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

Li Shimin stared intently at the large characters on the screen—"Old man, calm down, don't force me to unplug your internet cable," as if he had been frozen in place.

The tyrannical aura of the emperor that had filled the entire hall was strangely frozen in mid-air for a second.

His eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets, and his right hand was still in a forward-leaning, downward-pressing position.

But the war mobilization lever, which had been flashing a dangerous red light, was now as lifeless as a piece of scrap metal.

On the gray screen, Li Chengqian's face, wearing sunglasses, seemed to be silently mocking.

The bright colors of those floral shorts stood out starkly against the ashen gray backdrop of the Taiji Hall.

"You are a traitor... you are a traitor!"

After a full three seconds of silence, a hysterical roar suddenly exploded in the center of the hall.

Li Shimin completely went into a frenzy; his chubby face flushed a deep liver color from the rush of blood to his veins.

He took a sudden step forward, his gold-embroidered soft-soled leather boots making a dull thud on the alloy steps.

Facing the unresponsive control panel, he raised his right foot and, with immense force, kicked the sandalwood dragon throne surrounded by nine dragons.

"Bang!"

The heavy dragon throne was kicked by this angry kick and slid several meters to the side, crashing into the dragon pillar with a screeching sound.

"How dare he? How dare he lock my access?"

Li Shimin jumped and leaped on the high platform of the main hall, waving his hands wildly in the air, like a wild beast trapped in a cage.

He pointed at the massive, deathly gray curtain wall, spitting as he spoke, his dark-colored outfit tearing in two places due to his violent movements.

"I am the Emperor of this Great Tang! I am the ruler of this land! How dare he, a mere crown prince, use a 'silence ban' on me?"

The ministers who were prostrate on the ground below the stage buried their heads even deeper at this moment.

Changsun Wuji lay on the cold floor tiles, listening to the sound of dragon boots hitting the ground above him, his body trembling as if he were being shaken.

He glanced at the gray screen out of the corner of his eye, and a storm raged in his heart.

The helplessness brought about by the technological gap not only drove the emperor crazy, but also made these learned and respected officials feel a deep sense of despair.

Before that rebellious son sitting on the beach, the supreme imperial power of the Tang Dynasty was nothing more than a string of code that could be rewritten at will.

If someone is unhappy, even the emperor's right to speak loudly in this hall can be instantly stripped away.

Li Shimin vented his anger for a long time, overturning three incense tables and kicking five vases to pieces.

But the holographic system in front of us shows no sign of reviving.

The red countdown timer, representing the twelve hours, continued to tick away precisely and coldly, second by second.

He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently, like a broken bellows, hissing and steaming.

Sweating profusely, he plopped down on the broken steps, staring dejectedly at his hands.

"Wang De! Summon all the academicians of the Royal Academy of Sciences to me! Bring them their wrenches and hammers!"

Li Shimin slapped his thigh, his voice hoarse from excessive roaring.

"I refuse to believe that I can't even look at today's market data without that rebellious son's permission!"

The old eunuch Wang De scrambled out of the main hall, and a short while later, he led in several trembling, white-haired academicians.

These old guys were usually quite imposing in the laboratory, but now, seeing the Taiji Hall in such a mess, they all turned pale with fright.

"Your Majesty...we are powerless to help."

The leading academician glanced at the gray control panel, but didn't even have the courage to touch it. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"The Crown Prince's Tian Shu core uses a quantum entanglement logic closed loop. Without the highest-level key from the Eastern Palace, even if this hall is smashed up, I cannot connect to a single byte."

"Useless! A bunch of salaried good-for-nothings!"

Li Shimin rolled his eyes in anger, grabbed the Imperial Seal of the State from the dragon table, and made as if to smash it onto the gray screen.

But his hand froze in mid-air.

The jade seal, reflecting the warm luster of white marble under the cold light, seemed particularly ironic at this moment.

If the screen is smashed, the Tang Dynasty's Digital Treasure system will be completely paralyzed, and what will be lost are the credit points in the Tang Dynasty's national treasury that are still increasing.

Having lived most of his life, this was the first time the old man had felt utterly stifled in the face of lines that were invisible and intangible.

He dejectedly lowered his hand and slammed the jade seal back into the box.

He sadly discovered that he could no longer command the Great Snow Dragon Riders, and he couldn't even find the switch to check if it would rain in Chang'an the next day.

What kind of Tang Dynasty emperor is this? He's clearly an internet-addicted middle-aged man whose internet access was cut off by his son.

Just as the Taiji Hall was locked in a strange stalemate, the secondary alarm on the side of the screen continued to emit a faint red light.

That was the latest disaster report from the province of Europa.

Without the suppression of the Tang Dynasty's Tian Shu Network, the 200,000 foreign workers who had smashed the base stations were now completely having a blast.

Armed with sledgehammers, they stormed into the governor's warehouse and divided up the special steel and mecha parts as spoils of war.

Li Xizhi's desperate plea for help was being frantically sent towards Chang'an via the most primitive means of postal transport.

The situation is spiraling out of control. The heavy industry chain that Datang has painstakingly built in Europe is sliding into the abyss of destruction second by second.

"Your Majesty... I'm afraid Lord Li Xizhi in Europe won't live to see the sun rise tomorrow."

Fang Xuanling shifted his aching knees, and with a hint of bitterness in his voice, he mustered his courage.

"If we don't withdraw the taxes, the entire mining area of ​​Europe will be a wasteland tomorrow, and then our steel industry will really be wiped out."

Li Shimin sat on the steps, staring intently at the cold countdown, his teeth grinding together.

His facial muscles twitched violently twice in excessive anger.

The gray screen in front of him was like a mirror, mercilessly reflecting all his greed and wretchedness.

Between the dignity of imperial power and the numbers of real money, this cyber tyrant was ultimately slapped hard by reality in the face of profit.

"withdraw……"

Li Shimin closed his eyes and almost squeezed out the word through clenched teeth.

"Your Majesty, what did you say?" Wang De didn't hear clearly and cautiously leaned closer to listen.

"I'm ordering you to draft an edict! Withdraw the air tax in Europe! Do you understand?"

Li Shimin suddenly opened his eyes and roared at Wang De, spitting all over the old eunuch's face.

"Have Li Xizhi tell those peasants that the Tang Dynasty guarantees their freedom of breathing! And reconnect the electricity to me!"

He slapped his hand on the cold floor, feeling extremely frustrated.

This one-sided compromise left Li Shimin slumped on the steps like a deflated balloon, completely losing the momentum he had just displayed to conquer the world.

On the other side of this world.

On the golden beaches of Hawaii, a gentle sea breeze carries a faint scent of sea salt, causing the shadows of the trees to sway slightly.

Li Chengqian leaned back in his beach chair, looking at the Europa economic curve on his tactical watch, which had returned to its original dark green color.

The bright red crisis alarm finally subsided as Li Shimin's official document withdrawing the air tax was issued.

The percentage figure representing the resumption rate has begun to climb steadily again.

Wu Meiniang watched the data being transmitted and helplessly handed over a plate of freshly peeled, chilled lychees.

"Your Highness, His Majesty is probably furious this time. With a twelve-hour ban on speaking, who knows what the old man will say about you in the Taiji Hall."

"Let him curse all he wants, I can't hear him anyway."

Li Chengqian threw away the coconut shell in his hand, grabbed a lychee and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling indistinctly.

A hint of disdain flashed in his clear eyes as he wearily rubbed his aching shoulders.

"The old man likes to cause trouble when he has nothing to do. We have to find some 'spiritual opium' for him and those aristocratic families to smoke."