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

In fact, the southern part of the Tang Dynasty was not the only place suitable for mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing.

Today, Gaochang is also a place suitable for planting mulberry trees and developing the sericulture industry.

It's a pity that cotton is also something that Li Chengqian values ​​highly now. Although wool textiles have good warmth retention, cotton textiles are still the best choice for keeping warm in winter.

Now, Li Chengqian has General Li Yuan, the Grand General Who Conquers the North, under his command. If his future emperor father does a good job and satisfies him, he might even reward him with another Grand General Who Conquers the East.

The Tang Dynasty had a strong and well-equipped army, and all he needed to do was to be the one who steadily managed the situation.

This ensured that all sectors of the Tang Dynasty remained stable and even thrived during the war.

That's enough...

“Grandfather, if you don’t want my father to quit and flee Chang’an after the Lantern Festival, you’d better keep him in check during this period. Otherwise… if the Northern Expedition is imminent and you are ousted as commander-in-chief, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Wude Hall.

The roaring boiler filled the empty side hall pool in Li Yuan's palace with steaming heat.

Despite the biting cold wind outside.

Inside the hall, an old man and a young man were soaking in the bath, looking quite relaxed and happy.

At Li Chengqian's request, Li Yuan has abstained from sexual activity these days.

Every day, he would spend time with Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin, and others planning the route for the Northern Expedition and studying the intelligence sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard regarding the Western Turks and Gaochang.

Under the supervision of Li Tai, Li Ke, and several other imperial grandsons, they underwent restorative training to improve their martial arts skills.

While soaking in the bath, every pore on my body was radiating a feeling of pure bliss.

Hearing Li Chengqian's words.

Li Yuan, who was almost drifting off to sleep, suddenly opened his eyes.

"What?! That unfilial son dares to have such audacity?!"

Li Chengqian remained silent, swirling the wine glass in his hand, and gently shook his head.

"Grandfather, no matter what, he is still the emperor. Even if he did this, what can you do besides scold him? Order the Northern Expeditionary Army to disobey him?"

Li Yuan: "......."

"hiss......"

I didn't think much of it at first.

Now, after Li Chengqian's reminder, I realized that almost all the generals in the Northern Expeditionary Army had connections with Li Shimin, such as Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, Qu Tutong, and other great generals.

Furthermore, he felt somewhat guilty towards Emperor Li Shimin for "betraying" him.

If Li Shimin had indeed captured Chang'an and obtained the tiger tally before him...

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded slightly: "Grandpa Emperor, we would never dare to let our guard down!"

"Haven't you seen how your grandson has been racking his brains these past few days to help Father Emperor deal with the current predicament of the court? Isn't it because he's worried that Father Emperor will quit and leave me, the Crown Prince, tied to Chang'an?"

During the prosperous Zhenguan era, the emperor's motivational buff was incredibly powerful.

Despite physical exhaustion, sitting in that position every day caused back and waist pain.

However, with the Crown Prince deliberately having the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Wang De report on the progress frequently, Li Shimin was like an old farmer who could see the ripening process of crops.

Every day, the work piled up on the table.

But in the end, I was able to finish it almost every day.

"Erlang, are you busy?"

Li Yuan walked into Ganlu Hall with a smile, looked at Li Shimin who was busy at the moment, and then glanced at Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Gao Shilian and Ma Zhou who were also reviewing documents beside him.

Seeing Li Shimin look up with a puzzled expression, he took the initiative to step aside, revealing Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and Wang Gui, who looked helpless and bitter behind him.

"I've heard you have a lot going on here, so I was thinking of sending Xuanzhen and the others to help you with some of the work..."

Li Shimin's eyes lit up with joy.

Seeing Pei Ji and the other old ministers, they were like soldiers who had been cooped up in the military camp for a year and a half, suddenly seeing the top courtesan in a brothel.

He suddenly stood up, not noticing the pained looks in Pei Ji and the others' eyes when they looked at Li Yuan, as if they were separated from their spouses. He grabbed the other person and hurriedly called out to Fan Qi.

"Fan Qi! Quickly, arrange seats for Prime Minister Pei and the others, and serve them ginseng tea and refreshments!"

"Your Majesty~" Wang Gui couldn't help but call out as he watched Li Yuan turn to leave.

The voice sounded like that of a daughter sold into prostitution, desperately trying to awaken her father's conscience.

Li Yuan coughed twice, avoiding eye contact with the other person.

"The Crown Prince still wants to spar with me today, so I won't keep you here any longer... Xuanzhen, Shujie, the three of you should diligently assist the Emperor."

The eunuchs and palace maids in Ganlu Palace are now quite efficient.

While Pei Ji and the other two were still struggling to shake off their grief, tables, chairs, tea sets, writing brushes, ink, paper, and documents were being prepared, along with some that had been taken from the pile of documents belonging to Fang Xuanling and the others.

It was placed right in front of them.

Fang Xuanling, with a gloating expression, picked up the ginseng tea in front of him, a move that seemed designed to kill someone's spirit.

