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

"Minister Dai! Wake up! Your Excellency, please don't frighten me!"

Several junior officials from the Ministry of Revenue who were accompanying him surrounded Dai Zhou, who was lying stiffly on the ground, pinching his philtrum and slapping his cheeks, sweating profusely with anxiety.

After a long while, Dai Zhou suddenly gasped.

His cloudy old eyes suddenly opened, his pupils filled with bloodshot veins.

He didn't even care about the still-melting snow on the ground; he sprang up in a somersault and pushed away the official who was helping him.

"The abacus! Where's my abacus?!"

Dai Zhou groped around on the ground like a madman, then grabbed the muddy abacus and hugged it tightly to his chest.

His face, which resembled an old orange peel, was contorted with extreme excitement.

"We're rich... the Tang Dynasty is rich!"

Dai Zhou was so excited that his whole body trembled. Pointing at the endless convoy of treasure-carrying vehicles, his lips trembled so much that he couldn't utter a complete sentence.

His greatest fear in life was war.

Because when war breaks out, the money in the national treasury is poured out like water, and he wished he could break every single copper coin into eight pieces.

But this time, His Highness the Crown Prince not only pacified all thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions, but also crushed the hard nut to crack in the Tibetan plateau.

The most outrageous thing is that they actually brought back such a huge mountain of gold!

"Your Excellency, please...please don't be so happy yet."

A minor official standing nearby swallowed nervously, watching Dai Zhou's delirious state as he nearly fainted.

"I just made a rough estimate, and the cash and gold coins on these carts alone amount to at least tens of millions of strings of cash."

"Not to mention the mountains of jewels and spices."

"Those dilapidated warehouses in our Ministry of Revenue... probably won't be enough to hold them all!"

Upon hearing this, Dai Zhou not only didn't worry, but instead threw his head back and laughed wildly, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

"Can't fit it? If it can't fit, then tear it down and rebuild it! Expand it tenfold! A hundredfold!"

"Issue my order! Summon every single accountant in Chang'an who is still breathing to the Ministry of Revenue!"

"Even if my hands cramp up and my eyes go blind, I will calculate this score clearly and thoroughly!"

While Dai Zhou was going crazy over how to hide the money.

The benefits brought by this war have swept through the entire city of Chang'an like a raging tornado.

Several months later, in the West Market of Chang'an.

This place is no longer the chaotic market that used to reek of horse manure and cheap spices.

With the complete submission of the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions and Tibet.

The Silk Road, which had been severed from traffic for over a century due to war, was reopened and flourished like never before.

Countless massive caravans from the far west, Persia, and the Abbasid Caliphate poured into Chang'an day and night.

The entire West Market was expanded three times its original size, yet it was still packed with people.

"Come and see! Authentic Western Region mare's milk grapes! They were just picked this morning from Turpan, delivered by the Tang Dynasty's fastest express carriage! They're incredibly fresh!"

A local fruit vendor from Chang'an shouted at the top of his lungs.

His stall was surrounded by people from Chang'an dressed in silk, each carrying heavy strings of copper coins, and no one even bothered to haggle over the price.

Because it's cheap, it's incredibly cheap!

In the past, these fruits from the Western Regions were tributes exclusively for the imperial family.

Ordinary people have never even seen it, let alone eaten it.

What now?

For just a few dozen coins, you can buy a whole basketful!

"Hey! Move aside! Be careful not to step on my top-quality snow fox pelt!"

A Persian merchant, leading a dozen or so camels, was sweating profusely as he squeezed through the crowd, speaking broken Guanzhong dialect.

The furs he brought, which were extremely valuable in Persia, could only be sold for a pittance in Chang'an.

Why?

Because the Tang Dynasty now controls the entire Western Regions and Tibet!

Countless cow and sheep hides were transported back to the interior of the pass every day as if they were free.

In Chang'an, almost everyone, from princes and nobles to commoners, had a warm fur coat or wool sweater.

This life is more comfortable than that of a god.

It's not just about material abundance.

The Tang Dynasty's treasury experienced an unprecedented explosion of wealth.

Inside the Taiji Palace, in the Imperial Study.

Li Shimin's smile never stopped as he looked at the thick memorial that Dai Zhou handed him.

He couldn't even resist humming the tune of the Qin King's Battle Song in an extremely unladylike manner.

"Okay! Okay!"

Li Shimin slammed his hand on the imperial desk, making the teacups on it clang loudly.

"Minister Dai, your memorial states that this month's commercial tax revenue alone is equivalent to the total revenue of the past three years?!"

Dai Zhou stood below, his old face full of tired wrinkles, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

"Your Majesty, this is only a conservative estimate!"

Dai Zhou waved his hands excitedly.

"Now that the Silk Road is unobstructed, the prices of our Tang Dynasty's silk, porcelain, and tea shipped to the Western Regions are increasing tenfold or even a hundredfold!"

"Moreover, those people from the Western Regions and the Tibetans are now vying to settle accounts with our Great Tang's copper coins!"

"There are just too many copper coins in the national treasury; hundreds of thousands of the strings used to string them together have already rotted!"

"Your humble servant dares to suggest that we simply melt down all those copper coins and cast them directly into gold bricks and silver bars. Otherwise, the treasury will truly burst!"

Listening to his most stingy Minister of Revenue complain in a Versailles-like manner about having too much money and nowhere to put it.

Li Shimin was overjoyed.

He stood up and walked to the huge map of the Tang Dynasty's territory in the imperial study.

Looking at that vast land painted in crimson, representing the Tang Dynasty, stretching all the way to the roof of the world.

A surge of unprecedented ambition welled up in Li Shimin's heart.

"This prosperous era is exactly what I wished for!"

Just as the entire city of Chang'an and the entire Tang Dynasty were immersed in this unprecedented victory and revelry of wealth.

The Eastern Palace, on the Crown Prince's private bed.

Li Chengqian was lying sprawled out in a very unladylike manner.

Beside her, seven-year-old Wu Meiniang was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding an exquisite golden abacus, calculating accounts with great interest.

Li Chengqian yawned lazily, just about to turn over and continue enjoying this hard-won leisurely time.

Sudden.

Deep within his mind, a crisp, mechanical voice, even carrying a slight crackling sound of electricity, resounded.

[Ding! The host has successfully pacified the Western Regions and Tibet, achieving a historic leap in the Tang Dynasty's territory!]

[Congratulations, host! You have achieved the epic hidden achievement—"Dominator of Land Power"!]

Li Chengqian suddenly opened his eyes, his previously lazy gaze instantly becoming incredibly sharp.

Holy crap? The system, that dead ghost, has actually come back to life? And it started with an epic achievement?!

[Achievement rewards are being processed...]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained a groundbreaking, god-level reward...]