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

When Wang Ming arrived at Yangcheng Palace again with nearly a cartload of bamboo slips and scrolls.

What came into view was Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who was standing in front of a black wooden board that had been brought over by the palace maids, using a small white stick.

With a solemn expression, he gave orders to the officials of the Eastern Palace beside him in front of everyone.

Wang Ming only glanced at the words written on the blackboard, and his legs almost gave way as he dismounted, narrowly avoiding twisting his ankle.

However, even so, the panic and paleness on her face could no longer be contained at this moment.

"Xiao Rui, you will continue to be in charge of the businesses I gave you, but in accordance with the regulations I gave you before, establish the Royal Workshop in the name of the Bingzhou New Policy Reform Division."

"Businesses like salt, sugar, and perfume, which can make a lot of money, should be put into operation in Bingzhou as soon as possible. If I want to implement commercial taxes, I must first occupy a certain dominant position in the commercial field."

Upon hearing this, although Xiao Rui, the son of the Duke of Song, was only a seventh-rank official in charge of the Crown Prince's household, everyone present understood just how much responsibility he bore.

"Your Highness, rest assured, the Jimin Chamber of Commerce is operating normally in Chang'an, and I have already arranged for the operation of the branch in Chang'an. The branch in Bingzhou is simply larger in scale, and I will certainly handle it properly!"

Xiao Rui bowed respectfully.

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, and wrote two more lines of text on the blackboard with his pen.

"Royal Steelworks" and "Royal Printing House"

"Fang Yi'ai, I know you want to work in the military, but right now I have a matter that I need you to take the lead in. I will have Elder Mo arrange for the technical personnel. What you need to do is to ensure the secrecy and management of the Royal Steel Forging Plant!"

Fang Yi'ai was taken aback. A steel forging plant?!

His Highness the Crown Prince actually knows this?

However, he didn't have that many thoughts. Before he left, his father had told him that once he arrived, he should do whatever the Crown Prince asked him to do, and be extremely serious about it.

"I accept your order!"

Li Chengqian didn't even glance at Wang Ming's almost ghostly, stiff movements as he moved over.

He tapped the words "Royal Printing House" on the chalk in his hand again.

"Chew chuckle chuckle!"

"Qingque!"

Li Tai immediately raised his hand excitedly.

"Your Majesty, do you think I should be in charge of this printing house?"

Li Chengqian nodded.

"The Royal Printing Bureau will be directly related to the reforms in education and official promotion within my new policies in Bingzhou. Therefore, I am entrusting you with its management. In my initial plan, the Royal Printing Bureau will be divided into four parts..."

"The Printing Bureau, the Publishing Bureau, the Royal Paper Mill, and the Great Tang National Bookstore!"

"The printing department will provide technical support, the publishing department will have Master Kong and others in charge, the royal paper mill will send Jing Junhong to lead the six guards of the Eastern Palace for protection, and Xiao Rui of the Great Tang National Book Bureau will assist in the rollout."

"Qingque, your job is to coordinate the collaboration among these departments..."

Li Chengqian took a deep breath and solemnly patted his younger brother on the shoulder.

"I plan to implement new categories of civil service examinations in Bingzhou, and to establish at least one Great Tang Academy in every county and even village in Bingzhou as much as possible."

"Qingque, you can decide for yourself what kind of paper and books you need here."

Upon hearing this, everyone around gasped, but Li Tai nodded solemnly.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, Qingque guarantees there will be no mistakes!"

Li Chengqian nodded slightly before turning his gaze to the others around him.

"Attorney Pei, you are familiar with the Wude Law of my Great Tang Dynasty and also have family-inherited knowledge. Are you ready with the draft I prepared in Chang'an regarding commercial tax reform and the initial version of the Great Tang's industrial and commercial law?"

Upon hearing this, Attorney Pei, who had been impatient for a long time, hurriedly stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Your Highness, I have completed all the preparations, and my father has also made some improvements. Although I dare not say that there are no loopholes, it should be fine for initial implementation."

Li Chengqian nodded immediately.

"Alright! In that case, send the draft to me tonight. We will officially begin the trial implementation starting today. Don't worry about making mistakes. I allow you to make mistakes. After all, we are implementing a new policy. If there are no conflicts, I will be more concerned about whether the new policy is correct."

"What I want you to do is to do your jobs well. If any systemic errors occur in the new policies, you must come up with solutions and take action immediately!"

Everyone solemnly bowed in respect.

"Sir, you understand!"

