Chapter two hundred and eightieth: The people are rich and the country is strong
After sending Cui Yuxiu away, Lin Xuan didn't even return to his home and went to the palace again.
"Why are you here again? I have already said that the matter of Qingque has been settled." Li Shimin thought that Lin Xuan came to talk about Li Tai's matter again.
Lin Xuan shook his head and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, an elder sent by the Cui family has arrived in Chang'an. I have made an appointment with them. After the morning meeting tomorrow, I will ask your Majesty to witness and make a contract."
Li Shimin looked at Li Mu, who understood what Li Shimin meant and said, "Cui Lingyun came to Beijing last evening."
The main candidates of the five surnames and Qiwang families are all being secretly monitored.
Although it is difficult to monitor what they will do tomorrow, their schedules are being monitored.
Of course, this also means that Cui Lingyun has no intention of hiding his whereabouts.
Li Shimin was slightly surprised and said: "It's actually him."
Lin Xuan asked curiously: "Your Majesty, is Cui Lingyun very important in the Cui family?"
Lin Xuan didn't know much about the specific situation of the Cui family.
Seeing Li Shimin's expression, he was a little curious about Cui Lingyun's identity.
Li Shimin said: "Cui Lingyun is the elder brother of the head of the Cui family."
"It turns out he is a concubine. The Cui family sent him here. Can he make the decision?" Lin Xuan asked.
Five million guan is not small money, it is almost one-sixth of Datang's annual income.
Lin Xuan thought that if the Cui family sent an unimportant person, he would be the one to take the blame if something went wrong.
Li Shimin shook his head and said, "Who told you that Cui Lingyun was born as a concubine? He is the brother of Cui Lingdao, the head of the Cui family."
Lin Xuan said with some surprise: "Isn't it true that aristocratic families pay special attention to the distinction between legitimate concubines? Why is the Cui family not the eldest son as the head of the family?"
The aristocratic family is very particular about these things. Even if the legitimate son dies, the legitimate grandson should inherit.
Since Cui Lingyun is still here, he is not the head of the Cui family, which is surprising.
Li Shimin said: "The original head of the Cui family should be Cui Lingyun, but for some reasons, he gave up the position of head to Cui Lingdao. Therefore, the two brothers Cui Lingyun and Cui Lingdao have a very good relationship, and Cui Lingyun's status in the Cui family
Very special.”
Li Shimin didn't mean to say the specific reason.
Lin Xuan said: "In this case, he can make the decision, so there is nothing to worry about."
Li Shimin nodded and said: "Cui Lingyun came forward in person, and I am the witness. They dare not default on their debt."
"This will put your mind at ease." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin smiled slightly and said, "You don't have to worry about this, but how is the movable type printing thing going?"
Compared with other things, movable type printing was what he cared about most.
Lin Xuan said: "Your Majesty, we are almost ready to make one set, but there is not enough lead left to make the second set."
What Lin Xuan said is all the existing characters in the Tang Dynasty, including punctuation marks.
This was even after Li Shimin helped collect a lot of lead.
Li Shimin nodded and said: "Don't worry about the lead. I have already asked people to mobilize it from other places."
Almost all the lead in Chang'an has been collected. The Taoist temple must have hidden some secrets, but Li Shimin couldn't force him too hard.
However, there were many Taoist temples in the Tang Dynasty, so he was not worried.
Lin Xuan nodded. He was not worried about the lead issue. He wanted to bring it up now because he wanted Li Shimin to speed up.
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and asked casually: "I heard that the road connecting your home to Chang'an is made of cement. I wonder how much it costs?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Xuan knew that Li Chengqian should have mentioned the road construction to Li Shimin, so he did not hide it and said, "Your Majesty, it's only a few hundred strings."
In ancient times, unlike later generations, it required a lot of expenses.
The cost of cement, excluding the money to buy the kiln, is nothing more than some labor costs.
"This road seems to be nearly ten miles away. Is it really so cheap?" Li Shimin asked.
Lin Xuan must have hired people to build the road. Based on this calculation, even if he hired people to build the road from Chang'an to Luoyang, it would not cost more than 50,000 yuan.
Although it is a little more expensive than recruiting corvees to build roads, it is not much higher.
