Tibet.

Chapter 1300 Guidance on the Maze
It was noon on the third day. Hundreds of cavalrymen escorted a large carriage to the Wude Restaurant. The carriage was a stab-proof carriage, basically made of cast iron, with iron plates on the four walls and the chassis, as well as tall iron wheels. The windows were equipped with very thick glass that ordinary arrows could not penetrate. Even if a six-stone crossbow could penetrate the glass, there were cavalrymen holding shields all around, so there was no chance at all.

Li Ye and Dugu Taiwei were sitting in the carriage. Dugu Taiwei was holding his son Li Ju, who was a few months old. At noon today, Li Ye and Dugu Ming were drinking tea, and he simply let Taiwei hold his son to see his grandfather.

"Why didn't my husband talk to my uncle but to my father?" Dugu Taiwei was covered with a blanket and leaned close to her husband. She had a beautiful face, a tall and plump figure, skin as white as fat, a well-behaved and sensible personality, and was very much loved by Li Ye.

Li Ye hugged his wife and said with a smile: "Your uncle is the assistant prime minister and the Minister of War. It's okay to talk about official business, but it's a bit inconvenient to talk about personal matters. Your father and I have a good relationship, and he can understand what I mean. It's a pleasure to talk to him. I haven't seen him for a long time, and I want to talk to him."

"It's a pity that my father doesn't want to be an official."

Li Ye smiled and said, "He is not in good health. Being an official requires hard work, and his body cannot bear it. Besides, he is now a Duke of the State, with a high status, so it doesn't matter whether he is an official or not. I think it is better for him to recuperate at home, after all, he is old."

Dugu Ming was already over 40 years old when Dugu Taiwei was born. His eldest daughter was named Princess Jingle and married to the Khitan people. She was beheaded by the Khitan people when she was only 16 years old. Dugu Ming fell seriously ill and his health never recovered.

Dugu Taiwei nodded, "My husband is right, my father is in poor health and is not suitable for being an official!"

Soon, the carriage entered Pingkangfang and drove towards Wude Restaurant.
Wude Restaurant stopped operating at noon today. Three hundred internal security soldiers moved in and checked the restaurant inside and out carefully. There were sentries standing all around and no one was allowed to approach.

Moreover, the restaurant owner, chef and bartender all went to rest elsewhere temporarily, and the chef and maid from Xingqing Palace took over the restaurant.

The carriage slowly approached the back door. Dugu Ming and his wife were waiting at the door. Li Ye and Dugu Taiwei came out of the carriage surrounded by a large group of female guards. After everyone greeted them, they entered the restaurant through the back door.

They did not go to the restaurant, but went to the independent courtyard at the back. In addition to the three-story building of Wude Restaurant, there were eight small courtyards at the back, which was of very high quality. They entered the Plum Blossom Courtyard, which was the courtyard that Li Ye often visited.

Dugu Ming held his grandson in his arms, smiling from ear to ear. The little guy was sleeping soundly and no one dared to wake him up, so Dugu Ming gave the child to his wife, who held the child and went to chat next door with her daughter.

Li Ye and Dugu Ming sat down. They were father-in-law and son-in-law, and they usually had a good relationship and were quite relaxed.

The maid brought some side dishes and a pot of tea. Dugu Ming was still in mourning and could not drink alcohol, so he could only drink tea instead.

He poured a cup of tea for Li Ye. Dugu Ming smiled and said, "Starting from yesterday, all the slaves of the Dugu family have begun to be converted into civilians. There are more than 18,000 people in total. By the end of the year, all of them will be converted into civilians."

Li Ye nodded, "That's good. Although I also know that slavery cannot be completely banned, there are various workarounds, such as criminals not being slaves of the government, disguised long-term employment, etc., and slaves sold from abroad, but it must be explicitly prohibited in the law, at least it is strictly forbidden for good people to be sold as slaves. If one person is convicted, then that person will bear the responsibility, and the whole family cannot be slaves of the government."

Dugu Ming smiled and said, "Since the Dugu family has been released, they will not make any changes. They will definitely be completely transformed into civilians. In fact, I advise my brother that instead of waiting for the imperial court to issue a decree to abolish slavery, it is better to take the initiative to become a slave. It also depends on personal favors. If the master is kind, others will naturally follow him to the island. If the master is immoral, even if others are slaves, they will not follow you."

