Chapter 236: Chang'an City

"Liu Heita fled."

"Dou Jiande's wife, Lady Cao~"

"His Right Pushe, Pei Ju~"

"Xingtai Cao Dan~"

"The civil and military officials presented seals and insignia, maps, household registers, military rolls, and the lands of cities and counties throughout Hebei and Shandong."

"Congratulations, King Qin, congratulations, King Qin~"

"Hebei and Shandong, from now on, are pacified~"

Inside Mingzhou City, everyone was congratulating Li Erfeng.

This expedition had almost settled the entire north in a single battle, and Li Erfeng was full of self-satisfaction.

While accepting everyone's congratulations, the beard on his face trembled incessantly with his smile.

"King Qin."

Du Ruhui whispered a reminder, "Do not forget the great hero of this battle."

"Fortunately, Ke Ming reminded me."

Li Erfeng slapped his forehead, "I nearly made a grave mistake."

He hurried to find Lin Dao to express his gratitude.

"Without Brother Zi Hou's assistance with the God Carriage, we might still be fighting outside Luoyang City."

"Without Brother Zi Hou's gift of the Bicycle, rescuing my uncle and aunt, there would be no great victory today."

"The credit for this battle, Brother Zi Hou deserves the foremost place."

Facing Li Erfeng's smiling face, Lin Dao smiled in response.

"As for fighting Wang Shichong, I actively requested to help; they entrusted them to me to handle, and that is already repayment."

"As for the Bicycle, I also actively gave it as a gift."

"Rescuing your uncle and aunt, I took your raw silk."

"Merit and such, no need to mention them again."

Lin Dao shifted the topic, "What do you think of the Five Surnames and Seven Wang Families?"

Most of the Five Surnames and Seven Wang Families originate from various places in Hebei and Shandong.

Li Tang seizing these places is equivalent to receiving these Aristocratic Clans.

"This~~~"

Li Erfeng's heart tightened, and he carefully chose his words.

"These great families have immense power, with marital connections linking inside and outside, and disciples and former subordinates spread across the world."

"Some have even been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years, deeply rooted."

"They must be treated with caution."

The Aristocratic Families that ordinary people imagine.

Capable people in the family serve as officials and chancellors at court.

Those without ability stay in their hometowns guarding their fields to make a living.

If the Emperor is determined, he can confiscate their property and exterminate their clan, and so on.

But the actual Aristocratic Families.

Those serving as officials at court are merely the tip of the iceberg.

The elders who truly hold family decision-making power all stay in their hometowns.

The family's children intermarry inside and out, able to connect with the imperial clan, powerful nobles, and emerging forces.

Their fields span states and provinces, with countless paths.

The common people who rely on them for their livelihood number in the tens of thousands.

Through relationship networks woven over hundreds or thousands of years, they spread across every place under heaven.

Grain and supplies, weapons and armor fill the warehouses.

The Emperor wants to confiscate their property and exterminate their clan?

In a moment, they can raise a hundred-thousand-strong army, and can also connect with forces everywhere to respond to each other and exert strength together.

This is the true great aristocratic family.

As a reference standard, one can look at the Yuan family of the late Han.

Li Erfeng is not stupid; naturally, he knows the erosion and harm that Aristocratic Clans inflict on imperial power.

But he also knows the strength and foundation of Aristocratic Clans.

Even he can only treat them with caution.

This is a monster group of individuals who have money, grain, people, and relationship networks.

Wanting to wipe them out—how easy could that be?

This is merely hard power.

In terms of soft power, Aristocratic Clans monopolize knowledge.

Without their support, the Emperor cannot even find enough talent to manage the nation.

After all, during the late Sui and early Tang, scholars under heaven accounted for only one-thousandth of the total population.

The vast majority of them come from Aristocratic Families, or are people funded by them.

Even someone as strong as Li Erfeng must be cautious.

Lin Dao took out paper and brush, quickly recording.

'Li Er knows the harm of Aristocratic Clans~'

"Li Er is temporarily willing but unable."

"The rest remains to be observed."

Li Erfeng's curiosity was bursting.

