The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

Why did Li Shimin say that?

Because Empress Zhangsun was not only an empress, but also a wife and the younger sister of Zhangsun Wuji.

She is the best bridge.

Li Shimin understood Chen Huai'an's words to be roughly: "If Your Majesty did not understand my implication and appointed Changsun Wuji as prime minister, resulting in the excessive power of the maternal relatives, and now regrets it, you might as well have Empress Changsun speak to you privately."

As the younger sister and the empress, Changsun Wuji had no choice but to listen to Changsun Wugou's words.

What if Empress Changsun privately advised Changsun Wuji to resign?

So, could Li Shimin take this opportunity to back down and also strike at the power of the maternal relatives?

"Chen Huai'an is a man who makes everything easy for me, except that he always tries to make me suffer. His only bad point is that he always speaks evasively and doesn't tell the truth," Li Shimin complained.

He only showed this attitude when he was with Empress Zhangsun.

Empress Zhangsun said helplessly, "Second Prince, you seem to have misunderstood something. How could Mr. Chen explain such a thing clearly?"

"If I tell him, wouldn't that offend my brother? And might it anger me?"

"If I'm not careful, I might offend you."

"Mr. Chen is focused on his work and doesn't like these things anyway, Erlang, why force yourself?"

"Isn't Wei Zheng enough for someone who speaks the truth?"

Li Shimin originally wanted to say a few words in rebuttal, but after hearing the last sentence, he immediately fell silent.

"One day, I'll be driven to my death by that country bumpkin Wei Zheng!"

"You have no idea what he said today; I almost wanted to exile him to Lingnan."

As he spoke, he became somewhat annoyed: "Never mind, let's not talk about this."

"Where is Chengqian? I heard that Huai'an has been teaching him whenever he has free time these past few months, and he's doing a good job. He's ten years old now, so I'd like to see how he's doing."

Empress Zhangsun smiled and nodded, then instructed the lady-in-waiting beside her to summon Li Chengqian.

Upon arrival, Li Chengqian bowed respectfully, saying, "Your subject greets Your Majesty."

"No need for formalities." Li Shimin waved his hand and stared at him, saying, "Back then, Huai'an said he would teach you real skills, and you've been learning for several months now."

"I wonder, how much of Huai'an's true teachings have you learned? And what did he teach you?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian replied, "Your Majesty, the teacher has taught me a great deal, but much of it I need to figure out on my own. There are still many things I don't understand."

"However, the main thing you taught me was accounting, and I have already learned a lot."

"Settle accounts?" Li Shimin questioned.

Li Chengqian nodded and said frankly, "My teacher said that only by learning to do accounts can one avoid being deceived by subordinates in the future, so my teacher taught me how to do accounts first."

Li Shimin was taken aback, suddenly recalling Pei Ji from back then, and the various chaotic account books that Chen Huai'an had sent later, and his face darkened.

"Alright, let's settle the accounts. Tell me in detail."

"Yes, Father."

"..."

"Wow, that's really impressive."

After the court session, Chen Huai'an still went to the Ministry of Revenue to carefully examine the disaster reports, and the more he read, the more moved he became.

These past few years have been so strange. Li Shimin has been canceling local taxes at the drop of a hat, leaving the people with nothing to eat and the national treasury revenue to plummet.

It's hard to imagine how Li Shimin managed to survive those three years in the original history, and how he was able to accumulate enough provisions to launch a campaign against the Turks in the third year of the Zhenguan era.

"Minister..." Liang Bingyi hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Chen Huai'an raised his eyes and said, "Just say what you have to say. I don't think I've ever blamed you for speaking out of turn, have I?"

Upon hearing this, Liang Bingyi no longer hesitated and said, "Minister... you once proposed to reopen and improve the granaries, and built three granaries in Jiannan and other areas. Now these three granaries have stored up a lot of grain after the autumn harvest."

"If the imperial court runs out of grain, in an emergency, grain can be transferred from the public granaries."

"Since these granaries are so useful, why not build them throughout the entire Tang Dynasty?"

"Build one in each county. It doesn't have to be as big as the three granaries in Jiannan, but at least it should be enough to ensure that food can be provided in times of crisis, right?"

"In years like these with so many disasters, I believe... that public granaries should be established as soon as possible."

Chen Huai'an said calmly, "Everyone knows that public granaries are good, but who will build them?"

"Who will pay for this?"

"The imperial court has already spent a considerable amount of money and grain to build three large granaries, and to build one in each county... As the Vice Minister of Revenue, don't you know how many counties the Tang Dynasty has?"

"Can you calculate the manpower and resources required to build over 1,500 charitable granaries?"

"Can the current national treasury afford this?"

Liang Bingyi immediately fell silent.

This was practically a daily routine for the Ministry of Revenue; they spent every day calculating accounts, all sorts of accounts.

In fact, Liang Bingyi had carefully read historical records and found that in the end, all dynasties were basically calculating where the money came from and where it went.

Many emperors who clearly had ambitions were unable to accomplish much because they lacked funds.

Just like now, the charity granary does need to be built, but how should it be built? Who will pay for it?

This is the biggest problem.

Liang Bingyi couldn't help but say, "Minister... we can levy corvée labor and build granaries in every county. These are all good things that benefit the local people."

"Wasn't the purpose of establishing public granaries precisely so that people could directly receive disaster relief during years of famine?"

"If we were to impose corvée labor, the pressure on the national treasury wouldn't be that great!"

Chen Huai'an's gaze darkened; he was clearly displeased with Liang Bingyi's words: "Conscription! Conscription!"

"Do you really believe there's anything free in this world? Let me tell you, everything that's free has a hidden price tag!"

"The suffering of corvée labor is a hundred times greater than that of taxes; imposing corvée labor is tantamount to harming the fate of the Tang Dynasty!"

"This thing shouldn't have existed in the first place!"

"But..." Liang Bingyi was very confused. "But the Ministry of Personnel's corvée labor has existed since ancient times. Isn't it a matter of course?"

"What's wrong with conscripting labor?"

Chen Huai'an stared blankly at Liang Bingyi, speechless for a moment.

At this moment, he seemed to understand Pei Ju's words from back then.

In his eyes, corvée labor was something that should not exist.

For Chen Huai'an, it was only natural to hire people, pay them wages, provide meals, and ensure their safety.

But in Liang Bingyi's eyes, it was abnormal that he didn't levy corvée labor; levying corvée labor should be a matter of course.

This is not to say that Liang Bingyi was not a good official. On the contrary, since Chen Huai'an took office as Minister of Revenue, he naturally had some understanding of his subordinate.

Liang Bingyi is a very steady person who never competes or fights, and simply does his job well.

He was a good official, and even more so, a good subordinate.

In Liang Bingyi's view, why should wages be paid when levying corvée labor would have been enough to significantly reduce the pressure on the national treasury?

He didn't understand at all.

Because his way of thinking is fundamentally different from Chen Huai'an's.

"You can go now..."

Chen Huai'an closed his eyes, his mind a bit confused.

"Yes, Minister." Liang Bingyi hesitated for a moment, then sighed.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Huai'an sat quietly, muttering to himself, "Lord Pei, you let me blend in... let me hide."

"But you didn't say... the price of assimilation is being assimilated!"

"..."

"Sorry, I can't fit in!"

"......"