Great Tang princess

Chapter 765 Arms Trade
"What you said makes sense, but as the royal family, how can we be covered in copper stink?" Li Xian was a little dissatisfied.

It's not that he is dissatisfied with his sister, but as he said, the reason is so reasonable, but it's good to know this kind of thing in your heart, and it will hurt the royal family's face if you say it.

Li Yuechen smiled and said: "Brother, you must understand that our ultimate goal should be to ensure the stability of the country, He Qinghaiyan. Under the premise of this big goal, some shortcomings are actually nothing."

In fact, Li Yuechen never thought that he should flaunt himself with the attitude of a saint. Living like that is too tiring.

On the contrary, if you act like a hooligan and occasionally do a few good deeds, others will think that this person is still very good.

"Besides, when I was young, my brother also experienced hardships. I probably don't want to experience that feeling again?" Li Yuechen said with a smile.

As soon as these words came out, Li Xian nodded slightly, it was true.

The reason why their brother and sister came to Luoyang from Chang'an when they were young was because of the drought that caused the grain production in the Guanzhong area to decrease, so they came here.

It stands to reason that after this time, he should return to Chang'an Daming Palace, but Li Yuechen's stall here is getting bigger and bigger, so he has stayed in Luoyang until now.

In fact, Li Yuechen has been thinking about this issue in recent years, so he is also transferring many properties under his name to Chang'an.

At the very least, Dongdu and Chang'an are spread out separately.

There is a certain hometown complex in doing this, whether it is Chang'an now or Xi'an a thousand years later, that is her home.

Of course, the Eastern Capital will not be left behind. In the future, this place will also be preserved as the emperor's palace, so that the economic development here will gradually radiate to the surrounding areas.

Wu Zetian, who was lying on the rocking chair and drinking tea, nodded slightly: "That's right, which of these aristocratic families is not rich in wealth? Back then, the late emperor wanted to relieve the disaster, but none of them were willing to do anything..."

Thinking about it now still makes her feel angry.

But fortunately, there is no need to think about these in the future. After the reform of the tax law, the court has become richer and richer.

The same is true for the royal family. Although the first emperor has passed away, all the companies under Li Yuechen's name give the royal family a three-thirds dividend every year.

Thirty percent is only now, and Li Yuechen has no children, so after a hundred years, all her shares will be transferred to the royal family.

Regarding the distribution of property after his death, Li Yuechen had already made plans.

Seeing his mother begin to reminisce about her life, Li Xian smiled: "Thanks to Yuechen, I don't have to worry about it anymore in the future."

Wu Zetian cast a glance at him: "You have been like this since you were a child, so forget about being lazy."

"Aniang, I really can't blame my brother. After all, I was never raised as an heir since I was a child, right?" Li Yuechen laughed.

Upon hearing this, Li Xian nodded quickly: "That's right!"

"You still make sense, right?" Wu Zetian opened his eyes and asked.

Although she was already an old lady in her eighties, Li Xian couldn't help shivering because of his mother's suppression of his son's blood. He lowered his head and dared not answer.

Seeing my elder brother's appearance, Li Yuechen immediately changed the subject: "Speaking of which, elder brother has recently reviewed the memorials. Has anyone actively protested against the new corvee tax?"

Although the new tax law has not been officially promulgated, it is not a secret in itself, and all the court officials know it.

Li Xian nodded: "Almost all of them, most people protested, and there are even many officials from poor families."

"Hmph!" Wu Zetian snorted coldly, "There are a lot of people who forget their roots."

Li Yuechen said with a smile: "I can't say that I have forgotten my roots, but it just feels unfair. After all, I have studied hard for more than ten years, but now the policy is different, and I will have a mentality of regretting studying."

"Study and become an official, one should strive for the development of the court. If everything is like this, how can the country develop?" Wu Zetian said with a sneer.

After so many years, she can see clearly that since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the development speed of the past dynasties can't even catch up with the recent decades.

Although this is due to the variable of his daughter, it can also be concluded that the history of thousands of years seems to be trapped in a cycle.

Now that my daughter has broken this cycle, she has raised the country's development to a new level.

Otherwise, it is estimated that this country will be the same as other dynasties, but it will be destroyed in three to four hundred years.

Although I don't know whether breaking this cycle is good or bad, but at least for now, the results are good.

Li Xian shook his head, as if he didn't bother to respond to these things in the memorial: "Protest, just protest, anyway, if they dare to rebel, Yuechen will suppress it."