"Hehe, Prime Minister Pei, the ginseng tea in Ganlu Palace uses only royal ingredients, which would be worth a fortune outside. But now, thanks to His Majesty's benevolence, we can drink as much as we want..."

Wei Zheng stroked his beard and said, "Now I don't need to spend my own salary to see a doctor and get medicine. The cabinet provides special stipends for imperial physicians."

Du Ruhui coughed twice, and immediately a palace maid came forward to massage his shoulders.

Even Ma Zhou, who was the youngest among those present, coughed twice and spoke softly.

"Your Majesty has sent palace maids to take care of my wife, who has only been married for less than a month... Prime Minister Pei, we can now focus on our efforts for a prosperous and peaceful era!"

Upon hearing the phrase "the prosperous Zhenguan era" again, Li Shimin, who had just sat down, couldn't help but spread a smile across his face.

Noticing the gazes directed at Pei Ji and the others, he immediately smiled and waved his hand.

He looked very magnanimous, yet somewhat ashamed.

"These are all minor matters. As long as you all take care of your health and contribute to the prosperous Zhenguan era, let alone everyday matters such as food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and medical care, it is truly a case of the court being short of funds, with all of my private treasury being used to make up for the deficit."

"Otherwise, what if I were to give my officials a thousand taels of gold every month?!"

Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and Wang Gui: "..."

A thousand pieces of gold?

Could this gold be a paper ingot?

.......

"Kill! Kill all those who dare to resist!"

Harsha's Dynasty.

This corresponds to northwestern India in later times.

However, at this moment, chaos reigns in a city in the border region of the Harsha Empire nestled among these mountains.

Three thousand elite Tibetan cavalrymen, equipped with weapons and armor sponsored by the Tang Dynasty.

From the start of the attack to the successful entry into the city, less than an hour had passed.

The three thousand men moved with almost no resistance and easily dealt with the large army that was guarding the area.

Looking at the so-called city before him, Songtsen Gampo's eyes gleamed with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.

He picked up the map provided by the Tang Dynasty and compared it with the geomantic map of the Harsha Dynasty that he had bought at a high price from Nepal.

“That’s right… this is indeed Rashimo City, the northern border city of the Harsha Dynasty…”

Songtsen Gampo looked up again, his expression beyond description.

Looking at the so-called city wall in front of me, a city that is only about three meters high, it is hard to imagine that such a city is a border city of a country.

As a neighbor of the Tang Dynasty, Songtsen Gampo naturally had seen the cities of the Tang Dynasty with his own eyes.

Not to mention Shanzhou, but Liangzhou, a major prefecture or city.

Even the ordinary county towns in Longyou Prefecture are far superior to this dilapidated place before us...

"Zanpu, he is the garrison commander of this city!"

A man with sallow skin and a wretched appearance was dragged over by two burly Tibetan men.

The latter was still excitedly chattering away.

His expression was full of fear and pleading.

Beside him, a Tibetan official who knew the language of the Harsha Dynasty, who accompanied Songtsen Gampo, quickly translated.

"The king mistook us for the army of the Niva Kingdom, saying that our current actions would incur the wrath of King Harsha. However, he said that if we were willing to spare his life, he could pretend that nothing had happened today..."

In the end, even the Tibetan translator's expression became strange and bewildered.

Songtsen Gampo looked as if he had seen a ghost, frowning: "Are you sure that's what he meant?!"

Upon hearing this, the Tibetan translator hurriedly began speaking rapidly in the local language of the Harsha Kingdom to the captives before him.

Then, everyone saw the sleazy, monkey-like general from the Kingdom of Harsha and nodded repeatedly.

It seems to be for the purpose of explaining something.

He also covered his eyes with one hand and waved his other hand repeatedly.

He was chattering away, and his manner clearly indicated that he was thinking, "I can pretend I didn't see it."

Songtsen Gampo: "..."

Inside the city, elite Tibetan soldiers drove the people of the Harsha Kingdom, who offered little resistance and huddled together in simple fear, out of the city.

Along with that, cartloads of grain, cattle and sheep, and a large amount of wealth were also looted.

A few days ago, Lu Dongzan, who was returning from a mission to Taiyuan Prefecture, brought back several books called "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," which were said to have been written by the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Lu Dongzan told him the story inside.

Honestly, he feels like Sima Yi before the Empty City Stratagem.

On the Tibetan Plateau, where people were so poor they could barely keep their pants up, and their neighbor was the ruthless Tang Dynasty, they were like prisoners, sometimes starving and sometimes full.

To be treated so well so suddenly...

Even he couldn't help but suspect that there might be a trap involved.

however.

While he was still hesitating, unsure whether to continue plundering the Harsha Dynasty or to play it safe and send someone to scout ahead,

The captured general in front of them started speaking in gibberish to the Tibetan translator.

The translator was stunned upon hearing this.

Faced with the questioning gazes around him, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and look at his own king.

“The king, he said that if we don’t kill him, he can take us to the next city. He knows the shortcuts there, and he also said that the lord of the next city is even richer.”

Songtsen Gampo, and the Tibetan people: "???"