Three whips break the father-son relationship, please call me prince

Chapter 175 If you want to be a minister, you must bear the heavy responsibility

After the New Year.

Changsun Wuji endured it for a few days before going to the East Palace to meet the prince.

Li Chengqian was also a little surprised. As expected of an old fox, he was able to keep his composure.

"I will wait for your news after I return."

Xiao Yu and the others cupped their hands and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness."

After seeing off the representatives of the aristocratic families from Jiangnan and Jiannan, Li Chengqian asked someone to invite Changsun Wuji.

When Changsun Wuji came in, he had a suspicious look on his face.

Of course, he passed by Xiao Yu and others.

I don’t know what this group of people are doing in the East Palace again.

Although nothing has happened recently, the close relationship between the Jiangnan gentry and the Eastern Palace has always been a thorn in the hearts of the Shandong gentry.

"See Your Highness."

"My uncle is here. No need to be polite. Please take a seat."

Li Chengqian smiled.

After a brief exchange of greetings, the two sides got down to business.

"Uncle, what do you think about the Ministry of Civil Affairs' focus this year?"

Li Chengqian said jokingly: "80 million in taxes is not a small amount."

"An additional 20 million mu of fertile farmland will be added."

"Does Uncle have confidence?"

Zhang Sun Wuji smiled bitterly and said, "I just feel a huge pressure, so I came to ask the Crown Prince for advice."

“What’s stressful?”

"Last year, Xueyantuo was destroyed. Now it is the territory of our Great Tang. The commercial tax on foreign trade will be reduced significantly."

"Can't we make up for it by managing the grassland?"

"It can be compensated, but it is still far from this year's goal."

Managing the grassland is an established strategy.

But investing more does not necessarily mean quicker results.

The tax revenue was far less than when the Xueyantuo were still there.

In Changsun Wuji's current opinion, it would be better to let the Xueyantuo Kingdom survive.

"Uncle, we can't just focus on cattle, sheep and horses on the grassland. There are many other resources."

Li Chengqian waved his hand, and Li Zhi stepped forward with the things and handed them to Changsun Wuji.

"uncle!"

"Child slave!"

Changsun Wuji nodded, unfolded the film and prepared to watch, then he heard the prince speak.

"Years ago, Li Debiao came to see me and said that he had confiscated a blueprint from a noble leader of Xueyantuo."

"This noble leader was deeply influenced by the Tang Dynasty culture and had a unique hobby of minerals."

"He sent people to explore the grassland many times and drew a map of mineral distribution."

Li Chengqian said: "I didn't go to verify it, but Li Debiao said that the leader was very sure of what he said."

"I think if this is true, it will help my uncle solve a lot of his problems."

Zhang Sun Wuji's eyes suddenly widened, "Your Highness, there is a silver mountain here?"

"There should be."

Li Chengqian asked with a smile: "I don't know whether it is true or not."

"Can I meet this noble leader?"

"can."

Li Chengqian said, "Zhi Nu, go and ask Li Debiao to bring the person here."

"Yes!"

Changsun Wuji was a little excited. If there was a silver mountain on the grassland, and if the quantity was large, it would almost eliminate half of his worries.

Whether it is mined or not.

He can also be included in the accounts.

Anyway, the silver mountain is there and can't be run away, so why can't it be counted as income?
Soon.

Li Debiao, the big black man, brought the noble leader with him.

This was also the first time Li Chengqian met him.

Not just his appearance, but his Tang dynasty attire.

I really can't recognize that he is the noble leader who destroyed Xueyantuo.

"Your Highness."

"This guy is not very honest. After I went back and asked him again and again, I learned that I gave the map to His Highness first, and he said there was a gold mountain."

Li Debiao shouted.

"Gold Mountain?"

Changsun Wuji felt a little dizzy.

Eighty million is not a dream.

And much more.

"really?"

Not to mention Changsun Wuji, even Li Chengqian was a little shocked.

Not only is there a mountain of silver, but there is also a mountain of gold?

This leader specializes in geology.

"Your Highness, it's true."

Li Debiao pulled out a sheepskin from his bosom and said, "He marked the gold mountain on the sheepskin and hid it very well."

"Your Highness, I didn't mean it. I didn't know General Li was giving it to you, Your Highness."

The leader cried out, "If I knew, I would never keep it secret."

"You don't want to hide and wait until the storm has passed so that you can mine it yourself later?" Chang Sun Chong said viciously.

"No, absolutely not."

The leader shouted: "I am loyal to the Tang Dynasty, loyal to the Khan..."

"Your Majesty, what Heavenly Khan!"

Li Chengqian said unhappily.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The leader hastily corrected himself and said, "I am a Tang citizen now. I am absolutely loyal to Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, and the Tang Dynasty..."

"Tell me, are there really gold and silver in these things you have discovered?" Changsun Wuji asked.

"Yes, absolutely."

"Then why didn't you mine?"

"I don't dare to mine. I'm just the leader of a small tribe..."

"Then why don't they know?"

“I killed them all.”

After a few interrogations, he got everything clear. Changsun Wuji was overjoyed. It was a great gift from heaven.

Who said I can’t accomplish it with 80 million?

It's almost here.

"Your Highness, how do you treat this man? I want to take him to see His Majesty."

Li Chengqian nodded.

This is really unexpected.

I didn't expect that Xueyantuo had such a wonderful talent.

Changsun Wuji was in a hurry to leave, and Li Chengqian hadn't even finished speaking, so how could he let him go first?

Let him wait before going to Taiji Palace. "It's fate that brought us together."

"Uncle, you are destined to be the Minister of Civil Affairs. Otherwise, you may never know the mountains of gold and silver on the grassland."

Chang Sun Wuji's face was so full of smiles that wrinkles appeared on it.

