Compared with before when he still had to ask Lin Xuan, Li Chengqian is much more mature now.
"Your Highness, you have done a great job." Lin Xuan smiled.
Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "No, I think it's not enough."
He said this from the bottom of his heart. At first, he did these things just to show it to Li Shimin.
But as time passed, he felt the sincere love of the people, and for some reason he liked this feeling very much.
Lin Xuan thought for a while and said: "Your Highness, running a big country is like cooking small dishes. In fact, running a place is no different from doing business. You must always think about the needs of your customers and make continuous improvements. Some needs may not be thought of by the customers themselves, but when you do it
Business people cannot think of it."
Lin Xuan saw Li Chengqian thinking deeply, paused, and continued: "The same goes for governing a place. You must not only think about what the people think of, but also think about what the people have not thought of."
Li Chengqian said with some distress: "But I have done everything I can think of, but I always feel that I haven't done it well."
Lin Xuan shook his head and said: "Your Highness, the official roads around Chang'an have not been repaired for many years. Official roads are like this, and you can imagine other places. Why don't Your Highness repair the roads around Chang'an?"
The official road is the main road connecting various cities. It is constantly compacted with soil and is very strong. It will not be muddy even if it rains.
The Sui Dynasty was in chaos, and after the Tang Dynasty was established, there was no condition to build roads.
Although the current official road cannot be said to be full of bumps, once it rains, it will be impossible to pass through.
Now that the official way is like this, other ways can be imagined.
Li Chengqian was stunned and said: "Building roads requires recruiting a large number of civilians, and this requires the consent of the emperor."
Although the government has the power to recruit civilian men, cultivating officialdom requires recruiting a large number of civilian men.
In this way, he cannot make the decision on his own and must report the matter.
"Your Highness, I do not agree with recruiting civilian men." Lin Xuan said.
People in ancient times had to perform labor service. To put it bluntly, labor service meant working for free, without wages.
Although there were other reasons for the demise of the Qin and Sui Dynasties, the main factor was the recruitment of a large number of civilians.
To be honest, Lin Xuan did not agree with this approach.
"You mean to pay to hire people? Do you know how many people are needed to repair official roads?" Li Chengqian said.
The road from Chang'an to Luoyang is hundreds of miles long. If it were to be repaired, it would take at least tens of thousands of people and several months to repair it.
Even if each person receives five pennies per day, plus some other expenses, the minimum cost is more than one hundred thousand pennies.
There is more to Chang'an than this officialdom. Not to mention that the Chang'an Mansion does not have that much money. Even if it does, if he spends so much money to build roads, it is estimated that the memorials to impeach him will be piled up on Li Shimin's desk.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Your Highness, does he know the road connecting my family to Chang'an?"
Li Chengqian was startled and asked: "You mean to build a cement road?"
Of course he knew that road. It was such a long road, and it was all made of stones, and it was still one whole.
When it was first built, the people in Chang'an were shocked, and many people even ran over to see it.
Lin Xuan nodded and said: "Yes, it is to build cement roads. The cost of cement is very low, and road construction is very fast and does not require many people."
"If the official road from Chang'an to Luoyang is built with cement, how long will it take? How much will it cost?" Li Chengqian asked.
Lin Xuan thought for a while and said: "Within 50,000 guan, it can be repaired within a month at most."
Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "It's still too expensive. Chang'an Mansion can't even afford ten thousand guan."
It's not that Chang'an Prefecture is poor. According to regulations, 20% of local taxes can be retained by the local government, and the rest needs to be turned over to the national treasury.
Chang'an Prefecture was the capital of the Tang Dynasty and was very wealthy. However, Li Chengqian made a lot of moves during this period and now he doesn't have much money at all.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Your Highness doesn't, but Your Majesty does. Why don't you tell Your Majesty about this and see what His Majesty says."
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has a lot of money now. If it is left there to breed rats, it might as well be used to build roads.
Moreover, in history, Li Shimin was very extravagant and extravagant in his later years, and did not have the demeanor of a wise king at all.
Although some people say that it was because Empress Changsun died and her personal expedition to Goguryeo failed, so she lost her ambition.
