gnovel Chapter 44 Li Tai mistakenly enters the underworld; the Crown Prince prepares an army.
Chapter 44 Li Tai mistakenly enters the underworld; the Crown Prince prepares an army.
At that moment, a demon came and took the cloth bag off Li Tai's head.
Li Tai opened his eyes and looked carefully, only to find that it was pitch black and there was a bridge in front of him.
He thought to himself that this must be the Bridge of Helplessness.
After crossing the Bridge of Helplessness, on both sides are incredibly ugly and ferocious evil spirits, namely the Judge, Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, each one baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.
Isn't this the legendary Yama's Palace?
He looked up and saw an old witch sitting in front of him, her face resembling a skull. Li Tai thought to himself that she might be the legendary Meng Po.
The headless female ghost stood beside her and reported, "Meng Po, Li Tai has been brought here."
Meng Po looked at Li Tai and said, "Let's give him a bowl of Meng Po soup first."
"promise!"
Ox-Head and Horse-Face agreed and came to Li Tai. Without saying a word, they pried open Li Tai's mouth and poured a bowl of soup into it.
Li Tai had no idea what kind of stuff they were giving him to drink; he just found it bitter.
"Li Tai, what bad things have you done in the mortal world? Confess now! King Yama is waiting to report to you," Meng Po said.
Li Tai quickly bowed and said, "Great Immortal, I believe I have not done anything wrong."
"Come on, give me twenty slaps."
"What wrong have I done that you are attacking me?"
"You acted like a tyrant in the mortal world, and now you dare to call yourself 'this king' in the underworld."
Then the Black and White Impermanence arrived. The Black Impermanence pinned Li Tai down, rendering him immobile, while the White Impermanence slapped his cheeks repeatedly until blood trickled down his lip.
In no time, Li Tai's face was swollen like a pig's head.
Even Meng Po and the headless female ghost dared not laugh, though they wanted to.
After the ritual was over, Meng Po asked again, "Do you remember what bad things you did?"
Li Tai thought that if he continued to be stubborn, he would definitely get beaten again, so he might as well speak up and suffer less physical pain.
So he told her in detail how he framed Li Chengqian, including which girls he had visited in the northern part of Pingkangfang.
He began by telling the story of how Qin Yong buried a wooden figure in the toilet of the Eastern Palace, and continued on to the various ambushes set up at Daxingshan Temple, and how he sent assassins to kill the Crown Prince by the Wei River.
The headless female ghost made a record of everything.
After the record was completed, Li Tai was asked to sign and affix his fingerprints and footprints.
"Li Tai, the most precious thing in the world is family affection. How can you treat your own brother like this?" Meng Po asked.
"No, no, no, I didn't want to do this either, but my men all said that if I didn't strike first, I would inevitably be rejected by Li Chengqian sooner or later and die at his hands. So, with the help of my men, I did those things step by step."
"Very well, you're quite honest. So, when you get to the underworld, do you want to go to the eighteen levels of hell?"
Upon hearing this, Li Tai realized that there were different levels of people here, and their treatment was different. Some people were sent to the eighteenth level of hell, while others were not.
Thinking of this, he answered loudly, "I don't want to go to the eighteenth level of hell."
Meng Po nodded: "You don't have to go to the eighteenth level of hell, but you have to pay up."
"what?"
Li Tai thought to himself, "In this ghost world, it's just like in the human world; you have to spend money to smooth things over."
"What, didn't you understand what I said?"
For example, if you don't want to go to the eighteenth level of hell, you can give us ten thousand taels of silver and we can send you to the seventeenth level of hell. However, even there, you will still feel worse than dead.
If you want to reach the sixteenth level of hell, then you'll have to give 20,000 taels of silver. And so on. Do you understand?
"I understand. I don't want to go to hell, not even the lowest level of hell."
"Then you'll have to give me 180,000 taels of silver."
Li Tai thought to himself, "This underworld is so damn corrupt! 180,000 taels of silver, that's a huge sum of money!"
With this money, we can recruit soldiers, purchase horses, provisions, and weapons, which is enough to build an army.
