Although there was a smile on Li Xian's face, he was actually a little annoyed in his heart, but it was not because of Lin Qi's rudeness. In fact, in Li Xian's view, Lin Qi was just a feather-like thing.
How could he lower himself to his ordinary knowledge? What really bothers Li Xian is the construction of his own team. It is not a question of whether it should be done, but when to start - the road to the throne is long and rugged.
It is full of dangers. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a protracted war. Without the support of his team, even if Li Xian has three heads and six arms, he will never be able to make it to the end. This is an indisputable fact. Li Xian has a very clear understanding of this.
Originally, Li Xian had planned to take up this matter a few years later, but after Lin Qi made such a fuss today, Li Xian's mind obviously changed.
When it comes to understanding people, Li Xian asked himself that he is not inferior to anyone today. This is not arrogance, but well-founded self-confidence. If nothing else, just having the memory of his previous life is enough to ensure that Li Xian can recognize the work of his ministers.
The level of his abilities, supplemented by his rich experience in fighting officials in the later world, is enough to give Li Xian the ability to see through the appearance to see the essence. With the combination of these two, Li Xian is naturally unable to discover talents.
, but then again, it is one thing to find a talent, but it is another thing to use it for one's own use. It is precisely the existence of the latter that forces Li Xian to act cautiously.
At the beginning of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the veteran generals who were capable of fighting were gradually passing away, and there were very few successors. However, the civil servants were in great prosperity. In terms of talents, it can be said that they are everywhere, not only in the court, there are people such as Hao Chujun,
Dai Zhide and others are all well-deserved, but there are also many talents who are still dormant, such as Di Renjie, Pei Xingjian, Pei Yan, King Luo Bin, etc., there are a lot of them at once, and there is really no need to worry about no talents available, but it is a pity.
The thing is that these talented people are all gentlemen, and they are not something that Li Xian can win over with his current embarrassing status. Even with King Luo Bin, whom he already has some contacts with, Li Xian does not dare to win over him easily and openly. He can only wait.
At the most appropriate time, as for other capable ministers, there is not much hope. They can only proceed slowly step by step and wait for opportunities to act again in the future. Based on this calculation, who can really serve Li Xian immediately?
There are not many talented people, but fortunately, Li Xian does not need the help of such pillars at this time. What he needs are just ordinary officials who are obedient and have little talent. What is the role? In fact, there is only one -
- Waving the flag and shouting!
Since Emperor Gaozong came to power, the court style during the Yonghui period has continued the integrity of Zhenguan. It can be said that the dynasty was full of honest officials. However, since the virtuous people such as Changsun Wuji were demoted, the court style has gradually deteriorated, especially after Empress Wu's chaos, Li Yifu, Xu
Jingzong and others are themselves greedy and unscrupulous. The result of their inaction is that the whole court is gradually becoming corrupt. The upper levels are still better, but as for the middle and lower-level officials, they have already become corrupt. Although corruption has not become common, the trend of profit-seeking has gradually increased.
It is an indisputable fact. In this situation, it is not too difficult for Li Xian to win over a group of people who are waving flags and shouting. What is difficult is to ensure the loyalty of the officials who have come over. This is what Li Xian is worried about.
Besides, if Li Xian really takes action on a large scale, he will definitely be punished. Not only will the brothers attack in groups, but even Empress Wu will not tolerate Li Xian's wanton actions. In this way, Du
The certainty of success has become Li Xian’s primary evaluation factor.
Building a team is not an easy task. On the contrary, building a team not only requires a huge price, but also requires abundant funds to operate. It also requires time to make overall arrangements. According to Li Xian's original plan, this matter is not urgent.
At the beginning, Li Xian could have been used first. Judging from Lin Qi's performance now, Li Xian had to start the plan in advance. Without him, it was just because Li Xian's personality determined that he could not be controlled by others. In this way
Once you start, you need to think about where to start.
Political matters are difficult and can be done by ordinary people, but for Li Xian, it is not a big problem. After all, he has been doing this job for three lifetimes. There is actually only one thing that really worries Li Xian -
— Money, a lot of money, even a huge amount of money! It is true that as a prince with three thousand households, Li Xian is not short of money. He can afford even a luxurious life, but with such a small salary and
The output of the two manors under his name is far from enough to do big things. Li Xian has a very clear understanding of this. In his spare time, he has also made plans for this. However, due to various considerations, Li Xian has not yet decided
There are two biggest obstacles in this. First, how to do it without causing too much trouble in the court. Li Xian doesn’t want to be criticized by officials before he makes money.
If the prince or the empress Wu were to take advantage of the situation again, everything would come to an end. As for the second one, that is where the person in charge comes from. This person must not only be proficient in financial management and business,
You have to be absolutely loyal. Only in this way can you ensure that nothing goes wrong. Obviously, with Li Xian's efforts in arranging the former, he might be able to hide it, but the latter gives Li Xian a headache - in Li Xian's view, there is currently no one in the house.
Li Xian was quite confused about the existence of such people and even where to find them.
"How's the balance of the house now?" Li Xian pondered for a long time, his head was getting a little bigger thinking about it. Since he couldn't find a good solution, he couldn't help but frown, and he tapped a few times with his fingers unconsciously.
, asked a question as if he was talking about it but not thinking about it.
