Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Call me 'Royal Brother'~ Little Sizi, call me 'Royal Brother' and I'll give you food. Come on, call me 'Royal Brother'~"

Li Zhi's face was full of sorrow.

"Brother Emperor~"

"Little Sizi, be a good boy, call me 'Royal Brother,' and I'll have someone make you something delicious~"

"Your Majesty, brother!"

The cries of a working-class baby, filled with the sorrow of its young, could not possibly have come from a baby ox that was less than five months old.

Li Chengqian turned around and glanced sideways at his ninth brother, Li Zhi, who was looking at him with a mournful expression.

"Your Majesty, please find someone else. Your humble brother really can't take it anymore!"

Li Chengqian chuckled softly, but said nothing.

Inwardly, however, he sneered. Others might not know your capabilities, but your elder brother, the Emperor Gaozong, is a time traveler. How could I not know your abilities?

Li Chengqian ignored him and continued to tease the little ox, who was waving its little hands and babbling, with a small toy in its hand.

This little girl seems to have more and more energy lately.

Having already learned to turn over, she even began to learn to climb, causing Empress Zhangsun and the palace maid in charge to be quite worried.

However, Li Mingda, the young prince who was described by the imperial physician as having "abundant natural talent" and "strong constitution," was having trouble with his own elder brother, the crown prince.

Aside from making whooshing sounds, it still couldn't satisfy its persistent elder brother.

Just as the three siblings in the Taiji Hall were going through their daily routine of "ignoring and praying," Wang De, accompanied by the Minister of Revenue Feng Deyi and the Minister of Rites Tang Jian, entered the hall amidst the sound of footsteps.

The two saluted.

"May I ask, Your Highness, what has happened that summoned this old minister?"

Tang Jian asked tentatively.

Li Chengqian placed the rattle drum that had been teasing the little ox into the latter's small hand, finally returning from his moment of leisure from "fishing" to his state as the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

He cleared his throat with two dry coughs.

"Minister Tang, the fifth year of Zhenguan is drawing to a close. Judging by the time, the days for foreign countries to pay tribute should be coming soon, right?"

Tang Jian nodded: "Yes, Your Highness. Envoys from Siam, Silla, Tibet, and Xiangxiong have arrived at the Sifang Pavilion in Chang'an. In addition, envoys from several other tributary states, including Lin Yi, Jiaozhi, and Sasanian Persia, have also arrived in Tang and are on their way to Chang'an."

Li Chengqian nodded, then smiled faintly.

"The tribute they bring is probably the same as in previous years, consisting of rare stones and herbs, or exotic birds and beasts. Has the Ministry of Rites prepared another pile of fine gifts as a return gift?"

Tang Jian's expression froze. What did that mean?

Is Li Bapi now eyeing the tributary states again?

He hurriedly cupped his hands in greeting: "Your Highness is wise. Since the tribute missions of the past two years, Your Highness has reduced the expenses for return gifts. We have gradually cut back on the return gifts as well, and now they are nothing more than some silk fabrics, jade and porcelain bowls..."

"Hmph! Aren't silks and satins valuable? Aren't jade and porcelain bowls valuable?!"

Li Chengqian immediately snorted coldly in dissatisfaction, and glared at Feng Deyi, who had been trembling and not daring to utter a sound.

"Duke of Mi, tell our Minister Tang how much those fine silks, satins, jade, and porcelain bowls he's talking about could fetch in Sassanid Persia and Arabia!"

Feng Deyi cupped his hands in greeting: "Your Highness..."

"Tell him! Tell him! What are you going to say to me?!"

Feng Deyi quickly turned to Tang Jian and bowed, saying, "Lord Tang, you may not know this, but the price of silk is so high that it is practically priceless for foreign dignitaries!"

"On the Tibetan Plateau, nobles and tribal leaders from various countries have made a lot of money through trade with the Japanese slaves. Although they have purchased many of our Central Plains treasures, such as clocks, porcelain, glass products, tea, wool textiles and so on."

"But the majority of consumption is on silk..."

