Chapter 172 Xiang'er, congratulations on your fortune (asking for monthly tickets)

Since Princess Gaoyang has said so, what else can we say?

"We will follow the princess' lead in everything!" The merchants expressed their opinions one after another. If they want to eat this bowl of rice, they must first become her grandson.

What's more, it's not shameful to tell others about it since he bowed to Princess Gaoyang.

Seeing that the merchants were so sensible, Li Su nodded in satisfaction.

"In this case, there must be some rules." Li Su pondered for a moment and said, "I have already discussed with the Dengzhou Governor's Office and can issue you a business license for selling Dengzhou seafood."

Hearing this, the merchants were delighted.

Although I don't know what a "business license" means, I can generally understand what Li Shu means.

"But." Li Su changed the subject: "Currently, seafood is purchased by the Governor's Office. You can only obtain the Governor's Office's quota according to your license."

"Excuse me Princess, where can we apply for a business license?" asked the leader.

Li Shu said: "Dengzhou is in ruins now. The Prince of Hengshan intends to build Dengzhou. He needs wood, iron, stone, cloth, food, etc. In short, everything is needed."

"This depends on your sincerity. The Governor's Office allows you to exchange the goods you deliver for the seafood of Dengzhou. If the goods you deliver reach a certain amount, the Governor's Office will naturally issue you a business license."

Li Xiang made it very clear to her that the court's goal was not to make money, but to develop Dengzhou, and making money was just a by-product.

Since the merchants were interested, the imperial court would naturally go along with it.

Li Xiang also mentioned to Li Su that the people of Dengzhou certainly cannot always eat fish and meat, they still need food.

However, Dengzhou is a saline-alkali land, and the grain produced by itself is not enough to supply the entire Dengzhou.

Use fish to exchange -

The conditions proposed by Li Shu were not too harsh. After careful calculation, the businessmen found that there was still a lot of profit to be made.

But the prerequisite is that the price given by the Governor's Office is reasonable.

Seeing their hesitation, Li Su said, "Don't worry, the Dengzhou Governor's Office will give you a reasonable price."

As soon as these words came out, the businessmen seemed to have taken a reassurance pill.

As long as there is money to be made, you can do it.

Princess Gaoyang represented not only the Dengzhou Military Governor's Office, but also the royal family.

With the royal endorsement, they will definitely not be cheated.

Of course, Li Shu had no intention of cheating them. Once credit collapsed, it would be extremely difficult to rebuild it.

"Since the princess said so, then we will follow the Governor's Office!" said the leading merchant.

"Yes! Let's follow the Governor's Office!" All the businessmen echoed.

Driven by profit, merchants quickly transported the materials urgently needed by Dengzhou from all over the country.

The Dengzhou Governor's Office also gave them a suitable price. Both parties were very satisfied. The Dengzhou Governor's Office made a lot of profit, and the merchants also made a lot of profit.

Only win-win situations can last, and unilateral exploitation will not work.

With such a win-win result, businessmen are more motivated.

The first time is just an attempt, the latter is the highlight.

Li Xiang entrusted the business between the Governor's Office and the merchants to Li Su, while he himself re-planned Dengzhou.

Dengzhou’s top priority now is to quickly build a large new dock.

The original dock is no longer sufficient for current use, and the fleet has almost surrounded the Penglai County dock.

The same was true for caravans. Merchants gathered supplies from all directions and transported them to Dengzhou. The endless stream of merchant teams blocked the city gates on all sides, making it impossible to advance.

Not only does the wharf need to be rebuilt, but the county town also needs to be expanded.

Dengzhou’s current status is equivalent to the special economic zone of the Tang Dynasty and is in a state of rapid development.

If it continues to expand at the current rate, being just a superior state probably won’t be enough for its status.

Dengzhou City was busy, and Luoyang City was also busy.

Li Shimin had left Luoyang with his court officials a few days ago and went to Dengzhou to investigate and learn the advanced experience of the Dengzhou model.

Now in Luoyang City, only Li Chengqian and half of the important ministers including Fang Xuanling are left.

Li Chengqian looked at the memorials in front of him and felt overwhelmed.

"I want to go to Dengzhou too!" He leaned over the desk and let out an unwilling roar.

However, there was no way out. Since Li Shimin had left Luoyang, someone had to be in charge of the court.

As the current crown prince, Li Chengqian had to stay in Luoyang to supervise the country.

On the one hand, he had to deal with state affairs, and on the other hand, the country could not be without a king for a day.

