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

Yanzhou, the residence of Prince Zhongwu.

"teacher."

Li Jiancheng stood respectfully next to a middle-aged man who held a fishing rod and quietly watched the calm water.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Wei Cheng said calmly.

Li Jiancheng looked ashamed. "I have failed my teacher's teachings."

"It's alright, everyone has their own ambitions, there's no need to take it to heart."

Wei Cheng smiled lightly, not taking it to heart.

Although Li Jiancheng was talented, he was not so talented that Wei Cheng absolutely had to keep him.

The reason for this choice was simply that Li Shimin was more suitable to be an emperor than Li Jiancheng.

Now that the two brothers have a plan, Wei Cheng naturally agrees.

The Wei family has connections all over the world; what kind of geniuses haven't they seen?

Li Jiancheng didn't pursue the path of science, but chose something else instead. It's just a little regrettable for him, but it's nothing serious.

Moreover, having someone like Li Jiancheng, who loves physics and chemistry and has a talent for it, in control of a region would have a positive influence on the spread of physics and chemistry.

As we all know, physics depends on talent, while chemistry depends on luck.

To achieve something in physics, one must be someone whose brain is naturally different from others; a single flash of inspiration from them can be worth decades or even centuries of research by countless mediocre people.

Progress in physics has never been achieved through the painstaking research and exploration of ordinary scientists; rather, it is achieved by a genius building a towering edifice from scratch, which is then patched up by other scientists.

Chemistry is even more terrifying; it's all about fate. If it's meant to be, it will be; if it's not, you can't force it.

Some people have a dream that allows them to write down all the elements discovered by the entire chemical industry over the next few centuries. Others research all kinds of flammable and explosive materials, and while people around them die one after another, they can remain unharmed. No matter how dangerous or violent the explosives are, they cannot be killed.

Without that kind of luck, without that kind of strong fate, how could you possibly have achieved such a level of expertise in chemistry?

Only when more people study and research physics and chemistry can such epoch-making geniuses and those favored by heaven emerge.

Hearing Wei Cheng's words, Li Jiancheng felt even more ashamed.

"Teacher, I am preparing to lead troops to attack the Western Regions. What advice do you have for me?"

Li Jiancheng asked.

"The Western Regions."

Wei Cheng's tone was enigmatic. The fact that the Great Xia could occupy the Western Regions was both unexpected and expected.

When the Divine Empire is weak, it presents the best opportunity for the surrounding countries.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in chaos, which naturally presented a great opportunity for the Great Xia Dynasty.

But the loss of the Western Regions still came as a surprise to Wei Cheng.

After all, the Western Regions had been under the control of China for hundreds of years, so their sudden loss is truly astonishing.

For this reason, both the Sui and Tang dynasties were criticized a lot, especially the Sui dynasty, which was the first to lose half of the Western Regions.

The Tang Dynasty had just unified the country and did not have the time or energy to attend to the Western Regions.

However, the Sui Dynasty was truly defeated in a head-on confrontation and lost half of the Western Regions.

What's even more despicable isn't that they couldn't win in terms of raw strength, but that Yang Guang gave reckless and chaotic orders.

An incompetent general can lead to the downfall of an entire army.

The losses in this war were the biggest reason why Yang Guang was able to obtain the title of "Yang".

Some people wanted even worse titles, but Yang Guang still made contributions to the country.

During his reign, he vigorously promoted railways and the Grand Canal, which greatly facilitated exchanges between different parts of the world.

Merits are merits, and faults are faults; the world is still very strict about posthumous titles.

It's far from the point where, like in the Song Dynasty, even after being utterly defeated and forced to cede territory and beg for mercy, they could still receive a good posthumous title and have the audacity to perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai.

"The Western Regions are not easy to conquer."

"The one currently guarding the Western Regions is Xia Ping, the King of Wuping of the Great Xia Empire. He is the pillar of the Great Xia Empire, brave and skilled in battle, and a master strategist. It was he who defeated the million-strong army left behind by Emperor Yang of Sui in the Western Regions."

"In previous years, there were also disturbances in the territory of Great Xia, all of which were quelled by this person. He has been fighting for more than 20 years without ever being defeated, and he holds an extremely high position in Great Xia."

"What's even more remarkable is that this person is the uncle and nephew of the current emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty. The two have an excellent relationship and are a perfect match as ruler and subject."

"It is said that King Wuping is the idol of the current Emperor Xia Yan of the Great Xia Dynasty since childhood. Xia Yan has always admired his uncle since he was a child."

"Sowing discord is almost impossible."

Li Jiancheng's expression was somewhat somber. Now that the Tang Dynasty had just been established, there was not much intelligence about the Western Regions. All he knew was that Xia Ping, the King of Wuping of the Great Xia, had led his troops to conquer the Western Regions.

What other achievements does Xia Ping have? What is his relationship with the false emperor of the Xia Dynasty? Can he replicate those historical schemes of sowing discord and discarding the useful after the enemy is defeated?

They knew none of this.

If Wei Zheng hadn't reminded him, and he had led his troops headlong into the fray, he probably would have been devoured without even a trace of his bones.

"Does the teacher have any suggestions?"

Li Jiancheng looked at his teacher with hope.

Wei Cheng chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't have any good ideas either."

The Wei family never interferes in the conflicts between different countries.

Otherwise, given the strength of the Wei family, this wouldn't be a conflict between nations; it would clearly be a conflict between different branches of the Wei family.

Without a doubt, the leading figures of various countries will all be from the Wei family.

That is not what they wanted.

Li Jiancheng sighed in disappointment, "Then, teacher, could you perhaps go to court ahead of schedule?"

"The people of the world have suffered from war for a long time and yearn for peace and stability. If you, teacher, were to enter the court, you would surely put the hearts of the people at ease, which would be a blessing for them."

"Don't mention this matter again."

"This can be considered a test for your Li family."

"Let's see if you are qualified to support the millions of people under heaven."

A test for the royal family?!

Such disrespectful words came so casually from Wei Cheng's mouth, and neither he nor Li Jiancheng felt anything was wrong with them.

Seeing that he couldn't get much information from Wei Cheng, Li Jiancheng quickly prepared to leave, as he needed to tell his father and brother the news as soon as possible.

"Go."

Wei Cheng watched Li Jiancheng leave, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

The reason why the Wei family supports the establishment of vassal states all over the world is to select the strongest dynasty through the clash of powerful forces.

The clash between the two great empires was something he was eagerly anticipating.

One was the Tang Dynasty, which occupied the land of China and was thriving, like the rising sun.

One was the Great Xia, which occupied the entire Tuzhou and the Western Regions. It was a vast territory with a population almost equal to that of the Great Tang, a profound cultural heritage, and a strong military.

Only a clash between such great empires can be truly exciting!