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

"That mother..."

Li Shimin subconsciously opened his mouth, wanting to curse, but then realized he was eavesdropping, and quickly swallowed the words he was about to say.

"What is he saying?"

"Giving money to the imperial court is the funniest thing he's ever heard in his life?"

Li Shimin was somewhat annoyed.

Things are different now. He is about to ascend the throne and become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The whole world will belong to him.

The imperial court was no exception.

Since the imperial court was his, Chen Huai'an's suggestion to give the money to the court for disaster relief was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life, and he was naturally somewhat taken aback.

What does that mean?

If you don't give the money to the imperial court for disaster relief, are you going to rely on recruiting those few people?

There are countless disaster victims around the world, and when natural disasters or man-made calamities strike, corpses litter the fields. Can you possibly take them all in?

If we don't rely on the imperial court, can we really expect to rely on merchants?

Seeing this, Empress Dowager Changsun quickly comforted him, "Second Brother, don't be anxious. Chen Huai'an is a man of great talent. He wouldn't speak without reason. Hasn't he already said it many times before?"

"If you want to know why he said that and what his views on the court are, you should listen to what he has to say next."

"I believe Chen Huai'an should be able to provide an answer."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's expression softened, realizing that he had lost his composure.

However, one cannot blame him for being like that; it's one thing for Chen Huai'an to say it, but his tone was full of disdain.

He seemed to be full of disdain for the imperial court, which everyone in the world wanted to enter, and he made no attempt to hide his sarcasm.

As the new ruler of the court, it was truly difficult for him to remain calm.

"If he cannot give me a satisfactory answer today, then I will..."

Empress Zhangsun smiled slightly upon hearing this: "So what?"

Li Shimin hesitated for a long time before angrily saying, "I will dismiss him from his post and make sure he can never teach students again."

Empress Zhangsun: "..."

"..."

Inside the school, Cheng Chumo was shocked to hear Chen Huai'an's words: "Teacher, you can't say things like that. If others hear it, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause."

Li Zhen nodded repeatedly: "Yes, sir, you can't say things like that carelessly."

Chen Huai'an said nonchalantly, "Besides you, there's no one else here. Are you going to report me?"

Upon hearing this, the group immediately patted their chests and assured each other that they would absolutely not leak it.

They were all young and influenced by their elders. To betray others?

What's the difference between them and animals?

Li Chengqian ignored these matters and his face turned serious: "Sir, please forgive me for not agreeing with what you said."

"Isn't the existence of the imperial court precisely for the purpose of managing and governing the world?"

"No matter when or where a natural disaster occurs, isn't it always the imperial court that ultimately steps in to resolve it?"

"Even in previous dynasties, when natural disasters and man-made calamities struck and famine struck, it was always the imperial court that tried to find a solution."

"What's wrong with giving money to the imperial court?"

This was the first time Li Chengqian had truly refuted Chen Huai'an. Even when Chen Huai'an had previously said that scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants should be on the same level and that merchants should not be belittled, he had never refuted him like this.

Chen Huai'an was not annoyed by this, but patiently explained: "I have said that you have your own ideas and you do not obey me in every way because of my status, which is good."

"You said you wanted to use the money you earned from business to provide disaster relief for the imperial court, and I don't deny that your intentions were good."

"Because with your current knowledge and experience, you might think that while you are doing this, you are simultaneously recruiting workers to carry out a different kind of disaster relief, and using the money from the business to give to the imperial court, thus achieving direct disaster relief."

"In the long run, this will create a virtuous cycle, thus governing the world well, right?"

Li Chengqian was taken aback, feeling that Chen Huai'an had guessed all his thoughts.

This gave him a bad feeling.

"Yes...that's right, sir."

"Hmm." Chen Huai'an nodded slightly and asked a seemingly insignificant question, "Have you ever heard the saying, 'To save the people, first save the officials'?"

The moment those words were spoken, Li Chengqian froze, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Should we save the officials first to save the people?

How could it be that saving the people starts with saving the officials?

How could that be?

Outside, Li Shimin, who had been somewhat annoyed, suddenly fell silent, clenching his fists tightly, his face dark and unreadable.

Empress Zhangsun hesitated to speak, but in the end, she said nothing and only let out a sigh.

Unlike the other children inside, they understood Chen Huai'an's meaning the moment he said those words.

Because they understood, they remained silent.

Cheng Chumo scratched his head, puzzled, and asked, "Sir, what does 'saving the people starts with saving the officials' mean? Saving the people is one thing, but how did it get involved in saving the officials?"

"When did the official need saving?"

"Of course we need to." Chen Huai'an's lips curled into a sneer. "However, the 'saving' I'm talking about here doesn't mean that these officials are starving, so we need to save them. Rather, we need to feed them, fill them up, so that they can save the people."

"If we don't feed them, the disaster victims will never receive a single grain of relief food or a single copper coin in relief funds."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhen blurted out two words: "Corrupt official?"

Tang Heshang suddenly realized: "So you were talking about corrupt officials, sir."

"But...but..." Li Chengqian's face turned red. "But there aren't that many corrupt officials in the world. There are many honest and upright officials in the court."

"Sir, isn't your statement a bit too extreme?"

"Extreme?" Chen Huai'an shook his head and chuckled. "Chengqian, it's not that I'm extreme, it's that you're too naive."

"The integrity you speak of certainly exists."

"However, the imperial court is like a dye vat, where everyone is a mix of colors, whether black, blue, or red, and all of them carry a unique hue."

"If you were the only one as pure and untainted as a white lotus, do you think you could fit into this chaotic world? Could you be accepted by these colorful and diverse colleagues?"

"No way!!!"

Chen Huai'an said coldly, "They'll either dye you the same color as them, or they'll tear you to shreds. This is the imperial court! This is officialdom!"

"It may sound cruel and hard to accept, but that's the truth! An indisputable truth!"

"To save the people, we must first save the officials!"

"Because no matter what disaster relief or what people need to be rescued, it's not you, the future Crown Prince, who will do it, nor are you, the future Dukes, who will do it. It's the officials, big and small, who will do it!"

"Give the money to the imperial court for disaster relief?"

"The relief isn't for the disaster victims, but for those high-ranking officials! Do you understand, gentlemen?"

"..."