The thirty-eighth chapter was beaten by Li Er

  This time, the Qin king's strict order made it very clear to the aristocratic families that they understood it as well. For example, if the secret of this silk were to be known by foreign countries, the difficulties faced by the Qin king would be small compared to the entire world and all the aristocratic families who could not bear it, let alone the fact that it was related to their own family's financial resources, which absolutely cannot be underestimated.

  Especially the gold which is twice as heavy as silk, how can it not drive people crazy.

  Many aristocratic families have already set their minds on sending merchant teams to travel to that Roman country, even in the Tang Dynasty, silk cannot be cheaper than silver!

  Ten thousand people read books, thousands of merchants roll up scrolls, and hundreds of meetings are concluded.

  Such a thing was placed on the desk of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, on the same day. Every time Li read a word, he felt extremely happy, and some brilliant words made him savor them endlessly!

  Li Yuanxing lazily leaned on the soft cushion, savoring the pastries and fruits of the Great Tang Imperial Palace.

  Having just finished dinner and it's time to be lazy, why can't you wait until tomorrow during the day?

  Li Er finished reading the documents in his hand, suddenly stood up, grabbed the documents on the table and threw them at Li Yuanxing. This thing scared Li Yuanxing silly. Who is Li Er? He is the emperor, the high and mighty emperor.

  Not to mention Li Yuanxing being afraid, even the eunuchs and the imperial guards had their legs turn soft with fear.

  "Wo shuo Wu Lang ni hún bù hún ya!"

  Translation: "I'm telling you, Wu Lang, are you messing around or what?!"

  Li Yuanxing jumped up and dodged the leather-bound tablets while asking, "Is it my brother scolding me or the Emperor of Great Tang scolding me?"

  Li Er smiled coldly at Li Yuanxing's counter-question, pointing to the gate of the great hall and shouting, "Get out!" The eunuchs and imperial guards were like prisoners pardoned, immediately fleeing in all directions.

  When the door was closed, a miserable cry of Da Tang Xinqin Wang was heard.

  Li Er is twenty-seven years old this year, has been to the battlefield, and has killed people. His martial arts value is at least ten times that of Li Yuanxing. In just a few breaths, Li Yuanxing was knocked to the ground by Li Er. Li Er picked up a tablet and pointed it at Li Yuanxing: "The one who beat you today is your brother, and the one asking you questions now is the Emperor of the Great Tang!"

  Li Yuanxing felt like crying, Li Ercai is really a scoundrel!

  Li Er continued, "Do you have the entire imperial court in your eyes? Do you have me, your brother, in your eyes? I originally thought it was just a game, but who would have thought it was such a big deal. Have you ever thought that the aristocratic families will become even more powerful because of this? Have you ever thought that you are too weak? Have you ever thought that the Ministry of Revenue is controlled by the Qinghe Cui family? Have you ever thought about how much silver money is involved?"

  After listening to Li Er's four consecutive questions, Li Yuanxing sat on the ground with his legs crossed, rubbing his sore face and carefully sizing up the furious Li Er.

  To be honest, Li Yuanxing didn't think so much.

  "You didn't think of that!" Li Er also sat opposite Li Yuanxing: "You know what's good for the Tang Dynasty and your brother, but you never thought that this empire is the Li family's empire."

  When it comes to Li's family property, Li Yuanxing suddenly smiled, and the smile on his face hurts, but that smile becomes extremely lewd.

  "What's so funny?" Li Er asked.

  "Rebellion, what do you think about rebellion?" Li Yuanxing asked a question that no one in the entire Tang Dynasty dared to ask. Not to mention asking the Emperor of Tang, even among officials, no one dared to ask.

  Ke Li Yuanxing still asked.

  Li Er was stunned.

  Li Yuanxing comes from modern times and has studied too many cases of rebellion. In history, countless emperors rose to power through rebellion.

  "Brother, there are several necessary factors for a rebellion. In fact, it all boils down to one thing." Li Yuanxing spoke up, and Li Er sat cross-legged in front of him, eager to know how his fifth brother viewed the matter of rebellion.

  "Hunger is the first, life is the second. But to be honest, life is the key. When there's a chance to survive, who would rebel? Ambition also needs a platform, just like you're playing with fire, burning dry grass will definitely succeed, but what about the wet grass after the rain? Brother, you're also from a rebellious background, tell me, am I right or not?"

  Li Er listened calmly to Li Yuanxing's analysis, and surprisingly nodded: "Brother thought of rebelling as soon as he saw Yang Guang." After saying this, Li Shimin smiled with satisfaction. But after laughing, his face sank again: "However, what you said is not wrong, if brother puts this fire on the grassland after the rain, it's simply looking for death."

  "Brother, are you afraid of a rebellion by artificial humans?" Li Yuanxing asked again.

  Li Er smiled: "Recently someone wanted to rebel, still our Li family's brother!"

  Haha! Li Yuanxing and Li Er both burst out laughing. Li Yuanxing brought up a popular phrase from later generations: "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it!"

  "Good, good! One sentence: Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it!"

  Li Er praised Li Yuanxing and said: "Wu Lang is really extraordinary, there's no withered grass to let them set fire!"

  "So, what do you have to say about the affairs of the aristocratic families?"

  "I never thought of this before, but now it's clear to me. You wanted me to marry so many wives just to secure the family property, and at the same time, it was a poisonous plan!" Li Yuanxing thought more than Li Er, who only thought about comforting him without thinking of any poisonous plan.

