantly shifting and regrouping. A single misstep could lead to them being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy. Given the Emperor Emeritus's abilities, he might not be able to escape then..."

Li Yuan sneered: "I will obey!"

Li Shimin: "...War is not child's play. Even the Retired Emperor doesn't understand that his troops are commanded by generals..."

Li Yuan crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, saying, "I am very obedient!"

Li Shimin clenched his fists: "The Tiele tribe and the Xueyantuo are both worthy of being won over. If I were to take action, I could control the Western Turks in a shorter time..."

Li Yuan stood up abruptly and, under the watchful eyes of everyone, bowed respectfully to Li Chengqian.

"This humble general, Li Yuan, greets Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

Li Shimin: "???"