My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 154 Shocking
Li Xuanba stood at the entrance of the east courtyard, looking up at the mansion in front of him, watching people come and go, but he just waited quietly.

The people entering and leaving the courtyard no longer dared to be as casual as before when facing Li Xuanba; they all bowed and greeted him.

"My lord!"

As one person was about to enter, he saw Li Xuanba standing to the side and quickly bowed to greet him.

Li Xuanba looked at the man, and although he didn't know who he was, he still bowed in return.

"I've always heard about you, my lord, from you, young master. Today I finally get to meet you. You are indeed awe-inspiring!"

The man smiled and offered a few words of praise, then introduced himself, "My surname is Yang, my given name is Wengan, and I am from Hedong. I have only recently become acquainted with you, sir."

Li Xuanba smiled and nodded, "Yang Jun."

"It is truly a blessing for you, young master, to have a brother like Lord Junhou! I have heard that the Duke is very busy, and his youngest son was raised by you, young master! You have also praised Lord Junhou and the other young men on many occasions, and you are full of praise for them."

Li Xuanba nodded again.

Yang Wengan suddenly straightened his face and said solemnly, "However, the Lord and the other two young masters have never repaid the young master."

"Ok??"

Li Xuanba looked at him in confusion. What was this guy talking about?

Yang Wengan said solemnly, "The fact that the young master was punished because of the hunting trip of the Marquis and the Second Prince is outrageous. Even if he has a title and a royal bow bestowed by the Emperor, the bond of blood and the order of seniority should never be forgotten."

Although Li Xuanba was mild-mannered, he was somewhat displeased by what he had been told.

“I know that what happened before was wrong and that my brother was implicated. However, we brothers have never forgotten the order of seniority, nor have we ever gone so far as to disregard our kinship.”

Seeing that Li Xuanba was somewhat angry, Yang Wengan's smile returned. "My lord, please don't be angry. I'm not criticizing you, just reminding you. Young master is kind and generous, and will not hold it against you. However, many of your friends are somewhat dissatisfied with these matters."

"I have heard that Your Excellency is well-versed in the classics, especially Mencius!"

"Do you not know that even a young child knows how to love his parents, and as he grows up, he knows how to respect his elder brother?"

"Now that you, my lord, are of age, you should understand this principle even more!"

The man's tone was rather aggressive, but Li Xuanba calmly looked at him and asked in return, "What is Yang Junzhi treating?"

“I am of limited talent and shallow learning; I have not even finished reading the Analects, so I dare not claim to be an expert in the classics.”

Li Xuanba stepped forward, staring into Yang Wengan's eyes, "What you said is true! Just by reading the Analects, one should know: I hate purple usurping the place of vermilion, I hate the music of Zheng disrupting the elegant music, I hate those who use glib tongues to ruin the state!"

"My elder brother and I are close and have never been distant. You scoundrel, are you trying to flatter my brother by belittling us?! Are you trying to ruin the harmony of our family?!"

"Those who are clever with words and flattering in appearance are rarely benevolent!"

Yang Wengan's face turned red, but he dared not argue any further and turned to leave.

Li Xuanba stood there angrily waiting. After a while, Li Jiancheng, surrounded by a group of people, strode over. They were talking loudly, but when they saw Li Xuanba waiting outside the door, they all fell silent instantly.

Li Jiancheng walked to his side with a smile, and Li Xuanba bowed in greeting.

Li Jiancheng could tell at a glance that his younger brother was a little angry. It has to be said that the boy was quite cute when he was angry. His whole face turned red, even his ears turned red, but he had an innocent-looking face.

Li Jiancheng pulled his younger brother inside, asking, "Who offended you? Did Erlang go looking for you again?"

"It's not my second brother."

Who is that?

"He is a friend of my elder brother."

Li Xuanba then truthfully told Li Jiancheng about the person who had just come looking for him. Upon hearing this, Li Jiancheng suddenly understood.

In truth, the people who were truly dissatisfied with Li Yuan were not Li Xuanba and Li Shimin.

