Li Yuan said unceremoniously: "I am bound to get this wealth. I don't trust it if I leave it to your elder brother."
In the past, even when he was deliberately suppressed by Yang Guang, Li Yuan never worried about money. After all, he was a relative of the emperor, had the title of Duke, and held an important position in the court. His annual salary was a sum of ten cents.
A considerable amount of money. With money, he can accumulate dead soldiers and recruit talented people, so that he can take advantage of the troubled times to fight for the world.
Now, he has been moved to Longxi County, where a large area of land is owned by the Li family in Longxi. There is no room for his development, and he is worried about arousing Liu Ziqiu's suspicion, so he has to huddle in a corner. The money that he once regarded as dirt is now
He actually tied his hands and feet. Therefore, after seeing the large amount of wealth listed in the edict, Li Yuan, who had always been calm and good at pretending, was finally moved, even regardless of Li Shimin's feelings.
Li Shimin was silent for a long time, and suddenly said: "Father, if the child ruins his marriage to the eldest grandson's family, I'm afraid the gain will outweigh the loss!"
Li Yuan frowned and said, "How do you say this?"
Li Shimin, obviously after careful consideration, bowed again and said: "Changsun Wuji hopes to enter the cabinet, which means that Liu Ziqiu no longer pursues his past, but cares about his old friendship. Changsun Wuji is talented, Liu Ziqiu is nostalgic, and Changsun Wuji
It is not impossible to be promoted to a bachelor's degree. And Changsun Wuji is still very young. Once he becomes a bachelor, in time, he will be the first assistant. The child and the elder Sun Wuji are related by marriage. Once Wuji becomes the first assistant, he will be the first assistant to his father.
Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to our great cause!”
That large sum of wealth represents immediate interests, while the position of chief minister of the cabinet represents long-term interests. Which is more important, Li Yuan was still unable to choose for a while.
Li Shimin further advised: "In the past two years, Liu Ziqiu has rested and recuperated, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the world was prosperous. Even if Wang Shichong got this money, I'm afraid it would be difficult to make any big waves. If the world is not in chaos, if you want to rely on force to complete your great cause, my child
I thought it was difficult! It’s better to find another way!”
Li Yuan pondered and said: "You mean to find ways to let our children join the court as officials and control all aspects of the court?"
In recent years, in addition to military power, Liu Ziqiu has adopted a strategy of gradually decentralizing other powers. Not only have many decision-making powers of the central court been handed over to the cabinet, but local governments have also had a lot of autonomy. In terms of taxation, the court and local governments have also implemented
The policy of 60% to 40% has greatly guaranteed local interests. On the other hand, Liu Ziqiu has completely abolished the nine-grade Zhongzheng system. Except for a very small number of people who have made great contributions, all positions above the county magistrate must be selected through the imperial examination. Passed
The 360 candidates for the first imperial examination will soon be sent to serve in counties or yamen under the cabinet. If a family can have enough children to pass the imperial examination and become officials in the court, it can indeed control power.
.
When Li Shimin heard that his words had an effect, he couldn't help laughing: "Father, how many children can our Li family have? Even if they all pass the imperial examination, it will not help. The child thought that he could contact the major families to support each other and strive for the second term next year.
Get more places in the imperial examination."
Li Yuan nodded and said: "Forget it, you will leave for Luoyang today and try to make friends with the children of the major families. My father will also find ways to communicate with them."
Some words don't need to be made too clear. With the information sources Li Yuan has, he naturally understands the contradiction between the five top aristocratic families and Liu Ziqiu, and this contradiction is what he can take advantage of.
Although the five top aristocratic families boycotted the first imperial examination, it will be impossible for their children to enter the court as officials in the next four years. However, the five major aristocratic families still have their heritage. As long as they come to their senses, they will definitely participate in the second imperial examination.
, and achieved great results. Once a large number of children from the five major families passed the imperial examination and entered the court as officials, they would form a very powerful force. At first, Li Yuan was not aware of this, but after Li Shimin pointed it out, he naturally understood what to do.
Did it.
This method of subtly seizing Liu Ziqiu's hand is very clever, but it only takes a long time. For Li Yuan, he is older than Liu Ziqiu, but Li Shimin can wait.
…
For half a year, the Han Dynasty was quiet, and only Luoyang became more and more lively. The originally prosperous capital city has recently gathered countless young people. Most of these young people are well-read in poetry and books, and there are children of aristocratic families and poor students.
.Many people came because of Princess Jiangdu’s recruitment of a husband, and many people came to prepare for the imperial examination next summer. Every inn in Luoyang City was full, and the restaurants and brothels were full of guests. It was bustling.
The scene also attracts merchants from all directions. Any place where a large number of people gather must contain endless business opportunities, and merchants with keen sense will not miss this opportunity.
