Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

Li Shimin was so angry that he immediately dismissed the court.

Upon returning to Ganlu Palace, Li Shimin immediately smashed the white jade paperweight on the table.

"This is outrageous! It's truly outrageous!"

Wang De hid to the side, not daring to come out and say a word of advice.

Today, the Crown Prince and the Retired Emperor have completely humiliated Li Shimin.

Who would dare to go up and speak?

Even an ordinary person wouldn't be able to tolerate this, let alone Li Shimin.

Li Junxian rushed in at that moment.

"Your Majesty, an urgent secret report from Luoyang, delivered by express courier."

Li Shimin was looking for an outlet for his anger when Li Junxian happened to walk right into his trap.

"How dare you show your face before me? I ordered you to keep an eye on the Eastern Palace, and you went so far as to stage a coup in the Taiji Hall?"

"This humble servant deserves to die a thousand deaths."

Li Junxian quickly knelt down.

"But something big happened in Luoyang. The Cui family of Qinghe has joined forces with various families in Guandong to take action."

Li Shimin was taken aback.

"Bring it here."

Wang De quickly took the secret letter and handed it to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin removed the sealing wax and read through the pages one by one.

The anger on his originally ashen face gradually dissipated.

After watching the final scene, he sat back on the dragon throne and began tapping his fingers on the armrests.

Li Junxian said from below:

"Your Majesty, Cui Min has gone mad. Together with the Wang family of Taiyuan and the Lu family of Fanyang, they have sealed off all the docks in Luoyang."

Ships bound for Youzhou and Liaodong were all unable to pass.

The Guandong aristocratic families are cutting off the Tang Dynasty's border defense supplies.

The population of Liaodong, including those who have surrendered, now reaches one million, and the daily consumption of grain and fodder is an astronomical figure.

If the supply is cut off for half a month, there will definitely be a mutiny in the area north of Youzhou.

"Your Majesty, please issue an immediate decree to dispatch the Hundred Cavalry Division to cooperate with the Luoyang Garrison Command to forcibly reopen the Grand Canal trade route."

"get through?"

Li Shimin suddenly laughed.

"Li Junxian, Li Junxian, you've followed me for so many years, how come your brain is still as simple as Cheng Yaojin's, only having one thought?"

Li Junxian was stunned: "Your Majesty, this concerns the safety of the border..."

"Frontier my ass."

Li Shimin threw the secret report onto the table.

"Who's speaking up in Liaodong now?"

"His Highness the Crown Prince is nominally appointed as the Grand Commander of Andong."

"Isn't that settled?"

Li Shimin stood up from his chair, put his hands behind his back, and strolled around the hall.

"Wasn't that rebellious son quite capable in the Taiji Hall today? Leading a bunch of his brothers to force me to back down, does he really think he has the world firmly under his control?"

Li Shimin pointed to the northeast.

"He did indeed achieve military merit in Liaodong, but are fighting a war and governing a country the same thing?"

"Liaodong is a place of ice and snow, a poor and desolate place."

He conquered Goguryeo, but inherited a mess.

Without the constant influx of aid from Chang'an and the interior, what would his arrogant and fierce generals eat? Would they starve?

Li Junxian opened his mouth: "Your Majesty means..."

"The aristocratic families have done me a good thing this time."

Li Shimin sat down again, picked up the hot tea that Wang Degang had replaced, and slowly blew on the floating tea leaves.

"That rebellious son investigated taxes too harshly, pushing the Cui family of Qinghe to the brink. The powerful families used Luoyang as a strategic hub to block Liaodong, hoping to force the Crown Prince to submit."

"Perfect timing. I also want to see if this rebellious son can still be as arrogant as he is today when he has no grain or iron in his hands."

Li Junxian felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this:

"But what if things really get chaotic in Liaodong..."

"It won't be chaotic."

Li Shimin waved his hand.

"Li Ji is keeping an eye on things in Youzhou."

Besides, the Liaodong camp is full of old subordinates who fought alongside me to conquer the country. When they really go hungry, will they recognize the Crown Prince or the imperial grain?

At that point, the rebellious son will have no other choice.

