After Li Xiaogong quickly read the details in the water transportation bonus document, he was stunned and said: "From April to now, all the big ships running on the sea are transporting gold and silver goods?"
Li Yuanji nodded.
Li Xiaogong stared in disbelief and said, "There is so much wealth in Jiaozhou?"
In the eyes of him, and even most people, Jiaozhou is a barbaric place.
Not only are poisonous insects and ferocious beasts everywhere there, but there is also a vicious miasma that rages around. The Sea Dragon King will get angry from time to time and destroy everything on the land.
So it was hard for him to believe that Jiaozhou, a place with poor mountains and rivers, could have so much wealth.
Not only him, but also other people in Datang would not believe it if they found out.
Li Yuanji sighed with emotion: "Cousin, Jiaozhou's potential is greater than you imagine..."
Although Jiaozhou is still in a semi-barbaric state, and the local natives also live the most primitive hunting life, they don't like to come into contact with outsiders, let alone be ruled by outsiders.
But this does not mean that Jiaozhou is a poor place with scarce resources.
On the contrary, Jiaozhou is very rich in resources.
Not only are there rich mineral resources, but there are also various rare and exotic animals, as well as treasures that are rare in many generations.
The reason why people in the Tang Dynasty felt that Jiaozhou was barren and barbaric was because the environment in Jiaozhou was too harsh. People in the Tang Dynasty moved there and could not live there for a long time. Many people even died in the mouths of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts during the migration, and died from the miasma.
under.
Even if you are lucky enough to survive, you will still have to face the danger of a typhoon, and even more, you will have to face attacks from local natives.
Therefore, no matter whether it was due to being assigned or seeking refuge, only a few people who moved to Jiaozhou survived, and there was no way they could compete with the local natives in terms of numbers.
In this case, it is already very good to be able to gain a foothold in the local area, and there is no spare time for development.
Therefore, even though Jiaozhou is full of treasures, it is not well known by people.
Historically, it was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that the Han people were forced by the Jin and Mongols to move south step by step. When they moved to Jiaozhou, they further developed Jiaozhou and unearthed various treasures in Jiaozhou.
But before the Southern Song Dynasty could develop various treasures in Jiaozhou, the Southern Song Dynasty perished.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty that a new round of development began in various parts of Jiaozhou.
Now, the Tang Dynasty had an absolute advantage in terms of military warfare, and it also had great dominance over all parts of Jiaozhou. It relied on the conditions of foresight and foresight, so it was natural to develop Jiaozhou in advance.
"How big is it?"
Li Xiaogong stared at Li Yuanji seriously and asked a question that he thought was a bit ridiculous.
In his view, even if there were some treasures in Jiaozhou, they were far from comparable to other wealthy places in the Tang Dynasty.
Li Yuanji smiled calmly and said: "I can't say exactly how big it is, but if we include the area south of Yizhou, which is the land of the ancient Dian Kingdom, it will be enough to feed our descendants of the Li family for more than ten generations."
This is not a joke, nor is it an exaggeration.
If the various mineral resources in Jiaozhou and the Yunnan copper in southern Yizhou are developed together, they will really be enough to feed the Li family for more than ten generations.
Because Jiaozhou is so rich in mineral resources, the Yunnan copper reserves in southern Yizhou are also surprisingly large.
As long as you are not particularly prodigal, or do not spend money as money, then it is still okay to feed more than ten generations.
Of course, as the king of a country, if you spend your money crazily with your tribe that continues to multiply and grow, you may lose everything very quickly.
But within a hundred years, there should be no prodigal son like Boyi in the Tang Dynasty.
Because it has never happened in history, and it is even more impossible now.
Li Yuanji would not allow such an awesome person to appear.
Li Xiaogong stood up immediately and looked at Li Yuanji with eyes as wide as copper bells.
Li Yuanji waved his hand and motioned for Li Xiaogong to sit down, "Cousin, don't be so excited. It's not that easy to dig out all the gold, silver, copper, iron, jewelry and jade in Jiaozhou and Yizhou South.
The reason why I tell you this is to make you realize the importance of Jiaozhou and Yizhounan and know their value."
Li Xiaogong did not sit down, but stared straight at Li Yuanji and said, "How do you know this?"
Li Yuanji laughed and said: "Not only do I know this, I also know that Linyi State also has huge gold, silver, copper, iron, jewelry and jade, and the distant Tianzhu is even built with gold as its city.
But these things are now harmful to Datang.
Our Tang Dynasty currently has less than two million households.
The food harvested per year is estimated to be only tens of millions of dan.
If all these gold, silver, copper, iron, jewelry and jade were allowed to flow into our Tang Dynasty, the price of food would skyrocket, as would the prices of cloth, silk, paper and other items.
By then we will have money, but it will be the same as having no money.
Because gold, silver, copper, iron, jewelry, and jade cannot be eaten or drunk, even if we have a lot of money, we cannot solve the fundamental problems of the Tang Dynasty.
In the end, it will only cause the price of goods in Datang to skyrocket, making the people unable to afford food, clothing, and making money worthless.