"I really don't know this. How about I go to the counting house and ask?"
While Li Xian was thinking, Gao Miao did not dare to interrupt him, so he could only stay by his side. It was not until Li Xian spoke that he hurriedly stood up and answered hesitantly.
"Well, that's fine, just call the senior management here." Li Xian nodded and gave an instruction casually.
"Yes, Your Highness, wait a moment, this servant will go right away."
Li Xian had always just spent money and never asked about the accounts. Gao Miao, who had followed Li Xian since childhood, knew this. Now when he heard that Li Xian suddenly asked about the accounts, he was filled with suspicion.
, but he didn't dare to ask in detail, so he hurriedly agreed and hurried to the accounting room in the front yard. Within a few moments, he had led a middle-aged man in butler's clothes back.
"The young Gao Tusheng comes to see the prince."
The accountant is not an official in the palace, but a line of servants in the palace. Although he is not an official, he is in charge of such a large branch of the prince's palace, and it goes without saying that he is rich in oil and water. Just look at Gao Tusheng.
You can tell by his chubby figure. Of course, the reason why this person can hold this lucrative position is not only because he is a distant cousin of Gao Miao, but also because he is proficient in accounting, and he has managed the palace accountant over the years.
He is capable, but he is also a little greedy. He was suddenly summoned to the study, and the doubts and fears in his heart were inevitable. When he saw Li Xian sitting high up, his legs and feet immediately became weak.
Without waiting for Gao Miao to say anything, he ran forward and knelt on the ground, not even daring to raise his head.
"Get up, I have something to ask you."
Although Li Xian has never asked about accounts, he has experienced the baptism of later generations of officials. How could he not know that account managers often have the bad habit of tampering with the books. It's just that Li Xian is too lazy to care about such small money.
Tusheng was so flustered that he guessed where his worries were, but he had no intention of pointing them out and just said a faint word.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes, your Highness, just ask. I should tell you everything I know. I can guarantee this. Please rest assured, Your Highness." Gao Tusheng was flustered and said randomly.
He responded, but his legs and feet were still weak. He didn't dare to stand up and knelt on the ground.
"Well, I would like to know how much money is left in the account now. Well, if daily expenses are deducted, how much can be used?" Gao Tusheng did not dare to stand, and Li Xian was too lazy to take care of it, so he just let him kneel.
He just frowned slightly and glanced at him, then asked calmly.
"When I return to His Highness, I actually have more than 4,532 guan in the account. After deducting daily expenses, the amount that can be used is only more than 600 guan. If Your Highness is not in a hurry to wait for the money, after the summer harvest,
East and West Villages may be able to move some money." Upon hearing that Li Xian just asked about the remaining money, Gao Tusheng felt a little more at ease, kowtowed, and hurriedly answered.
"Six hundred dollars?" Upon hearing that there was only such a small amount of money left, Li Xian couldn't help but frown a little more. After murmuring, he continued to ask: "Let's be clear, each of the two villages in the East and West can make money.
How many?"
"So that His Highness can know that Dongzhuang can have an income of 200 guan after the summer harvest. It will also have this amount at the end of the year. Xizhuang can only make half of it. The total can still be about 300 guan. If you squeeze it, maybe 400 guan."
It's also possible." Seeing that Li Xian's expression was not right, Gao Tusheng didn't dare to be negligent and responded hurriedly.
"Huh? How could it be so different? Tell me!"
Although Li Xian rarely went to the two villages in the east and west, he still knew the general situation. Although the two villages were located at opposite ends of the capital, they were not much different in terms of scale, geographical location and manpower allocation. The output of the two villages was small.
It was actually twice as bad, so he couldn't help but become suspicious, and he snorted coldly.
"Ah, Your Highness, please calm down. There is no reason for this fact. Please tell us in detail." Gao Tusheng was so frightened by Li Xian's voice that he trembled violently and hurriedly replied.
: "Normally, the output of Xizhuang is not low. As far as I know, gardens of the same size in various capitals can only produce this amount. If it is not managed properly, it may be even less. As for Dongzhuang
The reason why such output is possible is entirely due to Deng Cheng. Manager Deng manages things well and is not just a lie. If His Highness doesn't believe it, you can send someone to visit him. You will know that what he said is true.
.”
"Deng Cheng?"
Li Xian had only been to the East and West Villages two or three times since they were rewarded by Emperor Gaozong, and that was three years ago. Li Xian really didn’t have much impression of who was in charge.
When he heard Gao Tusheng praising Deng Cheng's ability, Li Xian became interested and looked sideways at Gao Miao, but didn't say anything more.
"Your Highness, I know something about this matter. Deng Cheng is from Taiyuan. He was originally a scholar. Unfortunately, his family fell into decline and he was unable to continue his studies. He had to do business as a career. He came to Beijing to sell goods a few years ago. Unfortunately, he encountered a fire disaster.
, I lost both my goods and property and returned home without any money. I asked someone to seek help from my slave. Seeing that he was quite sincere, my slave gave him the management of Dongzhuang. It has been three years now and he has been quite effective." When he saw Li Xian, he looked at him.
When he came over, Gao Miao immediately nodded his head knowingly and told everything he knew.
Oh, someone brought me a pillow when I was really dozing off. Interesting, really interesting! When Li Xian heard what Gao Miao said, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth, revealing a playful smile.