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

Li Shimin was numb.

Even at the grand court assembly the next day, he still hadn't recovered from the mental anguish of being caught in the middle by his father and son.

Listening to the officials below reporting one impressive achievement after another.

On the first day of the second year of Zhenguan, announcing the remarkable achievements of the first year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin only felt that the following second year of Zhenguan might not be the end of his Zhenguan reign.

Both the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition required coordination from the imperial court.

Although the main part of the matter was under the jurisdiction of the Crown Prince of Bingzhou, it would be pure nonsense to say that the affairs of the imperial court were less important.

The Crown Prince had proposed importing a large amount of grain from Linyi long ago.

The imperial court had already imported a batch last year, and this year, according to the Crown Prince's request, the scale of imports should be increased by at least ten times... ten times, haha, I never lacked food or drink when you were a child, so why are you so afraid of being hungry?

Li Shimin rested one hand on his head, listening languidly to the reports from the officials below.

They responded with either "hmm" or "okay".

In his mind, however, he had already begun to furiously complain.

Fang Xuanling stepped forward with his hands clasped: "Your Majesty, in the first year of Zhenguan, due to the implementation of the new policies, landlords or powerful families in various places who were hoping to get away with it often acted against the grain and committed evil deeds in their localities. These landlords were mainly organized into clans and gathered people to resist local law enforcement."

"Your Majesty, I humbly request permission to establish more local military commanders, who, after training and assessment, will be transferred to local areas to maintain order and stability in the country!"

Li Shimin nodded, but inwardly he sneered.

"Well! This old man, now he's dumped the problems of revising the Tang Code, revising the Wuhou system, and the Wuhou's salary, and the national treasury being insufficient, onto me again."

Changsun Wuji stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, the three waterways west of Yanmen County in Bingzhou have been completed, and some of the rivers can be diverted to Hedong Road. However, the matter of building irrigation canals in the downstream area of ​​Hedong Road, which I reported earlier, has not yet been resolved. I impeach the agricultural and construction officials of Hedong Road!"

"There is a suspicion of laziness and inaction in governance, and resistance to new policies!"

Li Shimin nodded again, a headache already creeping in.

They do want to repair the Hedong Road!

Having just experienced a rebellion by powerful clans, and despite efforts to control the extent of the unrest, the situation in Hedong Province is still quite difficult.

Most of the officials were beheaded or fled to Goguryeo with the Five Clans and Seven Families.

The national treasury is now facing a tight budget...

Impeach the officials in charge of water affairs and construction? Are you, Changsun Wuji, impeaching nothing?

"Yes, I understand. I will order people to urge the construction to begin as soon as possible!"

Minister of Revenue Li Jing stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the court currently has...

"Alright, I will first allocate 10 strings of cash from the imperial treasury to the Ministry of Revenue. You should also urge all regions to pay this year's taxes as soon as possible..." Li Shimin was a little sleepy.

He glanced listlessly at his own crown prince, whose closed-eye resting posture made him clench his fists even tighter!

We're short of money! We're short of money! We're short of money!

You, the crown prince who's rolling in money, have the nerve to tell me you have no money when faced with this mess I've left?!

This is what it means to be broke!

"Your Majesty, the Silla delegation is outside and requests an audience with you."

Zheng Jiang, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, stepped forward to report. Upon hearing this, Li Shimin casually waved his hand.

Soon, members of the Silla delegation, dressed in brightly colored clothing, entered one after another.

"Your humble servant, Kim Seung-man, pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang! May Your Majesty enjoy boundless peace!"

With a slightly strange accent, like the Tang Dynasty Mandarin with its fluctuating intonation, Li Chengqian, who was resting with his eyes closed, slightly opened his eyes.

Upon seeing the woman kneeling before him in the main hall, and the group of envoys behind her, he...

The origin of the name was immediately clear.

The second queen in Silla's history...

Beside him, Prince Li Ke of Han leaned close to Li Chengqian and whispered something.

