Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 223: Wu Mei, the Bold and Ambitious, and Cen Wenben, the Punished

Leizhou Prefecture, inside the Haikang Palace.

Li Yuanji was wearing ordinary plain clothes. The sisters Wu Mei and Wu Shun were arranging Li Yuanji's clothes, and then they looked at him again.

"It fits perfectly, my king. We did a good job, but it's a pity that the fabric is not that good. We will make another one for you with brocade later."

Wu Mei, with her lips bent like a crescent, jumped up and down in front of Li Yuanji.

Wu Shun also had a smile on his face, staring at Li Yuanji in front of him.

Li Yuanji touched the two girls' heads and said with a smile, "Haha, thank you for your hard work. This dress is very nice, but I think it's mainly because I have a good figure. Any dress fits me well. How about it, handsome, right?"

Wu Shun smiled even more happily, and said softly, "Your Majesty, you look good in anything you wear."

Wu Mei pouted and said, "My king, you are so shameless. It's obviously me and my sister who did a good job. We have been learning from Sister Wan for a month."

After Wu Mei finished speaking, she looked at Li Yuanji with her small eyes again, and the corners of her mouth suddenly curled up.

"But the king is indeed very handsome."

Li Yuanji burst into laughter when he heard this. He had never expected the changes in Wu Shun and Wu Mei's personalities. Wu Shun was gentle and considerate, and basically whatever he said was what mattered in Wu Shun's eyes.

And Wumei had never been severely beaten, and since she was favored by him, Yang Qingwan and Wei Gui, she was particularly lively and courageous.

Especially after Li Yuanji kissed her last time, she dared to confront him from time to time. Now Wu Mei makes it difficult for Li Yuanji to associate her with that Wu Zetian and Wu Kui.

"Haha, Mei'er has worked hard, Shun'er has worked hard too, this dress is very nice, what do you want, I can satisfy one of your conditions."

Li Yuanji looked at the two of them with a smile on his face, because he knew that they already had this idea.

Wu Shun just smiled, but Wu Mei turned her eyes and looked at Li Yuanji with longing on her face.

"My king, can you please take my sister and me in?"

Li Yuanji's smile froze instantly, and at this moment, he looked like a sculpture. What kind of vicious words had he heard?
After realizing what was happening, Li Yuanji's brain suddenly exploded.

"My king, it hurts~"

Wu Mei covered her forehead and looked at Li Yuanji with tears in her eyes. At the same time, she was a little stubborn, as if asking Li Yuanji why.

Li Yuanji felt a toothache when he saw this scene. How old is Wu Mei?
"Mei'er, how old are you? You are so young, and you think about these things all day long. Look at Shun'er, how well behaved he is."

Wu Mei didn't say anything, her eyes were still as stubborn, and the crystal in her eye sockets continued to gather.

Li Yuanji suddenly felt a headache, and then Wu Shun's soft yet strong voice came.

"Your Majesty, Shun'er wants to, too."

Li Yuanji was suddenly helpless. Looking at the expressions of the two men, he had no choice but to speak.

"Shun'er, Mei'er, don't think about anything else now. You are still young now. When you are older, I will go to discuss it with your father. Is that okay?"

What else could Li Yuanji do? These two people were basically doomed. Yang Qingwan and Wei Gui treated the two girls as their sisters, and they were sent to the palace at such a young age by Wu Shigui. Some things were already destined.

As for why Wu Mei asked this, it was just because she wanted to establish this status at such a young age. Although Wu Mei was young, she had a very smart brain.

Wu Mei suddenly became extremely happy and jumped up on the spot. The sparkle in her eyes disappeared instantly.

"Sister, the king agreed!"

The two of them jumped up while hugging each other. Even Wu Shun was driven crazy by Wu Mei at this time.

Li Yuanji was smiling beside them. After seeing the two hugging for a while, he slowly spoke.

"Since this is what you want, I'll leave first, okay?"

When Wu Mei and Wu Shun heard this, Wu Mei immediately held Li Yuanji's left hand and shook it continuously.

"My king, wait, this is my request, my sister hasn't said anything yet."

Wu Mei kept looking at Wu Shun. Wu Shun held Li Yuanji's right hand, looking shy, but still mustered up the courage and looked at Li Yuanji's face with a blushing face.

"Your Majesty, my sister and I also want to start a business. We want to share your worries like Sister Wan and Sister Wei did."

Li Yuanji looked at the two of them without any surprise. Yang Qingwan had already told him about this matter a long time ago, and Wu Mei and Wu Shun had obviously talked to Yang Qingwan about it a lot.

