Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 172 can be done secretly, or by finding a proxy.
Inside the Liangyi Hall.

Li Shimin looked at the document and covered his head in frustration.

"They're saying there's not enough money or supplies again."

Since he ordered the construction of irrigation canals in the counties within the pass and near Chang'an, five or six such memorials have already been submitted.

These were all petitions sent by various county governments to the Central Secretariat, pleading poverty and requesting support from the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs is also in a state of chaos.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs had nearly emptied the national treasury for the battle of Huizhou, and the remaining funds and provisions were simply insufficient to support such a large-scale project.

But Li Shimin also knew that the irrigation canals had to be repaired and the wells had to be dug, otherwise a drought would strike in the spring.
Within the Great Wall, there will surely be widespread famine, and even more money and food will be needed then.

Gao Yue looked at Li Shimin's worried face and brought him a cup of tea.

His gaze shifted, and he suddenly saw a eunuch outside the door, winking at him.

He dared not disturb Li Shimin and tiptoed out.

"Reporting to the eunuch, the magistrate of Gaoyang County and Xu Jingzong are requesting an audience outside Xuanwu Gate."

What are those two doing here?

Gao Yue remembered that His Majesty the Emperor had said yesterday that he would send Wen He to teach at the Eastern Palace, so why did he come with Xu Jingzong today?

"You wait here, I will go and report to the Emperor."

After saying that, Gao Yue turned and entered the Liangyi Hall. Li Shimin seemed to sense something, raised his eyes and looked at him, asking, "Is there another document from the Ministry of Personnel?"

"Your Majesty, it is said that the magistrate of Gaoyang County and Xu Jingzong request an audience."

Upon hearing the names of these two men, Li Shimin frowned slightly.

If it were just Wen He, Li Shimin wouldn't have thought much of it; he would have just assumed that the brat must have some new and interesting trick up his sleeve.

But the fact that he came with Xu Jingzong makes this matter worth pondering.

"Let them both in."

Li Shimin put down the letter in his hand and stretched his neck.

He hadn't felt it before, but after becoming emperor, too many things annoyed him.

'No wonder that brat said I would only live to be twenty-three years old.'

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, then shook his head and dismissed the thought.

He has only just ascended the throne, and there are some matters that cannot yet be left to the Ministry of Personnel to handle on their own.

When the day comes that there is only one voice in the government and the public, perhaps we can relinquish some power.

Not long after, Wen He and Xu Jingzong arrived together.

"Your subject is Wen He."

"Your subject Xu Jingzong."

"Meet the saint."

The two bowed deeply.

Li Shimin couldn't help but chuckle.

This was the first time he had ever seen Wen He so serious.

"Forget it."

Li Shimin gestured for the two to rise, then took a large gulp of tea, savoring the numbing sensation of the Sichuan peppercorns bursting in his mouth, which invigorated him.

"You two came together today, did something happen to the Hundred Riders?"

The only thing Li Shimin could think of that could have brought them all together was the matter of the Hundred Cavalry.

His gaze fell on Xu Jingzong.

During this period, Wen He was not in Chang'an, and Xu Jingzong and Huang Chun were in charge of the Hundred Cavalry.

Therefore, Li Shimin was certain that the Hundred Cavalry had encountered some difficulties, which was why Xu Jingzong was in such a hurry to find Wen He.

Otherwise, that brat should definitely be in the Eastern Palace right now.

"This, Your Majesty, is indeed about the matter of the Hundred Cavalry." Xu Jingzong dared not conceal the truth and had no choice but to tell the truth: "I encountered a problem, so I went to seek the advice of the Magistrate of Gaoyang County."

“The son of Gaoyang County is exceptionally intelligent. He not only solved a major problem for me, but also benefited the country and its people, and replenished the national treasury.”

He dared not mention that he had Li Shimin smuggling money to replenish the imperial treasury.

"To replenish the national treasury?"

Li Shimin frowned even more. He was short of money, and this brat Wen He had a way to make him money?

