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

"Your Highness, Lord Kong... he shouldn't cause anything serious, right?"

A meeting has just ended.

Having successfully obtained the appointment and authorization from Li Chengqian, Kong Yingda rushed out of the Shougong Hall in a flurry of activity, showing no signs of being a 60-year-old man.

Looking at his retreating figure, Xiao Rui couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"Tsk tsk tsk, hard to say, but it doesn't matter. No matter what, the Tibetans nowadays would never dare to clash with our Great Tang. Even if they make a few moves, it won't be a big deal, hehe."

Li Chengqian crossed his arms, appearing completely calm and collected.

They did not take Tibet seriously at all.

He then asked Xiao Rui about another matter: "How are things going with the people Mo Heduo brought? Is everything going smoothly?"

"Your Highness, the sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of herdsmen has put considerable pressure on the management of Yanmen Pass and Zhenbei Road. However, we have sufficient reserves and enjoy a certain degree of popular support among the Turks there, so everything is proceeding smoothly for now."

Xiao Rui answered cautiously.

Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

"This is a very good opportunity. Ashina She'er, and some of the Turkic people who have previously submitted to us, can be selected to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty and promoted to officials. Although as long as they do not harbor any disloyalty, the Tang Dynasty will certainly not mistreat them, but... some things, when said to them by Han people, have different effects than when said to Turks..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Rui quickly nodded respectfully.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will work with the people over there to handle things properly."

Seeing that he was about to bow and leave, Li Chengqian hurriedly pulled him back.

He rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Look at you. You were one of the first people I brought with me, and all you do is work. Don't you have anything else to talk about with me every day?"

Xiao Rui was taken aback, not understanding what his Crown Prince meant.

Li Chengqian shook his head speechlessly and gestured for the other person to sit down.

“My elder sister has visited you several times recently and even sent you letters, inviting you to go boating on the Fenhe River, but you have refused every time… Do you not like my elder sister?”

"Your subject would never dare to harbor such absurd thoughts!"

Xiao Rui, who had just sat down and hadn't even touched the chair yet, was so frightened that he jumped up on the spot.

His face was pale, he bowed with his hands clasped, and a layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

"Your Highness Princess Xiangcheng is intelligent and virtuous, and her demeanor is reminiscent of the Empress. It is a blessing that my Xiao family could not attain even after eight generations of cultivation to win the Princess's favor. How could I, your subject, dare to have such an arrogant heart?"

The next moment you see him, you'll have to be prepared to swear an oath.

Li Chengqian covered his forehead in exasperation.

"I didn't say I was going to criticize you, I was just asking! Didn't you see that there's no one else here besides the two of us? What's there to be nervous about! That's my elder sister, and she's also the eldest princess of our royal family. If you don't mean anything by it, I'll just talk to her privately sometime to make things clear, so as to avoid any misunderstandings."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Rui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Then, a troubled look appeared on his face.

“Your Highness, since you have put it this way, then I will humbly ask... could you perhaps delegate some of the power I hold? I am currently in charge of the new policy and business affairs, as well as the supervision and transfer of commercial taxes.”

"Our Great Tang is still on the western expedition. Although the expedition is winning one victory after another, the subsequent occupation and development of the local areas presents an even bigger problem: a lack of manpower, a lack of funds, and a lack of time..."

"And Your Highness, you intend to increase the development of Zhenbei Road this year, as well as the two cities you've captured from Tuyuhun, and..."

"Okay, okay, that's enough, stop talking!" Seeing him talking on and on, getting more and more excited as he spoke.

Li Chengqian finally couldn't listen anymore.

Looking at the other person's tired face and resentful eyes.

He had initially thought that the other party wasn't interested in his elder sister, but now he realized... that he, the crown prince, was the obstacle standing between Princess Xiangcheng and Xiao Rui.

"Ahem... I trust you with your work..." Seeing the sorrow on Xiao Rui's face deepen, Li Chengqian coughed lightly.

"I will try to allocate some manpower to you, but don't expect any capable people. At most, I can allocate some interns and clerks. You will need to handle the training of relevant personnel yourself."

Xiao Rui nodded.

I felt a little better.

"Um, Your Highness..." He hesitated for a moment, wanting to say something.

Li Chengqian glanced at him and already knew what this guy was about to say.

She rolled her eyes.

"Don't expect a holiday. I can only steal a moment of leisure from my busy schedule every day! But even so, you can't neglect my sister. Honestly, you're all several years older than me, and I still have to take care of these things."

Xiao Rui: "...Yes"

I sighed inwardly, wondering when this kind of hectic, almost year-round work would end.

Not long after Xiao Rui left, Qian Yingying walked out from the side hall door.

"Hehe, Your Highness has made up your mind?"

Li Chengqian nodded helplessly.

He took a sip of tea and sighed again, his voice filled with distress.

"I previously thought that the real troubles for the crown prince, or even the emperor, would be the domestic people's livelihood and the affairs of state with neighboring countries. But I never expected that the real headaches would be these kinds of weddings and funerals."

"Oh... Yingying, I wish I could instantly grow a few years older and marry you right now."

"I'll leave this kind of thing to you to handle."

Li Chengqian, completely disregarding his image as the crown prince, slumped back in his armchair like Ge You.

