The Thirty-Ninth Chapter: The Great Injustice of the Qin King

  Li Yuanxing also crawled on the ground, close to Li Er and said in a low voice: "There is another tax called Tianzhi Tax. For example, my plow was handed over to the Tianzhi Institute. After making this plow, I had to pay two cents of Tianzhi tax, which is paid to the heavens, because the heavens granted wisdom, so I made this plow."

  "What's next?" Li Er still didn't quite understand. But Li Yuanxing laughed so slyly, if he had said that his younger brother had come out ten or more years earlier, Yang Guang's reign might have been even shorter-lived.

  "Next is the most brilliant tax, I'm going to start a big competition. Still by the silk merchant's competition, whoever invents the most brilliant silk machine will be rewarded. Then people all over the world use this silk machine, half of the tax collected will be rewarded to the person who first made the silk machine, and others who want to use it will pay taxes. The remaining half will be used to thank the heavens!"

  Li Yuanxing's words moved Li Er, which is equivalent to taking someone else's money and putting half of it in his pocket for nothing.

  This idea is too good, it's just...

  Li Er anxiously asked: "How should we thank this heavenly gift?"

  "Benefiting the people is a way to thank Heaven, for example, repairing rivers. Anyway, it's still necessary to spend money on repairs. The most profitable thing is to repair roads. If the road is well-repaired, horse-drawn carriages will have to pay tolls, one coin per ten miles. With this toll, the cost of repairing the road can be recovered in 10 or 8 years. Moreover, if the road is well-repaired, more goods can be sold, and our taxes will increase. Most importantly, I can use this money to fight against the Turks first!"

  Li Er shook his head: "No, fighting the Turks is just a matter of these two years. This sum of money is not small, and thinking only about fighting the Turks is too narrow-minded. It seems that we need to think carefully about how to use this money. So... let's first talk about the deposit issue, I think..."

  Li Er was whispering with Li Yuanxing in a low voice.

  The eunuchs outside the grand hall shouted: "Empress Changsun has arrived!"

  Empress Changsun was the only one who could enter the grand hall without Li Er's consent. She came in, took a glance and didn't let anyone else come in.

  There were no others, just the two people in the great hall, who really couldn't be seen by anyone.

  If Empress Longsun were from modern times, she would definitely say: "What are these two idiots doing?"

  After all, Empress Changsun was also from a prestigious family, and seeing Li Yuanxing with dark circles under his eyes and Li's clothes in disarray, she thought they had just gotten into a fight. But then the two of them were crawling on the ground, gesturing at something, and amazingly, they took the few pearls that had fallen off the emperor's crown and arranged them on the ground. The two of them seemed to be having a great time.

  " Erlang, Wulang. I don't know what's so interesting!" asked Empress Changsun.

  Li Er, although an emperor, was only a 27-year-old young man and had the passion of youth. While discussing the Turks with Li Yuanxing, he heard Empress Changsun ask this question, and without thinking, he blurted out: "The fifth brother said that the Turks would be defeated and the chrysanthemums would bloom everywhere!"

  As soon as the words came out, Empress Longsun was stunned.

  Li Er was also stunned.

  Li Er was filled with regret, how could he utter such coarse words? He cleared his throat twice: "Actually, Wu Lang just made an analogy, and Guan Yin doesn't need to think too much about it. As long as you know that Wu Lang has a way to get 200,000 yuan within a month, that's enough."

  Empress Changsun followed Li Shimin on his southern and northern campaigns, so she naturally understood what 200,000 guan represented at that time.

  Turk! Will await the baptism of blood from the mighty Tang army!

  Li Er did not mention 500,000 yuan because he was afraid that if this number could not be reached, it would damage the dignity of these two Qin kings. Exceeding 200,000 yuan is naturally even better.

  That night, Li Yuanxing did not return to the Qin Wang Fu and spent the night in the imperial palace.

  Li Er's family banquet was simple, with only four adults present: Li Yuanxing, Li Er, Empress Changsun and Consort Yang. Li Yuanxing knew that Li Er had two other extremely favored consorts, but they didn't seem to be present today.

  Apart from these four adults, it's just a bunch of little ones.

  The two oldest boys were both eight years old, one was Chengqian and the other was Ke.

  Two little guys are obviously trying to curry favor with Li Er, wanting to get more pampering. Perhaps they still don't know what the throne is, but they do know what paternal love is?

  Li Er seems very happy, this might be his best mood ever.

  At this time, Li Yuanxing said another shocking sentence, which was even more terrifying than what he had just said to Li Er. Because Li Er could understand his words, but Li Yuanxing's sentence made Empress Changsun and Consort Yang unable to comprehend.

  Li Yuanxing said: "In the far north, there is a snow-white wolf. This wolf is the king of wolves, born to be the Wolf King!" As soon as Li Yuanxing opened his mouth, he attracted everyone's attention, including those little guys. Li Er was also very interested and waited for Li Yuanxing to continue speaking.

  "This wolf king, after giving birth to its offspring, will push all the small wolves down the hill. Only the one that climbs up first gets more meat to eat. The weakest one may starve to death. This is the world of the wolf king, a true strongman's world!"

