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

"Your subject only learned this a few days ago. The original surname of the Venerable Xuanzang was Chen. He studied Buddhism with his second elder brother, the Venerable Changjie, from a young age. In the eighth year of the Daye era of the Sui Dynasty, when the Venerable Xuanzang was thirteen years old, he passed the ordination examination and became a true monk."

"Thirteen years old? That's a child prodigy!"

"...From then on, the Venerable Xuanzang devoted himself to the study of Buddhism and became proficient in various schools of Abhidharma. However, during his journey of cultivation, Xuanzang discovered that the Buddhist scriptures translated by our Great Tang Dynasty were incomplete, contained many errors, and even contradicted themselves. If he wanted to trace back to the source, he could only go to India to seek the true scriptures."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin perked up.

"Master Xuanzang was devoted to seeking the Buddha and vowed to go to the West to seek scriptures. In the second year of Zhenguan, he submitted a memorial to the court, hoping to obtain a travel permit issued by the court."

"But at that time, the Turkic forces were powerful, and our Great Tang strictly prohibited private individuals from leaving the country in order to prevent espionage. Xuanzang had no choice but to blend into the crowd of refugees and smuggle himself out of the country. After that, he went through many life-threatening experiences, traveled through more than a hundred countries in the Western Regions, and traveled 30,000 miles before finally arriving at Nalanda Monastery, a Buddhist holy site, where he was able to study the original Buddhist teachings in depth."

"Hmm, he is indeed a monk who is single-mindedly seeking the Dharma."

"Father, the Venerable Xuanzang I spoke of has returned from India after completing his studies there, bringing with him more than six hundred Indian Buddhist scriptures. He has now reached the territory of Yizhou."

"What? This person you're talking about... is he real?"

Li Tai said with a wry smile, "When I first found out, I was just as shocked as Father."

"Where is Tianzhu (India)?"

Li Tai pointed to the map of the Tang Dynasty hanging next to him, traced it downwards, and then said, "It should be here, bordering Tibet. India is even further than the Western Regions, a full 30,000 li away from Chang'an."

"How did this monk named Xuanzang manage to travel such a long distance? Is he some kind of winged monster?"

"As far as I know, the Venerable Xuanzang was a man of great learning and often discussed Buddhist teachings with the kings of various Western Regions countries. These kings admired the Venerable's talent and often bestowed gifts such as horses, gold, and silver upon his servants to aid Xuanzang's journey to the west."

"Oh, I see."

"After the Venerable Xuanzang went to Nalanda Monastery to practice, his Buddhist studies progressed rapidly. He often debated with eminent Indian monks and won. Later, because of his outstanding abilities, Nalanda Monastery bestowed upon him the honorific title of 'Master of the Dharma who understands the three realms.' It is said that King Harsha of India once invited the Venerable Xuanzang to give a lecture on the Dharma. Kings of eighteen countries and more than three thousand eminent monks participated, showing him the utmost respect."

After praising Xuanzang, Li Tai took out a letter.

"Father, this is a letter written to you by the monk Xuanzang. In it, he details his journey to obtain the scriptures and begs your forgiveness for leaving the country without permission, and asks you to allow him to enter the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin took the letter and began to read it.

The text is long and sincere, and in addition to content related to Buddhism, it also describes many sights and experiences in various countries in the Western Regions.

Li Er keenly realized that this monk named Xuanzang was about to become a great master of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty.

His heroic act of sacrificing himself for the Dharma and traversing tens of thousands of miles without wavering in his resolve is worthy of being ranked alongside figures like Zhang Qian and Su Wu.

Such a person must be treated with the utmost courtesy in order to demonstrate the Tang Dynasty's emphasis on culture.

Xuanzang's observations and experiences of the Western Regions held extraordinary political significance.

"A few minor offenses, nothing to mention. Qingque, go to the Ministry of Rites yourself and have them prepare a grand celebration to welcome this Living Buddha to Chang'an. Why didn't you tell me about such an important matter sooner?"

"Your subject was negligent."

"Go and tell the Ministry of Rites to handle this matter with utmost care."

