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

Huimin Bank, which had been in operation for seven months, had already attracted over 800,000 strings of cash in deposits, and branches in Mianzhou, Youzhou, Taiyuan, Huangzhou, Liangzhou, and other places had been successfully opened. As the year drew to a close, many merchants completed their business and repaid their bank loans, so the profit for December alone quadrupled, reaching over 160,000 strings of cash, making Yin Shaokang extremely happy.

The reason for distributing the four-color gift boxes is to thank depositors who have made great contributions to Huimin Bank.

With concerted efforts, Huimin Bank was able to achieve such a large scale and revenue in a very short period of time.

But to Li You's surprise, there are currently no local companies in the Datang region that have copied Huimin Bank's operations.

This still makes one feel somewhat lonely.

However, as the four-color gift boxes were distributed, some of the wealthy families who were reuniting and visiting each other's relatives finally couldn't sit still: If you merchants from Luoyang can make so much money, why can't we merchants from other places do the same?

Everything goes through a process, from its emergence to its development and finally to its widespread adoption.

Before the New Year, Yin Shaokang finally arrived in Boling City and found the manor where Li You and the others were temporarily staying.

Upon entering the manor, guided by the soldiers, Yin Shaokang arrived at the backyard, where he saw dozens of Huang Chao's soldiers practicing martial arts with great enthusiasm, while the generals nearby supervised their training.

Meanwhile, Prince Li You of Qi was fiddling with a weapon in his hand.

It was a crossbow, the type of horn-bow crossbow most commonly used by Tang Dynasty cavalry.

After nocking the arrow, Li You aimed at the distant grass and trees as a target and hit the nine rings.

Upon seeing this, Yin Shaokang cheered enthusiastically.

Li You put down his crossbow and went to greet him warmly.

"Shaokang, you're back!"

"My lord!"

Upon hearing that their loved ones had returned, Yin Hongzhi and Yin Shaojue also rushed over from elsewhere.

The family was reunited after a long separation, and they were overjoyed.

Li You also summoned Chao Yang, Yan Jiu, Liu Shi, Wang Fangde, Cao Boyan, and others, and introduced them to Yin Shaokang.

"My lord, where did you get that crossbow?"

"Oh, this thing? I mentioned it casually to Mr. Wang during a chat. He said the Bozhou army camp had over a dozen of them, so I took three down to study. Shao Kang, can you buy one of these on the black market in Luoyang or Chang'an?"

"It's quite difficult, but I'll give it a try."

"It would be best to find the raw materials for making crossbows. I have discussed it with everyone, and the rarest materials are ox sinew and deer sinew. As for other materials such as copper and wood, our stock is no less than that of the government..."

"Shaokang, you've come from afar. Let's not talk about business first. Come on, we've prepared a welcome feast for you. After you eat, go see your aunt and cousin. We can discuss the specifics later."

Since it's the Lunar New Year, we should relax a bit before assigning tasks to our subordinates.

On Li You's side, in addition to the key figures and their families of the rebel team, there were more than 300 elite soldiers responsible for guarding the area.

Huang Chao's army had achieved remarkable results throughout the year, so this New Year's Day must be celebrated in a lively and festive manner.

Chao Yang, Dou Jun, and Wang Fangde have collaborated to compile the dozen or so volumes of "Confucian Examination Treasure Trove" to be printed. After discussion, they selected five classics—"The Book of Changes," "Selections of Refined Literature," "The Book of Documents," "The Book of Poetry," and "The Book of Rites"—as the first batch of works to be printed, and more than two thousand sets have already been printed.

After the New Year, we will print more copies and distribute them widely to break the cultural monopoly of aristocratic families.

Besides those "Confucian Examination Treasures," Li You also obtained non-Confucian works such as "Lüshi Chunqiu," "Mo Jing," "Zhu Bing Yuan Hou Lun," "Luoyang Jialan Ji," "Shi Pin," "Baopuzi," "Shang Jun Shu," "Hongming Ji," "Gaoshi Zhuan," "Liu Juanzi Gui Yi Fang," and "Yu Zhu Bao Dian" from the copyists in Boling City.

In particular, "Liu Juanzi's Ghostly Prescriptions" is an ancient surgical work that records debridement, sedation, and treatment of external injuries. This shows that the wisdom of the ancients could shine brightly in other fields if not used for the imperial examinations.

These works could only circulate within the small circles of aristocratic families, and could not be read and studied by more people, which was truly a waste of their talents.

As for the Cui family's mysterious library, and the other major clans' book collections, how many brilliant achievements of Chinese civilization have been locked away, remains unknown.

Humanity has buried and destroyed far more civilizations than it has created.

As humanity gradually loses its rationality, such tragedies will occur more frequently.

Li You hopes that his efforts, along with those of his subordinates, can break this vicious cycle, awaken useful knowledge, prevent it from falling into slumber, and allow it to truly play its due role.

Therefore, in addition to the "Confucian Examination Manual," other classics from various schools of thought, whether Mohism, Taoism, Legalism, or agriculture, medicine, and industry, should be printed and widely disseminated.

The old year ends amidst the sound of firecrackers.

The New Year holidays passed quickly.

The 20th year of the Zhenguan era, the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Prince Qi, Li You, began to discuss some matters with the members of his rebel team.

Unlike in the past, this time Li You talked to each of them individually, instead of holding a large meeting, and the discussions were quite in-depth.

Li You decided to make significant adjustments to Huang Chao's army's strategy in the new year.

Li You already had a rough outline of the plan in his mind.

However, the specific implementation still requires extensive consultation.

During the three years of embarking on his rebellion, Li You gradually discovered that by relying on his knowledge and scientific system from before his transmigration, he could indeed gain some advantages, which was naturally a good thing.

The problem is that the past three years have been rather minor.

Although they established four or five bases and acquired some capital, they did not fundamentally shake the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

In other words, the current progress of the rebellion is somewhat slow, and Li You is not very satisfied.

Therefore, after the Huinong Bank achieved initial success and had sufficient funds, Li You decisively ordered Huang Chao's army and Bozhou army to simultaneously begin expanding their forces.

With more troops at their disposal, they can begin to expand their territory, and even directly conquer a larger, contiguous base area.

Rebellion, after all, requires a head-on clash with the old dynasty's regular army, sometimes many times, before one can finally reach the top.

Li You wasn't really interested in the so-called Xuanwu Gate inheritance law.

If a war were to break out, any place in the world could be used as a battlefield, or even as the Xuanwu Gate.

Even if a coup d'état is successfully staged at the central level, what is gained is still the old empire, with no real progress.

As for the so-called "inheritance," Li You did not want to inherit anything from Li Shimin.

If you're given a second chance at life, why not create your own dynasty?

The Great Qi Dynasty sounds quite pleasant.

Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin were the seven states of the Warring States period. Qi was one of the seven powerful states and its national strength was quite high.

If it weren't for the tyrannical King Min of Qi's relentless military campaigns and the overwhelming strength of the Qin army, the State of Qi would have had a chance to unify China.

With the financial, material, and human resources at hand, Li You was confident that he could take a significant bite out of the Li Tang Empire from the birthplace of his rebellion—the Qilu Peninsula.

The question is, after taking over Qi and Lu, can we gain the support of the vast majority of people in Qi? When the enemy launches a full-scale attack, can we mobilize the people under our rule to hold our territory firmly and then force them to fight us off?

This is the most fundamental problem.