On this day, a group of Hu merchants came to the west gate of Luoyang. In Luoyang, it is not uncommon to see Hu people. Many restaurants and brothels will use some Hu Ji to attract customers, and some dignitaries will also keep several Hu Ji concubines in their homes. Therefore,
This group of Hu merchants entered Luoyang City and did not attract the attention of the people.
However, this barbarian caravan was quite large in size, consisting of more than forty carriages. In addition to gold and silver ornaments from the Western Regions, the goods on the carriages were said to include many beauties from the Byzantine Empire, which was even more distant than Persia.
Woman. Of course, all the carriages were tightly wrapped. No one knew what was contained in the carriages. All this news came from the officers and soldiers responsible for inspection at the city gate.
The Han Dynasty was very lenient on merchants, and the inspections at the city gates were not very strict, but with such a big living person sitting in a carriage, it was impossible to hide it even if he wanted to. A while ago, Shidanai Khan of Western Turks gave the palace
Dozens of blond and blue-eyed foreign girls were sent to Luoyang. They entered Luoyang openly from the east gate. Many people were lucky enough to witness the appearance of these foreign women who were different from Hu Ji. At this moment, the mouths of the inspecting officers and soldiers
Here, the girls on these carriages are even better than those presented by Stanet.
Hu Shang traveled thousands of miles to bring these women into the capital, obviously not for his own enjoyment. This was a big business. After the news spread in Luoyang City, it immediately attracted the attention of countless dignitaries. However, this Hu Shang was very
Keeping a low profile, after entering Luoyang, he hid in a private house in Waiguo.
…
At this time, Li Shimin was also living in Luoyang City. The Li family no longer had their own house in Luoyang, and Li Shimin rented a private house. In the past six months, in addition to studying and making friends, he also inquired about the affairs of Princess Jiangdu. Only Jiangdu County
The princess lives in the palace, and it is difficult for outsiders to see her beauty, and they know very little about her preferences. In fact, even if someone occasionally finds out the preferences of the princess of Jiangdu, it is impossible to reveal them to others, because doing so
As a result, it is likely to establish one or more competitors for itself.
Li Shimin inquired about Princess Jiangdu's situation, of course not for his own sake. He wanted to give his eldest brother Li Jiancheng a chance. Although he persuaded Li Yuan not to antagonize the eldest son's family for immediate benefits, the wealth listed in the imperial edict was too attractive.
He still hopes to have a two-pronged approach, not only to maintain his marriage relationship with the eldest son's family, but also to let his eldest brother Li Jiancheng become a county horse and seize the wealth.
In fact, Li Jiancheng himself had been in Luoyang for many years and had a much wider network of contacts than Li Shimin. If Li Jiancheng didn't find out anything, how could Li Shimin know about it? However, Li Shimin also had a secret weapon. Before leaving, Li Yuan gave him a secret weapon.
A token through which Li Cheng could be commanded. Unfortunately, Li Shimin had been wandering around the palace for several months, but had never seen Li Cheng, not even a young eunuch. And he was worried about leaking his whereabouts.
, and did not dare to have any contact with the guards guarding the palace gate.
In the past six months, Li Shimin also went to Gao Shilian's house many times, hoping to meet Changsun Wugou. However, Gao Shilian just laughed and refused to let him meet Changsun Wugou. During this period, he did run into Changsun Wuji several times.
, and Changsun Wuji's attitude towards him was no longer as enthusiastic as before, which made Li Shimin feel somewhat uneasy.
Of course, Li Shimin was not without gains in the past six months. At least he got along well with the children of the Boling Cui family, the Qinghe Cui family, the Fanyang Lu family, the Zhaojun Li family, and the Xingyang Zheng family. These five top aristocratic families have now gradually
It has declined, and some aristocratic families that were only ranked second or third rate have a vague intention of catching up. There are two reasons for this. First, they were absent from the first imperial examination, and there will be no children from them in the next four years.
People are very realistic when entering the dynasty as officials. Seeing that their power will be weakened, they will naturally stay away from them. Secondly, these five aristocratic families still hold on to traditional ideas and focus their main energy on land and farming.
Above. Although they also have some caravans, the development of those caravans is too slow and they have been far behind other families, leaving them far behind in terms of wealth.
However, there are also shrewd people among the five major families who have noticed the changes in the situation, so they sent a large number of their children to participate in the second imperial examination, and they did not hesitate to make friends with the children of former officials like Li Shimin. Of course, the children of the aristocratic families are proud of the children of the aristocratic families.
, they disdain to marry a foreigner, so they will not participate in the competition for Jiangdu County horses.
Although they disdained the idea of marrying a Hu as their official wife, it did not prevent them from finding some Orchids to have fun with. Therefore, the news that the Hu merchant came to Luoyang with a large number of Orchids also attracted their attention, and they spread the news
I told Li Shimin.
Li Shimin had always looked down upon merchants, and he had too many things to care about after studying. He had not noticed the Hu merchant incident that had caused a sensation in Luoyang City these days. After hearing the news from those disciples, he couldn't help but