"What, you don't want to?"
"This—." Li Tai hesitated for a moment.
"Ox-headed and Horse-faced."
"Here!" Ox-Head and Horse-Face came over and bowed to Meng Po.
"Throw Li Tai into the eighteenth level of hell, so that he can neither live nor die."
"promise!"
Ox-Head and Horse-Face came over, grabbed Li Tai, and left.
Li Tai thought to himself that money was just an external thing anyway, so he quickly said, "It's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that I don't have that much money with me."
"Oh, that's alright. You can issue a certificate proving that you voluntarily surrender 180,000 taels of silver. You can sign and affix your seal on it. Did you bring the King of Yue's seal?"
The seal was of utmost importance, so Li Tai took it with him wherever he went.
"I brought it." Li Tai said, taking the seal off his waist and handing it to Niu Tou.
Ox-Head then handed the seal to Meng Po.
Meng Po carefully examined it and confirmed that it was the seal of the King of Yue, then nodded.
The headless female ghost issued another certificate, which Li Tai signed and affixed his seal to.
After all the formalities were completed, Li Tai was temporarily detained in a small dark room. After only a short while, Li Tai felt dizzy and lightheaded and fell into a deep sleep.
When Li Tai woke up, he found himself lying on a couch in the Yue Prince's mansion.
He opened his sleepy eyes, his head still spinning.
He rested his chin on his hand, feeling as if he were in a dream, yet everything in the dream felt so real.
He looked at himself in the bronze mirror; his cheeks were still swollen high.
He was a little confused himself. Was this real, or was it a dream?
Just then, Gu Yin ran up to him and reported, "This morning, someone took the certificate you, Prince Yue, and took away several large carts of silver from the Prince Yue's warehouse, totaling 180,000 taels."
"what?"
Li Tai's forehead immediately broke out in a sweat. He wondered if this was a dream.
"Quickly follow me to the warehouse to take a look."
The warehouse of the Yue King's Mansion has a row of more than twenty large rooms, each of which is more than three zhang high.
To make it easier to identify, Li Tai instructed craftsmen to make a window of a different shape at the back of each room. The window was about three zhang (approximately 10 meters) above the ground and was equipped with a fence.
The windows come in various shapes, including triangular, quadrilateral, rhomboid, and pentagonal. Just by looking at the shape of the window, Li Tai can tell whether the room contains gold, silver, or pearls.
He discovered that the large house where the silver was stored, which used to be piled up like mountains, now had very little left.
He wondered if evil spirits from hell had come up to steal the silver.
He then recounted what had happened to Gu Yin.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yin sighed deeply: "My king, you've fallen into their trap."
"What makes you say that?"
"Think about it, where do ghosts come from in this world?"
"Those were all fakes. They tricked you, then through a combination of deception and intimidation, you fell for it, confessing to all your crimes and even providing them with documents for 180,000 taels of silver. They then used those documents to steal all the silver from the warehouse."
"No, is that possible? Would I fall for someone's tricks? I clearly remember the underworld." Li Tai's head was buzzing when he heard Gu Yin say that.
"Where is there any underworld? It's just a place that's been decorated up." Gu Yin said, both amused and exasperated.
"No, that headless female ghost really doesn't have a head. You can ask Qin Yong if you don't believe me."
By the way, where is Qin Yong?
He's the worst kind of scoundrel. He boasts about how powerful he is, but the moment he saw that headless female ghost, he ran faster than a rabbit! Leaving me all alone there.
"Summon him to me. I want to ask him where his conscience is."
"promise!"
The Eastern Palace.
Li Chengqian sat inside the document room, thinking that this simulator could also be harmful.
Just when he was about to need the money, the simulator came knocking on his door demanding repayment. He paid back 1,000 taels of silver and also paid 10 taels of silver in late fees. He thought he could borrow another 10,000 taels of silver, but the simulator used various excuses to stop providing loan services.
Because Su Gui, Cheng Xin, and the ten Turkic warriors all performed very well this time, Li Chengqian wanted to reward them.
