Li Hong was deeply impressed, and a hint of jealousy welled up in his heart. He wondered why he didn't have anyone to tell him all kinds of stories all day long, why the servants around him didn't have any other abilities apart from flattering him, and why his teachers always taught him different ways of being a ruler.
Why did Xiaobei and the others have to deal with politics and economics every day? If he had received the same education when he was young and lived in the same environment, would he still need to worry about the position of Crown Prince?
After looking at Xiaobei for a while, Li Hong sighed softly and didn't say anything else.
Li Longji also sighed and said to Xiaobei, "In that case, Uncle Emperor has given out all the New Year's money, right?"
"Yes, yes, it's all given out. Hehe, Uncle Emperor is the best." Xiaobei replied with a big smile.
"It's the easiest to deceive, right? Taking advantage of the fact that I'm not in the right state today, you set up a trap for me to fall into. How should I punish you? "Li Longji's face stiffened as he glared at Xiaobei.
Xiao Bei hurriedly ran out of his sister's embrace and went to Li Longji's side. He grabbed Li Longji's arm and shook it. "No, I didn't lie to Uncle Emperor. Everything can be discussed. How about, what we just said doesn't count. We don't want the New Year's money anymore, okay?"
"You're still playing the game of retreat in order to advance with me. You bunch of brats, don't always think about scheming against the people in Great Tang. Use your little tricks in this aspect. Why are you bullying merchants in terms of policy? Just tell me directly, and if I agree, the other merchants won't even have a chance to refute.
Isn't it easy for you to take control of the situation? You're the Great Tang's Patrol Envoy, so who dares to disobey you? Isn't bullying merchants a piece of cake? Even the Censorate is afraid of you. "
Li Longji stroked Xiaobei's head and said slowly.
Xiaobei pouted. "The Censorate is afraid of my brother and sister, but who in the world is afraid of me? Only my family is afraid of me. They're afraid that I won't be able to eat well, wear warm clothes, and have fun.
The corporations that worked with our precious Candy House were moved by our plan in the end, but if it wasn't because of the power behind us, they would have eaten us alive long ago.
Being born in such a family, if we do the right thing, people will say that it's because the adults taught us well. If we do something wrong, people will say that we're insensible and useless. Uncle Emperor, don't you think that we're pitiful? "
"Pitiful, truly pitiful." Li Longji pondered for a moment and found that this was indeed the case.
"The most pitiful thing is not in the Great Tang, but in the outside world. In the Great Tang, they're afraid of us, but in the outside world, we won't be able to monitor them. Because of their psychological discomfort, they'll specifically target our precious Candy House. Do you think this is possible?
Unless we have a little more power and arrange people in their business. One is to help them, and the other is to monitor them. Since there are no powerful countries outside, why can't we patrol outside? Am I right? "
Xiao Bei blinked her naturally long eyelashes and looked up at the sky in anticipation.
Hearing this, Li Longji felt that this was indeed the case. He deeply agreed with Xiao Bei's words and nodded. "Then send someone to keep an eye on them. Don't let them do anything that will disgrace the dignity of the Great Tang. Since the Great Tang can interfere, how can the outside world not interfere? I order you to be the Inspector of the Great Tang and keep an eye on the outside world."
"Thank you, Uncle Emperor. Uncle Emperor is really too kind. Xiao Yuan, tell them that Uncle Emperor has been promoted with us. He can also manage outside matters."
Xiao Bei happily jumped up and kissed Li Longji. She cupped her hands into the shape of a trumpet and shouted to Xiao Yuan and the others who were not too far away.
Thus, the group of children came over to express their gratitude. After chatting for a while, they formed a group and went elsewhere to look for food.
Li Longji was also happy for a while. After the children left, he turned around to look at Zhang Xiaobao and found that he was competing with a piece of spine. He was using both hands, but he still hadn't removed the meat from the bone. Just looking at him made one anxious.