'By the way, this kid knows how to make soap and glass, right? Why don't we have him hand over the technology to the Ministry of Civil Affairs? If it's profitable later, we can give him some of the profits.'

Li Shimin's eyes lit up at this thought, but then he felt it was inappropriate.

Those are Wen He's assets after all. If they are handed over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, what difference is there between that and extortion?

That brat might even be dissatisfied.

That’s all.

Li Shimin shook his head, took a sip of tea to conceal his thoughts, and then asked.

"Ahem, what idea did the magistrate of Gaoyang County come up with?"

"this."

Xu Jingzong hesitated and dared not speak, he could only cast a pleading look at Wen He.

"smuggling."

Wen He said something indifferently, and before he could finish speaking, there was a "pfft" sound from above, and Li Shimin sprayed the tea he was drinking all over the table.

"What do you mean?"

"Smuggling, but this won't happen..."

"shut up!"

Li Shimin suddenly roared, his eyes glaring like an angry Vajra, pointing and asking, "Smuggling? What are you going to smuggle? Where are you going to smuggle it to? You really have audacity beyond belief!"

The imperial court strictly prohibits smuggling, yet this brat dares to bring it up in front of me!

Moreover, I remember he himself said that the good things of the Tang Dynasty should not be spread out.

He actually dared to say it was smuggling.

“Your Majesty has misunderstood.” Wen He said helplessly, looking up at the sullen Li Shimin, “What I meant was to use smuggling to send people to infiltrate the Turkic territory in order to gather intelligence.”

"Moreover, we're not smuggling salt and iron; we can sell soap, tea, and alcohol, which the Turks would definitely like. We can also get some wool from them."

"Go to the Turkic Khaganate?"

Li Shimin gradually calmed down.

He was agitated because, in his understanding, smugglers mostly transported salt and iron.

Products like tea were not prohibited from being sold to foreign countries during the Tang Dynasty, so there was no need for smuggling.

“You good-for-nothing, you went to the west and didn’t learn anything. The Turks like to drink mare’s milk wine, but they don’t drink tea. They’re so poor that they can’t even afford to buy pepper, so how could they buy tea?”

Li Shimin thought his idea was too naive.

Later generations knew more than they did, but they still lacked some knowledge.

“Not everything from your hometown is suitable for the Tang Dynasty,” Li Shimin sneered, then said seriously, “However, soap and alcohol can be tried, but you must not reveal that they can be used to treat injuries.”

Boru and Aibar had only drunk a little before and were already completely drunk. If the Turks were to develop a liking for this alcohol...

Once they become addicted, their will will surely dissipate, which will undoubtedly be advantageous to the Tang Dynasty.

But Wen He was somewhat unconvinced. "Your Majesty, you're talking about tea soup, I'm talking about roasted tea. Do you know why the Turks are all so fat?"

This brat is still not convinced.

Li Shimin, unconvinced, retorted, "Then tell me why?"

"That's because he eats mostly meat and not enough fruits and vegetables. His body lacks many essential nutrients, which easily leads to a large belly and constipation. Tea can help them digest."

Wen He didn't know if it was true or false, but that's how it was written in a novel she had read before.

However, there is no doubt that tea can aid digestion.

"What is tea frying? Is it the same method as frying noodles?" Li Shimin became somewhat interested.

"Well, I'll go collect some tea leaves tomorrow and try it out. I've never done it before, so I'll have to experiment a few times."

He had watched science videos before, but he had never tried it himself.

Upon hearing his mention of experiments, Li Shimin immediately lost interest.

"Alright, let's wait until you've done it before discussing this further. But what you said about smuggling..."

“A sage can do it in secret, or find a proxy.”

Wen He raised an eyebrow and pointed at Xu Jingzong with a suggestive look.

However, Li Shimin did not adopt his suggestion. He tapped the table lightly with his fingers, pondered for a moment, and said, "You will assist Xu Jingzong in this matter. On the surface, he will be the master, but you will be in overall charge. In addition, I will find some other people, and some of them will visit your residence."

"Um, you're going to collaborate with someone else?"

Wen He was taken aback.

He thought Li Shimin would take it all for himself.

