After eating breakfast, Li Chengqi hurriedly left to tell his third brother about this good idea.
In the palace, the Thirty-Six Stratagems were placed on Li Longji's desk, and the Minister of Works, Wei Zhigu, was there asking for money.
Wei Zhigu didn't ask the Ministry of Revenue for money. He went straight to Li Longji, and the Political Affairs Hall had someone deliver a document.
"Last year's Winter Solstice, the capital office, Guannei Circuit, Hedong Circuit, Henan Circuit, Hebei Circuit, and Shannan Circuit have had little precipitation.
Fearing a drought, the Ministry of Works requests that the water level drop to clear the river channels and dig wells for the benefit of the people. This subject has obtained a method to prevent the people from fighting for water … "
Wei Zhigu rambled on, meaning that he wanted money and that the Ministry of Works needed to work.
When Yao Chong and the others heard him say 'this subject has obtained a method', they curled their lips.
Shameless, you think you've obtained a method? You specifically went over to ask for it, but King Song stopped you.
Li Longji didn't show any disdain. He knew that Wei Zhigu had only asked for the technology to create pressure wells.
What was truly amazing was the new well drilling technology. In many places, the wells had to be dug very deep.
Large holes had to be dug down bit by bit, or the earth had to be lifted up by a crane to fix the walls of the well.
Putting aside the time and effort required, it was easy for the well to collapse and be buried.
What they needed now was money. The national treasury didn't have much money, and they had to be on guard against the southwest at all times.
They could only fork out a portion of the money they earned. In the past, when they didn't have money, they could only stare at each other.
Now that they had money, the way they looked at the officials …
"Yao Qing, do you have a plan?" Li Longji didn't want to fork out the money himself.
"Your Majesty, the Left Treasury doesn't have much money left. Why don't we recruit the people of other regions?"
Yao Chong suggested finding the people of other regions to work for them.
Rent money, rent money, rent money.
Li Longji stared at Yao Chong with wide eyes. Are you trying to trick us? We're transferring the people of other regions to work here?
You're paying for the travel expenses? The people don't work in the spring? You're forcing them to use money as a substitute, and then you'll have money, right?
"This matter … we'll discuss it later." Li Longji didn't agree or disagree.
He didn't lack money, but he didn't want to take it. It was just like how he didn't want others to ask Li Yi for things.
"Everyone, take a look at this book. Is it suitable to be sent to an official school?"
Li Longji took the initiative to change the topic and let the eunuch distribute the books, one for each person.
Everyone began to flip through the book. There was actually a table of contents. At the very front of the table of contents was written 'Victory Strategy'.
The first plan was indeed to deceive everyone.
The second strategy was to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao.
The third stratagem …
After the six stratagems, it was changed to the 'enemy battle stratagem'.
The seventh stratagem was to create something out of nothing.
The eighth stratagem was to sneak in.
Then, there was the attack strategy, the melee strategy, the joint attack strategy, and the defeat strategy.
Just looking at the battle strategies listed in the table of contents and the names of the sub-strategies below was enough to make the hearts of several people surge.
The four of them were reading. Li Longji was also sitting there and reading. He was looking at the four of them.
At this moment, he had a bad taste. He wanted to see the minister's surprised, shocked, and helpless look.
This is the only way to make them work hard. Don't think that all of you are very powerful. Let me tell you, you are far from it.
If you don't work hard, I'll do the same to anyone else.
You guys want … what was it again? Yes, use your subjective initiative.
Yao Chong and the others were not in the mood to care about what Her Majesty was thinking. They were engrossed in the book.
They found that this book was not only about military warfare. It could also be used in officialdom and business.
While they were reading, Li Chengqi rushed in. He glanced at them and ran to Li Longji's side to continue whispering in his ear.
"Third Brother, this is the situation. I went to Brother Yi's place …" Li Chengqi began to talk.
He went to get the blueprint, but it turned out that the blueprint was not done yet. The real thing was still in the process of being built. He hurried back to talk about the important matters of the world.
