Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Yuchi Jingde, as if catching a chick, tossed the distraught Li Chengqian onto the emperor's desk.

Just as Li Chengqian had said before, every wall of the Eastern Palace was leaking air.

He underestimated Li Shimin's control over the imperial city, and even the entire city of Chang'an.

So, it failed.

Li Chengqian raised his head and stared blankly at his father.

The man's eyes were filled with anger and murderous intent, his gaze piercing like an ancient war god.

In the past, such an expression from the emperor would have terrified Li Chengqian.

But now, after his final effort failed, he was not so afraid anymore.

Father and son, their eyes met in the air, but neither of them spoke.

Li Chengqian suddenly laughed, and he laughed like a fool.

"Hehehehehe... Hahaha... Hahahaha..."

"You scoundrel! Are you laughing at me?"

"Does your son... not even have the right to laugh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin raised his head, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh.

What did I do to turn Chengqian into this state?

Guanyinbi, come back and help me discipline these rebellious sons.

"Chengqian, why do you rebel?"

"Everyone is watching me."

"Everyone is forcing me to rebel!"

"Is this your reason for betraying me?"

"Stop asking, Your Majesty."

I'm tired.

Li Chengqian stood up and limped away from the Taiji Hall.

"Chengqian!"

The father's shouts did not stop the son's steps.

Just before leaving, Li Chengqian turned around, his expression indifferent.

"Your Majesty, please do not make the Prince of Shu the Crown Prince. He is a treacherous villain, and every word he says is a lie."

"you……"

The prince walked out like that.

Outside the palace gates, the sky was filled with countless stars.

He no longer cares what the future holds.

As long as it's not that Crown Prince, that's fine.

……

Li You sat on a wooden stump, watching his soldiers set up elephant hides and wild boar hides and leave them to dry in the sun.

After the last elephant attack, the herd of white elephants never came back.

They must have been terrified of humans.

The Tongbai Mountains stretch for over 150 miles, a vast area sufficient for them to live in. Moreover, further south lies another dense forest, stretching for thousands of miles. Therefore, there is no need to fight to the death with these fierce humans.

The tall waterwheel played its due role, with soldiers taking turns pedaling to draw water into the rice paddies.

The paddy fields cover a total area of ​​about 500 mu, and the rice seedlings have already grown to a height of seven or eight inches.

Li You asked Master Mingjing, who said that at this time of year, the rice seedlings should have grown to about a foot tall.

It was obvious that the seedlings that the soldiers had rushed to plant did not grow very well, and the subsequent yield was estimated to be mediocre.

However, this was the team's first attempt after entering the mountains, and it would be good enough if it grew at all. Li You's expectations were not high, and the cultivated land was not large. As more land was cultivated and more experience was accumulated, the yield would naturally increase.

Li You and his men entered the mountains in May, and now it is September. In another forty or fifty days, the rice in the fields will ripen, and the soldiers will be able to eat the grain they have grown themselves. Of course, the grain produced from these 500 mu of land is a drop in the ocean for a population of over 4000. When the autumn harvest is ready, Li You will send people down to purchase a large quantity of grain to supply food for the winter and the following spring.

From the initial uproar of the rebellion to the slow pace of farming and waiting, some soldiers hadn't quite adjusted, but Li You himself was quite content. After all, he had avoided being executed by the Emperor of Chang'an, and he currently had several thousand soldiers and hundreds of thousands of coins. The Tang court hadn't discovered this small base hidden in a remote part of the empire, all of which made Li You feel good.

The problem is, this awful weather in the South is just so damn hot and humid.

After careful consideration, Li You concluded that the climate during the early Tang Dynasty should have been in a warm period.

Historical records indicate that the Guanzhong region was too hot at the time, resulting in frequent droughts that forced people to flee to Shandong. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was not so cold, and was even relatively warm and humid, which gave rise to the Tibetan Empire, a major threat to the Tang Dynasty.

The herd of Asian elephants we encountered back then also confirmed the climate conditions at that time.

Besides the scorching weather, Li You is currently facing another difficulty, and one that seems insurmountable.

That would be a loss of personnel.

When Li You set out from Xingyang, he selected 3,000 regular soldiers, 1,000 laborers, and 1,000 women to accompany him, totaling around 5,000 men. During the journey into the mountains, due to attacks by wild animals and various other accidents, more than 400 men were lost. This loss of around 400 men was unavoidable, and Li You could barely accept it.

But what happened next was something Li You couldn't accept.

From May to September, almost every few days, soldiers would suddenly collapse and not get up while working.

No matter how hard they tried to save him, he couldn't be saved.

At first, Li You thought they were tired from working, so he ordered everyone to rest on time and not to get too tired.

These men were all elite soldiers selected by Li You from the original mob, and each one was a precious gem to him.

The problem is that even with the relevant orders, soldiers still die suddenly from time to time.

Li You suspected a problem with the food or water supply, so he issued an order that all food, especially wild game hunted in the mountains, must be boiled for at least half an hour before consumption. The same applied to water; no one should drink spring or river water directly to avoid parasite contamination. This order reduced the number of soldiers dying suddenly, but it did not completely eliminate the problem.

Left with no other choice, Li You summoned his officers and generals to discuss the matter.

To his surprise, Yan Hongxin and the others seemed quite accustomed to the sudden deaths of individual soldiers, as if it were a common occurrence.

"My lord, you don't know this, but we are considered to be doing well. If we were in the countryside, countless young and middle-aged people would die prematurely, and the doctors who treat them would be at a loss for what to do."

"Not to mention the countryside, even in the city, similar things happen all the time."

"Yeah, some of my childhood playmates who grew up with me naked have suddenly left."

Listening to his subordinates' chatter, Li You suddenly understood.

The problem he identified was actually a normal phenomenon in ancient times. The average lifespan of the general population was around 40-50 years. Nobles and officials might live a little longer, but not by much. For example, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, lived to 52, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, to 56, Li Chengqian to only 26, and Li Tai to 33.

There was a famous minister in the early Tang Dynasty named Ma Zhou, who died at the age of 48 due to diabetes, and this was after the cause of his illness was known.

Ultimately, this is ancient times.

In the era before he traveled back in time, life was quite comfortable.

Li You then recalled the heated online discussions about long-lived and short-lived species before his soul transmigrated.

In modern countries, if there are large-scale, regular, and unnatural deaths among young and middle-aged people, it indicates that there is a major problem within that country.

However, in ancient countries, due to differences in medical standards, there was essentially no difference in lifespan between the upper and lower classes. Furthermore, the rates of premature death were similar, and the proportion of healthy, long-lived individuals was extremely small. The saying "Life expectancy of seventy is rare since ancient times" is not merely a literary description, but a fact.