"Your Majesty, the person I mentioned the other day is this Kim Seung-man, and her older sister is Kim Deok-man. King Kim Baek-jeong of Silla passed away recently, and the one currently on the throne is Kim Baek-jeong's daughter, Kim Deok-man..."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

However, it was clearly noticed that after Li Shimin ordered them to rise, Kim Seung-man glanced in his direction the instant she stood up, and her gaze was clearly fixed on him.

His elbow was gently nudged by his younger brother, Prince Wei, Li Tai.

obviously.

Unlike Li Chengqian, who was used to closing his eyes to rest during grand court assemblies, the Prince of Wei, who enjoyed watching the excitement and the verbal battles among the officials, also noticed this.

Seeing the gloating look on the other person's face, as if they were waiting to see a good show.

Li Chengqian's lips curled into a smile.

"Qingque, what do you think if I suggested to Father Emperor that you remain in Chang'an to oversee the country while he goes on an eastern expedition against Goguryeo..."

Li Tai's eyes widened in horror: "!!!"

He grabbed his elder brother, glanced around nervously, and then begged for mercy as he moved closer.

"Brother, I was wrong! Please don't hold it against me. Regent duties, which shorten one's lifespan, should be left to our father. Look at how energetic and vigorous he is..."

"If Father Emperor has any intention of launching an eastern expedition later, you will handle it."

Sitting on the throne, Li Shimin watched the Crown Prince and the Prince of Wei whispering among themselves below the stage, seemingly plotting something.

The veins on his forehead throbbed involuntarily.

Back when he was in Taiyuan, he always felt that this rebellious son was targeting him at every turn.

Now that he's back in Chang'an, the feeling of having to work while others slack off makes him feel incredibly uncomfortable all over...

"Ahem, what brings the Silla envoy to our Great Tang?"

All eyes turned to Jin Shengman at this moment. Although she was just a woman, the maturity she displayed made many officials look at her with new eyes.

"Your Majesty, Goguryeo is currently embroiled in civil war, and Yeon Tae-jo has persuaded the King of Baekje to ally with him. Silla is now caught in a pincer movement, its borders are falling one after another, its people are suffering from the ravages of war, and large numbers of people have been forcibly taken away to serve as laborers..."

Kim Seung-man's voice was pitiful, and she was also an extremely beautiful woman.

The moment he opened his mouth, he garnered ample moral support.

"I, your humble servant, have come to the Great Tang Dynasty on the orders of the Queen of Silla to request military assistance to save my people from this calamity!"

thump!

As soon as he finished speaking, Kim Seung-man and the Silla envoys behind him knelt down on the ground again, stammering.

Send troops?

This word was like a shot of adrenaline, instantly striking the heart of the listless Li Shimin.

This caused him to instantly straighten up, his previously languid sitting posture, which he had maintained despite the presence of foreign envoys.

then.

Seemingly realizing that his reaction was a bit too extreme, he quickly glanced in the direction of his own crown prince and then cleared his throat.

"Send troops? Has Silla's situation deteriorated to this extent?"

"Although my Great Tang Dynasty has a strong and powerful army, sending troops abroad is no small matter..."

Upon hearing this, Kim Seung-man seemed to sense a hint of interest in Li Shimin's words, and was overjoyed.

On the surface, tears were streaming down her face.

"Your Majesty, now Yeon Taejo and the King of Goguryeo are fighting fiercely. Many people in Goguryeo can no longer stay there. Some have fled by boat, while others have simply hidden in the deep mountains... Since Yeon Taejo cannot capture any soldiers, he has begun to plot against our Silla Kingdom."

"I don't know how they allied with the King of Baekje, yet they launched a simultaneous attack on my Silla Kingdom... When the foreign envoy departed from Silla, the country had already lost dozens of miles of territory, and tens of thousands of people had been abducted..."

"Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, my uncle, the new King of Silla, often taught us the etiquette of the Celestial Empire when we were young, saying that the Celestial Empire cannot tolerate the bullying of small countries like ours by villains."

"Your Majesty, our Silla Kingdom has always paid tribute and offered congratulations to the Central Plains every year. Although we are separated by thousands of miles and a vast ocean, the people of Silla firmly believe that the Heavenly Army of the Celestial Empire will surely descend and save them from their suffering..."