"Xiao Bao, do you want to eat meat?" Li Longji felt that the time Zhang Xiaobao wasted eating the bone could be exchanged for a lot of meat. During this time, his family's business had already earned him over a thousand strings of coins. Even a spine made of gold was not worth it.
"No, I'm grinding my teeth." Zhang Xiaobao raised his head and glanced at Li Longji before continuing to fight with the bone.
"Why are you grinding your teeth?" Li Longji's teeth involuntarily moved as he asked.
"Biting people. It wasn't easy to stop the monopoly. In the end, with a single order, everything before this was completely nullified. With this kind of official authority, what's the point of talking about conditions? I've exhausted my younger brothers and sisters. Right now, I have no choice but to admit that diplomacy is an art. Public relations is a profound study."
Zhang Xiaobao switched to another bone and gnawed on it.
Wang Juan was also swirling the wine in her cup at the side. She echoed, "Subduing the enemy without fighting. This is probably how it came to be. A person who can turn the tide when the enemy is at a disadvantage is definitely a god-like diplomat. Xiao Bao's education is very successful."
Li Longji pondered for a moment before asking, "Shouldn't we have agreed to increase Xiao Bei's position? Why didn't you say so earlier? "
"That's this subject's younger sister. It's wrong to always point the gun at one's own people." Zhang Xiaobao finally put down the bone and sucked on his fingers like a child.
Li Longji's mouth also wrapped around Zhang Xiaobao's actions. He said, "It's the new year, yet you didn't let us be happy for once. Your family just had to come over and scheme against us. We asked you to come over to eat and drink with us. Is the country more important, or is your family more important? You clearly knew that your younger sister was scheming against her uncle emperor, yet you didn't stop her. "
"How can someone who doesn't love their family love their country?" Zhang Xiaobao said. He then continued, "This subject believes that whether Your Majesty is happy or not depends on the well-being of the commoners. Other than that small problem this year, there are only a few houses in the north that were crushed by the snow. Everyone is fine, and the commoners' income has increased. The main reason is that they can now have more resources. How can Your Majesty not be happy? Could it be that Your Majesty doesn't care about the commoners of Great Tang? "
"You don't have to say such useless things to me. Let me ask you. Xiao Bao, why didn't you remind me earlier? At the very least, I could have made a deal with Xiaobei and the others, right? "Li Longji didn't keep referring to himself as' Your Majesty '.
Zhang Xiaobao wiped his hands and said, "If I reminded my younger sister again, she would really cry. It's one thing to not let her have what she wants, but it's another thing to let her have what she wants. The former means that you don't care about her, while the latter means that you don't care about what you want. I'm just lamenting. Humans aren't machines, so they can be influenced by others.
The retired elders of the Great Tang can become diplomats so that they won't be bored out of their minds. I can open a diplomatic class. When I'm training the army in Jianghu, I'll just be coordinating with them and have some free time. "
"You're good at diplomacy?" Li Longji didn't realize it. In his impression, Xiao Bao had always been good at scheming. Compared to Cuckoo, Xiao Bao's lethality was even greater.
When Wang Juan heard Li Longji's words and saw Li Longji's expression, she roughly understood what he was thinking. She shook her head helplessly. This was Xiao Bao's true strength. He could make people think that he was a slick person to others but sincere to them. Wasn't diplomacy good enough?
This was the highest level of diplomacy. Without this ability, how could Xiao Bao have deceived people back then? If not for Xiao Bao's boundless loyalty to the entire nation, she wouldn't have been able to resist killing him. He was too dangerous.
"In the future, I can deal with people patiently and peacefully. I think I can do it," Zhang Xiaobao said sincerely.
"Okay, We agree." Li Longji nodded in agreement.
After a while, Xiao Bei and the others still hadn't returned. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had no choice but to go look for them personally. They were afraid that the guards would be tired to death if their younger siblings went out to have fun with the commoners.
