Chapter 2438 - Side Story Chapter 11: The Stone of Destiny!

The truth was far different from the story. Li Taiyi had naturally not come across the designs while playing around in the palace, but the Great Tang truly did have ballistae.

So long as he used his memories to slightly modify them, they could be used on a large scale in the army.

Moreover, he knew that there was someone in the Great Tang with the same idea.

“In addition, it is not impossible for infantry to fight against cavalry.”

Li Taiyi paused a moment.

“So long as the right terrain, formations, and some large shields are used, cavalry are not invincible! If Imperial Father believes in your son, your son is willing to make a full effort. Perhaps he can be of some assistance to the Great Tang.”

Hearing this, the Tang Emperor looked at Li Taiyi in a different light.

“We have summoned several princes, even your second brother, but none of them have ever been able to give the answer We desired. Wei Yuanzhong said you had the talent of a general or minister, but We did not believe. Now, however, We do.”

The Tang Emperor looked in gratitude at Li Taiyi.

“Imperial Father praises me too much. Your son is merely doing all in his meager power to assist the Great Tang.”

There was a flash of gratitude in Li Taiyi’s eyes, and even a little surprise.

He had never imagined that the Tang Emperor had already asked other Princes this question.

And he had even less imagined that Wei Yuanzhong had praised him in front of the Tang Emperor as someone with the talent of a minister or general. It had to be known that he did not easily praise others!

“Xuan’er, since this is your idea, We will give you full authority over the ballistae and all related matters.”

“Yes!”

Li Taiyi bowed and accepted the order.

Just when Li Taiyi was turning to leave, he heard coughing.

“Imperial Father…”

Li Taiyi was alarmed, but before he could say anything, the Tang Emperor waved his sleeve and ordered him away.

“Yes, your son will withdraw!”

Li Taiyi prostrated, and then he turned around and left the hall.

The Tang Emperor watched Li Taiyi leave, and then, as if he was talking to himself and also talking to Li Taiyi, he softly muttered, “There’s not much time left!”

……

After taking the carriage back to Jade Dragon Palace, Li Taiyi immediately summoned Gao Lishi.

“How is the progress on that matter I ordered you to do several days ago?”

Gao Lishi bowed and said, “Your Highness, out of fear of wasting steel, those old masters made a wooden ballista. Through testing, it was shown that it can fire three bolts at once.”

Li Taiyi nodded at this.

In his previous life, Li Taiyi had inadvertently come across a set of ballista designs. Through research, he discovered that ballistae were formidable killing weapons, so he began to secretly create them to use against the foreigners.

Alas, before he could finish them, the foreigners discovered them and destroyed them.

Thus, the first thing Li Taiyi did upon awakening in this world was to start producing these ballistae.

In addition, in the apocalyptic world, he alone was building them, so his efficiency was very low. But in the Great Tang, where craftsmanship was at an apex and talents were abundant, he could recruit many capable craftsmen to complete the ballistae for him.

Gao Lishi had followed his orders and found some craftsmen to begin work on the ballistae.

Li Taiyi had also determined that if the Great Tang still insisted on ceding the Yin Mountains even after he pointed it out during the Spring Rain Banquet, he could use it as a chance to test the power of the first batch of ballistae.

He would never permit that Turkic First Prince to take away that treaty and live. However, this no longer seemed necessary.

“Very good! Now, I order you to go to the Bureau of Works and find several experienced craftsmen to work with those old masters in researching and producing ballistae. Most importantly, you must find someone called Master Zhan,” Li Taiyi continued.

Master Zhan was the person in this era who had greatly modified and improved the ballistae. But unfortunately, his talents went unrecognized, and his improvements had yet to be applied on a large scale.

With his help and Li Taiyi’s memories, they would be able to rapidly develop a ballista that could be used on the battlefield.

“Yes!”

Gao Lishi was taken aback at first, but his eyes quickly flashed with a bright light.

The Bureau of Works had always been under the Tang Emperor’s control, and that Li Taiyi could call on the people of the Bureau of Works meant that he had already reentered the Emperor’s favor, perhaps even gained authority over the Bureau of Works.

Gao Lishi inwardly rejoiced in Li Taiyi’s place.

“Right, have there been any recent developments in the palace?” Li Taiyi asked as he sat himself behind his desk and began to read through his copy of the ‘Spring and Autumn Annals’.

Li Taiyi rarely asked about palace affairs, or about court politics. He left all this to Gao Lishi. If there was anything important, Gao Lishi would report on it, and if there wasn’t, he would save himself the trouble.

“Besides the Turkic peace talks, there really is something else.”

Gao Lishi saw that Li Taiyi had taken up a brush, and immediately bowed down over the desk, grinding ink for him as he continued to speak.

“Several years ago, there was a deputy director who produced many cruel torture implements that he used to extort false confessions and get the death penalty for people. Many officials and imperial clansmen ended up being falsely accused, and several thousand families were wiped out, for which the deputy director was executed. But these injustices were not redressed, so many people in the court hope that these cases will be reinvestigated so that those unjustly accused people can have their reputations cleared. Even Prime Minister Yao has advised as such, but His Majesty has yet to give his permission.

“Several days ago, the Second Prince earnestly requested that the cases of those who had been imprisoned by that deputy director be reinvestigated. His Majesty gave his permission and gave authority of the matter to an official who had entered the court only a few days ago.

“Importantly, today, that official was impeached by Lord Zheng, apparently because he was neglecting his duties on this case, and ended up being jailed in the Death Prison. A palace attendant of Taihe Palace said that it was apparently because this official, right after releasing some people, had them rearrested, and then arrested some more people.”

Li Taiyi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at this.

