Chapter 37: Li Longji’s Divine Maneuver!

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"Following the Tang Dynasty custom of 'washing the baby on the third day'—where a mother bathes her newborn three days after birth to cleanse away filth and ward off misfortune—this tradition was twisted into a feudal superstition."

"Three days after An Lushan performed the ceremony of kowtowing to his foster mother, this grand 'washing' ritual was held in accordance with Tang customs."

"Consort Yang ordered a massive bathtub to be prepared, dressed An Lushan like a newborn infant, and had him lie in the tub so she could bathe him personally."

"Afterward, she had a giant swaddling cloth made. Several palace maids worked together to wrap An Lushan in it. More than a dozen maids then carried him onto a decorated palanquin, parading him around the back garden while Consort Yang followed behind, calling out 'Lu'er' and frolicking with him."

Then, the scene on the screen shifted!

A disheveled, bearded man weighing over three hundred pounds lay naked in an enormous basin.

Standing by the basin was an exquisitely beautiful woman with a plump face, a slender waist, curvaceous hips, and a partially exposed bosom. She was using a small handkerchief to wipe him down incessantly, her face flushed with a rosy hue.

"I ask you, if this were just a normal bath, even a dog would shake its head in disbelief. A jade-like beauty stroking and rubbing a three-hundred-pound man—could anyone, even a fool, believe there was nothing going on between them?"

"Yet, when Emperor Xuanzong of Tang found out, not only did he not stop it, he fully approved, even ordering that An Lushan be rewarded with vast amounts of wealth. Tell me, who else could pull off such a scandalous stunt!"

"From then on, An Lushan frequented the inner palace, and there are even records of Yang Yuhuan staying away all night!"

People across various dynasties were left dumbfounded by this sight.

Cao Pi: "Is there something wrong with Li Longji's head? He has some strange fetish!"

"His own consort bathing with another man—such an absurd affair—and he rewards it? Where is his brain?"

"I, for one, could never do such a thing!"

...

Cao Cao watched with great interest, stroking his chin and saying with amusement: "This An Lushan is quite a character; he has both the father-in-law and the daughter-in-law wrapped around his finger!" His eyes then drifted repeatedly toward Cao Pi, as if pondering something.

The First Emperor of Qin: "This... this Li Longji must be suffering from some serious mental illness!"

Emperor Wu of Han: "It is my first time seeing a man let his own consort bathe someone else, and a three-hundred-pound hog at that."

Li Shimin of Tang: "Are you really that trusting? @XuanZhiYouXuan Li Longji?"

XuanZhiYouXuan Li Longji: "(Grievance)!"

...

"Through this series of maneuvers, An Lushan successfully became the foster son of Consort Yang, and this preposterous behavior sowed the seeds for the later An Lushan Rebellion."

"Let us first discuss the casualties of the An Lushan Rebellion. The registered population of the Great Tang was 52.92 million; adding the unregistered refugees and others, the total was around 80 million."

"The An Lushan Rebellion resulted in 36 million deaths. This is not even counting the decline in fertility caused by the chaos; all in all, the total toll reached 40 million. By the end of the rebellion, the population of the Great Tang was reduced to about 16.9 million."

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Great Tang.

36 million dead? 40 million total? What kind of number is that?

That is more than the entire population of his current Great Tang!

"Damn it! Damn it all!" Li Shimin was furious to the extreme and kicked over the table in front of him.

"You brat, you had better pray this hasn't happened yet! When I descend, you just wait!" Li Shimin trembled with rage, his hands balled into fists, his fingernails digging into his palms.

Compared to this, the previous talk of stealing his daughter-in-law seemed like mere child's play.

With such massive casualties, Li Shimin could already foresee the fate of the future Great Tang!

Great Qin.

In Xianyang, Ying Zheng was shaken to his core.

"A death toll of 36 million, with total casualties around 40 million?"

This... even if one counted the entire population of his Great Qin, it might not be enough!

If I had 36 million people, would I even need to build the Great Wall? I would have just swept across the world!

Elsewhere, Bai Qi, who was currently burying 400,000 surrendered soldiers of Zhao alive, felt his scalp tingle upon seeing this.

In his entire life... he had only killed a million people, and for that, he was called the God of War!

This... 36 million is not just "more"; he couldn't even reach a fraction of that in his entire lifetime.

It was dozens of times his own tally!

He would have to kill for dozens of lifetimes to reach such a number. This was a massive toll.

During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Longji looked at the staggering casualties caused by the An Lushan Rebellion on the screen, and his legs turned to jelly, nearly causing him to collapse.

His face was deathly pale, cold sweat poured down his forehead, and his lips trembled, leaving him unable to speak.

Yang Yuhuan was also terrified, clutching Li Longji's sleeve tightly, her eyes filled with confusion and shock.

"Lu'er actually rebelled?"

36 million...

The ministers in the imperial court were in an uproar, whispering and debating among themselves.

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Some blamed An Lushan for his wolfish ambition, while others secretly resented Li Longji for his muddled incompetence.

When the common people heard the news, they were gripped by panic.

In the streets and alleys, people discussed the horrific consequences of the An Lushan Rebellion. Many began to worry about the future, and some even started packing their bags, intending to flee the Great Tang that was about to descend into war.

Li Longji was terrified. He had thought that being called incompetent was only because of the trivial matter of taking Yuhuan as his consort, but he never expected the An Lushan Rebellion to be so catastrophic, with 36 million casualties... This was enough to destroy his glorious reign!

But it was too late to say anything now... He had already appointed An Lushan as the Jiedushi (military governor) of three frontier regions!

He currently had no defenses against An Lushan.

In an instant, he felt as if the sky had collapsed!

"Li Linfu said that since An Lushan was a foreigner, he couldn't be a Chancellor of the Great Tang, so being a Jiedushi of three regions would suffice. Li Longji actually agreed, handing over control of 150,000 troops from Pinglu, Fanyang, and Hedong!"

"Not only did he hand over 150,000 troops to a foreigner, he even paid him for it."

"He gave away the military command?"

"And in vital border regions??? 150,000 troops worth of power!"

"I... I..."

"No one stop me! I'm going to go cut him down right now!" Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot with rage, and he immediately wanted to summon the power of the Heavenly Treasure to descend!

Empress Zhangsun's beautiful eyes were also filled with fury, but she quickly pulled Li Shimin back: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, if you go to the future alone, I fear that little scoundrel might do something desperate!"

"He wouldn't dare! I am his ancestor!" Li Shimin glared.

But then he remembered the shameless things the boy had done, and realized he might actually dare!

In another plane, Li Zhi was also startled by the terrifying data on the screen.

Seeing the tragic casualties of the An Lushan Rebellion, he was furious to the extreme.

"Very well... a fine 'Li Longji' indeed. Someone, I want to leave a secret decree!"

"To my future descendants: Li Longji will be possessed by a demon at the age of 50. All descendants of the Li Tang line must unite to depose the emperor and enthrone the Crown Prince!"

Not satisfied with just that, Li Zhi began to train elite assassins, whose sole mission for generations would be to wait for the year Li Longji turned 50 and slay the dragon.