My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 54 Disguise
As Zheng Jibo watched Zheng Dazhi being dragged away crying, his anger still hadn't subsided.

But thinking about it again, this brat actually did something good despite his bad intentions.

After Li Yuan took office, although he was scheming against the Zheng family, he was also genuinely close to them. Li Yuan helped several of the Zheng family's sons obtain military positions, and the Zheng family also secretly sponsored some of Li Yuan's businesses and transferred some local interests, etc.

Otherwise, Zheng Jibo would not have had the idea of ​​a direct marriage alliance with Li Yuan.

Zhao Yuanshu was known for flattering and being close to the emperor. He had no real ability and contributed the least during the suppression of the rebellion, yet he was promoted the fastest. This was partly due to the Duke of Chu's efforts, as he was close to the Duke, and partly due to his shameless flattery.

When the emperor was about to issue corvée labor, many people petitioned him, arguing that it was inappropriate to do so in the spring. The previous Minister of Agriculture was particularly opposed to this, publicly opposing it and arguing that issuing corvée labor in the spring, which would coincide with waging war on the border, would cause a major food disaster.

The remaining ministers, a few of whom dared not submit a formal memorial, privately opposed corvée labor and war. Among them was a former scholar who was a teacher in Xingyang. The rest remained neutral, neither opposing nor agreeing.

Only Zhao Yuanshu, who submitted a memorial expressing support for the sage, argued that with abundant food supplies throughout the land, a little bit of corvée labor and war was nothing.

Therefore, he gained the emperor's favor and has now been appointed Minister of Agriculture, becoming one of the emperor's closest ministers.

The fact that the sage sent Zhao Yuanshu to supervise agriculture here is quite interesting.

Leaving aside whether the sage cared about local agriculture and sericulture, let's talk about the matter of sending him to Xingyang.

Although Xingyang is a major grain-producing prefecture, it is clearly not a pillar of grain production. If agricultural supervision is to be carried out, it should be done in Henan Prefecture. Moreover, if it is to be a real agricultural supervisor, how can it be reasonable to send only four or five people without any official credentials to accompany a local official to take up their post?

Without the Emperor's Day, who in the localities would care about him?

Looking at it this way, Zhao Yuanshu's arrival must be on the emperor's orders to investigate something. The only ones in Xingyang who could possibly pique the emperor's interest are probably the Zheng family and the Duke of Tang.

Therefore, Li Yuan's attitude towards Zheng Jibo was very unusual. He even reminded Zheng Jibo and deliberately mentioned Zhao Yuanshu's name.

Zheng Jibo naturally understood the reasoning behind it and joined Li Yuan in exchanging insults.

In a way, Zheng Dazhi's actions this time were correct, as they showed the Emperor that the Zheng family and the Duke were not as harmonious as rumored, and that the family's children were even killing each other.
Zheng Jibo dared not delay and hurriedly began writing letters, asking his sons and allies from various places to write letters denouncing the crimes of the Duke of Tang.

When putting on a show, you have to go all the way.

When dealing with a sage, one must not be careless in the slightest.

The banquet at Li Yuan's residence was also nearing its end.

Zhang Xutuo drank quite comfortably and thanked Li Yuan for his hospitality repeatedly. Li Yuan then asked him to stay at his home to rest. Zhang Xutuo declined several times, but finally had no choice but to agree. Li Yuan then sent someone to take him to rest.

Li Yuan also ordered Wang Zanwu and other officials to get out of here and come back to talk tomorrow.

Only Zhao Yuanshu remained, quietly waiting for Li Yuan to finish his work.

After he finished his work, Zhao Yuanshu walked forward with a smile.

"Duke!"

"Zhao Jun hasn't left yet?"

Li Yuan began his speech with this sentence.

Zhao Yuanshu suppressed her anger. "Duke, I haven't brought many people with me. I plan to start inspecting agricultural and sericulture matters in various places starting tomorrow, and I'll need you to send someone to help me."

"You can take this matter to the government, and I will send someone to help you."

Li Yuan adopted a posture of seeing his guests off.

Zhao Yuanshu finally couldn't hold back any longer.

He tolerated Li Yuan's constant mockery along the way, and he tolerated it again once they arrived at the mansion. Why did things get worse every day?
“Duke, my rank is not high, far inferior to yours. However, I have come here by order of the Emperor. Why are you so disrespectful?”

"What, you expect me to obey your orders? Do you have any imperial edicts or warrants?"

"you!!"

Zhao Yuanshu blushed, called her men, and turned to leave.

