Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 89 Eat, sleep, and scold Li Er [Please subscribe]

"His Majesty!"

"Kui San?"

Outside the Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin was about to discuss important matters with Fang Xuanling and others when a strange yet familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.

He couldn't help but look in the direction of the sound, and saw a dark-skinned, thin man appear in his sight.

He was stunned for a moment before rushing over in surprise and joy.

"Kui San! It's really you!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! It's me! I have fulfilled my mission and I am back!" said the thin man with a grin.

Li Shimin's heart moved, and he couldn't help but trembled as he asked, "So, is there any progress on that matter?"

"Ok!"

Kui San nodded heavily, but then changed the subject: "However, I will tell Your Majesty about that matter later. There is also a happy event that someone asked me to tell Your Majesty first!"

"What's the matter?" Li Shimin was stunned.

"The Lingnan envoy has successfully completed his mission!"

"Oh?"

Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he burst into the Liangyi Hall with a big laugh: "Hahaha! Wei Zheng, I want to thank you!"

"If you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost believed the person who spread the news!"

After saying this, he looked around at Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and other ministers, and said, "Wei Zheng asked me to send an envoy, which brought peace to Lingnan. The effect is better than 100,000 soldiers. I must reward him!"

"Come, pass on my decree to reward Wei Zheng with five hundred pieces of silk!"

Wei Zheng bowed calmly, unperturbed by honor or disgrace.

Li Shimin seemed accustomed to his attitude and didn't care. He then asked Fang Xuanling and others, "How is the recent disaster situation? Are the people safe?"

"Your Majesty, since the opening of the gates, people have been flocking to Guanzhong to beg for food, and the situation is relatively stable. There are even wealthy families who have taken the initiative to set up soup kitchens to provide relief to the victims!" Fang Xuanling said with a smile.

"Okay! Okay!"

Li Shimin's face was filled with joy. He repeatedly said "good", and then said with emotion: "The people of our Tang Dynasty are kind and charitable. This is a good thing! I will reward these wealthy families!"

"Fang Xuanling, please remember these wealthy families. I will exempt them from taxes for a year!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Fang Xuanling had just replied with a smile when Wei Zheng, who was not far away, suddenly sighed: "Your Majesty is wrong again!"

"Ok?"

Li Shimin frowned, and Fang Xuanling's smile froze instantly.

But Wei Zheng continued, "Your Majesty is not only wrong, but also stupid!"

"Wei Zheng!"

Fang Xuanling was so frightened that he quickly stopped Wei Zheng. Then he secretly glanced at Li Shimin, whose face was gloomy, and said in a low voice, "You are too presumptuous! His Majesty was praising you just now! How can you be so ungrateful!"

"I am the Imperial Counselor appointed by Your Majesty. When I see that Your Majesty is doing something wrong, I must advise you. Otherwise, wouldn't I be derelict in my duty as the Imperial Counselor?" Wei Zheng said with a calm expression.

"you!"

Fang Xuanling was so angry that he was speechless.

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a dignified manner, "Where did I go wrong?"

"The imperial power does not extend beyond the county level. If Your Majesty directly exempts a few families from taxes, the county magistrate will be in trouble!"

"As the emperor, don't I have this little power?"

"All under heaven belongs to the king. Your Majesty should be able to do anything."

"but."

Wei Zheng then changed the subject and continued, "The imperial court has its own laws and regulations. If Your Majesty arbitrarily changes existing ones, how can the court govern the country?"

"It's certainly kind and benevolent of a few wealthy families to offer relief to the disaster victims, but once this precedent is established, it will inevitably lead to other wealthy families taking advantage of the situation. If they deliberately engage in charity just to avoid taxes, does Your Majesty still think it's okay to exempt these families from taxes?"

"This"

Hearing this, Li Shimin was speechless for a moment.

But Wei Zheng continued: "The court governs the country by relying on government orders and laws, not Your Majesty."

"Okay, okay, I get it!"

Li Shimin waved his hand impatiently: "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about the situation in the Eastern Turks. How is Zhao Deyan now?"

"Your Majesty, Zhao Deyan has been successfully reused by Jie Li Khan and is now his aide. It is said that he has been carrying out major political reforms in Eastern Turkestan recently," Du Ruhui said with a smile.

Li Shimin was amused when he heard this: "Zhao Deyan is the only one who wants to carry out political reforms? It seems that the Eastern Turks are on the verge of extinction!"

"Yes, I'm afraid that if we wait another two or three years, we will be able to fight against the Eastern Turks," Fang Xuanling also agreed with a smile.

Li Shimin nodded in agreement: "Two or three years, probably."

"Your Majesty! We haven't even finished discussing the suffering of the people, yet you're bringing up the idea of ​​fighting the Eastern Turks?"

Before Li Shimin could finish his words, Wei Zheng's voice rang out again.

Li Shimin's face darkened, and he said coldly, "If the Eastern Turks are not eliminated, how can the people live in peace?"

"Your Majesty, don't you understand what we rely on to eliminate the Eastern Turks? Is it that Zhao Deyan? Wrong! Absolutely wrong! We rely on the people! We rely on national strength."

"Shut up!"

Li Shimin stood up angrily: "I am not talking about national strength now!"

"You don't want to talk about this, you don't want to talk about that. Your Majesty only likes to hear pleasant things, so why do you keep me as your advisor?"

Wei Zheng said fearlessly, "Why not just kill me? This will save the court money and grain, and we can use that money to help the victims!"

Boom!

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire Liangyi Palace was struck by lightning.

