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

"His Majesty is departing!"

The eunuch's high-pitched, slightly raspy voice echoed throughout the Taiji Palace, but it couldn't hide the panic within.

The Tang emperor, ignoring his entire court and officials, skipped court early in the morning—a first during the Zhenguan era. The grand procession had just left the palace gates, and everyone expected them to head to the Eastern Palace to demand an explanation, but Li Shimin waved his hand, abruptly changing the course and directing the procession straight to the royal hunting grounds outside the city.

The autumn wind was bleak, swirling up a few withered leaves at the edge of the hunting ground.

This sacred land, once a playground for galloping horses and drawing bows, has now been transformed by the Mohists into a testing ground for heavy industry. Discarded gears and targets riddled with craters are scattered everywhere.

Li Shimin jumped off the imperial carriage and refused the help of the eunuchs.

Wearing that eye-catching bright yellow dragon robe, he walked straight towards the row of red cannons with a cold metallic luster in the center of the hunting ground, stepping on the coal cinders scattered on the ground.

"Load it! Use the most powerful gunpowder!"

Li Shimin rolled up his sleeves, stepped onto the thick cannon barrel, and seemed to have rediscovered some of the heroic spirit he had as the General of Heavenly Strategy back then.

The gunners of the Shenji Battalion were terrified. They scrambled over to bring gunpowder and explosive shells and carefully completed the loading.

"boom--!"

Li Shimin personally seized the torch and lit the fuse. With a deafening roar, half of the small hill in front of him was instantly blasted into a cloud of rubble and dust. The violent shockwave even made Li Shimin's dragon robe flutter wildly.

"Cool!"

He roared, and the gloom on his face seemed to dissipate considerably with the loud noise.

"Again!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three shots rang out in quick succession, shaking the entire hunting grounds. Birds in the distance scattered in terror, and even the imperial guards' warhorses guarding the edge were so frightened that they foamed at the mouth.

but.

As the fourth shell was loaded, Li Shimin held up a torch and looked at the ruins that had been completely leveled.

His hand suddenly stopped in mid-air.

The flames on the torch flickered, reflecting in his once excited dragon eyes, which now dimmed rapidly, like the receding tide.

"Boring."

Li Shimin casually tossed the torch into the smoke-filled mud, and it went out with a hiss.

He sighed and slumped against the scorching hot cannon barrel, feeling utterly dejected. The explosions that usually thrilled him sounded like the beating of a broken drum—dry and meaningless.

The old eunuch stepped forward and handed over a clean silk handkerchief.

"Your Majesty, is the new cannon not powerful enough? This old servant will immediately summon Master Craftsman Mo and have him revise it!"

"It has nothing to do with the cannon."

Li Shimin took the silk handkerchief and hastily wiped the coal dust off his face.

"It's the area around the Tang Dynasty, it's too quiet."

He raised his head, and the sharpness of his decisiveness was gone from his eyes, leaving only an emptiness of bewilderment as he looked around with his sword drawn.

"When I fought Wang Shichong, I was dancing on the edge of a knife with my head on the line. I won, but I won the empire with my life."

"Later, the destruction of the Eastern Turks and the capture of Jieli were achieved by mobilizing the entire nation's resources and gambling with the fate of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin muttered to himself, as if he were talking to the old eunuch, or perhaps to himself.

"But what about now?"

He pointed to the railway track in the distance, which stretched towards the sky like a giant black python.

"The kingdoms of the Western Regions have been drained dry by Chengqian's so-called 'vouchers,' and now they're all growing cotton and mining coal for our Great Tang. The Tibetans don't even want to stay on the plateau anymore; they're lining up to build railways in the Central Plains just to get a decent meal."

"Goguryeo in the east, that tough nut that even the previous dynasty couldn't crack, was destroyed by that madman Bai Qi with three thousand men, who demolished the Jingguan (a mound of corpses). Now there's not even one left who dares to breathe loudly."

The more Li Shimin spoke, the lower his voice became.

"Even Japan, separated by the sea, had its gates blasted open by that shattered treasure ship fleet. Now, every tael of silver there must be stamped with the seal of the Tang Dynasty before it can be transported out."

