Chapter 166 Who asked the prince to buy wine for him? ! (asking for monthly tickets)
Less than half a month later, Li Xiang received an urgent letter from Luoyang.

After opening Li Shimin's reply, Li Xiang couldn't help but sigh at the old man's profoundness.

Old Li changed Li Xiang's words. He said that salt and iron were the lifeblood of the country and the most important tools of the country. If the people were to perform labor service, a considerable amount of salt would be lost, which would not be worth the loss.

In order to avoid this situation, it would be better to collect more salt field taxes so that the people can concentrate on drying salt.

Using the extra taxes they paid to hire other laborers to do the work was also another form of corvee labor, which belonged to the "yong" in "zuyongdiao".

The so-called "yong" refers to labor tax, which requires serving twenty days of labor for the court every year.

Paying money instead of labor service is considered as serving. Originally, the rent, labor service and tax system allowed wealthy people to use money to pay for labor service, but now it is being promoted throughout Dengzhou.

In this way, other opposing voices will be much smaller.

Li Xiang thought this statement was very good. He was indeed a good grandfather who thought more thoroughly than he did.

After salt fields are promoted in the Bohai Sea area, the policy of equalizing the land tax will be implemented in all salt fields.

Li Shimin also pointed out that granting land and salt fields to the soldiers in the coastal saline-alkali areas was a very flexible policy.

He emphasized on praising Li Xiang, praising his thorough thinking, which was quite like the style of his old self, Li in his youth.

Since Li Shimin praised him so much, Li Xiang also had the confidence to carry out reforms.

It's a pilot project, so just open it up and do it.

After the fishing boat was delivered to Li Xiang, Li Xiang did not sell it immediately. Instead, he waited for Li Su's reply and sent a navy to drive the fishing boat out to sea to fish.

You know what, we caught quite a lot of fish in one trip.

Going out to sea to fish is a high-risk thing these days. Flat-bottomed boats cannot withstand the waves, so you can only play near the coast and cannot go to places with slightly deeper water.

During the Battle of Baekgang, all officers participating in the naval operations were reduced by one level, and the non-combat casualties were almost 50%. You can imagine how great the risks were at sea.

Fewer people going out to sea to fish means more fish.

Li Xiang did not let people eat all the caught fish. Instead, he selected a part of them and had them pickled into salted fish. The purpose was to check the preservation condition of the salted fish and to try the flavor of the salted fish to see if it suited the taste of the Tang people.

Anyway, there is no shortage of salt now, so just make it as you like.

After confirming that the fishing boat was usable and easy to use, Li Xiang officially took out the fishing boat and handed it over to Feng Qing to sell.

Good idea, but unfortunately...

Three or four days passed and no one was interested in the fishing boat.

There is no other reason. No one knows whether the ship is reliable or not. On the other hand, the ship is very expensive.

Even if people publicize that the navy is using this ship, it is just talk after all, and the people have never seen whether the navy has actually used it.

Feng Qingchou, the salt fields can be promoted through a pilot project, but how can we promote these fishing boats? Can we just find a few people to try it out?

Stop joking. This ship is expensive. Who the hell would risk their life to test whether this ship is up to standard?

The people of Wendeng were happily developing the salt fields and did not have the time or the intention to go out to sea to fish.

It's not worth it to give up your good life and risk your life at sea...

Given this situation, Feng Qing came up with a solution.

He immediately found Li Xiang and suggested to him to start a fishing boat rental business for fishermen. He would not charge any fees for the use of the fishing boats, and when the fishermen returned from fishing at sea, he would charge 30% of the catch as rental for the fishing boats.

Li Xiang thought about it and felt that this suggestion was feasible.

After all, those who have money to buy a boat will not risk their lives to go out to sea to fish, and those who want to go out to sea to fish have no money in their pockets and cannot afford to buy a boat.

It is true that some people were moved, but they were all terrified when they saw this pointed-bottom boat.

This boat...can it work?

In the end, several families in Kuding County who were so poor that they had no way out got together and applied to Feng Qing, the chief historian, for a fishing boat, intending to go out to sea to try their luck.

It would be bad luck for me to die overseas. If it is really as Changshi said, then it would be a blessing.

The leader was called Old Man Wei, and he looked like an honest old man. When Feng Qing came back to report the good news, Li Xiang specifically instructed him to waive the rent for Old Man Wei and his gang after they returned.

The first person to try something new should always be given special treatment, after all, he can serve as a role model.

After Old Man Wei and his crew went out to sea, everyone was eagerly waiting to see whether this new fishing boat would yield any rewards.

