Chapter 173: Such a country, wouldn't it make people nostalgic? (asking for monthly tickets)

I definitely can't go today, after all, the journey is tiring.

Although Li Shimin was an emperor on horseback, he can't be made like this, right?
In addition to important officials in the court, Xu Hui also came with Li Shimin this time.

Looking at the young grandmother who was only a few years older than him, Li Xiang's eyelids twitched.

Good man, you really are an outcast, Lao Li.

Another person who entered the palace at the same time as Xu Hui was Wu Meiniang.

It’s just that Li Shimin didn’t like Wu Meiniang very much. After visiting her twice, he felt bored with her.

Li Xiang had heard of this matter, but he extremely disliked Wu Meiniang, so he was happy to see it happen.

It’s not because Wu Meiniang usurped the Li family’s throne, but because in his previous life, just because he said a few words on the Internet about what Wu Meiniang did, he was labeled as the disgusting Guo Nan by Jimei.

——Why did you slander Wu Meiniang?
——I just repeated what she did.

They say that one fan is worth ten haters, and that’s somewhat true.

In order to dig up some dirty information about Awu, Li Xiang really put in a lot of effort. The more he watched, the more disgusted he felt.

In this respect, Li Xiang is just like Old Li. He is very narrow-minded and especially holds grudges.

Of course, Old Li didn't know what Li Xiang was thinking. If he knew, Old Li, who doted on his grandson, would probably have played a game of Candy Crush on Wu Meiniang on the spot.

Li Xiang was actually quite surprised. Xu Hui's appearance was not that outstanding. She was even inferior to the older Concubine Yang.

It’s just that Li Shimin liked Xu Hui not because of her beauty, but because Xu Hui was very similar to Empress Changsun.

What kind of substitute literature...

"What do you want to eat today?" Li Shimin asked with a smile.

Along the way, he had been looking forward to it for a long time.

"Uncle, just take care of it." Li Xiang gave him a mysterious look.

Before Li Shimin could reply, Li Tai and Li Zhi approached him mysteriously and talked to him about going to the sea.

"Is it really so interesting?" Li Shimin's eyes lit up.

"Really!" Li Tai nodded hurriedly.

"Okay, then I will go fishing with you tomorrow morning." Li Shimin immediately decided on the next day's action.

Li Xiang: …

Doesn’t it mean that the whole country will be inspected?
But...you're right, you need to rest more after a long journey.

During dinner, Li Shimin praised the plate of deep-fried small yellow croaker and even drank two glasses of wine for the first time.

There was a big bowl of garlic oysters, but Old Li didn't eat much of it, and it all went into the stomachs of Xiao Yu and Zhang Sun Wuji.

"Lord Song, you are so old, it's not suitable for you to eat this, right?" Changsun Wuji leaned back in the chair, holding his stomach with one hand.

Xiao Yu didn't even look at him, just snorted and continued to fight with the yellow croaker.

During the meal, Li Shu approached Li Shimin mysteriously, whispered something in his ear, and pointed at Pei Xueqing and Feng Yingying.

Li Shimin raised his head, looked at the two women for a moment, and nodded with satisfaction.

She is truly my granddaughter-in-law!
But... no rush. Wait until we come back from defeating Goguryeo and then ask Xiang'er what he thinks.

The next day, at dawn, Li Xiang felt his body lighten and a cool breeze blew over him.

"Huh?" As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Li Tai and Li Zhi. The two uncles were looking at him with a sly smile.

"Second uncle, youngest uncle, what are you doing?" he asked, yawning.

Li Tai pulled him up and said, "Still sleeping? Didn't we agree to go fishing today?"

"No, buddy." Li Xiang hunched over and opened one eye incoherently: "What time is it now?"

"What time?" Li Tai and Li Zhi looked at each other. They didn't hear clearly what Li Xiang said, nor did they understand what he meant.

These days people still talk about the time, not the hour.

"No, what time is it now..." Li Xiang yawned: "It's not even daybreak yet..."

"Your father-in-law has gotten up, and is waiting for you to go fishing together!" Li Tai said, and together with Li Zhi, they lifted Li Xiang up.

Li Xiang was dragged by his two uncles and sat on a chair in the main hall.

He was about to speak when he felt sleepy.

"Wait here for now." Li Tai patted Li Xiang on the shoulder and warned him, "Don't go back!"

"I understand." Li Xiang said, yawned, lowered his head and went to sleep.

The two men ignored him and slipped into Li Shimin's room.

Li Shimin was tired from the long journey yesterday, so he slept alone and did not have anyone to serve him.

The two knocked on the door, and Wang De asked from inside, "Who is it?"

