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

Li Shimin ultimately chose to directly control the land of Da Xia, expanding the territory of the Tang Dynasty to an extremely high level.

For Li Jing, Li Shimin opened the door for the first non-royal prince in the Tang Dynasty, enfeoffing him as the Prince of Wei, with a fief of ten thousand households, appointing him Grand Commandant, and granting him privileges such as wearing a sword and shoes in the palace.

"In the past, the Han Dynasty had Wu An, who drove the Xiongnu to their deaths and pacified their tribe. Now, Li Jing has wiped out the rebellious Xia for me, established the capital in the region, and brought all nations into submission and the hearts of the people to him. This achievement is unprecedented in history! I hereby bestow upon you the title of Prince of Wei, appoint you Grand Commandant, grant you the highest rank among ministers, a fief of ten thousand households, and the privilege of wearing a sword in the palace, to demonstrate your unparalleled merit. You and I, as ruler and subject, are of one mind, and together we will secure the vast empire of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Jing was always cautious and knew that he had made great contributions and was now suspected of overshadowing his lord.

He has now essentially reached the pinnacle of a minister's career, having been granted the titles of King, one of the Three Dukes, and granted the privilege of wearing a sword and shoes in the imperial court. He also commands an elite army for the Western Expedition. If he doesn't proceed with caution, he will likely face the fate of being discarded like a hunting dog after the rabbit is caught, and his entire family will be executed.

After receiving the imperial edict of reward, Li Shimin immediately distributed military power to several deputy generals without saying a word, and returned to Luoyang alone with a few personal guards to receive the reward.

After accepting the reward, he remained secluded at home, acting like a clay puppet in the court, never expressing his opinion on anything.

He was excessively low-key, and even refused visits from the Crown Prince and several princes.

He even resigned from his son's official position and refused to see any officials or powerful families who came to visit him.

His favorite things to do all day were to read and write military books in his study, or to accept the invitation of the Prince of Yan to lecture at the Imperial Academy.

Li Shimin had been on the throne for more than a decade and had cultivated a large number of scholars through the imperial examination system.

However, the number of officials in the imperial court was limited, and only the most outstanding individuals were able to obtain official positions.

Most of the remaining officials were still without official positions, but now that the Tang Dynasty had such a large territory, it was natural to send a large number of local officials to strengthen the Tang Dynasty's control over that area.

That was, after all, the land of an empire, and the number of officials needed was astronomical.

Even if all the scholars who had passed the imperial examinations accumulated over the years in the Tang Dynasty were sent there, it still wouldn't be enough.

Li Shimin had no choice but to change the imperial examination to once a year, until the court had enough officials, and then change it back.

During this period, the territory of the Tang Dynasty was nearly doubled, and Li Shimin walked with a brisk pace.

Although Empress Zhangsun's health has gradually improved recently, she has ultimately suffered a loss of vitality and is now physically weak.

Li Shimin then summoned a group of beautiful women to the palace to enrich his harem.

One of them was a woman surnamed Wu, who was extremely charming and was greatly favored by Li Shimin, so he named her Wu Mei.

In the fourteenth year of the Zhenguan era, Li Chengqian, who longed to expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty like Li Shimin, was training in horsemanship and archery when his horse's hoof was damaged for unknown reasons. Li Chengqian was thrown off his horse and broke his left leg.

After consulting with the imperial physician, Li Shimin learned that the leg was very likely to become crippled and he would become lame.

How could the heir to the Tang Dynasty be a cripple?!

Li Shimin was both shocked and furious, and ordered these imperial physicians to be placed under house arrest and not to leak the news.

At the same time, he went to the Prince of Yan's residence and found Wei Zu, who had succeeded as the Prince of Yan, hoping that Wei Zu could invite Prince An to the palace again to treat Li Chengqian.

By the time Prince An entered the palace, it was too late. Li Chengqian's bones had already taken their final shape, and even with Prince An's miraculous healing abilities, he could not restore the deformed bones.

The crown prince of the Tang Dynasty became a cripple.

The news inevitably leaked out, and the matter was met with widespread criticism both inside and outside the government.

The emperor is sacred and supreme, but can a cripple also be supreme and sacred?!

Almost everyone who heard the news questioned it, knowing in their hearts that it was impossible.

No matter who it is, when they see that the person sitting on the dragon throne is a cripple, they will subconsciously feel that the person is not worthy of sitting in that position.

Li Shimin was furious about this and killed several imperial physicians and palace maids and eunuchs. At the same time, he ordered a thousand cavalry to investigate how the news got out.

The Eastern Palace.

Li Chengqian lay silently on the bed, tears streaming down his face. His ambitions had vanished with his physical disability.

Even his position as crown prince is in jeopardy.

"Father, Mother."

Li Chengqian suddenly noticed the arrival of Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun. He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and wanted to get up to pay his respects to them, but the pain in his body prevented him from doing so.

"Chengqian, do not move around."

Li Shimin hurriedly said that Empress Zhangsun came to Li Chengqian's bedside, sat there, and held Li Chengqian's hands.

"Chengqian, don't worry, no matter what happens, your father and mother will always be on your side."

"And the Prince of Yan, you are his disciple, your position as crown prince is as secure as Mount Tai, there is no need to worry."

Li Shimin, having also been the crown prince, naturally knew what Li Chengqian was most worried about, and quickly promised Li Chengqian in front of Empress Zhangsun.

"Really? Father, my leg is lame. How can the Tang Dynasty have a lame crown prince, or even an emperor?"

As Li Chengqian spoke, tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.

"Could it be that I have committed some sin that Heaven is punishing my son?"

"He's just a child, why is God treating him like this?"

Li Shimin raised his head, and tears welled up in his tiger-like eyes and streamed down his face.

"Chengqian, you should rest well. Guanyinbi, let's go back first."

Li Shimin returned to the palace with a reluctant Empress Zhangsun. "Your Majesty," he said, "Chengqian's leg is now lame. He is already pitiful enough. Please, Your Majesty, do not grant him the position of Crown Prince..."

Before Empress Zhangsun could finish speaking, Li Shimin grasped her hand and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, Chengqian will be the only Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty."

"Anyone who dares to gossip will be killed by me."

After sending Empress Zhangsun to the palace, a depressed Li Shimin went to the Prince of Yan's residence.

Seeing Li Shimin's sour face, Wei Zu knew that he was troubled by Li Chengqian's matter.

"Why is Your Majesty worried? Physical disability has no necessary connection with whether a person is wise or not."

"During the Spring and Autumn Period of the pre-Qin era, Duke Wen of Jin, one of the Five Hegemons, was born with conjoined ribs and had flawed personal morality, yet he still achieved great hegemony, didn't he?"

"And then there is Emperor Jing of Han, who is only mentioned in historical records. To avoid using the name of an honored person, it is inconvenient to write about him in detail."

"It is clearly recorded in the books of my Wei family that Emperor Jing also suffered from a foot ailment."

"But that didn't stop him from becoming the crown prince, ascending the throne, and ushering in a golden age."

"Just as Your Majesty hopes to overshadow your past achievements with your accomplishments, Emperor Jing had the same idea back then, wanting to create a great legacy so that people would overlook his physical problems."

"Therefore, whether or not one is disabled has never been the standard for selecting a wise ruler; ability is."

Wei Zu smiled and said to Li Shimin.

The Wei family has a history spanning over a thousand years, and the number of emperors they have served is countless.

What kind of emperors haven't I seen? A mere disability is nothing to mention.