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

Li Chengqian crumpled the SOS letter, which was half a year overdue, into a ball and casually threw it into the charcoal brazier.

His expression was very unhappy; the frustration caused by the information asymmetry made him want to go crazy.

"Old man, stop wandering around there, you're making me dizzy."

Li Chengqian glanced at Li Shimin, who was anxiously pacing around like an ant on a hot pan in the room, and exhaled a smoke ring in an annoyed manner.

Li Shimin abruptly stopped, his eyes wide like saucers: "That's your own brother! In that godforsaken place like South America, what if Ke'er really gets torn apart by those bastards? How am I supposed to explain this to his mother?"

"What is there to explain? He chose this path himself, and he has to finish it, even if he has to crawl on his knees."

Although Li Chengqian was tough on the surface, he was already frantically searching through the system's shop.

That kind of traditional letter correspondence is really too wasteful.

By the time your reply reaches us, let alone saving the person, we might not even be able to attend their seventh day memorial service.

"System, search for me! I need the fastest solution that can achieve cross-sea communication!"

[Ding! Host requirement detected. Recommended solution: Basic wireless telegraph blueprints.]

[Required points: 2000. Note: This device requires a signal repeater station to function.]

"It's changed!"

Li Chengqian didn't even blink.

He reached into his pocket and a thick stack of blueprints, still smelling of ink, appeared out of thin air.

"Xu Xiao! Bring Lao Mo here! Even if he's in jail, you have to bring him here!"

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Mo Ju, with his stubble and sunken eyes, was dragged and pulled into the East Palace by the Imperial Guards.

This chief mechanical master of the Tang Dynasty was recently engrossed in improving the flush toilet when he was suddenly interrogated, leaving him somewhat bewildered.

"Your Highness...this humble servant's chamber pot hasn't been sealed yet..."

"Why seal the toilet! Look at this!"

Li Chengqian slammed the blueprints on the table, the force of which made the teacups jump around.

Mo Ju leaned closer suspiciously, and after only a few glances, those dead fish eyes instantly flashed with the light of a hungry wolf.

"This...this uses electromagnetic wave oscillations to achieve long-distance character transmission? Genius! Absolutely ingenious!"

"Stop talking nonsense. I need to see the finished product in three days."

Li Chengqian pointed to the core component on the blueprint, "If you lack materials, rummage through the imperial warehouse; if you lack manpower, rob the Ministry of Works. If this thing can't make a sound in three days, you'll go to South America to accompany the third brother in his bird-hunting."

Mo Ju shuddered, grabbed the blueprints, turned and ran, so fast that even the Imperial Guards almost couldn't catch up.

Over these three days, the atmosphere in Chang'an became exceptionally strange.

Li Chengqian was not idle. He used the latitude and longitude provided by the system to issue a firm order to the Tang Dynasty supply ships scattered in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

All ships were grounded and converted into temporary radio relay stations.

These ships all had secret radio stations he had planted before, but no one knew how to use them, and no one knew what those piles of scrap metal were for.

The third day at dusk.

A black box that looked extremely rudimentary, with even a few exposed copper wires, was placed in front of Li Chengqian.

Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and a group of important officials all held their breath and gathered around the strange-looking iron box.

"This is it?"

Li Shimin reached out to touch it, but Li Chengqian slapped his hand away.

"Don't move around, it's leaking electricity. A shock could make you do the Hu Xuan dance right there."

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, put on his headphones, and his fingers began to dance nimbly across the keypad.

"Beep beep, tap tap tap, beep, tap..."

This monotonous, jarring sound echoed through the silent side hall.

Wei Zheng frowned and muttered under his breath, "Your Highness, are you sure this thing isn't trying to summon a spirit? How could the King of Wu hear just a few sounds?"

Li Chengqian ignored him, his gaze intensely focused.

This is the eastern coast of South America at this time.

Li Ke was leading several hundred remnants of his army, huddled in a makeshift fortress built of logs.

Outside were tens of thousands of indigenous tribes, dressed in colorful fabrics and carrying blowguns and stone axes.

Those natives, chanting strange slogans, were frantically attacking the defensive line.

"Your Highness! We're running low on ammunition! Those bastards are fearless!"

A captain, his face covered in blood, screamed in despair.

