Li Shimin was in the private room next to the terrace. There was a lot of people outside, how could he not hear it? He saw the whole process of Li Mu throwing money away, and he was heartbroken. He had just calmed down yesterday, but after witnessing Li Mu throwing money
Then he felt heartbroken again. He watched Li Mu throw down the money, as if he saw soldiers of the Tang Dynasty giving weapons and armor to the enemy on the battlefield. Such a way of spending money was really burdensome for a poor emperor.
Too big!
Li Shimin drank a glass of wine and shouted angrily: "Gao Gan, go and bring that bastard Li Mu over to me!"
"Your Majesty..." Empress Changsun wanted to persuade, but Li Shimin could no longer listen. She suppressed her anger and said: "Queen, please don't persuade me anymore. I must have a good talk with him today. I don't want his money."
He takes it as his own, but he can't bear to see him being so ruthless and extravagant. If this continues, this kid will have to go astray!"
After hearing this, Empress Changsun also felt that it made sense, but she still said: "Your Majesty, after all, Li Mu is still young and a very talented person. When speaking, it is better to be more tactful."
"Humph, there is no need for me to be tactful with him!"
As he spoke, Li Mu followed Eunuch Gao in with a red face. He saw Li Shimin's long face, as if he didn't notice it. He was not ashamed, but proud. He walked over with a smile and said, "What happened just now?"
, what do you think, Your Majesty? Are you generous?"
Li Shimin glanced at Li Mu and looked at his desperate look. He was so angry that he cursed: "How long will you continue to be angry with me? Aren't you saying that you have no money and are poor?
Yesterday I paid 100,000 yuan, and today I did this again. What do you mean? Are you angry with me?!"
Li Mu was stunned, his expression was perfect, his smile was frozen on his face, and he looked at Li Shimin blankly, as if something unreasonable had happened to him. If Li Shimin hadn't been really angry, looking at him like this,
You really have to wonder if something is wrong with you, you look so innocent!
"Your Majesty, I really have no money, not fake. I have not deceived Your Majesty!"
"You still dare to say that?" Seeing Li Mu's sophistry, Li Shimin became even more angry and asked, "Where did the hundred thousand yuan that was proposed to Li Siwen yesterday come from?"
"That's when I signed a one-year supply contract with Jiangnan merchants. A total of 10,000 jars were poured into three cups at a 20% discount, and I collected 80,000 guan. Then I sorted through the surplus at home and collected 20,000 guan.
He came out and took it to the bank to exchange for gold." Li Mu explained very seriously. In fact, he was talking nonsense. Most of the gold was given to him by Ju Zhisheng. Ju Zhisheng gave him one thousand catties of gold, one thousand catties of gold.
The total amount of silver was 110,000 guan. He gave away 20,000 guan and spent 90,000 guan. He raised some money by himself, but it was only 10,000 guan.
Only he and Ju Zhisheng know what's going on here best. Unless Ju Zhisheng comes forward to report him, Li Shimin will never know. As for the wine shop's order and false accounting, who in this era has done anything to him?
Suddenly, as if he had "a sudden realization", he looked at Li Shimin strangely and said, "Why do you ask this, Your Majesty? The Ministry of Internal Affairs still owes me money. Could it be that Your Majesty thinks that I have embezzled money from the Ministry of Internal Affairs? How could Your Majesty miss me so much!"
"
Li Mu's eyes were red, like a wronged child who had been shamelessly slandered by an adult. Li Shimin couldn't answer the words for a moment, opened his mouth, closed it again, and looked at Empress Changsun for help.
Empress Changsun glanced at him helplessly and took over the words: "Li Mu, your Majesty is just worried that you will go astray, there is no other intention."
"Oh." Li Mu seemed to feel more relaxed and said with a smile: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Please rest assured, I know what I am doing and will never go astray."
Li Shimin looked at Li Mu like this and felt as if his IQ had been crushed. His intuition told him that things were not that simple. Li Mu was definitely not who he said he was. It was just that there was no evidence. Seeing what Li Mu said, he accepted
After speaking, he said: "Yes, I am just worried that you have gone astray. Look at what you have just seen. When others see business, what matters is making money. It would be better for you to give it away before making money? Isn't that true of you?
Are you prodigal? What's the use of throwing that money away? There are people at the door, and they can't get in your gambling house! Isn't all this money wasted? What you are doing is nothing more than showing off your wealth. Isn't this a mistake?
