Zhenguan Xiaoxian Wang Li Shen Li Shimin

The food and fodder had to be sent before the troops moved. This year, 150,000 troops were distributed along the upper, middle and lower borders of Tubo, and the annual expenditure was more than one million.

No matter how rich the imperial court was, it could not afford such endless spending.

Li Shen paid tens of millions of taxes to the court every year, and the court did a lot of things, such as clearing rivers, developing water conservancy projects, paving roads and bridges, and repairing cities.

Make the Tang Dynasty stronger and the people's lives better.

Peace talks with Tubo are imperative. Even if Li Shen is unwilling, there is nothing he can do. He can only negotiate or attack Tubo now.

But not to mention Li Shimin, even Li Shen, who knew nothing, knew that now was not the time.

"I know clearly that peace talks are necessary, but we must do them on our own terms.

Now that Songtsen Gampo has come to Chang'an City, they have no choice but to negotiate. They need time to develop, and so do we.

Everyone is waiting for the opportunity.”

"Then, Father, should we negotiate with them?" Li Chengqian asked hurriedly after hearing his elder's words.

"Brother, why are you so anxious? They are the ones who should be anxious now. Songtsen Gampo is in our hands. If we don't negotiate quickly, we will kill him one day if we are unhappy.

Only through peace talks can Songtsen Gampo be safe. After all, our Tang Dynasty is a country of etiquette and we value our promises."

Li Shen answered for Li Shimin while rocking in his rocking chair.

"That's right, brilliant! You should learn more from Old Ten in this regard. You're too impatient."

Li Shimin nodded.

"Yes, Aye." Li Chengqian calmed down.

At this time, Li Shen stood up and sat down at the tea table:

"Brother, this negotiation is actually the same as business, it also depends on supply and demand.

If supply exceeds demand, sellers will have to beg buyers, and vice versa, buyers will beg sellers.

We are not in a hurry at all now. Tubo is in turmoil and even their Zamp was assassinated.

I think our plan is very successful and has begun to take effect.

We just need to wait until they are in chaos, then we can just clean up the mess. This way it will be much easier and save many lives."

Li Shen used the most direct method to explain to Li Chengqian.

"Of course I know what you mean. I'm just worried that if we continue to spend like this, the national treasury won't be able to sustain it."

Li Chengqian nodded. He was the crown prince, how could he not see such a thing?

"Can't hold on? How could that be? I gave the court 14 million strings of cash."

Li Shen asked immediately after hearing this.

Fourteen million strings of cash is such a huge sum of money, how could it not be enough to spend?

"Tenth brother, you don't know that the court's salary nowadays is mainly in the form of money, and for the charity granaries in various places, the court spends money to buy grain from the people.

Add to that the expenses of this year's Western Expedition, so the cost is higher."

Li Chengqian explained.

"I see." Li Shen suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the expenses were so high. The salary structure of the court had changed. The firewood, rice, oil and salt that were originally distributed were now discounted.

In addition, it is normal that the cost is higher as charity granaries are built in various places to fill them with grain.

As the times develop and society progresses, it is inevitable that the court will spend a lot.

Moreover, Li Shen also understood that Li Chengqian did this in order to win over the hearts of the people.

At least the first thing the prince did when he came to power was to give money to everyone.

"Hey? What about this year's money? Didn't the Chamber of Commerce send this year's money?" Li Shen suddenly remembered. Last year's money had been spent, but there was still this year's money.

"The Chamber of Commerce didn't send the money this year." Li Chengqian shook his head.

"What?" Li Shen stood up in surprise. "How could it not have been delivered? Wang Hongfu didn't mention this matter yesterday."

Thinking of this, Li Shen shouted outside:

"Someone, go get Wang Hongfu."

"Don't worry, Tenth Brother. Perhaps something has delayed him."

Li Chengqian saw that Li Shen was about to get angry and quickly tried to comfort him.

"Delay? There's no need for him to do anything about this matter. Just send the money directly. What can delay it?

And they didn't even report it to me yesterday. That's outrageous."

The more Li Shen thought about it, the angrier he became. How could such a large sum of money be concealed and not reported? He even thought it had been sent to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Doesn't he know that this is a hot potato?

Li Shimin did not say anything. He was also curious why the money of Ji Wangfu Chamber of Commerce was not sent to the court. He had just learned about this.

"Your Highness, Manager Wang is outside asking to see you." A servant reported from outside.

"Huh? How come you came so quickly?" Li Shen was stunned. It had just been a short while since he had given the order.

"Let him in." Li Shen shouted.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and His Royal Highness Prince Ji." A moment later, Wang Hongfu walked in and bowed deeply to the three of them.

"No thanks!" Li Shimin waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Hongfu stood up.

"Wang Hongfu, I want to ask you, why hasn't the Chamber of Commerce's money been sent to the Ministry of Civil Affairs this year?"

Li Shen questioned.

Wang Hongfu shuddered and quickly replied:

"Your Highness, calm down and listen to my explanation. It's not that I won't send you off, it's just that I'll send you off later."

"Send it later? What do you mean by send it later? This money is needed by the court, how dare you delay?

Could it be that you embezzled the money and are now in deficit?"

Hearing Wang Hongfu's explanation, Li Shen shouted angrily.

"Your Highness, how dare I embezzle this money? Even if you give me a hundred guts, I wouldn't dare to do it."

Wang Hongfu turned pale with fright. Whoever dared to embezzle this money would be implicated by the imperial court and Prince Ji's Mansion.

If anyone embezzled this money, Prince Ji would dig up their ancestral graves.

"Please be patient, Wang Hongfu, and speak slowly." Seeing that Li Shen scared Wang Hongfu like this, Li Shimin spoke from the side.

"Yes, Your Majesty, Prince, the reason I'm late is because the money is too much.

Half of them are copper coins. I plan to exchange them for gold from the bank and then send them to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Furthermore, the Chamber of Commerce will be closed for two days, and settlement will only be possible after the Chamber of Commerce closes."

Wang Hongfu explained after bowing.

"How much money is there this year?" Li Shimin was a little curious.

"Your Majesty, the total amount of security deposits paid by merchants this year is over 16.23 million strings of cash. Nearly 10 million of these are copper coins. If transported by horse-drawn carriage, it would probably take more than ten days to transport them all."

"More than 16 million strings of cash!" Li Chengqian stood up suddenly, his face full of disbelief. Last year's 14 million strings of cash were already shocking.

I didn't expect that there would be more than two million strings of cash this year.

"Why is it only over 16 million guan?"

In stark contrast to Li Chengqian, Li Shen had an expression of dissatisfaction. He had estimated that this year's income would increase by at least 20% compared to last year, which was about 3 million guan, which was still a shortfall of about 1 million guan.

This is not a random estimate, it is based on facts.

(It’s 4:30 now, I really can’t get up early if I don’t stay up late.)