I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

"Let me go. I want to seek justice from them and have a good talk with them.

Why should I take back the fiefdom granted to me? Have I made any mistakes?

This group of people must be targeting me, I will kill them."

The fiefdom was a symbol of a prince's identity. Being deprived of his fiefdom meant that Li Shen had lost his status among the princes.

Li Shen knew one thing: in the early Tang Dynasty, princes had fiefdoms and they had real power.

Although it is also managed by court officials, as a prince of a fiefdom, his words are still very influential.

Otherwise, why would Li Shen's twenty-second uncle, Prince Teng Li Yuanying, build Tengwang Pavilions everywhere?

All the money used was from the fiefdom and labor.

For this reason, local officials submitted a memorial, saying that Prince Teng was wasting people's money and resources.

The fiefdom is not only a symbol of status, but also represents wealth and power.

It was only in the middle of the Tang Dynasty that princes no longer had fiefdoms. They were just titles, remote rulers with no real power and lacked wealth.

Li Shen doesn't care about real power, but he cares most about wealth.

Li Shen was a first-rank prince, and the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty" stipulated: "Princes are first-rank officials, with a fief of 10,000 households."

The Tang Liudian points out: "However, the households and towns are mostly in name only. Only those who claim to have real land can be considered as real households."

In other words, Li Shen was a first-rank prince, and his salary was a fief of 10,000 households, but these 10,000 households only provided salary but no fief, so it was a nominal title.

Li Shen owned ten thousand acres of fertile land and a fiefdom of fifteen hundred households. Among these fifteen hundred households were the real fiefdoms, and they were owned and managed by real people.

However, Li Shen has not received any salary for many years, which means that the fief of 10,000 households has nothing to do with Li Shen anymore.

Now all Li Shen had in his hands were the ten thousand acres of fertile land from the imperial court and the fifteen hundred households of fiefdom.

There may have been another sealed state, no matter how big or small, it was also a sealed state.

But now, I don’t even have a closed country anymore.

It's too pitiful for a prince like me.

Otherwise, Li Shen wouldn't be so angry.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty also agrees with this matter, and the fiefdom will not do us any good.

Your Majesty, you cannot go to your fiefdom, so there is no point in coming.

He is just a provincial governor, and his fiefdom still belongs to the imperial court."

Wang Xuance kept persuading him.

"This is not a matter of money, this is a matter of face. I am a prince. If you take away my fiefdom,

Isn't this just a slap in my face?

I am the son of His Majesty, a first-rank prince, but I don't even have a fief.

If I tell this to others, my brothers, uncles, and people in the royal family will all laugh at me.

The three provinces are deliberately targeting me. It must have been the old thief Changsun who suggested it.

He is the only one I have a grudge against in the three provinces."

Li Shen was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. How could he endure such humiliation? Last year, the three ministries included the Secretary Ma Zhou, the Ministry of Personnel Fang Xuanling, and the Minister of the Left Changsun Wuji.

Among them, the only one who had a grudge against him was the old villain Changsun Wuji.

"My Lord, I heard that you are going to do something impulsive again?

The Imperial Concubine told the prince to be cautious, think twice before doing anything, and not to cause trouble.

If the prince continues to make trouble, I will have no choice but to go to the palace and report to the Imperial Concubine, and let her make the decision herself."

Just as Li Shen was struggling with the three people, a man appeared at the door and began to scold Li Shen.

The only one who dared to speak to Li Shen like this in Prince Ji's Mansion was the eldest sister Lan Yuer.

This older sister who had taken care of Li Shen since he was a child was given the responsibility of supervising Li Shen's words and deeds by Concubine Wei.

He has been taking care of Li Shen since he was young.

So whenever Li Shen acted up, Lan Yuer would admonish him just like she did when they were children, and she could even go directly to the palace to file a complaint.

Li Shen respected and feared this older sister.

As expected, after hearing Lan Yuer's reprimand, Li Shen immediately lost his temper. Who could stand Lan Yuer always saying "I'll tell your mother"?

"Oh, Dayu'er is here, please let me see you. I haven't seen you for a while, and I miss you."

Li Shen took Lan Yuer's hand and sat on the couch.

"Your Majesty, it was I who bathed and dressed you an hour ago."

Lan Yuer didn't give Li Shen any face at all and exposed the truth directly.

"Really? Oh, maybe I just miss you too much. There's a saying that goes, 'One day without seeing you feels like three years have passed.'"

Li Shen slapped his forehead in a pretentious manner.

Everyone was stunned when they heard Li Shen’s words. They felt that there was something wrong with what the prince had just said.

"Your Highness, I heard you were going to do something ridiculous when I was outside. The Imperial Concubine repeatedly told me to take good care of you.

We can’t let the prince go out and cause trouble.

It’s not easy for the Imperial Concubine, to be in the palace…”

"Alright, alright, you're just worried and anxious in the palace, worried that I might cause trouble.

I angered my Aye and was punished by him.

Dayuer, you have been saying this for ten years. Why don't you go to the palace one day and come up with a new story with my mother.

This king has been punished by His Majesty many times. "

Li Shen could recite this set of words by heart, and Lan Yuer used this set of words to convince Li Shen every time.

If you don't listen, just tell your mother. It works very well.

Lan Yuer also felt a little embarrassed. She had indeed been using this set of words for more than ten years.

"Well, I won't go. Otherwise, I will have to complain to Mother and make her worry.

In fact, I was just saying this out of anger, I won’t really go.”

Li Shen finally compromised. He was just too excited just now.

"Xuan Ce, where were you just talking about? Please continue."

Anyway, there were no outsiders here, so Wang Xuance bowed and continued his analysis:

“Your Majesty, we just talked about returning to our fiefdom, there is definitely no way out.

Moreover, with the current strength of Prince Ji's Mansion, I am afraid that His Majesty will not let the prince return to his fiefdom.

Based on what Your Majesty said, I think Your Majesty must have said it on purpose for Your Majesty to hear.

It is to let the prince know that there are people from His Majesty in the palace.

According to my conjecture, Your Majesty also guessed that Your Majesty knew that you had his people around you,

It’s just that you, Your Majesty, didn’t say it and pretended not to know.

In fact, I think this may not be a bad thing.”

"Oh? You said something good? Tell me about it."

"Your Majesty, isn't this His Majesty's honesty to you?

His Majesty is telling the prince that he is watching you and hopes that the prince will not go the wrong way. "

"Wrong way?" After hearing Wang Xuance's words, Li Shen pondered for a moment and raised his head.

"Are you talking about treason?"

Wan Xuance nodded with a smile.

"That's right, this is His Majesty warning you not to have any rebellious thoughts, His Majesty will always be watching you.

There is nothing else.

Your Highness, you have done a lot of wrong things over the years. Cui Dunli is an example.

But His Majesty has never mentioned it, which means that as long as the prince does not rebel, His Majesty will not care what he does.

Your Majesty, although this is a warning, it is also a form of care."

"Bullshit, I've been beaten several times, how can I just ignore it?

This prince will not receive any salary for the next twenty years or so, is this what you call not caring?"