But in Lin Xuan's view, one reason why Li Shimin had not been extravagant and lustful before was because his ambition was still there at the time, and another reason was because he had no money.
Now that Li Shimin has so much money, who knows if he will want to enjoy it.
Lin Xuan felt that it would be better to find some place to help Li Shimin spend time.
Li Chengqian was a little hesitant. He was not sure whether Li Shimin would agree.
Lin Xuan picked up the teacup and drank without urging.
He had already mentioned the method and let Li Chengqian decide the rest. He did not want to interfere with Li Chengqian's thoughts.
In fact, Li Chengqian was quite decisive. He didn't let Lin Xuan wait for long before he decided to give it a try.
Seeing that Li Chengqian agreed, Lin Xuan did not stay in the East Palace any longer and left.
He still needs to go back and ask someone to make mooncakes. If there are no mooncakes tomorrow, who knows what Li Shimin will do to him.
…
Li Chengqian was not interested in mooncakes, so he directly asked someone to deliver both to Li Lizhi.
Li Lizhi was very happy to know that it was sent by Lin Xuan.
Li Lizhi did not have it all to herself and sent someone to invite Princess Yuzhang and Princess Qinghe.
"Sister!" Princess Yuzhang arrived first.
After Li Lizhi asked her to sit down, she smiled and said, "Brother Prince asked someone to bring some snacks and asked you to come over and try them."
Princess Yuzhang joked: "Is it true?"
A blush appeared on Li Lizhi's face, and she said coquettishly: "If you don't want to eat, forget it."
Princess Yuzhang said quickly: "Okay, my sister is wrong. Where are the snacks?"
Li Lizhi shook her head and said, "I also called Qinghe and I will wait until she arrives."
Princess Yuzhang did not press her, and asked: "Sister, I asked you to ask about Hou Xiangshui in Jingyang County, have you asked?"
Ever since she smelled the perfume, she fell in love with it.
But it was difficult for her to ask Lin Xuan for it, so she had no choice but to turn to Li Lizhi.
Li Lizhi was not familiar with Lin Xuan at that time, and she was too reserved as a woman to agree.
But during the last spring outing, Princess Yuzhang noticed something was wrong and got involved with Li Lizhi.
"I forgot." Li Lizhi said a little embarrassed.
When Lin Xuan went on an expedition last time, she was too worried about Lin Xuan, but she still didn't remember.
Princess Yuzhang was not angry either, and told Li Lizhi not to look back next time.
The two sisters chatted for a while, and then the palace maid led Princess Qinghe in.
"I've met Sister Changle and Sister Yuzhang!" Princess Qinghe bowed politely.
People are different.
Although after the last spring outing, Li Lizhi often took care of her, making her life in the palace much easier.
But she knew her identity. Although she was a princess, she was not taken seriously.
Li Lizhi went up to meet Princess Qinghe, and said with a gentle smile: "Sister Qinghe, you're welcome, please sit down quickly. Brother Prince has brought some snacks, and I specially asked you to try them."
Li Lizhi asked someone to bring the mooncakes up and said with a smile: "I just tasted one, and it tastes very good. You guys try it quickly."
Princess Yuzhang and Princess Qinghe saw the patterns on the mooncakes and liked them very much.
After hearing what Li Lizhi said, she was not polite and took a piece to taste.
"How is it?" Li Lizhi asked expectantly.
Although she didn't make this mooncake, she likes to hear other people's recognition of Lin Xuan.
Princess Yuzhang's eyes lit up and she said, "I thought it was a cookie at first, but it tastes different. It's not bad!"
Princess Qinghe was a little introverted and just nodded in agreement.
After listening to this, Li Lizhi had a bright smile on her face.
Princess Yuzhang said with some dissatisfaction: "The Marquis of Jingyang County only remembers my sister and doesn't know how to give us some."
Princess Qinghe looked at Princess Yuzhang in confusion, didn't she say it was sent by the prince?
Li Lizhi's face turned red with embarrassment and she said angrily: "If you like it, just take more and say whatever you want."
She was used to Princess Yuzhang teasing her, but she still felt embarrassed when Princess Qinghe was around.