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

Chapter 227 You brat, you've hit my son again!
What's the current price?

In the side room, Li Shimin tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

Gao Yue knelt opposite him and made him tea.

Huang Chun stood to his left, while Xu Jingzong on his right was meticulously recording each transaction outside.

Before dawn, Li Shimin arrived at Wen He's residence.

It was he who dragged Wen He out of bed.

He had seen everything that had just happened in the front yard, as well as what was happening in the main hall.

"Your Majesty, so far, we have collected 3,786,000 strings of cash," Xu Jingzong replied softly, handing over the ledger containing the records.

Li Shimin didn't look, but squinted and looked outside through the crack.

Shortly afterward, news came from outside that another transaction had been completed, with the total amount reaching 4.35 million strings of cash.

Of the ten routes that the Tang Dynasty had just confirmed, only two remain; the remaining distribution slots have already been allocated.

"Is it gone?"

There was no further news from outside, and the few families who had been hesitating earlier asked in surprise.

Wen He smiled and shook her head.

"Gentlemen, the remaining two routes are the capital region and Luoyang. You may dare to buy them, but I don't have the guts to sell them. Let's call it a day while we're ahead."

"It's alright if you didn't get the distribution rights just now. There are prefectures under each prefecture, and counties under each prefecture. You can talk to the people who just won the distribution rights."

"However, I can remind you beforehand that the sales price of the distribution rights in prefectures and counties shall not exceed 10,000 guan, and the price in counties shall not exceed 1,000 guan. If anyone violates this rule, I will have the right to revoke the distribution rights and will not refund the money."

After Wen He finished speaking, the person who had just obtained the distribution rights was immediately taken aback.

"Why didn't you say so earlier!" someone immediately questioned.

Wen He picked up her tea, took a sip, and replied with two words: "Forgot."

"what?"

The crowd found it hard to believe what they were hearing; Wen He wasn't even willing to give a reason.

Could this brat have done it on purpose?

Many people thought to themselves.

Wen He smiled slowly.

"If you have any objections, you can give up the distribution rights you just won at auction before the contract is signed. Anyway, there's still plenty of time, and I think someone will want the rights you have."

He did it on purpose, not to disgust these people, but to see if they would unite to deny him.

It's a big gamble.

However, he was very lucky. Judging from the expressions of the people present, it was obvious that he had won the bet.

The three forces are secretly vying for power. The Five Clans and Seven Noble Families have the strongest foundation, Guanzhong is the most powerful, and the aristocratic families have both a strong foundation and a large number of members.

The checks and balances among the three parties fostered mutual wariness.

Although the aristocratic families appeared to be of one mind with the Guanzhong region, they secretly formed marriage alliances with the five prominent clans and seven prestigious families.

It can be said to be the most intricate and complex.

However, this is a good thing for Wen He.

Anyway, it's not him dancing on these three eggs.

"If there are no problems, then let's sign the contract."

Wen He was already prepared. As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Zhong took out the contract.

The distributorship rights were not won by a single entity. Now that they are sending representatives, they will naturally choose the most respected person in their respective organizations.

Sign and affix your fingerprint.

Then each family handed over their tokens.

"Please pay within three days, otherwise it will be considered a waiver and you will be permanently blacklisted and will not be allowed to cooperate with us again in the future."

After signing his name on each contract, Wen He looked up at everyone present and smiled.

"We will naturally not breach the contract."

The old man, surnamed Cui, felt that Wen He was humiliating him.

With the reputation of the Five Clans and Seven Distinguished Families, who in the world dares to question it?

Even if you are penniless, as long as you are one of the five surnames and seven noble families, you can live a life of comfort and security anywhere.

Wen He's words were clearly an insult to them.

That's why he's so angry.

Wen He gave a dry laugh: "I misspoke."

"I have prepared the engraving plates for the price list of the goods for everyone, and you can make copies at your own pace. To thank everyone for coming today, each person present will receive a dou of special ink, ten ku of paper, and ten liang of top-grade green tea."

"In addition, my humble abode has prepared a banquet and singing and dancing performances. I hope you will all enjoy yourselves."

Wen He smiled and bowed to them.

Since they've already given away millions of dollars, we should naturally be polite.

Otherwise, if word gets out, people will say he's petty, and who would want to do business with him in the future?

Wenzhong had already arranged the singing, dancing, and banquet.

The musicians and cooks were all brought in from the palace.

Wen He was there from the beginning, then she made up an excuse that she was "drunk" and secretly slipped away.

Wenzhong was left alone to face them.

