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

We entered Bingzhou Road and were on our way to Taiyuan Prefecture.

The Northern Expeditionary Army is still marching, but it has now split into several routes.

The western expeditionary army split into two routes. One route entered Bingzhou Road and headed north from there, where it joined the newly formed Bingzhou army before heading to Gaochang Kingdom. It was led by the retired Emperor Li Yuan.

The other route split up and headed towards Longyou Road, passing through Lingzhou, Liangzhou and other places, through Chishui City and Qinghai City in the Tuyuhun concession area, and entered the Western Regions to reach the west of Gaochang Kingdom.

If Gaochang Kingdom were to shirk its responsibilities, Li Jing, the deputy commander who had received Li Chengqian's explicit instruction, would thoroughly teach the Gaochang Kingdom's leadership how to remain silent and unresponsive.

As for the third route, it was led by Chai Shao as the commander-in-chief, with Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde serving as generals. They marched north to Zhenbei Road, taking control of the area north of Zhenbei Road and stopping the Uyghur and Turkic tribes on the other side of Lake Baikal.

Such a large-scale military march posed a significant challenge to the logistics of the Tang Dynasty.

However, this applies to figures such as the retired Emperor Li Yuan, as well as Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin, and others.

There are no worries whatsoever.

Especially now that Li Yuan has personally accompanied the Crown Prince into Bingzhou and witnessed its prosperity and flourishing, he has even greater confidence in his grandson's abilities.

"This is winter wheat; it really can still grow in winter, it's truly amazing..."

Despite numerous approvals, the memorials regarding the high-yield winter wheat of the Tianbao Golden Seed variety had already been submitted, and the flour made from this winter wheat had already been tasted in Chang'an.

But this was the first time Li Yuan had ever actually seen these wheat seedlings.

Standing at the edge of a field, looking at the endless green wheat field, my eyes are filled with excitement.

Li Chengqian stood to the side, smiling faintly.

"Grandpa, are you relieved now? Actually, not to mention the grain production in Bingzhou, it is more than enough to guarantee the grain supply for the entire Bingzhou region. The trade and import of rice from Linyi has been fully opened up, and the last thing they lack there is grain."

Even though it was a matter of paying money to get things done, how could those "savages" from Linyi, who didn't know anything about good stuff, understand what they were exchanging for?

In the Tang Dynasty, it was nothing special.

Those crystal-clear glass sculptures, sculpted to perfection.

It's just a handful of fired sand.

In return, they gained a massive amount of food that allowed the Tang Dynasty to expand its territory and population without any scruples.

"Hahaha! Good! Excellent!"

Li Yuan was satisfied.

Accompanying them were Pei Ji and Xiao Yu, who now served as military advisors to the army and various departments respectively, stroking their beards with delighted expressions.

Everyone was immediately satisfied and boarded the carriage to continue their journey.

Li Chengqian sat in the carriage, flipping through a report sent from Taiyuan Prefecture about some events that had occurred during his trip back to Chang'an for the festival.

One document in particular caught Li Chengqian's attention.

"Japanese students gathered and demanded that the Imperial University and the Governor's Office hand over the arrested students and apologize... The Imperial Guards who rushed over took them all into the Imperial Prison."

Li Chengqian sneered and casually tossed the document aside.

"Sigh, it seems that doing this kind of thing will ultimately compromise one's dignity. The ancients were right: how can one have both fish and bear's paw?"

Qian Yingying, who is now considered Li Chengqian's future Crown Princess, sat next to Li Chengqian.

He frowned slightly as he looked at the document in his hand.

"Your Highness, if this matter reaches Japan, the Soga clan will likely report it to Chang'an, and then the censors..."

Qian Yingying hadn't finished speaking.

Li Chengqian, who was leisurely flipping through the documents in his hand, interrupted him in a calm manner.

"As for the censors, what can they do to me besides talking? Smart people just put on a show... If I'm unlucky enough to run into a few talkative ones, my father will handle it."

Qian Yingying: "..."

Will His Majesty intervene?