Put yourself in their shoes; what are they risking their lives for?
When can you provide me with loan services?
Please don't worry, host. The system will notify you when the time is right.
"You're not trying to fool me, are you?"
This system is completely honest and reliable; please do not doubt it.
"If I borrow money again, you won't charge me interest, will you?"
No interest will be charged as long as you repay on time.
"Return it on time? What do you mean?" Li Chengqian sat up.
Generally speaking, the money we lend you is free if you repay it within one month. After one month, interest will be charged daily.
"What? According to you, what's the difference between this and a credit card?" The original owner of Li Chengqian often used credit cards, and because the penalty interest was too heavy, he became poorer and poorer. Therefore, he was quite familiar with this business.
Although this system does not understand what the host is saying, please rest assured that our fees are absolutely reasonable.
Generally speaking, a deposit of ten thousand taels of silver yields a daily interest of five taels.
"Compound interest of 0.05%? Isn't that the same as a credit card?"
Get the hell out of here!
【receive! 】
Li Chengqian was so angry that he wanted to smash the broken system. He thought to himself, "No wonder it followed me; it was here to make money."
Just then, Su Wan walked in from outside, hands behind her back, looking cheerful.
Seeing her radiant smile, Li Chengqian asked, "Why are you smiling so much? What made you so happy?"
"Guess!" Su Wan's lips curled up.
"How could I possibly have guessed?"
Su Wan then recounted the whole story to Li Chengqian.
It turns out that the headless female ghost was Xue'er in disguise, Meng Po was Su Wan in disguise, and the others, such as Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, were all disguised by Su Gui and her subordinates.
The so-called underworld is a secret underground chamber in Su Dan's mansion.
Li Chengqian found this strange and asked, "Xue'er clearly has a head, how can she be headless?"
"What's so difficult about that? We first made a tall female ghost's upper body frame, but without a head. We then hollowed out two holes in her chest and put it on Xue'er's head. That way, she'll look like a headless female ghost." Su Wan said with a smug look on her face.
Li Chengqian laughed: "You guys are really clever!"
"Li Tai looks very powerful, but actually, he's afraid of ghosts too. Here's his confession." Su Wan said, taking the confession out of her bosom and handing it to Li Chengqian.
When Li Chengqian looked at it, he saw that it had Li Tai's signature, handprint, and footprints, just as he had expected.
In the past, Li Chengqian would have been very saddened to see these things, but now he feels calm.
Su Wan continued, "If you hand this confession over to your father and mother, Li Tai will definitely be in deep trouble."
Li Chengqian gave a bitter smile: "Let it go. He couldn't do anything to me anyway, so why make Father and Mother sad and upset?"
Upon hearing this, Su Wan retorted irritably, "You're just too soft-hearted, like a saint!"
"Gao Yang's words are not without reason. Qing Que may have been instigated by a villain, which is why he attacked me."
"You always think too highly of people," Su Wan paused, "but this time, we hauled 180,000 taels of silver from the Yue Prince's warehouse."
"180,000 taels?"
"Yes, now all of these are yours."
I really don't understand. You are the crown prince, yet your warehouse is almost empty, while the King of Yue's warehouse is piled high with treasures. Why is that?
How come you two brothers are so different?
Li Chengqian looked embarrassed: "Father said that the Tang Dynasty has only been established for a short time and everything needs to be rebuilt. We need to spend money everywhere, especially last year when we were fighting against the Eastern Turks. Our funds were even tighter. We in the Eastern Palace should be more frugal and set an example."
"Oh, if that's the case, then the Prince Yue's mansion doesn't need to be frugal? How come they have so much money?"
"Perhaps on one hand, Father Emperor bestowed more rewards upon him; on the other hand, don't forget, his territory comprises twenty-two states. How can I compare to him?"
"In the end, isn't it all because your father is biased?"
Do you know how big their warehouses are? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they're richer than a country.
"I will send all 180,000 taels of silver to the Crown Prince's Palace."
"No need, just leave it with you."
