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

Chapter 250 Li Er's shock, unacceptable result

Chang'an, Li Er has been very sad recently.

"What is the current price of grain?"

Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others below heard Li Er's voice, and Fang Xuanling immediately stood up.

“Your Majesty, the price of grain has reached eighty coins, and it is still rising.

The Guanlong region has suffered a severe drought, and the grain harvest around Chang'an has been greatly affected. This year's autumn harvest may not be satisfactory."

Changsun Wuji and others were helpless. Almost all the money and grain in the Chang'an treasury had been emptied and given to Jie Li. The food they had now was obtained through continuous trade with neighboring countries, as well as a part of the money provided by the previous families.

The money and grain in the southern treasury could not be mobilized. In order to support Li Ji's army in the war against Japan, all the money and grain in the southern treasury were mobilized.

Li Er felt helpless and angry when he heard this.

Unfortunately, the drought was beyond human control and he had no way to do anything about it.

What made people angry were the powerful families and grain merchants who kept raising grain prices during this period in an attempt to make a fortune.

But Li Er didn’t know that there would be another big disaster waiting for him in the spring of next year.

"The food problem must be solved as soon as possible. The price is too high and ordinary people can't afford it. Do you have any solution?"

Li Er was very clear about the price issue. If he allowed those people to do this, countless people in the vicinity of Chang'an and Guanlong areas would starve to death. In the past, he didn't have to worry about it, after all, he was the King of Qin. However, now, he had to take up these issues.

"Your Majesty, the country now has a lot of silver in reserve. We can buy grain from Lingnan to alleviate this difficulty."

When Fang Xuanling's voice was heard, Changsun Wuji stood up and vetoed it directly.

“This is a difficult matter. Lingnan does not sell large amounts of grain. Only a small portion is used to meet the needs of the people, and no merchants are planning to take Lingnan’s grain.

If we go to buy them, our intentions will be too obvious and we will be easily identified, and we won’t get much food.”

After Changsun Wuji finished speaking, he looked at Li Er.

"Your Majesty, at this moment, only the noble families and grain merchants have grain. Your Majesty can pay a small price and let the noble families suppress the grain price while providing some grain to tide us over this difficulty."

Li Er already had a guess in his mind about what Changsun Wuji was going to say, but he had no other choice now. He had to let Changsun Wuji continue speaking. He couldn't say this idea out loud himself.

"What can you do? Tell me in detail."

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji immediately said respectfully: "Your Majesty, there are many vacancies in the court now, and officials are urgently needed. There are many virtuous people among the noble families, which is just the right opportunity to hire people.

Moreover, most of the Yang and Wei families have already started to migrate to Lingnan. This move can also stabilize the people of each clan, killing two birds with one stone. "

Chang Sun Wuji's words sounded high-sounding, but his meaning was also very clear, which was to make an exchange with the aristocratic families, by letting their people come to power and thus let the aristocratic families provide food. Which positions in the court each family could get depended on which family had the highest sincerity.

Although Li Er found it harsh, he had no choice because even if he didn't do this, these positions would eventually belong to people from various families because the knowledge was in their hands.

It's just that now these official positions are being used to cause conflicts among the various families. Although there were conflicts in the past, they were all restricted. Once this loophole is opened, those families will inevitably go crazy. After all, which family doesn't want a louder voice in the court?

Although this method was still beneficial to him, he could sit back and enjoy the benefits and still get a lot of money and food, but it was ultimately a passive choice, and Li Er was still unhappy.

At this time Fang Xuanling also stood up again.

“Your Majesty, I second your proposal, but in the meantime, we can also use the stored silver to start business with Lingnan.

The currency used in Lingnan is silver, which will not have a big impact on the Tang Dynasty. When the profits are earned, part of it will be exchanged for copper coins, and the increased money can also be used to develop people's livelihood. Through Lingnan's commerce, it will drive the recovery of people's livelihood in the Tang Dynasty. "

Li Er nodded in his heart. Now merchants from all over the world were gathering in Lingnan, and he was not going to miss it. Others could make money, so why couldn't he?

He had almost sent people to figure out the Lingnan model, but Li Er was helpless because he had no way to copy it.

Not to mention the products, he did not master the craftsmanship, so even if people tried to imitate them, it is impossible now.

