Thief Emperor

Chapter 1172 A Saint Descends from Heaven
Mount Tai Jade Emperor Peak.

His Majesty the Emperor opened his arms, feeling the gentle breeze blowing in his face.

Standing behind him, Prime Minister Du was panting heavily. It took him a while to recover. He looked in the direction His Majesty the Emperor was looking and saw a clear sky and light clouds in the distance.

Li Yun turned around and looked at him, seeing that his forehead was covered in sweat. He smiled, then looked into the distance and said, "Brother Shouyi, what do you want to say?"

"What will the world be like twenty years from now?"

Standing behind him, Lord Du smiled and said, "Twenty years from now, I will probably be gone, but Erlang should still be around."

"I can't imagine what things will be like twenty years from now, but I think that as long as Erlang is still alive, things will be better than they are now."

He said softly, "A few months ago, the workshop invited me over to take a look. They had already built a carriage that could carry dozens of people."

"It moves automatically without oxen or horses."

Du Xiangong was also somewhat lost in thought when he chuckled and said, "The people in the workshop told me that the difficulty now is how to pave the iron road. It requires too much manpower and resources, and the technology is not yet mature."

"I think this might be possible in twenty years."

"But I probably can't see it anymore."

Li Yun looked back at him, said nothing, and simply found a rock and sat down.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke: "It's difficult, but I think if we keep going generation after generation, it will eventually succeed."

Master Du sat down beside him and said with a smile, "For many years, I have been very curious about where Erlang was and what he saw."

He looked at Li Yun and asked, "Now that everything in the new dynasty has been accomplished, the new policies that Erlang has spent more than ten years of his life on are being implemented in all regions of the country, and the country has turned from chaos to order."

At this point, Prime Minister Du paused, then continued, "Second Brother, can you tell me about it now?"

Li Yun sighed, remained silent for a moment, and then smiled: "It's no problem to talk about it, but Brother Shouyi may not believe what I say."

Du Qian shook his head and said, "At this point, I will believe whatever Erlang says."

Li Yun nodded, closed his eyes and thought for a moment before quietly saying, "Brother Shouyi should already know that I was once the chieftain of Cangshan Village on Cangshan Mountain in Qingyang County."

"But Brother Shouyi doesn't know how I met the Empress."

Li Yun's gaze deepened, as if he had returned to twenty or thirty years ago. He paused for a moment before continuing, "Back then, I became the chieftain, and the village had enough food. We had just hunted a wild boar, dried the meat, and distributed it to each household."

“There was nothing going on in the village, so I thought I’d go out for a walk. So I took Li Zheng and two other brothers with me to Qingyang County. At that time, we didn’t know much about the world.”

"Once we got into the city, we felt it was a very important and significant event."

He turned to look at Du Qian and said with a smile, "We have no status and can't stay at an inn in the city, but we had a good meal and drinks. When we came out of the tavern, we saw a fairy-like figure."

Emperor Li shook his head, reminiscing about the past.

"After seeing that fairy, I couldn't eat or drink. Later, when I heard that she was getting married, I was heartbroken and made up my mind to bring her up the mountain."

Du Qian was taken aback, then somewhat surprised: "Is it Her Majesty the Empress?"

Li Yun nodded and said with a smile, "It's her."

"On the day of the bride kidnapping, we fought fiercely with several constables; perhaps we were a bit too overconfident."

Emperor Li pointed to his head: "I took a blow to the head with the hilt of a knife and almost lost my life."

"Then…"

The emperor's gaze became hazy: "It was all just a grand dream."

Today, nearly thirty years have passed, and Li Yun's time in this world is almost the same as that in another world.

Too much time has passed, and many things in that other world have become blurred, like a dream.

On the contrary, the Li Tang before my eyes has become more and more real.

The merging of two souls is like Zhuangzi's dream of the butterfly; now, it is impossible to distinguish which soul's memory is that great dream.

Du Xiangong looked at Li Yun.

"Did Erlang gain all sorts of wondrous insights in his dream?"

"almost."