Li Shimin wore the air of a victor.

"The trade routes in Luoyang are blocked by powerful families, and the Eastern Palace Guard under his command cannot penetrate the territory of Guandong at all."

Besides coming to the palace to beg the emperor to grant him favors and use the national treasury and army to appease the powerful families, what other path did he have?

If he's willing to kneel outside the Ganlu Hall and beg me, I'll help him out.

"And make him obediently hand over military power in Liaodong."

Li Shimin looked at Wang De and directly issued an oral decree.

"Relay my message to Tang Jian, the Minister of Revenue."

"From this day forward, without my personal imperial decree, the Ministry of Revenue shall not allocate a single coin or a single bushel of rice to Liaodong."

Anyone who dares to issue a note without authorization will be prosecuted for treason!

"The Hundred Cavalry Commandery will keep an eye on all the merchants in the city. Any carriage registered under the name of the Crown Prince or Changsun Chong that leaves the city will be impounded."

"I want to see how long that rebellious son can keep up his stubbornness."

Upon hearing Li Shimin's decree, Li Junxian felt a chill run down his spine.

Is His Majesty going to fight the Crown Prince to the death?

......

The rear hall of Da'an Palace.

Chang Le, her eyes red, was massaging Li Yuan's back.

"Grandpa, today you quarreled with Father Emperor because of Chang Le."

"Silly girl."

Li Yuan patted his granddaughter's hand.

"I've been cooped up in this lousy palace for years. Going out and yelling at your father today felt better than eating any magic pill."

Li Chengqian walked in at this moment.

"Lizhi, this place is safer than Lizhengdian."

With my grandfather, the Emperor, here, even if my father brings the Imperial Guards from Ganlu Palace, he can't possibly force you into the Gao family's gates.

Chang Le burst into laughter through her tears and quickly poured Li Chengqian a cup of tea.

Li Yuan glanced at Li Chengqian:

"You really showed off today, kid. But your dad's got a temper; he won't stand to be outdone. He didn't punish you in court, but he'll definitely cause trouble behind your back."

"He has already used it."

Li Chengqian took a sip of tea and said disdainfully.

A dark figure darted in from the shadows outside the hall and knelt on one knee beside Li Chengqian.

It was Shadow, the person in charge of Tingfeng Pavilion in Chang'an.

"Your Highness, reliable news has arrived from Luoyang. Cui Mingan and Wang Qinian have joined forces to completely cut off the canal and post road from Luoyang to Youzhou. All the caravans bound for Liaodong have been detained in Luoyang."

"In addition, the Hundred Cavalry Division has just taken over the four gates and is strictly inspecting all supplies entering and leaving the Eastern Palace. The Ganlu Palace has issued a death order to the Ministry of Revenue, cutting off the military pay and grain transport to Liaodong."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan slammed his cane into the ground.

"Has Erlang gone mad? To spite you, he'd even cut off the border army's supplies?"

"He's not crazy, he's just too confident."

Li Chengqian said with a mocking expression,

"My father and those old bones from the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families still use the old almanac from decades ago to look at Liaodong."

They considered Liaodong a wild and untamed land, and felt that the dozen or so mouths left behind north of Youzhou depended entirely on a few grains of rice from within the pass to survive.

The shadow lowered its head and said:

"Your Highness, the Cui family has already spread the word that as long as the Crown Prince is willing to return the 1.7 million strings of tax silver seized from the West Market and hand over the trade routes taken by the Zheng family, they can consider releasing a batch of military rations."

"Let them pass?"

"Do I need them to let me pass?"

"The iron produced by the blast furnaces in Liaodong now is more than the output of the Wang family's dilapidated iron workshops in Taiyuan in ten years."

The laborers from the surrendered Goguryeo tribes, along with the people of Youzhou, had long since filled the granaries of Liaodong with their curved plows and cotton.

"They thought that cutting off Luoyang would starve Liaodong to death."

It's like a dream.

Li Yuan asked with a smile:

"So, what are you planning to do about your father?"

Li Chengqian scoffed:

"Grandpa, do I really need to do this?"

One Changsun Wuji is enough.