"Your subject understands."

……

After burning the warships and shipyards, Li You did not immediately leave the Poyang Lake area.

At this time, he was trekking through the mountains of Raozhou under the protection of more than 200 soldiers.

Of the more than 1600 soldiers of Huang Chao's army brought this time, apart from the 200 who stayed behind, the majority of the soldiers, led by Yan Hongliang and Zan Junmo, sailed back to their main camp in Suizhou in the large and small boats they had purchased, following various waterways.

The reason Li You stayed was because of Raozhou.

As mentioned earlier, there are precious copper and silver mines in the mountains of Raozhou and Xuanzhou prefectures.

Xuanzhou was also located on the banks of the Yangtze River, which later became Tongling.

Raozhou is the same as Shangrao in later times.

Li You decided to personally investigate these two important resource sites.

Before entering the mountains, Li You sent his soldiers to ask the villagers at the foot of the mountain if there were any copper miners in the mountains.

The locals said that there were indeed some people mining copper in the mountains, but the total number was small, and many of them were bandits.

Some kind-hearted villagers even advised these outside "merchants" that, for safety reasons, it would be best not to go into the mountains to avoid any unforeseen events.

According to information obtained from the local people at the foot of the mountain, copper mining was not a major industry in Raozhou during the Zhenguan era.

Those who were doing well in Raozhou were mostly engaged in the shipbuilding industry, and the shipyards in Raozhou had just been burned down by Li You.

This is quite consistent with the dialogue between Emperor Taizong of Tang and his minister Quan Wanji.

In actual history, the copper mines of Raozhou were valued by the imperial court not until the mid-Tang Dynasty, and gradually flourished during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

According to records, during the late Tang Dynasty, this place "often recruited more than 100,000 people to mine day and night," and the annual copper production reached "500,000 catties."

The current quiet and deserted scene invigorated Li You.

In this undeveloped virgin land, the copper mine output would not be taken by others; it would all flow into the pockets of Huang Chao's army.

The vast fields offer great potential.

During the Zhenguan era, the Tang Dynasty, constrained by its population size and technological limitations, did not develop its national resources very well.

This provides the rebels with room to maneuver.

After trekking through the mountains for two days, Li You finally saw signs of human habitation and went up to make contact with them.

The two sides started fighting after exchanging only a few words.

Just as the local people had warned them, these people were not copper miners, but a gang of bandits!

Of the 200 men left behind by Li You, 50 were suicide soldiers and 150 were officers and soldiers of the Jiazi Battalion. Whether in terms of individual combat strength or overall combat strength, the bandits on the other side were no match for them.

About fifteen minutes later, the gang of thieves was subdued.

A headcount revealed that the gang of thieves numbered a staggering 350.

Many copper ingots of various sizes were also found inside their mountain stronghold.

Several leaders of the bandit gang were brought before Li You.

The leader was a burly man with a fierce appearance, which reminded Li You of Zhong Kui from later video games.

"What's your name?"

"And who are you, and what gives you the right to ask me?"

Li You gave a signal, and two assassins dragged "Zhong Kui" aside and gave him a good beating, after which "Zhong Kui" became obedient.

"What's your name?"

"I...I am Ren Zongyang."

"Where did these copper ingots come from?"

"It was...it was tribute they gave to our mountain stronghold."

"Tribute?"

"There are copper miners in the mountains. If they want to mine copper here, they have to pay us tribute!"

Li You suddenly realized that this was how it was.

Since there is no government jurisdiction in these mountains, bandits have emerged to perform the tax collection function on behalf of the government.

"Are you the only bandits in the mountains?"

"It was just us originally, but two months ago a group of people came."

Where are these people?

"This... I don't know. They're unpredictable, and I don't know what they're doing here."

Li You's heart skipped a beat. Could it be the group of assassins he had sent before?

"What use are the copper ingots you've taken from the copper miners?"

"There are merchants who buy copper ingots down the mountain. They come every few months, and you can sell them to them."

"Are there any government-run copper mines in these mountains?"

"The government? The government has better mines in Xuanzhou, why would they be interested in this place?"