In the first year of Zhenguan, the national treasury was not rich.
A few months ago, during the Wei River Alliance, the Turks had fought their way to the north bank of the Wei River. Li Shimin had signed a humiliating treaty and promised to give the Turks tens of thousands of taels of tea, cloth, and salt every year before the Turks withdrew their troops.
This large expenditure had emptied the national treasury, and after the Great Tang was established, in order to appease the people, they had reduced taxes and corvee, causing the Imperial Court to run out of money. Once a famine occurred, Li Shimin would be in a terrible state.
The drought in the east of the river had made the not-so-wealthy national treasury even worse. It had basically been emptied.
This time, Li Shi Min personally brought the cherry crispy cakes made by the imperial kitchen to the Martial Virtue Hall to see the King of Zhao. He wanted the King of Zhao to donate some food and give him some advice.
The King of Zhao impeached the Emperor, the King of Zhao talked about the incident at Xuanwu Gate, and the King of Zhao borrowed money to accumulate grain and made a fortune. These examples had only happened not long ago.
Li Shi Min believed that his brother was not simple.
The dragon carriage walked out of the east gate of the Temple of Immortals and entered the periphery of the Hall of Martial Virtue.
This place was originally filled with lush greenery and flowers, but at this moment, it was completely bare, as if it had just been plowed.
"Bastard!"
"The flowers and plants that I painstakingly planted.”
Li Shiming had once planted his favorite orchid here, but it was nowhere to be seen.
A eunuch who was in charge of the fields came to the dragon carriage and reported,""Your Majesty, the King of Zhao said that he had some treasure to plant, so he asked the craftsmen to hoe all the flowers and plants here.”
"This servant wouldn't let it go no matter what. The King of Zhao beat this servant up and even threatened this servant not to tell you.”
The eunuch felt wronged, and there were red and swollen wounds on his face.
"This King Zhao is too unreasonable. Zhen will teach him a lesson on behalf of Imperial Father.”Li Shi Min suppressed his anger and thought of the important matter.
......
"Royal brother, you're here. Is this interest?”
"Royal brother will send it to you immediately."
Li Yuanjing greeted Li Shiming with a smile on his face.
It had taken him more than ten days to go from being a poor King of Zhao to being a big capitalist.
It was all thanks to Li Er's 1,000 strings of capital.
So how could he not be happy to see the emperor?
Most importantly, he had won the bet and would soon complete the side quest.
Li Shi Min's heart was bleeding, but he still said expressionlessly,"Don't worry about the money. Yuanjing, these are the desserts that the kitchen just made.”
With that, the eunuch handed over an exquisite wooden box. When he opened it, he saw white pastries inside. They were exquisite and fragrant.
However, Li Yuanjing was not a child who could be coaxed easily.
Did Li Shi Min want to break the bet? Not separating from Consort Qi? If that was the case, it would be a breach of promise, and his character would be extremely bad.
"What is Imperial Brother doing?"”
"There is a drought in the east of the river, and the wheat in the fields is crying to death. Many commoners have no food in reserve and have begun to eat tree bark. The relief food from the imperial court is already on the way.”
" However, the national treasury isn't full, so it's impossible to transfer all the food to the east of the river. We have to keep some food in our hands to avoid accidents such as foreign invasion.”
Li Shi Min sat down and held his forehead.
It was indeed not easy to be the emperor. When he was still the king of Qin, he had risked his life and thought that he had contributed the most. In fact, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuan had contributed a lot in managing the logistics.
"Borrow food?"
"Of course you can, but you have to fulfill the bet first. Send Qi Wangfei's sister-in-law out of the palace and don't have any contact with her.”
"Imperial Father said that you would definitely not abide by the bet and would definitely meet her in secret. But I am different. I trust Imperial Brother very much.”
"Royal brother, don't disappoint me."
Li Yuanjing said with a smile, making Li Shiming unable to refute.