At this moment, it was as if my eyes had lost focus.

Qian Yingying smiled gently.

It's amazing that even His Highness the Crown Prince is so powerless.

There have been quite a few trivial matters lately, but none of them can be handled casually.

She stepped forward gracefully and gently kneaded and massaged Li Chengqian's head.

Li Chengqian hummed comfortably twice.

At this moment, Wang De stepped in again.

After seeing Li Chengqian's appearance, she hesitated, wondering whether she should disturb him.

Li Chengqian, who was already familiar with his footsteps, asked a question with his eyes closed.

"What's the matter?"

Wang De: "Your Highness, Minister Zheng Jiang of the Court of State Ceremonial requests an audience."

Zheng Jiang?

Li Chengqian slightly opened his eyes a crack.

Qian Yingying spoke softly, "Your Highness, it should be about Zheng Wuhe. The Zheng family of Xingyang has made up their minds."

Li Chengqian nodded.

Wang De called the other party in, but did not let Qian Yingying leave.

"Your subject Zheng Jiang greets Your Highness the Crown Prince. May Your Highness be well!"

As soon as Zheng Jiang entered the door, he looked excited, as if he had received some great news.

Judging from the other person's appearance, he had only recently traveled from Chang'an to Taiyuan. However, just as this thought crossed Li Chengqian's mind, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Fuck!"

Zheng Jiang was just about to say what he had prepared beforehand, expressing his gratitude to His Highness the Crown Prince for marrying his adopted daughter into their Xingyang Zheng family, when he suddenly heard the Crown Prince exclaim in surprise.

I couldn't help but be stunned.

Qian Yingying also looked puzzled, staring at Li Chengqian, who was acting strangely and startled today: "Your Highness, is something the matter?"

Li Chengqian: "Yingying, where is the railway now?"

Qian Yingying was unaware of this, but Zheng Jiang, upon hearing it, hurriedly spoke up.

"Your Highness, I have come all the way from Chang'an. The railway there has already been built for no less than three hundred li. His Majesty has ordered all steel mills in Chang'an that meet the standards to give priority to supplying the steel needed for the railway."

"As for Bingzhou... I have seen several lines under construction simultaneously, which may be much faster than the one in Chang'an..."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian was overjoyed.

"Hahaha! Very good! My seventh brother is indeed a capable man."

Li Chengqian looked at the puzzled Qian Yingying, a cunning smile curving his lips.

“My father, the emperor, is receiving a monthly salary of 15 strings of cash from me. It’s not too much to ask him to come to Taiyuan Prefecture to work for half a month every month… Anyway, with the train, it will be convenient for him to travel back and forth between the two places.”

Qian Yingying, Zheng Jiang: "......."

Taiyuan Prefecture, Foreign Affairs Department.

When Kong Yingda appeared here with Li Chengqian's decree and announced that he would take over the next trade with Tibet, everyone here was completely dumbfounded.

Previously, this Lord Kong, who had been stripped of his position as "Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince" by His Highness the Crown Prince, was mainly responsible for education, book compilation, and newspaper news affairs in Bingzhou.

Although they are both under the Six Ministries and the Ministry of Rites of the Eastern Palace, their powers and responsibilities are completely different.

Why did you suddenly take on this kind of job today?

However, since there was no problem with the imperial decree, the officials in the Foreign Affairs Department readily accepted the order.

however.

Kong Yingda's next sentence, however, left all the officials present stunned.

"You have been in charge of trade with foreign countries for some time now. Let me ask you, do you know where you can find weapons that can be used for a short time but will eventually become unusable?"

Everyone: "..."

Kong Yingda: "Are there any old-style armors left in the treasuries of the prefectures and counties surrounding Bingzhou? Even junk from the previous dynasty will do!"

Everyone: "......"

Kong Yingda's eyes widened: "What? Why aren't you saying a word!"

Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you, looking at each other.

After a long while, the original commanding officer finally spoke up, looking embarrassed.

"Lord Kong, are you perhaps planning to trade these things with the Tibetans? That seems inappropriate. We've already taken ten thousand of their slaves; if we were to manipulate the goods further..."

"What are you afraid of?! The Tibetan barbarians are already defecating and pissing on the heads of Confucius and Mencius, what reason do you still have to reason with them?! Now that I have accepted this official position with His Highness, you don't need to get involved in anything afterward. I will take care of everything myself. You just need to answer questions and do your jobs!"

The anger in Kong Yingda's voice was no less than it had been during the court assembly at Shougong Hall.

Seeing this, everyone nodded helplessly.

Kong Zhiyue, who had come here with his father, was speechless as he watched the busy officials of the Foreign Affairs Department.

“Father…Director Kong, didn’t you always say, ‘Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you’? Why…why are you still trading these junk goods with Tibet?”

Kong Yingda glared at him, her face full of disappointment and disappointment.

"I think you've gone mad from reading too much! 'Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you'—that's how you apply it to your own people, but to your enemies... humph!"

"The trash I don't like, don't hesitate, give it all away to others!"

Standing nearby, Kong Zhiyue's close friend Su Jing clicked his tongue in astonishment: "This can be interpreted like that?"

Kong Yingda gave a cold laugh.

"My surname is Kong! The meaning of the Analects is up to me to decide!"