Seeing his expression, the latter shook his head helplessly: "I am also powerless to do this. If I can gain something in return, it would be a great good."

Well, Wen He realized that the people Li Shimin was talking about must be from Guanzhong.

Profiting from smuggling and forcing Guanzhong to relinquish certain things was not necessarily a bad thing for Li Shimin.

Money isn't something you can have as much of as you want.

No matter how fat a pig is, when it's time to be slaughtered, it can't escape death.

"The minister obeys the order."

This is a power struggle between Li Shimin and the aristocratic families, no wonder he said to let Xu Jingzong be the one in charge on the surface.

Is this considered protecting him?
"Remember not to put the cart before the horse. We must find out about the news from the Turks as soon as possible. I need to know Jieli's current situation!"

"Yes!"

Xu Jingzong responded tremblingly.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, you may leave. Wen He, don't forget to go to the King of Zhongshan."

Li Shimin waved his hand.

Wen He and Xu Jingzong bowed and withdrew.

As soon as he left the Liangyi Hall, Xu Jingzong let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"My dear brother, you scared me to death just now."

Xu Jingzong felt somewhat resentful.

Wen He smiled and said, "You'll get used to it."

His personality had long been ingrained in Li Shimin's mind. If he were to become as timid and fearful as Xu Jingzong, he would truly be close to death.

After bidding farewell to Xu Jingzong, Wen He went straight to the East Palace.

Li Chengqian, who had been waiting for Wen He since early morning, was now almost dozing off.

Seeing his sleepy appearance, Wen He, who had just entered the Chongwen Hall, raised her hand and slapped him on the head.

"Still sleeping? Did you go out and steal last night?"

"Ah, sir."

Upon seeing his arrival, Li Chengqian quickly rose and bowed.

"Alright, enough with the formalities. Sit down and I'll tell you what trade is today."

Wen He pressed his shoulder and made him sit down.

She then sat down next to him.

He hadn't yet decided what to say to Li Chengqian.

But seeing that Li Shimin seemed to disregard trade, he felt he should instill some knowledge about it in Li Chengqian.

Perhaps for Li Shimin's generation, going to sea was hopeless.

However, if Li Chengqian were to ascend the throne, the productivity of the Tang Dynasty would certainly be several times higher than it is now.

That might be the right time to go to sea.

Li Chengqian nodded blankly, then listened attentively to what Wen He had to say.

"trading?"

Soon after, Li Shimin, inside the Liangyi Hall, received what Wen He had told him.

He immediately chuckled.

"This brat is afraid that I don't value merchants. Although my Great Tang Dynasty emphasizes agriculture and suppresses commerce, how could I not know the importance of merchants?"

"Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword; if used improperly, it can hurt both the user and others."

Li Shimin was well aware that the trade brought by merchants would bring prosperity to the Tang Dynasty.

However, the Tang Dynasty is currently in dire need of reconstruction, and he cannot allow too many people to be idle.

Moreover, he is currently unable to collect any taxes other than customs duties.

If he wanted to collect commercial taxes, most of the court would oppose it under the instigation of those powerful families.

"Commercial tax."

Inside the silk scroll in his hand, Wen He specifically spoke to Li Chengqian about the matter of commercial taxes.

"How could I not know that this would enrich the country and strengthen the army? But if everyone went into business, who would grow the grain and who would herd the cattle and sheep?"

He shook his head, then took out a small box and put the silk fabric inside.

"Gao Yue."

"The slave is here!"

"Issue the decree that from now on, when the children of Gaoyang County are giving lessons, no one shall approach the Chongwen Hall without my permission."

As Li Shimin finished speaking...

Gao Yue was taken aback, but quickly covered it up and bowed to him.

Until the afternoon.

Wen He then left Chongwen Hall and walked towards the outside.

As he walked, he suddenly felt that something was not right.

"Did I forget something?"

He glanced back at the empty space behind him, and couldn't remember what he had brought with him that he had left in the Chongwen Hall.

But just as he stepped out of Jiafu Gate, his eyes suddenly widened.

(End of this chapter)