As for commercial taxes, he could only watch and envy them, but now he had no way to implement them because commercial taxes would harm the interests of the aristocratic families. If he did what Li Yuanji did, these aristocratic families would probably rebel against him, and then he would be truly alone.

The emperor also needs support. If he has no supporters behind him, he is not an emperor.

Nowadays, many of his civil and military officials are involved in doing business with Lingnan, but Li Er has no way to stop them. What's wrong if others want to make some money?

After a moment, Li Er looked at the two of them.

"Fuji, you will be in charge of the food, and Xuanling, you will be in charge of the business with Lingnan. That's it."

After Li Er finished speaking, he looked at Changsun Wuji again.

"Have the people sent to Lingnan gained anything so far?"

Zhang Sun Wuji was helpless for a while, and said bitterly: "Your Majesty, the people we sent cannot contact the core people for those crafts and technologies, and it is understood that the people inside are extremely loyal to King Qi.

With the conditions we have given so far, I am afraid it will be difficult to persuade those people to come.”

Li Er's face was heavy, and then he looked at Changsun Wuji resolutely.

"Please inform everyone about this matter. If someone can be persuaded to return to the Tang Dynasty, this person will be given a title, at least to the rank of county baron!
As for people from Lingnan, as long as they bring their craftsmanship and technology to the Tang Dynasty, they will be directly granted the title of marquis!"

Li Er was determined this time. He had long been coveting the development of Li Yuanji, especially the various commodities and technological techniques.

What Changsun Wuji was asked to do was to contact those people. He wanted to poach Li Yuanji's people. In Li Er's view, as long as he brought those people back, he could also do all that Li Yuanji had now. What could Li Yuanji use to fight him then?

As for the lack of progress now, he was not angry. Li Yuanji valued these people very much and kept a close watch on them. This seemed normal to Li Er. If he were in their place, he would do the same.

But Li Er didn't believe it. As long as he did it, there would be opportunities to contact those people. As long as he contacted them, he was confident that he could persuade many people to come. After all, that was a title of nobility, a great event that brought honor to the family, and would directly allow one to step into the top class of this era.

It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a rapid rise to heaven.

As for giving the people who were sent out the title of county baron after they succeeded, it was just to mobilize the enthusiasm of these people and let them think of ways and use any means to get close to Li Yuanji's technical talents, so that they would have a chance to bring people back to the Tang Dynasty.

Although Li Er didn't know the saying "You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb", he still understood the principle.

Just as Changsun Wuji agreed, Li Junxian hurried in. "Your Majesty, urgent news from Japan!"

Li Er was delighted when he heard this. In his opinion, the outcome of the battle had been decided on the Japanese side.

As for whether Li Ji would be defeated?

Li Er had never thought about it this way. He was very clear about Li Ji's abilities.

Li Er couldn't wait to open the urgent report, but after reading it, his face turned gloomy and he looked like a volcano about to erupt.

Li Er was stunned for a long time. He still couldn't believe that what was said in the urgent report was true.

After a while, Li Er slammed his right palm heavily on the desk. The loud noise made Changsun Wuji and others feel heavy in their hearts.

Looking at Li Er's expression, they knew that it would not be good news, but Li Er's anger now made them realize that things might be more serious than they thought.

After all, he was a man who had experienced many ups and downs. After a while, Li Er's mood gradually calmed down and he looked at Li Junxian.

"Go and bring up the box that came with this urgent message!"

After Li Junxian went down, Li Er immediately looked at Changsun Wuji and others.

"In the Japanese battlefield, Li Ji was defeated and fled back with Zhijie, but Zhang Gongjin did not withdraw and was captured.

Out of an army of 50,000, only less than 20,000 managed to escape. This battle was a great defeat, a tragic one!"

The pupils of Changsun Wuji and others shrank, and they looked at Li Er in disbelief. They were unable to accept it for a moment. They had imagined that Li Ji would be defeated, but they had never thought that it would be such a big defeat.

It was precisely because they all knew Li Ji's abilities and everyone had great confidence in Li Ji that they did not stop Li Er when he wanted to gamble with Li Yuanji.

Because through this battle, not only can Li Er's position be consolidated, but also Li Yuanji's development can be blocked and suppressed, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

For this purpose, Cheng Yaojin and Zhang Gongjin were sent together with Li Ji to ensure that nothing could go wrong.

When they knew that Li Yuanji had sent Su Dingfang, Liu Rengui, Xue Wanche, and the unknown Yu Minghe, they were all confident of victory. But now Li Er told them that they had lost? Or a big defeat?

