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

Chapter 226 Cen Wenben's death remonstrance, Li Yuanji's gift of money

Cen Wenben's breathing became a little rapid. He just stared at Li Yuanji with wide eyes, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

Cen Wenben was confused at this moment. What happened to Li Yuanji? Why did he want to send money to the Tang Dynasty? Did he feel that the Tang Dynasty was having a hard time and wanted to help Li Shimin relieve the pressure? Didn't Li Yuanji know what kind of relationship they had with Li Shimin now?

Cen Wenben repeatedly reminded himself that there must be a hidden meaning behind Li Yuanji's actions and he needed to calm down. However, no matter how Cen Wenben comforted himself, he could not calm down.

What Li Yuanji said was really too shocking. He thought that Li Yuanji had prepared so many copper coins for a great use, but he did not expect that it would be used in this way.

Li Yuanji just watched quietly. He noticed the changes in Cen Wenben's expression, but he did not explain. He knew even more clearly that at this moment, Cen Wenben's heart was extremely restless, even complicated, angry and disappointed.

Li Yuanji did not blame Cen Wenben at all, because they did not know that money has another use. Using money is also a science. If used well, it can directly cause the collapse of the Tang Dynasty. If used poorly, it would be really giving money to the Tang Dynasty.

His gift of money was not just a literal gift. In order to give this money to Li Er, he had made a lot of preparations. Even now, the follow-up plans were being intensively prepared.

After a long time, Cen Wenben seemed to have calmed down the emotions in his heart. Li Yuanji saw disappointment, anger, and determination in Cen Wenben's eyes.

Cen Wenben was full of determination and looked at Li Yuanji solemnly. He crossed his hands and clasped them in front of his chest. As he bent down, he stretched his hands outwards parallel to his head and then stood up.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, I cannot do this!"

Cen Wenben's eyes were calm, without any ripples, as he just stared straight at Li Yuanji, as if he didn't care at all about how Li Yuanji would punish him.

Li Yuanji also looked at Cen Wenben. At this moment, he saw a murderous intent in Cen Wenben. Li Yuanji knew very well that this time, Cen Wenben might die to advise him.

The character of the scholar-official is about to be demonstrated on Cen Wenben. Although he knows that he will die, Cen Wenben still does not hesitate at all.

Li Yuanji finally understood the hardships of being an emperor. Although those upright scholars and officials did care about him, that was just what they thought. They kept making desperate appeals, and the emperor was sometimes helpless.

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben without a smile, only solemnity. Such character is always admirable, because there are not many people who can really do it, it can be said that there are very few.

Cen Wenben paused for a moment, as if waiting for Li Yuanji's response, but unfortunately, he did not hear Li Yuanji's response and immediately spoke again.

"Your Majesty, you know that this move is too absurd. Does Your Majesty still have unrealistic fantasies about Li Shimin?
Your Majesty should know that now you and Li Shimin have no way out for each other. If Li Shimin recovers his strength, he will definitely wage a war of unification against you. Lingnan is not only the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but more importantly, it is you, Your Majesty!

As long as Your Majesty exists, Li Shimin will never feel at ease sitting on the throne of the emperor. He will be worried all the time. Your Majesty, please raise your arms, unite with the Crown Prince to unite the remaining forces, and work together with the retired emperor in the palace to raise an army to support the king!

There will be no end unless the king is completely destroyed, or the king follows in the footsteps of Crown Prince Jiancheng, or Li Shimin is able to control everything about the king. "

Cen Wenben spoke passionately, and was full of disappointment with Li Yuanji.

"Now the Tang Dynasty is facing the Turks, Tuyuhun and the king's covetous presence. There are natural disasters at home. The remaining forces of Crown Prince Jiancheng have risen up in rebellion. In addition, the Tang Dynasty is facing a shortage of money and grain. All parts of the Tang Dynasty are in urgent need of governance.

The people are living in misery and there are so many displaced people. If the imperial court is unable to provide them with resettlement, the Tang Dynasty will be in chaos again.

Now is a difficult time for Li Shimin. It will take at least two years, or about three years, for him to gradually secure that position.

However, the king wanted to give Li Shimin so much money. With these 6.6 million strings of money, Li Shimin would not need three years. He only needed to wait for the harvest after the spring plowing in the second year to overcome this difficulty.

Once Li Shimin becomes strong, he will certainly use his military force against you. Your Majesty is aiding the enemy! You are using the money we have earned from the trade we have developed for many years and vigorously promoted to destroy yourself with your own money!"

