"Your Majesty, Shangshu Xiao has returned to the city with the money from the fund-raising meeting!"
Chang'an City, Taiji Palace, Ganlu Palace.
It was getting dark at this time, and Li Er, who had just finished reviewing the memorial, was about to go to the harem to have a meal when Zhao Song came in from outside and said with a cup of his hands.
"Oh? The fund-raising meeting in Lantian County is over? How much money was raised in total?"
Li Er's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he asked with great interest.
He has not forgotten his previous bet with Xiao Yu.
Zhao Song replied with a smile: "Your Majesty, the fund-raising meeting has ended at three o'clock in the morning. As for the total amount of money raised this time, I don't know! But I heard from outside rumors that it should be quite a lot."
Li Er nodded, chuckled and said, "Haha! Let's wait until Xiao Aiqing enters the palace later!"
After saying that, he stood up from the dragon couch and walked towards the door. He had to go and eat dinner before Xiao Yu came!
Regarding that bet, Li Er wasn't too worried. Firstly, he believed in Li Zexuan's ability to create miracles. Even if he couldn't raise 250,000 yuan this time, Li Zexuan would definitely have another plan; secondly, even if Li Zexuan couldn't do it, Li Er also had other ways to raise 250,000 guan. The shipping department in Guangdong would transport tax revenue to the court every three months. He could have Li Xiaogong hand over the tax revenue to the state treasury one month in advance. It’s not a small amount of money, it can completely make up for the hole in the fundraiser!
In fact, Li Er has another trick, which is to make Yanhuang Bank print money like crazy. Now Tang Yuan has become popular in more than 300 states of the Tang Dynasty, and has gradually replaced copper coins. In order to meet the needs of military expenditures during the war, Li Er could have asked Yanhuang Bank to print more Tang Yuan coins to expand and arm the army, but when Li Zexuan established Yanhuang Bank, he very solemnly said that the number of coins printed by Yanhuang Bank every year should be based on the annual output of the Tang Dynasty. The GDP of the country depends on the gross domestic product. The unauthorized printing of Tang and Yuan will not only destroy the credit system of Tang and Yuan, but also destroy the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. Once this measure is implemented, the destruction of the Tang Dynasty will not be far away!
As smart as Li Er, it is impossible not to know that what Li Zexuan said is indeed true. Although it is difficult for the Tang Dynasty to defeat the Turks, it is not impossible to defeat them. Therefore, Li Er feels that it is not yet time to use the "money printing machine" of Yanhuang Bank. At that time, in his opinion, Yanhuang Bank and Tang Yuan were of great use to the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty in the future, and they must not be destroyed easily!
Arriving at Queen Changsun's residence, Li Er directly asked the palace maids and eunuchs to serve the food. Just halfway through the dinner, Zhao Song hurried over and said: "Your Majesty, Xiao Shangshu wants to see you!"
"Ha! He came very quickly! Take him to the Manna Hall, I will be there in a moment!"
Li Er heard this and said to Zhao Song with a smile.
"Here~!"
Zhao Song took the order and left.
Li Er looked at Empress Changsun at this time and said with emotion: "Oh, I wanted to have a good meal with Guanyin, but now it seems I can't!"
Empress Changsun said with a smile on her face: "Your Majesty, go quickly! Xiao Shangshu is still in the palace at this time, so he must have something important to do! Oh, there seems to be a fund-raising meeting in Lantian County today, I guess Xiao Shangshu must be here for this matter !”
Li Er took advantage of the gap between talking to take two more mouthfuls of food, then stood up and praised: "Haha! My queen is really smart. This Xiao Yu is most likely here for the fund-raising meeting! Okay, Guanyin, please take your time. Eat, I’m going to the front hall!”
Queen Changsun nodded naturally.
Li Er stood up and headed towards Tai Chi Palace.
Speaking of which, it was not easy for him to be the emperor at all, especially during the recent period when the Tang Dynasty was fully preparing for war with the Turks. Many times he could not even have a good meal. It is no wonder that Li Er in history became a generation Holy King, attitude determines everything!
"I have met your Majesty!"
Arriving at the Ganlu Hall, Xiao Yu, who had been waiting here for a while, quickly bowed and saluted.
"Xiao Aiqing is exempt from the gift!"
Li Er walked towards the dragon bed and waved his hand to Xiao Yu.
Since he had already guessed Xiao Yu's intention to enter the palace, after sitting on the dragon couch, Li Er looked at Xiao Yu and did not show off, but asked directly: "How is it? Xiao Aiqing? This fundraising meeting will raise enough money." What is the military expenditure for a 150,000-strong army?”
Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, bowed his hand to Li Er, and said in a deep voice: "This fundraising meeting has raised a total of 428,500 military funds, which is far higher than the old minister's previous estimate! The previous bet , Your Majesty won, I would like to congratulate Your Majesty!"
"What? Four hundred and twenty-eight thousand, five hundred strings?"
Even though Li Er had been mentally prepared before, when he heard such a huge number from Xiao Yu's mouth, he still couldn't help but look slightly shocked, because just a quarter of an hour ago, he was still thinking about raising money for this fund-raising meeting. What to do if the money you get is not enough, and now... happiness comes a bit suddenly.
"Indeed! In this fund-raising meeting, not only many businessmen donated generously to the country, but also many people who the veteran officials did not expect also participated in the fund-raising meeting!"
