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

"Your Highness, in less than half a month, this is already the fifth conflict between the Sassanid Persian and Arab delegations. This time, not only have they injured each other, but it has also affected the business of a restaurant in our Great Tang Dynasty, resulting in the injury of several Tang people..."

"In order to quell the unrest, I had no choice but to order Marquis Wu to arrest them all and imprison them."

Dou Cai, the former Prefect of Luoyang who was transferred to the position of Prefect of Chang'an, reported the news while keeping his head down, but he couldn't help but carefully observe the expression on Crown Prince Li Chengqian's face.

Especially when he saw that Princess Salmana of Sassanid Persia was serving Li Chengqian, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Although Salmana is now learning Tang language, this is not something that can be learned in a short time.

Therefore, there wasn't much of a reaction.

"Oh? They hurt civilians?" Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly.

The frivolous tone, tinged with a chilling undertone, caused everyone present to involuntarily lower their heads slightly.

Dou Cai hurriedly replied, "When they were smashing things together, a diner who happened to be eating was accidentally injured... and bled."

Upon hearing that blood had been seen, Li Chengqian immediately let out a cold snort.

"Then what brings you here to see me, Lord Dou? Are you asking whether I should show them leniency?"

Dou Cai immediately swallowed hard.

"Your Majesty, I am only worried that my judgment might interfere with Your Highness's grand plan to advance westward..."

"Hmph! That's none of your business! Even their princes and nobles must abide by the rules of my Great Tang, not to mention, this is still my Great Tang territory!"

Li Chengqian snorted coldly and waved his hand: "Judgment should be made according to the law! Putting aside the fact that I have not yet recognized their request to become a vassal state of my Great Tang, even if they become a vassal state of my Great Tang, the people of my Great Tang will still be far more noble than these second-class foreigners!"

"They should be judged and punished!"

Dou Cai breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully accepted the order, slowly retreating outside.

"Your Highness, His Majesty has arrived again..."

As soon as Dou Cai left, Wang De strode in and reported.

Before Li Chengqian could speak, Li Shimin swaggered into the Xiande Hall, watching his crown prince leisurely enjoying the company of beautiful women.

Li Shimin's lips twitched involuntarily.

"Father, instead of studying those books in the harem, why do you have time to come to my place?"

He seemed to have thought of something, and before Li Shimin could speak, he let out a soft hum.

"If Father Emperor still wants to discuss the matter of succession with me, then please refrain from speaking. Not to mention that I am only just preparing for my wedding, even in a few years, whether or not I inherit the throne will depend on my own mood!"

As Li Chengqian spoke, he lifted his legs and placed them beside Salmana.

Enjoying the massage from the other person's pair of soft, white hands.

Li Shimin was immediately angered.

With a loud thud, he slammed the scroll in his hand onto the table in front of Li Chengqian.

"You just want to slack off! You unfilial son, I've finally seen through you. Ke'er and Qingque, those silly boys, have all been tricked into becoming free laborers by you, taking on so many responsibilities at such a young age."

"On the contrary, it makes things easier for you, the elder brother!"

Li Chengqian neither agreed nor disagreed, but instead chuckled softly.

He glanced casually at the scrolls that his father had slammed onto the table, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"So, Father, you came here this time to tell me that you are planning to give up the Mount Tai sacrificial ceremony?"

He pulled his legs out of Salmana's grasp, stretched, and stood up.

"Oh dear~ Father, if that's what you think, you should have just said so earlier~ Why beat around the bush like that?"

"Alright, since Father Emperor doesn't intend to become Emperor Taizong Wen, your humble servant, though unworthy, wishes to secure a good posthumous reputation for myself. Therefore, I will take on the task of proclaiming this grand vow at the Mount Tai sacrificial ceremony to the world..."

As he spoke, he reached out to pick up the scroll on the table in front of him.

He looked ready to get to work.

Startled, Li Shimin immediately snatched the scroll back.

"I...I didn't mean that!" Li Shimin took two steps back warily.

Are you kidding me? !

These days, he spends his days studying these development outlines with his ministers, and at night he has to pay public grain to the Empress and the concubines he has neglected for more than a year.

Although it is tiring and tough, the thought of achieving great feats that surpass those of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han is very rewarding.

Li Shimin was also full of motivation.

The reason I'm here today is simply because I've heard that the Crown Prince has been living too comfortably lately, and that makes me unhappy.

"Tsk, Father, look at this! Is it because your son isn't trying hard enough? Isn't it because you insist on doing everything yourself?"

Li Chengqian shrugged, his face full of undisguised smugness, and sat back down in his seat to continue receiving Salmana's service.

Li Shimin's forehead veins throbbed as he watched.

"Your wedding is in a month. There are at least a hundred foreign envoys in Chang'an who want to see you, the Crown Prince. Have you thought about how you will deal with the matter of these countries paying tribute after the wedding?"

"Our China has always been a land of etiquette. Since those barbarian countries have submitted and presented tribute, our Great Tang should naturally reciprocate..."

Li Chengqian scoffed: "I thought Father Emperor was looking for me about something trivial. Is this all there is to it?"

"It's just a return gift. Don't worry, I've already had Kong Yingda and the others prepare it. I guarantee it will be the essence of Chinese civilization, and it will be hundreds or even thousands of times more valuable than their tribute!"

Li Shimin: "......."

The same tactics you used against Tibet are now being used against other foreign lands.

You, the Crown Prince, really have no shame whatsoever.

Li Shimin took a deep breath. In any case, if you asked him, he, Li Shimin, would never do such a thing.