Thinking of what her fiancé had done to her future father-in-law, Her Majesty must be turning the entire palace and even Chang'an upside down right now.

Seeing her like this, Li Chengqian naturally knew what she was worried about.

He gently reached out and patted the other person's thigh.

"Alright, my father and I have our own rhythm and way of getting along. Sometimes my father is quite easy to talk to..."

"Knock knock knock!"

Li Chengqian was speaking.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the car window, and he rolled it down.

"Your Highness, His Majesty has sent someone to see you..."

Behind the Imperial Guards, they saw the eunuch Fan Qi, riding a horse as if he had been jostled halfway through his journey.

Even Wang De and Gao Hai, who were driving and sitting in the front seat, seemed to realize something and began to look at each other with their eyes seemingly unintentionally.

"How is my father?" Li Chengqian asked with a smile.

Fan Qi's face looked like a bitter gourd. He had been chasing after the cold wind all the way, and not only did he look unwell, but he also seemed to have caught a cold.

He could only bow to Li Chengqian with his hands clasped between two Imperial Guards.

"This servant greets Your Highness, Your Majesty, His Majesty... He's doing well... it's just..."

The strange looks from the Imperial Guards around him made Fan Qi swallow hard.

He was stammering, unsure of what to say.

Li Chengqian, however, saw through the other party's intentions at a glance and smiled faintly.

"Want money?"

"Eh? Yes, this... Your Highness, His Majesty, he..."

"How much?"

Fan Qi coughed twice, not daring to look into Li Chengqian's eyes. With her head down, she noticed the mocking gazes of the two senior eunuchs out of the corner of her eye.

He gritted his teeth and gestured with both hands.

"Seven, seventy-five, ten thousand strings of cash..."

"Seize the young master?!" Li Chengqian's eyes widened, and the smile on his face instantly disappeared.

Fan Qi's face was as pale as paper from catching a cold, and when she heard the Crown Prince's suddenly raised tone, she turned even paler.

"Your Highness, this...this is all at His Majesty's request, this servant..."

Fan Qi was on the verge of tears.

Before this trip, His Majesty even ordered that the silver he had saved up over the years while serving in the palace be confiscated.

Even a manor he secretly bought outside Chang'an was confiscated.

If he can go back and report, that's fine. But if he can't report back... then he'll really have nothing left.

Thinking of this, Fan Qi let out a sob and couldn't help but cry in the wind.

His pitiful appearance drew a glance from Wang De and Gao Hai, who both shook their heads and made sympathetic clicking sounds.

"Your Highness, if I can't complete this task, I'll be finished... Waaah!"

Li Chengqian frowned.

"What else did he say?"

Fan Qi sobbed, and upon hearing this, quickly replied, "Your Majesty, His Majesty also said that his salary in Taiyuan Prefecture will continue to be calculated..."

Li Chengqian blurted it out almost without thinking.

"He's dreaming!"

"I already gave him a monthly salary of 150,000 strings of cash to coax him into doing things, but now that he's gone back to his Chang'an, he still wants me to pay for him?!"

"Is the throne his or mine?!"

Fan Qi sobbed as she looked at Li Chengqian, who was so angry that he was cursing, and then she spoke weakly.

"Well, Your Highness... His Majesty said it's alright if you don't get it, you can return to inherit the throne..."

Li Chengqian's expression immediately changed.

The image of Taiyuan Prefecture's administration, multiplied by more than ten times, instantly flashed into my mind.

With a raised hand, he directly interrupted Fan Qi, who was about to say something.

"Fine! I admit defeat!"

"It's just money, just wait!"

Li Chengqian beckoned, ordering the Imperial Guards to ride off and summon Li Yuan, Pei Ji, and Xiao Yu, who had just returned to the army.

Under Fan Qi's surprised and uncertain gaze, a look of sorrow instantly appeared on his face.

"Alas, Your Majesty, I'm afraid you're going to lose your position as Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition..."

"What?!" Li Yuan's old face froze instantly.

Pei Ji and Xiao Yu, who were standing beside him, also suddenly changed their expressions.

