Zhenguan Xiaoxian Wang Li Shen Li Shimin

"I heard that the Tenth Prince is holding some kind of profit-sharing meeting at his residence today?"

In the Prince of Wei's residence, Li Tai sat under the eaves basking in the sun, with his chief secretary, Du Chuke, standing beside him.

"Yes, Your Highness, this is no secret; almost everyone in the court knows about it."

Du Chuke replied softly.

"Alas, if only I could join in. What a pity, the tenth prince is unwilling to include me."

Li Shen sighed.

"Your Highness need not regret it. We also made a lot of money from this opportunity, much more than we made by cooperating with Prince Ji."

I have heard that their share is divided as follows: the imperial court takes 30%, Prince Ji takes 30%, and the remaining 40% is allocated among the sons of officials.

Not much will fall on each person's shoulders.

Du Chuke replied with a smile.

"Hmm, that's true. If I were involved, I'd probably be splitting the profits with those spoiled brats. How much did we earn this year?"

Hearing Du Chuke's words, Li Tai nodded. Playing alone wasn't without its advantages; at least you could earn more.

"Your Highness, the calculations have been completed. We've earned over 400,000 strings of cash this year." Du Chuke seemed very excited; one business alone had earned so much.

"Not bad. What about the other families? How much is it from Zhinu?"

Li Tai was very satisfied with this number.

"Your Highness, I have estimated that the Prince of Jin's family did not earn as much as we did, probably around 200,000 strings of cash. The other aristocratic families involved probably earned about the same as us."

Du Chuke thought for a moment and then gave his guess. There were too many people involved, and each family was vying for this benefit.

"Then how many do you think the Prince Ji's mansion will have?" Li Tai was more concerned about this.

"The Prince Ji's residence... I can't guess. They have the most shops, and their games are always changing, attracting many people."

Your Majesty, I estimate it must be around two million strings of cash.

Du Chuke could only guess at the income of Prince Ji's mansion based on the number of visitors.

"Two million strings of cash! We are far behind them. I really don't know how the Tenth Prince's brain works. He makes money no matter what he does."

For ten years, I've never heard of him losing money.

Upon hearing the news of two million strings of cash, Li Tai was filled with emotion. He himself had earned over four hundred thousand strings of cash just by drinking soup with Li Shen.

He really wanted to know how Li Shen had done it.

"Prince Ji is indeed unmatched in the business world, and I admire him greatly for that."

No merchant in the world can compare to him.

There have long been rumors that Prince Ji is the reincarnation of the God of Wealth, and now it seems there is some truth to it.

Whatever it is, once it falls into the hands of Prince Ji, it immediately has the power to be brought back to life.

Even those who were destined to die, His Highness Prince Ji has saved several of them; it's truly unfathomable.

Not only Li Shen was impressed, but Du Chuke was also a witness to Li Shen's success.

In his view, Prince Ji had climbed to his current position step by step over Prince Wei, and not only Prince Wei, but also Prince Jin, the nobles, aristocratic families, and gentry of Chang'an, as well as those households.

Everyone has been trampled underfoot by King Ji.

Their failure paved the way for Prince Ji's success and also witnessed the rise of Prince Ji's mansion.

"A reincarnation of the God of Wealth? Heh, perhaps so. It's truly a blessing from heaven that my Li family could produce a Li Shen."

Unfortunately......

Do you think I should go and get involved at Prince Ji's residence?

Li Tai became interested.

"It's better not to. I just heard that Your Majesty went to Prince Ji's residence, and His Highness the Crown Prince also returned to Prince Ji's residence with him."

If Your Highness goes again, His Majesty will become suspicious.

Du Chuke shook his head in rejection.

"My father went too? It seems that the tenth prince must have earned more than two million strings of cash this time, otherwise why would my father have gone in person?"

Li Tai looked surprised.

"Does Your Highness mean that the Ji Prince's Mansion earns more?" Du Chuke asked curiously.

“Yes.” Li Tai nodded: “If there were only two million strings of cash, and the court only gets 600,000 strings of cash after taking 30%, why would my father go there personally for 600,000 strings of cash?”

"I estimate that at least a million strings of cash will be allocated, which is why my father will personally go, for fear that the tenth prince might try to sabotage things."

"Wouldn't that mean the Prince Ji's Mansion would earn over four million strings of cash? That's impossible, isn't it? So many families are vying for this piece of meat, how could the Prince Ji's Mansion possibly snatch up the majority?"

Upon hearing this, Du Chuke immediately became puzzled. He had assumed there wouldn't be that many.

"Heh, you underestimate my tenth brother." Li Tai sneered twice.

"Please enlighten me, Your Highness." Du Chuke bowed and asked for guidance, having already greatly overestimated Prince Ji.

Li Tai stood up, stretched his obese body, and looked into the distance:

"Shanbin, it's actually very simple. My tenth brother is greedy by nature. If there were no huge benefits, why would he give up 30% of the profits to the imperial court?"

He only earns a few hundred thousand strings of cash a year, which isn't even enough to feed himself, so he wouldn't share this piece of meat with others.

There must be significant benefits involved.

How could I possibly make an exception and allow the Tenth Prince to open a gambling den for a mere few hundred thousand strings of cash after fighting with him for so long?

It's called a prize-winning quiz, but that's just a smokescreen, a plausible excuse. At its core, it's a gambling den.

Would the imperial court make such an exception without a significant benefit? Even the powerful clans and aristocratic families didn't object.

"I see, Your Highness is indeed a man of great talent," Du Chuke said respectfully, offering a compliment.

I never expected that the King of Wei would see things so clearly.

"What great talent? It's just that I've gotten to know the Tenth Prince better over the years. It's nothing but empty talk."

If I were truly talented, I wouldn't have followed in the footsteps of the Tenth Prince and ended up just scraping by.

If we're talking about exceptional talent, it has to be my tenth brother; he's even inferior to my eldest brother."

Li Tai shook his head. He had to admit that Li Shen was indeed talented and quick-witted.

Many things that most people could never figure out in a lifetime, Li Shen could learn without a teacher.

"Your Highness need not belittle yourself. Even though Prince Ji has made considerable achievements in commerce, it is still a minor matter and not worthy of being considered a high-class profession."

Compared to the ways of being an official and governing a country, it's nothing.

Seeing that Li Tai was somewhat dejected, Du Chuke immediately offered words of comfort.

However, Li Tai said with a somewhat firm attitude:

"Shanbin, the Tenth Prince is not to be underestimated. We cannot take him lightly. He has earned the wealth of a family that has lasted for a thousand years in just ten years. How could the Tenth Prince be an ordinary person?"

If that's truly the case, and I narrowly lost to him, what am I then?

"Your Highness is right to reprimand me; I underestimated you. But should we remind Prince Jin as well?"

Since Prince Ji is so quick to act, I fear that Prince Jin will…” Du Chuke said, making a pointed remark.

"A gentle reminder would suffice; otherwise, it would only increase Zhinu's hatred for Li Shen."

Heh, Zhinu is jealous, especially of Li Shen, who was born in the same year as him. The Zhinu who knew how to be patient before has already been beaten to death by the Tenth Prince.

The pheasant slave now is nothing more than a ferocious beast.

(Oh no, I forgot to schedule the upload.)