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

The Minister of Revenue, or rather, Old Lu, the first CFO of the Great Tang United Board of Directors, shattered the eerie silence in the Taiji Hall with his shrill shout, like a rusty, dull knife: "Chairman! Something's happened! The Great Tang Global Logistics and Shipping Index has suddenly collapsed!"

The scream echoed through the towering dome of the hall, causing many of the old ministers to shrink back.

Old Lu slipped and fell almost flat on the marble floor, but he didn't care about saving face. He scrambled up the platform on all fours. He held the alarm tablet, which was flashing a blinding red light, tightly in his hand. On the screen, the once smooth logistics curve now showed a terrifying, almost vertical drop.

Li Shimin's hands, which were originally supporting him on the edge of the control panel, suddenly tightened, and his knuckles made a slight cracking sound due to excessive force.

"Explain clearly, what do you mean by collapse?" Li Shimin's voice was as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, exuding a chilling aura of ruthlessness.

Old Lu knelt on the ground, panting heavily. Due to extreme fear, he spoke rapidly, like a machine gun.

"Just now! In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, hundreds of millions of unexplained sell orders appeared in the market without warning!"

Old Lu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his fingers trembling as he swiped across the screen.

"Those short-selling funds are acting like madmen, recklessly dumping money on our shipping sector. Now, freight quotas on South American routes have become worthless, and dozens of large shipping companies in European provinces have all triggered circuit breakers. Chairman, if we don't intervene soon, within two hours, all cargo ships worldwide will be forced to stop due to the collapse of the credit system!"

Inside the main hall, the executive directors, who had been caressing their gold brand-name items, were completely stunned by this sudden and devastating news.

Fang Xuanling stared at the alarming red light on Lao Lu's tablet. Although he didn't fully understand what "circuit breaker" meant, he understood the words "global shutdown." His usually refined face instantly turned pale, and he subconsciously glanced at the shiny CEO badge on his chest.

This sense of panic spread like a plague through the once solemn court.

In the eastern corner of Chang'an, there is a secluded and quiet private teahouse.

The atmosphere here was completely different from the tense atmosphere in the Taiji Hall. The air was filled with the faint fragrance of top-grade Da Hong Pao tea. Cui Yonglin, the head of the Cui family, sat in a specially made genuine leather wheelchair. Although his legs were wrapped in thick bandages, injuries from kneeling at the foot of the imperial city, his eyes shone with an alarming light.

"Is it done?" Cui Yonglin took a sip of hot tea, his voice low and hoarse.

"Master, the first wave of sell orders has already broken through their psychological defenses."

A steward dressed in a black, narrow-sleeved Hu-style robe strode closer, holding a delicate holographic projection terminal in his hands. The light and shadow from the terminal were projected onto Cui Yonglin's wrinkled old face, reflecting an almost manic pleasure.

"The Taiji Hall is in complete chaos. I heard that Minister Lu practically crawled in there."

Upon hearing this, Cui Yonglin suddenly let out a chilling low laugh. He put down his purple clay teacup and lightly tapped the armrest of his wheelchair with his fingertips.

"Did Li Shimin think that by setting up a 'board of directors' and hanging a few gold medals around his neck, he could kick us old guys out?"

A ruthless glint flashed in Cui Yonglin's eyes. The madness that arose from the threat to his interests made him completely forget the excruciating pain of his broken bones.

"He underestimates the power of capital. He has guns and cannons, but we have money, and the power to set prices for all goods in the world. This board of directors has just been established, so consider this first financial report with its sharp drop as a congratulatory gift to His Majesty. Tell them to keep dumping; I want every ship of the Tang Dynasty to rot in the harbor!"

Inside the Taiji Hall, the chaos had reached its peak.

"Send troops! Chairman, someone is definitely spreading rumors. I suggest we immediately deploy the Great Snow Dragon Riders and arrest all those rioters initiating the sell-off at the exchange!"

An executive director from a family of military generals suddenly stepped forward. His face was flushed, and his hand was already instinctively on the hilt of the sword at his waist. In his view, there was no problem that couldn't be solved by cutting off a few heads; if there were, then cut off a few more.

"Foolish!" Changsun Wuji snapped out of his daze and shouted angrily, "Those are numbers, those are the market index! Who are you sending troops to kill? Those flickering lights and shadows?"

"What can we do then? Are we just going to watch our Tang Dynasty's wealth shrink for no reason?"

The old ministers looked at each other, some sweating profusely, others praying in hushed tones.

This primitive feudal mindset revealed a near-desperate sense of powerlessness when confronted with the modern financial crisis. This cognitive dissonance caused the situation to spiral out of control and become absurd, turning the once-majestic court into a chaotic marketplace.

Li Shimin maintained that forward-leaning posture, like a volcano about to erupt, desperately suppressing the magma in his chest.

He listened to the arguing below, finding the sounds as annoying as flies. His bloodshot eyes appeared somewhat vacant due to his intense focus.

Before him, a huge, custom-designed holographic screen emitted a faint, cold light.

The red curve that originally represented the fate of the Tang Dynasty and its triumphant advance seemed to have hit an invisible iron wall, abruptly and resolutely turning downwards.

The color changed.

It was no longer the red that represented prosperity, but in a second, it turned into a glaring, tragic, and even death-inducing eerie green.

That patch of green, like a moldy scar, loomed in Li Shimin's field of vision.

It was a humiliation he had never experienced before, a challenge that felt foreign and terrifying to him.

Li Shimin ignored the clamor of his ministers. He looked down at the holographic screen in front of him, where the once-flowing red curve suddenly turned downwards, becoming a glaring, ghastly green line.