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

The square in front of the Taiji Hall has been completely transformed into an open-air giant treasure trove.

The officials in the Ministry of Revenue are swamped with work.

More than a hundred professional accountants worked from before dawn until late morning, their abacus beads practically sparking, but they still hadn't even finished counting a third of the mountain of gold and silver jewelry.

"Your Majesty... I'm dying... This old minister is dying..."

Minister of Revenue Dai Zhou, this miserly old man who was obsessed with money, was lying happily on a small mountain of gold bars, clutching two fifty-tael gold ingots tightly in his hands, muttering to himself, with a crazy yet satisfied smile on his face.

"Too many... there are just too many..."

"This old minister has never seen so much money in his entire life!"

Li Shimin's condition at this moment was no better than Dai Zhou's.

He held the long list in his hand, his fingers trembling as if he had Parkinson's disease. The paper was crumpled in his fist and covered in sweat.

"Cash... thirteen million strings of cash..."

"Gold... 1.7 million taels..."

"Land deeds in various places... 300,000 hectares..."

"Shops, residences, antiques, calligraphy and paintings... countless..."

With each number Li Shimin read out, his heart would clench violently.

In the end, he could no longer utter a sound; he felt as if a ball of fire was stuck in his throat, making it incredibly dry.

Thirteen million strings of cash!

What does this mean?

The entire year's tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty, painstakingly collected and tightened with his belt, amounted to only a little over two million strings of cash.

The confiscation of the assets of these few families in Chang'an alone was equivalent to nearly ten years of the Tang Dynasty's total fiscal revenue!

This is no longer just being richer than a country.

This is like fucking buying the entire capital!

"It's rich... I've really won..."

Li Shimin stared blankly at the golden world before him, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Just a few days ago, he was so worried about the mere few hundred thousand strings of cash for military expenses that he couldn't sleep, and even considered selling the Imperial Seal of the State.

But now?

He felt that if he casually picked off a piece from this gold mountain, it would be enough for the Great Snow Dragon Riders to eat beef for a year!

"Haha...hahahaha!"

Overwhelmed by immense joy, Li Shimin could no longer maintain his imperial dignity. He put his hands on his hips, looked up at the sky, and laughed so hard that tears streamed down his face.

"We must perform the Fengshan ceremony! We absolutely must perform the Fengshan ceremony!"

He stood with one foot on a box containing luminous pearls, waving his arms with boundless pride, "Not only will we perform the Fengshan ceremony, but we'll also pave the road with pure gold! I want even the heavens atop Mount Tai to see just how wealthy my Tang Dynasty is!"

"And the Turks!"

Li Shimin's eyes flashed with an unprecedented glint of light. "Didn't you want to fight? Fight! Give them a good beating!"

"Tell Cheng Yaojin and the others that their military pay will be doubled! Their pensions will be increased tenfold! Replace all my Mo Dao swords with those made of refined steel! I'm going to use money to crush those grassland barbarians!"

"And...and..."

Li Shimin was so excited that he was almost incoherent. Looking at the mountain of wealth, he felt that he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

What is happiness?

This is what happiness is!

Just as Li Shimin was immersed in the immense joy of "getting rich overnight," and even began to imagine his glorious future of achieving great feats and leaving a lasting mark on history,

An untimely cough suddenly rang out behind him, like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing half of his enthusiasm.

"Cough cough."

Li Shimin suddenly turned around.

Li Chengqian had somehow appeared behind him, arms crossed, looking at him with an expression of "caring for the mentally challenged."

"Father, calm down. You're drooling. Be mindful of your imperial image."

Li Chengqian kicked the jewelry box at Li Shimin's feet with his toe and said slowly.

"Your son has come here just to remind you of something."

"Did we talk about something back in the Imperial Palace?"

"What?" Li Shimin was stunned, still immersed in the joy of sudden wealth and hadn't come to his senses.

"It's a split."

Li Chengqian held up three fingers and waved them in front of Li Shimin.

"30/70 split."

"You get three, I get seven."

"Father, your family is so wealthy and powerful, you wouldn't... renege on your debt, would you?"

The smile on Li Shimin's face froze instantly.

He looked down at the mountains of gold and silver beneath his feet, enough to bury a person, and then at his son's "innocent" face.

My heart is bleeding.

Cut the meat.

This is like tearing out his heart!

He just thought these were all his, but now someone suddenly jumps out and says that 70% of them belong to other people.

"What revenue sharing?!"

Li Shimin reacted extremely quickly, shoving the box at his feet behind him, a movement resembling that of a mother hen guarding her food.

"Nonsense! When did I ever agree to that?"

He put on a stern face and said in a righteous and indignant tone:

"This is all confiscated money! It's the hard-earned wealth that those traitors plundered from the people!"

"It should all be confiscated and put into the national treasury for the benefit of the people!"

"As the crown prince, how can you compete with the country and the people for profit? You have greatly disappointed me!"

What a big hat!

Li Chengqian was so angry he almost laughed.

That old Li, he changes his mind faster than turning the pages of a book!

Just a moment ago he was holding gold and shouting "I've made a fortune!", and now it's all about "using it for the people"?

"Father, this is no fun at all."

Li Chengqian picked at his ear. "Who got the intelligence? Who killed the person? Who helped you recover this money?"

"You think you can take the lion's share just by talking? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

"presumptuous!"

Li Shimin's eyes widened, his imperial majesty fully unleashed, "I am the Emperor! The Sovereign! You are the Crown Prince! The Subject!"

"When the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die! It is only right and proper for me to order you to hand over this wealth!"

"Stop trying to bargain with me!"

"Oh?"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow, and the smile on his face disappeared.

He took a step back and bowed respectfully to Li Shimin.

"Father is right."

"Since Father Emperor says this is embezzled money and should be confiscated, then I have nothing to say."

Seeing that his son had given in, Li Shimin felt relieved and nodded in satisfaction: "Hmm, this child is teachable."

"However..."

Li Chengqian spoke slowly, "Since all this money comes from the national treasury, shouldn't the expenses of the security teams at my Eastern Palace also be borne by the national treasury?"

He started counting on his fingers.

"The Great Snow Dragon Cavalry has three thousand men, and they eat thirty thousand catties of beef every day; the Embroidered Uniform Guard has three thousand men, and although they eat less, they do head-risking work, so their disability compensation and intelligence funding can't be lacking, right?"

"And then there are Bai Qi and Yue Fei's 'servants,' each of them a glutton. I can't let them starve with me, can I?"

"Father, look..."

Li Cheng-

Qian looked up and revealed an incredibly "kind" smile.

"Shouldn't this expense also be covered by the national treasury?"