Li Yuan squinted and watched Zhao Yuanshu leave angrily without saying a word.

Li Jiancheng walked suspiciously to Li Yuan's side. His father had always enjoyed making friends, and he had never seen him target anyone so deliberately. He asked, "Father, he has to report back to the Emperor after he returns. Is it inappropriate for you to treat him like this?"

Li Yuan laughed and lowered his voice, "You don't understand your cousin."

"If Zhao Yuanshu speaks well of me after she goes back, we'll be in big trouble. But if she speaks ill of me, we'll be safe."

"This fellow is cowardly, weak, and incompetent; he's not worth befriending. It's better to provoke him and make him say a few bad things about me before the sage."

"I see."

Li Jiancheng nodded in sudden realization.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed Li Jiancheng's neck from behind, causing him to stumble. The person who did it was Li Yuan. Li Jiancheng looked up and saw his father's ferocious face.

"Grandpa! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong!!"

"Oh!"

Li Yuan grabbed his eldest son and kicked him in the backside, saying, "Is this how you manage a household?"

"what?"

"You're sending your brother, who's not even ten years old, out to fight bandits?! Why didn't I throw you out when you were ten? What, are you already planning to steal my inheritance before I'm even dead?!"

"say!"

Li Jiancheng couldn't avoid it even if he wanted to. "No, Grandpa, I sent people to protect him. I sent Feng Li and Wei Ting."

Li Yuan kicked him again, saying, "I just left, and you've already dropped your brother?"

"That was just an accident!"

"You still dare to form a local militia without authorization, and you even want to take in the refugees from outside the city??"

Li Jiancheng suddenly felt a sense of despair.

He had initially wanted to offer some explanation, mentioning the role Erlang, that troublemaker, played in the whole affair, but after thinking about it, he decided to take the blame for everything.

"Grandpa, I accept the punishment. It was all my fault."

"Hahaha~~~"

Li Yuan suddenly burst into laughter. He released his son, patted him on the shoulder, and his face was full of satisfaction.

"well done."

"what?"

Li Jiancheng had already closed his eyes, waiting for his father to order him to be dragged out for caning or flogging, but unexpectedly, Li Yuan suddenly praised him.

He looked at Li Yuan in astonishment, "Father."

“Forming a local militia to benefit the people, enhance our reputation, and clashing with the Zheng family are not bad things. What angers me the most is that you threw your brother and sent him out to fight the bandits. If you had gone out on your own, I wouldn’t have said anything to you.”

Li Yuan looked at Steward Liu in the distance and said, "Go and bring those brats back. Don't tell them anything."

Manager Liu quickly agreed.

Li Yuan took his son's hand and turned to walk towards the study.

The father and son entered the study. Li Yuan's expression finally relaxed a bit, and his shoulders were no longer so tense. He sat down more casually and gestured for Li Jiancheng to sit beside him.

Li Jiancheng sat down cautiously beside him.

Li Yuan squinted and suddenly said, "The world is about to descend into chaos."

Li Jiancheng was taken aback and looked at his elderly father.

“This time is different from the past. In the past, when a sage lost his temper, killed a few people, demoted a few people, or went to war, it was not a big deal.”

"The last large-scale corvée labor involved a large number of people, but it was after autumn, so it wasn't a big deal. But this time, a million people were mobilized at the beginning of spring. Do you know what will happen after autumn this year?"

Li Jiancheng frowned. "Famine."

"It is precisely during a famine that the people might not care if a sage committed murder and arson, but the sage chooses to let the world go hungry."

Li Yuan clenched his fist. "When I was young, I met a very famous physiognomist. He looked at my face and said to me: 'My face is extraordinary, and I am destined to be the ruler of a country. Furthermore, you were born with jade in your mouth, which seems to indicate that you have a destiny.' Are all of this a sign?"

"When I went to the capital this time, the Duke of Chu sent someone to meet me privately. I didn't know what he wanted to do, so I politely declined and didn't go. Do you know who he sent? It was an official sent by the Sage to receive me. His power has expanded to this extent. I am sure something big is going to happen."

Li Yuan looked at Li Jiancheng, his eyes seemingly burning with something. He didn't hide anything from his future heir, including his naked ambition.

"Brother, our family also needs to make some preparations."

"Your younger brothers are all too young to assist me in accomplishing great things, so you will have to help me with the arrangements. From now on, you must be even more vigilant and never be careless, understand?"

Li Jiancheng took a deep breath.

"Here."

(End of this chapter)