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

The sea breeze, carrying the smell of coal smoke from the dock, caressed the face of the Tang emperor, which was flushed with extreme excitement.

Li Shimin still held the heavy silver brick tightly in his hand, as if if he let go, this dreamlike silver mountain would vanish like a mirage.

He spent half his life on the battlefield, and his greatest dream was to fill the Tang Dynasty's treasury to the point where he no longer had to depend on powerful clans, and to ensure that all military households in the land could have enough to eat and wear.

now.

This dream has not only come true.

Moreover, it hit him directly in the face in an extremely brutal, even unreasonable, way.

"Chengqian."

Li Shimin swallowed hard, his gaze shifting back and forth between the mountains of silver and the thirty steel treasure ships in the distance.

"I believe that the current national strength of our Great Tang Dynasty is probably the peak it has reached since the beginning of time."

The tone of this emperor, one of the greatest emperors in history, surprisingly carried a hint of bewilderment and satisfaction.

"The four barbarian tribes submitted, the Western Regions became vassals, and even troublemakers like Tibet obediently built railways for us."

Li Shimin suddenly turned his head and looked at Li Chengqian, his eyes revealing a sly gleam of "wanting to retire after achieving success".

"With this money, can we finally put away our weapons and let our horses graze freely?"

"I plan to hold a grand banquet at the Taiji Palace for three months after I return to Chang'an! Let all the envoys from across the land witness the immense wealth and power of our Great Tang!"

"From now on, I'll fish in Tianjin every day, and when I have free time, I'll take your train to Luoyang for a ride."

The more Li Shimin talked about it, the more brilliant the idea seemed to him; even the crow's feet around his eyes beamed with joy.

however.

What greeted him was a cold laugh from Li Chengqian, one that was filled with utter disdain and even contempt.

"Father, why are you still so easily swayed?"

Li Chengqian walked up to Li Shimin, unceremoniously pried the silver brick out of his father's arms, and casually threw it back into the silver mountain, making a crisp clanging sound.

"Keeping money rotten in a warehouse and counting it every day, that's called being a miser."

"A true emperor is not judged by how much gold and silver is piled up in his treasury, but by how much of a world he can create with that gold and silver!"

Li Chengqian dusted off his hands and turned to face the Tang Dynasty officials who were somewhat bewildered by what he had just heard.

Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Dai Zhou, and others held their breath, waiting with utmost respect for the eight-year-old crown prince's instruction, just like primary school students listening to a lecture.

"Money only becomes wealth when it circulates and transforms into real productivity and military power. Otherwise, it's just a pile of nice-looking scrap metal."

Li Chengqian snapped his fingers, and Wu Meiniang immediately took out an extremely heavy folding book wrapped in bright red silk from her bag and handed it to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin opened the folding book with suspicion.

When he saw the dense ink marks and pictures on it, the eyes of this Tang emperor widened even more instantly than when he had seen the Silver Mountain.

"What...what is this?!"

"This is a 'Major Infrastructure Project 2.0 Upgrade' that I tailored specifically for the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian's voice sounded incredibly calm in the sea breeze, yet it carried an air of domineering control.

"First and foremost, the railway."

Li Chengqian pointed to the map of the Tang Dynasty's territory covered with red lines on the folded paper.

"The railway from Chang'an to Luoyang was just a very insignificant beginning."

"I will use this silver brought back from Japan to forge a massive steel artery that runs through the north and south of the Tang Dynasty, connecting east and west!"

"To the north, we must build a road to the grassland protectorate, so that those Turks can drink strong liquor transported from Chang'an every day; to the south, we must build a road to Lingnan, so that silk and grain from Jiangnan can be transported to Guanzhong within a few days!"

"I will make it so that there will be no longer any talk of long journeys in this world. As soon as the train whistle sounds, the iron cavalry of the Tang Dynasty will be able to suppress any rebellion that dares to bare its teeth in the shortest possible time!"

Li Shimin's breathing quickened and his eyes turned red.

This grand blueprint, which would lock the entire empire firmly in place with steel, is simply the ultimate form of rule that every emperor dreams of!

But Li Chengqian's plans were far from over.

