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

"Brother Kong, this... I can't do this kind of thing. You know me, I've never been to a place like that before..."

Su Jing, who had just arrived at the yamen early in the morning and was about to start a new day of compiling the "Pharmacopoeia of the Tang Dynasty", looked at Kong Zhiyue, who had dark circles under his eyes.

However, he was so shocked by what the other party said that he waved his hands repeatedly.

"No, no, Brother Kong, you should find someone else for this. I..."

Kong Zhiyue retorted angrily, "You haven't been there, but does that mean I've been there?!"

This has driven Kong Zhiyue, who is so honest, even to the point of being dull-witted, to this point.

To some extent, Kong Yingda's recent behavior has been difficult for not only the Tang Dynasty officials who knew him well to adapt to, but even his own son, Kong Zhiyue, felt that his father was now a complete stranger.

“My father said that if we can get our hands on the gold and silver jewelry that the Tibetans brought, our group can get 10% of it.”

"One percent!" Su Jing, who had just been firmly refusing, couldn't help but twitch slightly at the corner of his eye.

He certainly didn't know how much gold and silver the Tibetans had brought.

However, these things, which were said to be abundant in the Harsha Dynasty, were no different from stones on the Tibetan Plateau. They were only able to exchange for and purchase some of the Tang Dynasty's supplies.

They must have brought quite a lot...

If they could get 10% of the profits, their pharmacopoeia compilation team would have a much better budget.

Even some of the veteran traditional Chinese medicine doctors they knew, as well as some members of medical families, were hoping to get the other party to come to Taiyuan Prefecture to help.

"Does Lord Kong really say that?" Su Jing asked in a low voice.

Kong Zhiyue nodded, then his eyes lit up: "You agreed to go to the brothel?!"

Upon hearing this, Su Jing quickly refused with both hands: "No, no, no, I have only been married for a year, how could I go to such a filthy place? Besides, I am not that kind of person."

"Then what do you mean?"

Su Jing said helplessly, "Lord Kong means that we should find a way to appear to be very short of money in front of the Tibetans, so as to give them an opportunity, is that right?"

Kong Zhiyue nodded.

"Then why must one go to brothels and gambling dens?"

Su Jing, who had been wearing a righteous and awe-inspiring expression, suddenly turned cunning the moment he reached out and put his arm around Kong Zhiyue's shoulder.

He waved his hand, pointing to the medical books and medicine boxes scattered throughout the room.

"As far as I know, the Tibetans have always wanted to bring back various medical and agricultural texts from Central China to their country for study and research. If it were us..."

"Are you crazy?! Don't you want your head?! You have no idea how closely the Embroidered Uniform Guards are watching these things, you..." Kong Zhiyue was shocked.

However, Su Jing gave a cold snort in annoyance.

"Can you let me finish?! You've gone stupid from reading too much, do you think I'm stupid too?!"

Kong Zhiyue remained silent, unable to understand what he was trying to do.

But then Su Jing pulled him to a corner of the room, where he waved a bunch of pages, some whole and some clearly torn from somewhere, with a smile.

"Brother Kong, look at these. We spent more than half a year and made countless trips to the Royal Medical Academy before we finally managed to filter out some of the incorrect prescriptions in the ancient books."

"Although these prescriptions are wrong, they are not ineffective; it's just that they cause significant damage to the patient's body after being taken."

Kong Zhiyue finally understood what the other party meant.

"You mean, sell these things to those Tibetans?!"

He gasped.

"If they take this back and treat patients according to the prescriptions on it, I'm afraid quite a few people will suffer."

Kong Zhiyue felt a little guilty; after all, he was a doctor with the heart of a parent.

Su Jing saw through his thoughts at a glance and gave a light snort.

"Are the Tibetans even human? If it weren't for our medical skills, the Tibetans would only be able to tough it out or seek out shamans and witch doctors."

“Previously, it was a one-in-ten chance of death, but now our medical skills can give them a nine-out-of-ten chance of survival. Isn’t that an act of mercy?”

Seeing how dull this guy was, Su Jing immediately snorted coldly.

"If you feel bad about it, then I will personally go to Lord Kong and have him..."

"No need! I agree!"

Suddenly, an old, yet appreciative voice came from outside the door.

Kong Yingda pushed open the door and entered.

He glared at his son, Kong Zhiyue, who seemed like a block of wood, then turned to look at Su Jing with a look of admiration.

“Indeed, indeed. I misjudged you before. Are the Tibetans even human? We are paid by the Crown Prince, so we should clear away all obstacles for His Highness. The Tibetans have insulted our Great Tang and have the ambitions of wolves.”

"His Highness the Crown Prince needs us to weaken them so that the Tibetan Empire can more easily gain a foothold in the future. Whatever the method, as long as it can bring disaster to Tibet and make our Great Tang stronger, then it is a brilliant plan!"

He paced back and forth, and for the first time in over a year, he seriously toured his son's small study.

However, his focus was clearly on the pile of "poisonous medicine books" in that corner.

He flipped through a few books, unable to understand them, but deep within his aged eyes, a hint of malice gradually crept in as he turned the pages.

"Hmph... Selling them directly is too cheap! And it will only make them suspicious of these things."

Kong Yingda gave a cold laugh and pondered for a long time.

"Put aside your current tasks for the next few days and compile the Zhenguan Pharmacopoeia as quickly as possible. I will go and have a chat with the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the next few days."