Li Ke gritted his teeth, clutching the last grenade in his hand: "Damn it, didn't my brother say this place was paved with gold? No gold to be found, just a bunch of lunatics!"

Just then, the mysterious iron box inside the fortress, which had always been treated as a decoration and strictly forbidden to be touched by anyone, suddenly began to tremble violently.

"Beep! Beep beep beep!"

The soldier on guard was so frightened he almost wet himself: "A ghost! The iron box has come to life!"

Li Ke rushed over and shoved the soldier aside.

He remembered his elder brother's instructions before he left—if the tin box made a sound, translate it according to the pinyin chart.

Li Ke shakily took out the form he had kept hidden away, and listened as he went along with it.

As more and more text was translated, Li Ke's face, which had been filled with despair, gradually revealed a look of ecstatic joy.

"It's Big Brother! It's Big Brother's echo!"

He slapped his thigh and roared at his men, "Stop firing! All of you, stop!"

The captain was stunned: "Your Highness, if we don't stop, we'll be minced meat!"

"Shut up! Listen to your brother!"

Li Ke snatched the megaphone and yelled into the dense forest outside, "Hey, you high priest! Stop fighting! We need to exchange things!"

At this time, Li Chengqian had already sent his first international telegram from the Eastern Palace in Chang'an.

The telegram was extremely concise, yet it exuded an unreasonable and domineering air:

Don't fight. Trade them land with glass beads and floral fabric. They treasure those things. Anyone who tries to take them, bomb their temples to the ground with cannons. If you get into trouble, find your boss; he'll cover for you.

Li Chengqian took off his headphones, rubbed his reddened ears, and turned to look at the group of stunned old men.

"That's... all done?"

Li Shimin pointed at the iron box, his voice trembling.

Li Chengqian curled his lip: "It's over. I bet they're discussing how to exchange the broken glass for half a province right now."

Fang Xuanling walked forward shakily, looking at the machine as if it were a miracle.

"Your Highness, if this is true... then if something happens on the Tang Dynasty's borders in the future, wouldn't the news be able to reach the capital instantly?"

Wei Zheng no longer cared about impeaching Li Chengqian for "losing his ambition by indulging in frivolous pursuits"; he even wanted to knock the iron box open.

"This isn't just a machine; it's a national treasure of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Shimin's eyes grew brighter and brighter, a light shimmering with a mixture of greed and ambition.

He turned his head sharply and stared intently at Li Chengqian.

"Chengqian, if this stuff were spread all over the Tang Dynasty, wouldn't I be able to control every move in the world just by sitting in the palace?"

Li Chengqian lay back in the rocking chair and leisurely crossed his legs.

"Dream on. The cost of this one machine could buy half of Chang'an. Are you planning to sell off the national treasury?"

Li Shimin chuckled and rubbed his hands together as he leaned closer.

"As long as it can transmit messages over thousands of miles, what's a little land? Chengqian, let's discuss this, father and son. Could we install one of these 'telegrams' in my imperial study first?"

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes and pointed outside the door.

"If you want to pretend, then first persuade Old Man Wei and the others to leave. They're making such a racket that it's giving me a headache."

Li Shimin's expression immediately changed, and he swept his gaze over the surrounding ministers with an air of authority.

"What are you all doing standing here? Can't you see the Crown Prince needs to rest? Wei Zheng, didn't you want to bang your head against a pillar? Go back to your own house and do it, don't get in the way of the East Palace!"

The ministers were driven out, but Li Shimin did not leave; he continued to circle around the telegraph machine.

"Chengqian, do you think the third brother received the letter?"

Li Chengqian yawned and casually turned off the power.

"Whether he received it or not, we'll know if he sends another SOS message tomorrow, won't we?"

Li Shimin nodded, as if he had remembered something.

"So, can the fourth son in North America, and the ninth son in England, also pretend to be something they're not?"

Li Chengqian replied lazily, "I can install it, but you'll have to pay for the maintenance of the relay station."

Li Shimin's smile froze, then turned somewhat awkward.

"Well, let's talk again. Could we use Datang's shares to pay off the debt?"

Li Chengqian snorted coldly and looked out the window.

"Old man, you should first think about how to explain to the third son that those 'glass beads' from South America are actually defective products from the East Palace workshop, right?"