The emperor came to his senses and said with a smile, "For example, gunpowder, firearms, trains, and some of my ideas all came from that dream."

Du Qian is, after all, a person of this era. Talking to him about "time travel" would probably not make sense, but if you say it's a dream, he would immediately understand.

Upon hearing this, Du Qian couldn't help but look up at the sky and murmur, "This is probably divine intervention, destiny."

The emperor shook his head, neither denying nor agreeing, but simply smiled and said, "I don't know about that."

Suppressing his excitement, Minister Du asked, "What else did you see in your dream, Erlang? What was the court like in that world?"

Li Yun thought for a moment and replied, "The central government and all levels of government are much the same as those in the Tang Dynasty, except..." He smiled and said, "except that there is no emperor."

Minister Du was greatly shocked and exclaimed, "No emperor? Then... then who will be in charge?"

Emperor Li looked at Du Qian with a half-smile.

Prime Minister Du suddenly realized what was going on and pointed to himself: "Should someone in my position make the decisions?"

Li Yun smiled.

"almost."

Du Xiangong frowned and thought about it seriously for a long time before he finally understood.

"In other words, the people in charge are no longer from one family."

He stood up, looked at Li Yun, and remained silent for a long time. After a while, he murmured, "Since the founding of the country, Your Majesty has come up with so many novel things, from new taxes to new policies, to various seeds, as well as new things and new learning."

"It's all so that one day..."

He looked at Li Yun with disbelief in his eyes: "You want to dethrone the Li family from the throne?"

The emperor also stood up, waved his hand, and smiled wryly: "I'm not that great."

"Even if I don't do these things, it will eventually happen sooner or later, but I want to do it a little earlier, and not so soon."

The emperor smiled and said, "Didn't I say that we would probably only reach that point after the Li Tang dynasty is over? And most likely, even after the Li Tang dynasty is over, it will be difficult for things to turn out that way. We'll have to wait for another one."

"Perhaps, in this world, emperors will still exist, only they will become figureheads."

"Lord Xu, Lord Xu."

After muttering a few words, Prime Minister Du sat back down in his original seat. He looked at Li Yun and sighed, “Throughout history, generations of scholars have pursued these two words, which has led to endless struggles between imperial and ministerial power.”

"In the current Zhangwu reign, imperial power has completely overshadowed the power of the ministers. It's unbelievable that Erlang, after seizing power, is heading in this direction..."

"They're still not quite the same."

The emperor said quietly, "I suppress the power of my officials because if left unchecked, they will hold great power and then bully their superiors and oppress their subordinates."

Minister Du asked, "Human nature is like this, how can it be changed?"

Emperor Li looked up at the sky: "Therefore, since our dynasty cannot accomplish this, several hundred years from now, when a force overthrows this dynasty, the next dynasty will be able to fear that force."

"By that time, information will be readily available and the people will be more enlightened."

"Things like the official gazette of the Tang Dynasty were everywhere in the world. What will happen when something can record sound and images..."

"Only what I say can come true."

He looked at Du Qian calmly: "Neither you nor I can see these things."

His Majesty the Emperor spread his arms wide: "The times are moving forward with great momentum. You and I have only given it a hard push. Where will it go and what will it become in the end?"

"We two ancient people cannot see."

Emperor Li narrowed his eyes: "Doing your best is enough."

Du Xiangong looked up at the clouds in the sky, stood there stunned, and remained silent for a long time.

"If that day always comes..."

He looked at Li Yun and asked the final question: "Why is Erlang in such a hurry?"

"Because this world is not just about the land of China."

The emperor turned to look at Du Qian and said, "If we don't move forward, the land will eventually sink."

"They'll be pressed into the mud and dust."

He muttered to himself, "Descendants will all think themselves inferior to others."

"besides."

He sighed: "It's never a sin to try our best to make people's lives better."

"is not it?"

Du Xiangong was deeply shocked and it took him a long time to come to his senses. He bowed deeply to Li Yun, expressing his heartfelt admiration.

"His Majesty…"

Lord Du bowed and said.

"He is truly a sage sent down by Heaven."

(End of this chapter)