Second
Year of Zhenguan, Late February.
There was a great drought in the world.
Chang 'an City, Taiji Palace.
The atmosphere in the hall was extremely oppressive. The drought in Guanzhong was severe, but what was more serious was the people's hearts.
"The drought in Guanzhong is the heavens punishing me?”Li Shi Min asked coldly, his face extremely gloomy.
"We are terrified!"
The officials in the hall knelt on the ground and did not dare to say anything.
The incident at the Black Tortoise Sect two years ago had always been a cause for concern. Whenever a disaster occurred in the Great Tang, there would always be people who would blame it on Li Shiming.
"Take out a regulation."
After a long silence, Li Shi Min said coldly.
"Your Majesty, last year, the Ministry of Revenue had already taken out nearly two million taels of silver for disaster relief. Now that the national treasury is empty, I'm afraid…" Han Zhongliang, the Minister of Revenue, looked conflicted.
Li Shi Min's face darkened. He knew what the situation was like in the national treasury.
In the two years since he took the throne, the national treasury was empty, disasters continued, people's lives were difficult, the border defense was unstable, and even the regime was unstable.
"How much can the Inner Residence offer?" Li Shi Min turned to look at the eunuch Wang De.
Wang De hurriedly knelt down and whispered,"There aren't many in the Inner Residence. At most, we can offer a hundred thousand taels of silver.”
Li Shi Min's mouth twitched and he said,"I remember that there are many famous paintings and antiques in the inner residence
..." "
Ahem…" Li Shiming's eyelids twitched as he looked at the officials in the palace and said,"The national treasury is empty, and the Inner Residence has no money. What should we do?”
The officials were silent. Li Shimin was helpless and could only look at his brother-in-law, Zhangsun Wuji.
Zhangsun Wuji sighed inwardly and took a step forward.""The Guanzhong region is in great danger. The Imperial Court is providing disaster relief to the country, so the merchants of the Great Tang should not be stingy.”
"This subject is willing to invest 20,000 yuan for disaster relief.”
In the end, Zhangsun Wuji took the lead with a pained expression.
Li Shiming nodded in satisfaction and looked at Cheng Yaojin and the others. He knew that some people in the court were extremely rich.
"I am willing to contribute 20,000 strings of money to relieve the disaster.”
"I, Yuchi Jingde, am willing to invest 20,0000 yuan to relieve disaster relief.”
"I, Wei Zheng, am willing to contribute 5,000 strings of money to the disaster relief.”
"I, Qin Qiong, am willing to contribute fifty strings of coins to the disaster relief.”
"..."
Li Shiming looked at the officials in the hall quietly. He was a little dissatisfied with his brother-in-law Zhangsun Wuji.
"If I had known earlier, I would have asked him to invest 100,000 strings in advance.”Li Shi Min thought to himself.
The highest official in the palace contributed 20,000 strings to the disaster relief, and the lowest was Qin Qiong, who contributed 50 strings.
Li Shi Min didn't mind that Qin Qiong paid too little. After all, he knew the situation of Qin Qiong's family very well.
One word, poor!
"Your Majesty, I don't think it's appropriate.”In the end, Li Jing said,"We officials can pay, but it's a drop in the bucket.”
The ministers were shocked and stopped talking, looking at Li Jing.
As everyone knew, Li Jing was a famous miser!
Li Shiming's eyelids twitched. He felt that it was pretty good. He had already raised more than a million strings of coins.
"What's wrong?" Li Shimin asked calmly.
Li Jing reported,"We are not merchants. Even if we squeeze out some money from our families, it will be a drop in the bucket compared to the needs of the disaster relief. Moreover, Lord Zhangsun just suggested that we take it from merchants!”
Cheng Yaojin was the first to jump up and agree,""That's right, I know some merchants who are extremely rich.”
"So rich?" Li Shimin asked,"How?”
"Uh…" Cheng Yaojin paused and said,"You'll have to ask Lord Kong. Everyone in the world knows that the richest man in the Tang Empire is the descendant of a Saint.”
"Oh?" Li Shimin was curious. He looked at Kong Yingda and asked with a smile,"I didn't know that there was such a thing as the richest man in the Great Tang.”
He remembered that the 30th grandson of Confucius had only bid 300 strings of strings.
Kong Yingda's face darkened. He stepped forward and said,""I have already expelled that treacherous nephew from the Kong family. Although his surname is Kong, he is no longer a member of my Kong family.”
Li Shi Min was puzzled. He looked at the others in the hall and found that most of them had expressions of understanding. Obviously, they knew who Kong Yingda was talking about.
"Tell me the details." Li Shi Min said.
Li Jing glanced at Kong Yingda and smiled.""Your Majesty has lived in the palace for a long time, so it's normal that you don't understand the affairs of the marketplace. Your Majesty should have heard of the flower wine.”
Li Shi Min nodded and said,"This is a rare wine."”
The wine of the flower is the Lord Kong, the traitor Kong Yan.”Li Jing smiled and said,"His Majesty is short of money for disaster relief. We can't solve the problem. You should look for Lord Kong.”
"Nonsense!" Kong Yingda glared at him."He's him, I'm me. Don't put me together with a merchant!"”
"Tsk ~"
Many of the officials in the court snorted in disdain.
"What kind of person is this Kong Yan?" Li Er asked curiously."You all look familiar."”
Li Jing shook his head and said,"Other than Lord Kong, no one in the court has seen this Young Master Kong Yan.”
Zhangsun Wuji looked at Li Shiming and said,""The toothbrushes, soaps, and white sugar that are so popular in Chang 'an are all made by Kong Yan.
Wild Goose Falling Pavilion is spread all over the cities and towns of the Tang Empire, and Kong Yan is also the one behind it. In
addition, a new printing technique has recently appeared in Jiangnan area, and I heard that it is also made by Kong Yan.”
"Cheng Zhijie was not lying when he said that the richest man in the Great Tang was the descendant of a Sage. Nowadays, there is a saying that the wealth of the world is equal to a stone, and Master Kong has eight buckets of it!”
Li Shi Min calmed down and said with his eyes half-closed,"Why have I never heard of such a genius?!”
Fang Xuanling looked at Li Shimin and said,"His Majesty once said that merchants are not allowed to stand side by side with the court's virtuous gentlemen and eat together…Therefore, we dare not mention it in front of His Majesty.”
Kong Yingda saw that the situation was not right and quickly took a step forward."Your Majesty, that nephew of mine only knows the way of business and is not beneficial to the country. The ministers have given me face, so they have never mentioned it in front of Your Majesty.”
Li Shi Min's face darkened as he looked at the officials in the hall and asked coldly,"It seems that you have all accepted his silver.”
"This subject is wronged!"
Cheng Yaojin flew into a rage and said with his eyes wide open,"I can't even go to the Falling Goose Pavilion to drink on credit. That kid is so stingy that the world knows it!”
Li Shi Min was startled. He looked at the officials in the hall again and found that many of them had faint expressions of anger on their faces.
This made him even more surprised.
In his opinion, only by colluding with officials and merchants could merchants truly become big.
Du Ruhui, who had been silent all this while, stepped forward and reported,""I have studied Kong Yan before.”
"Oh? Du Aiqing, please tell me." Li Shimin didn't expect Du Ruhui to have studied a merchant before.
Du Ruhui said,"Kong Yan is different from other merchants. Perhaps it's because his business is too big, but he's very trusting and refuses to contact any high-ranking officials. So far, other than Lord Kong, I've never heard of any official in the court contacting him.”
"Did no one covet his business?”Li Shi Min was puzzled.
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