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

"Let him go find the fourth brother. Let him figure out the voltage problem in Europe himself. Don't bother me in the middle of the night."

Li Chengqian casually tossed the urgent telegram back to the guard beside him and waved his hand impatiently. The guard quickly bowed and nodded in agreement, then quietly retreated from the observation deck, closing the heavy glass door behind him.

The night breeze high up carried a hint of coolness, dispersing the faint smell of engine oil in the air.

Li Chengqian leaned back in his large leather swivel chair, crossed his long legs, and gazed over the eaves of the East Palace, quietly overlooking the mega-capital city illuminated by endless lights.

The rows of bright tungsten filament streetlights on Zhuque Avenue resembled a winding galaxy on the earth, tearing the originally deep night to shreds.

He picked up the carbonated juice beside him, gently swirled the ice cubes on the glass, and listened to the crisp clinking sound. His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the "official history" hidden deep in his memory.

If history hadn't been forcibly interrupted and its magic cast by this time traveler, and if everything had continued to roll forward along its original trajectory, what would the Tang Dynasty be like now?

If we calculate the years, the seventeenth year of the Zhenguan era should have arrived long ago.

According to that damned history book, the Eastern Palace at this time should have been shrouded in a chilling atmosphere of despair. The original Li Chengqian should have become violent due to his foot ailment, spending his days imitating Turkic funeral rites in the Eastern Palace, and finally, under the instigation of Hou Junji and others, he took the risk of launching that doomed rebellion.

and then?

Then he was deposed, exiled, and finally died in despair.

Immediately afterwards, the specter known as the "Curse of Xuanwu Gate" would continue to haunt the bloodline of the Li family. In the struggle for that cold, hard dragon throne in the Taiji Palace, Li Tai would be demoted, Li Ke would be unjustly killed by Changsun Wuji on trumped-up charges, and the entire Tang Dynasty royal family would bleed out its best blood in internal strife.

Brothers quarrel, fathers and sons turn against each other.

That is a tragic cycle steeped in the poison of power.

"Ugh, what a terrible script."

Li Chengqian curled his lips into a mocking sneer and downed the juice in his glass in one gulp.

He stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and placed his palm on the cold bulletproof glass, feeling the powerful pulse of the city.

Those tragedies that were destined to happen have now vanished without a trace.

The wheels of history not only deviated from their original course, but were even directly replaced with a nuclear-powered engine, revving them into the sky.

Brothers fighting amongst themselves?

Now go ask the fourth prince, Li Tai, if he still wants to be the crown prince.

The fat man would probably just smash it with a wrench covered in machine oil, cursing that the imperial palace in Chang'an couldn't even fit a large hydraulic press, and that he couldn't possibly enjoy his time in the heavy industrial base in North America.

Should we ask the third brother, Li Ke, and the ninth brother, Li Zhi?

One of them was a super tycoon in South America who monopolized global rubber and mineral resources, while the other had subdued a group of Western nobles in Europe, spending his days organizing parliamentary elections and exporting culture.

This Earth is so big that it could easily house all of the Li family's ambitious princes as local tyrants.

Who would still care about the pitiful power quota in Chang'an?

As for father and son turning against each other? That's even more of a joke.

The emperor who reigned supreme in the Taiji Palace, now with the peak physique of a twenty-year-old, frantically reviews telegrams and reports from all over the world every day, like a tireless perpetual motion machine.

Li Shimin's famous saying is: "If I don't work for a day, every bone in my body itches unbearably."

This intense, competitive desire, born from the connection between the nation's destiny and the world, led Li Shimin to become completely engrossed in the grand undertaking of building a global village.

Instead of guarding against Li Chengqian seizing power, he wished he could send Wang De to the Eastern Palace every day to smash the door, crying and begging the Crown Prince to ascend the throne so that he could free up his hands to supervise the construction site.

"Your Highness, you're laughing so happily, have you come up with some new trick to torment people?"

Xu Xiao appeared out of nowhere, carrying a plate of freshly sliced ​​Hami melons from the Western Regions. This former commander of the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, though now bearing many modern traits, still retained his unwavering loyalty.