They were all a little dazed for a moment, and then they couldn't understand it anymore. Is Li Yuanji so powerful?
Li Er then showed the urgent report to several people. After reading it, they quickly noticed the key words: armor and weapons.

Zhang Sun Wuji and his companions could not believe it for a moment. Were the armor and weapons of Li Yuanji's army so advanced? Were their weapons so backward?
Several people looked at Li Er in shock. Li Er spoke immediately upon seeing this.

"As you can see, that's it. As for the details, Li Ji has sent two sets of Qi King's military equipment by express horse, along with the urgent report. You will know soon."

At this time Du Ruhui stood up solemnly.

"Your Majesty, please send someone to deliver an urgent report to Niu Jinda immediately. Make sure Niu Jinda pays attention to the armor and weapons of the Qi army. Don't let the incident in Japan happen again in Tubo!"

Li Er's mind was shocked and he immediately sent someone to deliver an urgent report to Niu Jinda.

He already knew about Li Yuanji's expedition to Tubo. Now that he had already failed in Japan, he didn't want to fail again with Niu Jinda.

After a while, Li Junxian had someone carry two boxes into the hall, and at Li Er's signal, he immediately opened the boxes.

Inside the box were two complete sets of armor and weapons that Li Ji had obtained.

Li Er looked at it, but couldn't see any difference from the outside. Then Li Er stretched out his hand to take out the armor. The moment he held it in his hand, Li Er felt that the armor was heavier. It was at least thirty kilograms heavier than what the Tang army was wearing now.

In addition to the weight, Li Er also felt that the hardness in his hand was harder than the armor of the current Tang army.

Li Er frowned and looked at it, then put the armor on the ground.

Changsun Wuji and others looked at the armor, felt it with their hands, but could not see any obvious difference, and frowned.

"Your Majesty, this armor cannot be seen with the naked eye. We need someone to try it out."

Listening to Du Ruhui's words, Li Er nodded and then looked at Li Junxian.

"Draw your sword and chop this armor."

Li Junxian came to the armor without hesitation, drew the big knife from his waist, and chopped at the armor with force.

Li Er watched intently, and after Li Junxian chopped, he immediately looked at the armor and his pupils suddenly shrank.

The armor was intact. Li Er came closer and saw that there was only a knife mark on the armor. Li Junxian's attack could not penetrate the armor at all.

Then Li Er came to Li Junxian and took the big knife from Li Junxian's hand. After a careful look, he found that the sharpness of the blade had obviously weakened, the blade was slightly curled, and there were even some small gaps. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't see it at all.

Li Er felt even more heavy-hearted. At this time, he could understand why Li Ji was defeated. Su Dingfang had such a magical weapon and such armor, but Li Ji was still able to defeat him so well. In Li Er's opinion, Li Ji's defeat was an honor.

If the armor and weapons were the same, it would definitely be Li Yuanji who was defeated in Japan this time, not him.

Li Er felt heavy-hearted. As the owner of this armor, Li Yuanji couldn't think of how to fight for a moment. He couldn't even break through the defense when standing and being hacked. How could he fight this battle?
Then he looked at the weapon in the box, which was a long knife. Li Er immediately asked Li Junxian to pick it up and asked them to take out their own weapons to fight.

Then, as expected, the broadswords equipped by his army did not break, but a gap appeared on the blade. Li Er signaled to continue, and after five chops, the broadsword broke directly.

Li Er immediately checked the big knife he took out of the wooden box, but found that there was nothing wrong with the knife, not even a bent blade or a small crack.

Li Er felt a chill in his heart when he saw this scene. He could already imagine the scene where his army would meet Li Yuanji's army on the battlefield and be massacred.

Not only Li Er, but also Changsun Wuji and others felt their eyelids twitching, their eyes widened, and their throats became a little dry when watching this scene.

They never thought that Li Yuanji's army was equipped with such armor and weapons.

The hall was extremely quiet for a while, with only the sound of heavy breathing. No one could recover from the scenes just now. The shock to them was really too great.

After a long time, Li Er was the first to come back to his senses and looked at Changsun Wuji.

"This matter must be done well. Find out the manufacturing process of these weapons for me at all costs!

If anyone is willing to bring his craftsmanship to the Tang Dynasty, I will make him a duke!"

(End of this chapter)