"Your Highness, has something happened?"

Li Chengqian sighed deeply: "My father is making a fuss, saying either I should return to the throne, or he should give me a monthly imperial stipend of 300,000 strings of cash..."

Fan Qi's eyes widened.

"What the hell?! Has that brat Li Shimin been slept into stupidity by the harem?!" Li Yuan cursed.

"He's an emperor! What does he need a salary for? The entire Tang Dynasty belongs to him, he..."

Li Chengqian spread his hands.

"Grandfather, the current situation is that Father doesn't really want to be emperor anymore. He's even said he wants me to go back and succeed him. He'd rather be the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army than the emperor."

"He's dreaming!" Li Yuan interrupted instantly.

With a wide-eyed stare, he looked at Fan Qi, the emperor's personal eunuch, who was standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.

Stared at by the other party's fierce eyes, Fan Qi's legs, which were already unsteady from riding the horse, trembled even more violently.

"That dog emperor Li Shimin said that?!"

Fan Qi: "...This, His Majesty, he, he..."

Noticing the look in His Highness's eyes, Fan Qi's atrophied brain started working at lightning speed, but he just couldn't understand the thought process of these three generations of the Li Tang royal family.

"Alright, Grandfather, what's the point of making things difficult for a mere eunuch? He's just a messenger."

(Fan Qi: Your Highness! I didn't say 300,000 strings of cash!)

"Instead of wasting time, let's discuss how to deal with this..."

Li Yuan snorted coldly: "Respond? Respond my ass! I'm already out here, the army has been inspected, and the route has been planned. You want me to go back? Dream on!"

"He's threatening to quit, isn't he? Let him try! I want to see if he really dares to do it!"

Looking at this scene.

Sitting next to Li Chengqian, Qian Yingying let out a long sigh.

The headaches that were beginning to show signs made her feel that she still had a lot to learn from the Empress.

Li Chengqian looked at the retired emperor with the air of someone about to "fight the damn emperor."

He quickly coughed twice.

"Ahem, Grandfather, don't forget how we got out... We even went so far as to drug the Emperor. Do you think Father still cares about his almost completely lost reputation?"

Li Yuan's old face immediately stiffened.

Pei Ji and Xiao Yu, standing to the side, also looked distressed.

"Your Highness, what should we do? Our army's total military expenditure is only 1.5 million guan, and all expenses are already set. We can't just draw from the military budget, can we?"

Li Chengqian quickly waved his hand.

"That's absolutely unacceptable! Matters of national importance, once decided, are decided. How can we afford to waste our energy on such a critical issue? If insufficient military funds turn a potentially decisive war into a crushing defeat, then we would be the ones with the most sins..."

Li Chengqian pursed his lips and pondered for a moment.

"I can try to squeeze some money from Bingzhou's finances and pay Father Emperor 300,000 strings of cash every month, but... I can only last for three months at most. Within three months, the Northern Expeditionary Army must be able to independently bear this expense!"

"Our guild will send merchants to contact your Northern Expeditionary Army. For every territory you capture, whether it's spoils of war or anything else, they will help you monetize it..."

Pei Ji was stunned: "But, but that's 300,000 strings of cash! Even places like Jiannan Circuit and Lingnan Circuit in the Great Tang Dynasty don't contribute that much in taxes to the national treasury in a year..."

Li Chengqian shrugged.

"Then you'll have to figure it out yourselves, Prime Minister Pei. Population, minerals, grain, livestock, or even just colonize the area... Anyway, if the Northern Expeditionary Army can't come up with the money in three months, I'll have no choice but to temporarily replace the commander..."

"Grandpa Emperor, I'm in a difficult position too!"

The retired emperor and his entourage left with sorrowful expressions.

However, Fan Qi couldn't manage a smile at that moment...

"Your Highness, I..."

"If you dare to tell my father, or the retired emperor, about this..." Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes.

Two embroidered spring knives were already resting on Fan Qi's shoulders, one on each side.

Fan Qi: "!!!"

Your Highness!

Even a eunuch's fate is his fate!