After the two left, Gao Lishi asked Li Longji softly, "Your Majesty, since it's like this, why don't you take back the appointment?"
"It's the new year. Let Xiao Bei and the others be happy. During this year, they're also very tired from running around everywhere. They still have to study and think of ways to come up with new candies and pastries. Every time there's a festival, they don't forget to ask the candy house to give them something for free.
When We agreed just now, We thought it through. They have too much power. After thinking about it again, could it be that they have too little power now? There's no official in our dynasty who isn't afraid of them, but have they ever used their power to do anything bad?
They just like the feeling of being an official. They don't need the position to raise their status. Who would dare to offend the younger siblings of Xiao Bao and Cuckoo? If you glare at them during the day and make them cry, you won't be able to sleep peacefully at night.
Let's not talk about others. Among the Six Ministries, other than Zhang Zhong, would any of the other five go against Xiao Bei and the others? They're willing to argue with Zhang Zhong, and they're not afraid to directly criticize Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, but would they dare to make Xiao Bei and the others cry?
It doesn't matter how much power Xiao Bei and the others have. What's important is how Xiao Bao and Cuckoo usually educate them. Alright, let's watch the performance. It's the eve of the Lunar New Year. It's a festive occasion. "
After speaking with Gao Lishi, Li Longji turned back to watch the magic show on the stage. Even though he was far away, he still looked like he was enjoying it.
Gao Lishi didn't say anything else. Since His Majesty already understood, there was no need to mention it.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan hadn't returned yet, but Xiao Bei and the others had turned around from the other side. It was obvious that they had walked in the wrong direction.
"Uncle Emperor, Uncle Emperor, I'll give you some pears. Someone gave us frozen autumn pears. It's more than 20 catties. We can't finish them all. Here, have a taste." Xiao Bei held the handle of a pear in one hand and ran over with his arms raised.
"Oh, who was so kind as to give us pears?" Li Longji took one and took a big bite. He saw the way Xiao Bei pinched the pear and knew that the pear was soaked in ice and washed with water, so it wasn't dirty.
"What kind of person? This year, the pears in his family's forest couldn't be sold for a good price. This year, the weather is good, so he arranged for people to give them to us for free outside the Hibiscus Garden. He put up an advertisement and when he saw us, he said that all the pears would be given to our precious candy house for free. I don't believe him. If he really had such intentions, why didn't he send them to school?"
Xiao Bei said like a shrew.
"Oh, then you're taking advantage of the situation?" Li Longji took another bite of the pear and asked with a smile.
"Me?" Xiao Bei pointed at himself. "I, Zhang Xiaobei, am so poor that I'm hoping to take advantage of this? Oh my god, I'm so tasteless. "
"What's tasteless?" Li Hong interjected.
"Taste. I'm trying to see if the frozen pears this year taste good. Usually, frozen pears are eaten by the poor, but my brother and sister said that frozen pears are like frozen grapes. They don't lose much of their nutrients. You might not know about frozen grapes, but do you know about white wine? It's the wine made from grapes that aren't red on the inside and are whiter after the skin is removed.
Little Nan said that when she went to Lu Zhou, she found that the weather was very hot. The frozen pears that we don't like to eat here must be delicious in the south. She put them on a few train cars and sent them to the coastal area in the south for the children to taste. She can buy 500,000 catties of pears for free. "
Xiao Bei picked up a pear in the basin that Xiao Yuan was holding and waved it for Li Hong to see.
At this moment, Li Hong suddenly felt very sad. He clearly knew that Xiao Bei and the other children would not take advantage of others for free, but he could not think of how to help the people who grew the pears. It seemed that he had not learned enough. Xiao Bei and the others must have taken this knowledge as common sense, so they did not explain it in detail. They thought that others would know.
"Xiao Bei, how many pears are there in the north this year?"
