The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1268: Sacrifice Your Life over Your Wealth

In fact, he knew very well that he could not kill someone like Shi Luodie.

But firstly, it was the emperor's special order, and he dared not disobey; secondly, when they broke into the king's tent, Shi Luodie was already dead, with no visible wounds on his body, but he was strangely no longer breathing.

The secrets here are obvious, and it must be related to the emperor. He was afraid that he would reveal the key person, so he sent someone to do it himself. Last night, a scout reported that a man in black had left the camp.

As if he knew the layout of their army, he deliberately opened up a small path between the army formations. Hou Junji knew immediately that except for the emperor, Fang Xuanling and the emperor, no one else knew his deployment, so this person must be a confidant sent by the emperor to lurk in the Turkic camp.

So no one was sent to stop him, and he was allowed to leave.
"Forget it, Father, Jun Ji is just eager to make achievements, so he didn't think too much. Military generals, after all, are not like civil officials, and their minds are more delicate. Let's spare him this time!"

Li Shimin looked at the killer unhappily and waved his hand: "Forget it, for Cheng Qian's sake, let it go this time. Go back immediately and send someone to transport the money to my Daming Palace. I will clean up a few rooms for you."

“There can be no more mistakes in this matter.”

"Yes, I thank the Emperor, Your Majesty."

After Hou Junji gathered up, he looked at Li Chengqian with resentment, and then said, "I will obey your order and bring the money back right away."

After Hou Junji left, Li Chengqian and Fang Xuanling looked at Li Shimin with resentment.

Such a large sum of money was enough to make people forget the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects. Fang Xuanling said directly: "Your Majesty, this is the spoils of war. Please take it and add it to the national treasury."

"Prime Minister Fang, what you said is wrong!"

Before Li Shimin could refute, Li Chengqian said decisively: "The national treasury is a bottomless pit. If the money goes into the national treasury, it will be taken away by various government offices and local governments for various reasons within half a year. Believe it or not, within half a year, the disaster reports from various places and the memorials requesting disaster relief funds will flood the court."

"That's right. Those officials must be jealous."

Li Shimin also agreed, "The court has an annual income of 50 million strings of cash, so it can only spend 50 million strings of cash. If you give more, their expenses will also increase. This is just a windfall. Once you develop the habit of spending lavishly, you won't be able to stop."

"So, this money must not be given to the national treasury. It is better to keep it with me and let the emperor take charge of it personally."

Li Shimin's words were vague, but he was implicitly pulling the emperor in to resist Fang Xuanling together.

Li Chengqian was delighted. In fact, this money was reserved for Li Shimin. On the one hand, the court would do major things in the next few years, such as the aristocratic decentralization of the army, the redistribution of land, solving the Jiangnan problem, and strengthening the northern defense.

There are also noble families in the Western Regions who want to return and challenge the imperial court by means of a currency run, and all of this costs money.

Secondly, Li Shimin was forced to issue a self-criticism edict, so he certainly couldn't go to the court, so he had to have something to rely on. The superiors, it's nothing more than money and power, with this huge amount of money, it can also support Li Shimin.

He is already the emperor emeritus, and if he is rich, even the emperor has to listen to him.

"What the emperor said makes sense."

Li Chengqian took the opportunity to say: "It is better to leave this money with Father. If the court really needs it, can Father not give it? The court has its own laws, and the treasury must spend within its means. We cannot rely on windfall gains to get by."

"Next, we must use this opportunity to release the land and population from the nobles. With more self-cultivating farmers, the court's tax base will naturally expand, and the national treasury will also increase accordingly. This is the right way."

"Well, Cheng Qian is right. We must follow the right path in governing a country."

Seeing that neither side was thinking about their own money bags, Li Shimin quickly put on an upright gentleman's demeanor and said, "After the Right Wise Prince leaves, I will enjoy my old age. Cheng Qian will also be established. You are the emperor, and the responsibility for the rise and fall of this world rests on your shoulders."

"I am old now, and I can only enjoy a peaceful life in this Daming Palace."

"Father, this..." Li Chengqian hurriedly tried to keep him.

Li Shimin waved his hand, looking bleak: "After issuing the edict of apology, I have no face to attend court again. But I will still stay in Daming Palace and watch you govern the country. If you encounter any problems, you can come to me."

"However, I hope you can rely on yourself more. After all, I can't support you forever."

"Don't worry, father. I will never let you down." Li Chengqian promised with a serious face.

After this detour, Fang Xuanling knew that the opportunity had been missed, so he had to settle for the next best thing: "Your Majesty, now that you have money, why don't you pay back the 50 million strings of cash that the national treasury borrowed from the Finance Temple?"

"Otherwise, the court will have no income next year. We can't keep owing it!"

"That's right, Father."