No one cared why Wen He claimed to be drunk without drinking a drop of alcohol.

The families who won the distribution rights had no time to care about Wen He.

They were already surrounded by people.

Some were discussing how to divide the distribution areas, while others were trying to curry favor, hoping to obtain distribution rights at the prefecture, state, or county level.

Those who won the distribution rights were also thinking about how to quickly recoup their investment.

A single item costs hundreds of thousands of strings of cash; that's no small sum.

It's still only once a year.

Even prominent clans like the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families would feel the pinch for quite some time.

So aside from allocating a portion to allies and keeping a portion for themselves, they will sell the rest.

……

Wen He and the three little ones left from the back of the main hall, intending to go around to the side room, but were stopped by Huang Chun halfway.

"His Majesty has gone to the backyard."

Seeing this, Wen He led the three little ones to the back.

backyard.

The meal had already been prepared, including roasted meats and hot pot, and several palace maids and eunuchs were busy preparing it.

Li Shimin sat gently to one side, his kind face as he teased the little girl.

"Did your brother ever teach you needlework?"

"Brother let me trace the characters, but Lizhi taught me, but I'm clumsy and didn't learn it." Wenrou pouted and stretched out her chubby ten fingers towards Li Shimin.

“My brother said my little finger looks like a radish. He always complains that I eat too much and that I’m fat. He doesn’t let me eat it, but my brother Ke secretly gave it to me.”

She gave a gentle, giggling laugh, but quickly covered her mouth.

She's reached the age where she's losing her baby teeth, and she's missing a few.

That's why Wen He doesn't let her eat sweets.

I never expected that brat Li Ke would secretly give it to him.

"Snapped!"

Wen He raised her hand and slapped him on the head.

Li Ke rubbed his head, but didn't seem to care, and explained to Wen He under her scrutiny.

"Fifth Sister asked me to give it to her."

"Really?" Wen He squinted, thinking carefully, wasn't Li Ke being a little too nice to Wen Rou?

Could this kid be up to something?

"Yes, that's what Fifth Sister said. You can ask her if you don't believe me." Li Ke looked serious and didn't seem to be lying.

This guy usually seems cold and aloof, and doesn't seem like the type to go out of his way to please girls.

'Am I overthinking it?'

Wen He pondered to herself.

Li Lizhi's relationship with Li Tai was so-so, not to mention her relationship with Li You.

If she wanted to secretly send something to Wenrou, it seemed like she could only do so through Li Ke.

"Why did you hit my son again!"

Li Shimin suddenly shouted angrily, pulling Wen He out of her thoughts.

The latter looked up and saw Li Shimin glaring at him angrily.

"Aye!"

Upon seeing Li Shimin, Li Tai and Li You immediately rushed over, shouting joyfully.

Unlike them, Li Ke acted like a little adult, bowing respectfully to Li Shimin: "Greetings, Father." "Why are you so formal? Come here and let me see you."

Li Shimin hadn't seen the three little ones for a long time.

During this time, Wen He did not go to the palace to practice martial arts, so naturally they did not enter the palace either.

Although Wenzhong would send messages regularly, it was still not as good as seeing it in person.

"They've all gotten much stronger, that's good."

The three little ones seem to be going through puberty recently, as they've all grown quite a bit taller.

Li Tai, in particular, has become quite robust, perhaps because he sweeps the pigsty and carries pig manure every day.

But when he looked at Li Shimin, he seemed somewhat afraid.

"Dad, you're not here to eat my little pig again today, are you? How about we have some..."

"Snapped!"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Shimin slapped him on the head.

"You unfilial son, what's wrong with me eating a few of your pigs?"

Li Tai covered his head, feeling a pang of grievance: 'Where did Father learn this bad habit? He never used to hit my head.'

Just as he was being hit, Wen He subconsciously touched his head.

He felt that Li Er must have gotten used to hitting him.

They even hurt their own son so badly.

"It's all your fault, you brat! Qingque used to be so filial, but she's become so stingy since she started following you!"

Li Shimin pointed at Wen He.

"Your Majesty, how am I stingy? Look outside, today's banquet cost me a full five hundred strings of cash."

Li Er is simply slandering himself.

“Musicians, singers, and palace maids are all from the palace. You only paid for the food and drinks, yet you dare to complain to me.”

"Hey, Your Majesty, a gentleman uses words, not fists."

"You just hit my son!"

"I was disciplining a student."

"Then I am disciplining my son-in-law."

"Snapped!"

Watching Li Shimin chase after Wen He, Li Tai and Li You immediately felt refreshed.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Li Ke quietly walked over to Wenrou and took out a wooden box from his sleeve.

