Little Sizi came to my house and became the family's darling, and Li Shimin got anxious.

They wandered around until it was almost dark, but Li Yinxun still had no intention of returning to the palace.

Li Lizhi couldn't help but gently persuade her, "Auntie, if you're tired, let's go back to the palace first, and we can go sightseeing again next time."

"I'm not going shopping. I'm planning to open a supermarket in Datang. I was originally going to take my time to find a suitable shop, but since I'm out today, I might as well take this opportunity to see if there's a suitable location."

Li Lizhi: "Why bother looking, Aunt? My dowry includes a restaurant on the main street of the East Market. It has two floors and a spacious layout. It's been empty and unused for a long time. I'll give it to you, Aunt."

Li Yinxun shook her head: "That won't do, I can't take your things for free."

"What do you mean by 'getting it for free'? You're my aunt."

"Lizhi," Li Yinxun stopped and looked at her seriously, "Between you and me, family is family, and accounts are accounts. If you don't let me pay, I won't open it."

Li Lizhi pursed her lips. It was just a shop; she didn't think it was a big deal.

Li Yinxun proposed, "How about this: you provide the shop and labor, I provide the goods and the operating model, and the profits are split according to shares: you get 30%, I get 40%, Little Princess gets 20%, and Chengyang gets 10%."

Although Chengyang didn't quite understand what shares were, his little face lit up when he heard that he also had a share.

Looking at Chengyang's reaction, Li Lizhi realized that this aunt truly cared about each and every one of them.

"Okay, as Auntie says."

After walking along Dongshi Main Street for about fifteen minutes, Li Lizhi stopped in front of a two-story restaurant.

"This is it."

Li Yinxun looked up and sized her up.

The restaurant's location is indeed superb, facing the main street of the East Market, with a wide facade and convenient access.

The building has two floors. The first floor has a spacious lobby that can accommodate dozens of rows of shelves; the second floor is suitable for high-end businesses, specializing in expensive skincare and cosmetic products.

Li Yinxun nodded in satisfaction, already planning the layout of the shelves and the classification of the goods in her mind.

She walked around the lobby once, then suddenly stopped.

A thought flashed through my mind without warning.

"Lizhi, are there any vacant shops next to this one?"

Li Lizhi thought for a moment: "There's a smaller one next door, also under my name, but it's been vacant for a long time. What's wrong?"

Li Yinxun's lips slowly curled up into a smile.

"Why don't you open your own shop?"

"What store?"

Instead of answering, Li Yinxun asked, "Lizhi, women in the Tang Dynasty have those few days every month, how do you deal with it?"

Li Lizhi blushed slightly. This was something every woman had to face; there was nothing to hide.

"They used strips of cloth and wood ash. The situation was slightly better in the palace, where there was clean fine cloth and cotton, but for women in ordinary families..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear.

Inconvenience, uncleanliness, and discomfort were the monthly burdens that every woman in the Tang Dynasty had to endure, yet no one ever considered it a problem, let alone thought of solving it.

"You could open a shop that caters specifically to women, selling sanitary napkins, women's daily care products, and intimate apparel."

"This market is a blank slate in Datang, but it is also a basic necessity. Without exception, the phrase 'supply cannot meet demand' is an understatement."

Li Lizhi stared blankly at her, as if something had suddenly exploded in her mind.

She never imagined that the inconveniences and suffering of women could be turned into a business.

No, it's not about business, it's about solving problems.

"Okay, I want to open a store like that."

Li Yin chuckled, "I can help you source the goods, but I don't need any dividends or anything. Just give me 20% of the shares."

Upon hearing this, Li Lizhi felt a pang of jealousy; her aunt was truly too good to Sizi.

With these two shops, Sizi is definitely the richest princess.

The little head on Guo Qian's back moved slightly.

The little princess opened her eyes groggily, paused for a moment, and then shifted uncomfortably.

"Auntie, I'm so sticky..."

Even after nightfall, the heat in Chang'an during the Dragon Boat Festival remains intense.

The little girl slept on Guo Qian's back for almost half an hour, her wet bangs sticking to her skin.

Li Yinxun reached out and untied the person from the straps, pulled her into his arms, and took out a tissue to gently wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Let's find a private room to rest."

Li Lizhi asked the innkeeper to open a private room on the second floor, and the group filed in.

The little girl nestled limply in Li Yinxun's arms, clinging to her arm and refusing to let go.

I need to drink water.

Li Yinxun poured a glass of warm water, tested the temperature herself first, and then held it to the little princess's lips.

The little girl held the cup with both hands, took small sips, and smacked her lips after finishing.

Are you hungry?

The little princess nodded.

Li Yinxun turned to the innkeeper and ordered a table of home-style dishes.

Before long, all the dishes were ready.

Everyone ate their meal in silence.

The dishes are simple in quality, but their strength lies in the freshness of the ingredients.

The food on the table was eaten cleanly, with no one leaving any leftovers.

Objectively speaking, the ingredients are good and authentic, making it more genuine than most modern restaurants.

Li Yin, having eaten heavily oiled and salty modern food for many years, had long since dulled her sense of taste. She could taste the goodness of this kind of dish with its original fresh and fragrant flavor, but she couldn't appreciate its amazing qualities.

It's like someone who eats spicy hot pot every day suddenly drinking a bowl of clear broth.

"Lizhi, is the salt used in this restaurant refined salt?"

Li Lizhi nodded. "Yes."

"You're using refined salt so soon?" Li Yinxun was somewhat surprised.

"Aunt, you may not know this, but Father recently implemented a new salt policy, and refined salt and white sugar are both part of it. As for refined salt, we have a method for purification, and Father entrusted the production to the Imperial Household Department. The production has now stabilized, and in the early stages, it will be sold at high prices to aristocratic families and members of the royal family."

After listening, Li Yinxun seemed to be deep in thought.

In the early Tang Dynasty, there were no salt officials or salt monopolies, except for stamped salt, specialty salt, and high-quality pond salt.

The people were free to mine and trade salt, and the government did not impose a salt tax. Instead, it levied salt taxes along with ordinary commercial and land taxes.

With relaxed policies, there is minimal pressure on people's livelihoods.

The real start of the salt and iron monopoly, turning salt tax into a pillar of the national treasury, was undertaken by Fifth Qi and Liu Yan after the An Lushan Rebellion.

After that, salt prices soared, causing immense suffering to the people. Smuggled salt dealers were everywhere, and the industry even evolved into one of the biggest social ills in the late Tang Dynasty.

But that will be a mess a hundred years from now.

At present, Li Shimin has the technology to refine refined salt and the production capacity led by the government. Although the national treasury is short of money, he did not choose the simplest and most brutal way: complete monopoly, unified pricing, and forcing the people to buy only government salt.

Instead, he developed a coarse-grained system of governance.