He slammed his hand on the cannon barrel, the impact causing a sharp pain in his hand, but he didn't notice it at all.

"My Great Tang Dynasty is now invincible under heaven!"

"The money in the national treasury is so vast that even Dai Zhou, that old miser, couldn't keep track of it all. Even if all the officials of the Tang Dynasty did nothing, they could never spend all that money in several lifetimes!"

"People have enough to eat and wear, and even when they need to defecate, they use those flushable ceramic toilets!"

"I, as emperor, have long since exceeded my ultimate goal as a ruler!"

Li Shimin stood up and paced anxiously back and forth in front of the cannon formation.

"There are no enemies to fight, no traitors to kill, and I don't even need to approve the memorials for disaster relief!"

"Then what am I getting out of sitting on that cold, hard dragon throne every day, listening to those pedantic scholars chanting scriptures?!"

He finally let out all the pent-up frustration in his heart.

This is a typical "retirement syndrome." When a person stands at the absolute pinnacle of power and achievement and loses the intrinsic motivation to continue striving, the deep-seated emptiness is more tormenting than losing a battle.

If it were just invincible loneliness, that would be fine.

What truly broke Li Shimin's defenses was that, in this loneliness, he saw a glaring point of reference.

That was his eldest son, Li Chengqian, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

"Let's go back to the palace. No, let's go to the East Palace!"

Li Shimin spurred his horse and, without even waiting for the ceremonial guards, galloped off towards Chang'an.

He wanted to see what the culprit who had made the Tang Dynasty invincible was doing while he was depressed and on the verge of madness!

Half an hour later.

Li Shimin kicked open the gate of the East Palace.

It lacks the solemn and oppressive atmosphere of the Taiji Palace, which can be suffocating.

The courtyard of the East Palace was filled with the stench of rotten salted fish.

The warm sunshine of early autumn shone on the lawn.

Li Chengqian was wearing a loose Shu brocade nightgown, lying sprawled out on an "ergonomic rocking chair" newly developed by the Mohist school.

Beside him, an "automatic fan" made from a small steam engine was tirelessly blowing cool air at him.

Wu Meiniang sat at a small round table, holding a thick account book in her hands, and was reading aloud to him in a pleasant voice the huge monthly turnover of the Tang Dynasty Royal Bank.

On Li Chengqian's stomach, the iron-eating beast, which was already quite large but still adorable, was holding a fresh purple bamboo and munching on it with a crunching sound.

Li Chengqian didn't even lift his eyelids, but skillfully reached out and comfortably ruffled the black and white fur ball twice.

"Keep reading. Why is the profit margin on cotton cloth dumping in the Western Regions two percentage points lower than last month? Let Lao Dai check if some tribal chief is asking for trouble again."

Li Chengqian muttered something lazily.

Looking at this scene.

Standing outside the courtyard gate, Li Shimin felt as if he was about to spit out a mouthful of blood.

envy!

Insane jealousy!

On what grounds?

Why is it that everyone in the Li family has to get up before dawn every day, put on that dragon robe that weighs more than ten kilograms, and go to the Taiji Hall to listen to those old men arguing?

This brat not only controls the most profitable businesses in the world, but also firmly grasps the military power and popular support of the Tang Dynasty. His reputation is even more renowned than that of the founding emperor himself.

As a result, his daily routine consisted of lying in a chair drinking iced plum juice and petting these black and white mythical beasts that no one else had ever seen before!

This emperor is such a complete and utter traitor!

"I quit!"

Li Shimin's eyes instantly turned red, and the suppressed grievances and resentment in his heart finally erupted.

He slapped his thigh suddenly, and a light that was even more resolute than when he stood before the Xuanwu Gate suddenly shot out from his previously bewildered dragon eyes.

"Why is it that brat gets to enjoy life here every day, while I have to do hard labor in the Taiji Hall?!"

"Since he led the Tang Dynasty to its current glory, then he should bear the responsibility!"

Li Shimin strode toward the rocking chair, each step making a loud thud on the floor.

"I must relinquish this throne today!"