"I, the King of Wei, the King of Jin." Li Tai said.

Hearing the familiar voice, Wang De opened the door and whispered, "My two kings, everyone is sleeping."

"I know. My father asked me to call him that yesterday." Li Tai said.

"Really?" Wang De was a little hesitant.

"Would we lie to you?" Li Zhi said quickly.

Since Li Zhi said so, Wang De couldn't stop them and stepped aside to let them go in.

Li Tai tiptoed to Li Shimin's bed and reached out to push Li Shimin.

Li Shimin was still snoring, and the emperor's engine roared like thunder.

"Aye." Li Tai called out.

Old Li remained unmoved and continued to sleep soundly.

"Yeah, get up." Li Zhi called again.

Li Shimin still slept soundly.

Seeing that he couldn't wake up no matter how hard he tried, Li Tai made up his mind: "Yeah, Dou Jiande is here to challenge him!"

Hearing this, Li Shimin sat up suddenly.

"Qin Qiong, Yuchi..."

Li Shimin had just shouted halfway when he realized that something was wrong with the environment.

Looking again, it was Li Tai's fat face.

call……

He exhaled, thinking he was still at Wulao Pass.

"Why are you two here to see me so early?" Old Li looked at the two older boys with a bad face. "Well, didn't you say you were going to the beach together yesterday? Xiang'er is up and waiting for you outside, Aye." Li Tai said quickly.

"Xiang'er?" Li Shimin lifted the quilt, sat up and put on his slippers. "Look at my memory. I completely forgot about going to the beach today."

Li Tai and Li Zhi looked at each other, both showing expressions that they had understood the plan.

The two of them were trying to get something for nothing. First, they told Li Xiang that Li Shimin had risen, and then they went to tell Li Shimin that Li Xiang had risen.

When the three of them walked into the main hall, Li Xiang was sleeping soundly in a chair.

Li Tai went over and pushed him. Li Xiang choked twice and opened his confused eyes.

"Let's go, what are we waiting for?" Li Tai and Li Zhi carried him up and walked out.

When we arrived at the beach, it was already daybreak.

When he came to the seaside for the first time, Li Shimin was not in a hurry to dig sand with Li Tai. Instead, he looked towards the junction of the water and the sky, his heart surging with the tide of the sea.

"This is the sea, Aung, isn't it magnificent?" Li Xiang stood beside him.

Li Shimin was enjoying the sea breeze, his clothes fluttering in the wind.

When people see the sea, they will have countless emotions.

Li Shimin was the same. Looking at the sea in front of him, he was recalling the past events in his mind.

From saving the emperor at Yanmen when he was seventeen, to destroying Western Qin at the age of twenty-one, to capturing the two kings in one battle at Wulao Pass, and then to the Xuanwu Gate Incident...

It seems as if everything that happened in the past just happened yesterday.

He is nearly fifty years old, and has not yet created a peaceful and prosperous world for his children and grandchildren, but his hair has already turned gray.

After a while, he sighed and said, "Such a country, wouldn't it make people nostalgic?"

"Look at what you said, old man. You have to live to be a hundred years old." Li Xiang said with a smile: "There are still more than 50 years left. What are you feeling sad about now?"

"Yes, it also depends on whether Xiang'er gets married and has children." Li Shimin smiled and rubbed Li Xiang's head: "It also depends on whether your son gets married and has a son."

Without waiting for Li Xiang to say anything, Li Shimin roared at the sea tide.

"The seaside is still the best. It makes people feel relaxed and happy." Li Shimin said with a smile: "Just blowing in the wind, I feel refreshed."

"Of course not." Li Xiang said.

Li Tai and Li Zhi kept pouting behind the two of them, and ignored the two of them, and went on digging sand on their own.

Seeing his two sons running to dig something, Li Shimin also picked up a shovel and a bucket and began to look for good things on the ground.

Li Tai and Li Zhi liked to dig for edible things, while Li Shimin only picked up shells.

Grandpa's girlish heart...

Li Xiang felt a little bit uncomfortable watching it.

"No wonder Mu Xuanxu said, 'Cloud brocade is like prose on the edge of the sand, and silk and satin shine like the joints of snails and clams.'" Li Shimin said with a smile while holding the small bucket, "The shells in here are really beautiful."

"As long as Grandpa likes it..." Li Xiang forced a smile.

When they returned in the morning, Li Tai and Li Zhi each picked up a bucket of food, while Li Shimin filled a bucket with carefully washed conches and shells.

"Ah Weng." Li Xiang held a large conch shell and put it next to his ear and said to Li Shimin: "Put your ear on the conch shell and you will hear the sound of the sea."