His heart felt like a monkey scratching inside; he desperately wanted to see what Lin Dao had actually written.

If possible, he also wanted to pick up a brush and revise a thing or two.

Putting away the paper and brush, Lin Dao straightforwardly asked, "When are you returning to Chang'an City?"

He planned to go inspect Li Jiancheng.

Afterwards he would make a final decision as soon as possible.

"Wait until the follow-up troops arrive, take over defense of various places, stabilize the various parts of Hebei."

"It will still take roughly several months."

"Good." Lin Dao waved his hand. "Since that's the case, let's part ways for now; I'll go to Chang'an City first."

Li Erfeng's heart gave a start. "Brother Zi Hou, you're leaving just like that?"

"Mm."

Lin Dao naturally couldn't wait for him several months; he had to go to Chang'an City to inspect Li Jiancheng.

"Brother Zi Hou."

Seeing Lin Dao's resolve to leave, Li Erfeng pondered briefly, then spoke: "I've been away from home for a long time and miss my wife and children dearly."

"Trouble you, Brother Zi Hou, to take a family letter back for me."

"Can do."

Watching Lin Dao's off-road vehicle jolt away into the distance on the rugged official road.

Here Li Erfeng took out a letter and handed it to Yuchi Gong. "Jingde, ride a fast horse back to Chang'an City at once; you must deliver this letter to Wují."

"Afterwards, listen to Wují's instructions and act accordingly; remember, remember!"

"Prince Qin, rest assured."

Yuchi Jingde immediately saluted. "I'm going right now!"

On the road to Chang'an City, interceptions and inspections along the way were naturally unavoidable.

Fortunately there was the identity proof Li Erfeng gave.

Learning Lin Dao was a man of Prince Qin's Mansion, the Tang soldiers dared not intercept him; they all respectfully let him pass.

Prince Qin Li Erlang, setting out from Chang'an City, destroyed Wang Shichong in less than a month.

Afterwards he marched a thousand li on a surprise raid, crushed Dou Jiande in Hebei, and swept across the entire northern land.

Such overwhelming combat power and merit — in the hearts of the Tang soldiers, he was a living War God.

Toward people of Prince Qin's Mansion, they were extremely respectful.

Historically, if Li Shimin hadn't chosen Xuanwu Gate but instead left for Luoyang, the final result would still be the same.

He would lead his army back to Chang'an City, and the garrison troops inside and outside the city would mostly rally to him.

After all, the gap in military merit and prestige between Li Jiancheng and Li Erfeng is simply too large.

Li Jiancheng's only chance is to heed Wei Zheng's advice and physically eliminate Li Erfeng.

After all, once the person is gone, everything dissipates like smoke.

As he drew ever closer to Chang'an City, such interceptions and checks became increasingly frequent.

After all, his self-propelled iron car was far too conspicuous.

Lin Dao simply sent the off-road vehicle back to Yonghe Spacetime, and himself used silver to buy a horse from a passing merchant caravan.

The Tang Dynasty is the same as the Song Dynasty.

The main circulating currency is still primarily grain, silk fabrics, and copper coins.

Gold and silver basically don't circulate, yet everyone knows their value.

Especially merchant caravans — they just like carrying gold and silver items because they're easy to carry.

Along the way, production and life in various places were gradually recovering.

In the fields were busy figures; on the roads came and went commoners and merchant caravans.

The damage brought by the great chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty was finally gradually reaching its end.

In every dynasty when a nation perishes, there is always a period of bloody turmoil.

And the turmoil at the end of the Sui Dynasty was probably the shortest in all dynasties.

Because Li Erfeng's speed in founding an empire was simply too fast.

Several days later, Lin Dao finally arrived outside Chang'an City.

Great Tang's Chang'an City is the Daxing City built during the Sui.

This is, within this era, the world's most colossal city.

Total area approaches ninety square kilometers — over seven times Constantinople, over six times Rome.

Even larger than the capital cities of the Ming and Qing eras.

Outside Mingde Gate, Lin Dao dismounted and surveyed the city wall before him.

Height roughly three zhang; interior rammed earth, exterior faced with blue bricks.