Li Longji, who was listening, widened his eyes, narrowed his eyes, smiled, opened his mouth slightly, clenched his fists, clapped his hands, and did all kinds of expressions and actions. However, he did not make a sound.
The four people who were reading looked at the two people in the book from the corner of their eyes. They listened attentively but did not hear a single word. They were anxious. What happened now?
Zhang Shuo looked up at Yao Chong. Yao Chong looked up at Zhang Shuo at the same time as if they had a tacit understanding.
Zhang Shuo's eyes said, "Something big is going to happen."
Yao Chong: You don't have to tell me.
Zhang Shuo: Ever since King Song went to Zhuangzi, I've been on tenterhooks all day.
Yao Chong: Aren't you on tenterhooks just because he's not there?
Zhang Shuo: Do you think I'm afraid of you?
Yao Chong: I'm afraid of you, okay?
At this moment, Lu Huaishen turned his head and looked over. Don't fight. There's a strong enemy nearby. Think about the strategies in this book and see which one is more useful to deal with that young man.
Zhang Shuo raised two fingers. First, the honey trap.
Yao Chong shook his head slightly. No, those beauties in Nanqu didn't move him at all.
Zhang Shuo gestured downward. Honey trap.
Lu Huaishen gave him a look of disdain and glared at him. Be serious, don't mess around.
Zhang Shuo raised three fingers. Sowing discord.
Yao Chong and Lu Huaishen sneered together. You'll get yourself into trouble.
"Ahem!" Wei Zhigu suddenly coughed, giving the three of them a fright.
"Ahem!" Li Longji followed suit and coughed. The three of them were startled again.
"Just now, Wei Qingyan was talking about the Ministry of Works digging wells. Yao Qing said that Zuo Jin didn't have much money. Uh … We want to live frugally and take out money to get water for the people. "
Seeing the four of them looking over, Li Longji brought up the topic of discussion.
The three prime ministers looked at each other and felt that something was wrong. His Majesty was so easy to talk to and even took the initiative to pay?
As for the part about living frugally, they could automatically ignore it.
"Your Majesty's love for the people should be a role model for the ministers of the world." Wei Zhigu quickly flattered. Who cares what happened? In any case, he had money.
In the past, whenever there was a disaster, the imperial court didn't pay for it. Usually, it would order the local government to provide relief and reduce the rent.
Only when the imperial court was building water projects would they use extra money to hire people.
Zuo Jin's money was used to pay the salaries of officials and the army. Very little of it fell into the hands of the people.
On the other hand, Zuo Jin's money was the tribute and treasures sent by the local government and used by the imperial family.
Zuo Jin's money was the income of the imperial estates and used by the palace alone.
Now that His Majesty was willing to fork out his own money, it was good. As long as he opened his mouth, they could still ask His Majesty for money in the future.
Yao Chong and the other two also thought of this problem when they were feeling uneasy. If there was a first time, there would be a second time.
However, they didn't believe that His Majesty didn't know about it. Then why did His Majesty still …
Their gazes fell on King Song, who was standing at the side as if everything had nothing to do with him.
"Third Brother, I suddenly remembered that I have something to do. I'll take my leave first." Li Chengqi left these words and ran away.
The four heads turned as he moved until his figure disappeared outside the hall.
They turned their heads and looked at Li Longji again.
Li Longji's expression was solemn. "I heard that in Chang 'an, the salt that the people eat is different. Although sea salt and pond salt are cheap, they don't suit their taste. Shu salt is delicious, but its price is higher than the other two. Is that true?"
"Yes!" The four answered at the same time.
"I heard that the salt wells in Shu are not enough, so the price is high. I can't bear to see the people living a hard life eating salt. Therefore, I'm willing to live frugally and take out some money to dig wells in Shu to benefit the people."
Li Longji threw out the most important thing.
The four looked at each other and saw that something big was going to happen if they lived frugally.
"Your Majesty, it's not easy to dig salt wells. Even if you throw money in, you might not get out." Yao Chong kindly advised.
"As long as there is a slight possibility, I'll do everything I can." Li Longji looked as if he was going to risk everything.
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