Today, Yang Qingwan and Wei Gui's clothing business can be said to be the largest clothing and fabric wholesaler in the entire Tang Dynasty, no, in the entire world. During this period, cloth, especially brocade, was actually considered a type of salary.

Even if it is just a reward, whether it is Li Yuan in the past or Li Er now, they will use brocade to reward their ministers from time to time, which shows how precious it is.

The problems with raw materials and production technology have been solved, which leads to large-scale sales. However, the prices of good brocades are generally very high, and they are mainly targeted at wealthy people. Some plain clothes and linen clothes are targeted at ordinary people, and their prices are very low.

The income from Yang Qingwan's clothing and textile business was no less than the profit from Li Yuanji's other commodities, and even exceeded the profits from several commodities, mainly because it was very popular.

Nowadays, there are clothing and textile shops in Lingnan, not to mention in all his fiefdoms. Even in the Tang Dynasty, there are already quite a few.

Yang Qingwan, the owner of Yifang, is also the largest taxpayer here under Li Yuanji. The commercial law revised by Li Yuanji includes commodity tax, but if the amount is large, it is accompanied by transaction tax.

This is also why commercial trade is most developed here. The commercial taxes are significantly different from those in the Tang Dynasty. Not only internal enterprises, but also those from outside have to pay these taxes. Moreover, there are relatively more external enterprises, unless those people are willing to develop businesses within his fiefdom.

This was also Li Yuanji's plan to retain money, allowing merchants from the Tang Dynasty and overseas to open businesses and shops here. The inflow of funds would increase, and it would also drive employment here, so there was this differentiated commercial tax.

This plan was also decided at the very beginning, because it was impossible to collect land tax and head tax here at the time, and he vigorously developed trade, which placed the focus of taxation on commerce.

As agriculture gradually developed, the population increased, and arable land continued to grow, his tax revenue also increased. This was why he could afford the financial and food expenses for such a large army.

Wu Mei and Wu Shun watched as Yang Qingwan filled the palace's inner treasury with supplies. When Li Yuanji was short of money and food, Yang Qingwan provided support to Li Yuanji through the inner treasury several times. As they had nothing to do, they also wanted to start a business to help Li Yuanji.

Especially Wu Mei, she wanted to start her own business and do it no worse than Yang Qingwan.

Although Wu Mei is young, she is also ambitious.

Li Yuanji looked at the two of them and immediately smiled.

"You two are really smart. I asked you to make one request, but you came up with two in different ways. Since you are young, I agreed to it. I have thought about this for a long time. Your sister Wan told me about it a long time ago, and I have been preparing for it.

Just wait for me here, and when I come back, you will know. "

Wu Mei and Wu Shun no longer pestered Li Yuanji. They both knew that Li Yuanji had important matters to attend to today. Now that Li Yuanji had agreed, they were both very excited.

"My king, don't lie to us, or we will tell Sister Wan and Sister Wei."

Seeing Wu Mei's threat, Li Yuanji was immediately amused.

"Haha, don't worry, I will definitely fix it for you when the time comes, but you have to think about how to run your business~"

After Li Yuanji finished speaking, he turned around and walked out.

Inside the main hall, Cen Benwen, dressed in plain clothes, sat there with a helpless and melancholy look on his face. Waiting helplessly, he stood up and paced back and forth, looked at the sky, and suddenly became even more worried.

However, he could only wait. Li Yuanji had not come out of the backyard for such a long time, and he did not dare to urge him. He was not an unmarried novice in this matter, and he knew it very well. How could he dare to urge him? He just hoped that Li Yuanji could hurry up.

It’s a pity that Cen Wenben really got it wrong this time.

After waiting for a while, Li Yuanji's voice finally came.

"Oh Jingren, sorry to have kept you waiting. Let's go now."

Li Yuanji walked into the main hall with a smile on his face, but looking at Cen Wenben's melancholy expression, he felt somewhat embarrassed.

After all, it was the time he had set yesterday, and Cen Benwen arrived early, but he was delayed for so long.

"Your Majesty, I have been waiting for a long time. I just hope that Your Majesty will keep his word in the future."

Li Yuanji was immediately shocked. He had already prepared for Cen Wenben to chatter on and on, but this was the result?

This time he delayed Cen Wenben for a lot of time. Now Cen Wenben has a lot of things to do. He didn't expect that Cen Wenben didn't even miss him. This made Li Yuanji secretly happy at that moment.

"Don't worry, Jingren, it won't happen again in the future. Let's go now."

