The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

After having a meal with Wang Gui, Chen Huai'an felt much more relaxed.

He's been under a lot of pressure these past few days; operating the system is like walking a tightrope, and one wrong move could cause a huge mess.

Now that the cooperation with the Wang family has been reached, he can relax a lot.

Judging from the current conditions, even if the powerful families wanted to cause trouble, the power they wielded was already considerable.

After strolling around Chang'an for a while and buying a bunch of food, Chen Huai'an was satisfied and walked towards the East Palace while eating.

"Duke Anguo"

When the guards at the East Palace saw that it was Chen Huai'an, they let him in without stopping him.

He was quite familiar with the place.

Soon, in front of the Xiande Hall, Chen Huai'an sent someone in to announce his arrival. Li Shimin was quite surprised when he learned of his arrival: "This kid isn't staying at home, he has the leisure to come out?"

Zhang Anan hesitated, "Your Majesty, I heard from the people below that the Duke of Anguo seems to be quite... well, elegant, and he's carrying quite a lot of food."

Li Shimin twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled helplessly: "Let him in."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhang Anan accepted the order and soon brought Chen Huai'an back.

When Li Shimin saw this, he realized that the boy was carrying quite a lot of things, mostly food sold on the streets of Chang'an.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

Li Shimin raised an eyebrow and said, "You're carrying all this stuff without even wearing your official robes. Do you think that's appropriate?"

"Isn't that outrageous?" Chen Huai'an blinked, looked down at himself, and nodded. "It is indeed outrageous. Then I'll go back first, change my clothes, and finish my food before I come back."

With that, he turned and prepared to leave.

"Alright, alright, you've got to be kidding me!" Li Shimin rubbed his temples and gestured for him to come back.

Chen Huai'an's arrival likely indicates something good has happened, so Li Shimin naturally wouldn't let him leave.

"Zhang Anan, bring up a few more plates of pastries for our Mr. Chen," Li Shimin said irritably. "Don't let our infallible Mr. Chen go hungry."

Chen Huai'an's face darkened slightly.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhang Anan suppressed a laugh and left.

"Here, take a look, this is the memorial impeaching you." Li Shimin casually tossed him a memorial.

On Li Shimin's desk, there were many more such memorials.

Chen Huai'an opened it out of curiosity and began to read it with great interest. By the end, he even started reading it aloud on his own.

Li Shimin said impatiently, "Fine, you can look, but what are you reading?"

"Didn't you see what people are saying about you? They say you're doing business privately outside, that you're abusing your power for personal gain, and that you're engaging in extravagant construction projects that waste people's money and resources. They say you're holding the positions of two ministers, that you have too much power."

"Now these people don't dare to let me exile you to Lingnan anymore. Besides those who suggest that I demote you, kill you, or exile you to Ningguta."

"How can you still laugh!"

Chen Huai'an chuckled: "Exile me to Lingnan? Wouldn't that be perfect for going home?"

"Perhaps in my lifetime, I will be able to fulfill a wish and live a peaceful life as a teacher."

"Hehe!" Li Shimin gave a forced smile.

Chen Huai'an curled his lips, looked down at it, and clicked his tongue: "What's written here makes it seem like I'm some kind of heinous sinner, throwing all sorts of bad words at me."

"To be honest, I did all this for His Majesty."

Li Shimin snorted coldly: "Since you took office, the memorials impeaching you have piled up into a mountain. Why do you think you haven't been affected at all? Isn't it because I've been protecting you?"

"I know perfectly well what these people are thinking!"

"Furthermore, you saw the situation last time when we talked about a show of hands for a vote. I actually have fewer officials of the fifth rank and above under my control than these families!"

"These are officials of the fifth rank and above in the imperial court. If even they are like this, I find it hard to imagine what it's like for those below the fifth rank!"

Li Shimin was furious. Just because he didn't say anything at the time didn't mean he hadn't remembered.

At that time, he truly intended to kill.

Of course, his murderous intent hasn't subsided, and he's already secretly investigating Lu Yanqing and the others. If he finds anything...

Li Shimin was not a soft-hearted person!

"Isn't the imperial examination system precisely designed to solve all of this?" Chen Huai'an pointed out the key issue again.

Li Shimin's expression softened considerably.

Indeed, the imperial examination system was precisely designed to solve all of this.

It can be said that Chen Huai'an has almost paved the way to heaven, and only the final hurdle remains.

If he could get through this, from then on, a poor boy would at least have a chance to rise in society. He could slowly gain control of the court and local officials by becoming one of the emperor's protégés selected through the imperial examinations year after year.

"Now that you dare to swagger out like this and even went to buy so much food, I suppose... good news has arrived?" Li Shimin looked at him expectantly.

Not only Chen Huai'an, but he has also been under considerable pressure these past two days, with arguments erupting daily in the imperial court.

However, he cannot send out a clear signal, otherwise some people might resort to desperate measures.

"That's true." Chen Huai'an nodded slightly. "Today, I just reached a cooperation agreement with the Wang family of Taiyuan, allowing them to take on one of the examiners and participate in the unification of Confucian classics."

"The condition is to deal with the other companies, maintain stability, and at the same time..."

With that, Chen Huai'an said with a smile, "The Wang family will hand over all their books for us to make rubbings."

"Oh?" Li Shimin was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but question, "They could agree to such conditions?"

"This is the culmination of their centuries of accumulation!"

"Your Majesty has misunderstood," Chen Huai'an explained. "It wasn't me who made this request. Initially, I let Wang Gui bring it up himself, but Wang Gui volunteered to hand over his collection of books for us to make rubbings."

"The Wang family has more魄力 (poise and decisiveness) than I imagined!"

Li Shimin was taken aback, but then he understood the deeper meaning and exclaimed in amazement, "Indeed, the Wang family actually has such courage."

"But this is a great thing for us."

The Wang family of Taiyuan's donation of books to participate in the unification of Confucian classics was tantamount to betraying the cultural alliance of the five surnames and seven clans.

What will the other four families think? The Cui family of Boling has already cooperated, and the Wang family of Taiyuan has also presented their books. Will the remaining three families, Lu, Zheng, and Li, panic?

The effect of internal differentiation is far more valuable than the book itself.

More importantly... this move can greatly enrich the royal library.

Don't assume that the royal family's book collection must be the largest; this is actually a misunderstanding among ordinary people.

During the Sui Dynasty, the imperial library reached its historical peak, with the Jiaze Hall in Luoyang housing 370,000 volumes.

These 370,000 scrolls were made into three sets of copies, which were stored in Chang'an, Luoyang and other places.

However, anyone with a bit of status and knowledge of history knows that the royal family didn't have many books at all.

Li Shimin was as poor as... well, you know.

"..."