Having said this, Xiao Yu took out a book from his arms, held it up with both hands, and said: "The 428,500 guan obtained from the fund-raising meeting have been brought back by the veteran and handed over to the household members. Officials will conduct an inventory and pay into the national treasury. These are the account details of this fundraising meeting. Your Majesty, please take a look!"
"Okay! Thank you for your hard work on this trip, my dear!"
Li Er's eyes lit up and he sighed. Without his instructions, Zhao Song took the account book from Xiao Yu's hand and handed it to Li Er.
Reaching out to take the account book, Li Er ignored Xiao Yu who was in charge of the palace and started to look through it. Due to the rush of time, this account book was not deliberately sorted according to the amount of donations. It was completely the same as when everyone appeared at the fund-raising meeting. Li Er knew many of the people in the front, such as Li Zexuan, Lin Wenyuan of the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce, and Feng Zhihua, who he had personally conferred the title of "Righteous Businessman in the World", etc.
Each of these people donated a large amount. Among them, Li Zexuan was the leader. Not only did he donate 30,000 guan, but the Nuantang Foundation he founded also donated 20,000 guan this time. In total, he contributed 50,000 guan to the court. Wan Guan, this made Li Er feel a little touched, and he secretly said:
"Although this kid Li Zexuan is usually aloof, when it comes to national interests and foreign wars, he takes it more seriously than anyone else!"
The reason why Li Er thinks so is not only because Li Zexuan launched a fund-raising meeting and contributed 50,000 yuan to the court in this fund-raising meeting, but also because Li Zexuan had previously offered to forge new and sophisticated products for the expanded Xuanjia Army for free. Equipment, Li Er probably calculated it in private later. The new equipment worn by the five thousand Xuanjia troops from head to toe, from men to horses, would definitely be worth no less than 100,000 guan!
Few people in the entire Tang Dynasty could handle such a large sum of money. Even if someone could handle it, they would not take the initiative to "give money" like Li Zexuan! Because giving this money away will not only not benefit you, but may also arouse the suspicion of the emperor!
Li Er knew in his heart that the reason why Li Zexuan, who had always been shrewd, did something that was extremely stupid in the eyes of ordinary people was entirely out of his innocence towards the Tang Dynasty. He wanted the Tang Dynasty to prosper, and he did not want the Tang Dynasty to perish to the aliens. hand!
It is precisely because of this that Li Er always looks at Li Zexuan in a different light and promotes Li Zexuan all the way. Moreover, when Li Zexuan makes mistakes, Li Er will try his best to reduce the punishment for Li Zexuan; it is also because Li Zexuan has a pure heart. With his heart in mind, Li Er can safely place his two most beloved sons beside Li Zexuan to learn and grow!
"Jubaozhai? Where does this store come from? It can actually donate 30,000 yuan? And the name sounds familiar!"
Li Er glanced at ten lines. When he saw that besides Li Zexuan, there was someone on the list who had donated 30,000 yuan, which made him take a second look. Then, he frowned and muttered in confusion.
Xiao Yu smiled and cupped his hands and said: "Back to Your Majesty, this Jubaozhai is the property left by Wang Renbiao, the governor of Qizhou, in Chang'an. As for the Li Ji chariot and horseman Li Jingchu who donated money behind him, she is Wang Renbiao's newlywed wife. , the couple donated a total of 32,000 yuan!"
"Oh? Is it Wang Renbiao?"
Hearing this, Li Er suddenly realized: "I heard a few days ago that he was getting married. I didn't expect that just after he got married, he came to donate money with his newlywed wife. Wang Yu gave birth to a good son and got a good daughter-in-law." ah!"
After that, Li Er put aside Wang Renbiao's matters for the time being and continued to read. The more he looked, the more surprised he became. Slowly, he finally understood why Xiao Yu told him before, "This fund-raising meeting is here." met many unexpected people”!
"Cheng Ji Winery? Isn't this the winery of Cheng Zhijie's family? He also donated five thousand guan?"
"Qin Ji's clothing store? This is Shubao's store!"
"Baochang Pawn Shop? This is Jingde's pawn shop!"
"Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Chu Suiliang, Kong Yingda... It seems that all the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty secretly participated in the fund-raising meeting!"
Unlike other emperors, Li Er conquered a large group of civil servants and generals during his campaign in the world. These people had worked with Li Er for so many years and had a very good relationship with Li Er. Li Er treated his ministers Most of the private life situations are well known, so although Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong attended the fund-raising meeting in the name of their own shop, most of them were recognized by Li Er at a glance! Seeing that his ministers supported him so much, Li Er couldn't help but be moved, but when he saw the next name, he couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth:
"Wei's Winery, isn't this the winery opened by Wei Zheng? No, didn't this winery close down two years ago? Donate 10 yuan?"
When he saw the words "Wei's Winery", Li Er was a little surprised, but after seeing the donation of ten guan, he almost spit out blood, because the people in front of him donated tens of thousands of guan. , when it was Wei Zheng's turn, he only donated ten guans. The contrast was really too big!
"Ahem! Xuancheng's family resources are limited, please forgive me!"
Seeing this, Xiao Yu coughed dryly and softly pleaded for Wei Zheng.
Li Er rolled his eyes secretly and was too lazy to speak.
"Huh? The Lantian County government donated 10,000 yuan? What's going on?"
Li Er glanced at ten lines and quickly reached the last page of the account book. Suddenly, his eyes froze and he stared at the line in the middle of the last page of the account book, and he exclaimed in surprise.
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