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

When it comes to face-changing, everyone in the court is incredibly smooth.

Chen Huai'an was numb.

Wuji, you weren't like this before!

Li Shimin suddenly remembered something, leaned slightly against the carriage, looked at him and asked, "In that case, I have no objection to repairing the Yellow River."

"However, you are the Minister of Works and the Minister of Revenue, and you also provided the cement. Repairing the Yellow River requires manpower, and as the Minister of Works, you must understand that. As for how much money is needed to repair the Yellow River, you should also know, right?"

"Are you still planning to implement work-for-relief programs on the Yellow River?"

Li Shimin was genuinely interested in this.

Repairing the Yellow River sounds simple, but it is an incredibly massive project. Compared to it, reclaiming wasteland, building irrigation canals, dredging the Lingnan waterway, and constructing granaries are all insignificant.

When building the Yellow River dikes, how many times have fewer than 10,000 people been mobilized?

This is an underestimation; if the Yellow River dikes are overburdened and too many areas need to be repaired, there have been instances where as many as 100,000 people have been mobilized.

Normally, repairing the Yellow River would require tens of thousands of people, but let's take a middle number and say 50,000.

Under the work-for-relief system, the daily food consumption of 50,000 laborers was a huge amount.

The wages for the work-for-relief program were not much, not comparable to the fifty or more coins paid to the workers at Meiren Pass, but Chen Huai'an still stipulated twenty coins.

With 50,000 people, the daily wage would be 1,000 strings of cash!

A thousand strings of cash a day... Heh, that doesn't sound like much compared to Chen Huai'an's business dealings.

But this is just the most basic expenditure. Materials, transportation, and all sorts of other miscellaneous expenses, plus the consumption of food, mean that the daily expenditure is at least several times higher.

Normally, with all the things Chen Huai'an provides to make money, repairing the Yellow River wouldn't be a problem.

But now, with the locust plague looming and the impending invasion of the Eastern Turks, so many projects are underway at the same time. If the Yellow River is also repaired, the national treasury will completely lose the risk resistance capacity that Chen Huai'an mentioned.

He was eager to see if Chen Huai'an would still stick to his ideas and resolutely refuse to impose corvée labor under these circumstances.

This is a good question.

"..."

"Why not?" Chen Huai'an countered. "Isn't the purpose of the work-for-relief program to achieve disaster relief while the construction work is underway?"

Does repairing the Yellow River conflict with the work-for-relief program?

"It certainly doesn't conflict with the work-for-relief program," Li Shimin said meaningfully, "but it does conflict quite a bit with the national treasury."

"You yourself have said that money is extremely important to a country; without money, you can't move an inch at any time!"

"The same was true for the Tang Dynasty."

"Does Your Majesty want to settle accounts with me financially?" Chen Huai'an laughed. When it came to math, he would never back down.

Li Shimin shook his head: "You are the Minister of Revenue, and accounting is what you are best at. I will not settle accounts with you."

"I just want to see what choice you will make."

Chen Huai'an understood, glanced at Changsun Wuji who was listening intently beside him, and pondered, "If Your Majesty wants to discuss economic matters with me, I can do so with Your Majesty as well."

"But the Yellow River restoration project is not just an ordinary economic matter; it's a matter of people's livelihood!"

"Fifty thousand people... Your Majesty, behind fifty thousand people are fifty thousand families. Our choice now directly affects whether hundreds of thousands of people will be able to eat meat on New Year's Day or be conscripted into labor, making it difficult to even get through the winter."

"Is Your Majesty capable of settling this score?"

Li Shimin was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.

Chen Huai'an's words essentially threw the problem back at him.

The choice is between protecting the national treasury and maintaining fiscal security, or prioritizing people's livelihood and ensuring they have a good New Year.

If we consider only the interests involved, choosing the first option is undoubtedly the best and most rational choice.

The brief sacrifice secured the financial security of the Tang Dynasty and also earned the achievement of controlling the Yellow River.

It's a great deal no matter how you look at it.

But the accounts... really can't be calculated like that.

When you abandon the people, the people will also abandon you.

The Tang Dynasty was able to win and be established on the ruins of the late Sui Dynasty. Li Shimin certainly made great contributions, but he also received help from many other forces.

But most importantly, it was because the people chose the Li family.

That's why the Li family was able to win!

If the people hadn't chosen them, no matter how powerful Li Shimin was, or how many powerful families supported him, he wouldn't have been able to conquer the world.

"Impressive..." Li Shimin couldn't help but exclaim, "You always manage to convince me completely with just a few words."

Chen Huai'an smiled without saying a word; he never doubted Li Shimin's foresight and vision.

Changsun Wuji remained silent for a moment, then exhaled a breath of stale air.

He realized that when Chen Huai'an mentioned cement and proposed repairing the Yellow River, Li Shimin had probably already made a decision.

His previous opposition, to some extent, was essentially ineffective.

Of course, that's not important now.

He now also wants to repair the Yellow River.

Li Shimin said calmly, "You don't need to worry about money. I admit that what you do is very profitable, but there is something else that is far more profitable than doing business, even if it is only a one-time thing."

Chen Huai'an's heart stirred slightly, and he began to understand Li Shimin's meaning.

"Sending troops to the Eastern Turks is not just about washing away the humiliation of almost being driven to Chang'an by them at the beginning of my reign!" Li Shimin's eyes seemed to be burning with fire.

"The wealth that war brings is unparalleled!"

Chen Huai'an didn't reply.

Compared to other dynasties, the cost of launching wars in the Tang Dynasty was actually very low.

The Tang Dynasty's Fubing system was essentially a land-for-soldier system, exempting soldiers from taxes and corvée labor. Fubing soldiers farmed in peacetime and went to war in wartime, providing their own weapons, armor, rations, clothing, and even travel expenses.

Li Shimin only provided heavy weapons, such as armor, crossbows, and long spears, which were stored in the warehouse of the Zhechongfu (military headquarters) in peacetime and distributed in wartime.

After the war ended, the soldiers dispersed to their respective prefectures, and the generals returned to the court, so there was no need for a standing military budget.

At the same time, Li Shimin was waging a war of conquest, unlike Emperor Wu of Han who fought a life-or-death war.

Li Shimin wanted conquest and the submission of enemy states, while Emperor Wu of Han wanted only one side to survive.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Li Shimin would become richer and richer with each battle, while Emperor Wu of Han would become poorer and poorer with each battle.

For the Tang Dynasty at present, war is not necessarily a matter of draining national strength. As long as the basic costs required to launch a war can be paid, the returns will be enormous.

"Huai'an," Li Shimin said, turning his head and smiling, "The gold and silver artifacts that the Eastern Turks have collected over the years, the countless livestock they depend on for survival—cattle, sheep, warhorses, the vast pastures and farmlands south of the Yin Mountains and the Gobi Desert, and most importantly, their people!"

"These are all the cornerstones upon which we will reach our golden age!"

"..."