My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 284: Prince Jin is still a child
Wu Zhao nodded slightly, her eyes sparkling with wisdom, and said, "That's right. The prince opened a textile factory in Luoyang, developed new textile machines, and planted a large amount of cotton to make cotton cloth."

"This may seem like a matter of people's livelihood, but it actually has hidden meanings. Once successful, all the people will be able to wear new clothes. Such an achievement will be enough to make the prince's reputation soar to the sky."

"Prince Jin, have you ever thought about the pros and cons of this?"

Li Zhi frowned slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "I understand that this is the prince's move to win the hearts of the people, but what does this have to do with us?"

For Li Zhi now, in his heart, he has already joined the fight for the throne.

Therefore, both the King of Wei and the Crown Prince were his enemies.

Wu Zhao raised her lips slightly: "Prince Jin, this is very relevant. The situation in the court is very delicate now, and all parties are competing secretly. The prince has the Thunderbolt in his hand, and he has made great efforts to improve people's livelihood, so he has already gained a lot of advantages."

"But if we can make some progress in this textile business, it will not only weaken the prince's influence on people's livelihood, but also show your majesty your ability to govern the country and your concern for the people."

Wu Zetian patiently guided Li Zhi, allowing him to go further and further on the road to succession to the throne.

"This is our chance."

Li Zhi was a little confused, scratched his head, and asked, "But how should we do it specifically?"

"This is a textile factory. It is said that the profits it generates are even higher than those of a coal mine."

"The prince won't let go easily."

"Why would you give it to me?"

When Wu Zetian heard this, she tapped Li Zhi's forehead with her finger and said, "Idiot."

"Do you think the prince is really after money?"

Li Zhi still didn't understand: "Isn't it?"

He also analyzed: "Father took away the prince's coal factory. The prince must be very unwilling, but in the current situation, he can't forcibly take the coal factory back and turn against father."

"So I thought of the textile factory and used the profits from the textile factory to make up for the loss of the coal factory."

“He’s doing this for…”

Having said this, Li Zhi stopped talking.

The meaning is very clear. What does the prince need so much money for? Of course, he wants to recruit soldiers, expand the armaments, and fight his father to the death.

It's not just him who's so fast, everyone thinks so.

Wu Zhao sighed in her heart.

If she had no choice, she really didn't want to be an enemy of the prince.

But now, they are already standing on the opposing position.

Sometimes Wu Zetian didn't understand why the prince did this.

Given the prince's current situation, he could clearly inherit the throne safely, but he chose to be an enemy of His Majesty and the aristocratic families.

But in her heart, Wu Zhao admired the prince's behavior very much.

She even thought that if one day she was in power, she would do the same.

"The prince is not doing this for money."

Wu Zhao's tone was very affirmative.

Li Zhi was puzzled: "If it's not for money, what else could it be?"

Wu Zetian sighed: "The prince is doing this for the people and for the Tang Dynasty."

It feels a little ridiculous to say this.

But it's true.

Others may not understand, but Wu Zhao does.

Because she had thought so at the beginning.

Feel the same.

Li Zhi was silent for a while.

I don’t know how to deal with this problem.

From this perspective, it seems that the prince is the gentleman, and he is the villain.

Li Zhi naturally didn't want to be a villain.

Wu Zhao keenly sensed Li Zhi's mood change and hurried to comfort him, "The prince is taking advantage of the situation and his merits to prevent Your Majesty from doing anything."

Li Zhi nodded reluctantly, agreeing with this statement.

"Then what should we do?"

Wu Zhao slowly sat up straight, folded her hands gently in front of her, and said slowly: "The Crown Prince promoted cotton planting and established a textile factory in Luoyang. Why can't we do the same in Chang'an?"

"Chang'an is the capital of the Tang Dynasty, with a large population and huge demand. If we can build a textile factory in Chang'an and promote cotton cloth, the number of people who will benefit will be very considerable."

"And it will also promote the economic development of Chang'an and increase the tax revenue of the court."

"Prince Jin, this is a win-win situation. This way, you can show your ability and responsibility in front of your father and win more support for yourself."

"We only need Prince Jin to report this to His Majesty. His Majesty is already interested and will naturally agree."

Li Zhi subconsciously asked, "The prince's side."

He stopped talking before he finished.

If, as Wu Meiniang said, the prince was not opening a textile factory and promoting cotton planting for the sake of money, then he would agree to open a textile factory in Chang'an as well.

"What should I say?"