Nowadays, the overall professional competence of Tang Dynasty officials is outstanding. Feng Deyi was singled out by Li Chengqian. It is unclear whether the Crown Prince intended to test him, but Feng Deyi still spoke eloquently.

Try your best to perform.

"Nowadays, thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince's decree encouraging the state-run and private silk industry, coupled with the improvements to our Tang Dynasty's jacquard looms and spinning wheels, silk is no longer what it was in the previous dynasty, or even the silk of the Wude era."

"Divided into four types: damask, gauze, silk, and satin."

"Since silk is light, thin, smooth and soft, and the pajamas made by the government-run clothing workshops and bestowed upon officials by the court are highly praised, it is favored by scholars, literati and wealthy merchants. Nowadays, a bolt of high-quality silk costs at least three hundred strings of cash! Foreign merchants pay even more, with customs duties reaching twice that amount. In other words, a bolt of high-quality silk costs foreign merchants nine hundred strings of cash... This is a low price."

"As for how much they sold it for... the Guzang Li Clan Chamber of Commerce, which returned from doing business in Arabia this year, sold the silk for the same price as gold. After deducting tariffs and commercial taxes, they made a profit of at least 1.7 million strings of cash."

He stroked his beard, preparing to recount the market situation of the other three items: "silk," "gauze," and "satin."

Li Chengqian then stopped the other party, looking at Tang Jian, who was embarrassed and at a loss, with a half-smile.

"Your Highness, I... I humbly request Your Highness to give me a clear answer. Our Great Tang Dynasty is a land of etiquette; surely we should reciprocate with a gift?"

Li Chengqian couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.

He picked up the teacup in front of him, took two sips, and then the eunuch Sun Yi, who was serving him, presented Tang Jian with several stacks of items that had been sent from the Royal Bank earlier, on a tray.

"Your Highness, this is... paper money?"

Tang Jian recognized the items on the tray at a glance. In fact, in the Tang Dynasty court, there was no one who could attend the court assembly in the Taiji Hall and would not recognize them.

Although this kind of thing was not distributed to the general public.

But ever since the Royal Bank was first established, everyone had heard His Highness mention the issuance of paper money more than once.

However, due to the shortage of relevant professionals at the time, the complexity of banking operations which required time to streamline, and the insufficient domestic reserves of gold and silver, etc.

They then switched to issuing precious metal currencies such as Tang gold coins and Tang silver coins as substitutes for large-scale private transactions.

The purpose behind Li Chengqian bringing these things out again is self-evident.

"Your Highness, do you mean to return this paper money to those tributary states?"

Tang Jian frowned and pondered, "But even if we give them paper money, they will definitely spend it all before leaving the Tang Dynasty. What's the point of that?"

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes.

"Minister Tang, have you been in the Ministry of Rites for too long? Can't you use your brain a little more? Who says paper money can only be used for distributing tribute?"

"If our Great Tang Dynasty were to announce that, starting from the sixth year of the Zhenguan era, all trade and tribute transactions with neighboring countries would be conducted using this paper currency, do you think they would comply or not?"

"Furthermore, if they want to import and purchase goods from my Great Tang in the future, and they directly offer me gold and silver, my Great Tang will not accept them. They must go to the bank to exchange the gold and silver for this paper currency before they can continue the transaction... Does my Great Tang need them more, or do they need my Great Tang more?"

Li Chengqian's words gradually brightened Tang Jian's eyes, as if he had thought of something.

Seeing Li Chengqian's calm expression, she wondered if she was overthinking things.

After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't help but tentatively ask, "Your Highness... are you perhaps planning to do something to these tributary states?"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow, his previously somewhat impatient expression now showing a hint of interest.

"Oh? Why do you say that, Minister Tang?"

Seeing Li Chengqian's expression, Tang Jian, who knew him well, was already fairly certain of the situation.

He couldn't help but sigh, lamenting that the neighboring countries of the Tang Dynasty deserved their misfortune to have such a crown prince.

On the surface, however, he quickly cupped his hands in a salute.

"This humble official dares to speculate on the will of Heaven!"