Fang Xuanling sat aside, also feeling a little depressed.

Doesn't he want to go and take a look?
However, when it comes to handling government affairs, we still have to rely on him, and Li Chengqian alone is not enough.

If there is a next time, I will definitely let Changsun Wuji stay in the court! Fang Xuanling thought viciously.

Not to mention the left-behind elderly people... no, the left-behind children... that’s not right either. In short, Li Shimin and his entourage also arrived in Dengzhou in a grand manner.

Wherever you go, you can see a scene full of vitality and everything flourishing.

The people we passed by along the way were either drying salted fish or taking out fish intestines to feed chickens and ducks.

Some families who are a little more well-off are even building houses.

There were smiles on the people's faces that came from the bottom of their hearts, and their eyes were filled with visions of a prosperous future.

"Good, good." Li Shimin rode on his horse and couldn't help sighing: "Xiang'er is really promising. Under Dengzhou's rule, although the people are not prosperous, at least everyone can live and work in peace and contentment."

"The Prince of Hengshan is truly your Majesty's holy grandson!" Changsun Wuji took the opportunity to praise him.

If nothing else, it must be for Princess Changle's dividend of tens of thousands of strings of cash!

——Although it was donated to the navy, Changsun Wuji was even happier.

Changsun Wuji’s family is rich, but no matter how rich a family is, they will never complain about having too much money!

What's more, this is not a few hundred or a few thousand strings of cash, but tens of thousands of strings of cash!
It can even be foreseen that as long as Dengzhou continues to prosper, the dividends will continue.

This is really a cash cow! Chang Sun Wuji thought to himself.

He admired Li Xiang even more in his heart. In his opinion, Li Xiang could not only lead his subordinates to wealth, but also lead the people to a better life. Such a person was simply a natural monarch.

Whenever the emperor travels, he always has to notify in advance.

When Li Shimin and his party arrived 30 miles away from Dengzhou, someone had already come to Dengzhou Governor's Mansion to inform Lao Li of his itinerary. Li Xiang did not dare to neglect it and immediately ordered people to clear the main gate and wait for Li Shimin's arrival.

He brought all the officials of Dengzhou in Penglai County to greet them ten miles outside the main gate.

This is the basic etiquette for welcoming the emperor. Even though Li Xiang is the eldest grandson of Lao Li, he cannot neglect it.

They saw the ceremonial procession from afar, and everyone dismounted immediately, ready to welcome the emperor.

When Li Shimin approached, Li Xiang stood in the front and paid homage to him.

"Your servant Li Xiang pays homage to the Saint!"

"We, the ministers, pay our respects to the saint!" The officials then also paid their respects to Lao Li.

"Stand up," said Li Shimin.

After expressing his gratitude, Li Shimin asked Li Xiang to get on the carriage.

"Xiang'er has really grown up." Li Shimin's big hands were not very honest. He pinched Li Xiang's face and rubbed his head. "He has grown taller, darker, and stronger."

While speaking, Li Shimin's eyes were a little red.

"How can you not get dark if you're always running outside?" Li Xiang said with a smile.

Li Shimin hummed, lifted the curtain and looked out the window, then said with a smile, "Xiang'er, congratulations on your wealth?"

Li Xiang shuddered and had a bad feeling.

"Oh, how can I be rich?" He denied it quickly: "I am so poor that I almost have to beg for food..."

"How could this be hidden from my eyes?" Li Shimin snorted, "I already knew that you, your aunts, and uncles made a lot of money in Dengzhou! Tell me the truth, how much did you get?"

"I didn't spend a penny of the money I earned. I used it all to support Dengzhou." Li Xiang cried out in disgrace: "Look at how prosperous the people of Dengzhou are now."

"Really no flowers?" Li Shimin looked at him leisurely.

"I didn't dare spend a penny." Li Xiang suddenly became dramatic, imitating Zhao Dehan's behavior, shaking his hands and crying, "My family has been farmers for generations, and we are tired of poverty..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Shimin slapped him on the back of the head.

"Our ancestors have all been farmers for dozens of generations, and the youngest is your great-grandfather!" Li Shimin said tremblingly, pointing at him.

Great-grandfather refers to Li Bing, the Emperor Shizu of Tang. If we really count, his status is indeed the lowest within ten generations.

Well, Li Bing was the general, the Grand Protector, and the commander-in-chief of the military forces of eight states in the Former Sui Dynasty.