During this period, Li Xiang also received a letter from Li Su, as well as a second letter from Li Shimin.

Li Shu's letter was very simple. She attached great importance to this first transaction, so she planned to come to Dengzhou in person and take a look at his little elephant.

Li Shimin's letter said that Li Mingda really missed him, so she asked Li Tai and Li Zhi to bring her to Dengzhou to visit him, and let Li Tai and Li Zhi learn from him.

Li Xiang: …

Good man, you really think this is a nursery! ?

However, he had no choice. After all, those who came were his elders, and it was Li Shimin who asked them to come. The little elephant could not defeat the old phoenix.

What else can we do? The Tang Dynasty Royal Nursery should be officially launched?

It was really boring to stay in the Governor's Mansion. Li Xiang wondered whether he should go and see the results of the training, so he strolled all the way to the navy camp.

After sitting for a while, they still didn't see Su Dingfang and Pei Xingjian. The personal soldiers were about to go and call them, but were stopped by Li Xiang.

After thinking about it, Li Xiang decided to go out for a stroll. It happened that he was wearing coarse cloth clothes today, which was suitable for strolling on the dusty road.

As he walked along the road, Li Xiang was still thinking about how to arrange work for his uncles.

Now that we are here, we have to squeeze out some value from it.

It is the consistent characteristic of the little elephant to use it to the fullest extent if it works well. This trick is learned from Yingxue.

Just as he was lost in thought, he heard someone calling him from a distance.

"Hey, hey, wow! wow!"

Li Xiang raised his head and saw a man lying on the high wall of the navy’s fortress.

Judging from his accent, he should be from Gyeonggi Province.

"Zha (fourth tone)?" Li Xiang looked up and asked in the Guanzhong dialect.

"Oh, are you from Guanzhong?" The man laughed.

"Yes." Li Xiang nodded. "What do you want?"

"In this case, can you help me get some wine from the village over there?" the man said in a low voice.

Li Xiang was amused. Why did the navy recruits have so many performances? They even dared to drink in the barracks?

He smiled and looked at him and said, "Hey man, drink less. Drinking is not good for your health."

"It's all right!" the man shouted, "Don't look at my thin forehead, there's flesh growing inside the bones!"

"Haha..." Li Xiang was amused by his crazy look.

Seeing Li Xiang laughing, the man pointed at the wall and said, "It's this wall. I can go over it if I want to. There's nothing stopping me." "Then the army won't care about you?" Li Xiang asked with a smile, "I heard that the navy has strict discipline."

"Who's going to take care of your forehead?" The man sneered, "The one who's going to take care of your forehead hasn't been born yet!"

Li Xiang was really amused, and just to tease him, he asked, "What kind of wine do you want to buy?"

"You can buy some wine if you have it. I don't care, as long as it's strong!" The man said, pulling out a hundred coins from his pocket and throwing them to Li Xiang: "Buy two catties of wine, and the rest is yours."

"Okay." Li Xiang walked over and picked up the money. "I didn't realize you were so righteous. What's your name?"

"Hey, we are all fellow villagers." The man waved his hand and said, "My name is Ding Xiaoer, go ahead, Wo Wa!"

"Wait!" Li Xiang waved at him.

Ding Xiaoer leaned against the wall, still sighing: "Ah, at times like this, the villagers are still the most reliable!"

Seeing Li Xiang walk out of sight, I was thinking of waiting here for a while, but I didn't expect the emergency assembly call to be sounded.

Ding Xiaoer had no choice but to return to the camp.

The night guard was very strict, and he had to study cultural subjects, so he couldn't go out, and he was very anxious.

What if these kids get anxious waiting?
The next morning, when everyone gathered, Ding Xiaoer was still worried.

Aren’t these kids still waiting?

In fact, Li Xiang didn't give him a cold shoulder. He was free anyway and actually went to buy him some wine...

Under the Tang Dynasty military system, there were regiments (also known as battalions) under the Zhechoufu, with the chief officer being a colonel; each regiment had a team, with the chief officer being a team leader; each team had a gang, with a gang leader.

Each battalion is composed of five teams, each team is composed of three groups, each group is composed of five squad leaders, each of whom is composed of ten men. The battalion is the basic unit.

Captain Han Bing stood in front of these 700 people and began his pre-training speech.

"Recently, our team's training enthusiasm is still very high, and the prince praised us."

Hearing Han Bing's words, everyone's faces lit up with joy.

Good things, good things!
The prince praised us, doesn't that mean we are going to have good things to gain?

