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

The supersonic vehicle swept across the vast blue waters and landed smoothly on a makeshift runway on private property in Hawaii.

The cabin door emitted a slight hiss of depressurization before slowly sliding open to both sides.

Li Chengqian was wearing a pair of flip-flops, and his brightly colored floral shorts were dangling from his body.

He squinted, letting the gentle sea breeze caress his face, feeling the salty moisture dancing on his skin.

He stepped down the gangway and onto the soft, fine white sand, as smooth as mutton fat jade.

The slight itch from the sand getting between his toes made him breathe a sigh of relief, and he stretched his arms out wide, giving a big, big yawn.

"This is what life is all about; this is where salted fish should be."

Li Chengqian mumbled indistinctly, his joints making a crisp popping sound, as if his bones had been removed, and he instantly softened in this ultimate tranquility.

At this moment in Hawaii, the sunlight shines like scattered gold on the undulating waves, and rows of coconut palms in the distance sway in the wind, making a soft rustling sound.

A waitress in a bikini promptly served a glass of chilled tequila Sunrise, glistening with water droplets and adorned with a small purple umbrella.

Li Chengqian took the wine glass, the icy touch traveling from his fingertips straight to his heart.

He took a deep breath and shivered from the refreshing sensation of the alcohol mixed with the juice.

This exhilarating feeling of being far removed from the vortex of power and completely abandoning algorithms and data reached its peak in that instant.

However, on the other side of the world, the atmosphere went to the other extreme.

Chang'an, Daming Palace.

The Taiji Hall was dimly lit, and the air was filled with a sense of unease caused by the high-pressure environment.

The holographic control console emitted a faint blue light, which reflected on Li Shimin's face, flickering between light and shadow.

The chairman of the Tang Dynasty was staring intently at the screen, his eyes bloodshot.

His breathing became rapid, and his chest heaved violently, like a vicious wolf eyeing its prey.

In the backend monitoring data in front of him, an icon called "Datang Digital Treasure" was flashing a crazy red light.

Every second, the number of registered users is jumping wildly in the tens of thousands.

Those ever-increasing Arabic numerals were not codes in Li Shimin's eyes, but rather the real gold and silver in the pockets of those old aristocratic families and powerful clans.

"Faster! Faster!"

Li Shimin's voice became hoarse with excitement, and his hands, which had once held the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) on the battlefield, were now trembling as he quickly slid across the phantom-like control panel.

He stared at the torrent of wealth generated by excessive greed, his heart filled with the thrill of a plunderer.

The feeling that he could amass all the world's wealth without lifting a finger, using only a few lines of code, drove him to utter madness.

He is no longer the wise ruler who values ​​balance, but a cyber tyrant in a dragon robe.

"Wang De! Issue my imperial decree to put more pressure on those provinces that are still hesitating!"

Li Shimin turned around abruptly, and the ruthlessness in his eyes startled the old eunuch so much that he fell to his knees with a thud.

"Tell them that if they don't have my credit point settlement system installed throughout the streets and alleys within three days, I'll take their heads first!"

His finger pressed down hard on the console.

This morbid sense of control over power caused the temperature in the entire hall to drop to freezing point.

The old ministers who had been standing guard by the dragon's desk now all bowed their heads, silent as if trembling in fear.

They could feel the oppressive feeling of being reduced to a lower dimension due to the vast difference in time span.

The emperor no longer ruled the country with pen and paper; he held in his hand a scythe powerful enough to sever civilization.

He was pushing this digital weapon, which could instantly impoverish powerful families, with his eyes gleaming.

This flame of greed burned deep within his pupils, turning his former great talent and ambition into pure desire for control.

Li Shimin stared intently at the estimated physical assets of several large aristocratic families on the screen.

In his eyes, those vast fields and mountains of gold and silver were nothing more than fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Once this digital system is fully implemented, all physical wealth will instantly lose its liquidity and become inactive.

"Heh, Cui family, Lu family... you old mudfish."

Li Shimin sneered, a cruel smile curving his lips.

His finger slammed down on a slider representing the "mandatory in-kind exchange rate."

The thrill of this overwhelming attack almost made him groan out loud.

In his view, this was the true authority.

This is the ultimate secret to ensuring the eternal prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and the absolute supremacy of imperial power.

The night sky outside the main hall was tinged with purple by the faint light of the holographic projection.

The entire city of Chang'an trembled amidst this tranquil yet frenzied financial restructuring.

The common people were unaware that the small code disk they scanned every day was actually the emperor's butcher's knife.

The powerful families have yet to realize that the system they introduced through an excessive and blind pursuit of technological convenience is nothing more than a tightly locked gallows.

Li Shimin stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Looking down at the gradually digitizing cyber Chang'an, a sense of dominance welled up within him.

He slammed his hand on the control panel, pointed at the holographic screen, and sneered, "Issue the decree! I want all the gold bricks hidden in the cellars of those old noble families turned into piles of scrap metal that they can't take with them!"