Li Tai was able to take in Li You, so of course it was impossible to miss out on his food, but Li You didn't know what he was thinking. He had to exchange his own money and refused to use Li Tai's. But Li Tai had no choice but to bring him to Sihai.
Gambling house exchange chips.
One year after the birth of colored glaze chips, they have been completely popular inside and outside the Tang Dynasty and have become a real hard currency. Today, the highest denomination is more than 1,000 guan, and large-denomination chips of 10,000 guan are also available, but the number is rare and the number of people using them is also small.
The most commonly used chips are one thousand guan.
Ergou knew Li Tai. He knew that Li Tai was not good at gambling and rarely came to Sihai Gambling House. He brought people here today, and it must not be for gambling. At Sihai Gambling House in Chang'an City, the people who received the most people were empresses.
, these second-generation ancestors have a unique flavor on them. Although Li You is a mismatched phoenix and not as good as a chicken, the second-generation ancestor's aura that he has been born with for many years was still recognized by Ergou at a glance.
Usually, when Ergou sees such a person, the four words that come to his mind are "foolish people and rich money". If it hadn't been for the people brought by Li Tai, he would have surrounded them long ago.
"Your Majesty, this is -" Ergou and Li Tai were already familiar with each other, and they were not overly respectful. They just bowed slightly, and Li Tai raised his hand to let him get up. He looked at him with a questioning look, and when Li Tai was about to introduce him, Li You said it himself
: "common people,"
Li You said so himself, but Li Tai did not explain and said: "This friend of mine wants to exchange chips."
"Easy to say." Ergou's current boss would naturally not do such a small thing as exchanging chips himself. He raised his hand and called a boy, took the chips from Li You's hand, and exchanged them in the blink of an eye.
When Sihai Gambling House opens, prepare at least 50,000 guan in cash. Can't you just take a thousand guan at will?
"Do you want to send an escort to the house?" Ergou asked enthusiastically. Of course, others did not have this preferential treatment, but Li Tai was no one else after all. He was the emperor's most beloved son and his master's apprentice.
We are all our own people, so we can still handle this relationship clearly.
"No need, we're leaving now." Li Tai said, and was about to take Li You away, but Li You didn't move. Instead, he asked Ergou, "Can you help me find a place to live and how much does it cost?"
, take it from here.”
"This -" Ergou looked at Li Tai. Li Tai could see how determined Li You was to start from the beginning, so he said: "Then help my friend buy a small courtyard." After a pause, he added
He said: "It's closer. How much money do you need? If it's not enough, come and get it from the house."
Li You even said no, so he took out the chips from the bag. Ergou hurriedly stopped him and said, "That's enough, that's enough. No need for more, five hundred chips is enough."
"I'll give you six hundred," Li You said, "and help me hire a housekeeper who is familiar with the local area."
"Okay," Ergou responded with a smile. He had never seen Li You in person and didn't know his origins, but who wouldn't like a generous master?
Li Tai asked Li You, "Aren't you going back home with me?"
Li You looked at Ergou and asked, "How many days will it take to buy the house?"
Ergou thought for a moment and said, "It will take two or three days at the earliest."
"Then I'll stay at Fourth Brother's house for two or three days." Li You said, "The housekeeper has been found and asked to come. I have other things that I want him to help with."
Ergou agreed, and Li You followed Li Tai and left the Sihai Gambling House. Ergou stood at the door, watching the two people leave, frowning and thinking for a while, and murmured to himself: "This person, could it be King Li You of Qi?
Otherwise, why would he call him Fourth Brother, King Wei?"
"He is the enemy of the Marquis, should I help him?" Ergou was a little nervous and wanted to ask, but he was worried about disturbing Li Mu. Then he thought again, Li Tai is Li Mu's apprentice, and Li Mu has been here for a few days.
God, I went to pay my respects almost every day. If it couldn't be done, Li Tai wouldn't do it. Since Li Tai brought the person and didn't reveal his identity, he could just pretend to be confused.
"It's rare to be confused," Ergou muttered, and called one of his boys to take care of the matter. These boys were all newly recruited after he came to Luoyang City. He gathered this group of people in Chang'an.
After coming to Luoyang, I became familiar with the experience.
…
Because Li Mu wanted to take the child out of the house, he was temporarily deprived of the right to spend time alone with his son. Li Mu was bored and had to pick up the unfinished work.
In fact, Li Mu really didn't want to work. He wanted to take a rest. But he couldn't stand Gongsun Kang. Dou Ren and others kept guarding endlessly. Seeing them piling up in the front yard day by day, Li Mu felt panicked. Finally, in
After lunch, Li Mu went to the front lobby, started to deal with the remaining matters, and listened to their reports.