Li Shi Min ordered,"Let the Qi Princess leave the palace and send her back to the Yang family."”
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The eunuch who was carrying the snack box was shocked. Even the Empress couldn't persuade the Emperor to do this. He didn't expect the King of Zhao to do it.
The King of Zhao was not only bold, but he was also very capable. He could make the Emperor bow his head.
"The assignments from Chongwen Hall?" Li Yuanjing giggled.”
"There's no need to write."
Li Shi Min said angrily.
"Imperial Brother, did you ever say that I'm not allowed to enter the Imperial Court before I'm eighteen?”
"Cancel all of them!"
Li Shi Min compromised.
Li Yuanjing was pleasantly surprised. Not only did Li Er lower his head, but the system's voice also sounded in his mind.
He would check it later.
He didn't know why Li Shi Min was so tolerant of him.
Perhaps Li Er felt guilty towards his brother, or perhaps he was too cute and amiable. It must be the case.
"I actually want to know how you learned about the drought in the east of the river.”
Li Shiming was beaten to death. He didn't believe that his younger brother was a god who could calculate.
It must be due to some luck.
Li Yuanjing thought for a moment and grinned."I'm actually the reincarnation of an immortal. I know everything about astronomy and geography from five hundred years ago to five hundred years later. Some time ago, he had observed the weather at night and learned that there was a famine in the east of the river. That was why he had borrowed money everywhere to store up food.”
"Go, go, go!"
"Don't be glib."
Li Shimin patted the table to show that he was serious.
Confucius said: three people walking together, there must be my teacher.
Li Shi Min didn't care about the other party's age, as long as they were stronger than him, he was willing to consult them.
This time, he really wanted to listen to his royal brother's advice.
Looking at Tang Taizong in history made his head swell. It was indescribable how great it was.
Li Yuanjing pondered for a moment and explained,""Actually, Hedong Road has been suffering from a drought for a month or two, but it wasn't serious at first. There were only one or two counties, and the local government didn't pay much attention to it. My cousin, Mo Yunfei, is a merchant in Chang 'an. He travels to and fro. He told me this news.”
"Then I was very curious and asked cousin about the lakes and pastures in the east of the river.”
"He said that the water level of the lake has dropped, and the grassland vegetation has deteriorated.”
"In addition to the saying that there is a drought in the north for nine out of ten years, I knew that the drought would definitely come, but I didn't dare to say anything.”
Swoosh!
Li Shi Min suddenly understood.
Local droughts, lake water levels dropping, and grassland vegetation degeneration were all signs of drought.
However, only the King of Zhao, Li Yuanjing, noticed it. This was simply a hint of insight.
Moreover, it was thousands of miles away.
He had even analyzed the drought. This insight was not inferior to the insight he had gained during the incident at the Black Tortoise Sect.
He was far-sighted and meticulous.
Li Shimin looked at Li Yuanjing like he was a hot potato, but he was very proud. He muttered,"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have borrowed another thousand strings.”
Li Yuanjing chuckled. You?
You wouldn't dare to play hardball, but you could play it in hindsight.
Li Shiming coughed." This time, the east of the river is in trouble. How much food are you willing to pay? I suggest that you pay as much as possible. This way, you can show the prestige of the King of Zhao. Didn't you say that you want to be a virtuous king?"”
Was he afraid that Li Yuanjing would become more and more capable and seize his throne?
Li Shi Min would never do that.
In the past dynasties, there were many crafty rabbits that died and dogs that were cooked. The Han Dynasty and Ming Dynasty made the meritorious officials most disappointed.
On the contrary, in the Tang Dynasty, as long as you did not rebel or act out of greed, you would basically have a good ending.
At least Li Shi Min would not be suspicious of the meritorious officials or the Prince.
Li Yuanjing blinked his eyes. He didn't say that he would donate his own food.
"Royal brother, I'll teach you a way to gather food.”
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