"Your Majesty, you must not!"
Without waiting for Li Shiming to speak, Zhangsun Wuji jumped out once again and sneered at Li Xian.
"You're so ambitious!"
"The Inner Pass Road is an important hub in Guanzhong. Tributes from the grasslands, Hu merchants from the Western Regions, merchants from all over the Central Plains, and even the imperial court's troops can't avoid this official road.”
"For three years, if we control it in private hands, wouldn't that mean that the lifeline of the Imperial Court will be in the hands of the merchants?”
"Putting aside the face of the Imperial Court, once Li Xian colludes with others to block the news and conceal it from the peddlers, he will be able to escape.”
"If it's small, it'll be chaotic. If it's big, it'll be chaotic!"
"Absolutely not!"
Zhangsun Wuji's words were a bit of a conspiracy theory, but it was indeed understandable.
The ancients were not ignorant. Otherwise, they would not have left behind so much wealth for their descendants.
"Brother Li, this is indeed not appropriate.”
Li Shi Min frowned.
"Zhen, I can't promise you!"
Li Shiming spoke righteously, as if his bones were made of steel. He definitely couldn't let the country lose its authority and be humiliated because of 2.3 million catties of corn cobs.
"Li Xian, you're really too much. You can't bite off more than you can chew!”
"That's right, Brother Li. The title of Marquis of the Founding County is not bad. With your ability, you will definitely have a better future!”
"Listen to my advice, Brother Li. Give up on this thought. You're bringing trouble upon yourself!”
Li Ji, Yuchi Gong, and Cheng Yaojin all tried to persuade him. As generals, although they weren't fools, they also hated the cunning Zhangsun.
All of a sudden, they stood on Li Xian's side and helped persuade him.
Looking at their reactions, Li Xian could not help but roll his eyes again. In the end, he looked at Zhangsun Wuji with a look of disdain.
"I heard His Majesty call you auxiliary. You must be Minister Zuo Pushe, Lord Zhangsun.”
Li Xian said.
"That's me!"
Zhangsun Wuji sneered.
"Li Xian, His Majesty has granted you the title of Marquis, which shows his sincerity. This is a blessing that you can't cultivate in a few lifetimes.”
"Greedy delusions! You actually want to pass the Inner Pass?”
Li Xian stretched his back and looked at Zhangsun Wuji with a playful smile.
"No wonder you're called Changsun Yin. You're indeed dark.”
"Do you think everyone is like you, with your mind full of these dark things about men and women?”
Li Xian said in disdain.
"You!"
Zhangsun Wuji's face turned green. This Li Xian really did not put him in his eyes.
After all, he was the most powerful official of the Great Tang, the current Minister Pushe, on the same level as the Prime Minister.
Who wouldn't be respectful and polite when they saw him?
But Li Xian did not put him in his eyes at all. It was too infuriating.
"Your Majesty."
Li Xian couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him, instead, he smiled at Li Shiming.
"I don't have such great ambitions, and I won't do dangerous work like rebelling.”
"I'm just making a little money to be a rich man.”
"I'll be responsible for the construction of the inner road. The only thing I want is the right to freely use the official road for three years to sell goods.”
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will pay the business tax according to the law.”
"As for the supervision of the inner pass, the officials of the Imperial Court, and the passing of the army, I don't care at all and won't interfere.”
"The matter has been made clear enough. Your Majesty, you can decide for yourself.”
After Li Xian finished speaking, the entire room fell into absolute silence, to the point where even a pin drop could be heard.
It was too tempting!
Two million and three hundred thousand catties of corn. After the immediate crisis, the food from Jiangnan would arrive half a month later. The problem of disaster relief would be solved.
Li Xian had built the Inner Pass Road only to use the official road to transport goods and pay taxes according to the court's business tax.
It was equivalent to getting a good road for free and collecting taxes, solving the problem of disaster relief.
The benefits were all on his side.
This wasn't a loss!
However…
Was there really such a good thing in this world?
"Is that really all you want?"
Li Shi Min asked.
"Haha."
Li Xian smiled.
"Ordinary people must have a travel pass issued by the imperial court to enter and exit the official road.”
"As a result, many merchants need to open up many small roads and mountain roads to transport their goods.”
"However, the world is dangerous.”
"If I have the qualifications to use the official road for three years, it will be a huge benefit to me. Isn't that enough?"
Li Shiming, Fang Xuanling, and the others nodded.
Li Xian was right.
The official roads were supervised by the imperial court. Although there were no cameras like now, they were regularly inspected. If they found anything unusual, they would definitely not let it go easily.
Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, the bandits and bandits would never loot on the official road.
The transportation in the Tang Dynasty was inconvenient, and the risk of long-distance transportation of goods was very high.
Basically, outside of the road, large numbers of carriages were not allowed to appear on the official road to avoid obstructing the messenger and the march of the army. This was an important matter of the court.
Li Shiming and Fang Xuanling exchanged glances and nodded at each other, agreeing to Li Xian's request.
After all, the price to pay for a founding county marquis was much higher than Li Xian's condition.
"I…"
Zhangsun Wuji interrupted Li Shiming.
"Your Majesty, you can't!"
"Although Li Xian said so, we can't believe it.”
"Then the Imperial Court will have to supervise the entire process. The quantity and content of the goods transported must be inspected.”
"In addition, we have to put it on record and investigate all the relationships around Li Xian…"
Zhangsun Wuji's mouth did not stop, directly treating Li Xian as a spy from another country.
Li Xian sneered.
"Stop, Lord Zhangsun, there's no need to say anymore. I'm not doing this business anymore. Go find someone else!”
"I'll chase away the refugees in a while.”
"Anyway, my current family business is enough for me to live a lifetime without worrying about food and clothing.”
"Let's pretend we never met today."
"You guys can leave."
Hearing Li Xian's words, Li Shi Min became anxious.
2.3 million jin of grain was not something that even the great clans could afford in a short period of time, let alone all the wealthy families in Guanzhong.
If Li Xian really didn't make this deal, he wouldn't lose anything.
But if he didn't make this deal…
Perhaps the world would really be in chaos, and smoke would rise again, damaging the people under his rule.
Thinking of this, Li Shiming glared at Zhangsun Wuji fiercely.
"Ancestors, get out!"
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。