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

"Follow the rules?"

Tang Jian was stunned.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looking at the Crown Prince, who never played by the rules, with a bewildered expression.

"Your Highness, the practice of paying tribute and seeking an audience has been established since ancient times. First, the Court of State Ceremonial registers the officials, then an auspicious day is chosen, and His Majesty hosts a banquet to entertain them, bestowing gold, silver, and silk to demonstrate the might of the Tang Dynasty..."

"Stop! Stop!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand dismissively, interrupting Tang Jian's outdated Confucian rhetoric.

"Lord Tang, are you getting senile?"

"What do you mean by bestowing gold, silver, and silk? Did the money of our Great Tang Dynasty come from the wind?"

Li Chengqian stood up from the soft couch and walked to the window of the study.

He looked at the arsenal in the distance, which billowed black smoke day and night and spewed out the industrial power of the Tang Dynasty like a giant beast, and a cold, extremely mercenary smile curled up at the corner of his mouth.

"Back then, we were poor and needed to spend money to save face, pretending to be a superior nation."

"And now?"

"Now they have cannons pointed at their heads, and trains running right at their doorstep! They're the ones crying and begging our Great Tang to take them in, begging us for food!"

Li Chengqian suddenly turned around and slammed his hand on the desk, startling Tang Jian so much that he trembled all over.

"Since you're here to ask for a favor, you should have the attitude of someone asking for a favor!"

"A banquet in return? Dream on!"

"Relay my order!"

Li Chengqian's voice became extremely sharp, exuding a capitalist-like, bloodsucking aura.

"Tomorrow morning, set up ten payment booths for me on the main street outside the Honglu Temple! Consider it as registering for an appointment at the Great Tang Royal Hospital!"

"Want to see me? Sure! Pay up and buy an account!"

"A first-class seat, 100,000 strings of cash, a seat and tea served, and the opportunity to exchange three sentences with me."

"Second-class seat, 50,000 strings of cash, you can only stand, kowtow to me and then get out of here."

"If you can't even come up with 50,000 strings of cash... then buy a standing ticket for 10,000 strings, and catch a glimpse of me from afar on the street outside the Honglu Temple, to feel the might of the Tang Dynasty!"

Tang Jian was stunned, his jaw almost dropping to the ground.

Is this... is the grand Tang Dynasty imperial court being treated like a vegetable market in the West Market?

"Your Highness...this...this is uncivilized! If word gets out, what will other countries think of our Great Tang?"

"What do you think? They'll just watch on their knees!"

Li Chengqian retorted without hesitation.

"Do you believe that if I set this price out, the threshold outside the Court of State Ceremonial will be worn down by them by tomorrow morning?"

As it turned out, Li Chengqian had an extremely accurate grasp of the psychology of these foreign envoys.

The next morning.

When the officials of the Court of State Ceremonial nervously posted these "fee schedules" on the notice board outside the yamen.

Contrary to Tang Jian's expectations, there was no anger or protest at the scene.

Instead, an extremely fierce, even frenzied, "ticket-grabbing war" broke out.

"Ten thousand strings of cash! I, Persia, offer ten thousand strings of cash! I want to buy a first-class seat! I want to negotiate a million-dollar deal with the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty!"

"Get out of my way, you Persian dog! We, the Abbasid Caliphate, are offering 150,000 strings of cash! We want not only a first-class seat, but also the cushion next to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Ouch! Stop pushing! My gold coins fell to the ground!"

The wide Zhuque Avenue outside the Honglu Temple had now been completely transformed into an extremely chaotic auction site.

Those ambassadors who usually hold high positions in their own countries and can even influence the deposition and enthronement of kings.

At this moment, they were like mad dogs that hadn't eaten for three days and three nights, waving gold and silver notes in their hands and desperately pushing forward.

Tang Jian stood behind the door, watching this scene, and was so moved that tears streamed down his face.

He never dreamed that diplomacy could not only be free, but also so profitable!

"Line up! One at a time! No cutting in line! Anyone who cuts in line will be disqualified, and the money will not be refunded!"

Several fierce-looking Imperial Guards, wielding barbed whips, maintained order with extreme brutality.

And on the outermost edge of this extremely frenzied crowd.

