Chapter 174 All Things Compete (asking for monthly tickets)

"This group of businessmen are so greedy!" Li Shimin cursed viciously.

Li Xiang nodded in agreement: "How can you not believe in the wisdom of our ancestors? Merchants still need to be restrained. If the profit can exceed 100%, merchants will take risks; if the profit exceeds 200%, merchants will defy any law; if the profit exceeds 300%, merchants will dare to trample on everything in the world. Even if you ask him to sell you a knife to chop off his head, he will sell you one without hesitation."

Li Xiang's greatest wealth is that he can not only learn from the past, but also draw lessons from the experiences of future generations, a typical example being the group of traitorous Shanxi merchants.

For the sake of profit, Shanxi merchants continuously funded the backward barbarian aristocratic military groups outside the Great Wall, causing them to collude with the most reactionary officials, gentry and landlord class inside the Great Wall and steal the fruits of victory in the peasant war.

Therefore, even from the perspective of class history, the Qing Dynasty was a regime of countless crimes.

"So we still have to stick to the national policy of suppressing merchants for a hundred years." Li Shimin nodded and said, "At least we must prohibit the sons of merchants from becoming officials. We must never allow money and power to merge."

Li Xiang thought for a moment and said, "In fact, the court can decide and conduct commercial trade activities, such as setting up state-owned enterprises... Just like the Dengzhou Governor's Office, which has the monopoly on the fish produced in Dengzhou, and can also delegate a number of distribution rights to other merchants."

"In addition, a market supervision department should be set up to severely punish those unscrupulous vendors who sell inferior goods as good ones and disregard the health of the general public for the sake of profit!"

"Give him a heavy punishment?" Li Shimin took a deep breath and cursed fiercely, "What the hell! Just chop him off! Do you want to keep such a wicked man alive for the New Year?"

Li Xiang opened his mouth and gave Li Shimin a thumbs up.

It is still Aong who has a solution. He is really a man who enjoys killing his brothers and sisters.

Li Xiang did not raise any objections in this regard, after all, Li Shimin's wisdom was enough.

After leaving the dock, Li Shimin wandered around the city and decided to go out of the city with Li Xiang to relax.

They strolled all the way to Wendeng County. Li Xiang pointed ahead and said, "The village ahead is the first village my grandson visited after arriving in Dengzhou."

"Oh," Li Shimin recalled for a moment, "I remember you didn't write to me for a while, because you were secretly visiting various villages, right?"

"Yes, we must go and see the real situation in person and get first-hand information." Li Xiang said: "If we are high and mighty, not caring about anything, not asking anything, and letting the officials of Dengzhou report the news that is beneficial to them, wouldn't that make us blind and deaf?"

"You did the right thing." Li Shimin nodded in affirmation: "A ruler should be alert and not blindly listen to one side."

"But this is only Dengzhou. If it's the whole country, you can't go to every place in person, right?" Li Shimin looked at Li Xiang again and asked a question.

"My grandson has his own way." Li Xiang said with a smile.

"Oh?" Li Shimin raised his eyebrows.

Li Xiang did not answer directly. Could he tell Lao Li to reveal the entire intelligence agency?
An organization like the Jinyiwei would definitely not work. According to Li Shimin's character, he would not only not support Li Xiang in setting up the Jinyiwei, but would even scold him for being suspicious.

But if we start by collecting foreign intelligence...it will be much easier for people to accept.

Li Xiang looked up and saw that the village had changed a lot in the past six months.

The original dilapidated and deserted feeling is gone, replaced by rows of neat thatched houses and spacious courtyards.

People in the village were coming and going, looking very busy.

Li Xiang took a few steps forward, but heard someone calling him from behind.

"Young Master, Young Master?"

Li Xiang looked back and saw the old man named Suo whom he had just met when he came to Dengzhou for investigation.

"Old man, we meet again." Li Xiang said with a smile.

Then he pointed to the yard behind the old man and asked, "Is this your home?"

"Yes, this is my new home." Old Man Suo smiled hunched over and asked, "Young Master, if you don't mind my shabby home, why don't you come in and have a seat?"

"Okay, sit down." Li Xiang said, "My grandfather and I are a little tired after walking all this way."

As I entered the yard, a strong smell of fish and blood hit my nose.

Li Xiang looked up and saw two women sitting there picking fish intestines. The fish scales on the ground around them were piled as thick as a hill.