Fang Xuanling and the others' expressions changed drastically, and they all turned to look at Li Shimin. Li Shimin's eyes flashed with murderous intent, as if he wanted to eat someone. He stared at Wei Zheng viciously, until his anger was almost uncontrollable, and he turned and left the Liangyi Hall.

Only the ministers in the hall were left, staring at each other in confusion.

"Wei Zheng, Wei Zheng! What are you talking about? Hey!"

Fang Xuanling pointed at Wei Zheng in anger.

Du Ruhui jokingly said, "Interesting, interesting! A minister has angered the emperor again and made him run away! This is the first time I've seen such a thing!"

Wei Zheng was calm and didn't care at all. His job was to eat, sleep and scold Li Er.

Xiao Yu sighed helplessly: "The duty of us ministers is to advise His Majesty, not to anger Him, you see..."

As he spoke, he glanced at Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, and said depressedly, "What should we do now?"

"Queen! This time I must kill Wei Zheng! I must kill him!"

Li Shimin rushed to Lizheng Hall in anger and went straight to where he placed his sword.

However, at this time in the Lizheng Hall, there was not only Empress Changsun, but also Changsun Wuji's wife Meng, as well as Changsun Pingting, Li Lizhi and others.

"Uh"

Empress Changsun was embarrassed for a moment, then nodded apologetically to the Meng mother and daughter, then stood up and walked towards Li Shimin.

"His Majesty!"

Empress Changsun reminded Li Shimin softly.

Li Shimin was furious at the moment, and without saying a word, he picked up his sword and was about to kill Wei Zheng.

However, just as he turned to face Empress Changsun, he caught sight of the Meng family and their daughter behind her from the corner of his eye. He was startled, "Why are they here?"

Empress Changsun blinked and explained:
"I was just about to tell Your Majesty about this. The price of grain in Chang'an has skyrocketed recently. Aunt Meng's family also owns a grain business, and she came to ask if I wanted to get involved. I told her that Guanzhong is currently flooded with disaster victims, and it's not a good time to get involved in the grain business."

"What a courage!"

Li Shimin's face turned cold. "I just ordered the Ministry of Revenue to purchase grain from the people to provide relief to the victims. How dare the private merchants raise the price of grain? Do you really think the sword in my hand is not sharp?"

"Your Majesty, you may not know that I also learned some business through the Royal Manufacturing Bureau. The grain trade is absolutely lucrative."

Empress Changsun sighed, "In pursuit of profit, merchants will significantly lower grain prices during good years, and then significantly raise them during bad years. This back-and-forth can result in grain prices fluctuating by more than tenfold, sometimes even more."

"During the Sui Dynasty, there was a year of famine when grain prices were dozens of times higher than in years of plenty. It was common for the victims to sell their children and even their land!"

"This"

Li Shimin was stunned on the spot.

But Empress Changsun continued, "That's not all. Every businessman knows how to buy low and buy high, and to hoard goods to profit from them."

"They can even collude with each other to push food prices to the lowest point during good years and hoard food during bad years."

"To maximize their profits, they clearly have a large amount of grain, but are unwilling to sell a single grain. They artificially amplify the disaster, causing a tragic scene of desolation and starvation across thousands of miles!"

"They dare!"

Li Shimin was angry.

If it was a natural disaster, then he naturally would have nothing to say.

Natural disasters are very common.

He was used to a minor disaster every three years and a major disaster every five years.

But if, as Empress Changsun said, some people exacerbate the disaster for their own benefit, then that is truly inhumane. Anyone with a bit of humanity would not do such a thing.

"That's not right!"

Li Shimin frowned and said, "Why did I hear that some wealthy families are setting up porridge stalls and giving out porridge and grain?"

It is obvious that Emperor Li II still does not believe that human nature can be so bad.

But Empress Changsun was not talking nonsense about such a thing, but it was really possible for it to happen.

Before, she had not been involved in business and did not know the dark side of businessmen. But now, after being involved in business for a few months, her three views have really been refreshed by the dark side of businessmen.

But then she sighed again:
"Your Majesty, you've been deceived. These wealthy families were just setting up tents to distribute porridge, but they were really just gathering disaster victims! They used the porridge distribution opportunity to select some strong and able-bodied disaster victims, and then coerced and lured them to their farms to become tenants. Some even selected attractive women and sold them to brothels!"

"What!?"

When Li Shimin heard this, he was shocked.

He never imagined that there was such a dirty conspiracy behind this.

But he still asked unwillingly: "This, this should be just an isolated case, right?"

Empress Changsun said noncommittally, "Some are genuinely kind, while others harbor malicious intent. It's really difficult to distinguish one from the other. After all, these are all shameful activities!"

"If it's such a shameful thing, how did you know about it?"

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes: "Haven't you been in the palace all the time?"

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten?"

Empress Zhangsun said with some amusement:

"I am in charge of the Royal Manufacturing Bureau. No private business activity can be hidden from me! Otherwise, Aunt Meng wouldn't have come to ask me for advice on whether or not to engage in the grain business!"

As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something and blinked and asked, "Your Majesty, who did you just say you wanted to kill? I didn't hear clearly!"

"Uh,"

Li Shimin's mouth twitched, and his old face flushed. Then, holding up his sword, he looked around and said, "Empress, look at my sword. Isn't it long and shiny?"

"Puch-"

The whole hall burst into laughter.

Li Shimin's face was full of embarrassment. He never expected that the clown was actually himself.

If it weren't for Wei Zheng, he would have almost helped the evil and reduced taxes for those unscrupulous rich people.

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(End of this chapter)