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

"My benefactor, this..."

The woman was at a loss for words after hearing Chen Huai'an's words.

She knew very well that Ya Ya had actually gone to steal other people's money. Logically speaking, if someone like her stole from her, she wouldn't say anything even if she were beaten to death.

But Chen Huai'an not only didn't blame them, he gave them a lot of money, which helped her get through that difficult winter last year.

If it weren't for Chen Huai'an, she would already be dead, and her young daughter probably wouldn't have survived either.

Therefore, she always remembered Chen Huai'an's kindness.

But when Chen Huai'an actually appeared in front of her, the woman was at a loss for what to do, because even the most foolish person would know from the materials and clothing Chen Huai'an wore that he was no ordinary person.

Ordinary people wouldn't just give a beggar a few coins.

Then the woman remembered something, carefully tore open her sleeve, took out a small cloth bag, and said as she opened it, "Perhaps I don't have much ability, perhaps, for you, what happened back then was just something you did casually, and you've long forgotten about it today."

"But for my daughter and me, it is a debt of gratitude that we will remember for a lifetime; it is a debt of life-saving grace."

"I can't repay you in any way, but please accept this money. It's something I should give back as a human being."

The woman opened the cloth bag, which contained a few loose pieces of silver. She held them in both hands and handed them to Chen Huai'an.

Chen Huai'an stared at the loose silver coins in front of him. Although he couldn't remember how much he had given back then, the money here must be more than what he had given back then.

He paused for a moment, then slightly raised his eyes to look into the woman's eyes, which held gratitude, relief, acceptance, and perseverance.

There was also a kind of light that he couldn't understand.

At that moment, Chen Huai'an suddenly felt that everything he had done had meaning.

"good!"

"..."

"The results of the work-for-relief program are far better than I imagined!"

Li Shimin and Chen Huai'an strolled around here for a long time, witnessing many things. Finally, Li Shimin said with some emotion, "Huai'an, I finally understand why you hate corvée labor so much."

Chen Huai'an shook his head: "Excuse my bluntness, but corvée labor should not exist in the first place. Just because it has existed since ancient times does not mean that it is right."

Li Shimin laughed: "But have you ever considered that not everyone is named Chen Huai'an? The path you've chosen is one that others simply cannot tread. Even you yourself have found it quite difficult, let alone others?"

"I believe that if given the choice, and if they had the means, many monarchs in the past would have been willing to implement work relief programs."

"But can they do it?"

"Huai'an, what is the production cost of your Meirenguan wine? A jar of turbid wine costs only a dozen or so coins. Now that Meirenguan has been purified, making it stronger and more delicious, the price has risen to four hundred coins, while your production cost is a whopping twenty coins."

"Even with so many jars of wine sold every day, your profit isn't as high as you imagined. Why? Isn't it because labor costs take up most of it?"

Li Shimin slowly said, "And what about ironware, refined salt, and papermaking? Any one of these can generate wealth that rivals that of a nation, and it will be a continuous source of riches."

"But these three things combined, apart from ensuring the normal operation of the court and preparing for war, can only support the current projects. If there are more projects, the Tang Dynasty's finances are likely to collapse."

"We have such favorable conditions, yet we still face such difficulties. Could the monarchs of ancient times have accomplished this?"

"Of course not," Chen Huai'an said frankly. "But talking about these things is meaningless, because you haven't understood the true meaning of work relief."

"Work relief does not require continuous expenditure from the imperial court, nor does it necessarily have to be implemented during years of famine."

"When I was in charge of Meirenguan, there hadn't been any natural disasters yet. Weren't the people I recruited also receiving disaster relief?"

"Our Great Tang Dynasty is a country based on agriculture, but don't you think that such a singular foundation is too weak and too fragile?"

Li Shimin pondered for a moment and said, "You mean... land annexation?"

"It seems you've already realized it." Chen Huai'an wasn't surprised. The ancients weren't fools. Many times, everyone realized the problem, but no one could do anything about it.

"Li Er, have you realized a problem? Since the First Emperor unified the six kingdoms, no dynasty has ever lasted more than three hundred years."

"Don't talk to me about the Eastern Han or Western Han. Starting from Emperor Guangwu of Han, that was actually a completely different dynasty."

"Because when Emperor Guangwu of Han restored the Han Dynasty, everything in the world was reshuffled, and he was essentially creating a new dynasty."

Li Shimin understood Chen Huai'an's meaning: "So you mean that your insistence on implementing work relief is to free the people from their dependence on the land."

"How can we break free from the curse that dynasties cannot last more than three hundred years?"

"Yes." This time, Chen Huai'an stopped being cryptic and patiently explained, "If you study history books carefully, you'll find that three hundred years is a very interesting point in time."

"No dynasty can get past this point because the foundation they rely on is too weak. Because of the existence of land annexation, the closer a dynasty gets to this point, the more intense the conflict between the people and the court becomes."

"Let alone breaking the three-hundred-year curse, it's difficult to even get close."

"Do you remember that saying? Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. The most fundamental factor in the establishment of a dynasty is the people. Once the people can no longer survive, then no matter what dynasty it is, it will inevitably perish."

"Therefore, we need to find another way, so that everyone can't rely entirely on the land."

Chen Huai'an spoke very bluntly, to the point of being somewhat offensive, but it didn't matter; Li Shimin liked this kind of bluntness.

Because he didn't beat around the bush with you; he simply presented the problem to you in a very real way.

Li Shimin never considered himself the smartest; he could readily accept that others were smarter than him and then humbly seek their advice.

Just like now.

"So you think that work relief can break the three-hundred-year curse?"

"It's possible," Chen Huai'an said sincerely. "On this point, I can only say it's possible, and at most it will only prolong the time it takes for the conflict to break out. It might allow us to cross three hundred years, but it certainly won't cross four or five hundred years."

"At most, it will just allow the Tang Dynasty to exist for a while longer!"

Li Tai and Li Lizhi turned pale upon hearing these words.

Although they are young, they already understand many things because of their royal lineage.

Chen Huai'an's words were terrifying to them.

Correct!

terrible!

No monarch should tolerate such words, but Li Shimin was not as angry as they had imagined; he simply nodded slightly.

"Do you have a solution?"

"..."