Return of the Troops

The crowd only shouted "Welcome the Hongwu Emperor and the Great Ancestor, welcome the First Emperor," but not a word about him, Li Shimin, which instantly made Li Shimin bristle with anger.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily and said, "Old Li, why be so upset? The Great Ancestor they're shouting about is you, isn't it?"

"Nonsense, that's calling out to your Zhu the Fourth, what does that have to do with me?" Li Shimin wasn't so easily fooled.

Just then, Yu Qian on the city wall also heard Li Shimin's call and quickly shouted loudly, "Ahem, welcome Li Shimin: Grand Commandant of the Great Tang; Shangshu Ling (Prefect/Director of the Secretariat); Grand Administrator of the Shandong Circuit; Grand Administrator of the Yizhou Circuit; Governor of Yongzhou; Governor of Liangzhou; Governor of Puzhou; Commander of the Twelve Guard Generals; Pillar of the State; Prince of Qin; Great Ancestor; Heavenly Strategy Generalissimo; Heavenly Khan!"

This string of titles left everyone utterly bewildered.

But Li Shimin found it very gratifying.

He nodded in satisfaction and gracefully stepped down from his high horse. "Not bad, not bad. I like this Yu Qian. He's worth me making this trip to rescue him."

"All troops, kill for me!"

With that, he waved his troops forward.

Meanwhile, somewhere among the Ming army, Li Jinglong was fiddling with a mortar. A soldier beside him spoke up, "Young Duke, now that we've completely encircled the Oirats, do we really need to fire?"

Hearing this, Li Jinglong paused for a moment, looked at the battlefield ahead, then said, "Hand me the gun."

The soldier handed him a rifle. It was a sniper rifle. Without a word, Li Jinglong aimed directly at Esen, who was a thousand meters away, then pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang!"

A thunderous roar rang out, and Esen fell, dead on the spot.

"Young Duke is awesome!" several soldiers praised.

Li Jinglong puffed out his chest, blowing at the gun muzzle. "Of course, don't you know who I am? I'm the Ming Dynasty's War God. Forget that insignificant Esen—even if Lü Bu or Xiang Yu were reborn, I, Li Jinglong, could take them out one by one."

While they were talking, the Oirat army had already abandoned resistance and thrown down all their weapons.

"Open the city gates! Welcome the Hongwu Emperor! Welcome the Great Ancestor! Welcome the First Emperor!"

On the city tower, Yu Qian shouted, then felt as if he had forgotten something and quickly added, "Welcome Li Shimin: Grand Commandant of the Great Tang, Shangshu Ling (Prefect of the Secretariat), Prefect of the Secretariat, Grand Administrator of the Shandong Circuit, Grand Administrator..."

"Enough, enough!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said scornfully, "You shouted that once, and that's enough. Are you trying to show off that Old Li has a lot of titles?"

"Old Zhu, that's not fair of you. I do have a lot of titles. Don't you accept that?" Li Shimin retorted.

"Oh, oh, oh, no matter how many you have, you're still just a Great Ancestor. I, the Hongwu Emperor, don't show off as much as you."

"How is that the same? I'm the Great Ancestor of the Great Tang, not the Great Ancestor of your Great Ming. In terms of seniority, I was born several hundred years before you."

"Even if you were born thousands of years earlier, you'd still just be the Great Ancestor, wouldn't you?"

As the two bickered, the city gates had already been opened. Yu Qian and a group of officials hurried out to greet them. Seeing Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang still arguing incessantly, they could only stand there awkwardly, not daring to interrupt.

"Old Zhu, Old Li, both of you, say less. Let's enter the city first. Once we've dealt with things here, I still want to visit Qin Ershi's timeline. That place has problems to solve too," said Qin Shi Huang.

Hearing this, Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang finally stopped arguing and led their armies into the city.

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Yuanzhang still sat in the main seat.

Zhu Qizhen was brought back from the Oirat army's rear camp and thrown next to Empress Dowager Sun.

"Where is Cao Jixiang?"

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang was clearly more experienced.

As his voice fell, a eunuch was brought forward.

"Your servant greets..."

Just as he was about to kneel for an audience, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Take him away. C-section and castration."

As soon as he said this, Cao Jixiang was so frightened he almost fainted. Lan Yu didn't waste any time; he dragged him out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Injustice! Injustice, Hongwu Emperor... Injustice..."

Cao Jixiang's voice echoed from outside the hall, growing fainter and fainter.

"Xu Youzhen, Shi Heng, step forward," Zhu Yuanzhang called out again.

Hearing the Hongwu Emperor call their names, both felt their legs go weak, but they didn't dare hesitate and quickly stepped out.

However, it was clear Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of killing them. He dealt with them in the same manner as he did during the Zhengtong era.

Additionally, Zhu Yuanzhang handled a list of people according to the roster Qin Ning had previously provided.

Zhu Qizhen and Empress Dowager Sun were still escorted to the Southern Palace to copy scriptures for the rest of their lives.

Finally, after explaining a few things to the Jingtai Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang and the others left with their armies.

Returning to the Hongwu era.

After settling the armies, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a banquet to be set up at the base outside the city. He sat together with Qin Ning, Li Shimin, the First Emperor, and Zhu Di, drinking.

"Father," said Zhu Biao as he, Fusu, and Li Chengqian emerged from a portal and approached.

"Just in time. Find a seat and sit down," Zhu Yuanzhang said.

"Yes."

Zhu Biao responded, then sat down with Fusu and Li Chengqian.

"Old Li, do you plan to keep training Li Chengqian like this?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

After all, historically, Li Chengqian never became emperor; instead, Gaozong Li Zhi inherited the throne.

"Naturally. Gaoming is crown prince of the Great Tang, and I intend to train him. What, Old Zhu, do you mean to say that now I know the future, I'd let that little brat Li Zhi succeed me?"

Li Shimin chuckled and continued, "You know the future too. Zhu Biao, your nephew, never became emperor. Are you going to stop training him and pass the throne to your Zhu the Fourth instead?"

"Well..."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused, taken aback. "That's a fair point."

"But now that we've all started cultivating with the master, we won't die so early. When the crown prince eventually takes over, who knows how long that'll be."

Ying Zheng said, "Old Zhu, what you're saying isn't right. The crown prince is still the crown prince. Whether he ascends to the throne isn't that important. What matters is that they help manage the state affairs. Otherwise, how would we have time to cultivate with the master? We'd be busy to death."

This remark made Zhu Biao, Fusu, and Li Chengqian feel somewhat crestfallen.

They had long realized their fathers intended to hand over all state affairs to them.

But upon reflection, none of them had ever ruled as emperor even for a single day in history. This outcome was already much better.

Although they were still nominally crown princes, they were also virtual co-emperors, essentially doing the same work as the actual emperor.

"Don't listen to Brother Zheng's nonsense, you three. How could we ever make you crown princes for life?"

Li Shimin spoke, then looked at Li Chengqian. "Gaoming, once you are truly able to stand on your own and handle affairs, your father will abdicate and pass the throne to you. But you must remember: if you fail to be a good emperor, don't blame me for kicking you off. I am merely stepping down from the throne to go cultivate immortality with my master—I am not dead. Do you understand that?"

"Father, I understand," Li Chengqian replied earnestly.