Since Cen Wenben didn't nag him, Li Yuanji would be hoping that the matter would be over as soon as possible. After all, who wants to be nagged by others? Li Yuanji doesn't have this habit.

Li Yuanji took Cen Wenben out of the palace, followed by guards who had changed into casual clothes. Dozens of people marched towards the outside of the city in a mighty manner.

When Li Yuanji arrived at his destination, many people were already standing there. When they saw Li Yuanji coming, they all made way for him.

Li Yuanji hurried to the edge of the rice field.

This time, because the hybrid rice planted previously was about to be harvested, Li Yuanji was so excited that he specially called Cen Wenben to come and watch it together.

The reason why Cen Wenben waited so early was that he had high expectations for hybrid rice, because the corn had already proven itself before, and this time it was a new type of rice, so how could Cen Wenben not be happy.

Li Yuanji walked to the edge of the rice field, but his expression suddenly changed.

"Why is the water in the canal still flowing? Is the water truck still pumping water into the canal?"

At this time, a middle-aged man who was in charge of this rice field came to Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, the water in the canal has not yet been drained. I have arranged for people to cut off the water supply an hour ago."

Li Yuanji had a gloomy face, and his expression became even worse when he saw the shallow layer of water in the rice field.

"I have already told you that the rice fields you are specially looking after must be dewatered in advance. There cannot be so much water in the rice fields. Are you turning a deaf ear to my words?"

Li Yuanji looked very bad. To harvest hybrid rice, the rice fields had to be irrigated about ten days in advance and the rice could be harvested only after that.

However, Li Yuanji really did not expect that when it was time to harvest, the water supply had only been cut off for an hour.

"Cen Wenben, you are responsible for this matter. Anyone who is slacking off will be investigated and punished severely!"

How could Li Yuanji not be angry? Food is the foundation. He has suffered enough from food shortages, and if the population wants to grow, food is indispensable.

The amount of hybrid rice exchanged this time is not much, and it needs to be harvested and used as a reserve for next year's planting so that hybrid rice can be promoted as soon as possible to solve the problem of food shortage.

In the beginning, he paid a lot of contribution points for this hybrid rice, and to be able to continue planting it without reducing the yield in the future!
As soon as Li Yuanji finished speaking, the surrounding guards immediately took away all the people in charge and handed them over to the Ministry of Justice for accountability. Cen Wenben also responded with a solemn expression.

"Your Majesty, I have an unshirkable responsibility this time. Please punish me."

Cen Wenben did not shirk responsibility at all. He was directly responsible for this matter. If something went wrong, he had to take the responsibility.

Cen Wenben was also extremely angry in his heart. This matter was quite unfair to him. He had arranged everything as Li Yuanji had instructed, but he did not expect that the people who were carrying out the execution were so lazy.

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben solemnly. As for disappointment, Li Yuanji did not feel any such emotion. It was just an oversight. He would not be so disappointed.

"Punishment is inevitable, but the most important thing now is how to protect the harvest. Rearrange the people in this rice field and harvest it immediately after cutting off the water supply for seven days!"

After Li Yuanji finished speaking, he did not look at Cen Wenben again. Instead, he walked to the edge of the field, looked at the rice ears, pinched out some rice grains with his hands, took a rough look at the rice in his hands, and began to rub them with his hands.

After a while, he saw some crumbs in his hand. Looking at the remaining whole rice in his hand, Li Yuanji had an idea in his mind.

Those crumbs are empty rice grains, just empty husks with no rice inside.

What Li Yuanji wants to look at is the empty husk rate of rice. Now he grows hybrid rice, but without chemical fertilizers. He relies entirely on some farmyard manure, some methods he taught, and most importantly, fertile soil.

I had about thirty-six grains of rice in my hand just now, and now I have twenty-eight left, so the empty shell rate is still acceptable.

Li Yuanji then handed the rice in his hand to Cen Wenben, and randomly selected some rice ears for testing again. The empty shell rate was not high, and some were even lower than before.

Li Yuanji stood up contentedly and peeled another grain of rice. Looking at the crystal rice in his hand, Li Yuanji smiled knowingly.

"Jingren, look, this rice is much bigger than the rice grown before. One grain of rice is almost equivalent to two grains before, and the color is better."

The rice grown in the south is relatively long, while the rice grown in the north is relatively rounder. This is mostly the case because of the differences in light, soil and other factors between the south and the north. The rice in the south matures faster. For example, in Guangzhou Prefecture, it can be planted for two seasons.

(End of this chapter)