Several short Japanese envoys to Tang China, dressed in tattered linen clothes, were looking at the price list with utter despair.

Inugami Oden tightly clutched the small package full of silver in his arms.

That was a "national gift" that their Yamato Kingdom had painstakingly put together, and it cost at most ten or twenty thousand strings of cash.

They originally thought they could make a good impression on the Tang emperor and take some silk and technology back with them.

But now?

This amount of money isn't even enough to buy the right to stand and kowtow!

"Lord Inugami... what... what should we do?"

A short samurai standing nearby asked, his voice trembling with tears.

"The threshold for the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty is too high. We don't even have the qualifications to meet him, so how can we learn their techniques?"

Inugami Odenkuchi gritted his teeth, a look of extreme humiliation, yet also extreme madness, flashing in his eyes.

"Even if I have to pawn my underwear, I'll buy a standing ticket!"

"As long as I can see that eight-year-old Tang Dynasty prince, with the extremely humble and submissive attitude of my Yamato people..."

"I'm sure I can win his sympathy! I'll make him think we're a flock of harmless sheep!"

"At that time, even a tiny bit of residue leaking from between his fingers will be enough for our Yamato Kingdom to enjoy for a hundred years!"

One hour later.

Inside the main hall of the Honglu Temple.

The extremely comfortable iron-eating beast palanquin was placed at the highest point in the very center.

Li Chengqian, wrapped in an extremely luxurious snow fox fur coat, held a glass of freshly brewed Western Region wine in his hand, looking down at the ground with extreme languor.

To his left sat several Persian and Arab envoys who had spent 100,000 strings of cash and were waiting with fawning expressions to report on their work.

And at the threshold at the outermost edge of the lobby.

Inugami Oden, along with several members of the Japanese delegation, knelt humbly on the cold bluestone slab.

They didn't even dare to lift their heads, but instead pressed their heads tightly to the ground in an exaggerated manner.

"Your Highness, the Supreme Crown Prince of the Great Tang Dynasty!"

Inugami Mitaku let out an extremely mournful cry, like a funeral wailing, in extremely broken Chinese.

He suddenly straightened up and kowtowed three times on the ground with great force, instantly drawing blood from his forehead.

"Your humble servant, Inugami Mitaku, on behalf of the Emperor of Yamato Province, extends the highest and deepest respect to the Great Khan of Tang Dynasty and His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"The land of Yamato is remote and its resources are scarce. But the admiration of the people of Yamato for the Tang Dynasty is like a never-ending, surging river!"

Inugami Oden wiped away tears in an exaggerated manner and raised the package full of silver high with both hands.

"This is a small token of our appreciation from our Great Japan, offered to you with the full strength of the nation."

"We only beg Your Highness to have mercy on us barbarians and allow us to stay in the Tang Dynasty to learn its advanced culture. Even if we have to serve the Tang Dynasty like cattle and horses, we will be willing!"

These words were spoken with such emotion—tears streaming down his face, and an utter humility that bordered on the pathos of the world.

Even the Persian envoys who had spent 100,000 strings of cash looked at them with extreme disdain.

These shorty bastards have really lost all sense of shame in their eagerness to curry favor with the Tang Dynasty.

however.

Contrary to what Inugami Mitaku had expected, Li Chengqian, despite his high and mighty position, did not display the smug sense of superiority that comes with being flattered.

He didn't even glance at the package.

Li Chengqian gently shook the luminous cup in his hand, his gaze piercing through the seemingly humble yet hypocritical face of Inugami Oda Kuchi, with an extremely deep and icy look.

As a time traveler, he knew all too well the extremely perverse and twisted nature of this people.

When you are powerful, he kneels at your feet like a dog, licking the soles of your shoes, and greedily steals everything you do.

Once you show even the slightest sign of fatigue.

This extremely patient and vicious dog will not hesitate to jump up and bite your throat!

"Want to be treated like a slave? Want to learn the advanced education of the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Chengqian repeated the sentence very slowly, a cold, even cruel smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"OK."

Li Chengqian waved his hand casually, a barely perceptible glint of cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Since you're so sincere..."

"Then I'll personally teach you some 'good stuff'."