"Your Majesty," /"Your Majesty." ”

Li Mu and Empress Changsun hurriedly got up and saluted, Li Shimin waved his hand, and sat down opposite Empress Changsun, where Li Mu had just done. Li Mu saw that his position was robbed, and he didn't wait for instructions, he went to the mahjong table and moved a chair back to sit.

Li Shimin pointed at Li Mu and said to Empress Changsun: "See, did I wronged him?" Well, there are no rules, did I say I gave him a seat? ”

Empress Eldest Sun smiled and said, "Won't Your Majesty give you a seat?" ”

"Not necessarily!"

Li Mu's eyes glanced at the mirror in Empress Changsun's hand from time to time, and she didn't speak, Empress Changsun felt his gaze, and couldn't help but smile: "Your Majesty, the concubine just received the gift, how can I give him a seat, otherwise this gift will have to be returned." ”

Li Shimin couldn't help but be curious and asked, "What kind of gift can make the queen like it so much?" ”

"Your Majesty, please see." Empress Changsun handed the mirror in her hand to Li Shimin, Li Shimin was also startled when she held it in her hand, and said in surprise: "This is a mirror?" It's so clear! He glanced at Li Mu and said, "This is your new invention?" ”

Li Mu said modestly: "Occasionally, occasionally." ”

"Heh, if you can get it evenly, others can't? Li Mu, when you should be modest, you are not modest, when you should not be modest, you are modest, I see that you are deliberate! ”

Li Mu shouted: "Your Majesty, you will embarrass the ministers. When the minister is not modest, you say that the minister is arrogant, the minister begins to be modest, and you feel that the minister is hypocritical again, alas! Chen is really embarrassed, it is not easy to be a talented person! ”

"You kid!" Li Shimin smiled angrily and said: "I understand, you are pretending to be modest, but in fact you are arrogant, and you can't change the things in your bones." ”

"No, the minister thinks that it is not called arrogance when it comes to doing it, and it is called arrogance when it comes to being hard when it is said that it cannot be done. So far, the things that the minister said have basically been done, so the minister thinks that the minister is okay, not arrogant. The minister can be called a young man who is bathed in the glory of my emperor and thrives, and the so-called son is like jade——"

"Stop, I'm a little disgusting." Li Shimin said angrily: "Li Mu, I won't talk nonsense with you." If you don't come, I'll go looking for you. Do you know how big of a problem you've gotten into trouble? Today's court discussion, Shandong, Jiangnan, as well as Longxi and Longyou, are all asking for road repairs. said that I favored the Taiyuan Wang family and let the Taiyuan Wang family gain great benefits for no reason, I also thought about it again and again, and felt that in this matter, the court may have suffered a loss, who are you planning for? Tell me clearly! ”

Li Mu sighed and said, "Your Majesty, this matter, the minister thinks, Your Majesty, you should be secretly happy." ”

"What's the explanation?"

"Your Majesty, don't be fooled by others. All strings attached, think again. This matter is one thing, the court does not need to take a penny, it not only settles the displaced people, but also builds the road, and after three or five years, this road is returned to the court, and the so-called lost things of Your Majesty are things that Your Majesty did not have in the first place, what kind of loss is this? Your Majesty, you think, of course, you can wait for next year's grain harvest to build roads, but you have taken the money and grain to build roads, where will the 10,000 cavalry you want come from? ”

"Money and food are limited, if you use it here, there will be no other place, Your Majesty is wise and wise, how can you not understand this truth?"

Li Shimin frowned and said, "So, are you lying to them?" ”

Li Mu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty knows the minister, and the minister is a kind person, how can he do something deceitful?" Wang Qi is not a fool, since he can do what the minister wants, there must be benefits in this matter. The minister's promise is not empty words, the Taiyuan Wang clan has built a road, and it will definitely be able to get benefits, and other forces have also seen the benefits in this regard, so they are so eager to do so. ”

Li Shimin couldn't help frowning, and said, "I'm a little confused, Li Mu, what are the benefits of this road construction besides the visible money?" ”

"There are a lot of benefits here, the minister estimates it, His Majesty thinks of some, Uncle Guo and others also think of some, but in the minister's opinion, what you think of is very one-sided."