Li Chengqian turned around, picked up a piece of cantaloupe and stuffed it into his mouth, saying indistinctly, "I'm laughing at God. Old Xu, look down, look at this city of Chang'an, look at the people walking on the streets."

Xu Xiao followed Li Chengqian's finger and looked down. On the wide asphalt road, a tram was clanging and jingling as it passed the station.

"Your Highness, things are fine down here. With the streetlights on, even the Imperial Guards have a much easier time patrolling the streets, and no petty thieves dare to roam around at night anymore."

Li Chengqian shook his head and patted Xu Xiao on the shoulder.

"You only see the streetlights, but I see the backbone of the Tang Dynasty standing tall."

"Do you remember when I first took over the Crown Prince's palace, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong. The streets were full of starving people selling their children. The common people worked hard all year to grow crops, but they couldn't even get a full meal. When they encountered disease or disaster, they could only kneel in the mud and pray to the gods and Buddhas."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiao's expression also turned solemn. Having followed Li Chengqian all the way, he was naturally aware of the tragic situation back then.

"But look at things now."

Li Chengqian pointed to a brightly lit multi-story building in the distance, which was the night school section of Chang'an's No. 1 public school.

"Under the lights inside, those sitting there were no longer the scions of noble families who only knew how to read the Four Books and Five Classics, but the sons of blacksmiths and the daughters of farmers. They were learning physics, learning chemistry, and learning how to calculate the meshing ratio of gears."

"I implemented compulsory education for all citizens, stripping away the intellectual property monopolized by those aristocratic families."

Li Chengqian's voice gradually rose, carrying an undisguised pride.

He then pointed to a businessman on the street corner who was shouting loudly into a black microphone.

"Look at that fat shopkeeper. He no longer needs to send a fast horse to Luoyang to place orders, which would take ten days or half a month. He only needs to crank that hand-cranked telephone, and with a few words, he can finalize a deal worth tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"Lights came on, telephones were connected, and railways were laid. People's minds were filled with knowledge, and their pockets were bulging with the benefits of industrial development."

"This is true prosperity, this is the Tang Dynasty I desire."

Li Chengqian turned around, plopped back into his leather swivel chair, and let out a long sigh.

In this era, poverty and ignorance are being crushed by the brutal gears of industry. The feudal logic of relying on the heavens for sustenance and the emperor's benevolence has been completely overturned.

The city of Chang'an today is like a super heart that is running at full speed, pumping the vital blood of civilization to the whole world.

"Your Highness, although this humble subject doesn't quite understand those grand principles..."

Xu Xiao scratched his head and grinned, "But I know that as long as I follow Your Highness, life will be more comfortable than that of a god. Yesterday, my grandson said that when he grows up, he wants to go to the Ministry of Works to build that big iron bird that can fly in the sky."

Li Chengqian laughed heartily, and was about to make a few jokes to Xu Xiao when the glass door was gently pushed open.

Wu Zetian, dressed in a dark red, fitted cheongsam, walked in gracefully.

She carried an exquisite silver tray with a bottle of decanted fine red wine and two crystal-clear stemmed glasses on it.

"Commander Xu, go keep an eye on things in the front yard. Several urgent documents just arrived from the cabinet, saying that His Majesty is angry again about the slow progress of the road construction and is currently in Taiji Palace."

Wu Meiniang gave the instructions softly.

Upon hearing His Majesty's anger, Xu Xiao immediately shrank back, bowed, and slipped away.

Only Li Chengqian and Wu Meiniang remained on the viewing platform.

A night breeze blew in through the half-open crack, fluttering Wu Meiniang's skirt. She gracefully walked to Li Chengqian's side, poured two glasses of red wine, the scarlet liquid gleaming alluringly under the lamplight.

Looking at this city where cyberpunk and classic elements blend perfectly, Li Chengqian felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

He did it. He truly elevated an ancient empire to a level that even later science fiction novels dared not easily depict.

"I have finally welded the accelerator off the wheels of history."

Li Chengqian murmured softly, as if making a final summary of the city lights.

Wu Meiniang walked to his side, handed him a glass of red wine, and asked softly, "Your Highness, a hundred years from now, will the Tang Dynasty still be so prosperous?"

Li Chengqian took the wine glass, a strange light flashing in his eyes.