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

"Your Highness, Prince Wei had half of the memorials sent to him on his way here. Therefore, what you see before you are all the memorials sent by the Six Ministries today that require your personal review..."

With a joyful expression on his face, Wang De, who was fair-skinned and chubby, now had a somewhat comical look reminiscent of the Laughing Buddha.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian, who had just finished washing up and having breakfast, arrived at the Taiji Hall. Seeing that half of the documents on the table were indeed missing, a smile immediately appeared on his lips.

"Heh... my younger brother..."

Li Chengqian felt a little guilty, but compared to that guilt, he could only temporarily and once again make his younger brothers suffer.

Fortunately, he was busy for more than half a month as soon as he returned.

Li Tai is truly a hands-off manager; he doesn't lift a finger and spends every day on vacation.

In a way, they're even now.

"Did Qingque say anything else?"

He took the hot towel handed to him by a palace maid, wiped his hands, and asked a question.

Wang De respectfully nodded: "His Highness Prince Wei specifically instructed me to take good care of His Highness's diet and daily life, especially his meals, and to make sure that he eats his three meals a day properly."

He looked up, feeling happy that his Crown Prince would finally no longer have to work so hard.

"Your Highness, your brotherly affection and respect with Prince Wei and the other princes will surely become a legendary tale in the future!"

Li Chengqian chuckled twice, then sat on the dragon throne in the Taiji Hall, picked up a memorial from the table, unfolded it skillfully, and began to work.

"Hehe, what a wonderful story! Let's hope so..."

Hopefully, Qingque won't resent his elder brother after discovering the truth in the future.

Of course, if we can complete the Tang Dynasty's unparalleled reforms in the world as soon as possible, and perfectly shape the Tang Dynasty into the strongest dynasty in China in every aspect, then we will achieve even greater success.

May the glorious history of the Tang Dynasty, with its outstanding people and abundant resources, truly spread throughout the country and even the world.

Then Li Chengqian wouldn't need to make his younger brothers distance themselves from their families and their respective mothers for his sake...

"Wang De, send a letter to the Prefect of Taiyuan Prefecture and tell him that I will not be going to Taiyuan Prefecture for the time being. He can handle all official business that he can decide directly, and those that require my decision should be sent to Chang'an through the proper channels for my approval!"

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

It's just a little harder, isn't it?

I am capable of sitting in this position and I am absolutely able to uphold it!

The end of the fourth year of the Zhenguan era was drawing ever closer.

However, unlike in previous years, all departments are basically preparing to wrap up this year's various projects, as well as some work related to Chang'an's performance review.

Even as the year draws to a close, the people of Chang'an, Taiyuan, and the surrounding counties can all feel that the government offices seem to be busier than ever before.

This swift and decisive approach to policy implementation, seemingly driven by the personal involvement of the current Crown Prince and the leadership of the various princes, His Majesty, and the Emperor Emeritus, has created a new trend in the Tang Dynasty's officialdom.

Time flies, and the end of the year-end holiday in the fourth year of Zhenguan is just around the corner.

After several months of hard work, especially Fang Xuanling and his colleagues who almost lost their lives assisting this new official position in the cabinet, they were finally able to catch their breath.

"Your Highness, General Li Ji, the Commander-in-Chief of the Yanzhou Army, has sent an urgent report!"

A message delivered directly from the Ministry of War to the palace by fast horse caused Li Shimin, Li Chengqian, and Li Tai, father and son, who were reviewing documents in the Taiji Hall, to pause in their work.

As Li Shimin was reading the letter sent by Lu Shiming and others who had returned to Chengdu, his heart skipped a beat.

He wasn't worried about Li Ji suffering any defeats, since from any perspective, Li Ji was bound to lose, especially when facing a crippled Goguryeo enemy.

If they really lost the battle, then Li Ji might as well not live and just commit suicide in Goguryeo.

His biggest fear was undoubtedly that Li Ji would destroy Goguryeo...