The scene is quite bloody, and with some filters it looks like a murder scene.

Fish scales are good things, but now people don't want to eat them, so you can crush them and feed them to livestock, or bury them in the soil as fertilizer.

The first thing Li Xiang did when he entered the house was to sit on the earthen kang in the thatched hut. He also extended his hand to invite Li Shimin, Xue Rengui and others to sit down as well.

Li Shimin was not polite either. He followed Li Xiang's example and sat down on the earthen kang, as if he was sitting in his own palace.

All under heaven belongs to the king...

Xue Rengui was somewhat reserved, but after Li Xiang gave him a look, he sat down next to Lao Li.

I'm just out for a stroll in disguise, and why are you afraid to sit down?

"It seems that the old man's life is getting better and better." Li Xiang said with a smile straight to the point.

Old Man Suo rubbed his shoulder and grinned, "Who says it's not true? Thanks to the blessing of the Prince of Hengshan, we ordinary people can live such a good life. Look, it's only been less than half a year, and my family has moved to a new house."

"Actually, it's not necessary to move this house, but the two young men in my family have both married, so we have to move it." Old Man Suo showed off again.

"Oh, so the ones outside are your newly married daughter-in-law." Li Xiang suddenly realized. He wondered why he didn't see these two women when he came back last time.

"Yes, I came from Laizhou." Old Man Suo said with a smile, "Families in Laizhou with daughters like to go to villages in Dengzhou to propose marriage. Even Zhu Wazi, who has been single for more than 30 years in my village, has found a wife."

As he spoke, Old Man Suo pulled over a small pot of winter dates and pushed it to Li Xiang: "Young Master, try this. These are dates from the trees at home."

Although winter jujube is called winter jujube, the early-ripening winter jujube can usually be harvested in August or September of the Gregorian calendar in later generations, not to mention that it is still September in the traditional calendar.

Li Xiang did not despise it. He grabbed a handful and handed them to Li Shimin and Xue Rengui respectively. He then put one leg on the kang and swung the other leg while chatting with Old Man Suo.

"Why don't you see any young men at home? Are they out at sea?" Li Xiang asked. "No, thanks to the prince, my family got 20 mu of salt fields. The second son is now in the navy, and the eldest and third sons are busy in the salt fields, and they also have a lot of income." Old Man Suo said with a smile.

"What about the fish outside..." Li Xiang was a little confused. How could he get so many fish without going out to sea?
"Hey, these are brought back by people who go out to sea to exchange for salt with my family." Old Man Suo replied, "One pound of salt can be exchanged for more than ten pounds of fish. We are not short of salt at home, so we just exchange some fish for our own consumption and for our fellow villagers to exchange what we have with each other."

"Brother, how much can one acre of the salt field in your family produce?" Li Shimin asked from the side, and while speaking, he did not forget to put a winter date into his mouth.

Very sweet, very crispy, and really delicious.

"It depends on the sun. On sunny days, the yield is sufficient. Our 20 mu salt fields can produce several thousand kilograms of salt a month." Old Man Suo said with a smile, "Now we only have to pay salt field tax for the salt fields. We don't have to do corvée or head tax. We can see that our lives are getting better and better."

"No need to pay head tax?" Li Shimin ate another date and asked knowingly, "What is this new policy? Tell me about it, brother."

Old Man Suo patiently explained, "The other day the county issued an official document. From now on, anyone who goes out to sea to fish or has salt fields at home will no longer be charged a head tax. Instead, the tax will be paid on the salt fields or the fish caught. At the same time, you can also pay a certain amount of money to be exempted from this year's corvée."

"This policy is really good. Since the head tax was no longer collected, I see that everyone in the village wants to have children." Old Man Suo added, "Even the eldest and third sons in my family want to have children."

"In that case, this policy is really good." Li Shimin nodded.

"Who said it wasn't Mo? My family has a longevity tablet for the King of Hengshan County." Old Man Suo said, pointing to the main hall and said, "Look, brother, look outside is the longevity tablet for the King of Hengshan County in my family. This person should always know how to be grateful and know who made me live a good life."

The so-called longevity tablet is a tablet for praying for the benefactor's happiness and longevity. The longevity tablet is not a spirit tablet, but a tablet for a living person, the purpose of which is to express gratitude for his kindness and pray for his happiness and longevity.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin walked over to take a look, then walked back with a strange look on his face and looked at Li Xiang again.

