137: The aristocratic families were exterminated, and the five surnames and seven families were uprooted!

That's enough.

Li Shimin stared blankly at the absurd scene before him.

He watched as the Officials, who yesterday had flattered him and chanted 'Long live!' before him, now bit at his reputation and trampled his dignity like mad dogs.

His last shred of hope, the so-called "will of the people," was torn to shreds at this moment.

He was wrong.

He was terribly wrong.

What he thought was the will of the people was built upon the achievements of his "Reign of Zhenguan."

But he forgot that achievements are fleeting, something that fades with time.

Pain, however, is real.

It is the pain of families shattered by loan sharks, the pain of being homeless after land was forcibly seized, the pain of wives and daughters being snatched away!

These pains were happening all around the common people, a bloody reality they saw and heard every day!

Li Chengqian seized on this point.

He used the most direct, most brutal method to expose these pains nakedly before everyone.

Then, he told everyone that the root cause of all this suffering was Buddhism, and the patron behind Buddhism was none other than Li Shimin!

What a simple, brutal, and effective method!

He didn't need the will of the people at all.

He only needed... public resentment!

He would use the resentment of the myriad people as the blade of his butcher knife!

He would use the wrath of the myriad people as the blazing fire to cleanse the world!

Li Shimin was ice cold all over; he looked at his son, the son who had merely observed with cold eyes from beginning to end, and for the first time, a true… despair surged within him.

He lost.

He lost completely.

He lost even the last shred of dignity.

You are not worthy!

Li Chengqian quietly watched the disgraceful farce unfolding before him.

He looked at Wang Jing's tear-streaked old face, at the humble appearance of those aristocratic Officials swearing loyalty and pledging allegiance, his eyes devoid of any emotion, only an unfathomable coldness and disgust.

Loyalty?

Just you all?

Li Chengqian sneered inwardly.

This group of parasites, these opportunists, were the most stubborn tumors on the body of Great Tang.

They entrenched themselves in the imperial court, monopolized knowledge and official positions, formed factions for personal gain, and climbed over each other.

When the Empire was strong, they wagged their tails and shared the fruits of victory; when the Empire declined, they changed their allegiance without hesitation, offering their loyalty to new masters, solely to preserve their Family's millennia of wealth.

What they shouted was 'country and home,' but what they thought of was always only their own interests.

His Imperial Father, Li Shimin, was not unaware of their harm.

That's why he supported Buddhism, to use Buddhism to counterbalance the aristocratic Families.

But what was the result?

Buddhism became another, more greedy and shameless, aristocratic Family.

And these powerful Families still lived well.

They were like unkillable cockroaches, entrenched in this magnificent palace, gnawing at the Foundation of the Empire.

His Imperial Father couldn't solve them because his Imperial Father himself needed to rely on them to maintain the stability of the court, and needed their prestige to adorn the facade of his "Reign of Zhenguan."

His Imperial Father had too many concerns, too many ties.

But I, Li Chengqian, do not!

From the moment I decided to embark on this path, I had already abandoned everything.

Kinship, reputation, morality... these things, to me, are meaningless.

I only want one outcome.

A clean, pure Great Tang that belongs to me, Li Chengqian!

A Great Tang where there are no more millennia-old noble Families, no more places beyond the law, a Great Tang where imperial power is supreme!

At this thought, an undisguised Killing Intent flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes.

"Is everyone done speaking?"

He spoke indifferently, his voice not loud, but like a cold current, it instantly brought the noisy shouts of loyalty on the city wall to an abrupt halt.

Wang Jing and the others looked up, seeing Li Chengqian's emotionless eyes, and their hearts inexplicably thumped, a premonition of ill omen rising within them.

"Yo... Your Highness..."

Wang Jing stammered, "Your... Your humble servants' loyalty to Your Highness is witnessed by Heaven! We are willing to die for Your Highness, to help Your Highness... to help Your Highness cleanse the court and restore the land!"

"Die for me?"

Li Chengqian repeated these two words, a cruel arc forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Very good."

He nodded, very pleased with the answer.

"Since you are so eager to die for me..."

His voice suddenly turned cold, like a pronouncement from the nine nether Hells.

"Then I shall grant your wish!"

The moment his words fell, the expressions on the faces of Wang Jing and the others completely froze.

The flattery on their faces, the hope in their eyes, instantly turned into boundless terror and disbelief.

"Your... Your Highness... What... what do you mean by this?"

Zheng Yuanshou's voice was trembling.

"What do I mean?"

Li Chengqian laughed, his smile full of disdain and mockery, "You opportunistic dogs, do you even deserve to pledge loyalty to me?"

He took a step forward, and the Killing Intent on his body surged out like a raging tide.

"Yesterday, you followed Li Taixu in the Taiji Hall, demanding that I be expelled from the Family registry and disowned. Where was your loyalty then?"

"Just now, seeing that Imperial Father had lost power, you immediately turned on him, cursing him as a tyrannical ruler. Is your loyalty such a cheap thing?"

"Do you think I am like Imperial Father, who needs you aristocratic Families to adorn his facade?"

"Do you think, by changing masters, you can continue to lord it over others and remain your millennia-old noble Families?"

"Dream on!"

Li Chengqian roared, like a thunderclap.

"I tell you! From today onwards, in this Great Tang, there will be no more Five Surnames and Seven Clans! No more powerful aristocratic Families!"

"You leeches clinging to the Empire, I will uproot you, every single one of you!"

"There's no need to wait for Huang Chao; today, I, Li Chengqian, will make you, the powerful Families of this land, utterly vanish!"

These words, like bolts of black lightning, struck hard at the heart of every aristocratic Official.

They were completely stunned.

They had considered countless possibilities, but this was the one they had never imagined.

His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, had no intention of incorporating them at all!

What he wanted was their lives!

He wanted their entire Families to be completely annihilated!

"No! Your Highness! You cannot do this!"

Wang Jing let out a desperate roar, "We... we are the Foundation of the court! If you kill us, the court will be paralyzed! The world will fall into chaos!"

"Foundation?"

Li Chengqian heard the funniest joke in the world, "Do you even deserve to be called a Foundation? You are merely vines clinging to the trunk, sucking away nutrients! If I cut you down, the great tree will only grow more luxuriantly!"

He no longer paid attention to their wails, abruptly turned, and issued a cold command to Li Junxian below the city wall.

"Li Junxian!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"By my order! The Jinwu Guard, the Great Wall Guards, and the Bad People, all personnel are to be deployed!"

"Seal all the ward gates of Chang'an City! Arrest all Officials and clansmen of the Wang Clan of Taiyuan, Zheng Clan of Xingyang, Fanyang Lu Clan... all Five Surnames and Seven Clans in the capital, every single one of them!"

"Arrest them according to the Family registry!"

"Confiscate all their Family property! Any who resist or harbor them shall be... executed without mercy!"

Li Chengqian threw the Family registries of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans before Li Junxian.

Family registries!

What a useful thing!