Travel to the early Tang Dynasty and become a salted fish

"Before, the Ministry of Revenue complained to me about poverty. I can understand your difficulties, but last night I allocated 2000 million taels of silver to the Ministry of Revenue. Now you are still crying about poverty to me? Could it be that you, Dai Zhou, thought your neck was stiff? Or are you coveting my internal funds?"

Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor was angry, Dai Zhou hurriedly knelt down in the tunnel and said: "Your Majesty, I am wronged. If you want money, I can hand over the 2000 million taels of silver in full without any delay. But if you want copper coins, the Ministry of Household Affairs will indeed take them." Don’t come out that much.”

"If the Ministry of Revenue is asked to come forward to recover the copper coins now, it will inevitably cause panic in the market and be detrimental to the government. Please think twice, Your Majesty."

After hearing what Dai Zhou said, Li Shimin also knew that he had wrongly blamed the other party.

But when I think about the fact that the Tang Dynasty issued more than 3000 million copper coins every year, and combined with the accumulation in previous years, how could it not even be able to get out a mere 500 million copper coins.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin called Wang Dehai directly and asked: "Except for the 500 million copper coins I got last night, how much copper coins can I get out of my internal funds?"

Wang Dehai was also serving at the side just now and knew what His Majesty the Emperor meant by asking.

He immediately replied: "Your Majesty, in addition to the 500 million copper coins that have just been put into the treasury, we can also withdraw 320 million copper coins from the internal funds."

Hearing what Wang Dehai said, Li Shimin frowned again.

He has 820 million guan in hand, and adding the 30 guan from the household department, it is only 850 million guan, which is still 1000 million guan short of 150 million guan.

Don't look at this mere 150 million yuan. In normal times, no matter how tight Li Shimin was, he could still make up for it by squeezing.

But now even the Ministry of Household Affairs dare not easily say that they can raise 150 million copper coins, which shows how scarce copper coins are now.

And the most important thing is that if I remember correctly, the profiteer Chu Mo started hoarding large amounts of copper coins from the very beginning.

Countless people laughed at what he did before, but now it seems that the other party has already realized it.

Li Shimin's face darkened again when he thought that Chu Mo had countless copper coins in his hand.

After pacing back and forth for a few times, he asked Dai Zhou to go back first, while he went directly to the Manna Hall.

Empress Changsun has not seen Li Shimin again since Concubine Yang passed away.

At this time, I was a little happy to see him arrive suddenly. However, when I saw that the other party looked bad, I immediately concealed my joy and asked with a concerned look:

"Erlang has been busy with official duties recently, and now is the time to discuss important matters with the courtiers. I'm afraid you have something to do here, right?"

His purpose was revealed by Empress Changsun, and Li Shimin was not surprised. Instead, he nodded directly and said: "Yes, I came here this time to discuss something important with you."

After saying that, he asked Wang Dehai to retreat from the palace people around him, and then he looked at Empress Changsun solemnly and said:

"Guanyin Maid, I came here today mainly to seek help from you."

Then, Li Shimin told Queen Changsun about the urgent shortage of copper coins in the Ministry of Household Affairs, but did not talk about his transaction with Chu Mo.

When Queen Changsun heard that it was about the copper coins, she suddenly looked troubled and said:

"Your Majesty, unless I don't want to, I really can't do anything about it. Let alone 150 million guan, my entire net worth is not even 5 guan."

Li Shimin nodded and said: "I also know this. The main reason I came here this time is to let you talk to Wuji and see if he can find a way to help me collect the 150 million yuan."

When she heard that she was asking her younger brother to collect money, Empress Changsun was stunned for a moment, and then she understood the other party's intention.

I also heard before that my younger brother had some unpleasant troubles with His Majesty because of a merchant from Chang'an.

If it were an ordinary matter, and His Majesty gave a direct order, then his brother would definitely not be able to shirk it.

But the matter of exchanging copper coins should be regarded as His Majesty's private matter. If he spoke directly, according to my brother's character, the possibility of rejection is indeed high.

Thinking of this, Empress Changsun nodded and said: "Okay, I will go there for Erlang, but I will only exchange silver taels..."

"Don't worry about this. I have already ordered people to prepare it."

Li Shimin took out a wad of silver notes from his pocket and handed it to Empress Changsun and said: "Here are 350 million taels. Maid Guanyin, you can give it directly to the auxiliary machine. The extra part will be regarded as the thank you payment I paid to him."

Empress Changsun glanced at Li Shimin with a strange expression, silently took the banknote, and took the maid out of the palace.

When Changsun Wuji heard that his sister was visiting, he immediately put aside his official duties and went directly to greet her.

When the two met, Empress Changsun did not hide anything and directly stated her intention.

Hearing that the other party came to him to find a way to exchange copper coins, Changsun Wuji felt resentful in his heart.

Why Li Shimin didn't come by himself and insisted on letting his sister come? The meaning couldn't be more obvious. Isn't this just because he wants to use his sister to suppress him?

However, a sneer appeared on Changsun Wuji's lips when he thought that the other party would be going on a personal expedition in a few days, but he was not on the list.

"Empress, since you are here in person, I will try my best to help you collect these coins no matter what."

After hearing her brother's assurance, Queen Changsun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she was not worried about her brother's rejection, she was still somewhat happy to hear that the other party agreed so easily.

After thinking for a while, Empress Changsun finally spoke:

"Wuji, I know what you're thinking, but I still want to warn you. If you know something is wrong, don't continue."

"Some mistakes have been made, so don't continue to make them."

"The reason why our eldest son's family is able to stand tall in the court is not because I am the queen, nor because you are my brother, but because you have always stood by Erlang's side when he was in his prime."

"Now, although Erlang has ascended to the throne, the court is still facing internal and external troubles. You should focus your energy on how to assist Erlang in bringing peace to the world, rather than on fighting for power and gain."

"If you can stand firmly by Erlang's side, even if I am a hundred years later, my eldest grandson's lineage will still be prosperous. But if you make a mistake, then our eldest grandson's lineage will also be defeated because of you."

After listening to Queen Changsun's words, Changsun Wuji looked very respectful on the surface, but looking at his clenched fists, you knew that the other party was not as relaxed as he seemed.

Afterwards, the two siblings had another discussion, with Queen Changsun preaching the whole time while Changsun Wuji listened.

When the lanterns started to light up, Queen Changsun left with her maids and returned to the palace to return to Li Shimin.