"These are candied fruits from the palace. I had my mother take them out secretly."

Wenrou's eyes lit up immediately, and she said happily, "Thank you, Brother Ke."

"The master must not know."

"Yes, yes, this is our secret, we won't let our brother know."

Her gentle smile was like a little sun.

Li Ke was stunned for a moment, and a blush immediately appeared on his originally aloof face.

He moved a few steps stiffly.

Just then, Li Tai turned around and saw that his face was red. He couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Why are you blushing?"

"Full of energy."

"Huh, why is it so pale again?"

"hungry."

"Hmm, I'm hungry too."

Li Tai touched his belly; he had lost a lot of weight recently and even had abs.

Li Shimin caught up with Wen He, slapped him on the head, and was immediately satisfied.

She then grabbed his sleeve and came back.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you mustn't hit my brother's head, or he'll become stupid."

Little Wenrou ran over, acting all cute and affectionate.

Wen He was speechless. "I've already hit you, and you're only coming over now?"

Sigh, it seems my little cotton-padded jacket is leaking air.

"Alright, next time I won't hit his head, I'll kick his butt instead, okay?" Li Shimin teased the little girl on purpose.

The latter paused for a moment, glanced at Wen He's backside, and then nodded with a smile: "Okay."

"You're out of candy for this month."

"Hmm, brother doesn't love Xiaorou anymore."

“It’s alright, if he won’t give you any, I will.”

"Your Majesty is the best."

When did this little girl learn to coax Li Shimin?

And you made him so happy.

Wen He touched her head, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

It seems I need to spend more time with Xiaorou, otherwise she might be kidnapped by that blond guy in the future.

During the meal, Li Shimin made a point of having Wenrou sit next to him.

He even asked a palace maid to serve him, but the little girl refused.

“My brother said that we should do our own things and not be useless people who expect to be waited on hand and foot.”

The little girl said with a serious expression.

Gao Yue, who was serving food to Li Shimin, was at a loss, unsure whether to pick up food or not.

Seeing this, Wen He, who was sitting to the side, almost couldn't help but laugh.

Well done, Xiao Rou.

"Xiao Rou is right." Li Shimin didn't take her childish words to heart, reached out and rubbed her little head, and said to Gao Yue with his back turned.

"You don't need to serve me today. Tell Xu Jingzong and Huang Chun to come over after they've finished their meal."

"promise."

Upon hearing the sound, Gao Yue put down her chopsticks and left.

"You've done a good job educating Xiaorou," Li Shimin said, glancing at Wen He.

He glanced at the three little ones sitting opposite him, eating heartily, and nodded with satisfaction.

"You have done a good job educating my three sons. By the way, the sixth son is about the right age. I think next year I should let him..."

"Your Majesty, if you continue like this, I will send all three of them back."

Wen He was speechless.

They really think this place is a kindergarten.

After Li Shimin had more than a dozen sons, were they all sent to him?

"Never mind, you're always making trouble."

Seeing his resistance, Li Shimin stopped mentioning the matter.

Anyway, he'll just send them over when the time comes. Does that brat really think he can kick them all out?

Seeing that they had almost finished eating, the three little ones had already put down their chopsticks.

Li Shimin called Li Ke over and took Wenrou aside to play.

Wen He frowned and was about to call Wen Rou to her side when Li Shimin suddenly asked.

"You've made quite a bit of money today."

Wen He's attention shifted away from Wen Rou, and he chuckled, "Wasn't His Majesty listening the whole time?"

"And I won't get a single penny of this money."

The distribution rights for each route were divided, and all the money raised from the auction went into the imperial treasury.

This was the only condition Li Shimin agreed to.

Wen He didn't dare take the money.

To put it bluntly, this is essentially buying and selling land.

"I grant you permission to mobilize all the artisans in the Ministry of Works and allow you to act as you see fit. From now on, you can make a fortune just by selling those goods. Don't try to act innocent here."

This was something Li Shimin had promised Wen He beforehand.

This means that Wenhe has saved all of its labor costs.

Although it’s not much, it’s better than nothing.

"However, there is still one thing I don't understand. Why don't you sell to Chang'an and Luoyang? Do you intend to become a merchant yourself?"

Li Shimin had previously thought that Wen He would give up all the distribution rights for the ten routes.

I never expected him to have a trick up his sleeve.

Faced with his scrutiny, Wen He simply smiled calmly: "Your Majesty, besides the people from Guanzhong, the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families, and other aristocratic families who have come today, who else is missing?"

(End of this chapter)