Chapter 448 Wei Shuyu Unleashes His Blame!

The Imperial Palace.

Li Shimin's face was stern.

When he saw Wei Ting's memorial impeaching Wei Shuyu, he hurriedly summoned Fang Xuanling, Tang Jian, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and a number of vice ministers of the Ministry of Civil Affairs to conduct a deduction.

The final conclusion is...

Once the Ministry of Commerce is expanded to cover the entire Tang Dynasty.

No need for three years.

The economy and industry of the Tang Dynasty will be paralyzed.

To put it bluntly, it's like completely reverting to a primitive society where everything was bartered.

Other emperors led their dynasties to progress, but he led them to regression.

That's fucking...

Let alone the greatest emperor of all time.

That's more like the biggest joke of all time.

"Your Majesty, Shuyu's development of the Ministry of Commerce is also for the benefit of the Tang Dynasty."

Wei Zheng quickly pleaded for his son.

"Wei Zheng, stop pleading for your son."

Wei Ting sneered, "Wei Shuyu almost led the Tang Dynasty into an abyss of no return; his crime is too great to be forgiven even if he were to die a hundred times."

Wei Zheng turned around...

He looked at Wei Ting with a cold eye.

"Wei Ting, stop spreading alarmist rumors!" Wei Zheng rebuked.

What do you mean I'm exaggerating?

Wei Ting stood tall and proud, rarely showing any backbone in front of Lao Wei: "This has been calculated multiple times by officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the evidence is conclusive."

"Then I would like to ask a question..."

Wei Zheng retorted sharply, "Does this mean the Tang Dynasty didn't develop?"

"Development is possible."

Wei Ting also shouted, "That has to be done according to the actual situation."

"In order to gain merit, Wei Shuyu recklessly developed the Ministry of Commerce, which has already sown the seeds of disaster for the Tang Dynasty."

"If we don't stop him in time, the Tang Dynasty will be destroyed in his hands!"

Wei Ting's words were resounding and powerful.

Many officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs also nodded in agreement.

"Since development is an indispensable part."

Wei Zheng sternly retorted, "The court should find a way to solve this problem."

"besides……"

"Is this Shuyu's fault?"

"The imperial court is too small to fully display Shuyu's talents!"

Wei Zheng was talking more and more rambling.

Fang Xuanling and others quickly intervened.

"Don't stop me."

Wei Zheng pushed through the crowd, turned to Li Shimin, and bowed...

"Your Majesty, Shuyu's talents go far beyond this."

"If we blame him for this..."

"If I do not submit, the people of the world will not submit either!"

"If Your Majesty insists on finding someone to take the blame..."

"Your subject is willing to take the blame in your son's place."

"Your Majesty, please give Shuyu some more time. I believe he will make the Tang Dynasty the most powerful dynasty in history!"

Everyone frowned.

Upon closer reflection, it's really not Wei Shuyu's fault.

With the Ministry of Commerce established by Wei Shuyu, who else could have done the same?

We can't blame Wei Shuyu for doing things too well, can we?

"Wei Zheng, stop making excuses."

Wei Ting immediately rebuked, "Wei Shuyu intends to overthrow the Tang Dynasty; his crime is enough to warrant the execution of his entire family."

"Don't even mention that you want to take the place of death; your entire Zheng State Duke's mansion won't escape!"

Wei Zheng was about to retort when Li Shimin finally spoke up to interrupt him...

"Enough!"

Li Shimin slammed his hand on the dragon table: "All you do is argue all day long, you don't have any practical solutions."

"And Xuancheng..."

“When did I say I was going to execute Wei Shuyu? You can just stay there and die.”

"If you want to die, go die in your own home, don't dirty my imperial study!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zheng...

So you didn't intend to kill my son after all.

He immediately bowed and returned to his position.

"Your Majesty, Wei Shuyu has arrived!"

Just then, Li Junxian came to report back.

"Announce."

Li Shimin replied hastily.

"Your Majesty, I have come to pay my respects," Wei Shuyu said, bowing.

"Wei Shuyu, this is Wei Ting's memorial impeaching you. Take a look for yourself."

Li Shimin raised the memorial.

Wang De took it and handed it to Wei Shuyu.

"His Majesty."

Wei Shuyu didn't understand classical Chinese very well, and after reading for a while, he tentatively asked, "I wonder if you're talking about the appreciation of copper coins?"

"That's right."

Li Shimin replied solemnly, "This concerns the development of the Tang Dynasty. Think it through before you answer."

Wei Shuyu simply smiled indifferently at this.

"To be honest, Your Majesty..."

Wei Shuyu bowed respectfully and said, "This was actually my oversight."

"You admit it now?"

Wei Ting immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Wei Shuyu intends to destroy the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. I implore Your Majesty to execute him."