"Ah, Brother Crown Prince, you don't know? This year, there are more than three million catties of pears in our Gyeongji Province in autumn alone. There are even more in the north of Hebei Province, six times more than in Gyeongji Province. The original trees have been cut down and used as firewood. The pears that were planted are all rotten and can't be transported out.
We plan to gather all the frozen autumn pears in Gyeongji Province, Guannei Province, and Hedong Province. It'll be easier to sell them that way. We'll help them. It's not easy for them either. "
Xiao Bei pointed to the east, which was the north of Hebei Province.
Li Hong felt that he could match what he learned, so he said, "Is it because the price of the winter autumn pears increased when there were 500,000 catties less? After you transported them away, not only did they not lose money, but they also made a profit? "
"How is that possible? We only transported one-tenth of the goods. One-tenth of the goods can raise the price of a good, but it's not the only one. Who can eat the frozen autumn pears now doesn't know the price? If the price is high, people won't buy it because they understand that in less than two months, the frozen autumn pears won't be frozen anymore. "
"That's right. How do you know so clearly?" Li Hong admitted that Xiao Bei was right, but he wondered about Xiao Bei's knowledge.
"I'm telling stories to your younger siblings. How can I not learn more common sense? The process of telling stories is also a process of learning. We're starting to have work to do now, and there are younger siblings."
Xiao Bei opened her eyes wide and looked into the distance, but the feeling she gave people had absolutely nothing to do with depth. It was only cute. Moreover, her eyelashes were still long, and when she blinked, it seemed like her eyes were misty.
Li Hong suddenly felt uncomfortable for a moment. What he was most afraid of was hearing about his younger brother. Li Jun, the first prince, and Pan 'er, the first daughter of the first wife, would be the first princess in the future. If Li Jun didn't exist, or if he died … …
Wasn't it too incompetent to think like that? Using other people's deaths to build his own foundation, if he really did it himself, the next one to die would definitely be him. Without waiting for Imperial Father to do anything, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan would kill him first, and they wouldn't need any actual evidence.
Being afraid meant that he was incompetent.
"Big brother crown prince, what's wrong with you? Say something. "Xiao Bei's voice woke Li Hong up.
"Will you suffer any losses when you transport them?"
"Yes, it will cause a lot of damage to the ship because we need to put ice. Our ice isn't worth much now, so we can get it anywhere." Xiao Bei nodded and admitted.
"Then wouldn't the autumn pears be frozen if we use ice?"
"Frozen ~ autumn ~ pears, they'll be damaged if they're not frozen. Big brother crown prince, what are you thinking?"
"Yes, yes, yes. That is to say, the people who plant the pears can increase their income by several times, right?"
"Big brother crown prince, you're not in the right state today. How can there be several times of income? We'll help deliver them first, and there will be merchants buying them immediately to sell them. Unless the pear growers are organized, they won't be able to increase their income by several times.
We don't want the pear growers to become rich this year, we just want them to earn a little more this year and a little more next year. There won't be a situation where they can't sell them and they'll rot. Our goal is to maintain a relative balance, not to promote the value of goods in an area and increase the income of the local people by several times.
If they earn more, they will definitely lose income from purchasing, transporting, and selling. We, how do we put it? Aiya, it's so annoying. I actually understand the meaning behind it, but how do I put it … "
Xiao Qiang continued, "We're not the county magistrate of a county in the north or northwest. We're not in charge of the specific income of a county. As long as they don't have any difficulties in destroying the goods, we won't bother.
No matter who earns more money in the end, as long as they pay taxes, our actions aren't useless. If they use tricks to evade or evade taxes, that's the Ministry of Revenue's problem. Once we find evidence, we won't directly pursue the merchant's responsibility, but impeach the Ministry of Revenue.
Yes, that's it. "
Li Hong couldn't say anything else, so he could only say, "Alright, I'll think of a way to help. At least let others invest more, such as my other brothers and sisters."
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