"Really?" Li Shimin also picked up a large conch and placed it next to his ear. After a while, he smiled and said, "It is indeed so."

He had already figured out that after returning, he would give these beautiful conch shells as gifts to the ministers who stayed in Chang'an and Luoyang.

As for those who followed me to the beach... they wanted to pick it up themselves!
Of course, one cannot just play around in Dengzhou. When Li Shimin came back with the bucket, he found that Xiao Yu and Changsun Wuji were looking at him with very Wei Zheng eyes.

Well, next time I go out to catch seafood, I will bring a few of my dear friends with me.

Fortunately, Xiao Yu and Changsun Wuji just looked at him and did not come forward to give advice, which made Li Shimin breathe a sigh of relief.

After breakfast, Li Shimin asked Li Xiang to take him out to see the grand occasion of Dengzhou.

Naturally, they had to change clothes before going out. Both of them wore casual clothes and led a group of black armor soldiers out of the Dengzhou Governor's Mansion.

The first stop is, of course, the pier.

Nowadays, people in Dengzhou are tired of it. Seeing fishing boats returning with full loads once or twice may be a novelty, but if you see it too much, you will get sick of it.

Besides, who has the time to come out and watch other people's fishing boats? You're not picking fish intestines or drying salt at home, but you're out here wandering around, right?
The dock also changed from being crowded with people to being filled with only the staff of the Governor's Office and returning ships.

Just as Li Shimin and Li Xiang were passing by, two ships entered the port.

"Wow." When Li Shimin got closer, he saw the two boats full of fish and said with emotion, "They are so full that there is no place to step."

"They tried their best to pack more." Li Xiang said with a smile.

"Who designed this ship?" Li Shimin suddenly asked, "Yan Lide?"

"It was indeed designed by him, but it has nothing to do with him whether it is decorated like this or not. Even if they make the boat bigger, they will still decorate it like this." Li Xiang said.

Li Shimin nodded, looked at the fishing boat with a full harvest, and was happy for the fishermen.

"Did you recruit all the people on this dock?" Li Shimin asked again.

Li Xiang nodded and said, "Yes, temporary workers in the Governor's Office. The weighers get 100 coins a day, and the accountants get 20 coins more. They are responsible for counting the fish here. My grandson promised them that after working for a year, they can be officially promoted to full-time employees and enter the Governor's Office, holding an official position of the ninth rank."

"You." Li Shimin stretched out his hand and nodded at Li Xiang with a smile.

"Aunt, don't underestimate this job. There are at least ten ships entering the port every day. Counting them one by one is really a physically demanding job." Li Xiang explained, "Besides, if they go out to sea, they can earn much more money than working at the dock. If it weren't for the promise of an official position, who would work for us? It's better to go out to sea and fish."

"You did the right thing." Li Shimin nodded in affirmation.

"This boat can catch more than 3,000 kilograms of fish at a time. After we go back, we will process them ourselves, dry them in the sun and make them into salted fish. The Governor's Office will be responsible for the unified purchase." Li Xiang said with a smile.

"What's the price?" Li Shimin asked.

Li Xiang replied: "The price is uniformly five coins per pound, no more and no less."

Li Shimin frowned and asked, "If I remember correctly, the price of salted fish sold in the mainland has reached 20 to 30 wen per catty, right? Why is the Dengzhou Governor's Office buying salted fish so cheaply? Are they competing with the people for profits?"

Li Xiang did not answer, but asked: "Ah Weng, do you still remember how much the grain price is in Chang'an City on weekdays?"

"Three coins for a dou." Li Shimin replied.

"What about the harvest season?" Li Xiang asked again.

"Two cents per dou, or even lower," Li Shimin replied.

"That's it. Nowadays, there are countless people fishing in the sea. The fishing boats that enter the port every day catch more than 100,000 catties of fish." Li Xiang said to Li Shimin: "This is just like the grain price in Chang'an."

Li Shimin suddenly said: "Then I understand."

He also calculated in his mind that at least 100,000 kilograms of fish are brought into the port every day, so these fish on the seashore...it doesn't look like they can be sold for a penny per kilogram.

He also knew that there were salt fields here. With the salt fields in hand, the price of salt would naturally be cheaper. Therefore, the price that the Governor's Office paid for the salted fish was reasonable.

"There are also transportation costs on the road. If the people were allowed to make and sell salted fish themselves, they wouldn't even be able to reach Laizhou, which is more than a hundred miles away." Li Xiang continued, "Or if the merchants were allowed to purchase them freely in Dengzhou, the price would be even lower. You know that merchants are profit-driven. They came to Dengzhou to purchase salted fish before, and even offered a price of two cents per pound."

(Second update sent)

(End of this chapter)