Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 155: Li Yuanji, Xie Shufang's thoughts, and Xue Laosi being controlled
Li Yuanji felt very comfortable listening to Cen Wenben's praises. It was even more pleasing to hear praises from someone who was capable and had real skills.

Li Yuanji is in such a state now. It is impossible to do good deeds without leaving a name. He just wants to change these people's previous fixed impression of him and enhance his own reputation.

Li Yuanji is very clear about the relationship between him and Chang'an now. He has no possibility of retreating. Once he retreats, he will be controlled by the other party at will. Instead of letting the people in Chang'an control him according to their mood, it is better for him to have enough strength and prestige to make those people in Chang'an cautious.

Just like the nuclear bombs of later generations, this thing can be used or not, but it must be there. Once it is there, who dares to take it lightly? At worst, both sides will die. If you don't let me live, then no one will live.

Li Yuanji then spoke with a smile.

"Jingren, you should not be so one-sided. Although Lingnan is poor, unenlightened, and unwilling to obey the king's rule, it is precisely because of this that I came here.

Lingna also belongs to the Tang Dynasty. Now it is my fiefdom. I need to improve Lingnan. Moreover, those small countries in the southwest are also very restless. I came here, just as I said in Chang'an, to serve as a barrier for the Tang Dynasty.

Using Lingnan as my fiefdom, I must ensure the stability of the rest of the Tang Dynasty and provide the environment it needs for development. As the King of Qi of the Tang Dynasty, I must shoulder this burden.

As a prince, I enjoy the convenience and benefits brought by my status, so I must shoulder the responsibilities that come with this status. Only in this way can the Tang Dynasty last forever.

Jingren must not talk about giving up Lingnan again. I can put my words here. I will never give up Lingnan. No matter who it is, no one can make me give up my fiefdom, not even a saint!"

Li Yuanji's words were so righteous that not only Xie Shufang and Ning Chun, but even Cen Wenben, Xue Wanche and Wei Ting were full of admiration and their eyes were burning with admiration.

Wei Ting was the first to come back to his senses, and his heart sank. Li Yuanji's tall figure just now almost made him fall into it. At that moment, he seemed to have seen a hero.

Li Yuanji looked at these people and smiled even more happily. He almost believed what he said. Fortunately, he always remembered his original intention of coming to Lingnan and was not misled by his own words.

Cen Wenben was truly shocked and excited. He was not familiar with Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, but he only knew that the current Li Yuanji seemed to be more in line with the evaluations and rumors about Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, because he had truly seen and felt Li Yuanji.

He even dared to say that if it were Li Jiancheng or Li Shimin, neither of them would have the courage like Li Yuanji to dare to come directly to Lingnan, let alone develop Lingnan into this state in just over a year.

If Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin could do what Li Yuanji did, would people's livelihood still be in decline and people displaced in various parts of the Tang Dynasty?
In Cen Wenben's eyes, Li Yuanji should stay in Chang'an and preside over all matters related to people's livelihood development. Let Li Yuanji do these things and allow the Tang Dynasty to develop rapidly.

But Li Yuanji's words now made Cen Wenben realize that his vision was too narrow, he did not see far enough, and he did not think comprehensively enough. Look at Li Yuanji, the King of Qi of the Tang Dynasty, he was willing to sacrifice himself for the Tang Dynasty. This is the prince of the Tang Dynasty, the King of Qi of the Tang Dynasty.

At this moment, in Cen Wenben's eyes, neither Li Jiancheng nor Li Shimin could be compared with Li Yuanji. Those two people only knew how to fight internally and completely ignored the Tang Dynasty. They did not take the overall situation into consideration like Li Yuanji did. How could they be like the Crown Prince and King of Qin of the Tang Dynasty?
In other words, Li Yuanji didn't know that Cen Wenben thought this way, and he himself didn't think about it in this way. Otherwise, he would definitely spread this matter and guide others to think in this way. His image of Li Yuanji sacrificing his own interests for the greater good would be completely rooted in everyone's heart. With this halo, what else is he afraid of?

After a while, Cen Wenben looked at Li Yuanji with fiery eyes and immediately bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty, your righteousness is great. I admire you very much."

Li Yuanji agreed calmly and immediately helped Cen Wenben up.

"Alright, let's stop saying these polite words. Let's go back to the palace first. I have asked people to prepare wine and food. You are in for a treat this time. I dare say that many of the food here are not available in Chang'an."

A group of people came to the palace with great anticipation. After they sat down, the wine and food were soon brought up. When Xue Wanche saw the wine, he was the first one who couldn't help himself.

