Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

"go home?"

Li Shimin had just directed the artillerymen to polish the last red-coated cannon until it shone brightly when he heard this, and he almost threw the rag in his hand at Li Chengqian's face.

He is the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, the General of the Heavenly Strategy, and now the most glorious and awe-inspiring commander-in-chief of the Divine Machine Battalion in the Great Tang Dynasty!

The thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions haven't been completely bombed yet, and Tibet has only just tasted the sweetness of cannons; they haven't even had enough of the sound yet.

Are we heading home already?

"Chengqian! What's wrong with you!" Li Shimin strode onto the palanquin in three quick steps, his beard bristling and eyes wide with anger.

"How many times have my cannons even fired? Aren't there Persia and the Abbasids to the west? Let's just push our way through and blast their walls to smithereens!"

Looking at my father's severely insufficiency of firepower and his complete fascination with war.

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes speechlessly and lazily leaned against the iron-eating beast's furry belly.

"Father, please save your breath."

Li Chengqian pointed to the Tibetan nobles who were queuing up, their faces full of flattery, waiting for the Tang Dynasty to issue them "temporary resident certificates".

"These people have been completely corrupted by our sweet talk; they've lost all their fighting spirit."

"Even if you shoved the cannon barrel into their mouths now, they would only lick it a couple of times, say that the metal tastes good, and then ask if you'd sell the cannon."

"There's no intention of resistance whatsoever. What's the fun in fighting this? It's just a waste of ammunition and my time to make money."

Li Shimin looked in the direction Li Chengqian was pointing.

Sure enough, several of the most arrogant Tibetan generals were now rolling around on the ground, tearing at each other's hair, fighting over a flawed down jacket from the Tang Dynasty. They were completely devoid of the dignity of great generals.

This scene certainly doesn't inspire any desire to fire a shot.

"Then... what should we do with this mess?" Although Li Shimin was unwilling, he knew that forcibly continuing the fight was pointless, so he could only point to the vast plateau and ask.

"What do you mean by a mess? This is the treasure trove of our Great Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian snapped his fingers, and a guard immediately handed him a pre-written letter of appointment.

"Wang Xuance stayed here as the Protector-General of Anxi, responsible for the military and political power of the Western Regions and Tibet."

"As for the specific infrastructure and assimilation work..."

A sly smile crept across Li Chengqian's lips as he wielded his brush with a flourish.

"Send a message by carrier pigeon to the fourth brother, Qingque (Li Tai), asking him to bring over the experience of 'food diplomacy' from the Beiting Protectorate."

"Anyway, that chubby guy is tired of roasting whole lambs on the grasslands. Let him come to the plateau to make butter tea with roasted beef, and also to brainwash these Tibetans."

"This...this is too childish!" Li Shimin was dumbfounded. Such a large piece of newly conquered territory was just casually thrown to a civil official and a fat little boy who only knew how to eat?

"This is called governing by doing nothing," Li Chengqian shamelessly gave himself a high-sounding reason.

"Anyway, the trade route has been opened and the rules have been set. As long as we keep shipping goods over, these people will have to obediently work for us."

"Alright, Father, stop being so reluctant to part with your old junk."

Seeing Li Shimin's lingering gaze, turning back every few steps, and his reluctance to part with the red-coated cannons, Li Chengqian reluctantly threw out the bait.

"If you really can't resist the urge, when we get back to Chang'an, I'll pay for a 'Cannon Theme Park' to be built just for you in the Royal Garden."

"I'll build you a hundred targets, so you can bombard them to your heart's content every day, okay?"

"Really?!" Li Shimin's eyes instantly lit up like two 1,000-watt light bulbs, and his previous disappointment vanished in an instant.

A ruler's word is his bond.

"Good son! I knew you were the most filial!" Li Shimin slapped his thigh excitedly. "Order the entire army! Break camp! Set up camp! Head to Chang'an! Full speed ahead!"

With the emperor's order, the Tang Dynasty's western expeditionary force, which had swept across the plateau with unparalleled might, finally embarked on its journey home.

However, the current appearance of this army is less like a triumphant royal army and more like an outrageously large caravan.

Besides 150,000 elite soldiers and those 100 red-coated cannons.

Behind the army followed a seemingly endless convoy of supply trains.

It was filled with rare treasures, gold and silver jewelry, top-quality Hetian jade, piles of cordyceps and spices plundered from the treasuries of the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions and the Tibetan Kingdom.

In addition, there were hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep that were forcibly confiscated, as well as tens of thousands of Western Region artisans and Tibetan beauties who cried out for their parents and were selected to go to Chang'an to work as "laborers".

This grand procession, laden with wealth and glory, traversed wind and snow, crossed snow-capped mountains, and once again set foot on the flat road of the Hexi Corridor.

As the army marched eastward, the scenery along the way gradually transformed from desolate Gobi deserts into vibrant farmlands.

When the dilapidated yet still standing Yangguan city gate came into view, the entire army erupted in a deafening cheer.

But outside Yangguan.

A grain transport convoy that had traveled day and night from Chang'an was quietly waiting there.

At the very front of the convoy stood an old man in a faded official robe, clutching a large abacus tightly in his hands. He was none other than Dai Zhou, the Minister of Revenue of the Tang Dynasty, known as the "Iron Rooster."

For the past few months, Dai Zhou has been suffering from poor eating and sleeping in Chang'an.

The western expeditionary army grew from 100,000 to 150,000, and the daily consumption of grain and military pay was like a bottomless pit.

Although His Highness the Crown Prince said he could make money before he left, how many copper coins could he possibly bring back after going all this way to fight in those godforsaken places?

He personally escorted the grain supplies this time because he wanted to remonstrate with the emperor and the crown prince that they could no longer squander the family fortune through such reckless military campaigns!

"Your Excellency, look! It's the army! The royal army has returned in triumph!"

The official from the Ministry of Revenue standing nearby excitedly pointed to the long black dragon in the distance.

Dai Zhou squinted his dim old eyes and strained to look over.

However, when he saw what was behind that group, he froze on the spot.

His eyes widened, his mouth gaped open enough to fit a fist, and the abacus in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

That was truckload after truckload of gold!

It is an exquisite jade that reflects a dazzling light under the sun!

It was a mountain of rare spices and precious furs!

This is hardly an army returning from battle.

This is clearly a moving gold mine!

A super gold mine that could fill the Tang Dynasty's treasury ten or even a hundred times over!

Dai Zhou's breathing became extremely rapid, his face flushed red, and his heart pounded wildly.

His hand trembled as he pointed at the endless convoy of treasure, making strange "clucking" sounds in his throat.

"Money...it's all money...I've never seen so much money in my entire life..."

He hadn't even finished saying his sentence.

This most stingy Minister of Revenue in the Tang Dynasty rolled his eyes.

Overwhelmed by extreme shock and overwhelming happiness, she fainted instantly.

"Lord Dai! Lord Dai, what's wrong!"

"Quick! Pinch the philtrum! Summon the army doctor!"

The grain transport team was instantly thrown into chaos.

At this moment, Li Chengqian, who was comfortably resting in the iron-eating beast palanquin with his eyes closed, was awakened by the noise outside.

He pulled back the curtains, looked at the old man who had fainted on the ground in the distance, and shook his head helplessly.

"That's all Old Dai is good for."