Cen Wenben felt heartbroken, his eyes were red, and his voice was so loud that it seemed as if he was trying to make Li Yuanji return to the right path.

"Your Majesty, Li Shimin needs time now, and we also need time to develop. After two or three years, the newly conquered territories, Xizhou, Taizhou, Wuzhou, Zhenzhou, Yunzhou, Xifuzhou, Luzhou, Songzhou, as well as Waguo and Tubo, will be able to give back to Your Majesty and enhance Your Majesty's strength.

By then, the people's livelihood in the Tang Dynasty will have begun to recover, but it will only be a preliminary recovery. It will still take time to develop. By then, the king's various fiefdoms will be integrated, and he will have hundreds of thousands of troops distributed on the east, west, and south sides of the Tang Dynasty. The one who will be unable to sleep or eat at that time will be Li Shimin!
By then, the king will not be afraid of the Tang Dynasty at all. Even if Li Shimin develops the Tang Dynasty, how can he, Li Shimin, dare to act rashly with the king's strength at that time? "

The more Cen Wenben spoke, the more excited he became, and his saliva had already flown onto Li Yuanji's face, but Li Yuanji didn't care at all.

Cen Wenben's voice was still heard: "By then, the east, west, and south sides of the Great Tang will all be surrounded by the king's fiefdom. If the Great Tang wants to develop, it can only develop to the north, northwest, which is the Western Turks, and northeast, which is Goguryeo.

But if the Tang Dynasty could develop, why can't the king do the same? By then, with sufficient soldiers and food, the Tang Dynasty will be completely locked down. At that time, the offensive and defensive situation will be reversed, and the king will create a unique Tang Dynasty with a vast territory!
No matter whether it was the Qin Emperor or Han Wudi, no matter which emperor was there, no one could surpass the King. The King's great achievements are unprecedented and will never be surpassed. They will surely be remembered by the world and passed down for thousands of years.

Now, if we give this money to Li Shimin, everything will be over!
As the king's minister, I should share the king's worries. Today, I am making a dying appeal, asking the king to revoke his order!"

Cen Wenben crossed his hands again, bowed and saluted, then looked at Li Yuanji calmly.

In fact, many of Cen Wenben's words were inspired by Li Yuanji. For example, many of his ideas about surrounding the Tang Dynasty with fiefdoms were inspired by Li Yuanji.

He was willing to follow Li Yuanji forever, not only because of Li Yuan's order, but also because of his recognition of Li Yuanji. Now, except for Lingnan, none of Li Yuanji's fiefdoms belonged to the Tang Dynasty. All of them were conquered by Li Yuanji himself.

Even in Lingnan, the original Feng Ang, Tan Dian, as well as the Chen and Ning families in Lingnan, all obeyed orders and not announcements, which was like a country within a country.

All these changes were made by Li Yuanji single-handedly after his arrival, leading to the current situation.

Although Li Yuanji and Li Er were enemies of each other, in the eyes of the countries surrounding the Tang Dynasty, the current territory of the Tang Dynasty was the addition of Li Yuanji's fiefdom. Today, the territory of the Tang Dynasty is very large.

The territories that the Tang Dynasty expanded were all conquered by Li Yuanji himself! If the Tang Dynasty's territory was half of what Li Shimin conquered, then the territory that Li Yuanji expanded was no less than that of Li Shimin. Moreover, Li Yuanji expanded outward, so his achievements should be higher than those of Li Er.

This is also what Li Er is worried about now. Li Yuanji's reputation in the Tang Dynasty is also not low.

Now, in the entire Tang Dynasty, no one continues to look at Li Yuanji in the same way as when he was still in Chang'an. Now, when everyone looks at Li Yuanji, they will only feel shocked.

Because Li Yuanji did so many things in just three years that completely overturned the cognition of most people.

Even though Li Yuanji and Li Er are enemies now, there are still people who approach Li Yuanji because everyone can see that Li Yuanji is not without a chance.

But now Li Yuanji wants to give money to Li Er? Want to ease the relationship with Li Er? How is it possible!

Li Yuanji listened quietly. He listened carefully to every word of Cen Wenben and did not interrupt him. Even after listening to the end, he still did not change his expression at all.

He had anticipated this scene, because he was the one who spoke, so he only said the first half. If Cen Wenben didn't get anxious, then there would be real problems.