  Li Er didn't care about the dragon robe or the dragon crown anymore. He casually tore them off and threw them aside, gesturing to Li Yuanxing to continue.

  "The trend of the world is that after a long separation, it must reunite, and after a long reunion, it will separate again. The same applies to aristocratic families. When an aristocratic family grows to its limit, the distribution of benefits will be unequal, leading to division!"

  "Divorce, what a wonderful divorce!" Li Er slapped his palm with force.

  This is the real poisonous plan, dividing the house is not enough, divide them and let them fight each other.

  The family affairs are over, Li Er asked again: "So, why didn't you put this idea in the palace at first, let the palace purchase it, and then sell it out? This way can guarantee enough benefits for the royal family!"

  Li Yuanxing smiled, a truly helpless smile. It seems that modern education is still very formidable. Although the political struggles may not be as intense as those of ancient people, their vision has broadened significantly.

  "My emperor brother, one-tenth of 100,000 is more than half of 10,000. We only need one-tenth, and who knows, maybe this business can turn into a million. Besides, when the common people have money and eat well, who can incite them to rebel? Whenever there's a rebellion, I know it's because the emperor has money and the common people are poor. Of course, sometimes it's also because officials have money and the common people are poor. Or you could say, the imperial court has money and the common people are poor."

  Li Yuanxing's explanation has gone this far, if Li Er still doesn't understand, he won't be a wise ruler for all eternity.

  He nodded slightly and patted Li Yuanxing's shoulder: "Wulang has a good heart, but next time something like this happens, come to the palace first and let me know about it. This time, if Fang Xiang were to handle it, he could have made more."

  "Brother Emperor, do you think the silk matter will end like this?"

  "Don't you have any other tricks? I said you're weak and it's not without reason. Benevolent rule doesn't mean not killing people, this killing is also an art. You just told them that you killed three barbarians. Do they believe you? You should pick one out of the ten merchant guilds and kill! Only then will they remember to fear!"

  Li Yuanxing listened with cold sweat on his back. It's not what history says, the great Tang Emperor Li Shimin was benevolent and didn't kill people, right?

  Li Er began to teach Li Yuanxing: "Benevolent governance is for the world to see, and killing people is also for the world to see. It's not too late now, I've arranged for the Tian Ce inner guards to investigate. Any family that dares to pass on the silk production techniques to foreigners will be killed, along with their nine clans. Only then will they truly know fear."

  "Kill, this thing must be killed, silk sold to Rome on the other side, must be twice the weight of gold."

  Li Yuanxing is actually not soft in this regard, and when it comes to matters related to the country's great interests, he can also be ruthless.

  Killing someone, anyway, doesn't require one's own hands. What is delivered right in front of him might just be a number.

  Li Er finally nodded in satisfaction: "This matter, I will let the people of Tian Ce Inner Guard report to you. Let's talk again about that silver money topic."

  Now that we're on the subject, Li Yuanxing became much more serious: "I need money, a lot of money. The Turks are a big trouble, so I plan to get 500,000 yuan within half a month. I asked Hei Tan Ge about it, and he said that fighting a battle with 100,000 people would require at least 500,000 yuan."

  "Five hundred thousand taels!" Li Er snorted: "With five hundred thousand taels, I, the emperor's brother, dare to fight all the way to the Turkic grasslands!"

  Li Er knew that Li Yuanxing's mention of charcoal was referring to Wei Gong, and he laughed and scolded: "What does he know about the logistics of military campaigns? When I first raised my army, there was a shortage of grain and craftsmen throughout the land. The price of weapons was ten times higher than it is now, and the price of grain had already reached over 100 wen per dou, with some places even reaching one guan (a unit of currency) per dou. And yet, in Chang'an, the current price of grain is only 25 wen per dou."

  Chang'an was worth twenty-five wen, so many large grain-producing areas may have reached twenty wen, or even ten-odd wen.

  "Alright, let's talk about this time, what idea do you have?"

  "There are three ways, one is to collect the Tian De tax. This name is not aimed at ordinary merchants, but only at merchants with royal titles. For example, let them pay money according to the proportion of their shipments, and this money is used to establish village schools and medical clinics. As long as everyone in the world can read books, the aristocratic family is nothing!" Li Yuanxing cursed a foul language.

  Li Er heavily slapped Li Yuanxing on the head: "Don't talk nonsense, if the imperial censor hears this kind of coarse language, it will be big trouble!" Then, Li Er smiled slyly: "This idea is good, using the imperial family's money to create future enemies for the imperial family, great, very satisfying, the emperor is very pleased!"

  "Another way is to pay a deposit, this money must be handed over. You took the royal family's signboard, what if you tarnished the royal family's name? So, you have to pay a sum of money first and deposit it in the Ministry of Revenue. If you violate any rules, you will be fined, deducting from the deposit. If you didn't do anything wrong, next year, you can continue using the royal family's signboard. Doing exceptionally well, this kind of thing, I don't know if it's expensive or not?" Li Yuanxing really didn't understand the Tang Dynasty's nobility titles, how much money did this thing need to spend, what rewards were given.

  Li Er seems to have figured it out that this Wu Lang of his is not a kind person even in heaven. That speculation about falling from the mortal world might actually be true.

  However, Li Yuanxing's idea was liked by Li Er, and he liked it very much.

  "This is the last one, but it's related to the great Tang Dynasty's prosperity for thousands of generations. This time, no matter what, you must support me."

  "Speak!" Li Er was actually lying on the floor of the great hall.