  After Li Yuanxing finished speaking, Empress Changsun's face changed greatly.

  Li Er's face turned iron-green as he stared at Li Yuanxing.

  A few smaller kids didn't understand what it meant, and they stared blankly. Only two bigger boys looked thoughtful, but a little girl with baby teeth said: "That weak little wolf is so pitiful!"

  Li Yuanxing smiled and continued: "They are not ordinary wolves, because they are the kings of wolves!"

  "That's enough!" The Empress Changsun had never used such a severe tone on anyone, not even Li Yuanxing. She stood up: "Fifth Brother, you've disappointed me too much."

  Li Yuanxing was not afraid at all: "Sister-in-law, you also disappointed Wu Lang!"

  Li Er also stood up, he wanted to help Empress Zhangsun. But Yang Fei said at this time: "Why not let Wu Lang finish speaking!"

  "Alright, Wu Lang continues!" Li Er wanted to help Empress Changsun because Changsun was the most important woman in his heart, but he also acknowledged that as the king of wolves, one must have a life like a king.

  Li Yuanxing continued: "There is also a kind of wild horse on the grassland called Longma. Do you know?"

  "It's known that taming this horse is extremely difficult!"

  "Just because it's difficult, doesn't mean you won't tame it?" Li Yuanxing asked back and continued to say: "Is it because you're afraid that you don't face it? It's precisely because you're afraid that you should go face it. Precisely because we want to protect, so we can set a rule. The weak one doesn't have the qualifications to become the wolf king, but can be an ordinary wolf. And even if you become an ordinary wolf, it's still the bloodline of the wolf king!"

  Li Yuanxing's words shocked Li Er, Changsun and Yang Fei.

  From the perspective of modern people, nature has a very high vision, especially in the later generations of the nine kings competing for power, that is truly ruthless. But placed within effective control, it may not be a bad thing, at least there won't be a weak emperor who lets women seize power.

  Li Er is thinking because Li Yuanxing makes sense. If the children are too weak and small, who will guard this empire?

  Li Er also thought of himself, when he killed Li Jiancheng, he had thought about it before. If the Great Tang was handed over to a useless person like Li Jiancheng, the Great Tang would be ruined. Although he was his younger brother, for the sake of the Great Tang, he had to take his place. What about in the future? His own son could control himself, and further on...

  Liu Zhang of the Three Kingdoms period!

  What if it were your own son?

  Li Er felt a very fearful feeling, which was even more frightening than the Turks killing their way to Chang'an City.

  While Li Er was stunned, Cheng Qian and Ke rushed to the front of Li Yuan Xing, both performing a grand bow: "Please, Fifth Uncle, accept us as your disciples. You are the one with great talent."

  "Do you want to be an emperor?" Li Yuanxing asked.

  This outrageous question, I'm afraid only Li Yuanxing dared to ask. But Li Er laughed at this time, laughing extremely loudly. This fifth brother of mine is indeed a strange person, without any moral values of the Tang people, and I estimate that Confucianism will also be used by him to find an excuse to belittle it.

  Two and a half little princes were frightened stiff; as princes, they knew what this sentence represented.

  But then he saw the Emperor smiling, seemingly giving them an opportunity to speak, but what if this was a test?

  Two and a half little ones were scared stiff, their whole bodies trembling with fear.

  "Older brother, this is the kid you've taught, not even daring to speak the truth. Alright, I'll say it!" Li Yuanxing surprisingly dared to scold the emperor, and the little guy became even more foolish. But Li Er laughed even more happily.

  Because Li Er knows that when it comes to wolves, this Li Yuanxing is a real wolf-like figure, he's a ruthless man.

  The only thing that made Li Er feel at ease was that no matter how cruel Li Yuan Xing was, it would not affect his own throne. Li Er had deeply believed that Li Yuan Xing was absolutely not a person of the Great Tang, nor would he be from a foreign land. He must be a Star Lord who came down from heaven, one who had committed an error in the mortal world and was punished to undergo training among humans.

  Such people will not be concerned with others' throne, but rather with the Tao of Heaven.

  "A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, an imperial son who doesn't want to be emperor is not a good imperial son. Then, let's change the question, how can one become a good emperor?" Li Yuanxing said even more ridiculously.

  Changsun and Yang Fei were both deep in thought, two women standing at different angles and perspectives.

  One accompanied her own man in rebellion and conquered the country, while the other was a princess herself, witnessing the disappearance of one empire and the establishment of another.

  "The master teaches us to be diligent in governance and love the people!" Li Chengqian answered first.

  Li Ke also chimed in: "Frugality and self-control!"

  Li Yuanxing burst out laughing: "Alright, so Fifth Uncle will ask you again. How do you work diligently? How do you love the people? How do you practice frugality and self-control?" Li Yuanxing asked four questions in a row, and both little guys didn't know how to answer anymore.

  However, you are still young. Wait until you truly understand what the four occupations and the sufferings of the common people are, then we can discuss how to be a good emperor. For now, your first task is to study, learn from your teachers, and write well, so that you can communicate with the world!