Seeing Yun Ye approaching, Li Er immediately broke into a smile. Abandoning Li Chengqian, he said with great interest: “You have a solution? Hahaha, I’d like to see how you would respond to the situation at the end of the Sui Dynasty.”

Li Tai immediately pushed his father’s wheelchair away. Only then did Li Chengqian, who had been kneeling on the ground, let out a long breath of relief. Yun Ye pointed toward the sand table room, and Li Chengqian immediately understood. He stood up and entered the sand table room together with Yun Ye. He had long heard that his father and the Great Tang’s famous ministers and veteran generals had stirred up beacon fires throughout the realm on the sand table. He felt quite indignant—he himself had worked diligently and exhaustively for the Great Tang, so how could the realm have been reduced to such a miserable state?

Upon entering the sand table room, he casually glanced at the sand table, and his nose nearly twisted with anger. For no other reason than this: his royal banner could only be planted in Chang’an City. Yun Ye’s general’s banner, matching his own banner’s color, pitifully guarded the canal, Yuezhou, Lingnan, and the Yongzhou region. The rest of the territory was filled with multicolored rebellion banners. The Great Tang’s magnificent territory had been completely divided and fragmented by others.

Li Er sat in his wheelchair holding a long bamboo pole. Wherever he pointed, eunuchs would immediately plant a banner there. Every change of a banner represented the advance or retreat of a faction.

After marking was completed, the eunuchs would record the changes in registers and transcribe them onto a huge blackboard. The situation of the realm was clear at a glance.

“I will once again compress your strategic space. I’m determined to take the Jianghuai region.”

Yun Ye shook his head and said: “To defend the Yangtze River, one must defend the Huai River—this is common sense. Your Majesty, with just those few broken ships under your command, do you think you can break through my Yangtze River natural barrier? Isn’t that too frivolous?”

“Your humble subject has stationed a fleet at Jiangling. The reason I’ve delayed using it is that I’m waiting for Your Majesty’s forces to appear. Being able to use the Yangtze River waters to deal you a heavy blow is precisely what your humble subject has long hoped for.”

As Yun Ye spoke, he pointed his bamboo pole to the position of Jingzhou, saying with a smile: “Your Majesty thinks that here the river flows broadly, the current flows slowly, and most importantly the river water is shallow, thinking that my large warships cannot enter. Little do you know, your humble subject has another option. As long as I blast open the river-blocking embankment, Your great army stationed at Maicheng and Shishou can only become fish and turtles. Even if Your Majesty is well-prepared and immediately occupies Shishou Mountain, there will be floodwaters on all sides, and Shishou is extremely close to Yuezhou. Under the encirclement of two armies, Your Majesty would have no choice but to follow Emperor Wu of Wei’s old path—that is, to flee in defeat through Huarong Road, entering the vast Dongting marshes. By that time, favorable timing, terrain, and popular support will all be in your humble subject’s hands. I fear Your Majesty himself might face the worry of capture.”

Li Er laughed heartily and said: “I don’t believe you dare commit such perverse acts. Don’t forget, the Jianghuai region has been densely populated since ancient times. Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment for doing this?”

Yun Ye shook his head and said: “Your Majesty is the principal culprit who disturbed the realm. As long as I capture Your Majesty, the other bandits in the realm will naturally be subdued in one stroke. Therefore, paying some price is still worthwhile. Moreover, I can tell the common people in advance that it was you who first broke open the embankment to prevent the Great Tang fleet from entering Jingzhou. Your humble subject’s credibility is still quite good—at least the common people of Yuezhou will certainly believe me. At that time, I’ll invite His Highness the Crown Prince to go to Yuezhou to make offerings to the disaster victims who died, and popular indignation will naturally settle. As you know, His Highness the Crown Prince has the title of Virtuous Prince in Yuezhou.”

Hearing Yun Ye say this, Li Chengqian felt as refreshed in his heart as if he had swallowed an ice pill. Who in the entire world most hoped for Li Er’s misfortune? Naturally it was Li Chengqian.

Without waiting for the Emperor to speak, Yun Ye continued: “As long as your humble subject doesn’t rebel, and Qing Que doesn’t rebel, to be honest, the Great Tang realm truly has no crisis. We’ve been fighting continuously on the sand table for two years now. In these two years, have the firearms in Your Majesty’s hands nearly run out? Your greatest deficiency lies in not having an endless supply of firearms. But your humble subject doesn’t lack them. As long as I have firearms, your humble subject can sweep through Shandong and Hebei. Qing Que can advance into Shu. Xiao An cannot be Qing Que’s opponent, so the greatest possibility is surrender. Once Shandong, Hebei, and Shu are pacified, Your Majesty’s lair will naturally have Chengqian leading a great army to suppress it. After Jinyang is pacified, Dugu Mou in Heluo will merely be selling his head with a price tag. As for Zhangsun Chong in Liaodong, we need only dispatch a partial force to capture him effortlessly.”

“Once the Central Plains are pacified, His Highness the Crown Prince need only issue a written proclamation stating that the past won’t be investigated. I don’t believe the southeast cannot be pacified. As for Li Ji who occupies Shuofang, and Sun Renshi and Xue Rengui in the Western Regions, your humble subject need only launch another western expedition. They can only follow in the footsteps of the Turks, exhausting their lives in endless warfare.”

“To be honest, Your Majesty, within a hundred years, your humble subject sees no possibility of large-scale warfare occurring. As for matters after a hundred years, only Heaven knows.”

