In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Li Yuanchang was also reluctant to leave, but he knew he had to go. Seeing that the three were unwilling to leave, he had no choice but to go first, get into the carriage, and begin the next leg of his journey.

The three watched the Prince of Han's entourage disappear into the distance, their disappointment barely concealed.

"Poor brother."

"He drove away the woman he loved with his own hands, and he was demoted as well. He had to bear all the blame alone."

"My dad also said that my older brother was framed by someone."

"Who?"

"My father wouldn't say. He said that the chopping wood order was just a facade, but in reality, he didn't even dare to get involved in the core disputes."

"Huh?" Cheng Chuliang and Yuchi Baoqi looked at Li Chongzhen in shock.

His father was the second-ranked of the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion, second only to Changsun Wuji.

Li Chongliang's eyes widened: "Really, otherwise my elder brother wouldn't have been pushed out as a scapegoat to settle things."

Cheng Chuliang gritted his teeth, growing angrier the more he thought about it: "The thought that bastard Chai Lingwu is still alive makes me uneasy. No matter what, if it weren't for his provocation, my brother wouldn't have left so dejectedly!"

"Is Liangzhou, that godforsaken place, even fit for a human to live? His Majesty's decree doesn't mean my elder brother can't return!"

"Chu Liang, don't be impulsive."

"The Prince of Han is no ordinary person. Even my father said that he will become a great man in the future and will no longer be just an empty title."

"If we really want to help the Prince of Han, we should follow in his footsteps. Otherwise, if something really happens to our elder brother in the future, we won't be able to help him."

"Brother Chongzhen, you make a good point."

"We'll make a name for ourselves and show those guys we're not to be trifled with!"

"That's right, damn it! The sooner the Tibetans attack, the better. I want military merit!"

"..."

The three men, flushed with excitement and brimming with enthusiasm, were originally idle playboys, but now they suddenly wanted to improve themselves.

They also felt guilty towards Li Yuanchang, feeling that they hadn't been able to help much and that Li Yuanchang had taken all the blame.

Being banished from Chang'an and demoted to a fiefdom might not seem like much, but in the worldview of the Tang Dynasty, it was a huge blow and humiliation.

However, what they could not have imagined at that moment was that this demotion to Liangzhou, a place that the Tang imperial family considered a rural area, would become Li Yuanchang's opportunity to rise up and turn the tables!

"..."

Li Yuanchang left, completely departing from Chang'an.

Chang'an is still the same Chang'an, bustling with traffic and filled with peace and prosperity.

Just as the people of Chang'an were still discussing how the Prince of Han had been demoted and how his wedding, which should have been the grandest in Chang'an, had ended inconclusively, Li Yuanchang's revenge began!

He left Chang'an, but he still stirred up a storm in the imperial palace!

Inside the Liangyi Hall.

Li Shimin stared grimly at the secret letters lying on the table.

Unlike the anger he showed towards Li Yuanchang, this gloom was the chilling intent to kill. An emperor is most terrifying when he is silent!

……

Liangzhou.

This place is located in Shannan West Road, southwest of Chang'an. Converted to modern units of measurement, it is about 350 kilometers away.

It sounds close; in later generations, it would only take a little over an hour by high-speed rail. But in the Tang Dynasty, it was an absolute "distant place"!

Because there was no straight path, the actual distance traveled was far more than 300 kilometers.

In addition, Li Yuanchang moved his entire household and carried a lot of things with him. In the end, it took him nearly twenty days to reach Liangzhou by horse.

This is the famous "Hanzhong Basin", surrounded by the Qinling and Bashan mountain ranges. During the eleventh year of the Zhenguan era, there were more than 17,000 households under its jurisdiction, and its land tax of rice, cloth and silk was the highest in the entire Shannan West Circuit.

The basin, the best in the southern part of the province, etc., all sound like this place is extremely rich, but in fact it is not.

In ancient times, basins represented isolation and winding mountain roads, making access extremely inconvenient.

Moreover, in the eleventh year of the Zhenguan era, the Tang Dynasty was still in a period of rapid development, and Liangzhou at this time was far from reaching the prosperity of the Kaiyuan era.

To be objective, Liangzhou is considered one of the taller ones among the shorter ones.

If Chang'an is the first-tier city, then Yangzhou and Yizhou are the second tier, which are the later Yangzhou and Chengdu. Yizhou is Chengdu.

The third tier consists of the capitals of the many circuits of the Tang Dynasty.

Although Liangzhou is also the capital of Shannan West Circuit, and is much richer and more populous than the neighboring Fengzhou and Xingzhou, it is at the bottom of the third tier.

At least in the eleventh year of the Zhenguan era, it was difficult to classify the upper prefectures as belonging to the third tier; they were probably at the level of the third to fourth tier.

This was hardly a desirable position for the governor appointed by Chang'an.

Nobody who wants to embezzle money wants to come here.

Those who want to make a name for themselves are not willing to take over this place; it's not easy to achieve political success, and the conditions are not good either.

It was for this reason that Liangzhou became Li Yuanchang's destination. The nobles and meritorious officials in the court, those from the Five Clans and Seven Families, were all shrewd.

But when Li Yuanchang stepped into this place, he was full of fighting spirit and passion.

He never dreamed that this 21st-century shrewd businessman would one day become a local official.

He was not in a hurry to enter Liangzhou City. Instead, he led his men on a detour to inspect the Hanzhong Basin in the 7th century, wanting to understand the local situation.

But it would have been better if they hadn't inspected it; once they did, the sky fell down!

The mountains stretched as far as the eye could see, barren and devoid of any timber. Vast tracts of land lay fallow, and village after village was deserted.

These few points alone would have been a devastating blow to people in ancient agricultural societies who relied on farming and firewood for a living.

And this is just the beginning of the problem, merely the tip of the iceberg.

November 1st.

Li Yuanchang's troops entered Yangping County, a small county under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou.

Before arriving in Liangzhou City, he planned to first take stock of the problems in his territory, understand the suffering of the people, and then resolve them in a unified manner.

While solving problems, one can establish prestige, cultivate loyal followers, and gradually and steadily develop the economy to achieve results and consolidate power.

This is something almost every high-ranking official wants to achieve. Only in this way can they be promoted, gain their own power and value, and fight against the Wei King's faction in the court.

But just as he entered the city, an accident occurred.

"stop!"

"Where did you come from?"

A group of county government soldiers shouted sternly and blocked the way.

They did not recognize Li Yuanchang and his entourage, because in order to keep a low profile and prevent local officials from making preparations in advance, the guards were all dressed in civilian clothes.

Their reprimands were normal; in ancient times, all cities would have checks, especially for a large group of unfamiliar outsiders like Li Yuanchang.

But when Wang Hongzhi stepped forward to negotiate, claiming it was a passageway for a caravan.

The officer in charge of the soldiers at the city gate stepped forward and held out his hand: "Eight copper coins each for the 102 of you!"

Li Yuanchang frowned: "What money?"

The officer in charge sneered, "What money are you talking about? It's the city gate tax, of course!"

Upon hearing this, the entire Prince's party frowned.

"Since the early years of the Zhenguan era in the Tang Dynasty, there has been no such thing as a city gate tax. Who gave you permission to collect it?" Li Yuanchang's eyes were unfriendly.