After a brief pause, Li Zhi asked.

A sly light flashed in Wu Zhao's eyes: "This is not difficult."

“You can propose to His Majesty that a textile factory be established in Chang’an to benefit the people.”

"Your Majesty is wise and will definitely weigh the pros and cons."

"Now that Datang is in the process of development, people's livelihood is the top priority."

"Your Majesty is well aware of the importance of the textile factory to the people of Chang'an and even the entire Tang Dynasty. If Your Majesty agrees, the Prince of Jin can recommend himself to Luoyang to meet the Crown Prince."

"In this case, the credit will naturally fall on King Jin."

Li Zhi shrank his neck and said, "Should I go to Luoyang to meet the prince?"

He wasn't afraid before, but now he is a little afraid.

Guilty.

Wu Zhao said: "Prince Jin, don't worry. The Crown Prince is proud and arrogant, so he will not embarrass you, his brother."

Li Zhi pondered for a moment and felt that what Mei Niang said made sense.

Putting aside his intention to seize the throne, the relationship between him and the prince is still very good.

Now is not the time for him to get involved, and he has not done anything unworthy of being the Crown Prince.

So there is no need to worry about anything.
-

The next day.

The sun was shining brightly, and golden light sprinkled on every corner of the palace.

Li Zhi arrived at the palace early and waited for the meeting between the emperor and his ministers to end.

Soon, the eunuch Zhang Ananda came over.

"Prince Jin, His Majesty summons you."

Li Zhi followed the eunuch Zhang Ananda in.

inside the house.

I saw my father sitting on the dragon throne, looking at the memorials on the table.

"Meet my father."

"No gift."

Li Shimin was somewhat puzzled: "Why did Zhinu come again today? Is there something wrong?"

Li Zhi felt a little bitter.

As a son, can't he see his father just because there is nothing wrong?

In the past two years, since becoming the General of the Jinwu Guard, Li Zhi has been able to see his father frequently.

But two years have passed, and my father has always been gentle to me, but there is nothing else.

Li Zhi also knew what was in his father's heart.

In the front row are the King of Wei and the Crown Prince.

Although he was also respected, he was far inferior to the King of Wei and the Crown Prince. "Father, it's about the textile factory."

Li Shimin was immediately interested when he heard this and asked, "Oh, what do you think of the textile factory?"

Li Zhi tried his best to keep his voice steady: "Father, I recently heard that my elder brother opened a textile factory in Luoyang, developed a new textile machine, and planted a large amount of cotton to make cotton cloth."

"Zhi Nu believes that this is a good thing that will benefit the people. As the capital of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an has a dense population and a huge demand for cloth, so this move can also be followed.

"This will not only allow the people to wear cheap new clothes, but will also boost Chang'an's economic prosperity and increase the court's tax revenue, which is truly a move that benefits the country and the people."

While speaking, Li Zhi secretly observed his father's expression.

After hearing this, Li Shimin frowned slightly, and a hint of thought flashed in his eyes.

Although this move was originally intended to benefit the people, it could not avoid the suspicion of competing for credit with the prince.

You know, the prince has said that the textile factory will not make less profit than the coal factory.

Although Li Shimin did not think so, he knew that if it was true as the prince said, the money earned would definitely not be a small amount.

But will the prince agree to such a good thing?

While thinking, Li Shimin looked at Li Zhi.

At this moment, Li Zhi's face was full of seriousness.

This made Li Shimin think that Prince of Jin was going to seize the prince's textile factory.

After all, it is meaningless to King Jin.

Therefore, the King of Jin really cared about the people of Chang'an and even the people of the Tang Dynasty.

After thinking for a while, Li Shimin slowly said: "Zhi Nu, I have also heard what you said."

“It’s just that setting up this textile factory is not an easy task.”

"It not only requires a lot of manpower and material resources, but also the most critical textile machines."

"Now all of this is in the hands of the prince. Do you have any solution?"

"Besides, if this matter is not handled properly, it may cause conflicts between you brothers. Have you ever thought about this?"

Li Shimin almost said it directly that this matter had nothing to do with him.

In fact, Li Shimin had thought about setting up a textile factory in Chang'an, but he was worried that the prince would not agree.

They have already robbed the coal factory and now they are robbing the textile factory. I am afraid the prince will turn against us.

In the current situation, Li Shimin did not want to fall out with the crown prince directly, and still hoped for a peaceful resolution.

He did not want to depose the crown prince, nor did he want him to become too powerful.