Whenever the sons in the family made a mistake, Li Yuan would punish Li Jiancheng, feeling that he, as the elder brother, had failed to keep an eye on his younger brother. Li Jiancheng himself didn't care; he thought that being punished was just a few words of reprimand, nothing serious.

However, his close confidants felt that this was very unreasonable.

Why punish the eldest brother when the second and third brothers make mistakes? The eldest brother is just their older brother. Even if the eldest brother is like a father, he is not a real father. You can't even keep an eye on him yourself, so how can you punish the young master?
Despite some dissatisfaction with Li Yuan's behavior, Li Yuan was a Duke and the father of Li Jiancheng, so he could not make any accusations. In the end, the focus shifted directly to his two weaker brothers. If these two hadn't been causing trouble all the time, would the young master have been scolded every day?
Li Jiancheng patted Li Xuanba's head. "Don't be angry. I'll talk to them. Come on, I'll treat you to something delicious!"

Li Jiancheng coaxed his younger brother into the house and had some delicious fruit brought in, quickly appeasing his brother.

"Did you come to see me today because you need my help with something?"

Remembering his business, Li Xuanba quickly put down the melon he was holding. He looked up at Li Jiancheng and said, "Brother, I recently bought a mine and need some craftsmen. I know you recruited many before, so I wanted to ask you how to recruit more."

"Oh I got it."

When the topic of craftsmen came up, Li Jiancheng became quite excited, exclaiming, "You've come to the right person for this!"

"You're looking for a blacksmith, right?"

"Haha, I have quite a few here!"

“Brother, I may be smelting elsewhere. I can find another batch myself. I dare not use your people.”

“If you want to hire them yourself, I can recruit a batch for you. This is a good thing. These craftsmen are not doing well either. Many of them have been forced to work for years. When they come back, they don’t even dare to go home. Alas, they are pitiful.”

"By the way, you want to get into smelting? Do you need a good method for iron smelting? I know a few smelting techniques, and yes, I also know a few mining tools!"

Li Jiancheng became more and more excited as he spoke, and he couldn't wait to start painting right now.

Li Xuanba suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, brother, you mentioned designing farm tools earlier, could you perhaps give me a copy?"

"no problem!"

Li Jiancheng also tried to explain some knowledge to Li Xuanba, but Li Xuanba was confused and didn't quite understand.

Li Xuanba asked curiously, "How do you know so much about these things, brother?"

"Well, maybe he has some talent."

"Let's not talk about that. There are actually quite a few craftsmen among those farmers outside the city. I went there today, and I'll have someone bring a group to see you tomorrow. I'll also give you some blueprints, and you can make things according to my drawings. I guarantee you'll be amazed. Hahaha, brother can make anything!"

"Thank you, brother!"

Li Xuanba first bowed in thanks, then pondered for a moment before asking, "Why is Brother so concerned about those farmers outside the city?"

Li Xuanba knew that recruiting farmers and ensuring they could survive the winter was his elder brother's idea.

Speaking of this, Li Jiancheng's expression became much more serious. He held his younger brother's hand and said earnestly, "Xuanba, Grandpa came to me earlier and said that you proposed to confiscate the mines. I was very happy at that time. Do you know why?"

"I don't know."

"Because you understand the greatest truth in the world! The most important people in the world are the common people. Whatever you want to do, you need their support!"

Li Xuanba suddenly remembered the issue of acceptance that he had debated with everyone yesterday.

He then asked, "Brother, are merchants and artisans included as well?"

"How can it not count? Without craftsmen, what would you sit on? Where would we live? What can we do without craftsmen? Farmers go without saying, but even merchants, without merchants traveling around buying and selling things, how could the goods produced by everyone circulate?"

"Unite all forces that can be united, you understand? Whether it's farmers, merchants, soldiers, or artisans, they can all be won over. They possess immense power; we cannot underestimate the power of the masses! We must teach them, organize them, and mobilize them."

"Whoever the people approve of is the most powerful. So I'm really happy that you were able to propose seizing those mines and also thought of helping the people. You've made the right choice!"

Li Jiancheng got more and more excited as he talked, and he hardly noticed the younger brother in front of him, whose eyes were practically spitting fire.

(End of this chapter)