"My king, you have worked hard all day. Let's drink some wine to moisten our throat."

Xue Wanche was very relaxed in front of Li Yuanji. After all, he was the deputy guard of the Prince of Qi's Palace before. Although he was not brought to Lingnan by Li Yuanji, it had no effect on him at all. He didn't think about it at all.

When a jar of wine was opened, the aroma wafted out and Xue Wanche and his companions were immediately attracted to it, especially Xue Wanche, who smelled the aroma and looked intoxicated.

Everyone's eyes lit up. They dared to guarantee that they had never smelled such an aroma of wine before. Even before drinking it, just smelling it made them feel satisfied. Xue Wanche couldn't help but swallow his saliva. If it smelled like this, how delicious would it be when he drank it?

Cen Wenben was the first to come back to his senses and looked at Li Yuanji.

"My king, did you take the wrong wine?"

It's no wonder that Cen Wenben asked this. There are standards for hospitality. In their eyes, this kind of wine is used to entertain Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and others. Moreover, the better the wine, the less it will be. He was worried about Li Yuanji. This meal of wine directly drank up all the wine that Li Yuanji had saved.

Li Yuanji laughed after hearing this.

"Jingren, you didn't bring the wrong wine. I brought it here for everyone to drink. This is the good wine I just brewed here, called Zuixianniang. You haven't drunk it before, right?

Today you can drink as much as you want. If these jars of wine are not enough, you can just get more. There is plenty, so don't worry.

But you have to drink slowly, this wine is quite strong. Otherwise, if you get drunk after a few sips, you won’t be able to enjoy the delicious food on the table. These dishes are not available in Chang’an.

Don’t be shy, just eat and drink as much as you want.”

The dishes on the table were all figured out by Li Yuanji a long time ago. They were much better than before. Even though he was in Lingnan, Li Yuanji still lived a pretty good life.

After hearing this, everyone stopped hesitating. Xue Wanche started pouring wine. Then everyone toasted Li Yuanji first. Xue Wanche went to find Xie Shufang. As for the food? In Xue Wanche's eyes, what was the point of eating food when there was wine?

When the wine went into their mouths, Xue Wanche and the others felt refreshed. They dared to say that this wine was really as its name suggested, Drunken Immortal Wine, strong enough, but also extremely delicious and fragrant.

"Shu Fang, come, let's have a good drink. You said you would drink with me, so don't go back on your word."

Li Yuanji, Cen Wenben and Wei Ting were chatting, and Xue Wanche was also unwilling to be lonely. When Xie Shufang heard this, he immediately smiled evilly.

"Come on, drink if you want. But it won't work if you just drink like that. We have to add some spice. If you lose, you will come to the army to lead the troops. Not only will you have to train the new troops, but you will also have to lead them to see blood. Anyway, you can't leave until they are formed. How do you do that?"

Xue Wanche agreed to Xie Shufang's bad idea directly. It was because both of them drank a lot when they were in Chang'an before. Among Xie Shufang, Xue Wanche and Feng Li, Xue Wanche had the best alcohol tolerance, while Xie Shufang and Feng Li were far behind.

Now that Xie Shufang took the initiative to talk about the bet, in Xue Wanche's eyes, wasn't this giving him warmth?
"Shu Fang, you said it, and you are not allowed to deny it if you lose."

Xue Wanche was very worried that Xie Shufang would go back on his word. In fact, they had done this many times among themselves, so Xue Wanche was very cautious.

Xie Shufang was furious. "Xue Lao Si, you are talking nonsense. Who would dare to play tricks with you in front of the king? Just tell me whether you dare to answer or not. Let me know how I will scold you this time."

Xue Wanche is the fourth child in the family. The eldest is Xue Wanshu, the second is Xue Wanshu, the third is Xue Wanjun, and the fifth is Xue Wanbei. There are five brothers in the family, all of whom have made great military achievements, but Xue Wanche and Xue Wanjun are more famous.

Especially after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Xue Wanjun really rose to prominence. After all, he entered the Prince of Qin's Palace early and was Li Shimin's confidant.

Xue Shixiong's five sons all have their own abilities, but Jun and Che are the best.

Xue Wanche laughed when he heard what Xie Shufang said. Just be serious.

"Okay, since you said so, then it's settled. If you lose this time, I want ten jars, no, twenty jars of Drunken Immortal Wine. How about it? Do you dare to agree?"

Xue Wanche looked at Xie Shufang expectantly. His wishful thinking could be heard by everyone around him.