He casually flipped to a page, on which was an architectural sketch that no one in the Tang Dynasty could understand.

"Secondly, there is Chang'an City."

Li Chengqian's tone became somewhat disdainful.

"Although Chang'an is known as the world's largest city, in my opinion, it is still too dilapidated and backward."

"Those mud-brick houses leaked when it rained, and even keeping them warm in winter was a problem. Not to mention the extremely terrible sewage system; in the summer, half of Chang'an was filled with a stench."

Li Chengqian walked up to Dai Zhou and patted the Minister of Revenue on the shoulder in an extremely friendly manner, which made Dai Zhou tremble all over.

"Old Dai, take out half of the silver budget."

"I intend to carry out an extremely radical demolition and reconstruction of Chang'an!"

"Tear down all those old, dilapidated walls. Use the Mo family's latest high-grade cement and reinforced steel to build me a real, towering concrete skyscraper!"

"Not only must buildings be constructed, but also an extremely comprehensive network of biogas pipelines and ceramic sewage pipes must be laid underground. I want every household in the Tang Dynasty to have access to exceptionally clean flush toilets and to be able to stroll under biogas streetlights at night!"

"I will transform Chang'an into the world's premier divine city, a city that would make every foreign envoy who enters wish they could kneel and worship!"

Dai Zhou held the folding board, which was thicker than a brick, and felt his heart begin to clench violently again.

Although the national treasury is now full, the speed and scale at which His Highness the Crown Prince spends money is even more ferocious than the cannons of the Divine Machine Battalion!

"Your Highness...isn't this project a bit too large? How many laborers will be needed?" Dai Zhou asked in a low voice, wiping away his cold sweat.

"labor?"

Li Chengqian gave a chilling laugh.

"The Western Regions, Tibet, Goguryeo, and now the newly acquired 'Japan Province'."

"What our Great Tang Dynasty has the least shortage of right now is that extremely cheap, even free, foreign labor force."

"Send orders to the protectorates in various regions, instructing them to continue sending prisoners of war and laborers to the Central Plains. Fight them to the death, as long as they don't die!"

This extremely exploitative and utterly inhumane capitalist facade silenced the ministers present, who were all spouting righteousness and morality.

Faced with absolute self-interest, all notions of a nation of etiquette and the teachings of benevolent rule are utterly laughable worthless pieces of paper.

Looking at his eight-year-old son, who was planning the future of the empire with great arrogance, Li Shimin's thoughts of "retirement" were instantly washed away by an extremely strong surge of passion.

He suddenly realized that his previous thoughts were incredibly naive and lacked any sense of perspective!

With a son who can take the country to such outrageous heights, why should he retire? He can still follow this brat and see just how terrifying the world can become!

"Very well! I grant your permission! We'll do as you say!"

Li Shimin waved his hand with great pride and roared loudly.

"Dai Zhou! Duan Lun! You two return to Chang'an immediately and, according to the Crown Prince's memorial, begin full-scale operations for me!"

"Anyone who dares to hinder this massive infrastructure project will be skinned alive!"

The assembled officials responded with great enthusiasm and answered the order in unison.

For a time, the entire Tianjin dock area was filled with an extremely fervent and upward-looking atmosphere of imperial rise.

Just when everyone thought that the Tang Dynasty's conquest, after pacifying East Asia and acquiring immense wealth, could finally slow down a bit.

Li Chengqian turned around abruptly.

He did not look at the mountains of silver, nor at the excited courtiers.

He walked to the edge of the dock in utmost quietness, his deep eyes looking beyond the enormous Ming Dynasty treasure ships to the distant and profound blue ocean.

The sea breeze blew gently against his white fox fur coat.

Li Chengqian slowly raised his hand and casually pointed to the vast areas on the system's holographic world map that were not yet covered by the red color of the Tang Dynasty and were still in an extremely backward or unknown state.

"and."

Li Chengqian's voice sounded extremely gentle in the sea breeze, yet it carried a boundless ambition that could make the whole world tremble.

"We spent such a huge amount of money to build this extremely invincible fleet."

"Now that they've gone out to sea and seen the storms outside."

"How can we stop so easily?"