First, take out 10,000 taels of silver, reward Su Gui and Cheng Xin with 1,000 taels each, and the ten Turkic warriors and Su Gui's subordinates who participated in this operation with 500 taels each.
"The rest, distribute the monthly allowances to Yunjuan, Xiaoyue, and all the eunuchs in the Eastern Palace."
"Su Gui is my brother, does he need a reward?" Su Wan said dismissively.
"You can't say that. He's in the Imperial Guard, and he needs to bribe everyone from top to bottom. How could he manage without money?"
Su Wan thought about it and agreed. In this day and age, no matter where you work, a stingy person rarely gets anywhere. "Alright then, let's do it your way. That way, we'll have 170,000 taels left. How do you plan to spend it?"
Do you have any suggestions?
Su Wan rested her left hand on her right elbow and her right hand on her chin, pacing back and forth with her head down, and slowly said, "Since ancient times, it has been impossible to achieve great things without one's own army."
Take Crown Prince Liu Ju as an example. Jiang Chong had a conflict with him. Jiang Chong was worried that Liu Ju would kill him one day after he became emperor. So, Jiang Chong sent people to bury a wooden figure in the Eastern Palace. Then, he led people to search for it. As a result, they found the wooden figure. Liu Ju could not explain himself and had no choice but to raise an army to rebel.
However, his men were all servants and slaves; how could they possibly defeat the regular army of the imperial court?
Therefore, he committed suicide after his defeat.
As for Yang Yong, although he was the crown prince, his prestige in the army was far inferior to that of Yang Guang.
When Yang Guang was twenty years old, Emperor Wen of Sui appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the army, leading an army of 520,000 to quell the Southern Chen dynasty.
Yang Guang held a prestigious position in the army.
Later, he managed to establish himself in Jiangdu for many years and held military power, which enabled him to eventually become the crown prince.
Leaving aside distant examples, let's look at something more recent. Your father raised an army at eighteen and pacified the realm at twenty-four. He led troops throughout his career, forging deep friendships with generals like Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, and Yuchi Gong. Your father commanded immense respect and influence within the army, far surpassing that of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng. This was one of the fundamental reasons why your father ultimately achieved victory.
Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian felt that Su Wan was right; without military power, one would ultimately achieve nothing.
"But I am confined to the Eastern Palace, which is like a cage. How can I possibly build my own army?"
"It's all up to human effort. Didn't you say there was a Turk named Ashina She'er who was extremely loyal to you?"
Reminded by Su Wan, Li Chengqian remembered: "Yes, that's right. Although that person is a Turk, he likes Central Plains culture. It was I who arranged his marriage with Princess Hengyang."
He was moved to tears and once knelt before me, swearing his loyalty.
He took two thousand elite Imperial Guard cavalrymen with him to seek revenge against the Xueyantuo tribe. I wonder how he is doing now.
"Here's what we'll do: send someone to make contact with him. If they win, tell him not to come back, but to stay near Gaochang. We can provide him with money so he can recruit soldiers and expand his army, strengthen its training, and be ready to be at your command at any time."
Li Chengqian recalled that Yinzhen of the Qing Dynasty was just like that. He had the support of Longkodo, the commander of the Nine Gates, and the loyalty of the general Nian Gengyao. Therefore, he was able to successfully seize the throne in the end.
It seems Su Wan was right; it's not good to be without military power.
The same was true for Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie. In the beginning, military power was in the hands of General He Jin.
After He Jin died, Dong Zhuo took control of the army;
Dong Zhuo is dead, and Lü Bu holds military power.
Li Jue and Guo Si drove away Lü Bu and regained control of the military.
In the end, Cao Cao led the Qingzhou troops to welcome Emperor Xian of Han to Xuchang. Because Liu Xie had no troops at his disposal, he remained a puppet emperor, at the mercy of others.
If Su Gui's status in the Imperial Guard can gradually rise and she can gain a firm foothold, then Ashina She'er's position in commanding troops outside will be more secure.
Before expecting victory, anticipate defeat. If Li Tai were to rebel one day, and I were to hold a large army, then I would have nothing to fear from him.