The Great Tang's Number One Smuggler, with Li Er as My Partner!

In the winter of the fourth year of Zhenguan, at a tavern in Chang'an's Western Market, the young owner Lu Guanyu was selling jars of strong liquor to the Turkic grasslands.

He had no idea that his regular customer, "Old Li," was none other than the Tang emperor, Li Shimin.

Their partnership in smuggling liquor introduced Li Shimin to the young man's astonishing business acumen and strategic vision. Strong liquor undermined the Turks' fighting strength, while sugar brought in Tibetan wealth. Every move Lu Guanyu made in business seemed to align with the empire's grand strategy of expanding in every direction.

The Eastern Turks were defeated in a single campaign, and the imperial treasury was replenished overnight with the profits from the smuggling operation.

Li Shimin was determined to keep this "money tree" in his grasp, but gradually realized that Lu Guanyu sought far more than wealth and status: he renovated estates, trained farmers to do business, planned to open a modern school, and even sent the Crown Prince and Prince Wei off for "re-education through labor"...

The emperor's efforts to win him over, the Hu beauties' admiration, and the entire court being brought to Lu Family Manor by the emperor under the pretext of "discussing business" for "further training". A Tang Dynasty quietly reshaped by commerce and infrastructure was now slowly taking shape...