Chapter Fifty-Three: Gong Xiangzi

  First update, I saw in the book review section that many of you are worried about being too strict. I, Bai, guarantee here that it won't be the case. It has a beginning and an end, and it's just a foundation laid at the starting point.

  Chang Sun couldn't help but admire Li Chengqian's potential as a debate coach, who not only understood the common people and cared about the country's governance and livelihood, but also added his own insights, causing the princesses behind him to clench their fists, as if they had made a huge determination, ready to dedicate themselves to the modernization of the Tang Dynasty at any moment.

  "Hahaha......" A burst of hearty laughter came over, and Li Er had already walked in with big strides.

  Everyone hurriedly gave Li Er a salute, and Li Er and Empress Changsun sat on the other side of the soft couch, saying: "Chengqian said it well, my son is a fierce tiger, so naturally my daughter cannot be a small flower in a greenhouse that can't withstand the wind and rain outside. Father Emperor promised you, if you pass the assessment by the end of the month, I will let you go out to play; if you fail to pass the assessment, then you can only watch others go out to play, and at that time, it's useless to find someone to intercede for you."

  "Thank you, Father Emperor!" The little princesses were overjoyed and prepared to work even harder from today on, striving for a day of freedom at the end of the month. These princes and princesses had been pampered since childhood, never having suffered any hardships, with fine clothes and food in abundance, but they lacked the freedom that ordinary commoners outside took for granted, so they yearned for it even more.

  Everyone bid each other farewell and hastily rushed to the Chongwen Academy. Class time was about to begin, and they didn't want to be late, as arriving on time at the classroom every day was also part of the assessment.

  Chang Sun saw that everyone had left, felt that there shouldn't be anything else, stood up and prepared to bid farewell. Anyway, he would come again tomorrow to pay his respects, so he might as well talk about making money another day.

  "Uncle and aunt, nothing's wrong, I'm just thinking of heading back." Changsun Chong was about to bid farewell, but there were still some matters at home!

  "Although you have a rare encounter, you can't idle around all day, so I've already discussed with your aunt that after you pay respects, follow Chengqian and Ke'er to Chongwen Academy to study." Li dropped a bombshell, leaving Changsun stunned.

  Isn't that a mistake, still studying? He has been reading books for over a decade in modern times. Just thinking about school makes him feel disgusted, and it's even more unbearable to be with a group of ignorant kids. His time is extremely valuable, he wants to quickly earn 10 billion units of temporal energy, open up the time gap in the 21st century, and reunite with his loved ones. Where does he have so much time to waste on raising children?

  "I actually have a lot of things to do and don't have the chance to idle around." Chang Sun felt that at this moment, he couldn't help but mention his own plans. If not, as a middle-aged man following a group of young kids and girls to school, wouldn't that be very embarrassing?

  Li Er glanced at Zhangsun Chong and said, "Brother-in-law, Chong thinks that our Great Tang is currently very poor, the treasury has no money, and the people have no money in their hands. So what Chong is thinking about most now is how to make money. You know, Chong boasted in front of his brothers that he would raise funds for the Great Tang army to destroy the Turks! He must keep his word and not go back on it."

  Li Er's eyes twitched, the national treasury was empty, not even a mouse was left, he knew it. Seeing Zhangsun Chong say this, he had an idea and asked: "Chong'er, what method do you have?"

  Chang Sun Chong took out from his bosom a dim and obscure glass cup which his mother, Dou Shi, had bought from the Hu people, and placed it on the table.

  "Chong'er, isn't this crystal? Are you thinking of getting crystal from the barbarians and selling it at a high price in Chang'an?" The woman had no immunity to shiny things, took it in her hand to take a look. Because the national treasury was empty for two years, the inner court also stopped burning expensive crystal. Although she was the empress, she hadn't added any crystal decorations for a long time.

  "This is indeed a good idea! Right, I can also let the inner court bureau burn crystal glass and sell it outside to make money." Li Er agreed, the price of crystal glass in Chang'an was very high.

