Time Travel: I am the idle king Li Shen and Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty

“Father, how could I possibly bring disaster to the country and its people? I just delivered 16 million strings of cash to the Ministry of Revenue today.”

Li Shen looked at his father with a wronged expression, wondering why he would say such things about him.

"Shouldn't I reward you then?" Li Shimin glanced sideways at Li Shen.

"Sixteen million strings of cash!!"

Li Shimin already knew about this and was not surprised, but that did not mean that others were not surprised. Empress Zhangsun and the other concubines were all shocked when they heard the number.

More than 16 million strings of cash! What an enormous sum! How could Prince Ji give such a large amount of money to the imperial court?

This amount of money is beyond the reach of noble families, and even those aristocratic clans with a thousand-year history have never possessed such wealth.

Prince Ji is actually so willing to part with it. No wonder His Majesty favors Prince Ji so much; there is indeed a reason for it.

Little did they know, Li Shen was also in pain, not only financially but also emotionally, but there was nothing he could do—it was too much money.

Sometimes having too much money isn't a good thing. Otherwise, he wouldn't be stupid enough to give it away to others.

"Second Brother, did Shen'er really give the imperial court so much money?"

Empress Zhangsun couldn't help but ask.

"Mother, it is indeed true. The money has been deposited into the national treasury today. My tenth brother's trip has truly benefited the country and its people."

Li Chengqian, who was standing nearby, confirmed this.

Upon hearing the affirmative reply, Empress Zhangsun was filled with emotion:

"I never expected Shen'er to be so righteous. Erlang, such a great thing that benefits the country and the people deserves to be commended."

The other concubines cast envious glances, some of them even showing jealousy.

Look at other people's sons, and then look at your own son; there's really no comparison.

Consort Wei looked at her son with great satisfaction; she certainly knew what sixteen million strings of cash represented.

Even if you sold the entire Wei family, you wouldn't get that much money.

Her son was not blinded by money; he remained clear-headed and knew what to keep and what to let go of.

Money, once it reaches a certain amount, doesn't really have much meaning; it's just a number.

Whether or not the Prince Ji's mansion had 16 million strings of cash, Li Shen continued to live his luxurious life without being affected at all.

Therefore, there is no need to take on the risks associated with this money.

When Li Shimin heard that Empress Zhangsun was asking for rewards for Li Shen, he was helpless; this rebellious son was just too popular in the harem.

No matter which palace he went to, he could hear praise for Prince Ji.

This rebellious son is also very good at interpersonal relationships and handling affairs, winning everyone's favor.

“Guanyinbi, let me think about the reward again. As you can see, he is neither short of wealth nor official position.”

Li Shimin said.

Li Shen immediately cried out in his heart, "I'm lacking, I'm lacking, I'm so lacking!"

"Second Brother, how about we reward Shen'er with some fiefdoms and land, just like last time?"

Empress Zhangsun also thought that Li Shimin's words made sense; Li Shen could come up with so much money, so he must not be short of money.

As for official positions, it was obvious that Li Shenzhi was not here, so it was really difficult to bestow a reward upon him. However, she remembered the matter of bestowing a fief upon Li Shenzhi last time, so she brought it up.

Li Shimin shook his head:

"No, the last reward already violated the ancestral precepts. If we were to bestow fiefs and lands again, the ministers below would not agree."

Furthermore, the regional princes would also have grievances against me if they found out.

Granting fiefs isn't something you can just do on a whim. There's only so much people in the world. If you grant a few thousand households and someone else grants a few thousand households, the fiefs will be gone in no time.

Li Shen already has a fief of 2,500 households, and all the taxes collected go to the Prince of Ji's residence, as stated in the imperial edict during the last reward ceremony.

Other princes only received fiefs of a thousand households, many of them only eight hundred. This was a rule set by Li Yuan.

"What should we do? Shen'er has made such a great contribution, how can we not reward him?" Empress Zhangsun said anxiously.

"Don't worry, Guanyinbi, I will naturally reward you. How about doubling your salary?"

Li Shimin comforted him.

"Well... that's fine, there's still some reward." Empress Zhangsun nodded, although she felt it was a bit too little, there was still a reward.

But when she saw the expression on Li Shen's face, she was first taken aback, then asked in confusion:

"Shen'er, are you dissatisfied? It is a little less, but it is still a gift from your father." Empress Zhangsun meant to say that if you have money, you shouldn't care about this little thing.

Li Shen complained with a pained expression:

“Mother, it’s not that I think it’s too little, it’s that there isn’t any at all.”

"No, it is not..." Empress Zhangsun asked in confusion.

"I have no salary, Mother. My salary has been completely withheld by Father. Mother, you must do me justice."

My father withheld my salary for over forty years, and I won't be able to get it back until I'm over sixty.

So even if my salary doubled, or even increased a hundredfold, I wouldn't receive it.

Please let Mother decide.

Li Shen grew increasingly heartbroken and couldn't help but burst into tears. He felt utterly humiliated as a prince; had he ever heard of a prince earning his own living?

"Why hasn't it been deducted yet?" Empress Zhangsun was quite surprised to hear Li Shen's words, as she did know that Li Shen's salary had been deducted.

However, those were things from when he was a child. It was only a matter of two or three years, and since Li Shen was so rich, Empress Zhangsun didn't pay much attention to it.

Hearing Li Shen say that he had been holding back his money until he was over sixty years old, I couldn't help but be surprised.

She looked at Li Shimin, seeking confirmation from her eyes. Li Shimin was also somewhat embarrassed; he had tried to be clever, but Li Shen had noticed.

Li Shimin fooled Li Shen in the same way last time.

"Well... it's mainly because he made too many mistakes. I wanted to teach him a lesson, but I didn't expect that this rebellious son would repeatedly fail to change his ways and be so difficult to tame."

Li Shimin explained to Empress Zhangsun. His reasoning did have some merit and wasn't entirely far-fetched.

Li Shen, however, was unwilling to accept this. Having finally found a pillar of support, he immediately began to complain:

“Mother, others are fined for a few months or at most a year, but Father fines me for three years at a time. At the beginning of this year, he fined me for three years four times in a row, for a total of twelve years’ salary.”

Mother, how many twelve-year periods can your son live?

Li Shen was in tears, and even Li Shimin, the culprit, felt a little embarrassed and realized that he had gone too far.

Empress Zhangsun looked at Li Shimin, waiting for him to say something.

"You worthless wretch! If you hadn't been so reckless, why would I have punished you without cause? Don't forget what you've done!"

Li Shimin angrily rebuked Li Shen.

“That’s because…” Li Sheng was about to explain.

Li Shimin frowned, his eyes sending a warning:

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shen immediately shut his mouth, knowing that if he continued talking, he would easily get beaten up.

"Father, is there any reason why you summoned us here?"

Seeing this, Li Chengqian quickly changed the subject, fearing that Li Shen and his father would start fighting again.

Li Shimin regained his composure, then glanced at Empress Zhangsun, who immediately stood up:

"Erlang, I'll take them to see how the meal preparations are going."