I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

As everyone knows, Prince Ji is greedy and pleasure-seeking, living a luxurious life. He will stop at nothing to make money, as the noble families of Chang'an have long known.

Li Tai, however, knew Li Shen better. His observations over the years revealed that Li Shen was obsessed with money.

Don't be fooled by his lavish spending habits; that's just one way he enjoys his extravagance. When it comes to making money, he's absolutely uncompromising.

Li Shen would fight for even a small sum of money, let alone this much.

Li Tai knew that his father and Li Shen had a lot of shady dealings going on, often involving transactions exceeding one million.

How could Li Shen, who would fight tooth and nail for a million, willingly hand over such a huge sum of over sixteen million strings of cash for free?

Li Tai was truly baffled.

Li Shen looked somewhat bewildered upon hearing Li Tai's words. He had been resting with his eyes closed and hadn't heard what the others were saying at all.

"Fourth Brother, are you still half asleep?" Li Shen asked, confused.

“Uh…” Li Tai was speechless. “Tenth brother, I was talking about the taxes your merchant guild pays to the imperial court. I didn’t expect it to be so much.”

Li Tai could only repeat himself once more. It wasn't surprising that this guy slept in the imperial court.

Even if it were their father sitting up there, Li Shen would still be sleeping soundly.

"Fourth Brother, don't talk nonsense. That's not a tax. According to the Tang Dynasty law, why would we need to pay so much tax?"

Besides, I'm just a president of the First Chamber of Commerce; it has nothing to do with me.

After listening to Li Tai's words, Li Shen spoke solemnly, distancing himself from the First Chamber of Commerce and clarifying that the money was not tax.

Li Tai rolled his eyes, feeling disdainful. Everyone here is a reasonable person; after all these years, what's there to hide?

Not to mention the officials present, everyone in Chang'an knows that the number one merchant guild in the Tang Dynasty belongs to Prince Ji.

"Yes, yes, tenth brother is right. But as the chairman, it's really impressive that tenth brother can hand over so much money to the imperial court."

That money all came from taxes collected by the Chamber of Commerce, didn't it?

Li Tai nodded insincerely, but he still insisted that Li Shen was collecting commercial taxes.

Li Shen frowned immediately; he could feel the gazes of the other officials in the hall.

Commercial tax is a very sensitive issue; these nobles and officials are not required to pay commercial tax.

However, one has to pay a considerable sum of money to the world's number one chamber of commerce every year, but it's not called a tax; it's called a protection fee.

Now that the King of Wei has mentioned commercial taxes, we'll have to see what the King of Ji has to say. If it's about commercial taxes, they'll definitely demand an explanation from His Majesty.

Now they realized that the 16 million strings of cash handed over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs might still contain some of their money. Thinking of this, they suddenly felt uncomfortable, and their previous excitement disappeared.

If what King Wei said is true, then wouldn't they have done the work for King Ji?

Li Shen glanced at Li Tai and cursed inwardly. There are always treacherous people trying to harm me, but these petty tricks are nothing more than disgusting.

"Fourth Brother, didn't I tell you? That's not tax, it's a service fee collected by the First Chamber of Commerce."

"I am a member of the Tang Dynasty royal family, a prince of the highest rank. How could I possibly levy taxes on the common people without authorization? Wouldn't that be creating a pretext for corruption and embezzlement?"

Li Shenyi's righteous and righteous rhetorical question.

"Hehe, no need to explain, tenth brother. I just admire that you are willing to part with such a large sum of money."

"If it were me, I would really be reluctant to part with it." Li Tai smiled gently.

He found Li Shen's performance amusing, since everyone knew the truth anyway, and no matter how Li Shen explained, it would be useless.

"Fourth Brother, you are mistaken. I donated this money to the court under Father's guidance."

The city of Ayer often says that as royalty, we are supported by the people and should love them like our own children, as the saying goes, "what is taken from the people should be used for the people."

I believe that even if Fourth Brother... and Ninth Brother had wealth, they would still offer it to the court like I have, wouldn't they?"

Li Shen glanced at Li Zhi and found that Li Zhi seemed not to have heard him and remained silent, which disappointed him somewhat.

He thought he could anger Li Zhi, but he didn't expect the guy to be so calm.

“What you say is absolutely right, tenth brother. We are princes, so we should naturally set an example. I was being narrow-minded.” Li Tai was very polite and even cupped his hands in greeting to Li Shen.

"Alright, if you two want to discuss this, you can do so privately. This is the imperial court, a place for discussing state affairs."

Seeing the two arguing, Li Chengqian spoke up to ease the tension.

“Your Highness, Prince Ji is truly righteous to donate such a huge sum of money to the court. I admire you greatly,” Ma Zhou said, stepping forward with great admiration.

"This old minister also believes that His Highness Prince Ji is of noble character and integrity, and is a model for princes."

This old minister believes that he should be commended. Changsun Wuji echoed this sentiment.

"I agree. His Highness Prince Ji has donated 30 million strings of cash to the court over two years, which not only allows the court to do more for the people."

This also made the Tang Dynasty even stronger; such an act of righteousness is worthy of our admiration.

Yu Zhining, the Chamberlain, also greatly admired Li Shen.

A donation of 30 million over two years would be enough to reward even a commoner with a noble title, or even a king of a different surname.

His Majesty might even adopt him as his son and bestow upon him the titles of king and marquis.

The three were the chief ministers, and after they expressed their opinions, officials immediately followed suit, and for a time, voices pleading for rewards for Li Shen rose and fell.

Li Shen was secretly delighted.

"My beloved ministers, I will discuss your suggestions with His Majesty. As for how to bestow rewards, it is up to His Majesty to decide."

However, I believe that His Majesty is fair in rewarding and punishing, and will certainly not disappoint Prince Ji's good intentions.

Seeing so many people speaking up for Li Shen, Li Chengqian spoke up to make a promise.

It's best to leave this headache to Dad.

He had no idea what to reward Li Shen with; in the past, rewards had always been nothing more than money and treasures.

Princes are usually given a full fief and then transferred to a major prefecture as a governor, or to a circuit as a commander-in-chief, managing several or a dozen prefectures.

But Li Shen was not short of money; the court had given him over 16 million strings of cash, so he couldn't reward him with money.

His previous official position was even worse. His father had said that Li Shen couldn't leave Chang'an City; it was too dangerous, and who knew what kind of trouble he might cause in the provinces.

Unable to gain fame or fortune, Li Chengqian could only pass this troubling problem on to his father.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, let's adjourn the court. Tomorrow, His Majesty will hold a banquet at Chengtian Gate, with music and feasting for his officials, entertaining guests from all over the world, and accepting tribute from all nations."

Finally, Li Chengqian stood up and addressed the assembled officials.

But just then, a loud voice rang out:

"Your Highness, I have something to report."

(Note: Chengtian Gate is the main gate of Taiji Palace, but it is not just a gate. There are also tall buildings on top of it, and it is one of the places where officials are entertained.)