The skyrocketing price of pen and ink is not just a matter of Chang'an, let alone two places.
Instead, prices are rising across the country.
No matter how little Li Er knew about merchants, the previous sharp rise in paper prices was still there.
At this time, paper prices have just been slashed.
I have to say that I am really grateful to have a son like Sheng'er.
Now in the blink of an eye, the price of pen and ink has risen again.
If these aristocratic families hadn't been behind this horse riding, Li Er would have dared to stand on his head and have diarrhea!
After reading the memorial, Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling were secretly speechless.
This is simply an act of stealing bamboo shoots.
First the price of paper increased, and now the price of pen and ink has increased.
This is simply not taking Li Er seriously as a human being. The imperial examination edict? In the eyes of these people, it is just for wiping their butts.
No wonder His Majesty is so angry.
Fang Xuanling and Sun Wuji are both thoughtful people. You can almost imagine how bad Li Er was feeling at this moment.
To be fair, if he were Li Er, he probably wouldn't be able to calm down.
"Your Majesty, calm down, this matter is indeed a bit strange..."
"Your Majesty, it seems that there is a shadow of aristocratic family behind this matter..."
"Fart! Don't I know these things? Or don't you know? If you don't know, just take this year's salary and get out of here!"
Li Er broke out, and Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji quickly knelt down.
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
In fact, both of them could understand Li Er's mood at the moment.
But it's not without reason for them to talk like that.
Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji quietly looked at each other and smiled bitterly at the same time.
Seven things to do before opening the door: firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea.
Recently there has been military reform and the production of new weapons.
Fang Xuanling and the others also discovered this new weapon, and the two military leaders, Li Jing and Du Ruhui, were happier than the other.
But the problem is that those who are in charge of state treasury expenditures are in pain.
The Divine Arm Bow and the Hand Grenade are clearly two money-burning monsters.
The silver from the national treasury flowed out like rushing water.
And...the paper factory was supposed to be able to make huge profits. But in fact, there were no huge profits at all. His Majesty was so kind at that time that he directly promised to give the craftsmen three times the usual amount.
Your Majesty's kindness this time has been praised by the people, which is of course a good thing.
But the problem is that the originally huge profits suddenly seem so ordinary.
What's more... the imperial court only owns half of the shares! Naturally, the profits are only half.
It is of course impossible to close the hole in military spending.
so……
Be it Changsun Wuji or Fang Xuanling.
It’s not that the two of them have low emotional intelligence, nor are they potential young men who naturally don’t empathize with Li Er.
But... they are afraid that Li Er will get angry and suddenly cause trouble again. It's easy to say what Li Er wants to do, but the treasury cannot withstand it. The key is...
However, Li Er was so angry that the two of them didn't know what to say, so they could only look at Li Er pitifully.
After being excited for a while, Li Er also understood.
If you really want to use troops to solve the family's problems, you can't do it yourself.
Thinking about it this way, it seems that there is really nothing left to do.
The national treasury is not enough and needs a huge amount of money to fill it. I am afraid that the private money of my mother-in-law and my eldest grandson Queen is not enough to fill the gap.
Or just watch.
What else can be done?
Seeing that Li Er seemed to have calmed down, Fang Xuanling said, "Your Majesty, you must be restrained. The Turks are in serious trouble at this time, and we don't want to cause trouble."
"well……"
Li Er started sighing and sighing. Changsun Wuji thought about it and decided to change the topic.
This is also his specialty.
"By the way, your majesty, I wonder if your majesty has heard that a great talent came out of a grand piano duet in Chang'an not long ago."
"Even Brother Wang Fuchou worships this great sage as his teacher, but this great sage is not even in his prime years. Such a talent..."
"If I can't afford pens, ink, and paper in the future, and if I can't think of anything and turn to the Turks, I will be in trouble with the Tang Dynasty."
After Changsun Wuji said this, he felt secretly proud.
What emperor wouldn't like this wild talent?
In ancient times, Uncle Liu visited the thatched cottage three times, and King Wen of Zhou asked for guidance by the stream. There are many more recent ones.
Your Majesty is sympathetic to talented people and cannot bear to see that the poor scholars are in such a state of poverty that they cannot afford to buy pen and ink books. It is true that there is no solution at this time.
But it is actually feasible to cite such a typical case first and ask Your Majesty to make an exceptional promotion and reward.
In short, let's satisfy His Majesty first. This way, we can get this matter out of the way, leave a good impression on His Majesty, and earn a favor from that person. Wouldn't it be nice to kill three birds with one stone?
However, after saying that, I realized that the atmosphere was not right.
Li Er and Fang Xuanling both looked at themselves with strange expressions.
"This... Your Majesty, Xuanling, what's wrong with you?"
"Weichen... I don't seem to have said anything wrong, right?"
…
Li Eryi immediately laughed when he heard Changsun Wuji's words. This guy didn't know Sheng'er existed yet.
Fang Xuanling was also suppressing a smile. Changsun Wuji probably never dreamed that it was his highness.
but,
Just as Changsun Wuji said.
Nowadays, the aristocratic family is very powerful, this is true, but it happens that the Turks and other foreign enemies invade the territory.
In this situation, it is not impossible for His Majesty to enter the palace with no one to protect him. It is not impossible for him to suddenly die prematurely due to an accident.
These aristocratic families can even drive up the prices of pens, inks and paper, but there is nothing they can't do.
Li Er suppressed his laughter and felt much better.
With Sheng'er here, there will always be a solution to everything!
He waved his hand, signaling Changsun Wuji not to say any more.
"Don't worry about this matter. This young man has his own opinions. Besides..."
Naturally, we then continued to discuss a series of matters such as the reform of the military system and the manufacturing of new weapons.
Finally, late at night.
Li Er finally saw off Changsun Wuji.
Thinking of that memorial again, I couldn't help but sigh.
At this time, Queen Changsun suddenly walked in with a bowl of ginseng soup.
"Erlang, it's time to rest."
"I understand...it's you who loves me the most, Maid Guanyin!"
Empress Changsun glanced at Li Er displeasedly, "What's the use of me loving you? You don't even take care of yourself."
Li Er felt uncomfortable, so he talked about what happened during the day.
Empress Changsun showed a smile.
"Are we encountering another problem? If it doesn't work out, let's go visit Sheng'er again. Why don't you go and ask Sheng'er for advice?"
"this……"
"Why, Sheng'er is now the most talented person in the Tang Dynasty and is known as the reincarnation of the Immortal of Poetry. Isn't he qualified to give you advice?"
"All right."
Li Er smiled bitterly, thinking that was true. Anyway, there was no way he could write those poems by Sheng'er!
No matter what happens in the future, this child will probably go down in history.
However, he still told Empress Changsun about the current dilemma.
"There is no money in the national treasury...I still have some private money, if you need it..."
"That's the problem. Mo needs mining. How can we have enough private money? Even if Sheng'er makes a move, I can't afford to open a new factory. We can only see if Sheng'er... has any new strategies.