Therefore, whether we are developing border markets or dredging water and sea transportation, we can make money, but we cannot just focus on making money, let alone just focus on money.
We have to absorb Turkic cattle and sheep, Goguryeo, Baekje, Dingkou, Jiaozhou, and Linyi grain from Silla, and Tubo and Tuyuhun leather goods and horses.
When our people in the Tang Dynasty are prosperous, our products are abundant, and our grain warehouses are full, how much money will we need?"
Li Xiaogong opened his mouth in astonishment and stood there blankly, seeming to be in a daze and digesting.
After a long time, he said with a struggle on his face: "My mind is so confused right now. I can't tell whether what you said is true or false, or right or wrong."
Li Yuanji nodded to express his understanding.
What he said contained a lot of information, and some of it even went beyond Li Xiaogong's cognition, so it was understandable that Li Xiaogong couldn't tell the difference between true and false for a while.
"If you can't tell the difference, go back and make a good distinction."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Li Xiaogong nodded thoughtfully and asked subconsciously, "According to you, when we do business in the border market, not only can we not make other people's money, but we can also
Have to spend a lot of money to buy other people's goods?
After a long time, wouldn’t Datang have no money left?”
Li Yuanji said funny: "It's not that we don't make other people's money, we still have to make money, but what we earn must mainly be goods. You have also come from troubled times, and you should understand that in troubled times,
A thousand taels of gold is far less important than a thousand taels of grain.
In years of great disaster and famine, even if you spend enough money, you may not be able to buy food.
So we need to stock up on more goods and less money."
"But now it's a time of peace and prosperity..."
Li Xiaogong subconsciously answered again.
After saying this, he immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing.
The great enemy of the Turks has not yet been completely eliminated, and the current Tang Dynasty cannot be considered a peaceful and prosperous age.
Only when all apparent and potential enemies are eliminated or conquered can the Tang Dynasty be qualified to be called a peaceful and prosperous age.
"You're starting to stockpile all kinds of goods now. Do you want to invade the Turks as soon as possible?"
When Li Xiaogong realized that the Tang Dynasty was not yet in peace and prosperity, he figured out the joints and raised his head to ask.
Li Yuanji said dumbfounded: "Aren't you talking nonsense? Our Tang Dynasty has been at odds with the Turks for many years. If the Turks are not eliminated, everyone in our Tang Dynasty will have trouble sleeping and eating, so I must make preparations early and launch the Northern Expedition as soon as possible."
As soon as Li Xiaogong mentioned the war, he stopped thinking about money and immediately hesitated: "Isn't it too early?"
Li Yuanji shook his head and said: "It's late. The previous battle has broken the Turks' ridges. The Turks no longer have the confidence to be enemies of the Tang Dynasty. If the Tang Dynasty wants to conquer the Turks, it is far more difficult than before.
It's easier.
We only need to recuperate for two or three years and re-accumulate everything consumed in the previous battle, and then the northern expedition to the Turks can be put on the agenda."
While Li Xiaogong was thinking about the possibility of conquering the Turks in the north in two or three years, he said: "You want me to be your commander?"
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes.
Li Xiaogong is obviously thinking about shit.
He has now reached the point where he is invincible. If he achieves another great achievement, and it is a great achievement like conquering the Turks, then he will have only one way to go.
That is to be put to death in prison.
The Tang Dynasty cannot tolerate a prince from the common people, because it will easily encourage the ambitions of other common people.
However, most of the commoner princes made some contributions to the Tang Dynasty during the founding of the Tang Dynasty. They all had military exploits and commanded a certain number of soldiers and horses.
Once the concubine's head is opened and he is crowned a prince, it cannot be stopped.
In the future, there will definitely be many heads from the common people seeking the title of prince.
This is not a good thing for the Tang Dynasty, nor is it a good thing for the direct descendants of the Li family.
Li Xiaogong saw Li Yuanji rolling his eyes and realized that he was a little wishful thinking. He immediately struggled and said: "I don't want any reward..."
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes at Li Xiaogong and said angrily: "I can not give you any reward, but will my father be indifferent?"
Li Xiaogong was instantly embarrassed.
Li Yuan would definitely not remain indifferent to this kind of thing.
He will invite all civil and military officials to come to the Tai Chi Hall to witness his grand ceremony of conferring the title of Prince to Li Xiaogong.
He will also grant a large amount of money, a large number of households, a large amount of land, a large number of servants, and... a large number of executioners.
This is not something Li Xiaogong can afford.
Li Yuan would not hold back on the strong stems and weak branches, the strong direct descendants and the weak concubines, and he would not be merciful in any way.
This can be easily seen from his past experience.
"Do you still want to be the Generalissimo of the Northern Expedition?"
Li Yuanji asked jokingly when he saw Li Xiaogong standing there silently in embarrassment with a hint of timidity.
Li Xiaogong suddenly felt even more embarrassed, and shook his head stiffly.
"Then go see Su Dingfang. Su Dingfang has already helped you transport your share of the water transportation back to Chang'an. You can just go to his house to get it. By the way, let Su Dingfang come here to see me."