He took a deep breath: "Since Your Highness has decided to allow tributary states to trade with our Great Tang and switch to this paper currency, your purpose must be far more than just these thoughts. Your Highness is a man of great wisdom and long-term planning. I humbly believe... Your Highness is probably eyeing the gold and silver held by those tributary states, isn't he?"

He carefully looked up and his eyes met Li Chengqian's admiring gaze.

"Haha, Minister Tang, you're quite clever! Now that you have the ability, you should do more to share the burden of the court. The Ministry of Rites is one of the Six Ministries, and foreign affairs especially need to be arranged by the Ministry of Rites. Minister Tang should understand that the capable should do more!"

Those who are capable should do more work...

Tang Jian couldn't help but glance cautiously at Prince Jin, who was still engrossed in battling a pile of documents and memorials at the table beside the dragon throne.

Your Highness the Crown Prince has very high expectations for Prince Jin...

Seeing Tang Jian receive such praise from the Crown Prince, Feng Deyi suddenly pondered and spoke.

"Your Highness, what if some of the tributary states outwardly comply with our Tang Dynasty's demands while inwardly defying us? Although our Tang Dynasty is currently powerful and has a large army, we must remember that many ants can devour an elephant. Our Tang Dynasty also relies heavily on the surrounding tributary states..."

"Does the Duke of Mi mean Linyi?"

Li Chengqian snorted.

Feng Deyi cupped his hands and said, “It does not only refer to Lin Yi. Although King Fan Fanzhi of Lin Yi is very arrogant and thinks that Lin Yi is a place with high mountains and deep forests, and he is quite capable in the local area, he has made many rude remarks because our Great Tang imports a lot of rice from Lin Yi. But now our Great Tang also needs to import a lot of medicinal materials from other places such as Siam and Jiaozhi.”

"Now is a time when the population of our Great Tang Dynasty is doubling, and food and medicine are of paramount importance..."

"Hmph!" Li Chengqian let out a cold laugh.

"Since they are unwilling to obey the orders of our Great Tang Emperor, then their claim to be tributary officials is utterly baseless!"

Li Chengqian raised his hand and handed a sheepskin scroll, which was rarely seen in the court, to Sun Yi.

"This is the latest letter from Songtsen Gampo, the Tibetan king! You two should take a look."

Tang Jian and Feng Deyi got together.

However, when they saw the opening content of the scroll, they all gasped in shock.

"Indian food!?"

"this......"

The two men looked at each other in disbelief at the contents of the scroll. Songtsen Gampo had made such a big move, seizing a large area of ​​arable land in the Harsha Dynasty.

They have even completed the harvest of a season's worth of grain!

"Although large-scale ships in Guangzhou have not yet been completed, many shipbuilding workshops that already have a foundation have the capacity to build a large number of medium-sized ships."

"The King of Chu wrote to me, saying that there are now many young people in Guangzhou who want to go out to sea. I have agreed to send some of the naval personnel from Dengzhou to teach these people how to sail the ocean. We don't need them for fighting for the time being, but they are excellent manpower for transporting grain from Southeast Asia and India."

Tang Jian and Feng Deyi took a deep breath, but Li Chengqian showed no sign of stopping.

He continued to talk at length.

"Now, Father has made good progress in dealing with the barbarian people of the Six Zhao south of Jiannan Road. Although the people of the Six Zhao live in a land of insects, snakes, poison, and miasma, they also have the desire to live and work in peace. Our Great Tang purchases medicines from Jiaozhi and Siam, so that these suspicious foreign slaves can get their mouths to eat. Why can't we exchange this benefit of enriching the people of one region for the land of the Southern Six Zhao?"

"The people of Jiaozhi and Siam have a history of frequent exchanges, but the Six Zhao have had relations with the Central Plains since the Qin and Han dynasties of China. Although there have been exchanges since then, they are more likely to be obedient subjects of the southern border of our Great Tang than Jiaozhi and Siam!"

Li Chengqian said with a smile, his eyes shining.

"We would rather give it to the people of the South than to foreign slaves! The matter of trading paper currency is beyond question!"