"That's a good point. To make someone follow you through life and death depends on kindness and virtue. It has nothing to do with whether they are slaves or not. Tian Heng's five hundred warriors were not slaves!"

Dugu Ming filled Li Ye's cup of tea again. "My eldest brother has been thinking about what path the Dugu family should take in the past two years. In fact, it's not just the Dugu family. Other Guanlong families are also thinking about it. Sometimes they can see something, but sometimes they are confused and don't know what to do. Your Highness is far-sighted. Can you give us some direction?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "In fact, no matter which direction you go, as long as you don't live a life of drunkenness and debauchery, or act tyrannically and oppress the people, I think any direction is fine.

Of course, the imperial court does not support the aristocratic families to continue the old path of annexing land. We must assess the situation and move towards long-term prosperity."

Dugu Ming smiled bitterly and said, "The key is that I hope Your Highness can point me in the direction of long-term prosperity."

Li Ye smiled and said, "Technology!" "Technology?"

Dugu Ming looked confused, "I don't quite understand, Your Highness, can you explain it clearly?"

Li Ye said calmly: "To put it simply, it means going faster, going farther, producing more, and being more efficient. For example, it usually takes three months to go from Chang'an to Beiting. What if I want to shorten it to one month? That's fine. First of all, we need to build the road, which is the government's business. Once the Tang Straight Road is built, how can we make full use of it?
With the emergence of the first industry, a large number of post stations could be built along the way, and horses could be changed every hundred miles. This required a large number of horses, and then the second industry also emerged, animal husbandry and horse breeding.

What if it is to transport goods? There are many industries involved here. First of all, we need very strong and durable large carriages, so the carriage manufacturing industry came out. Strong and durable carriages must use a lot of pig iron, which involves mining and smelting.

In fact, I hope that the Dugu family can invest in mining and smelting. The Military Equipment Bureau has explosives, which are powerful tools for mining and can greatly develop the mining industry. With enough pig iron, we will enter the Iron Age from the Wooden Age. Currently, only 30% of the plows used for farming are iron plows, and the other 70% are still wooden plows. If they are all replaced with iron plows, won’t farming be more efficient?"

Dugu Ming nodded, "I understand. Your Highness hopes that the Dugu family will invest in industry, dig more mines, smelt more iron, and weave more cloth."

"Exactly!"

Li Ye nodded happily and said, "There is another strategic industry, which is shipbuilding. I suggest you go to the School of Engineering. The School of Engineering is testing steam engines and is almost successful. Once successful, it can drive ships to sail for tens of thousands of miles, no longer requiring wind and manpower, and regardless of the season. In the future, when you recruit laborers from India to develop islands, you will rely on these steam ships for transportation. Also, I hope that all seagoing ships will be built into large iron-hulled ships in the future."

Dugu Ming was originally shrouded in fog, but Li Ye's words were like a gust of wind, sweeping away the fog. A broad road appeared in front of him, and he knew what the Dugu family should do next. "

Dugu Ming nodded slowly, "Your Highness's words have given me a complete epiphany. I know which direction the Dugu family should go."

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "Which direction? Can you tell me?"

"Shipbuilding, mining, and smelting!"

"very good!"

Li Ye praised: "This is the way to long-term development!"

At this time, Dugu Ming thought of something, and said to Li Ye: "After discussion, our family decided to transfer 70% of Baoji Guifang's shares to Xinyue and Taiwei."

The shares were transferred to Dugu Xinyue and Dugu Taiwei, which was actually transferred to Li Ye's two sons, or in other words, to Li Ye's family.

Li Ye narrowed his eyes, "Will the Dugu family be willing to do so?"

Dugu Ming nodded, "The remaining 30% will be sold to the Ministry of Revenue!"

The payment of salaries to all court officials and the army, as well as the transfer of large sums of court funds, were all handled by Baoji Guifang. In fact, Baoji Guifang had already controlled the court's financial lifeline. Li Ye had previously hinted to Dugu Lie that the court had become dependent on Baoji Guifang.

Dugu Lie indeed understood, but it was impossible for them to give such assets worth hundreds of thousands of strings of cash directly to the court, so the family discussed and decided to sell one third of them to the court, and give the remaining 70% to the two imperial concubines, which was actually to Li Ye's family.

As for whether Li Ye should hand over everything to the court, that is none of their family's business.

(End of this chapter)