This kid is really...

To be honest, Old Li is also quite proud of Li Xiang.

Look, the one who is loved by all the people from the bottom of their hearts is our old Li’s eldest grandson!

Li Xiang smiled and asked Old Man Suo if he was dissatisfied with the current policies.

Mr. Suo said that the current policies are very good and they were unimaginable before.

After chatting for a while, Li Xiang politely declined Old Man Suo's invitation to stay for dinner at his home and left.

After touring various villages and counties, Li Shimin was very satisfied with the current scene of flourishing things in Dengzhou.

"A man of Xiang'er's talent should not be confined to a county!" Li Shimin said with emotion.

"Old man, do you think I am Han Xin? The more the better?" Li Xiang asked with a smile.

Li Shimin actually nodded in agreement: "Since you said so, it would be unreasonable for me not to add more burdens to you."

"In fact, the model of Dengzhou can be replicated in areas around the sea." Li Xiang followed Li Shimin closely and said, "The coastal areas of Henan and Hebei, such as Haizhou, Sizhou, Mizhou, Laizhou, Qingzhou, and all the way to Youzhou, can all adopt this model."

"If this model is established, not only can the entire Hebei region be more firmly under the control of the court, but it can also further control Liaodong, Goguryeo and even Baekje and Silla through the sea."

Li Shimin thought about it for a while and felt that what Li Xiang said was feasible.

The centrifugal force in Hebei Province during this era was not as strong as during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.

In fact, the Hebei region is not what some people say is nonsense: "Hebei has been dissatisfied since the killing of Dou Jiande", or "Guanzhong has been sucking Hebei's blood". If this is true, the first to rebel should not be Hebei, but the Jianghuai region that sucked blood to supply Hebei's border towns and the capital area.

In fact, there are only two main reasons: one is that the central court is too far away from the border town of Hebei; the other is that Hebei is both the economic and military center of the Tang Dynasty.

The Hebei region is the economic and military center and is far away from the political center, so it is natural for the local people to be dissatisfied with the central court.

If the capital was set in Hebei, there would not be much trouble in Hebei. For details, please refer to the Ming Dynasty. The political center and the military center overlapped, so there were no serious rebellions in the border towns throughout the Ming Dynasty.

But the Tang Dynasty was special. Not only did it have border threats in the north, but there was also a powerful and warm-climate Tubo in the southwest that was no less powerful than the northern border threats in other periods.

After thinking about it, Lao Li decided to add more responsibilities to Li Xiang.

"In that case, I will promote you. You will be the Grand Commander of Dengzhou, and will be in charge of the coastal areas of Hai, Si, Mi, Lai, Qing, Dengzhou, etc." Li Shimin thought for a moment, and then turned his head and said, "You don't have to follow us when we go to fight Goguryeo. Just develop the economy in Dengzhou. My army is still counting on you for supplies!"

When Li Xiang heard this, he was surprised.

Aong, you are going to exclude me from the team that is going to attack Goguryeo!

I was originally thinking of helping out, but you ended up asking me to take care of logistics?
How is this possible?
"I don't agree with what Grandpa said." Li Xiang protested on the spot.

"Hmm?" Li Shimin lowered his head and rubbed his head: "The battlefield is not a joke, swords have no eyes, if you get hurt again, it will be unacceptable."

While speaking, Lao Li also praised his own wit.

This tactic of mine of killing two birds with one stone is really clever. It can not only allow Xiang'er to develop the economy of the coastal areas, but also allow Xiang'er to stay in the rear with peace of mind!
"My grandfather was able to rescue the emperor at Yanmen when he was only seventeen years old. Why can't my grandson do it?" Li Xiang asked, looking up.

Li Shimin's eyes went dark. "I was already seventeen years old at that time. How about you?"

"After the New Year, my grandson will be sixteen years old." Li Xiang reported his age guiltily.

"Heh." Li Shimin curled the corners of his mouth and forced a reluctant smile.

Seeing that Li Shimin did not accept the challenge, Li Xiang thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you go with your grandson to the navy first to see it, and then make a decision?"

When he heard about the navy, Li Shimin became interested.

I have been in Dengzhou for such a long time, but I have only been focusing on the economic development of Dengzhou and have not even visited the navy.

"In that case, I will go with you to take a look." Li Shimin nodded.

(First update sent)

(End of this chapter)