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

"Will a great Confucian scholar debate the classics for me?"

Cheng Chumo's eyes lit up even more, looking eager to try.

Li Chengqian's lips trembled, and he whispered, "But... what will you do to surpass your fathers' achievements?"

Cheng Chumo suddenly fell silent.

Li Zhen and Tang Heshang were also stunned.

Everyone looked at Chen Huai'an without prior arrangement.

Those eyes, those expressions, clearly spoke volumes.

You keep talking about making a great career, but what about that career?

What should we do?

Why didn't you mention the crucial point?

"Look at you, always in such a hurry!"

Chen Huai'an said with a straight face, "Would I lie to you?"

"Sir would never lie to us!" Li Zhen affirmed.

"That's true." Chen Huai'an chuckled. "But that is indeed a problem. With the nation newly established, what else can we do?"

"Go out to fight? The Turks are attacking right now, and it seems like there's a chance, but you're all too young. Going to the battlefield isn't realistic, is it?"

Cheng Chumo nodded: "Sir, please stop being so mysterious and just tell me what to do."

"Going to the battlefield is definitely out of the question; my mother would beat me to death. As for becoming a high-ranking official, it's not my turn."

Chen Huai'an smiled and said, "It's alright, with you here, isn't your job to help your students solve problems?"

"I ask you, what does the Tang Dynasty lack most right now?"

Cheng Chumo: "I lack someone who can lead me to accomplish great things."

Chen Huai'an: "..."

Li Zhen stroked his chin and said, "I don't know what's missing, but I heard from my mother the other day that my father went to take up a post in some place, and he has very few troops under his command, and the garrisons in various places are not very peaceful."

"I think we're short-staffed."

"What kind of soldiers are you short of?" Tang Heshang sneered. "There are plenty of people who want to make a name for themselves. If we really wanted to recruit soldiers, there would be plenty of people."

"The problem is, even if we recruit so many soldiers, we still can't afford to support them. If we recruit too many, we won't even have a decent weapon."

"If you ask me, we still need to make money!"

"With money, what can't I do? My mother always says, 'Money makes the world go round.' If money can even command ghosts, shouldn't it at least earn people's respect?"

"Oh?" Chen Huai'an was quite surprised.

Tang Heshang's words may be crude, but the principle is sound.

No matter the era, you can't get anywhere without money.

The same applies to nations.

"Bullshit!" Li Zhen was immediately annoyed by Tang Heshang's retort. "Do you intend to go into business?"

"Since ancient times, the social hierarchy has been scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Merchants had a very low status and were not even allowed to participate in the imperial examinations."

"Look at those businessmen, they're rich, right? But what's the use of having so much money? Aren't they still just cunning, profit-driven scoundrels, looked down upon by everyone?"

"I don't want to be looked down upon!"

Tang Heshang retorted, his neck stiff with arrogance, "You're the one talking nonsense! What do you know, you little brat? Don't you know there have been many natural disasters in recent years, and the imperial court is embroiled in endless arguments every year over disaster relief?"

"When I say 'wealthy,' I don't mean the small amount of money a businessman has, but a vast amount of wealth."

"If I had that much money, what disaster relief couldn't I do? If I had that much money, and my family depended on me for support, wouldn't Old Deng still have to be subservient to me?"

Li Zhen: "You..."

"Alright, stop arguing, let me say a few words." Chen Huai'an coughed lightly.

Upon hearing him speak, Li Zhen and Tang Heshang exchanged a glance, scoffed softly, and then stopped.

"The monk is right. What the Tang Dynasty lacks right now is money!" Chen Huai'an gave his answer.

Tang He's face lit up with surprise, but then his expression froze. Li Zhen said incredulously, "Sir, you must be mistaken?"

"Why money? You said you'd lead us to do something big, are you going to take us into business?"

"Is that not allowed?" Chen Huai'an asked.

Li Zhen hesitated for a moment before finally speaking his mind: "I don't think it's a good idea. Since ancient times, the social hierarchy has been scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, with merchants having the lowest social status. If we were to become merchants, we would be laughed at."

"Just because it has been this way since ancient times, does that mean it must be right?" Chen Huai'an continued to ask.

"This..." Li Zhen couldn't answer.

Chen Huai'an patiently explained, "The four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants should not actually be ranked in order of precedence, nor should they be used to distinguish between the noble and the lowly, because these four characters represent four different fields, each of which is indispensable to a country."

"If you want to hear grand principles, I can talk to you all day long until I convince you."

"But I'm too lazy to do that, so I'll just ask you a simple question."

"You just said that doing business is shameful. I can understand why you would say that, given your position."

"If you go into business and only earn ten or eight strings of cash a month, that's truly shameful; you'd be better off not doing it at all."

At this point, Chen Huai'an paused, then said quietly, "But what if you could earn a hundred strings of cash a month? A thousand strings?"

Li Zhen's expression changed slightly.

Let alone a thousand strings of cash, he was even tempted by a hundred strings.

One hundred strings of cash were enough to buy a large house in a very advantageous location in Chang'an.

"I..." Li Zhen swallowed hard and shook his head. "No, no, my mother will scold me. Not even a hundred strings of cash."

"What if it were five thousand strings of cash, or ten thousand strings?"

"..."

"Please teach me, sir!"

Li Zhen succumbed to the lure of money without hesitation, and Cheng Chumo and Tang Heshang followed suit.

It's not that they're not ambitious enough, but that Chen Huai'an's promises were too grandiose.

Even Li Chengqian was deeply moved.

"Teach you? It's not impossible," Chen Huai'an raised an eyebrow. "However, doing business requires capital, and a lot of capital at that. Do you have the money?"

"No......"

Li Zhen opened his mouth, somewhat annoyed.

"No!"

Cheng Chumo suddenly looked up, a strange light flashing in his eyes: "We have it!"

Chen Huai'an: ?

The words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.

No, how did you get it?

"Chu Mo, where did you get so much money?" Tang Heshang asked, puzzled.

Cheng Chumo snorted twice, then said smugly, "Thanks to what you just said, sir, I've come to understand many things."

"As the eldest sons in the family, we will inherit the family property and titles of the elders sooner or later. Therefore, everything in the family now should belong to us."

"And what are these old bastards doing now? They spend my money on a life of debauchery every day. The other day they even went to a brothel and took my wallet and the girls."

"This is outrageous! They're so immature, and at their age they still cause me so much worry!"

Chen Huai'an: "..."

"yeah?"

Tang Heshang's eyes gleamed, and he suddenly realized something.

"Chu Mo, you're a genius!" Tang Heshang exclaimed excitedly. "So, all the money in the house is mine? What's wrong with me taking some money to do business?"

"What's wrong?"

Chen Huai'an felt utterly exhausted.

However, at this moment, Li Zhen suddenly slapped his thigh: "What a mess!"

Chen Huai'an was overjoyed, feeling that finally a normal person had arrived.

Unexpectedly, Li Zhen's next words instantly broke his heart.

"Yesterday my mother spent a lot of money on spices, rouge, and other items; I heard it cost over a hundred strings of cash!"

"Over a hundred strings of cash! That's over a hundred strings of cash! That's enough for so many fun things I could buy! No way, just thinking about it makes my heart bleed. That spendthrift woman! I'll tell her to stop!"

"..."