According to the first-come-first-served rule in the morning, the first person to report was Gongsun Kang. Gongsun Kang's matter was relatively simple. Chi Road had been opened more than half a month before Li Mu returned to Luoyang. Now to go from Chang'an to Luoyang, there is no need to go through Sanmenxia, but
Leveling the highway and connecting it to the train can save at least half a day. Because of the convenient transportation, the transportation of materials is much easier than before. The price of rice in Chang'an City has dropped. When winter comes, the price of rice increases the most.
time, but the price of rice this year has not increased much. The difference between the price of rice in Chang'an City and Luoyang is only three cents, which is basically not bad.
But Li Mu frowned after listening for a long time. He only listened to Gongsun Kang talking about how well Chidao was repaired, but he didn't hear a word about the 'bridge toll', so he interrupted and asked: "What is Chidao doing now?"
Who is collecting the bridge toll? Is the court collecting it?"
"Bridge toll?" Gongsun Kang said blankly: "No one mentioned the bridge toll? Lord Marquis, is there a fee?"
"Fart!" Li Mu said angrily; "If there is no charge, why would I put so much effort into doing charity?"
Li Mu ordered: "From tomorrow - forget it, after the new year, you must hold on tight these days. If it is stuck at the joint of the Chi Road, fix a few bayonet for me and charge in stages. In addition, inform the Ministry of Accounts and Taxation
The Secretary will come to collect the tax as soon as possible. All goods that pass through the checkpoint will be confiscated without tax payment receipts. This is something that Your Majesty and I have agreed on a long time ago."
Gongsun Kang said hurriedly: "But Mr. Hou, this Chidao has never charged fees. Once it starts charging, I'm afraid-"
"What are you afraid of? If you don't want to go, don't go. You can continue around Sanmenxia. I didn't stop you, right?" Li Mu snorted coldly and said, "Pedestrians don't need to pay, but those doing business must pay. How can you take advantage in vain?
Regarding the matter, I built the road at no cost? If I remember correctly, this Chidao was built with the help of money, right? I promised it at the beginning that the cost would be recovered and a profit would be made."
"Master Hou, no one has ever mentioned charging money."
Li Mu sneered and said: "Of course they won't mention it. It's the best thing for them. But the money must be collected as it should be collected. There are no rules. Just follow the original agreement and start collecting the money after the year. When will it be collected?
After considering the cost and surplus, when will the bayonet be removed again?"
"Next year, various sections of roads in Longyou, Taiyuan, and Yangzhou will be completed one after another. Our roads will be the same. If there are no rules, there will be no way to control the traffic. A road does not cost much, but going to
In the future, there will be more and more roads like Chidao, and the burden of construction will also become larger and larger. If there is no funds to fill it in, relying only on the court or just a few people or a few families will sooner or later bring them down."
Gongsun Kang repeatedly said yes and took notes. But when he finished writing, he suddenly felt that this was not my business, wasn't I just a foreman?
But Li Mu didn't say anything, so he didn't dare to ask. Anyway, he just had to do the things he was told to do with all his heart.
The next one is Dou Ren. Before Li Mu left, he and Li Tai were asked to take charge of the affairs of the Foreign Affairs Office. I didn't expect him to do a good job, but I met Li Tai these two days and learned from Li Tai.
This Dou Ren really worked hard. Although the things he did were not that brilliant, there were no major mistakes. What was even more rare was that not only did he not take advantage of his position to be greedy for money, but he also made a lot of it himself.
Starting a business at a loss is commendable.
Li Mu read through the summary that Dou Ren handed over and then listened to his own report on his work. It seemed to be quite normal.
He didn't hear anything serious, so Li Mu didn't say anything. But Dou Ren felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. Li Mu didn't say anything. He just thought it was because he didn't do a good job, and looked at the other people in the lobby pleadingly, looking for someone.
Help and say a few nice words. But the others have not passed the test yet. Who dares to pretend that this big-tailed wolf is saying nice things to him? Everyone lowers their head and pretends they have not seen it.
"It's done well. It's a waste of time." Li Mu finally made a comment and said, "It's like putting down the bottom line. We still have to see how much profit we can make next year."
Li Mu looked at Dou Ren and said: "You can't do things with your own money. You can afford the money now, but what about in the future? This is the Foreign Affairs Office of the Tang Dynasty, not someone's small business.
After you are officially on the right track, how much can you put in if something goes wrong again? When you find out that you have lost money, don't always think in your head, I will put the money in to make up for the hole, but think carefully, is it right?
Something went wrong."
