bookbashuk Chapter 2647 Old Li's Purpose
Chapter 2647 Old Li's Purpose
Li Chengqian's words were forceful and well-reasoned, leaving Li Zhi speechless for a moment.
He was somewhat shocked, not expecting that the Crown Prince could come up with such a reasonable plan.
This method has never been used in any dynasty.
In just a few short years, the Crown Prince has grown to such an extent. No wonder his father has never interfered in court affairs.
It turns out that they had been training the crown prince all along.
Li Shimin slightly opened his eyes, looked at the shocked expressions of Li Zhi and Li Tai, and nodded with satisfaction:
“What Gao Ming said does make some sense, and I was indeed wrong.”
To everyone's surprise, the usually confident Li Shimin actually admitted his mistake.
For an emperor, this would be the greatest stain.
Throughout history, even the most incompetent emperors have never admitted to being wrong.
“No, Father is right.” Li Chengqian bowed. “Father, as I just said, the situation is different now.”
Back then, our Great Tang Dynasty was not as powerful as it is now. My father had just ascended the throne, and the national treasury was empty.
The only option was to use the method of "using barbarians to control barbarians" to reduce national treasury expenditures; this was a truly desperate measure.
Otherwise, how could our Great Tang Dynasty have achieved such a prosperous era?
"It's only because the national treasury is now abundant that we're considering changing national policy to prepare for the future."
Li Chengqian's words pleased Li Shimin. The crown prince had saved face for him, and it was the eldest son who was truly filial.
If it were the scoundrel next to me, he wouldn't have bothered to defend himself; he would have kicked me while I was down.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin glanced at Li Shen, who was pretending to be asleep.
I never expected that the Crown Prince would learn so much from Li Shen. He was right after all; Li Shen can indeed be of great help to the Crown Prince.
Li Shimin knew immediately, even with his eyes closed, that Li Chengqian's words came from Li Shen, because Li Shen had said something similar ten years earlier.
Moreover, I said it this year, and I said it last year as well.
It now seems necessary to let the Crown Prince have more contact with Li Shen.
"Brother's insight is truly remarkable; I admire it immensely." Li Tai cupped his hands in greeting, surprised that the Crown Prince would say such a thing.
To be honest, he hadn't thought about this question even after pondering it for so long.
How could they have come up with the idea of building a city just to create a prison-like environment and prevent the Tiele people in the north from having no fixed abode?
"Hehe, I have to thank Father for his constant guidance, otherwise I wouldn't have thought of so many things."
Li Chengqian smiled and gave the credit to his father.
"Your eldest brother is the crown prince and will inherit the throne in the future, so naturally he needs to know more. You should also learn and observe more in the future, so that you may have the opportunity to assist your brother, understand?"
Looking at his sons, Li Shimin spoke.
"Yes, we will follow your teachings." The group quickly bowed.
"Ha~"
But there were always some discordant voices, and Li Shen chuckled softly for some reason.
"What do you mean?" Li Shimin immediately retorted angrily. This scoundrel was always so disrespectful.
"Huh?" Li Shen opened his eyes in confusion, at a loss.
"Hmph!" Li Shimin could only snort and turn his head away.
Li Shen finally smiled. How could he not know his father's tricks? Whether you call it a warning shot or a way to make them back down, it didn't matter.
Ultimately, the goal was to target Li Tai and Li Zhi.
This whole performance was just for these two brothers, to let them know how big the gap was between them and Crown Prince Li Chengqian.
The old man certainly played a clever trick, but he forgot that these two were not going to admit defeat.
They would certainly believe that Li Chengqian achieved this only with the help of many ministers, and that they themselves would have done a better job.
A true angler never doubts his own skills; he only doubts whether his equipment is professional enough.
However, Li Shen didn't intend to expose it, since it was none of his business. He didn't care about Li Chengqian's opinion.
It doesn't matter, as long as it doesn't interfere with my sleep, meals, or hitting the kids.
“Brilliant! Since you’ve already made up your mind, let’s discuss it with the three provinces and six ministries and start implementing it next year.”
Li Chengqian replied after hearing this:
“Father, I wonder if my tenth brother is interested in this. He once said that he wanted to build schools in the northern Tiele and Anxi Protectorates.”
He also mentioned building a city.
Moreover, most of the tribes in the north are now cooperating with the Prince Ji's mansion.
Why not…”
"Why don't you sell the Crown Prince's Palace to me and use the money to repair the city?"
Before Li Chengqian could finish speaking, Li Shen opened his eyes and looked at Li Chengqian with disdain, saying, "Can't you learn something from your father?"
As expected, dragons beget dragons and phoenixes beget phoenixes; a rat's son knows how to dig holes. Who passed on this insidious gene?
Li Shen finally found the root of his despicable and shameless nature: it all came from his father. No wonder his body sometimes couldn't be controlled by his soul, and he always did things that involved cheating and swindling.
He said he was originally a good person.
"If we can get a good price, it's not impossible," Li Chengqian said nonchalantly.
"Do you have any shame? The Crown Prince of the Great Tang Dynasty is always thinking about getting something for nothing, competing with the people for profit, exploiting the people, and plundering their wealth. Aren't you afraid of being nailed to the pillar of historical shame?"
Li Shen sat up straight and shouted at the top of his lungs.
The older generation wants to take advantage, and there's nothing you can do about it, but what right do you, the younger generation, have? Even the crown prince is nothing; if he gets angry, he'll still make things difficult for you.
Li Chengqian was stunned by what he was being said. He had only said it casually, yet he was being portrayed as utterly wicked. He felt as if Li Shen was calling him a heartless monster.
"Tenth brother, aren't you getting a little too excited? I haven't finished speaking yet."
Li Chengqian said bitterly.
"Bullshit~ I've watched you grow up since you were a kid, do you think I don't know what you're going to say? You just want to say that I should pay for the construction of cities and academies in the north, right?"
The reason is that I made a lot of money in the north and in Anxi, isn't that right?
Li Shen scoffed. He could figure out Li Chengqian's petty schemes even with a brain.
"Well... you have experience, don't you?" Li Chengqian felt a little embarrassed after his thoughts were exposed. He knew that building a city was very expensive, but building an academy wouldn't cost much.
"It is precisely because I have experience that I am unwilling to do it. The important city of Qinghai Province has cost me several years' worth of savings, amounting to tens of millions of strings of cash."
As a result, everyone in my Prince Ji's mansion, from top to bottom, has been eating coarse food every day, and they are all pale, thin, and bloodless.
My poor children are so thin from hunger that even the wet nurse has to go home to eat in order to replenish her milk supply, forcing the dogs in the Prince Ji's mansion to start eating grass.
If it weren't for the sake of the royal family's reputation, I almost took my whole family to beg in front of the Vermilion Bird Gate.
Look at my frail body, it's the root of the illness I developed back then, and it just won't go away.
It would take at least ten years for the city to recoup its investment, while the imperial court made a fortune.
Now the elder brother wants his younger brother to build a city? Is he trying to drive the younger brother to his death? Does he want the younger brother to hang himself at the Vermilion Bird Gate?