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

Li Tai quickly put on a smiling face and gave Li Shen a fawning smile.

"Just kidding? Haha, then I'll joke around with you more often, Fourth Brother."

Li Shenyi curled his lip, looking down on Li Tai with disdain.

“Tenth brother, your fourth brother can’t take your abuse, it’ll kill him.” Li Tai stepped forward and pulled Li Shen away.

He wanted to lose weight because Sun Simiao said he was ill and too weak.

But he didn't want to be tortured, especially by Li Shen.

Li Shen shook off Li Tai:

"Don't worry, with Father here, I would never dare to let you die. You'll just suffer a little."

Li Shen didn't beat around the bush and said it directly. That's in line with his personality.

"Brother, please plead for me." Li Tai looked at Li Chengqian.

"This... how can I bring up the feud between you two? Don't worry, Qingque, with Father here, Tenth Brother won't make things too difficult for you."

Li Chengqian shrugged, indicating that he was unable to help.

"Tenth Brother, Fourth Brother has apologized to you, please let Fourth Brother go." Li Tai bowed and apologized to Li Shen.

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't be afraid, but this is Li Shen, the Evil Ghost King.

There's nothing he wouldn't dare to do; even if he doesn't kill himself, he might cripple himself.

Li Shen remained silent, while Li Tai gritted his teeth:

"Tenth brother, tell me, what are your conditions?"

“Fifty thousand strings of cash.” Li Shen held up five fingers.

"What? Fifty thousand strings of cash? Why don't you just rob someone?" Li Tai was immediately furious. Fifty thousand strings of cash was several years' worth of his salary.

He only earned two or three hundred thousand strings of cash that year. Li Shen asked for fifty thousand strings of cash right off the bat.

"Why not?" Li Shen tilted his head.

"This... Tenth Brother, it's not that Fourth Brother doesn't want to give it to me, Fourth Brother really doesn't have any. You know how much salary I get in a year."

"Where am I supposed to get 50,000 strings of cash?" Li Tai looked pitiful.

If Li Shen hadn't known this, he would have been completely fooled.

“If you don’t have 50,000 strings of cash, you can use something else to pay off the debt. I heard that you have a lot of spices in your household.”

Fourth Brother, as you know, my household uses a lot of spices, and our previous stockpiles are running low, with not much left.

I have already ordered a large-scale purchase, but spices are currently in extremely short supply.

If I didn't beat you, you would have several large restaurants to use, and you would also have to welcome guests to the palace.

Since Fourth Brother has no money, how about giving me the spices from your residence?

Li Shen spoke calmly to Li Tai.

Li Tai's expression changed:

"Hehe, I didn't expect you, Tenth Brother, to know so much about the affairs of my residence. Could it be that you sent someone to monitor Fourth Brother?"

Li Tai chuckled twice.

Li Shen shook his head:

"No, Fourth Brother, do you think there's anything in your household that I should be monitoring? Your acquisition of spices has been registered and guaranteed by the Chamber of Commerce."

Not only do I know this, but I reckon all the merchants in Chang'an know it too.

Spices are so scarce now, it's natural that someone selling them would attract attention. To be honest, if you hadn't acted a little too early, those spices would have been mine.

"It's just that Wang Hongfu was incompetent, which allowed you, Fourth Brother, to get there first."

Li Shen spoke very calmly, even with a hint of contempt.

Li Tai nodded with a smile:

"What the tenth brother said is indeed true. There is nothing in my residence that you would want to monitor. I have misunderstood."

However, the spices I collected amounted to far more than 50,000 strings of cash. If Tenth Brother simply takes them, I, as his elder brother, will lose money.

Li Tai did not doubt Li Shen's later words. At present, spices were in short supply in Chang'an, or even the entire Tang Dynasty.

They are even more valuable than they were a few years ago, with prices increasing more than tenfold. Some spices are measured in strings of cash per ounce.

"Haha, Fourth Brother, don't think I don't know, the price of spices you used to buy wasn't as high as it is now."

"Back then, your acquisition price only increased three or four times; I estimated it to be around fifty or sixty thousand."

Li Shen laughed heartily. Nowadays, more than 90% of merchant transactions are guaranteed by the Chamber of Commerce.

Otherwise, the Chamber of Commerce won't care whether you live or die if you get scammed.

With such a large volume of transactions by merchants these days, it's not easy for ordinary people to find a con artist.

Although Li Tai was a prince, these nobles needed guarantees even more, not because they were afraid of being cheated by other merchants.

Their main fear was that they would be tricked by Li Shen's scheme.

Because many similar incidents had occurred before, even with their power, the thieves who had cheated them couldn't find a single clue.

It's like the world has disappeared.

The person with the power and audacity to cheat them is obvious; there's no one else but that bastard Prince Ji.

So these people became very careful in their work, but they found that some of the time they wasted also prevented them from making money.

In the end, they had no choice but to use the Chamber of Commerce as a guarantor. Surely Prince Ji wouldn't cheat them and then pay out of his own pocket to compensate them?

However, this has a drawback: the chamber of commerce can find out their transaction history for a year, including the types of goods traded, quantities, and amounts.

Unless it was a caravan they secretly organized.

Seeing Li Shen's smug look, Li Tai did not back down:

"Tenth Brother, you're right. It was indeed worth fifty or sixty thousand when we bought it, but it's different now. It's worth at least one hundred thousand strings of cash."

Moreover, the prices of some spices are still rising.

"You're quite the schemer; this isn't just about 50,000 strings of cash."

"Is it worth that much now?" Li Shen asked, his face filled with shock.

"Fourth Brother, don't lie to me. I've only been away for half a year. How could the price of spices have increased so much?"

Even if land routes are blocked, there's still sea transport; surely some can be shipped out, right?

"Alright, you don't need to put on airs. You've been back for so many days, I don't believe you don't know the current price of spices."

"Are you planning to take all these spices with you under this pretext?"

Li Tai saw through Li Shen's pretense of ignorance at a glance and immediately exposed him.

His spices are now worth over 100,000 strings of cash, and Li Shen wanted to take them away for 50,000 strings of cash. What a clever scheme!

"Well... I'll just give you a few tens of thousands of strings of cash. Give me the spices, and I'll give you fifty thousand strings of cash. How does that sound?"

Li Shen smiled somewhat awkwardly and then stated his price.

"Hehe, tenth brother, you are a businessman. At times like these, spices are more valuable than gold."

Li Tai smiled but did not agree.

"Fourth Brother, you're wrong. You know I'm a merchant. I bought these spices not to resell, but to eat."

Fourth Brother, think about it. What if the road to the Western Regions opens up one day and spices come in in large quantities? Wouldn't you lose money if you stockpiled so many spices?

Moreover, spices become worthless if they get damp, so having so many spices is very risky.

Li Shen began to reason with Li Tai.