Dou Ren wiped his sweat repeatedly. This invisible pressure made him more uncomfortable than being scolded directly.
"If you don't understand anything, ask Chang Sun Chong." Li Mu looked at Chang Sun Chong in the middle of the lobby and said, "My beloved disciple will have to go back to the Ministry of Internal Affairs after the new year. Hurry up and give him to you first if you can't.
Just write down your experience and slowly verify it in the future.”
Dou Ren hurriedly said: "I remember them all. I always remember them."
Li Mu motioned him to sit down, then looked at the Tibetan prince Gemu next to Changsun Chong, and said, "I haven't seen him in half a year. Have you made any progress?"
Ge Mu stood up and wanted to say something, but when the words came to his lips, he felt as if he was bragging, so he stretched out his hand to pull Chang Sun Chong's sleeve. The two senior brothers stayed together day and night, and Chang Sun Chong couldn't help but worry about it, and said:
"My mentor, my junior brother has made great progress. The Foreign Affairs Office is responsible for the affairs of Tubo and the Western Regions, and now he has followed suit."
"This is good. You have learned a lot. I heard that the civil strife in Tubo has subsided. After the New Year, you can go back."
Gemu immediately knelt down and said: "Master, I don't know what I did wrong. Please tell me clearly."
"I haven't done anything wrong." Li Mu didn't mince words, and said: "But you are the prince of Tubo after all. And the place you work for is the Foreign Affairs Office of the Tang Dynasty. It is inevitable that you will be suspected of being under the melon field, and you should learn from it now.
It's almost done, why not go back to Tubo. With you in Tubo, it will be a good thing when we interact with the Tang Dynasty in the future."
"But master, what has my disciple not learned yet?" Gemu said seriously: "The skills that my disciple knows now are all learned from my senior brother. Master has not taught me yet."
"Yo?" Li Mu laughed and asked Changsun Chong, "Have I taught you anything?"
"Uh-" Changsun Chongxin said. It seemed that he had not taught anything seriously, but he was indeed better than before and more capable. This was an indisputable fact. He said sincerely: "Master teaches by words and deeds, and disciples benefit from it."
Quite a lot."
"It's hypocritical," Li Mu said mercilessly: "Actually, as a master, I know what I know, and I haven't taught you anything seriously. It's not important. What's important is whether you have studied it carefully yourself. The truth is, master leads
It's up to you to start practicing. I'll teach you step by step, but maybe you won't be able to learn it. What I'm best at is blacksmithing, are you willing to learn it?"
"Disciple can learn!" Gemu would borrow the donkey from Slope and said, "Disciple can carry a hammer and has hit it a few times."
"You are said to be fat and you are out of breath," Li Mu said rudely: "It is the rule of our sect to be self-taught. You want to learn blacksmithing, but I don't want to do it yet. In a word, blacksmithing is the secret skill of our sect.
Core disciple, you haven’t reached that level yet, so stop being so wishful thinking.”
Gemu was stunned, but he didn't feel dissatisfied. Li Mu's temper and temperament were pretty much what he had heard from Chang Sun Chong, and it was expected, so he didn't feel disappointed.
Li Mu looked at Tang Guan again, and Tang Guan smiled bitterly and said: "Brother, I came to Luoyang and have been preparing for the newspaper. But before I could make any preparations, I was arrested and sent to escort grain and grass. I went around in circles for several months.
We haven’t even published a newspaper yet, so if we count the time, it will be after the new year at the earliest.”
"Then after the New Year, it will all be a minor problem."
Finally, Li Mu set his sights on Ma Zhou. After not seeing each other for a few months, Ma Zhou looked older, thinner, smaller and with white hair. It seemed that he had been worried a lot during this time.
Seeing that it was finally his turn, Ma Zhou quickly took out a summary with body temperature from his arms and wanted to hand it to Li Mu, but Li Mu pushed it back directly and said: "This thing of yours is too long, I am too lazy to read it."
.I don’t trust people when I employ them, and don’t trust people when I doubt them. I know your abilities well in my heart. All the affairs of the Hou Mansion, big and small, are under your control. If you don’t manage them well, it’s your business. If you manage them well, I don’t care about them.
I won’t watch anymore.”
After a pause, Li Mu added: "I won't read it, but you can send a copy to His Majesty. I'm afraid all the princes in the court would like to see it."
Ma Zhou raised his hand and swore: "Master Hou, this summary was just written this morning. The ink has not even dried yet. No outsider has ever seen it."
"There's no need to swear, I don't doubt you either." Li Mu yawned lazily and said: "Show it to the gentlemen, let them see the difference, so as not to always compare with others. What are you comparing? It's the same.