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

"Congratulations, Your Highness. With Sufyan and the local merchants assisting from within, and the Sassanid Persians suppressing from without, even if Muhammad has extraordinary abilities, he can forget about unifying the Arabian Peninsula."

"Once our Great Tang has dealt with the surrounding area, it will be time to take action against them!"

Chang'an, the Ganlu Hall of the Imperial Palace.

After reading the letters that the King of Han had sent back, which contained some accounts of the Arab region, he looked at the huge geomantic map on one side of the hall.

Dai Zhou, the Grand Counselor, was immediately moved and bowed with his hands clasped.

The position of Grand Counselor remained vacant for a period of time after Wei Zheng left. Later, Dai Zhou performed outstandingly as the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture and was promoted to this position by Li Tai, the Prince of Wei who was then the regent.

This guy seems to be intentionally emulating Wei Zheng, becoming a straightforward official.

There was no one in the court, from officials to nobles, whom he dared not criticize.

Only the Crown Prince standing before him at this moment could make him behave obediently and respectfully.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

Just as Li Chengqian was about to say something, a soft, sweet, and somewhat indistinct voice beside him made him swallow back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Oh dear, Little Sizi is awake! Come here, let your royal brother give you a hug..."

Little Sizi, who is almost one year old, can now say a few simple names and can also babble and stammer as she follows the people around her.

Her cute, rosy face, paired with a pair of large, bright black eyes that looked like those of a modern anime character, made this little girl a favorite of the entire harem.

The little girl was very energetic, seemingly because her parents, Empress Zhangsun and Emperor Li Shimin, had both consumed the Dragon Essence Fruit, and her body was more robust than that of ordinary children her age.

When Consort Yin and Consort Yang held the baby, they all said that this little girl really looked like her childhood name, Si Zi, just like a little rhinoceros.

Li Chengqian was playing with the little girl when, after a while, Empress Zhangsun sent someone to take the little girl to nurse, and then he had her taken away.

"Hehe, Princess Jinyang really likes Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Dai Zhou smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

Li Chengqian waved his hand in a humble manner, but chuckled twice: "Hahaha, among all my younger brothers and sisters, who doesn't like me?"

Dai Zhou: "......."

Hmm, perhaps His Highness Prince Jin, whom you have now placed in the position of regent, harbors quite a bit of resentment towards you.

However, he naturally wouldn't say these things.

He proceeded step by step to report his recent work progress to Li Chengqian.

The six ministries and local government offices of the Tang Dynasty had a large amount of official business to handle every day. The Tang Dynasty, from top to bottom, was undergoing an extremely rapid and intense process of digesting the benefits of war.

However, wealth can be tempting.

Even with the Tang Dynasty's Crown Prince Li Chengqian, the "Living Yama" (a notorious figure known as "Li the Skinflint"), there were still some people who couldn't control themselves and took things they shouldn't have.

It's been described as collusion between officials and businessmen, or covert embezzlement...

"Your Highness, in the fifth year of Zhenguan, a total of 438 officials of the sixth rank or above were found guilty of crimes. All cases involving them have been tried and the evidence is complete."

Dai Zhou cupped his hands in greeting.

Li Chengqian nodded, speaking calmly as if casually instructing someone to eat or drink.

"The officials can be handed over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. As for their relatives, if they are involved in joint liability after the trial, they should be dealt with according to the Tang law."

Dai Zhou felt a chill run down his spine. He knew all the officials in the court what the consequences would be if he handed over those four hundred officials to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

In fact, it wasn't just them who knew this; even the officials still imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's jail were well aware of it. However, Minister of Justice Li Daozong wouldn't give these parasites the chance to seek their own deaths.

Just last month, news came from the palace.

His daughter, Consort Li Xueyan, was also pregnant.

This delighted Li Daozong. Although he didn't know whether the baby in her womb was a boy or a girl, at least his future daughter wouldn't be bullied in the palace.

Dai Zhou, who had just emerged from the Ganlu Hall, sighed and shook his head slightly.

Although he also felt that the Crown Prince's use of such heinous methods as skinning and stuffing with straw to punish corrupt officials was too shocking and unacceptable, and might not leave a good reputation for posterity.

However... it must be said that it is precisely this cruel punishment that makes people shudder, coupled with the generally high salaries of officials in the Tang Dynasty, that has prevented the Tang Dynasty from experiencing any truly terrifying and heinous cases of corruption.

This created an excellent environment for the large-scale construction and new policies of the Tang Dynasty.