And as the southern main gate, Mingde Gate possesses a full five gate arches.

At this moment the four side arches stood wide open; merchant caravans and commoners streamed in and out in an endless flow.

"Chang'an City."

Lin Dao dusted off his hands, led his horse toward the city gate.

"Starting point of the Silk Road, center where ten thousand nations come to court."

"What a pity, it only flourished for a little over a hundred years."

"Tibet broke through the city walls several times."

"The Huihe even obtained the Emperor's permission to enter the city and plunder."

"These divine maneuvers by the Tang Dynasty Emperors, compared to Zhao Ji and his son, are also not far behind."

"Leaving other things aside, even Li Er's rise to power required killing Li Zhi, cutting off his entire line!"

Upon entering Mingde Gate, one reaches the famous Zhuque Avenue.

Zhuque Avenue lies on the central axis of Chang'an City.

From Mingde Gate it runs straight to Chengtian Gate, the southern gate of the Imperial Palace.

Its length is over five kilometers, that is, a ten-li long street.

Its width exceeds one hundred and fifty meters; in other words, the width surpasses the length of a standard football field.

"In all the timespaces I've traversed, only Bianliang City's Tian Jie can compare with it."

"Who says the ancient world didn't have vanity projects? This is one."

Zhuque Avenue is spacious and flat, with an excellent field of view.

From a military perspective, two machine guns are enough to enforce a firepower blockade.

In the sky, raindrops fell pattering down.

Pedestrians all around either sought shelter or took out rain gear.

"The Tian Jie's light rain moistens like cream, the grass color seen from afar but up close there's none."

Lin Dao, rarely showing off, took out an umbrella and opened it.

He advanced along Zhuque Avenue, heading for Daxing Fang.

At this time, Li Erfeng was actually still living with his father; the Qin Wangfu, located in Chengqian Hall within the Imperial City, is where Li Chengqian was born.

Although his prestige was illustrious and his military merits countless.

In reality he was only twenty-one years old, and together with his elder and younger brothers, he lived with Li Yuan inside the Imperial Palace, not yet having split off to form separate households.

Li Yuan trusted his three legitimate sons deeply, voluntarily sharing power with them.

Thus was formed the legendary "Li Yuan and the three legitimate Princes Jiancheng, Shimin, and Yuanji sharing the world."

Later, Li Jiancheng and Li Erfeng accused each other of having affairs with Li Yuan's concubines.

Those who don't understand would find it strange: how could the Crown Prince and the Prince enter the palace to encounter the concubines.

The root cause lies in the fact that the Crown Prince and the Prince actually originally lived in the palace.

Li Erfeng disliked the poor quality of Chengqian Hall.

Coupled with his daughter-in-law giving birth to Li Chengqian.

And Li Shimin establishing illustrious martial might that was difficult to reward.

On Li Yuan's side, he built Hongyi Palace outside the city and bestowed it on Li Erfeng's whole family to live in.

Before the palace construction was completed, the Qin Wangfu was temporarily arranged in Daning Fang.

Lin Dao led the horse, walking on Zhuque Avenue.

Behind him hoofbeats tumbled; a party of ten-odd riders galloped wildly, whistling along, startling countless people along the way, the commoners fearful and scattering in all directions.

There were commoners who had entered the city to sell grain and vegetables, unable to dodge in time, knocked down by horses, rolling and vomiting blood.

Lin Dao frowned and stomped his foot, the umbrella clamped against his neck, reached out and opened his travel bag.

From inside the bag he took out a sound and light grenade, flipped the safety and threw it toward the front of the horse party laughing heartily as they advanced.

He turned around, raised his hand and pressed down on the horse's head.

"Bang!"

Men toppled and horses fell, screams unceasing.

The huge sound, the intense flash, instantly caused the ten-odd riders to crash to the ground, bones broken and tendons snapped, some even falling to their deaths on the spot.

Lin Dao calmed the horse, led it to the farmer who had been hit by a horse, and squatted down.

He stuffed a silver ingot into his hand and instructed him.

"Leave the city and go home as fast as you can."

(End of Chapter)