Li Er was somewhat silent. Li Tai continued: “Father Emperor, Ye Zi and I long ago dedicated our lives to the Great Tang. Our flesh and blood have all merged into the mountains and waters of this empire. The emperor of this country is you, Father Emperor. The future emperor will be my elder brother. But this country also belongs to Ye Zi and me. Whether it’s Yushan Academy or the Military Research Institute, they are all where our heart and blood lie. Whoever wants to destroy them, the first to jump out will certainly be us.”

“In these years, your son has traveled to many places and seen much moving scenery. But the most moving are the people living on this Great Tang land. When the red sun rises, your son feels moved. When clouds shroud and smoke locks the high mountains, your son exclaims in admiration. Sailing a small boat across the five lakes and four seas, singing to the moon—such heroic spirit always makes your son yearn for it.”

“As for the imperial throne, hehe, your son even feels my elder brother has the worse deal. Ostensibly he sits on the imperial throne, but equally, isn’t he firmly locked to that throne, unable to move?”

“Your son, as the most honorable prince in the world, already has sufficient power for my use. Ye Zi, as foremost among the dukes and marquises, also has sufficient power for his use. Your son always believes that power is like eating—it’s best to have just according to one’s capacity. Once there’s no restraint, the result is being stuffed to death.”

Li Er grasped his plump son’s hand and patted it gently, saying: “You are truly our imperial family’s treasure! Father Emperor wishes you longevity and fortune. Well then, since rebelling would also result in being suppressed by others, let’s not rebel. Let’s go out together to see my Great Tang’s momentum of embracing all rivers, to see those surging torrents of talent…”

Li Tai pushed his father outward with a beaming smile. Li Chengqian and Yun Ye walked at the rear. Zhangsun stood before the curtain and originally wanted to follow, but after thinking, she withdrew. Sometimes men also need some space between them.

“Your mourning period is complete. Come out and help me!” Li Chengqian said quietly to Yun Ye.

“My stationing at Yushan City is helping you. Once His Majesty passes on, remember to find someone to replace me. I plan to enter the Academy as a teacher. I’ve helped your Li family in all the ways I can. Now it’s time for me to have some leisure.”

“Look at these youths before us. In the future, they will all be your subjects. Use them well, manage them well!”

Li Er didn’t hear the words between Yun Ye and Li Chengqian. He chatted and laughed very happily with Li Tai, pointing his finger at the distant red proclamation board hung high, his face somewhat flushed.

Yun Ye had no intention of entering officialdom anymore. He had grown somewhat weary of Chang’an City. Living out his life at Yushan would be quite a good thing for him. His ancestral graves were at Yushan. Now he was guarding his own ancestral graves, just like guarding his own home.

A thousand autumns of hegemonic achievement were nothing more than wisps of smoke and clouds. Killing countless people didn’t make one a hero. Master Yan and Teacher Li Gang—these people were the backbone of this world. Commanding the court and calling a deer a horse—what of it? A few pages of brilliant historical records could recount a lifetime’s achievements.

Below the proclamation board, some danced with joy, some wailed loudly, some clapped in congratulation, some felt dejected and hurt. Here one could see all aspects of the world—why need to ascend to the court?

Someone was scattering money everywhere, leading mischievous children to chase after it competitively. This was a wealthy person celebrating for his son. Someone carved words in stone planning to fight again next year, but was seized by soldiers. Once they reached a deserted place, it was a bout of punches and kicks…

Whether wildly joyful or dejected and hurt, all made Li Er happy. Even those few being beaten, Li Er watched with great relish. All of this indicated that the talented men of the world all hoped to be employed by the Li family.

A banquet must be held—absolutely must be held! Li Er patted the armrests of his wheelchair impatiently. Countless cavalry bearing the Emperor’s invitations rushed into Chang’an City. Today, he planned to invite all his veteran ministers. For no other reason—just to drink wine, sing songs, dance, eat and drink to their hearts’ content…

This was the most vulgar way of celebrating, yet also the most passionate kind of feast. No rules, no hierarchy. Before them were only large bowls of wine, large chunks of meat, large piles of bonfires—just like the celebrations his ancestors held on the grasslands.

Li Chengqian very much wanted to don a wolf’s head and go down to dance. His buttocks could hardly stay seated. By the bonfire, scantily dressed women vigorously twisted their waists. The low sound of wolf-hide drums struck straight to the heart and lungs.

Li Er held up his wine bowl, constantly shouting loudly “Victory drink!” The subjects below removed their caps and went barefoot, responding loudly. The old ritual official’s steps were unsteady. Before he could speak, he first belched with alcohol. Halfway through chanting the rituals, he pitched forward onto the grass and fell into a deep snoring sleep. No one took offense.

Veteran ministers held up pig legs and sang loudly, reminiscing about bygone years. Li Er beat his iron sword in accompaniment. Those composing poetry would be dragged away to be force-fed wine. Those singing would be rewarded with fine wine. Those fighting each other while carrying torches would have golden cups thrown at them.

This was the most thorough catharsis, and also Li Er formally announcing to the world that his era had ended.

Yun Ye’s footsteps were light, like a civet cat. Having dodged countless large hands trying to pull him to drink, remembering Li Tai’s prior entreaty that he must save him, he found Li Tai embracing beauties on both sides in the crowd of women. The corpulent prince was already nearly completely naked.

Dragging Li Tai by the feet, walking with difficulty across the grass, Li Chengqian, excited and no longer knowing north from south, suddenly threw himself onto his younger brother’s plump belly. Splattered in the face by the vomit spraying from his brother’s mouth, he wiped his face and remained inexplicably excited.

Damn it, who had forced so much wine on Wang Cai? Now he lay with four hooves toward heaven, twitching continuously…