Under the banner of a kingly army and a righteous army, they seized the land of Goguryeo King Go Geonmu. Now, if they were to seize the other half of Yeon Taejo's territory... how could the Tang Dynasty ignore the governance and maintenance of the local area?

Goguryeo was quite large, so how many officials would it need?

Even Li Chengqian at this moment couldn't help but feel uneasy.

He hurriedly opened the letter, tossed aside several documents concerning the Ministry of War's urgent reporting procedures without even glancing at them, and directly took out Li Ji's letter.

"Your Majesty, I was ordered to suppress the rebels and achieved a great victory..."

The very first sentence caused Li Chengqian's pupils to shrink, and Li Tai and Li Shimin, who had come over from the side, to gasp in shock.

Fortunately, as my gaze swept over the following content...

The surprise in their eyes immediately subsided.

"Phew... thank goodness, that old bastard Li Ji is aware of the current situation of our Great Tang Dynasty, he only captured Pyongyang..."

Li Shimin murmured to himself, looking relieved.

However, the following content in the letter caused Li Chengqian, who was holding the letter and reading it, to suddenly cough.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The sudden, violent coughing made Li Tai's pupils shrink sharply. He quickly put a hand on his elder brother's back, only to see the other pointing to a line in the letter with an incredulous expression.

He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"The false king of Goguryeo, Yeon Tae-jo, was killed, and the new king, Yeon Gaesomun, requested peace talks... and swore an oath with the Tang Dynasty by sacrificing a white horse in front of Pyongyang..."

Slaying the White Horse?

Li Chengqian choked on his own saliva.

His face flushed slightly, and he couldn't help but be shocked, because with the arrival of this transmigrator, his father, Emperor Li Er, in this world did not have the "Alliance of the Wei River" that he regarded as a disgrace in history.

The Eastern Turkic leader Jieli initially came in a large force, but some fled back in twos and threes.

Under the Tang Dynasty's relentless bombardment, they suffered heavy losses.

Naturally, the historically famous story of swearing an oath by cutting a white horse no longer exists.

But... Yeon Gaesomun?

"Brother, are you alright? Should we summon the imperial physician to take a look?"

Li Tai still looked at his elder brother with a worried expression. After saying this, he didn't wait for Li Chengqian's reply and hurriedly scolded Wang De, who was standing to the side.

"What are you all standing there for? Go and fetch the imperial physician immediately!"

Li Shimin was somewhat taken aback: "Call the imperial physician? Your brother simply choked on his own saliva, didn't he? You..."

Before Li Shimin could finish speaking, he immediately felt the sharp gaze of his fourth son.

He immediately stopped talking.

He couldn't help but think to himself, "When your elder brother first returned to Chang'an, I didn't see you being this heartbroken and excited."

Li Shimin's eyes nearly popped out of his head, but Li Tai dared not be careless at all.

These days, he even personally supervises the people from the Imperial Medical Bureau to go to the Eastern Palace on time to check Li Chengqian's pulse and health. Such abnormal behavior is unusual, if not for the fact that the imperial physicians always say there is no problem.

Even Emperor Taizong of Tang and Empress Zhangsun couldn't help but suspect that their eldest son might actually be suffering from some kind of illness...

"Alright, alright, Qingque, I'm fine. Father is right, don't be so alarmed."

Li Chengqian waved his hand, signaling Wang De to stay put.

Seeing this, Li Tai took a deep breath and said nothing more.

Li Shimin, standing to the side, curled his lip and said, "What does Yeon Gaesomun mean by that? What does he mean by admiring the divine might of my Tang imperial family? How dare that shameless bastard who murdered his father and brother say he admires me?!"

"You still want to make some kind of Pyongyang White Horse Chopping Alliance with me? It's utterly absurd and laughable!"

Li Shimin sneered, his face full of disdain.

It's just a "reserve food". If the lion doesn't eat it, it won't think that the lion is afraid to eat it, right?