Li Zhi's heart tightened, but he was prepared, and he quickly said, "Father, I am willing to go to Luoyang to ask you for the textile machine."

"Brother, you care about the people of the world, so you naturally want to promote cotton planting and vigorously develop textile factories. I think there is no reason to refuse Zhinu's proposal."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin looked deeply at Li Zhi.

Trying to find out the true thoughts from Li Zhi's eyes.

But what I saw was sincerity.

Maybe Li Zhi didn't think too much about it.

Finally, Li Shimin said slowly: "Zhi Nu, I am very pleased that you care about the people. I approve of this matter."

"However, I don't have an imperial edict to give you on this matter."

Not giving the imperial edict meant that Li Zhi's trip to Luoyang was entirely his own decision.

Li Shimin didn't think there was any danger.

They are brothers, the prince will not do that.

Before the prince developed a leg disease, he and Zhinu had always had a very good relationship.

The current conflict is between Qingque and the prince, and it has not yet involved Zhinu.

Li Zhi bowed and said, "Yes, Father."
-

Luoyang City.

In just less than half a month, earth-shaking changes have taken place.

This ancient city has been given new life because of the arrival of the prince.

Although Luoyang was the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty and more prosperous than other places, it also had many problems that needed to be solved urgently.

The streets are narrow and cramped, and are always congested when there are cars and horses passing through.

The drainage system is old and backward. When it rains, sewage flows everywhere, making life miserable for the people.

There are also loopholes in public security management, and thefts and fights often occur, affecting people's lives.

Because it is located in the center of the world, close to the Grand Canal, there are many and complex people from all walks of life coming from all over the world.

In particular, the gap between the rich and the poor is huge.

Since Li Chengqian took control of Luoyang, he has issued many policies.

The first thing is urban construction.

In this regard, it was similar to the previous method of Chang'an, which was to recruit a large number of corvée laborers from all over Luoyang and let the people of Luoyang build canals at their doorsteps.

The entire city's drainage and sewage system was rebuilt.

As for cement, the cement factory has just been established and we cannot build cement roads in large quantities yet.

In terms of public security, a large number of public security departments have been added.

A public security bureau was set up to govern every block and street in Luoyang.

In one go, 120 public security departments of various sizes were added.

There are about seven to twelve people in each department, plus other personnel, there are two to three thousand people in total.

When selecting personnel, retired soldiers are naturally given priority.

It also solves a lot of positioning problems.

The next step is to build a large number of factories.

Textile factories are one thing, but other factories are also essential, including the attached technical schools.

It seemed that all the people in Luoyang City could find things to do all of a sudden.

The idle vagrants have almost disappeared.

This also greatly reduces the pressure on public security.

In terms of commercial development, Li Chengqian made full use of Luoyang's transportation advantages of being located in the center of the country and adjacent to the Grand Canal, and vigorously expanded trade routes.

They also organized personnel to conduct a comprehensive survey and dredging of the Grand Canal's waterway, clearing away silt and reefs in the river to ensure that merchant ships could travel unimpeded.

At the same time, several large docks were built outside Luoyang City for commercial purposes.

In order to activate the market, Li Chengqian launched a series of business support policies.

For the three markets, namely South Market, North Market and West Market, more positions of city wall masters will be set up.

The city wall division can also be called the city division, who is mainly responsible for market management.

The newly added powers of the market strategist are mainly responsible for regulating market order, cracking down on illegal activities such as bullying and price gouging, and creating a fair and just trading environment for businesses and the public.

In addition, Li Chengqian recruited personnel to establish the Luoyang Newspaper.

The content of Luoyang Daily mainly focuses on business dynamics, making the number and value of goods clearer.

For shops in each market, it is mandatory that all goods must be clearly marked with prices.

Nowadays, different people pay different prices for the same thing.

In order to keep the price secret, many ways of bargaining have been invented, the most common of which is to negotiate with someone by putting your hand under the sleeve.

It sounds interesting, but for ordinary people, especially those who don't know much about it, it's a disadvantage.

Clearly marking prices is the fastest way to circulate.

As for the most watched textile factory, it is actually just an empty shell due to the insufficient supply of cotton.

Therefore, Li Chengqian began to forcibly promote cotton planting in the surrounding areas of Luoyang and even in more areas.

In fact, many people are still reluctant to grow such a new crop as cotton.

Li Chengqian had already made arrangements.

All the cotton grown was purchased in the name of the prince.

(End of this chapter)