Xie Shufang looked at Xue Wanche as if he were an idiot, which made Xue Wanche feel offended for a moment.

"Xue Lao Si, if your brain is broken, I will ask the imperial physician to come and check on you. Twenty jars, what are you thinking? Five jars, at most five jars.

I have saved two jars of the gift from the king. I can give up my reputation and ask the king for three more jars. Anyway, I don’t have any more.”

Hearing the number of five altars mentioned by Xie Shufang, Xue Wanche was very reluctant and spoke again after a moment.

"Well, let's set ten altars. Don't be impatient. Listen to me. If I lose, I will stay and not only lead these new troops well and make them strong, but I will also train another large army for the king. If there is a war, I will fight for the king. How do you think?"

Xue Wanche thought he had Xie Shufang under control, but Xie Shufang simply ignored him.

"Xue Lao Si, Xue Lao Si, do you think this is what I value? I made this request only because the king asked me to do it. I am too busy to do it, so I made this bet. What's the point of you raising the bet? I am betting with you.

If you want, you can go and bet with the king. With the conditions you mentioned, the king will definitely not refuse, and then you can easily get ten jars of wine."

Xue Wanche felt embarrassed. Looking at Li Yuanji who was chatting excitedly with Cen Wenben and Wei Ting, Xue Wanche gave up.

"Just tell me what you want me to do in order to accept it. Just make a request and as long as it's not too excessive, I'll agree to it."

Xie Shufang pondered for a while, then looked at Xue Wanche with a smirk on his face.

"Well, in addition to what I just said, I have to add one more thing. If the king lets me lead the army to war, you have to fight for me once. I have to stay by the king's side. You should know that. And the last one, your warhorse will belong to me."

When Xue Wanche heard this, he suddenly realized.

"You are so good, Uncle Xie Fang. You actually fell in love with my horse. You are so ulterior motive. You have other things, so why are you still thinking about my horse?"

Xie Shufang glanced at Xue Wanche with contempt.

"Don't say those useless things, just tell me if it's okay or not."

Xue Wanche also laughed immediately.

"Okay, come on, but we have to raise the stakes. Ten jars are not enough, we need twelve jars of wine, do you dare?"

Xie Shufang was delighted in his heart, but his face was extremely conflicted. After a while, he gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Okay, then it's settled!"

After the two of them agreed, they just held the jar of wine and started drinking. Xie Shufang knew the strength of the wine. Although he was holding the jar and drinking, he was actually drinking very slowly. He had made up his mind today, not only to win the bet, but also to teach Xue Wanche a lesson.

When I was in Chang'an, every time I drank with this guy, he was the one who got drunk and fell down. Now I can finally take revenge.

After a while, Xue Wanche took a few big gulps and couldn't hold it any longer. He put down the jar of wine and started coughing. This noise immediately attracted the attention of Li Yuanji and others. After learning that the two were drinking together, Li Yuanji glanced at Xie Shufang and decisively ignored them.

In his opinion, Xie Shufang must have set a trap for Xue Wanche. According to Xue Wanche's drinking habit, no matter how good he was at drinking, he would get dizzy after drinking a little.

Xie Shufang's face was slightly red at this moment, and he looked at Xue Wanche with a smile on his face.

"Xue Lao Si, if you can't hold it, just say it's okay, okay?"

Xue Wanche glared at Xie Shufang, then started drinking again. Although they were competing in drinking, both of them were enjoying it. It was Xue Wanche's first time drinking, and he couldn't stop for a while. Xie Shufang didn't drink much on weekdays, mainly because if he drank too much, he would have to wait for a long time before drinking again.

Now it was equivalent to Li Yuanji treating him to a drink, and he also wanted to drink more.

After a while, Xue Wanche was drunk and fell to the ground. Xie Shufang looked at Xue Wanche and laughed unscrupulously.

Wei Ting kept shaking his head as he watched this scene. All he could say was that it was what he deserved.

Li Yuanji was also troubled by these two people, so he had to have them carried away. He didn't want them to vomit here.

The dishes on the table had been almost finished, mainly eaten by Cen Benwen and his friends. They had never eaten such delicious food before, and they were all shocked when they heard that a lot of the meat was pork.

Finally, after Li Yuanji's explanation, they came to their senses, smiled bitterly, and finally accepted the fact. It was mainly because the food was too delicious.

The meal was almost over, Wei Ting, Wu Shigui, and the others were ready to go down, except Cen Wenben who did not move.

(End of this chapter)