Li Chengqian remained silent, quietly reading the letter about the conditions Yeon Gaesomun was willing to offer in order to form an alliance.

"Teacher, do you think the Tang Dynasty will really agree? What I'm most worried about is that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty will forcefully demand that I hand you and your people over... Don't worry, teacher, you've helped me so much. Now we're in the same boat. I will absolutely not agree."

Inside the royal palace of Goguryeo.

Despite the fact that these days, due to his proposal, coupled with the fact that this winter seems to be even colder than usual.

Li Ji and his side also tacitly agreed to maintain a temporary ceasefire by using the border between Pyongyang County and Kaynye County as the dividing line.

Lu Zhaojing glanced at him indifferently and then hurriedly explained to Yeon Gaesomun.

"Don't worry, the Tang Dynasty will agree. This is a situation in which the Tang Dynasty is bound to win. And in this glorious moment that belongs only to the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin and his son will not abandon their dignity and choose to continue the war because of the so-called hatred towards our families."

"However, Your Majesty, from today onwards, we will also become vassals of the Tang Dynasty, or even slaves... You must be prepared to be oppressed for a long time."

"Be prepared to be oppressed..." When Lu Zhaojing said these words, even he couldn't help but laugh at himself inwardly.

How long ago did this dignified Lu family of Fanyang, a clan with a history of over a hundred years, come to use such language to describe themselves?

With Lu Zhaojing's comfort, Yeon Gaesomun calmed down a bit.

Today, Goguryeo has shrunk from the second largest country in East Asia, which once dragged the Sui Dynasty into the past, to less than one-tenth of its former size.

If we say that Goguryeo was once a vast country that occupied the vast black soil of Northeast China, as well as the northern regions of Korea and South Korea.

Now... Liaodong, which once belonged to Gao Jianwu, has been occupied by the Tang Dynasty.

Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo, is now occupied by Li Ji.

Today, they only have an area equivalent to Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province, and Chungcheongbuk Province in modern South Korea.

Further south lay their weak ally Baekje, and Silla, still occupied by the Tang Dynasty.

And then there's the naval power of the Tang Dynasty.

It can be said that they were attacked from both the north and south on land, and surrounded from the east and west at sea, a complete dead end!

Lu Zhaojing didn't say anything more, and no one knew what he was thinking now.

As the curtain officially fell on the fourth year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, the joyous sound of firecrackers, full of the spirit of welcoming the spring and the new year, resounded throughout the Tang Dynasty, marking the beginning of the fifth year of the Zhenguan era.

An urgent order from the Ministry of War finally arrived in Pyongyang County.

"We agree to their conditions, but signing the alliance requires Yeon Gaesomun to bring the heads of the five clans and seven powerful families to Chang'an to sign it..."

When Li Ji told Yeon Gaesomun about this news.

Immediately, the small and medium-sized clans of the former Hebei Province who had followed the three families of the Cui clan of Qinghe to Goguryeo were in an uproar.

"No, Patriarch Cui, Patriarch Lu, you absolutely cannot go! The Li family father and son have no credibility whatsoever. If you go back, it will be like lambs to the slaughter!"

"Patriarch Li, you don't actually think that Li Shimin will spare you just because you share the same surname, do you? Don't even think about it, it's absolutely impossible. The Zhao County Li family chose to betray the Tang Dynasty back then, so there's absolutely no way they could go back!"

"Yes, and besides, even if we go back... do you think Li Shimin will allow you to restore your former glory?"

"Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, that dog father and son, have absolutely no sincerity in negotiating!"

Everyone was so excited that their faces turned red, and the noise from their argument made Cui Minshi's head ache.

"enough!"

A sharp shout came from Li Xing, the head of the Li family of Zhao County.

He gritted his teeth: "I'm not foolish enough to believe that Li Shimin and his son would show us mercy! But this time we have no choice... Defeat is defeat, and even dignity is the spoils of the victor!"