He had heard about this incident in his past life, but as this was about clearing the names of those who were unjustly accused, it did not have much of an effect on the course of the Great Tang. Moreover, Li Taiyi recalled that this incident should have transpired at a different time, and the one responsible had been an imperial censor, not a new official.

It was clear that the world had subtly changed because of those two incidents within the last two months.

And from what Gao Lishi had said, the Second Prince had asked for the reinvestigation, Lord Zheng had impeached the official managing the investigation, and many of Li Chengyi’s advisors were imprisoned… It was obvious that Second Prince Li Chengyi wanted to use this reinvestigation to get some of his own men out, but this minor official had ruined it for him, and had even arrested several more people.

“Truly, trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice you used as bait.”

Li Taiyi couldn’t help but shake his head. Saying no more, he dipped his brush in ink and began to draw. Soon, the designs for a new ballista had appeared on the paper.

“Send over these designs!”

Li Taiyi blew on the ink and then passed the paper to Gao Lishi.

“Yes!”

Gao Lishi took the paper, and as he was about to leave, Li Taiyi picked back up the ‘Spring and Autumn Annals’ and casually asked, “Right, which Right Remonstrator was it that so angered Imperial Father today?”

“Heh, from what a eunuch said, it was a new one who didn’t seem to understand the rules and who was only capable of speaking nonsense. It seems like he wrote a lengthy memorial.” After some thought, Gao Lishi said, “Right, it seems like his name was Wang Jiuling.”

Buzz!

The mention of this name made Li Taiyi tremble, and he suddenly raised his head, his face in shock.

Wang Jiuling!

Li Taiyi had never expected it to be him!

He was no stranger to this name. In his memories, Wang Jiuling was a famous scholar general, talented in both civil and martial pursuits. Even when considering that entire era, he was still a brilliant existence.

He had made impassioned criticisms of the court’s current situation, and he was extremely perceptive when it came to the trend of the Great Tang, the Central Plains, and the world.

He had long ago perceived the threat that the Hu of the steppes posed to the Great Tang, and he also predicted the decline of the Central Plains and the extinction-level crisis it faced. He even made loud and proactive cries for the reform of various systems in the Great Tang, including its military, farming, tax, and law systems.

Li Taiyi recalled that this man aligned with him on many points, and that many of his insights had been astonishingly accurate.

Alas, very few of his proposals had drawn any attention.

His name had also not left much of a mark on the history books.

When guarding the northern border, he fell into a trap. When battling with the Turks, he was attacked by the Tibetans from the rear, and died on the battlefield.

With his death, the Great Tang ceased to have any dazzling individuals, and its power rapidly declined. Ten-some years later, after consecutive losses, the Great Tang went to ruin.

“Your Highness?”

While Li Taiyi was in a daze, Gao Lishi called out, bringing him back.

Li Taiyi blinked and came back to his senses, after which he solemnly ordered Gao Lishi, “Once you send over the new designs, arrange a meeting for me with Wang Jiuling.”

“Yes!”

Though Gao Lishi was rather confused as to why his liege wanted a meeting with the offending Right Remonstrator, he knew that there had to be a reason, and immediately agreed.

Once all this was taken care of, Li Taiyi dismissed his maids and eunuchs, seated himself on his bed, and began to cultivate.

The strong ate the weak!

Might made right!

In this world, intelligence alone was not enough. One had to back it with martial strength!

The Imperial Palace was fraught with dangers, and only with martial strength could one fend off potential attacks from other Princes. Moreover… if he wanted to take the throne of Taihe Palace, he would need absolute strength within the palace!

For the next few days, Li Taiyi focused on cultivation. At present, that mysterious bottomless pit in his body was no longer absorbing as much spiritual energy.

Li Taiyi could sense that this pit would soon be filled in, and once it was, he would break through!

Time slowly passed, and as Li Taiyi’s spiritual energy grew more and more abundant, that light grew brighter and brighter.

Buzz!

As Li Taiyi creased his sweat-caked brow and continued to absorb spiritual energy, his eyes suddenly flew open.

“Where is this?”

Li Taiyi discovered that he was in the middle of an infinite void.

There was boundless darkness devoid of sound. There appeared to be no other life besides him.

As confusion filled his eyes, he suddenly saw a point of light in the darkness.

It’s that light!

Li Taiyi’s heart became nervous as he recognized the aura of that light.

This light was none other than the light in his body that was constantly absorbing his spiritual energy.

In a flash, the light grew a hundred times larger, becoming a mountain of light and ultimately becoming a star.

What in the world is it?

Li Taiyi sensed the mysterious energy in that star, many questions appearing in his mind.

As this thought appeared in his mind, an emotionless voice rang out.

“The Stone of Destiny!”

Bzz! Countless ripples appeared in front of Li Taiyi, like a stone had been cast into a lake, and the scene before Li Taiyi shifted once more.

Various images flashed past his eyes.

The Spring Rain Banquet, the thunderclap coup, the Great Tang’s defeat and rapid decline, subjection by the foreigners… In the end, Li Taiyi saw that most familiar era of darkness, the Central Plains reduced to a single city!

All of these scenes emerged in his eyes.

Li Taiyi’s eyes went red, his hands clenching into fists as his blood seethed. Even though he knew that these were all illusions, remembering these past incidents and that tragic fate that was no better than an ant’s, Li Taiyi could not help but be shaken.

Bang!

The scenes continued to play, until finally… a ‘comet’ smashed into him and Qing Luo.

“This, this…?!”

Li Taiyi’s eyes widened, his heart trembled, and he was instantly rendered speechless.

After all this time, Li Taiyi had forgotten how he had first come to this world, and he had certainly never imagined that he would meet the archcriminal behind it in these circumstances.

“So it really was all connected to this thing!” Li Taiyi muttered, his mind in a daze. Li Taiyi already had some vague theories, and seeing them verified left him very conflicted.