Ding Xiaoer also showed joy on his face, and even forgot about asking that kid to buy wine yesterday.

However, Han Bing's next sentence made his heart skip a beat.

"There are still some exceptions. Well, there are a few brothers who have trained themselves to the point where they can fly over rooftops and walk on walls. They have trained themselves to the point where they can grow flesh inside their bones!"

Then, Han Bing pulled out a jar of wine from behind him and asked in a trembling voice, "Who asked the Prince of Hengshan to buy him wine yesterday?!"

Hearing this, Ding Xiaoer sat down on the ground.

It’s over, it’s over, it’s over.

Who the hell would have thought that the plain-dressed kid was actually the Prince of Hengshan? !

Ding Xiaoer felt dizzy and this was the end of it.

"Ding Xiaoer!" Han Bing yelled.

"Yes!" He jumped up reflexively.

"Come over here?" Han Bing smiled bloodthirstily: "This is the wine that the prince bought for you. You are so honored. Even General Su and General Pei don't have this treatment!"

Ding Xiaoer walked forward tremblingly, expecting a beating, but unexpectedly Han Bing just stuffed the wine into his hand.

"The prince has said that I am not allowed to punish you physically, so just remember this beating with a military stick!" Han Bing said.

When Ding Xiaoer heard that he would not be beaten, he immediately became full of energy.

"Thank you, Prince. Thank you, Captain. Prince, I kowtow to you..."

"But you can escape the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of life. You are the squad leader, and no one supervises you. I will supervise you every day. In these ten days, you have to run twenty extra laps for me every day!" Han Bing said with gritted teeth, "You have to carry the weight and put on your armor!"

Hearing Han Bing's punishment, everyone shuddered.

They would rather be beaten with military sticks than run twenty laps with weights every day!

"Yes!" But Ding Xiaoer breathed a sigh of relief. Running, he was very good at it. When he was at home, he could carry food from the countryside to Chang'an and then run back.

Seeing Ding Xiaoer's look, Han Bing was furious.

"You'll cause me more trouble in the future, ok?"

The words sounded sarcastic, but everyone could hear Han Bing's resentment.

Damn it, you dare to ask the Prince of Hengshan to buy wine today. If the saint comes tomorrow, will you still ask him to buy something else for you?
"I dare not, I dare not, I dare not..." Ding Xiaoer said repeatedly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, looking extremely frightened.

Han Bing snorted, ordered him to return to the team, and started today's training again.

Li Xiang watched from afar and told this story to Pei Xingjian and Su Dingfang.

After hearing this, Pei Xingjian laughed out loud.

"Hahaha, this kid is really bold."

"Just wait and see, this kid will definitely be a good material in the future." Li Xiang commented with a smile: "I think he can at least become a general in the future."

"Yes, this Ding Xiaoer is also very active in academic subjects." Su Dingfang and Li Xiang said, "In the military competition last month, he won the second place. Now... we are planning to discuss making him a team leader."

Finally, Su Dingfang said to himself: "It's just that this kind of thing happened, it's not too..."

"What's the big deal? Just mention it if you want to." Li Xiang said, "Our army only said that drinking is not allowed, but it didn't say that the prince can't buy wine."

When these words were spoken, both of them laughed.

"Yes, the prince is right."

Li Xiang suddenly thought of Zhang Liang, so he asked, "How is Zhang Liang doing?"

"Your Highness, I was just about to talk to you about this issue. The Duke of Yun wanted to place some people in the navy yesterday, but I rejected it." Su Dingfang said.

Li Xiang sneered and said, "This Zhang Liang, he sees that our navy is well trained and wants to take advantage of us. We must not let him succeed."

"Who says it's not true? This is Sima Zhao's intention, and everyone knows it." Pei Xingjian said with emotion.

Li Xiang nodded in agreement, thinking in his heart that Zhang Liang should indeed be dealt with.

Take care of your own little piece of land. It's not a good thing to stretch your claws too far.

Of course, one must eat one bite at a time. There is no rush to fight Zhang Liang for the time being. The most urgent task is to train the navy as soon as possible. This is his basic foundation.

It is an irrefutable truth that a blacksmith must be strong himself.

"In a couple of days, I'll send you some musical instruments and some balls." Li Xiang said again: "There must be some entertainment activities in the army. It is not only good for the body, but also good for the mind and body. The strings can't be tense all the time. There will always be times when you are tired and relax."

"I understand." Su Dingfang nodded.

(Henan Road)

(Dengzhou)
(End of this chapter)