Li Shimin laughed angrily and said: "According to you, I and Uncle Guo are not smart people, and you are the only smart person in the world?" Li Mu, when will you change your arrogant temper, it's really annoying! ”

Li Mu smiled and said, "Your Majesty is gracious." ”

"If it weren't for the fact that the minister is smarter than His Majesty and Uncle Guo, the minister can think more and more long-term, just for one reason. This reason has been said countless times, but it is because the minister treats money like dung. ”

Seeing that Li Shimin was about to be angry, Li Mu hurriedly changed his words: "Your Majesty, don't be angry, the minister means that in this matter, the minister does not make money and has no interests involved, so he can look at things from the perspective of a bystander, and His Majesty, Uncle Guo and others are all based on their own interests, so they will be one-sided." ”

Li Shimin frowned, bowed slightly, and said: "That's reasonable, then you can analyze it, where is the one-sided relationship between me and Uncle Guo and others?" ”

"It's simple." Li Mu got up seriously and said, "Speaking of which, it's nothing more than the word money and food. Your Majesty needs money and food to build a winning army to sweep away the barbarians around the Tang Dynasty. And the uncle and the king are more concerned about the interests of each family. If you can build roads and collect tolls, it is a trickle of income, which is a great benefit to a family. The reason why people are so interested in building roads is not because there is a stake in it! ”

"In some extensions, there are not only benefits to building roads, but also many benefits. For example, if the Taiyuan Wang clan built the road from Taiyuan to Chang'an, then according to the rules, as long as they took this road, they would have to pay them tolls. The area covered by this road will be subject to their control to a certain extent. At the same time, they will also know where the population is large and where the population is small, where food is produced, where fish and rice are produced, and the control of all kinds of information will be far greater than before. ”

"If they are smarter, build warehouses and hoard goods, buy low and sell high, and profit from it, it is like lying down and making money. If they do a good job and only hoard goods and buy low and sell high, the profits they get will even exceed the tolls, so they will not lose money in this transaction. ”

"Your Majesty, do you think, most of the world's trading is risky, and how many of them are sure to make a profit? Nowadays, road construction is a sure profit, and there are many value-added transactions, so it is natural to rush to it. ”

Li Shimin slowly digested the meaning of Li Mu's words, and said: "If they do it, as you said, to build roads, it will deepen their influence on the local area. That's not a good thing for me. ”

"That's what Chen just said, the starting point is different. Your Majesty does things, and the first thing you consider is your own interests, in short, Li Tang's country. The first consideration of the gate lord is his own interests, and the contradictions in them are natural and irreconcilable. So don't you do it? The minister didn't think so. The minister thinks that things still have to be done, depending on the pros and cons of this matter. In the minister's view, there must be nothing wrong with building roads, although this incident has relatively deepened the influence of the gate lord on the place, but His Majesty must understand that even if the road is not built, the influence of the gate lord lord still exists. The road was built and the time limit was limited, which was equivalent to limiting the time of the influence of the gate lords and nobles, and when the day came, the road was returned to the imperial court, and it was time to deepen the influence of the imperial court. ”

Li Mu accentuated his tone and said: "Your Majesty, imagine that if Your Majesty is a common man, in the first three years after the road is repaired, the gate lords and nobles will collect tolls, and after the road is returned to the imperial court, the imperial court will collect less or even no more, who will this popular heart belong to?" ”

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and suddenly said: "That is naturally the imperial court that collects less or no tolls!" Aiqing is so scheming! ”

Li Mu laughed and said, "That's right, Your Majesty, my Tang Dynasty will not be like the former Sui." Three, five, or even ten years, we can afford to wait. The Taiyuan Wang family and others have a long-term plan for the family, and His Majesty should also make a long-term plan for the Tang Dynasty, and the reason is the same. Now, if the imperial court can build roads without spending money, it can build one by one, and building roads is really a great thing for the benefit of the country and the people! ”

"With the construction of roads, the connection between places is faster, the movement of materials is more timely, and the trade is smoother, in short, if you want to get rich, you must first build roads! Moreover, when the imperial court uses soldiers, it can better reflect the value of road construction. If the road is good, the soldiers and horses are dispatched quickly, Your Majesty will make a sound, and the soldiers will be fast, so you don't need the ministers to explain it. ”

Li Shimin nodded frequently and said, "What Aiqing said is extremely true, but there is one thing I don't understand. Since road construction is a matter that is beneficial to the imperial court and to the gate lords, why did Aiqing only let the Taiyuan Wang family take advantage of this? ”

Li Mu smiled: "Your Majesty suspects that the minister has received benefits?" ”

"Not really, I guess they don't have the benefit you can see. paid a deposit of hundreds of thousands of yuan to you, even if it is the Taiyuan Wang family, it should not be able to take out any money. Li Shimin glared at Li Mu, and said angrily: "I sometimes see that you kid is really angry, why can you always come up with a way to make money?" You're not short of money, you can figure out a way, I'm short of money, I can't think of-"

Li Mu hurriedly answered: "How else to say that Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, the minister was originally in Dingxiang to be a township Yong living a good life, if it were not for the guidance of God, how could the minister get Su Hui, come to Chang'an, and serve Your Majesty?" ”

"You mouth!" Li Shimin pointed at Li Mu and laughed: "Hugh is sloppy, hurry up and explain it to me." ”

Li Mu thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, have you ever heard the saying that there is no good deal in a hurry?" ”