"Hehe." Li Xiang scratched his head and smiled: "In fact, my grandson really didn't leave any money. Money is not something I am interested in. It is just a number to me. All the money I earned during this period was spent in Dengzhou. The same is true for Aunt Changle and Aunt Gaoyang."

He also did not forget to flatter Li Lizhi and Li Shu.

"You have done a good job in Dengzhou." Li Shimin said with satisfaction: "Lizhi and Shu'er are also good, they are worthy of being the daughters taught by Guanyin."

See, the point is that my grandma taught me, right?
Li Xiang curled his lips calmly, and had another level of understanding of Lao Li's partiality.

In fact, Li Shimin also divided his daughters into different levels.

For example, the four princesses born to Empress Chang Sun, Princess Changle, Princess Chengyang, Princess Jinyang and Princess Hengshan, were of one level; Princess Yuzhang and Princess Gaoyang, who were raised by Empress Chang Sun herself, were of another level; the rest... were generally of the same level.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on Li Shimin. After all, everyone has likes and dislikes. Besides, it is normal that he cannot take care of so many children.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't take care of all his sons... Of course, in terms of being a father, Zhu Yuanzhang was better than Li Shimin, but not much - after all, he didn't teach his sons very well, for example, he didn't teach his sons well.

Surrounded by the crowd, Li Shimin and his entourage returned to Dengzhou Governor's Mansion.

After Lao Li briefly lectured them, he let the officials from Dengzhou leave the Governor's Mansion and return to their own positions to do their work.

After all, Dengzhou is still in the construction stage, and they are indispensable in various positions.

Of course, Lao Li saw the grand construction of Dengzhou on the road just now.

"Yeah." Li Tai and Li Zhi each carried a small bucket and walked inside.

In fact, they had forgotten that Li Shimin was coming over today. When Li Zhi got up in the morning, he insisted on going to the beach, and Li Tai could not resist the temptation and followed him.

Look, the two of them gained a lot.

"Huh, aren't these the King of Wei and the King of Jin?" Li Shimin sat at the top, looking unhappy.

"Yeah!" The two men put down the buckets in their hands. Li Zhi trembled a little, but Li Tai was a veteran and had seen a lot after all. He immediately rolled his eyes and found a reasonable excuse.

"I heard that Yeye would come to Dengzhou today, so Zhinu called my son to go fishing early in the morning, saying that she wanted to let Yeye taste the local seafood in Dengzhou."

Li Zhi took advantage of the situation and said, "Yes, what Second Brother said is right..."

"Really?" Li Shimin glanced at the small bucket.

"That's right." Li Zhi grabbed a crab from it: "Yeah, look at this crab... ah!"

The way of catching it was not quite right, and the crab was pinched by Li Zhi's hand.

Li Zhi felt pain and subconsciously swung the crab, sending it flying onto Changsun Wuji's head, while the claw remained in his hand, tightly clamped.

The crab sat very steadily on Changsun Wuji's head, blowing bubbles.

Changsun Wuji knew that crabs could pinch people, so his face tightened and he dared not move.

The people around hurriedly helped Li Zhi remove the crab claws, and also helped Changsun Wuji take the crab off.

Li Zhi blew his hands with tears in his eyes, feeling extremely aggrieved.

"Haha, Zhinu is so stupid." Li Shu teased from the side.

Li Zhi looked at Li Shu aggrievedly and opened his mouth but did not answer.

Old Li was sitting at the top, watching this funny scene and laughing with great satisfaction.

"When I was in Luoyang, I found Dengzhou's sea fish delicious." Li Shimin had laughed enough and said, "Now that I'm in Dengzhou, I must taste it."

"Fresh sea fish from the place of origin are much more delicious than the dried fish you eat in Luoyang." Li Xiang said casually.

"Really?" Old Li became interested.

"Of course." Li Xiang said with a smile: "If you don't believe it, you can come and taste it."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Don't worry, Xiang'er, you should first tell me how Dengzhou has developed and to what extent it has developed."

"It's useless to just talk about it. I suggest you go down and take a look. It will be more convincing if you investigate it yourself." Li Xiang suggested, "If you want to know the taste of the pear, you must taste it yourself."

"If you want to know the taste of a pear, you have to taste it yourself..." Li Shimin repeated, and said with emotion: "What a good sentence. Did your teacher say that?"

"Another one." Li Xiang said.

"Just as you said. Tomorrow, I will go with you to see in person the results of your reforms in Dengzhou." Li Shimin nodded.

(There will be more later, please give me a monthly ticket)
(End of this chapter)