Datang: From exiled prince to eternal tyrant

Chapter 60

"That's how it happened. His Royal Highness the King of Shu set up a Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom of Shu, and brought all the ministers of the court together..."

In Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin was sitting at the desk, Wang De whispered in his ear.

Although Li Ke's meeting with the members of the King's Party of Shu was a highly confidential meeting, but Li Shimin had secret guards under him, and all matters in Chang'an, especially those related to the ministers of the court, could hardly escape his eyes and ears.

At this moment, Wang De had informed Li Shimin of all the discussions between Li Ke and his ministers.

"The chamber of commerce...the gentry...heavy taxes...the common people..."

Li Shimin murmured, he sorted out Li Ke's thoughts, and the more he tasted, the more interesting it became.

According to Li Ke's approach, in the future Datang will no longer depend on the agricultural tax paid by the gentry group, and the people will no longer be suppressed by the gentry and struggle to survive.

This matter is of great significance to the country and the people.

"It seems that Ke'er suppressed the gentry class not only for his own self-interest, but I despised him before..."

Wang De also came up to him at this time, and said with a soft smile: "His Majesty's move is to relieve His Majesty's worries. He knows that His Majesty has been made things difficult by the gentry group, and many measures to benefit the people are difficult to implement... So, he took the lead and acted for His Majesty. Charge into battle!"

Li Shimin thought carefully, although Wang De's words were obviously flattering, Li Ke may not have considered this step, but everything he did could indeed help Li Shimin to understand the government and solve the serious troubles in his heart.

Li Shimin smiled faintly, and Li Shimin pretended to be angry: "You old man, when did you accept Ke'er's benefits?"

Wang De quickly bowed his head: "This old slave dare not accept bribes..."

Of course Li Shimin has enough trust in Wang De, he was just joking.

Waving his hand, Li Shimin ordered: "Go and call Ke'er!"

After receiving Wang De's notice, Li Ke rushed to Ganlu Hall in a daze.

In recent days, he has been honest and has never done anything out of the ordinary. I don't know why Li Shimin summoned him in a hurry.

Stand still and bow down.

"I've seen my father!"

Li Shimin waved his hands casually, then sat up straight and looked at Li Ke.

His eyes were full, staring at Li Ke so that Li Ke felt uncomfortable all over.

"Father, I don't know why you summoned your son and minister here?"

Li Shimin didn't speak, so Li Ke had to ask himself.

"I heard... what Shu Chamber of Commerce did you set up recently?"

Li Shimin spoke quietly, and what he said surprised Li Ke.

He thought that this matter was very confidential and he would never let Li Shimin know about it, but this was obviously his wishful thinking.

Now that Li Shimin knew about it, Li Ke had no choice but to admit "honestly": "That's true, my son is indeed very interested in business, and wants to earn some pocket money for supplies."

"Humph!"

Li Shimin patted the table, frowned and said, "How much is the supply?"

His words seemed to be questioning, and Li Ke was even more shocked. Li Shimin seemed not too happy about his win over the courtiers.

Li Ke had no choice but to explain again: "By the way, deal with those gentry who always like to stand in my way!"

Not wanting to involve this matter in politics, Li Ke could only explain the matter of the chamber of commerce as a struggle between him and the gentry.

Since you want to fight against the gentry, it makes sense to win over the courtiers to support yourself.

But Li Shimin still frowned, as if he was not satisfied with this explanation.

Li Ke's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to explain it more clearly.

But Li Shimin raised his eyebrows at this moment, and his expression eased.

"I heard that your Chamber of Commerce has a good prospect and can earn a lot of money?"

Li Ke was stunned, I dare to ask you, old man, to focus on money...

He hurriedly cupped his hands: "My son intends to hand over [-]% of the profits of the chamber of commerce to the imperial court..."

[-]% profit, this should satisfy Li Shimin!

What he got himself was not as much as what he handed in!
The same is [-]%, but the tax payment is [-]% of the total profit, and the profit he shares is [-]% after deducting the tax fee, which must be less than the tax fee.

Li Shimin waved his hand: "The [-]% was handed over to the court for the purpose of national construction and appeasing the people."

He said in a deep voice: "As many courtiers contribute, I will also contribute a share to participate in your shares!"

As soon as these words came out, Li Ke was sure in his heart that you, the old man, would also like to participate in the shares. If you said it earlier, I would be shocked!
"However..." Li Shimin frowned, and continued, "I am your father and emperor, and have blood relatives. Do I want to share the same share with those outsiders?"

Li Ke cursed in his heart: This guy paid the same amount of money and still wants to take more than others. He is really evil!
But of course he didn't dare to say this out loud: "This is natural. My father only gets [-]%, and the others share [-]%. In total, my father has a lot more than them!"

"It's just..." Li Ke blamed Li Shimin for explaining to everyone, "I'm afraid those courtiers won't agree!"

"boom!"

Li Shimin slapped the table and frowned into the character "Chuan".

"No? How dare they not agree to earn money from my son?"

"I told them personally that you don't need to pay attention to this matter! I want to see it, who dares not to agree?"

After the big talk, Li Shimin's expression softened again. He looked at Li Ke with a smile in his eyes.

"Ke'er, you have done this matter to my liking. Both the people and the country can benefit from this matter. I hope that you will put the people first and the Tang Dynasty first in everything, and solve problems for the emperor!"

He spoke with earnestness and heart, so of course Li Ke had to put on an air of filial piety: "Your servant will save me!"

But his obedience was not completely pretended, he just bowed his hands a little, and didn't even bother to bow his waist.

Li Shimin was not annoyed, and waved his hand: "Okay, okay! It's time to eat, you go and inform your mother and concubine that the three of us will have dinner together today!"

In the royal family, it is actually very rare for a family of three to eat together.

Concubine Yang was very happy today, she set up a large table of food, and the three of them had a warm time together.

At the dinner table, Li Shimin had been talking about the chamber of commerce. He is now one of the shareholders of the chamber of commerce. Li Ke did not hide from him, and explained his many ideas clearly one by one.

"This textile factory is just the first step. Erchen's next plan is to build large-scale farms and build water conservancy works in a unified way in the future..."

"This farm needs a lot of land, and now a lot of land is in the hands of the gentry. In the future, I will find a way to buy the land from the gentry and build the farm in a unified way. This will definitely solve the problem of food for the people and stabilize the price of food in the Tang Dynasty. !"

Land issues must be reported to Li Shimin in advance. This touches the core interests of the gentry and may cause a backlash from the gentry class.

In the confrontation with these gentry, Li Shimin's position will play a decisive role.

(End of this chapter)