He said: "It is all thanks to your highness's great fortune. I am just a lucky guy."

Li Chengqian did not comment, and said: "Uncle can't rely on these things, after all, they have not been confirmed."

“Mining also takes time.”

“So, the focus should still be on the people.”

"I heard that every time there is tax collection, there are people who conceal, conceal, or make false reports."

"Uncle, you need to put some effort into this."

"The money from the national treasury cannot be embezzled by people, and people cannot evade taxes and get away with it."

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "I also want to rectify this. There are indeed some people who have taken advantage of the situation and embezzled the money from the national treasury."

"These people must be dealt a heavy blow."

Li Chengqian said: "Places like Jiangnan are prosperous and rarely experience war."

"Besides, if my uncle wants to raise tax revenue, he can also set his sights on the sea."

"The sea has inexhaustible wealth."

Hear the words.

Changsun Wuji couldn't help but frown.

Chang Sun Chong and Li Zhi were also a little surprised.

Recently, they have been following the prince and are aware of his close relationship with the Jiangnan gentry.

Why are you suddenly reminded to pay attention to Jiangnan?
Li Chengqian certainly had his own ideas.

It doesn't matter whether the Jiangnan gentry surrender or compete with the Shandong gentry.

The pie he had drawn for Xiao Yu of a secondary capital was far from enough for the Jiangnan gentry to simply go against the Shandong gentry.

Jiangnan itself must come up with enough capital to impress the court.

Jiangnan is prosperous and wealthy.

If you want to have power, you must make trade-offs.

You can't be rich and powerful.

You don’t even know how to pay tribute to the court, yet you still want to have a foothold in the court. What the hell are you thinking about?

The eyes of the powerful in Chang'an could not see the prosperity of Jiangnan from thousands of miles away.

Don’t let Li Shimin and the central ministers see Jiangnan’s capabilities.

Li Chengqian wanted to promote the idea of ​​establishing a secondary capital, but he lacked confidence.

If you want Jiangnan to be the secondary capital, you must pay a sufficient price.

Are they worthy of me, the Crown Prince, being your vanguard?
They have to accomplish things on their own.

There are multiple meanings for letting Changsun Wuji turn his attention to Jiangnan.

One is to give the Shandong gentry a chance to vent their anger. If they dare to go against us, I will severely plunder them.

One is to make the Jiangnan gentry bleed, so that they know how difficult it is to have no one in the court, and they will stand more firmly under the wings of the prince.

One reason is that the imperial court saw the strong financial resources of Jiangnan. It turned out that Jiangnan was so rich that it had to increase its control over Jiangnan.

As long as the imperial court paid attention to the Jiangnan area, Li Chengqian could develop his maritime power based in Jiangnan.

This is Li Chengqian's view from the overall perspective of the development of the entire Tang Dynasty.

He doesn't care about personal gains and losses.

As the superior, he is the chess player, the one who makes the moves.

In his eyes, the entire chessboard layout is nothing more than a collection of chess pieces.

What he cares about is whether his moves and the chess pieces he uses can realize his ideas and plans.

That alone is enough.

In his eyes, Changsun Wuji was nothing more than a pawn.

Let him sit in the position of Minister of Civil Affairs, just to act as a vanguard and a sharp blade.

He has the Shandong Group behind him.

When it comes to developing the grassland, Changsun Wuji definitely favors the Shandong Group.

This is exactly what Li Chengqian wanted.

As long as Shandong Group is interested in the grassland, it will contribute manpower, money and effort to get the job done.

They can make as much money as they want.

As long as he succeeds in managing the grassland, Li Chengqian will have achieved his vision.

As for how much money the Shandong Group has seized.

He didn't care. He had plenty of ways to make them spit it out.

"correct."

"A batch of seafood just arrived yesterday from Jiangnan."

Li Chengqian tilted his head and ordered, "Tell Chongdi to deliver the seafood to my uncle's house later, and send a cook over."

"Uncle, try the seafood too."

"That taste is incomparable to ordinary things."

Chang Sun Wuji did not have time to think about it and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I would be disrespectful to refuse it."

"Now I am lucky enough to taste the cooking skills of the Eastern Palace."

Li Chengqian smiled. The cooking skills of the chef in the East Palace were well-known in Chang'an.

"By the way, uncle, you should also keep an eye on the Ministry of Industry."

"There has been no news on improving farm tools for so long. Have they really put their minds to it?"

He said: "This time the court allocated money, but there was no result."

"It not only affects farming, but also the reclamation of fields."

Zhang Sun Wuji immediately became solemn.

He was also responsible for adding 20 million acres of farmland.

He couldn't figure out what the prince was thinking. He first had to think about how to open up the 20 million acres of land in a year.

If he can't do it, even if he achieves the goal of 80 million guan, his achievements will be greatly discounted, and there will be people who will point fingers at him.

If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.

He knows it.

The farm tools are not very efficient, just like the plows used to plow the fields.

Not to mention 20 million acres, even 10 million acres would be enough.

So, Minister of Industry, please be careful.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will keep an eye on it at all times."

After seeing Changsun Wuji off, Li Chengqian still smiled.

This is the purpose of allowing Zhangsun Wuji to sit in the position of Minister of Civil Affairs.

If he wants to make money, he will do whatever it takes and find any way to help him fulfill his responsibilities.

Eighty million, twenty million acres.

It was the Mount Tai pressing down on Changsun Wuji's head.

From the aspects of economy, administration, commerce, agriculture and so on.

From now on, Changsun Wuji knew what to do without Li Chengqian telling him anything.

If I can't accomplish it, my position as the Minister will be in jeopardy.

Then don't even think about it.

This is why if you want to be a Shangshu, you must bear the heavy responsibility.

(End of this chapter)