  Everyone is one of us, and Li Er also talks about money with his mouth open and closed, and he doesn't worry about being said to be full of copper smell.

  Chang Sun chuckled and shook his head, saying: "Hehe, none of those. I have a method to produce even better glassware here, and it's not traditional glasswork. One mold at a time, high-quality products, low-cost production. Although the selling price is high, we can't make much money from it; taking goods from the Hu people isn't profitable either, and besides, I don't think highly of their stuff. Using new methods to produce glassware has extremely low costs. Such a lucrative business, Chang Sun doesn't dare to monopolize it himself, so he's bringing it out to share with his uncle and aunt. Once we produce the glassware, we can sell it to neighboring countries. They've always been eager for our Great Tang's precious items, and they'll be extremely enthusiastic about them. We can make a huge profit from this."

  "Are you telling the truth?" Li Er asked in a low voice, he was always thinking about the war with the Turks, after so many years of fighting east and west, last year's defeat at Wei River, it was all because of Qian that he suffered this loss for the first time.

  "Uncle, although I'm young, I've never deceived you. I know I'm not good at literature or martial arts, but I'm very interested in doing business. This is the most profitable business, and I'll give it to you and Auntie. I myself will do some small business."

  "Oh?" Li Er's interest was piqued, and he wondered what kind of small business Zhang Sun Chong was talking about.

  "I'm going to set up a paper mill and a winery, and at the same time, I'll renovate that stagnant bookstore at home." Chang Sun explained it to Li Er and Auntie, so they knew what he had in mind.

  Li Er Yi listened and found that everything was beneficial to the country and the people, and he had a better impression of Zhang Sun Chong.

  "Alright, you can start with the paper mill and bookstore renovation first. As for brewing wine, I think we can skip it for now. Let's wait until our Great Tang has a bumper harvest, then we can open a winery." Li emphasized that they couldn't even eat their fill, so what was the point of brewing wine? He himself only drank one jar of wine every ten or fifteen days, hoping to save more grain.

  Chang Sun Chong nodded in agreement and said: "Uncle, I'll remember that. Once the grain is abundant again, I'll open a wine brewery."

  "Good, you can put the world first, I am very happy." Li Er nodded, stroking the two wisps of whiskers on his mouth, and smiled slightly.

  Chang Sun excitedly met Li Er and Empress Dowager Gu Gu, and took the opportunity to say with a smile: "Then my school thing..."

  Although she knew that Changsun Wuji was going to do something important, Empress Changsun still did not relax her vigilance over his studies and said ahead of time: "You come to pay your respects here every day anyway, in the morning you go to Chongwen Hall to study with Chengqian, after lunch you can leave the palace. Don't make excuses again, even if you want to start a workshop, it's just a matter of moving your lips, naturally someone will do it for you, no need for you to show up in person."

  Chang Sun underestimated his aunt's cleverness, and she saw through his little thoughts at a glance. "Thank you for your teachings, Aunt!" he said. Anyway, he had memorized quite a few poems and texts, so re-entering the school shouldn't be a problem.

  "This is right, Second Brother. I'll trouble you to take Chong'er over!" Empress Zhangsun said with a smile, "I can't wait any longer for the people from the Inner Palace Bureau to arrive, hurry up and burn the glass!"

  Li Er nodded and said: "Thanks for your hard work, Guanyin."

  "It should be." Empress Changsun was very wise and capable, these things Li Er would not manage himself, but also valued by Li Er, so only she came forward the most suitable.

  The barbarians sell glass every year and make a lot of money from the Tang Dynasty. She had also seen it with envy, but she couldn't rob openly, so she could only advise the emperor to collect more taxes. She wanted to use the glass made by the inner court bureau to make money, but the production cost was too high, which was more expensive than the barbarians' glass transported from thousands of miles away, and everyone naturally went to buy the barbarians' glass.

  Now that she has a new method of making glass from her nephew, she can show off her skills and help her second brother out of trouble. As long as they can quickly get a large sum of money from the neighboring country, they can solve their current difficulties.