Li Shimin immediately put on a look of "my heart is deeply aching".

however.

Such an over-the-top acting not only failed to fool Li Chengqian, who had already seen through Bi Deng's plan, but also made the entire group of Tang Dynasty civil and military officials in the hall instantly understand.

Li Chengqian slowly closed his eyes, completely ignoring the gaze directed at him by his father, the Emperor.

King Li Tai of Wei took a deep breath.

He thought of what his elder brother had just said about letting him stay in Chang'an to oversee the country.

He then felt a chill run down his spine, and knew his lifespan was coming to an end...

"Father! I believe this trip is inappropriate!"

Lee Tae stepped forward, cupped his hands, and loudly interrupted Kim Seung-man, who was still lamenting the suffering of the people of Silla.

Li Shimin, who was still gathering his emotions and preparing to appeal to reason and emotion, suddenly froze on his old face.

"Qingque, you..."

"Father! Our Great Tang is about to go to war with the Western Turks. If the Gaochang Kingdom overestimates its strength, we will even include it in our count. A great war is already imminent, so how can we start another conflict?!"

After saying that, Li Tai's gaze shifted again.

Although Kim Seung-man was crying her eyes out at that moment, she looked quite pitiful.

However, in Li Tai's eyes, this behavior made him seem like a wicked monster who wanted to kill him, a beautiful but monstrous woman, a heinous demon who wanted to kill him in the position of regent!

They should be strapped with explosives and sent flying!

"You small kingdom of Silla claim to be the suzerain state of our Great Tang, so why didn't you send any envoys to congratulate my father, Emperor Kaiyuan, last year?"

"If you're going to say that the journey is long and involves several countries, causing delays, that's one thing. But why hasn't an envoy from any country arrived for a whole year?!"

"Ms. Bai is nothing but a person who lacks genuine virtue in serving God and respecting Him!"

"Why did your king pass away and a new king ascend the throne without informing our Great Tang, your suzerain state? When you came here, did you bring the seal of your state and the seal of your ruler, the seal of the former king, or a seal you created privately and bestowed upon him?!"

At this moment, Li Tai was like a Maxim machine gun directly in front of Kim Deok-sun.

Once they stepped forward, every sentence they uttered struck at the opponent's vitals.

Even Li Chengqian, who was resting with his eyes closed, couldn't help but open them, looking at his younger brother who was going all out with admiration.

"I will set all these matters aside for the time being..."

Li Tai took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Your delegation has come to my Great Tang Dynasty and immediately asks for military assistance. This is utterly disrespectful!"

"Have you not heard that the King of Goguryeo was originally appointed by our Great Tang Dynasty as the ruler of Goguryeo? Our Great Tang Dynasty even provided him with military equipment and supplies to eliminate treacherous officials. When he fought against Yeon Taejo, how could it not be that he was saving Silla? How could it not be that our Great Tang Dynasty was saving Silla?!"

"Does this mean that my Great Tang Dynasty must travel thousands of miles across the vast ocean to send troops to land in your Silla Kingdom?"

"Oh, right..."

Li Tai spread his hands, a cold sneer on his face.

“My elder brother, the Crown Prince of the Great Tang, has repeatedly stated that he wants to lease a port on the coast of your Silla Kingdom. Haven’t you been delaying this time and time again? To this day, you still haven’t given the Great Tang a reasonable explanation.”

"Now look what's happened! Ha! When things couldn't hold on any longer, they finally remembered my Great Tang, their suzerain state?!"

"I have never seen such a shameless person!"

"Clap clap clap..."

Among the officials, someone couldn't help but clap their hands at that moment.

After realizing the situation was inappropriate, he quickly stopped.

Jin Desheng only regretted that he had to learn the Central Plains Mandarin so well.

How can one understand what the other person is saying so clearly?

When Li Tai suddenly appeared and questioned him several times, he was instantly speechless.

however.

At this moment, Li Tai noticed the approving look in his elder brother's eyes and said...

This king can still unleash his power!