"Dr. Wei."

Wei Shuyu calmly retorted, "I am speaking with His Majesty, please do not interrupt."

"besides……"

"I will explain the matter of the appreciation of copper coins to His Majesty."

"But this matter involves the secrets of the Tang Dynasty."

"Please ask those who are not important to leave!"

"Especially those who like to listen to gossip."

Everyone's eyes twitched.

The Censorate reports on matters heard through rumors.

This was practically a direct order to get Wei Ting out by name.

"You bastard."

Wei Ting, his face grim, rebuked, "I am a third-rank Imperial Censor. Is there anything I cannot hear?"

The ministers nodded.

A third-rank official is already a super-important minister.

Moreover, Wei Ting enjoyed the deep trust of Li Shimin.

Aside from certain specific secrets, there was almost nothing he couldn't hear.

"His Majesty……"

Wei Ting bowed to Li Shimin and said, "Wei Shuyu is a sorcerer who is good at bewitching people. You must not be deceived by him."

Li Shimin did not respond.

He believed Wei Shuyu when he said he had a solution.

Because Xiao Wei has never let him down!

As for kicking Wei Ting out...

Xiao Wei could handle it all by himself without him having to say a word.

"Then I wonder if Doctor Wei can solve the problem of the Tang Dynasty's copper shortage?" Wei Shuyu asked in return.

"It's very simple!"

Wei Ting flicked his sleeve and said, "Dismiss the Ministry of Commerce, and everything will return to normal!"

"Even without your Ministry of Commerce, my Great Tang will still be the Great Tang that sweeps across all nations!"

Um?

The courtiers were all stunned.

That makes perfect sense.

Wei Shuyu's reckless actions had unpredictable consequences.

If things had continued as normal, the Tang Dynasty would still have remained the hegemon among the nations!

Even Li Shimin's beliefs began to waver slightly.

"presumptuous!"

Just then, Wei Shuyu's loud voice pierced through the roof of the palace.

Everyone was taken aback.

"Who said my Great Tang Dynasty is so strong?"

"The crisis facing the Tang Dynasty is imminent!"

"As a subject, you only care about your immediate interests and ignore the bigger picture..."

"He is utterly unworthy of being a subject!"

Turn around...

Wei Shuyu bowed to Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, Wei Ting is short-sighted and narrow-minded, hindering the development of the Tang Dynasty. His words are suspected of bringing disaster to the Tang Dynasty. I humbly request Your Majesty to dismiss him!"

Everyone was stunned.

Something's not right...

It was clearly Wei Ting who impeached you, so how did it become you impeaching Wei Ting?

"You're talking nonsense!"

Wei Ting shouted, "It was clearly you who led the Tang Dynasty into crisis, how is it my problem?"

Wei Shuyu gave a disdainful sneer.

"Since you're so ignorant, I'll have a good talk with you..."

Wei Shuyu gave a disdainful sneer...

There is a saying in the Zuo Zhuan, eleventh year of Duke Xiang: "Be mindful of danger in times of peace; if you are mindful, you will be prepared; if you are prepared, you will have no worries."

Do you know what this means?

Wei Ting snorted coldly.

He understood this principle perfectly well, but he remained silent.

We'll just wait quietly for what happens next with Wei Shuyu.

"The Tang Dynasty may seem to have ample supplies and be incredibly powerful now, but that's just an appearance!"

"Gentlemen, why do you think the Tang Dynasty had such a strong army and abundant supplies?"

All the officials' expressions changed drastically.

Even Li Shimin's expression changed.

"That's because the Tang Dynasty currently has nearly three million households." (Assuming 4-5 people per household, that's just over 10 million!)

"However, during the Sui Dynasty, the population exceeded 50 million!"

"Whether they died at the end of the Sui Dynasty or became recluses, the Tang Dynasty will not lack food even if they lose their share!"

(Hidden households: those who flee their registered residence to avoid taxes and corvée labor are exempt from corvée labor, and their names are not included in the household register. Similarly, they are not allocated land!)

(During the late Sui Dynasty, a great many people became unregistered households to avoid forced labor and taxes.)

"Once those hidden households are re-registered, can the Tang Dynasty still afford it?"

Furthermore…

"The Tang Dynasty encouraged its people to have more children."

"Will the Tang Dynasty still be able to afford it in another fifty years?"

"If we can persevere for fifty years..."

"What about a hundred or two hundred years from now?"

Everyone fell silent.

That's the truth.

If the Tang Dynasty stagnates, it will face a food shortage due to its rapidly increasing population!

"You still dare to say you won't develop?"

Wei Shuyu spat: "Pah!"

"If the Tang Dynasty doesn't develop, it will be overthrown by the people sooner or later!"

"The common people..."

"They don't need an incompetent court to rule them!"