"Alas, enough is enough. If you were seeking wealth, there are plenty of opportunities in the Tang Dynasty for you to make money. Yet you chose to become officials, only to harm the people and cheat the court... You have a path to heaven but choose not to take it, and you have no way to hell but come to it yourself."

"If you run into someone like the Crown Prince who can't tolerate even a speck of dust, you'd better be more careful in your next life..."

He sighed and strode out of the palace.

Then a person came running from outside. Upon seeing who it was, Dai Zhou quickly bowed.

"Commander Qian, it's been a long time."

Qianlou nodded, but as if he had something urgent to attend to, he didn't stop for a moment and headed towards Ganlu Hall.

Dai Zhou: "...Tsk tsk tsk, which fool has been caught committing a crime by the Embroidered Uniform Guard this time?"

Being caught committing a crime by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and being caught by the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review are two completely different outcomes.

Meanwhile, Li Chengqian, seeing Qianlou rushing over in such a hurry, also thought that something extraordinary had happened.

"what happened?"

Qianlou bowed, but his expression was somewhat uncertain: "Your Highness, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has reported that something seems to have happened in Chengdu Prefecture. Li Junxian, the commander of the Hundred Cavalry Division, has suddenly led a large number of Hundred Cavalry Division troops from Jiannan Road to Guannei Road."

"Afterwards, they searched for several days in the area of ​​the official road in Qizhou within the pass, seemingly to arrest someone."

Li Chengqian nodded, but didn't understand what the other party wanted to say.

"and then?"

Qianlou pursed his lips: "Li Junxian is currently leading the Hundred Cavalry to guard the official road from Huazhou to Chang'an, seemingly intercepting someone. I dared not alert them, so I came to ask Your Highness for instructions."

They heard that the arrests had reached Chang'an.

Li Chengqian also noticed something amiss and frowned slightly: "You mean, the Hundred Cavalry Division came to Chang'an to arrest people without notifying you to assist?"

Qianlou shook his head.

"Not only did they not notify us of their assistance, but... they also seem to be deliberately avoiding our people."

"Hiss... What kind of trouble is this old bastard up to now?"

Li Chengqian frowned, pondering the possible events that might have occurred.

What do you mean?

Emperor Li Er, the Grand General of Heavenly Strategy, forcibly abducted a woman in Chengdu Prefecture, and her family is now making a scene in Chang'an, threatening to file a lawsuit against him.

Cough cough, no, no... how could you think like that?

Li Chengqian rubbed his chin, thinking for a long time, but couldn't think of anything that made sense.

"Since the Hundred Cavalry Division is hiding from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, that means my father doesn't want me... or the Empress to know about this!"

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up, feeling as if he had grasped something important.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the table a few times.

"Here's what we'll do: take a squad of men and capture Li Junxian for me. If he asks anything, don't say a word..."

Qianlou accepted the order and hurriedly left the palace.

Leading a menacing squad of Imperial Guards, he rode his horse toward the outskirts of Chang'an.

Jingzhao Prefecture, Wugong County.

Li Junxian, along with a dozen or so skilled cavalrymen, sat at a wonton stall near the county town gate. Each of them held a spoon in their hand, eating wontons while keeping their eyes fixed on the direction of the town gate.

Upon seeing the carriage entering the city, their eyes instantly sharpened.

After realizing it wasn't Sun Yi's carriage, they disappointedly looked away...

"Commander, could it be that the eunuch was carrying out other official duties for His Highness the Crown Prince? Did he change course somewhere along the way?"

Li Junxian snorted coldly.

"We can't worry about that! No matter how he changes his route, as long as he doesn't leave the Guannei Road, the only ways he can return to Chang'an are Wugong County and Hu County. We have people in Hu County too. I don't believe that Sun Yi won't come back!"

As he spoke, he angrily tried to scoop up the wontons from the bowl with his spoon, only to find that he had unknowingly finished another bowl.

He immediately slammed the spoon down in a huff.

"You guys keep watch here, I'm going to the outhouse!"

Several members of the Hundred Cavalry Division nodded in agreement.

Not far from the town gate of Wugong County, there is a newly built public toilet.

Li Junxian lowered his head, his face looking rather grim.

The constant tracking and anxiety over the past ten days inevitably made him a little irritable.

"Commander Li, you should have the imperial physician examine you..."

A somewhat familiar voice startled Li Junxian, causing him to shudder and the already intermittent flow of water to be abruptly cut off.

"grass!"

Li Junxian turned around angrily, only to meet Qian Lou's ambiguous smile.

His expression froze instantly, and his face began to turn pale at a visible speed.

"Commander Li, please summon the Crown Prince!"

"Don't put the brothers in a difficult position..."