The Prodigal Son of Zhenguan

"It is a blessing for your majesty that the Tang Dynasty has a good minister like Wei Zheng. I should congratulate your majesty." Empress Changsun said.

Li Shimin sighed.

"With people like you around, it is impossible for me to be a bad emperor."

"That is because your majesty is wise, so you can attract these good ministers to your side." Empress Changsun smiled.

After being told by Empress Changsun, Li Shimin felt a little better.

After calming down, Li Shimin returned to the Liangyi Hall.

"You are all still here, that's good, so I don't have to send someone to call you." Li Shimin said.

Li Shimin walked to Wei Zheng.

"Wei Zheng, I did something wrong just now. I won't do this again in the future. You can say whatever you want to say in the future. I won't stop you anymore."

"Your majesty..." Wei Zheng bowed.

"Where were we talking just now?" Li Shimin turned back to his seat: "By the way, let's discuss how to fight the Turks on the grassland."

"Xuanling, you say."

Fang Xuanling bowed.

"Your Majesty, with our current national strength, it is very difficult to fight the Turks."

"Due to the drought this year, the harvest in Guanzhong cannot be counted on, so Your Majesty ordered all the grain in the treasury to be released. At present, it is not known when the grain supply in the treasury will be delivered, so it is not possible at present."

"Then there is the income of the treasury..."

"There are many places affected by the disaster. Not only does the court need to release grain supplies, but the court also grants tax exemptions within one or even three years..."

"In this way, the grain accumulated by the court each year is only about one million shi, and fighting the Turks requires at least 10 million shi."

"Once the war starts, 10 million shi may not be enough."

Li Shimin frowned.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Du Ruhui bowed.

"Your Majesty, there are two ways. One is to increase taxes, and the other is to increase the population. However, increasing the population is not enough to solve the problem. If taxes are increased, the burden on the people will be even heavier."

"However, Your Majesty, the court issued a new tea tax law at the beginning of the year. I estimate that this tax can add at least 100,000 guan of income to the national treasury in a year. If converted into grain, it is not a small amount."

But there are only so many people, and the cultivated land and the grain harvested every year are almost a fixed number.

If there is more money, you can buy grain, but there is always a limit to what you can buy.

This year, when there was a drought in Guanzhong, the strategy proposed by King Jingyang was to buy grain with money.

Such behavior is acceptable in a short period of time. Once it lasts for a long time, the grain prices in various places will soar. This is not a good thing. The court naturally cannot take the lead in doing so.

"But we still have to take it slowly." Du Ruhui said.

"According to you, there is no other way?" Li Shimin asked.

"Your Majesty, this is like a person who is sick and takes medicine every day and slowly gets better. The diseases of the world should also get better slowly."

Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng.

"Wei Zheng, don't you have anything to say?"

"Your Majesty, my point of view has just been made clear. The current national strength cannot afford it."

Li Shimin sighed and nodded slightly.

"What if all the food paid is military rations?"

"Your Majesty means that we all grow millet?"

"How about it?" Li Shimin asked.

"Your Majesty, all dynasties have encouraged agriculture and sericulture, but no one cultivated the land after the chaos. The new dynasty encourages agriculture and sericulture, so that the world can produce. This year's famine does not count. Even if it is a good year, if you want to accumulate national strength, you can't just plant millet. You see, this land has north and south, fields have water and drought, and are divided into good and alkaline. What is suitable to plant depends on the convenience of the people. On the contrary, the national strength will accumulate faster."

"So, all dynasties calculated the wealth of the world with money, not stones."

"Is that so..."

Li Shimin had a number in his mind, and he was eager to fight the Turks to prove his idea, so he could only put it aside.

In Da'an Palace, Li Fu and Li Yuan leaned on the chair.

Both of them drank a lot, and Li Fu did not play tricks this time.

In Da'an Palace, on the territory of the retired emperor, the retired emperor had the final say on drinking.

"My child, I see you have suffered a lot during your trip, right?" Li Yuan asked, with a bit of heartache in his eyes.

"My nephew will not suffer hardship wherever he goes, uncle, don't worry, it's just that the conditions outside are definitely not as good as at home. When I'm outside, I don't want to make trouble, I'll just make do with what I can get by, after all, I won't stay there for long, why bother to buy things, look, less than half a year later, my nephew is back in Chang'an again."

"You came back in such a hurry, is it because of the drought in Guanzhong, don't worryNot down?" Li Yuan asked.

Li Fu was honest and nodded.

"Yes, a little bit, but I felt bad when I saw the people living such a hard life outside. In addition, Cheng Qian wrote to me, so I came back. Cheng Qian is a good boy. Although he is young, he has things on his mind. However, I really don't want to see Cheng Qian like this."

"Why?" Li Yuan asked: "I think there is nothing wrong. Cheng Qian is the prince and will be the emperor in the future. He has been concerned about the world and the people since he was a child. This shows that he has a compassionate heart and can do better in governing in the future."

"At his age, these things are too heavy for him." Li Fu said: "We should always consider that he is still a child now. It is not the time to worry about such things. It is not a good thing to always tell a child how miserable the people in the world live. It puts too much psychological burden on the child. Isn't it good to let the child live a comfortable life for a few years while he is still young? "

Li Yuan smiled and shook his head.

"Didn't I also go through the same thing when I was Cheng Qian's age?"

"At that time, our Li family was not a royal family, so it was different." Li Fu said, "Uncle, we can't let the next generation live the hard life we ​​have, right? Then what is the purpose of our diligent efforts to build a family business? Perhaps my nephew is short-sighted and doesn't look at the long-term from the perspective of the family, but I feel that Cheng Qian is under too much pressure now."

Li Yuan sighed.

It's not that he didn't know, but being an emperor has the responsibilities of an emperor, and being a prince has the responsibilities of a prince.

If the prince is not too outstanding, it will give his other brothers the opportunity to covet him.

Who wants to see such a tragedy again?

"My nephew doesn't know what to do, so I try my best to do everything I can. At least, Cheng Qian won't be too sad, and my second brother can be more relaxed." Li Fu said.