Time Travel: I am the idle king Li Shen and Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty

"..."

Li Shen's words froze the scene instantly, and Li Shen finally realized that he had just spoken out what was in his heart.

"That... that Aye, what I mean is that the construction has not been completed yet because there is not so much money."

He quickly explained that if he hadn't explained in time, he would probably have continued to be beaten.

"Huh, really?" Li Shimin looked at Li Shen with disbelief.

"Yes, yes, it's absolutely true, but even if we have no money, I, Prince Ji, will sell iron and steel to build the road to Goguryeo."

Li Shen patted his chest and promised.

Li Shimin didn't want to argue with Li Shen, so he nodded and took a sip of tea before continuing:

"That's good. The road to Goguryeo is very important and will be the main road for our future attacks.

Not only marching, but also escorting supplies.

After the construction of this road is completed, the time will be shortened a lot, and there is no need to worry about rain delays.

This will make the battle ahead more stable. "

“Don’t worry Aye, this road will be repaired in at most two years.

If the cement road from Chang'an to the important town of Qinghai had not been built this year, the road would have been built this year. "

Li Shimin's face straightened after hearing this.

"Li Shen, I know what you are worried about. You have hired hundreds of thousands of workers on this road, and countless merchants are involved.

Everyone thinks that you want to complete the construction within one year, so you invest so much manpower and material resources.

But I know you want to spend money.

When this road is built in one year, the wages of labor alone will cost millions of dollars, plus tools, sand, gravel, and cement.

There are also three meals a day from craftsmen.

The cost of repairing this road is no less than 6 million yuan, or even more.

In fact, you don't need to do this. "Li Shimin looked at Li Shen and sighed in his heart.

Li Shen has been like this since he was a child, being cautious. This time he also had too much money. According to Li Shimin's knowledge, the annual rent of the industrial park is as high as millions.

With Li Shen's timid character, he would definitely want to spend the money.

"Aye, I just want to do something for the people of the Tang Dynasty. I often say that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads.

However, the imperial court's tax revenue is increasing every year, and the imperial court's warehouses are full every year, but the ministers of the imperial court are not interested in building roads.

I don’t want to say that they are short-sighted, because it is indeed necessary to build roads.

The court's money should be kept for emergencies.

Whatever you can do is just a little bit. In fact, the money will eventually return to your hands. "

Li Shen said seriously.

"Oh? Why?" Li Shimin was confused.

"Aye, the money spent on building the road is divided into two parts, one part is given to the merchants, and the other part is given to the laborers.

Aye knows that all he earns is money from rich people, princes, nobles, and wealthy businessmen.

All the goods sold in the son's house are sold to these rich people.

Including those who rent the industrial park are wealthy businessmen, so sooner or later their money will still be mine.

Let’s talk about workers’ money. When people have money, they will buy things to make their lives better.

After the money reaches the hands of merchants, they will also buy better things to satisfy their selfish desires.

Finally, the money came back to me, and I hired laborers. The money was still the same, but more than one thing was done. "

Li Shen just briefly talked about circulation. He didn't talk about any advanced economics because he didn't understand it either.

But even these made Li Shimin fall into deep thought. This was the first time he heard Li Shen's statement.

Drawing inferences from one example, if the imperial court collects taxes in this way, it should be the same.

"Well, what you said does make some sense. Maybe you have your own ideas. I just want to tell you,

No matter how much money you have, don’t be afraid.

Your eldest brother and I will not have any suspicion about you, and it will be the same after your eldest brother succeeds to the throne in the future, even if you have gold and silver. "

Li Shimin said it very solemnly. He had his own considerations. Li Shen played a great role in the long-term stability of the Tang Dynasty.

The same is true for the power of Datang.

After hearing this, Li Shen felt disdainful. He wanted to say that he really had a mountain of gold and silver.

He has a huge spice island in the South China Sea, and now this spice island has begun to bring benefits to him.

In order to maintain the prices of various spices, he sent caravans along the Silk Road, the northern grasslands, Persia, Tianzhu, and even Tibet, Western Turks, Rurik Dynasty and other places.

Another option is to take the Maritime Silk Road, passing through Malacca and selling in small countries along the coastline, all the way to Dashi.

In this way, Li Shen's spice industry was established. Because there was no dumping, the price has always been expensive.

"Aye, um, are you here today just to talk to me about road construction?" Li Shen asked carefully.

He is not a fool, can he still trust what the leader says? It's all just talk, painting a big picture, just to make you feel at ease and act like a cow or a horse.

"There are other things." Li Shimin took a sip of tea.

"Aye, just ask."

"We can no longer target Duke Zhao." After careful consideration, Li Shimin said seriously to Li Shen.

"Ah? Aye, what do you mean by this? The matter between me and Zhao Guogong is over, and his money has been returned to me.

I have nothing to do with him now. "Li Shen looked at Li Shimin with wide eyes.

"Alas, Old Ten, Duke Zhao is loyal to the court and me, but he is just a little greedy for power. There is no civil or military man in the dynasty who is not greedy for power.

There is actually no harm in having a little ambition. People who are ambitious and greedy are easier to control.

Duke Guo of Zhao is very talented, knows strategy and understands the overall situation.

The important point is that he can suppress the people of the five surnames, as well as the Shandong nobles.

It will be of great use to the prince in the future.

I don’t want the Changsun family to collapse like this. "

Li Shimin sighed and patiently explained to Li Shen what would have been a matter of just one sentence for his other sons.

Only this son is the most disobedient.

"Aye, these guys all understand that the grudge between me and Duke Zhao has been wiped out long ago." Li Shen also replied seriously.

"Then why did you mobilize so much steel from Liaodong Road back to the Central Plains?"

"Ok?"

"You have several large iron mines in Liaodong Road, and you have established workshops since the attack on Goguryeo.

Employing local people to make iron and steel, no fewer than eight blast furnaces have been built over the years.

The refined steel is transported to a warehouse by the sea.

Do you think I don’t know this? You don’t even think about conquering such a huge territory.

Besides land and population, the most important thing is minerals.

You only reported one iron mine, but you sent people to search several places. It’s not that I didn’t know, I just gave it to you on purpose.

Otherwise, these iron mines would also be occupied by noble families, especially the Changsun family. "

Li Shen looked at his father blankly. He thought that the mountains in Liaodong were high and the emperor was far away. It was in a remote place and no one knew about it.

It turned out that my father knew about the fact that he secretly asked people to search for those large iron mines in his memory.

From this point of view, this was to prevent the Changsun family from threatening the imperial court.

After all, the Changsun family accounts for the largest share of Datang's iron mines.

"You said that you secretly mobilized a large amount of steel back to the Central Plains not to deal with the Changsun family, but to build roads?"

(After a day of hiking, I am exhausted.

Let me share with you my mountain climbing experience. The key point is – don’t climb the mountain. )