A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Many powerful families did not expect that Yang Guang would handle matters in such a simple and brutal way.

This is really...

That's great!

Indeed, not all emperors are perverts.

Ordinary emperors like this are the norm.

These aristocratic families were adept at dealing with emperors who were simple-minded and physically strong.

Although Yang Guang was blinded by the joy of ascending the throne, his subordinates were not.

Zhang Wei quickly found Yang Guang, and after some persuasion from Zhang Wei, Yang Guang recovered from the arrogance of ascending the throne and began to realize the terrifying nature of the powerful clans.

He began to understand why his father went to such lengths to suppress the powerful families.

One wrong move, and you're on the defensive every step of the way.

"What should I do, you who love cleanliness?"

Yang Guang asked Zhang Wei.

"If Your Majesty can persuade the Prince of Yan to come to court, everything can be resolved."

Yang Guang shook his head. Even his father couldn't persuade him, let alone him. He couldn't offer a more tempting deal than his father.

More importantly, it was the deposed crown prince Yang Yong, not Yang Guang, who made the gentleman's pact with the Prince of Yan.

In his anger, Yang Jian overlooked this point. At that time, Gao Jiong had just been killed, and even if the other ministers realized it, they dared not submit petitions to plead for him, for fear of being misunderstood as Yang Yong's accomplices and punished.

Will the Wei family still abide by this gentleman's agreement?

"His Majesty!"

"What did you just say???"

Zhang Wei looked horrified.

"What's wrong? My dear minister, why do you look like that?"

Yang Guang looked at Zhang Wei with a puzzled expression. Why did Zhang Wei look like the sky was about to fall?

"Your Majesty, you just said that it was the deposed crown prince who made the gentleman's pact with the Prince of Yan?"

"Back then, the court said that the deposed Crown Prince Yang Yong had made a gentleman's agreement with the Prince of Yan on behalf of the Sui Dynasty!"

"What's the difference?"

Yang Guang asked in confusion.

"This is so different, Your Majesty."

"If the deposed crown prince represents a gentleman's agreement between the Sui Dynasty and the Prince of Yan, then the two parties to the agreement are the Sui Dynasty and the Prince of Yan. Even if the late Emperor Wen passes away and Yang Yong is deposed, the agreement will still be valid."

"But if it's merely a gentleman's agreement between the deposed crown prince and the Prince of Yan, then it's entirely different."

"The two parties to this gentleman's agreement are the deposed crown prince and the Prince of Yan. In other words, from the moment Your Majesty ascended the throne, this gentleman's agreement was null and void!"

"Your Majesty, please recall carefully what exactly happened back then?"

Su Wei looked anxious; the two situations were worlds apart.

If we are not careful, the Sui Dynasty will collapse.

Yang Guang, reminded by Su Wei, realized the difference and began to try to recall the events of that year.

"I remember that after the deposed crown prince returned to the capital, he said:"

"Your subject has made a gentleman's pact with the King of Yan."

The King of Yan said, "If you can accomplish a great thing that benefits the country and its people, I will agree to let the direct descendants of the Wei family enter the court."

"With this agreement in place, the forces of the world will have something to worry about, and the rest should not be able to cause any trouble."

Then came the reply from the deposed Crown Prince Yang Yong: "As the Crown Prince of the Great Sui Empire, I hereby agree to this agreement on behalf of the Great Sui Empire."

"How is my dear minister?"

Su Wei pondered the last sentence: "As the Crown Prince of the Great Sui Empire, I hereby agree to this agreement on behalf of the Great Sui Empire."

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid there's some trouble."

"While this isn't the worst-case scenario, it's honestly not much better."

"Back then, the deposed Crown Prince Yang Yong, in his capacity as Crown Prince, represented the empire in agreeing to the gentleman's agreement with the Prince of Yan."

There are two ways to answer this question.

"The first one is in our favor, and that is this agreement. The deposed crown prince represents the empire, not himself."

"Under this interpretation, the gentleman's agreement remains valid. No matter who the emperor of the empire is, as long as the agreement can be fulfilled, the Wei family can be invited to come out of seclusion."

"The second explanation is unfavorable to us. That is, the deposed Crown Prince Yang Yong made the agreement in his capacity as the Crown Prince of the Sui Dynasty. However, since Yang Yong was deposed as Crown Prince, the agreement he signed in his capacity as Crown Prince should have become invalid at the moment his capacity as Crown Prince was deposed."

"Under this interpretation, the gentleman's agreement between the Prince of Yan and the Sui Dynasty lost all its legal rights from the moment the deposed crown prince was deposed."

Yang Guang's face turned pale and then red.

He finally managed to wrest the crown prince position from Yang Yong, and after enduring until Yang Jian's death, he became the emperor of this empire.

Now, because he is not the first in line to become the crown prince, he has this huge problem.

Why? Why does Yang Yong get all the good things?!

What makes that good-for-nothing think he's above everyone else?!

"Which of these two explanations do you think is true?"

"That's no longer important. What's important is which explanation His Majesty's enemies believe to be true?"

Zhang Wei shook his head; the initiative in this matter was no longer in their hands.

"Your Majesty, who knows about this now?"

Yang Guang's expression kept changing. "I don't know either."

"Those who knew about this back then included the late emperor, myself, the deposed crown prince, the commoner Gao Jiong, and Prince Yang Lin."

"But so many years have passed, and nobody knows who knows about this now."

"Nobody knows if they've leaked this to anyone else. If they haven't, that's fine, but if it has, given the extent of the implications, it certainly won't be a secret."

Zhang Wei breathed a sigh of relief. "This matter shouldn't have spread yet, which means that the people from back then didn't tell anyone."

"However, we must be on guard."

"What the Wei family cares about is nothing more than the common people of the world."

"If Your Majesty can do this, they will still come to court even if it wasn't Your Majesty who made the agreement."

"Your Majesty should strive to do even better than the late Emperor."

Yang Guang nodded. "Father is good in every way, except that he is a little too kind."

The aristocratic families, rebels, and officials killed by Yang Guang: "???"

Kindness? Are you polite?

"In my opinion, it's about directly and forcibly promoting it."

"Kill those who obstruct the construction of the medical school!"

"Those who obstruct the implementation of the imperial examination system, kill them!"

"Kill anyone who obstructs the laying of steam locomotives!"

"Kill until no one dares to oppose, kill until all these things are successfully implemented, kill until the people of the world are given a bright and clear world."

Yang Guang's words were filled with murderous intent, as if they were not human lives, but mere numbers.

Zhang Wei was not a weak-willed person. If he could fully promote these three principles, he would surely be remembered as a great prime minister in the history books of later generations.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to serve under Your Majesty and accomplish the great feat of becoming a first emperor in history!"

When Zhang Wei spoke of the First Emperor of All Time, Yang Guang's eyes shone with longing. He believed that his talent was no less than that of any emperor in history and wanted to become a true First Emperor of All Time, even surpassing the First Emperor.

"No, these are all Father's policies, Zhang Wei. You help me think of something; we must launch our own major project!"