Then, Li Chengqian finally turned his attention to Wang Ming, the governor of Bingzhou, whose body was already somewhat weak.

Looks calm.

Completely ignoring the other person's eyes, which were filled with shock and complex emotions, he stared intently at the words "Land Reform" on the blackboard behind him.

"Is Governor Wang feeling unwell?"

Wang Ming jolted awake and finally came to his senses.

"Your Majesty, I am unharmed. This... I have brought the land and grain tax ledgers, as well as the population ledgers of each county, that Your Majesty requested."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, and immediately several soldiers from the Eastern Palace's Six Guards stepped forward and began to drive the carriage to the Crown Prince's residence in Yangcheng Palace.

Standing among the officials of the Eastern Palace, Li Gang looked at Wang Ming and the group of Bingzhou officials behind him.

I sighed in my heart.

It seems that even the Wang family of Taiyuan had already planned ahead. With the new policies being implemented in Bingzhou, His Highness the Crown Prince, as a new official, would inevitably touch upon them with his three fires upon taking office.

but.

No one expected it.

This crown prince was truly decisive and ruthless, showing no regard for the moderate or appeasement principles of the Central Plains officialdom. He immediately adopted the most forceful approach to forcibly destroy the existing corrupt foundations of Bingzhou.

The goal is to instantly immerse the entire Bingzhou region in the flames of the new policies' reforms.

"Your Highness, I have something to say."

Wang Ming felt the expectant gazes of the Bingzhou officials behind him. Although he also felt the sharpness in the eyes of the Crown Prince in front of him, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and bow.

Li Chengqian looked at him indifferently.

"Your Highness, if the implementation of this new policy is so swift and forceful from the outset, it may cause great chaos in Bingzhou."

"Oh? Governor Wang, would you like to specify which one you are referring to?"

A smile played on Li Chengqian's lips, but his gaze as he stared at Wang Ming was icy and chilling.

Before the other person could speak, he lightly tapped two spots on the blackboard with the chalk in his hand.

"Is Governor Wang worried about land reform and official reform?"

Wang Ming: "......"

Behind him, several officials from Bingzhou, upon hearing this, disregarded the threatening gazes of the six fierce soldiers of the Eastern Palace in front of them.

He hurriedly and anxiously shouted.

"Your Highness, the new policies and reforms must not be done so hastily!"

"Yes, Your Highness, since the Emperor Emeritus ascended the throne, our country's land system has been clear and efficient, and the people are harmonious and the government is efficient. Even if there are some flaws in some places, they can be easily adjusted. Why reform the system and cause such a big upheaval!"

"Your Highness, think twice!"

The shouts reached Li Chengqian's ears.

He first glanced indifferently at Wang Ming, then waved to the soldiers of the Eastern Palace.

He gestured for them to let those people over.

"Who are you?"

Several middle-aged men dressed in official robes, looking like they were well-read scholars, immediately bowed.

"Your humble servant is Liu Yonglin, Registrar of Bingzhou!"

"Your humble servant is Wang Heng, the Prefect of Bingzhou!"

"Your humble servant is Cao Wanchun, Military Advisor of the Bingzhou Bureau of Agriculture!"

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, and the smile on his lips made Hou Junji, the Duke of Lu, who had been watching from the side, secretly shake his head.

They're really courting death.

Things have already come to this point, yet they still think about resisting the new policies.

"You just said that the new policy is inappropriate?"

Of the three, Wang Heng, the highest-ranking official of the fifth rank, the Sima of Bingzhou, took a deep breath.

“Your Highness, we understand that you are eager to make a name for yourself. However, new policies and reforms should be implemented gradually. If you start with such a large-scale campaign, not only will local officials be unable to cope, but the lives of ordinary people will also be affected!”

"If that incites a popular uprising..."

"Crazy!!!"

Before Wang Heng could finish speaking, a sharp shout suddenly came from Li Tai, who was standing next to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian reached out and pressed down on his younger brother Li Tai, who was looking furious and was about to have someone bring a gunpowder canister to tie him up and blow him up on the spot.

He looked at the other person calmly.

"Are you from the Wang family of Taiyuan?"

Wang Heng nodded, neither humble nor arrogant: "This humble official comes from the third branch of the Wang family of Taiyuan, in Fenyang County!"

Wang Ming lowered his head, his forehead already covered in cold sweat.

He could feel the Crown Prince's cold gaze already fixed on his head.

"Tell me, what exactly do you mean by 'gradually planning'?"