Have you gone astray?"
"I don't agree with your Majesty's words!"
Li Mu suddenly put on an extremely serious look and retorted loudly. Regardless of Li Shimin's ugly face, Li Mu continued: "Your Majesty, I disagree with you on some points. If your Majesty forgives me, I will tell you."
"Hmph, just say what you want to say, why do you need me to forgive you first?"
"If your Majesty does not forgive me, I will not say anything."
Li Shimin said with a tigerish face: "You say it!"
"Your Majesty, this is one of them. These money belong to me."
Hearing this sentence, Li Shimin's face became extremely ugly. This sentence obviously touched his heart, and he couldn't say, I want your money, and your money is mine. As an emperor, and
He was Li Mu's elder, and Li Shimin was really not that thick-skinned. He couldn't show his anger yet. If he showed it, wouldn't it be equivalent to acquiescing to Li Mu's rhetoric? He could only keep his face expressionless, as if it had nothing to do with him, but in fact, he was already in his heart.
I was furious.
Li Mu thought to himself and said: "Your Majesty, I feel this way. If your Majesty wants to be a wise king, the first thing you must abide by is that you cannot plunder people's wealth. Why do I say this? It's not for myself, but because I read "Historical Records"
"The truth summarized."
"Are you talking about "Historical Records" again?" Li Shimin couldn't help it, and said angrily: "Is "Historical Records" your shield? You can say what you want, no need to pretend to be the ancients!"
"Your Majesty, I really got the truth from "Historical Records"." Li Mu said forcefully. He was not a fool. He didn't ask Sima Qian to tell him, so he waited for his shoes to wear.
Li Mu glanced at Li Shimin's face and said, "Your Majesty and the Queen are both people who have read "Historical Records" thoroughly. I will not give any specific examples, but will only talk about a phenomenon. Starting from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, until the Spring and Autumn Period, to
The Warring States, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms... Looking forward from now, you will find one thing, that is, no matter how powerful a country is, when it begins to perish, there will be signs."
"All the signs finally boil down to one thing, and that is the four words of 'no way and a faint king'. Shang Zhou and Zhou You are both without the way. So what is the lack of way? From my perspective, they all start from the inability to control themselves.
"
"People have seven emotions and six desires. Who doesn't love money? Who doesn't like beauty? If the people want to get these, they may have to work hard for a lifetime, but if the king wants to get them, it can be done in a moment."
"But, do all the money and beauties in this world belong to the king alone? Definitely not. And the king relies on his own power to plunder and plunder. People dare not speak, but they dare to get angry. When the anger has accumulated to a certain level
When the time comes, it will definitely break out. Because the people's will cannot be violated, and the root cause of these anger is that the king cannot control himself."
"Your Majesty, if the people want to live and work in peace and contentment, it seems to me that it is very simple. First, let them have food, and then, let them have a place to live. Food, clothing, housing, and transportation are just the four things. What Rao and Shun did in ancient times was nothing more than to try to let the people have as much as possible.
These are the four things. But even if they spared Shun, they could not do it and give these to the people. So what can they do? They can only guide the people to work hard towards this goal."
"People pay different amounts, and get different amounts. How to quantify how much people pay, then we can have the concept of money. Every common person can earn money from any channel as long as it is not cheated, abducted, or stolen.
, should be protected and respected because he has paid. And if the king sees that someone has a lot of money and wants to use it for his own selfish purposes, then this is the beginning of his inability to control himself."
Li Shimin's face turned red and he said, "Don't you dare accuse Sang and Huai, have I taken your money?"
"Your Majesty!" Li Mu said sternly: "Your Majesty, why don't you understand what I mean? I'm not just talking about myself. I'm reminding your Majesty that I don't like money. Even if your Majesty confiscates my house, I'll still suffer."
In return for your majesty's kindness, I will never complain. But will your majesty stop because of this? Today, your majesty has a huge wealth, and your majesty can get it with just one word. Because I am a minister, and your majesty is the king. I cannot rebel against the king, your majesty.
So you succeeded. If tomorrow, your Majesty squanders all my wealth, now that you have tasted the sweetness, will you still wait to collect taxes?"
"Your Majesty can't help but think, Li Mu is a minister, and there is nothing he can do if I rob him of his wealth. Changsun Wuji is also a minister, and he also has tens of thousands of wealth, and there is nothing he can do if I rob him? The Wang family of Taiyuan is even richer
, there is nothing he can do if he asks the king..."
