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

Inside the East Palace, Li Chengqian's words, tinged with a hint of teasing and laziness, had barely faded, and the lingering aroma of spicy hot pot still hung in the air when one's gaze was abruptly drawn back to the solemn and fervent Taiji Hall.

There is no desolation or lamentation of a torrential rain here.

The thunder outside the window was blocked by the thick palace walls, replaced by a polar day-like atmosphere illuminated by a screen full of red light. The interwoven torrents of data reflected a morbid yet alluring red glow in the air, striking every giant dragon pillar and nailing itself firmly to the center of the Chairman of Datang.

Li Shimin was in a state of unprecedented excitement at this moment.

His bloodshot eyes, dry from staring at the high-frequency flickering holographic screen for so long, didn't waste a single blink. He watched as the numbers in the national treasury account began to fluctuate wildly under Wu Zetian's almost miraculous commands.

Ten million strings of cash... thirty million strings of cash... eighty million strings of cash!

Those strings of cold Arabic numerals, at this moment, were more captivating to Li Shimin than any stunning beauty. This was no longer the kind of silver that required layers of exploitation and years of waiting for the autumn harvest to be stored away; this was plunder, the ultimate spoils of war resulting from the clash between the wisdom and capital of all humankind in this single second.

The exhilaration of sweeping away the century-old accumulation of the five surnames and seven clans without bloodshed was like a highly potent drug, rushing straight up his spine to the top of his head.

"Good! Well done!"

Li Shimin rubbed his hands together excitedly in front of the control panel. His large hands, calloused from years of holding a pen and wielding a sword, trembled slightly, each fingertip flushed red with excessive excitement. His eyes gleamed, and the greed and fanaticism in his gaze sent a chill down the spine of Fang Xuanling, who was kneeling below. This once wise and mighty Khan seemed, at this moment, to be completely possessed by some demon called "digital money."

Wang De, carrying a plate of exquisite jade and pearl dumplings, had been standing behind Li Shimin for a full half hour.

The old eunuch's legs were already numb with soreness, and fine beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead and into his neck, but he didn't dare to even breathe. The meatballs on the tray, which had been steaming enticingly, were now completely cooled by the cold, electronic blue light. The thickening sauce had solidified into a thin, grayish film, looking utterly tasteless.

But Li Shimin didn't even glance at it.

His well-tailored Zhongshan suit was slightly wrinkled, and his once meticulously combed hair was now a little messy from his excited scratching. He held the specially made, drop-proof tablet tightly, his body swaying slightly with the fluctuations of the screen, like a teenager addicted to the virtual world.

His fingers swiped wildly left and right across the screen, so fast that they even left afterimages.

"North American steel prices rose five percent? Is the South American agricultural sector bottoming out? Quick, tell Wu Zetian to increase leverage and buy in!"

Li Shimin was muttering to himself, so focused that he didn't even realize that his voice carried a chilling, morbid fanaticism when he gave orders.

The thrill of this "capital appreciation" is a thousand times more intense than reviewing those fifty thousand boring electronic memorials.

He found himself addicted.

The power to influence the flow of global wealth by adjusting a few parameters gave his dormant desire for conquest a new battlefield. He was no longer content to be a ruler who maintained the status quo; he wanted to be an everlasting financial war god in this cyber ocean shimmering with red and green light.

"Fang Xuanling! Draft an imperial edict for me!"

Li Shimin didn't even look up, staring at the screen and shouting orders.

"Tell the Ministry of Works to immediately increase investment in North American heavy industry! Since steel prices are rising well there, then have them refine steel like crazy! I want to see Tang Dynasty stocks soar like arrows piercing the sky!"

"Also, send a message to Li Tai, telling him to have his Wei Prince's Mansion invest some of his spare money into this scheme! Stop wasting time on those useless inventions; monitoring the stock market is the real business!"

He began to actively issue various "economic stimulus" orders with strong speculative overtones, and he became completely trapped in this abyss called the "Chairman's Game".

This new cycle of involution is even more exhausting in terms of energy and physical strength than previous administrative work.

The officials below exchanged bewildered glances. Changsun Wuji's lips twitched violently as he looked at his brother-in-law's crazed state. He had seen Li Shimin bloodthirsty on the battlefield and spitting blood in court, but he had never seen His Majesty so obsessed with a few pulsating red threads that he would neglect his meals and sleep, even completely abandoning his imperial demeanor.

It was a fear of the unknown.

The veteran officials' eyes revealed deep fear. They didn't know where this high-level "money-making method" would ultimately lead the Tang Dynasty. This practice of having the emperor directly exploit the world was, in their simple Confucian moral code, utterly heretical.

This sense of absurdity arising from the gap in civilizations permeated the entire Taiji Hall.

Li Shimin was completely unaware of this. He even slapped his thigh and burst into a hearty laugh when a certain steel stock suddenly hit its daily limit.

The laughter echoed in the empty hall, sounding mournful and eerie.

"Hahaha! It's gone up! It's gone up again! Now this is what real power is all about!"

He completely lost himself in this twisted pleasure.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in the Eastern Palace.

Li Chengqian was slowly drinking the last sip of his specially made plum juice, trying to cut through the greasiness of the hot pot.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and take a nap in this rare moment of peace.

"Buzz—"

A faint yet incredibly precise vibration suddenly erupted from the core of his consciousness, the place called "System".

The sensation was like a deep-sea volcano that had been dormant for millions of years suddenly spewing out a mouthful of scorching lava.

Li Chengqian's previously relaxed and unfocused gaze refocused in an instant. He felt that the mechanical voice that had accompanied him through countless darkest moments, yet which he hated with a passion, rang out crisply in that second with an unprecedented solemnity.

【Ding! 】

[A key node in the progress of Tang Dynasty civilization has been detected and activated; rewards are being distributed...]

Just as Li Shimin was applauding the surge in a steel stock, inside the Eastern Palace, the long-silent mechanical voice in Li Chengqian's mind finally emitted a clear notification.