Wang Heng took a deep breath. The county magistrates or assistant magistrates of Bingzhou, who were blocked by the six guards of the Eastern Palace behind him, clenched their fists and looked excited, as if they were cheering for the other side.

"Well done, Wang Sima! Don't embarrass yourself!"

"Your Highness wants to change the officialdom of Bingzhou, or even to introduce some new type of imperial examination. This is truly absurd. We scholars have studied the classics for years, yet we have never heard of what a new type of imperial examination is. Does this mean we should abandon the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?"

Wang Heng was clearly more courageous than Wang Ming, who was already kneeling on the ground.

He was completely unaware that the officials of the Eastern Palace around him were looking at him as if he were a dead man.

Standing in front of Li Chengqian, he pointed to the reform decrees on the blackboard behind him.

"Your Highness wants to revitalize commerce, yet you do not encourage merchants to engage in business. Instead, as a member of the royal family, you compete with the people for profit. Whether it is salt, this icing sugar, or perfume that I do not know what it is, how is this any different from exploiting the people?"

"They claim to be acting for the country and the people, but in reality they are competing with the people for profit. They are utterly hypocritical!"

Li Tai clenched his fists tightly, and even Li Ke, standing beside him, had one hand slowly resting on the hilt of his sword.

Wang Ming, kneeling on the ground, was trembling all over.

Before he could say anything, Li Ke, standing beside Li Chengqian, suddenly drew his sword.

"Snapped!"

The hard back of the knife struck the other person's mouth hard.

Instantly, two teeth flew out of the other person's mouth, and the person screamed and collapsed to the side.

Li Chengqian didn't even glance at the other party, and he didn't care at all that his third brother had beaten up a fourth-rank official of the imperial court, the founding county magistrate of Jinyang.

He glanced calmly at Wang Heng, whose expression had frozen, and nodded slightly.

"You keep talking"

Wang Heng swallowed hard. The sudden turn of events made the Bingzhou officials who were being held back by the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace realize that something was wrong.

"Your Highness, it is a great honor that Your Highness wishes to revitalize education. However, all the great Confucian scholars of our dynasty come from distinguished families with substantial ancestral wealth. Your Highness's desire to expropriate and alter land is surely an insult to the virtuous and capable..."

Wang Heng's voice softened slightly.

Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes: "So, what exactly did you mean by 'gradually planning' that you mentioned earlier?"

"Should we go and beg you, family by family, to return the land you have seized through dirty means while the people are suffering to those who are homeless?"

Li Chengqian's gaze was cold as he indifferently swept over the other person and the group of Bingzhou officials behind him.

"Should I kneel down and kowtow to the so-called sage you all speak of?"

"So that while you can feast and drink in luxury behind the red gates, you can also enjoy the sight of people freezing to death on the streets, giving you more fodder to criticize my royal family?"

"Humph!"

"Strip him of his official robes!"

With a stern shout from Li Chengqian, two fierce soldiers from the Eastern Palace's Six Guards immediately stepped forward.

They didn't give Wang Heng, this weak scholar, any chance to resist.

"Tear!"

The exquisite official robe was torn in half by the two men, one on each side.

As Li Chengqian gently raised his hand, Qian Yingying immediately handed him a booklet.

"In the spring of the second year of the Wude era, Wang Heng, the Sima of Bingzhou, smuggled twenty horses of our Great Tang army at the price of inferior fodder horses."

"In the winter of the second year of the Wude era, he forged documents, colluded with thieves disguised as horse bandits, attacked Lingzhou and entered the three merchant groups of Bingzhou, robbing them of their wealth."

"In the spring of the third year of Wude, at less than 20% of the original market price, he forcibly purchased fertile land from villagers near Jinyang in Bingzhou, resulting in the deaths of three people. Furthermore, a young woman was raped and committed suicide by his henchmen!"

"In the fourth year of the Wude era..."

As Li Chengqian's cold voice read aloud the files of the Hundred Cavalry Division, exclusively provided by his father, Wang Heng, who had been pretending to be calm, was shocked by each charge.

His face grew even paler.

When Li Chengqian finished speaking, the latter collapsed on the spot, looking up at Li Chengqian's cold eyes with a look of panic and disbelief.

"A frail scholar, through the machinations of the Wang family of Taiyuan, actually managed to obtain the position of Military Commander in our dynasty..."

"Third brother!"

Li Ke bowed and stepped forward.

"Take the Imperial Guards and make a trip to the home of our Commander Wang Heng. After all, he comes from a scholarly family; he should be more refined..."