Shangguan Wan'er came over to add some water to his teacup: "It has already happened, but it was all solved by the Jinwu Guard."

Some time ago, when I went to publicize the incident that the stalls entered the mu, several propagandists were killed.

Afterwards, Li Yuechen equipped the Jinwu Guard with a dogleg knife specially used to cut unarmored targets, and chopped down a lot of people who wanted to make trouble before they were suppressed.

"Ah, talk about this!"

Li Xian seemed to have thought of something suddenly, reached out and rummaged through the pile of memorials in front of him, found one and took it out: "A few days ago, the envoy of the Great Food Kingdom gave a memorial, saying that he wanted to purchase this kind of weapon... "

"Can't they do it themselves?" Wu Zetian asked.

Shangguan Wan'er replied: "Your Majesty does not know that the iron-smelting technology of the Academy of Engineering has already far surpassed that of the outside world. Compared with our country, their weapons are far behind."

"I see..." Wu Zetian nodded slightly.

To be honest, it would be good to be able to do business, and now she has fully understood that doing business can make more money than stealing money.

But the problem is that it's hard to say whether things like weapons can be sold.

So she turned her head slightly and looked at her daughter.

Li Yuechen picked up the teacup: "Don't worry, Ma'am, this cold weapon can still be sold."

After all, the army has begun to assemble muskets now, and it will not be too far to become a conventional weapon.

If you sell cold weapons to them, you don't have to worry about using them against yourself in the future.

Hearing her answer, Wu Zetian nodded slightly, looked at Li Xian and said, "In that case, let them have a good discussion."

Li Xian immediately looked irritable, but he still nodded and agreed: "Then Yuechen, remember to tell the military supervisor as well."

In the past, this matter could be resolved with an order, but now it is not passed. Such a simple matter requires the coordination of several departments.

First of all, communication with foreigners requires the presence of people from Honglu Temple, which is the so-called Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Also, since this is a sale, the Shibo Department must also be there. This is the Department of Commerce.

The person in charge of building this weapon is the Military Weapons Supervisor, that is, the Weapons Group.

The Academy of Engineering is not actually responsible for the production of weapons, but mainly for research and development.

Once the technology is formed and production starts, it is handed over to the Military Supervisor.

Today's Academy of Engineering also takes care of the Weapons Development Department.

It is somewhat troublesome, but there is no time to think about it now, these problems can only be left to be solved in the future.

Thinking of this, Li Xian couldn't help but sighed: "If the royal family is so tired in the future, what is the plan..."

Li Yuechen picked up the teacup with a smile: "There are tens of thousands of mansions in Ande Guangsha, and the people of the world are all happy!"

She only remembered these two lines of this poem, but it was appropriate to say it at this time.

Wu Zetian's eyes lit up: "Good words! Is there a follow-up?"

"This...is just a sudden thought, and I did it casually..." Li Yuechen shook his head in embarrassment, indicating that it was gone.

Wu Zetian, who was so interested, couldn't help but feel a little disappointed for a while.

But she has been like this since she was a child. Although she doesn't like to write and write, she can occasionally make good sentences with nouns.

For example, when I was young, I thought about filling in the half-queue words, but no matter how I thought about it, it didn't feel right.

As a calligrapher, Li Xian's literary attainments are not bad.

After hearing it, she nodded slightly: "The words... are not bad."

I didn't continue to say it later, obviously I just simply thought that this sentence was good.

……

In the next few days, the imperial court started the second trade negotiation with the Great Food Kingdom.

They wanted to buy a large number of dog-leg knives. Originally, Li Yuechen did not need to participate in this matter, but on the third day, Wu Zetian sent someone to call her into the palace.

"Aniang, what do you want me to tell you to come here?" Li Yuechen sat beside her and asked.

Wu Zetian picked up the teacup: "Dashi wants to buy our country's iron smelting technology, so I ask you to come and ask if it can be sold."

Hearing this question, Li Yuechen lowered his head and thought.

Sell, in fact, it can be sold.

After all, the current iron smelting technology is constantly upgrading, and selling them some outdated ones is considered a technology beyond the times for them.

As for the more complicated ones, it would be useless even if they were sold to them. They would not be able to produce them without enough chemists and blacksmiths to experiment.