Li Chengqian was in charge of the Finance Temple and said quickly, "Those are the people's money. If the people knew that we used them to fight the war, they would probably come to withdraw the money. That would be dangerous!"

"Okay, I'll have Hou Junji transfer 50 million directly to the Asset Management Bureau." Li Shimin thought about it and decided that the money couldn't be delayed, so he readily agreed. Fang Xuanling suddenly said, "Grand Emperor, Your Majesty, there is one more thing that we must guard against."

"what's up?"

"Although this money has fallen into our hands, it actually belongs to those aristocratic families."

Fang Xuanling said worriedly: "They are in the hands of the Turks, and those nobles dare not pursue them. But if they fall into our hands, I am afraid that the nobles will ask for them. How will we explain it then?"

"This"

Li Shimin was also in a dilemma. It was fine if it was just one or two families, but if all the nobles in Shandong asked for it, then it would be difficult for him, the emperor, to refuse. The Turks were robbers, but the court could not be robbers too!
"Master Fang, what you said is wrong!"

Li Chengqian immediately brought out the logic of a certain regiment leader in the later generation of the Sword: "Their money was robbed by the Turks. If they want it back, they will go to the Turks. What does it have to do with us? We robbed the Turks of our money. Only Shi Luodie has a reason to ask for it."

Shi Luodie was dead, and the 300,000 men under his command were all killed, so naturally there was no victim.

Fang Xuanling also smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty said that I, this old minister, naturally agree with it. I'm just afraid that those noble families won't agree with it!"

"Humph, they think it's still before the 19th year of Zhenguan."

Li Shimin looked like he was willing to sacrifice his life but not his wealth, and said with great dominance: "At worst, we can just turn against them. Now, there are no great noble families in Guanzhong and Shandong to cause trouble. I don't believe they dare to fight us with their little background in the Western Regions."

"Your Majesty, no matter what, we should avoid falling out if we can."

Fang Xuanling persuaded earnestly: "Although the nobles have been driven out of the Central Plains, the Western Regions are also the territory of our Tang Dynasty. Once they are pushed into a corner, they will raise troops and establish their own army, cut off the Silk Road, and split the land into borders."

“That would be a huge loss for us as well.”

When Li Shimin heard this, he was immediately in trouble.

You know, the edict of repentance brought him great pain, and he had finally used 400 million taels of silver to repair some of the damage. Now the money isn't in his hands yet, and he has to give it away again. He would never agree to this no matter what.

Fang Xuanling also had a point. The Tang Dynasty wanted to reduce the influence of the aristocracy, but it did not want to completely break off relations with all the aristocrats. The aristocracy was also part of the Tang Dynasty. This was a class that could be restricted but not eradicated.

Even if this batch disappears, a new batch will be born. How to put these people in the right positions is also something the court needs to deal with.

"I have a plan that may work."

Seeing that the two were stubborn and in a dilemma, Li Chengqian said, "In fact, Hou Junji's large-scale extermination of the Turks, with 200,000 soldiers participating, cannot be concealed no matter what."

"If that's the case, why not just open it up and stop hiding it."

Before the two could ask, Li Chengqian smiled strangely and said, "Shi Luodie could hide such a large amount of gold, so how could he bring more money to Chang'an?"

"I think Shi Luodie must have hidden more than 99% of his wealth in a secret place in Shandong. We only gained 10 or 20 million in wealth from defeating the Turkic army. Of course, this money belongs to the nobles."

"Everyone can come and register how much each family has lost?"

"No matter how much it is, the court can return it in proportion. The court will not take a single cent from the nobles. As for the huge amount of money, the court will actively send people to Shandong to search for it, and return it to the nobles after it is found."

"Great, great!"

Fang Xuanling clapped his hands and laughed: "Your Majesty, this is a brilliant plan. Give up a small part and keep the majority. No one can tell what is true and what is false, how much is more. In this way, not only can this wealth be hidden, but also the greedy eyes of those noble families can be attracted to Shandong."

"At that time, they will all want to find all the wealth and take it for themselves, so they won't have the time to sue the court."

"Okay, Cheng Qian, I was right about you. You are indeed very smart."

With a proper solution, the big head was saved. Li Shimin praised: "At most, they will find that the money they have to pay back to the Finance Temple is owed by the national treasury. If they use the seized goods to repay the debt, the whole court will only support it. After all, they don't have to tighten their belts next year."

"As for how much money was found in the Turkic camp, who would know except us? Let them argue over the 10 million and the mysterious treasure!"

Li Chengqian and Fang Xuanling, who were smiling, were both stunned. Just now, Li Chengqian had said 10 or 20 million, but when it came to Li Shimin, he took the lowest bid without making a sound. Seeing Li Shimin's shameless look, both of them smiled bitterly.

As for Li Shimin, he had lost his face long ago. He didn't care about shame and only wanted money. Once he had money, he would even give up the throne.

(End of this chapter)