Li Yuanji himself was actually a little surprised by what Cen Wenben said. He did not expect that Cen Wenben believed in him more than he did. Although he had a strategic plan, it was not as clear as Cen Wenben's.

Only then did Li Yuanji realize why the top talent was the top talent. His purpose could be seen from some of his arrangements and clues.

In other words, what he is going to do now is somewhat beyond Cen Wenben's cognition. That's why Cen Wenben does this because he would never think in that direction. That direction touches his blind spot.

Looking at Cen Wenben who had calmed down at this moment, Li Yuanji poured a cup of tea, came downstairs and sat in front of Cen Wenben.

"Jingren, why are you so angry? I haven't finished what I want to say. I'm thirsty after talking so much. Come and have a cup of tea to moisten your throat."

Seeing Li Yuanji smiling, Cen Wenben suddenly felt a toothache. He was speaking with great emotion here. Did Li Yuanji have no emotion at all? How could he still smile?
Cen Wenben also let go, sat down on the chair, picked up the tea that Li Yuanji had poured, and drank it directly. All the etiquette and self-restraint were gone at this moment. As for thanking? What was there to thank? The matter was not over yet.

Seeing this, Li Yuanji smiled even more widely. Seeing that Cen Wenben's face was getting darker and darker, Li Yuanji stopped being naughty.

"Jingren, I know everything you said, but you're overthinking about giving money to Li Er to help him through his current difficulties.

These nearly seven million strings of money, including the money that will be gradually minted later, should reach about eight million strings of money. Do you really think I will give it to Li Er like this?
When did you see me? Why did you become so stupid? And what kind of person am I? Haven't you figured it out after so long?"

Cen Benwen nodded after listening for a while, but suddenly he realized something and his face turned serious.

As for the deeper meaning behind Li Yuanji's actions, Cen Wenben pondered for a while but still had no clue. He looked at Li Yuanji with suspicion.

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben's expression and immediately understood. He realized that Cen Wenben still didn't believe him and thought he was lying to him.

Li Yuanji smiled and said, "Jingren, what do you think is the most basic and indispensable thing in a person's life?"

Cen Wenben frowned in thought, and Li Yuanji's voice came again.

“Perhaps you will think that there are many things, but for the vast majority of ordinary people in the world, these are food, clothing, housing and transportation. In fact, not only ordinary people, but everyone cannot do without these things.

Of all the things we need for food, clothing, shelter and transportation, the most important thing at the moment is food, that is, what we eat to fill our stomachs.”

Cen Wenben was silent. He could not find any words to refute what Li Yuanji said. These were indeed what everyone needed, especially food. Filling the stomach was the most basic and most important thing.

Cen Wenben suddenly became interested. Although he didn't know what Li Yuanji's purpose was, he really wanted to know at this moment.

Looking at Cen Wenben's expectant eyes, Li Yuanji smiled.

"This time, we'll let Jingren take all the money to the Tang Dynasty to buy food. Now is the autumn harvest time, and the granary of the Tang Dynasty is in the harvest season. What we're buying this time is food!

The purpose of purchasing grain this time is to purchase at least half of the grain in the entire Tang Dynasty, not all of it. Of course, the more the better. If it is not possible to buy grain at a fair price, then a premium will be used. Anyway, the initial nearly 7 million strings of money and the more than one million coins minted later will all be used to purchase grain in the Tang Dynasty.

By then, these eight million strings of cash will be scattered throughout the Tang Dynasty, and everyone will be rich. However, there will be no food in the Tang Dynasty, and the remaining food for most people will not be enough to last until the autumn harvest next year.

Even if you have money, but no food, and even if you have money, you can't buy food, then what's the use of the money?"

Li Yuanji had a playful look on his face, as if he was expecting something.

Cen Wenben was shocked when he heard the last part, especially Li Yuanji's last sentence, that there was money but no food, and that even if he had money he could not buy food.

Cen Wenben was really shocked by Li Yuanji's words. A scene like that had already appeared in his mind: everyone had money, but they could not buy food at all. Even if they had millions of gold, they would still starve to death without food. What was the use of having so much money then?

Thinking of this, Cen Wenben's back was already wet with sweat. He couldn't imagine what a tragic scene it would be if such a scene really appeared.

By then, the remaining grain in the Tang Dynasty will inevitably be in the hands of a small number of people. The grain of the imperial court has already been exchanged for money, and there will not be much money and grain left. By then, even a large army will find it difficult to afford it.

Thinking of this, Cen Wenben shuddered all over, his eyes filled with fear.

(End of this chapter)