Not to mention that today's Dazhou has already started the process of industrialization, and products such as muskets, steam engines, and looms have all matured and been put into use, which has opened up a lot of other countries.

It is no exaggeration to say that the current Dazhou and other countries are already two worlds.

However, how to sell is a big problem. Do you want hard currency such as gold, silver and precious stones directly, or sign some long-term agreements with them?

For example, permanently sell several of their oil fields to Da Zhou?
But it's unrealistic to think about it. Transportation is still a big problem now. Sending people to extract oil will consume more costs.

It might as well be like this now, let their people be in charge of mining, and they only need to transport it back.

Coupled with the fact that the banknote system is gradually taking shape, Li Yuechen gave the answer after a quarter of an hour of thinking.

Can sell!Let them buy with gold and silver, and accelerate the establishment of the country's paper currency system.

After getting the answer, the imperial court entered into tense negotiations again.

Both parties hope to get a good price for themselves.

……

In the Dongdu market, after nightfall, many merchants counted the banknotes in their hands with smiles on their faces.

I have to say that this banknote is convenient, unlike before, strings of copper coins even needed to be pulled by a horse-drawn cart.

There are two denominations of banknotes issued across the country today, one hundred yuan and 50 yuan.

As for the smaller ones, it is better to replace them with copper coins for the time being, but at least there is no need to use a carriage to pull them.

Many businessmen rushed over to deposit money that was temporarily unused before the sun set and the bank was still off work.

By the way, there was an extra fee.

That's right, not only does the current bank save money without interest, but it also pays the bank a storage fee.

For the merchants who often travel between Dongdu and Fanyang, they would have to pay an extra fee for depositing money in the bank of Dongdu and withdrawing it from Fanyang.

But even so, they are willing to do so.After all, it is safe!

The storage fee and handling fee added up are much cheaper than hiring a dozen bodyguards.

After all, if you hire bodyguards, you have to be responsible for their food and drink along the way, but the bank doesn't need it. If you give the money, you don't have to worry about anything, and the cost has dropped a lot.

What's more, the bodyguards are not so satisfactory. If Qian's eyes are opened, it will still be a danger.

At the same time, Li Yuechen was also watching the report brought back by his sister, Princess Xuancheng, in the princess mansion.

According to the market surveillance report of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the economic levels of Dongdu and Chang'an are growing visible to the naked eye every month.

Princess Xuancheng said: "According to my speculation, it is actually possible to consider launching banknotes with denominations of 20 yuan and [-] yuan."

"I think so too, but the cost can't be reduced now." Li Yuechen said with some distress.

The current technology is not yet at home, and the production cost of a 20-yuan banknote is actually 25 yuan.

Its own value has exceeded its face value, and it is a bit of a loss for the court to do so.

Although this is a good way to prevent counterfeiting, for now, there is no need to worry about counterfeit banknotes.

The technology of the Academy of Engineering is far beyond that of the common people, so there is no need to worry about counterfeit banknotes for the time being.

"Wait a little longer, anyway, copper coins have been used for thousands of years, so it doesn't matter if it takes a little longer." Li Yuechen waved his hand, "At least wait until the cost comes down."

"Okay!" Princess Xuancheng nodded in agreement, and then took out another report, "Speaking of which, this year's autumn grain is about to come down, and taxation is about to start, this is the forecast report."

Because this year, a trial operation of the taxation of the land into the mu was carried out near the Eastern Capital. Although we all know that this will definitely increase the tax revenue a lot, it is hard to say how much the tax will increase until the results come out.

Li Yuechen opened it and took a look. According to the forecast of the Ministry of Household Affairs, it should increase by [-]% compared to last year, that is, double.

However, Li Yuechen thinks it should be impossible, at least several times, but let's see when the time comes.

"Sister, when the tax is due, I will send troops to follow the whole process." Li Yuechen said, "I'm afraid that someone will make trouble at that time."

Princess Xuancheng nodded: "Okay, in this way, an accurate number should be calculated!"

Followed by the army, they must not have the guts to cheat. In this way, an accurate figure can be obtained, which can also be used as a reference in the future.

"However, in the future, should the tax be collected from food or money?" Princess Xuancheng asked.

Li Yuechen put down the report in his hand: "If you really want to talk about it, it's better to collect money, but it's not suitable at the moment. So it's better for farmers to collect grain, and for weavers to collect cloth."

　Thank you [Mercury's Masked Superman] for rewarding 500 starting coins!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)