"One can't do anything, two can't do anything, if there are thousands, ten thousand... families, aristocratic families, noble families, they can't do anything?"
"The soul of the former Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty is not far away. Your Majesty, do you still remember how in order to achieve his own achievements, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty plunged all the people into misery and fire, so that all the heroes came together and the country was destroyed in a matter of seconds?"
The more Li Mu spoke, the more excited he became, and Li Shimin had to become serious. He had not thought so much, nor had he thought so deeply, but after what Li Mu said, he could not deny that Li Mu was right.
Not to mention anything else, Li Mu alone had shaken his will continuously within two days. It can be seen that this case cannot be started, and it cannot be stopped if it is started.
"This is a great kindness, I will remember it."
Li Mu let out a long breath and added: "I am really afraid that your Majesty will not approve what I said. If your Majesty does not approve, there is no need for me to say the following words."
Li Shimin became completely serious and said, "Just tell me, I'm listening."
"Your Majesty, I believe that only by ensuring that the property that the people have fought for belongs to themselves, will the people have the motivation to work hard for a better life. Your Majesty, I have long said that Rao Shun is Rao Shun, and there is no way
To the king is Rao Shun. Similarly, the people who Rao Shun can't teach the people to do it. Only the people want to do it, can the world of Rao Shun be achieved. As a successful prince, it is absolutely not enough to have "Ming"
.”
"I advise Your Majesty to establish the Ministry of Internal Affairs and operate it in the current way just to find a way out."
"Does Your Majesty know the order?"
Li Shimin nodded and said, "I've heard about it a lot recently."
"Your Majesty, orders are a method I use." This is what Li Mu has wanted to say for a long time, but he has never found a chance. Today he can finally say it quickly: "Your Majesty, the wood in the mountains is not worth a penny.
, can only be used to burn firewood. But the Ministry of Industry is now making a Zhenguan plow and needs wood. So, I placed a batch of orders. If someone accepts this batch of orders, they will cut the trees. The logging needs people, and the merchants will give them wages.
People are needed to transport the wood, and the grooms can still make a fortune. Cars are needed, and those who build them can make money. Horses are needed, and horse dealers can make money. When they are transported to Chang'an for processing, carpenters can make money. They make the parts of the Zhenguan plow.
The Ministry of Industry purchased these parts, made them into Zhenguan plows, and sold them to farmers. The farmers were able to plant ten acres of land. In the first year, they might not make any money to pay for the plows, but
The next year, they pay back the plow money and get more land, and they will make money."
"And His Majesty will pay a lot more commercial taxes, agricultural taxes, etc. as a result. Has Your Majesty found out? The Ministry of Internal Affairs just placed a batch of orders, and many people benefited from it. They will also be very happy because their efforts have been rewarded.
, can support their families and make ends meet. Their motivation comes from this."
"But what if we don't use this method?"
"Your Majesty, you can imagine that there is no Ministry of Internal Affairs and no orders are issued. Your Majesty imposes corvees and stipulates that each province must recruit enough young men to go into the mountains to cut wood, and then transport them to Chang'an, and then recruit craftsmen to do it. It does not cost money.
, but has Your Majesty really saved it?"
"How can a corvee be immortal? Putting this matter aside, your majesty thinks that as a common people, he will treat a corvee without payment and a job with payment."
"If you do this, the parts of the Zhenguan plow that your Majesty will get will definitely be of inferior quality. In this case, how can we cultivate more land?"
Li Mu spoke until his mouth became hot and his mouth was dry. He poured a glass of wine to soothe his throat, and finally concluded: "In short, I believe that selfishness is human nature and motivation. This is inevitable, and your Majesty has also changed."
No, we can only make the best of the situation. After all, no one in this world can be as selfless as I am, treating money like dirt, and valuing love and justice like life..."
here we go again!
After listening to Li Mu's long speech, Li Shimin was about to say a few words of praise when he suddenly heard these words, which instantly destroyed the entire atmosphere.
Why can't this kid be more serious?
You could say he was faking it, and if he could do it consistently, it wouldn't be considered faking it. But if he said he wasn't faking it, it was obvious that he looked like two people. Could it be that he was affected by a brain disease and was in a state of confusion?
Li Shimin couldn't figure it out, but he knew what to do now.
He pointed to the door.
Li Mu closed his mouth, squatted down, and lay down on the ground.