In this way, it is not unacceptable to hire people to build roads.
"The trip from my family to Chang'an is about a little more than eight miles, and the cost is exactly as I said, only a few hundred guan." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin nodded and asked: "Gao Ming told me that he wants to use cement to build roads and hire people to build them. What do you think?"
Lin Xuan felt a sudden change in his heart. Li Shimin asked him what he meant by this?
Is it possible that he knew this was his idea for Li Chengqian?
Lin Xuan said cautiously: "I think His Highness the Crown Prince's proposal is very good."
Li Shimin said noncommittally: "Tell me your reasons."
"Your Majesty, many people say that the country is rich and the people are strong, but I believe that the people are rich and the country is strong. Employing people can benefit the people and benefit the country!" Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and murmured: "The people are rich and the country is strong?"
"Yes, the people are the foundation of the country. If the people are not rich, how can we provide sufficient taxes to the country?" Lin Xuan continued.
Li Shimin shook his head and said: "I agree with what you said, but if you want to repair all the official laws of the Tang Dynasty, hiring people will cost a lot more money, and the officials will not agree."
This was just Li Shimin's excuse. Knowing that the difference between recruitment and employment was not very big, Li Shimin was already moved.
It's just that Lin Xuan often comes up with some weird ideas, and Li Shimin wants to see if Lin Xuan has any better ideas.
Lin Xuan thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, this can be done..."
After Li Shimin listened, he looked at Lin Xuan with a strange look.
He just wanted to give it a try, but he didn't expect that Lin Xuan really had something to hide.
If it weren't for Lin Xuan's idea and his cooperation, Li Shimin would really want to take care of him.
"Ahem~"
Li Shimin coughed twice and said, "I understand everything you said, so I will do what you said."
"Yes! Then I will retire first." Lin Xuan said with his hands in hand.
…
Su Mansion
Mrs. Su felt a little anxious when she saw that it was getting dark and Su Dan hadn't come back yet.
If Su Quan was busy with official duties and came back late, he would send someone home to report the news in advance.
It was the first time in the nearly 20 years since he married into the Su family that he had not returned home so late and had no news.
Mrs. Su saw that the sky was getting darker and darker, and she became more and more anxious. Just when she was about to send someone to inquire, the housekeeper's happy voice came over.
"Madam, madam, the master is back."
Mrs. Su stood up quickly and asked, "Where is the master?"
The housekeeper said: "Back to Madam, as soon as the master arrived at the door of the house, he sent the old slave to report the news, and now he is behind."
Mrs. Su's anxious heart finally relaxed, and with a smile on her face, she ordered the maid to prepare dinner.
The Su family is not big. Just as Mrs. Su finished giving her instructions, Su Dan's figure had already appeared outside the hall.
Mrs. Su stepped forward to support Su Dan with a happy face and asked, "Master, why are you back so late today?"
Su Dan's face was dull, and he didn't know what he was thinking. Hearing Madam Su's words, he came back to his senses and said: "Your Majesty summoned me suddenly. I didn't have time to ask the coachman to come back to report the news, which made Madam worried."
Su Tan was only a fifth-rank official and his family was not rich. When he was on duty, he only had one coachman following him.
Otherwise, he would have sent someone home to report the news after leaving the palace.
Mrs. Su asked a little strangely: "I am only a fifth-rank official. Why did Your Majesty summon me for so long? Is something wrong?"
When Su Dan thought about what Li Shimin said to him, he still couldn't believe it, and said, "Yes, something happened, something big happened!"
Mrs. Su asked anxiously: "What happened to the master?"
Seeing Mrs. Su's ugly face, Su Dan was filled with joy and explained with a smile: "Don't worry, this is a happy event, a big happy event!"
Mrs. Su was stunned and asked: "Master, has he been promoted?"
In her opinion, there was no other reason why Su Dan was so happy except for his promotion.
Su Dan shook his head and said, "Even if I get promoted, it's impossible for Your Majesty to say it in person."
Mrs. Su saw that Su Dan kept going around in circles without telling the reason, so she said angrily: "Master, what is going on? Can't you just tell me?"
"Where are Wan'er and Gui'er? Let's wait until they arrive," Su Dan said.