The Zhenguan Pharmacopoeia?

What is the Zhenguan Pharmacopoeia?

Kong Zhiyue whispered a reminder: "Father, we are compiling the Great Tang Pharmacopoeia."

Su Jing, however, gasped when he saw Kong Yingda holding those discarded drafts in his hand.

"My lord, if this book on poisonous medicine were named after the Zhenguan era, wouldn't it anger His Majesty?"

Kong Yingda rolled his eyes.

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Anyway, it's not His Highness the Crown Prince's reign title, so what's there to be afraid of! Just use 'Zhenguan,' and I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong! With just those two words, if we handle it properly, hmph..."

"I'm determined to plunder every last copper coin from these Tibetan barbarians!"

.......

"Your Highness, has something happened?"

Hou Qianya looked worriedly at the Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who was holding a report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and had been silent for a moment, and asked him in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian, who had come to his senses, suddenly burst into laughter.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, hahaha... Some people, actually, aren't beyond redemption."

Hou Qianya didn't know who the "some people" Li Chengqian was referring to were.

Li Chengqian, on the other hand, casually burned the letter in his hand and gave instructions to the Embroidered Uniform Guard messenger who was waiting nearby.

"Reassure Qianlou to cooperate. Since they have taken the initiative to take responsibility, you should do your job well for me!"

"Yes!"

At this moment, at the Yanmen Prefectural Governor's residence, the governor himself had no opportunity to appear there.

Li Chengqian, Hou Junji, the Duke of Lu and General of Yanmen Pass, and Ashina She'er, the commander of the Turkic wolf cavalry who had just returned from the western expedition front a few days ago.

In addition, there is Hou Qianya, who is engaged to Li Chengqian.

Several people are sitting here.

"Your Highness, is it that the Tubo are restless again? Our garrison in Qinghai City and Chishui City has basically adapted to the environment in Tubo, not to mention a group of Tuyuhun vassal troops."

"As long as you give the order, no matter if it's Songtsen Gampo or Songtsen Wet Po, we will definitely take them down within six months at most!"

Hou Junji looked at Li Chengqian with anticipation.

It's clear that this old man has been really holding back at Yanmen Pass lately.

"Hehe, that's not necessary. No matter how much land we conquer, without enough people to control it, it's useless to our Great Tang. It's better to keep it... Even a wolf can be used as a dog if we whip and tame it from time to time, right?"

Li Chengqian took a sip of tea.

Noticing Ashina She'er standing to the side, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back, he chuckled softly.

"Just say what you have to say. Are you worried that I will punish you for acting like this?"

Ashina She'er immediately stood up and hurriedly bowed.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, but recently quite a few people have come to me saying they want to join the Wolf Riders."

Seeing the other party's hesitant and cautious demeanor.

Li Chengqian smiled faintly.

"But what about those Turkic herders? These days, every family has a wife and children, a warm bed, and they still have men who want to go to the battlefield?"

Ashina She'er nodded hurriedly, his face full of excitement.

"Your Majesty, everyone knows how we came to enjoy such a good life. With you by our side, our lives will only get better and better. So everyone hopes to help you, Your Majesty."

Hou Junji cautiously pursed his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but was subtly tugged at by Hou Qianya beside him.

In the end, he still couldn't bring himself to speak.

"How many people want to join the army?"

"Five, fifty thousand..."

"How many?!"

.......

Zhenbei Road, Jiuyuan City.

The construction of the city wall was delayed once again.

It's not due to a lack of funds or manpower.

However, Jiuyuan City is now one of the few cities in Zhenbei Road, and it is also the future capital of Zhenbei Road that His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered to develop vigorously.

Every day, a large number of merchants flocked in from the surrounding areas.

Bingzhou Road, Longyou Road, Hedong Road, Henan Road... As the region where the Tang Dynasty's Turkic integration policy was most active, Zhenbei Road itself had a developed animal husbandry and dairy processing industry, which, together with the increasingly prosperous lives of the people in the Central Plains, contributed to this.

This directly boosted the consumption of meat and dairy products.

This made all the merchants who used to do this kind of business incredibly wealthy.

Some large chambers of commerce, having recognized the potential profits here, began to invest in building factories or hiring herders to help them collectively raise cattle and sheep.

As a result, land prices in Jiuyuan City also rose accordingly.

However, today, outside Jiuyuan City, which is a vast expanse of grasslands, cattle and sheep, and a few wide cement roads, there is a bustling scene.

Looking around, one could see neat rows of cavalry units, each consisting of a hundred men.

They converged into a scene of thousands of horses galloping.

However, in the past, this scene would have certainly alarmed the city's garrison commander and put the defending troops on high alert.

It wasn't a Turkic siege; rather, a "cavalry tournament" was underway...

When Li Chengqian, dressed in plain clothes, appeared here with Ashina She'er.

Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but twitch my lips.

I haven't even conscripted any soldiers yet, and you've already started training yourselves?!

In sight, there were cavalry combat arenas, mounted archery ranges, and infantry wrestling rings...

Li Chengqian was completely stunned. All the way there, he had assumed that Ashina She'er was just saying some flattering things.

did not expect......

Ashina She'er sighed helplessly.

"Your Highness, these days, anyone who can get in touch with me is running to my residence every few days, all wanting to join the army and earn military merit... How about you pick out one or two more people around the Tang Dynasty that you don't like?"