For example, when the Nanzhao Kingdom's Nalangqiongzhao married off his daughter, General Li Shimin sent a considerable amount of betrothal gifts. However, the beauty who was within his grasp was eventually given to the Crown Prince.

"Leaving aside those small countries that have nothing of value to offer, there are still some countries that are of use, such as the Kingdom of Lin-yi... I have heard that King Fan Fanzhi of Lin-yi already knows that glass is just an ordinary thing in our Great Tang."

"I think that although he has sent an envoy to present congratulatory gifts this time, he probably also wants to ask you for some benefits again."

Hear the words.

Li Chengqian frowned immediately.

Want benefits?

Maybe he wants to eat purple eggs!

He didn't say anything. Seeing that he had successfully disrupted his son's leisurely life, Li Shimin was overjoyed and swaggered away like a victorious general.

His "school bell" is about to ring.

We need to get back quickly before the Queen gets angry...

"Wang De..."

"This old servant is here!" Wang De hurriedly bowed.

Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly and asked in a low voice.

"Summon Xiao Rui to me..."

Upon hearing this, Wang De hurriedly obeyed the order and went out to summon people.

At Princess Xiangcheng's residence in Chang'an, Xiao Rui, who was enjoying a romantic holiday with his wife, Princess Xiangcheng, suddenly changed his expression upon hearing that the Crown Prince had summoned him from the palace.

"No, no, Eunuch Wang, I am currently on leave. This is an imperial decree issued by His Highness the Crown Prince, this..."

Xiao Rui had just regained a bit of his vitality, and the smell of the classroom hadn't even been gone for a month.

Upon hearing the Crown Prince's summons, their instinct was to resist.

however.

What Wang Gonggong said next caused his expression to change instantly.

"His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't seem to be in a good mood..."

"Please wait a moment, Eunuch Wang, I'm going to change my clothes!"

Xiao Rui's attitude instantly changed 180 degrees. It wasn't for any other reason than that when His Highness the Crown Prince got angry, his slaps weren't limited to just anyone.

When the crown prince gets angry, he won't even spare himself...

It's possible that the Crown Prince found out about his resistance, and that very night, an imperial edict revoking the decree, along with an order for him to return to Taiyuan Prefecture to work overtime, was sent to him.

"Your subject, Xiao Rui, pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

We arrived at Xiande Hall.

Xiao Rui hurriedly bowed, and then he realized that besides him, His Highness the Crown Prince had summoned other people in the hall.

The man was dressed in the armor of a military captain and appeared to be in his early twenties.

Xiao Rui thought for a long time before he figured out the other person's identity.

Son of Feng Ang, Duke of Yue, Grand Pillar of State, "local emperor" of Lingnan Circuit, and Prefect of Gaozhou.

Feng Daizhi!

Xiao Rui frowned almost imperceptibly.

"Alright, I know you're on vacation right now. I won't go back on my word. I called you here to ask you about some things."

Xiao Rui repeatedly said he dared not.

Li Chengqian had no interest in such formalities and went straight to the point.

"Currently, the Hedong, Henan, Longyou, and Guannei regions of our Great Tang have all been planting Tianbao Golden Seed winter wheat on a large scale. Among them, the Hedong and Longyou regions have been planting it for several years in a row. Is our Great Tang's grain supply sufficient for self-sufficiency?"

"this......"

Xiao Rui was taken aback, then his brain immediately began to calculate at lightning speed.

He was Li Chengqian's "chief steward." Although he was only in charge of the New Policies Commerce Department, some positions in this department were even above those in the Tang Dynasty's Six Ministries, the Ministry of Revenue.

It encompasses the powers of many other departments.

He hesitated for a moment, then a troubled look appeared on his face.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid... we're in a bind."

"How is that possible?! With such a high yield of winter wheat, it's not enough for our Great Tang to be self-sufficient?"

Li Chengqian's expression immediately turned ugly.

Xiao Rui sighed: "Your Highness, if we were to produce grain now, it would be more than enough to feed the entire population of the Tang Dynasty in the ninth year of the Wude era or even the first year of the Zhenguan era. But... Your Highness, two months ago, the Ministry of Revenue, in accordance with regulations, conducted a census of the population of all provinces of the Tang Dynasty."

"Although the statistical efficiency in places like Lingnan Circuit, Jiannan Circuit, and Jiangnan Circuit is very low and has not yet caught up, the population data reported by the prefectures and counties of Guannei Circuit, Hedong Circuit, and Longyou Circuit..."

"Currently, every registered household in our Great Tang Dynasty has an average of three children."

"This only refers to the number of new births since the second year of the Zhenguan era."

"In addition, there are a large number of Turkic people in Zhenbei Road and Xizhou Prefecture, as well as slaves engaged in large-scale planting and labor. Although the output of Tianbao gold is extremely large, the population of our Great Tang is surging even faster!"

Xiao Rui's expression was complicated at this moment.

For the Central Plains dynasties, every major population explosion undoubtedly signified the arrival of a golden age.

The Tang Dynasty at present is undoubtedly a sign of the beginning of a golden age!

However... because His Highness the Crown Prince nipped and controlled all the problems in the bud during the early stages of the new policies, the people of the Tang Dynasty now have no pressure to make a living.

Secondly, there is no need to worry about illness.

Local governments across the three Tang dynasties offered encouragement and rewards to families who had children.

Furthermore, the fact that many large families have started large farms has greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the people of the Tang Dynasty to "cultivate the land" at night.

The Tang Dynasty's terrifying expansion and growth have created immense pressure on talent across all sectors of the country.

Li Chengqian: "???"

"What kind of look is that? Xiao Rui, are you trying to say that it's all my fault for being too diligent back then?!"