Li Mu smiled and said, "If the minister says it, can this money not be paid?" ”

"This ......" Li Shimin was about to get angry, but suddenly, Hou Junji became smart, hurriedly grabbed Li Shimin's sleeve, and said, "Your Majesty, there is, there is a door!" ”

Li Shimin also reacted and said, "If I don't let you say it, you will bear the money?" ”

Li Mu did not answer happily, but said: "The minister doesn't dare to say that he bears it, but he will not disappoint His Majesty." As long as the general is willing to cooperate, don't say that it is one percent, two percent, even if it is according to the original number, there is no problem, and the money does not need to be embezzled from the Ministry of Industry, it is not easy for the six departments, and you can't bully people. ”

Li Shimin frowned, and said: "Li Mu, don't embezzle the Ministry of Industry, don't use internal money to pay, you still dare to boast...... Didn't you deceive me? ”

Li Mu laughed and said, "Your Majesty, in terms of making money, do ministers still need to boast?" Is there anyone in the world who can compare with me? If anyone is not satisfied, let him stand up, no matter what kind of business, if I don't go out of business within three months, how about giving away the wealth of the Luhou Mansion? ”

"Arrogance!" Li Shimin couldn't help but scold, but he was helpless. Although Li Mu can't fully believe what he said, he has proven his strength in terms of making money, and his credibility is at least eight points. If he is allowed to do whatever it takes, it is not impossible to bring down a businessman, or even a gate valve, in three months.

Other people listened to it in their ears, even if they were uncomfortable, they would not fight Li Mu for this battle of tongues. They are all big families with big businesses and a lot of involvement, in comparison, Li Mu is a barefoot person who is not afraid of wearing shoes, and there is really no comparison.

Li Shimin thought for a while and said, "Okay, once I believe you, when will the money be given?" ”

"In the second half of the year, and the minister has to reiterate the premise, it is with the cooperation of the general that the minister can agree. If the general is unwilling to cooperate, then the money will be discounted! ”

Hou Junji hurriedly said: "As long as you have money, you can say anything, I will definitely cooperate!" ”

Li Shimin heard something different, and said; "No, you only said to cooperate, but you didn't say anything, if it is a robbery of a house or a crime, do you have to cooperate? Tell me what you're doing! ”

Li Mu's eyes rolled, but he still didn't give a happy word, but said: "I haven't thought about the specifics yet, but I promise not to rob the house, I promise not to break the law, maybe I'm just contributing." Your Majesty, the minister's conditions are already very simple, if you don't agree to this, then forget it. Anyway, the minister doesn't have much time after the New Year, and the imperial examination is imminent, and the minister still has to review. ”

"Review?" Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, remembered the bet between Li Mu and Wei Zheng, cried and laughed, and said, "You haven't forgotten that incident?" Is it okay to be angry Li Mu, it's just a momentary battle of words. What is the use of you taking the imperial examination? Even if you win the top prize, at most you will be awarded six official grades, can you look at it? ”

"It's not a question of being looked down upon." Li Mu said solemnly: "In the minister's view, this is a matter of faith. The minister made a bet with Wei Zheng that he had to go to the appointment, otherwise how could he be called a promise? Moreover, the minister has recently been noisy by the flies of the Shandong scholars, and it seems that many so-called Confucians are criticizing the minister's talent behind their backs! thinks that the minister is a sidewalker, not a saint disciple. He only writes poetry, but does not use strategy. For such people, the ministers must also let them see with their own eyes that genius means heavenly talents, which are unattainable for ordinary people like them. The minister has to make them bow down to the ear, so that they don't dare to mention the word policy again, so that they can stop their dog's mouth! ”

Seeing Li Mu say this, Li Shimin also had to get serious, he glanced at Li Mu and asked, "So, are you confident?" ”

Li Mudao: "The minister must be the champion of the double list!" ”

Li Shimin cried and laughed: "Li Mu, Li Mu, it's a good thing that you are confident, but you can't be too ...... Ordinary people have studied hard for more than ten years, and you are not allowed to be in the department, you are only literate for ten months, and it is less than a year to be full, and you are the top of the double list, what do you think? Is it that easy? ”

"Even if you are the top student in the regular course, you can get it, but the subject system is a question for me, can you guess what question I have? Hubris, hubrity! ”

"Whether it is arrogant or not, we will know when the time comes." Li Mu didn't want to argue, and said: "There is one more thing, just talking about the imperial examination, and the minister wants to talk to His Majesty." In this year's imperial examination, the minister wants to recruit a group of talents. I hope that Your Majesty will make a decree that in addition to the number of Jinshi in the first rank, an additional section will be calculated separately, and 80 people will be recruited for the use of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. ”

"Eighty?" Li Shimin frowned and said: "There are not so many Jinshi and first, you want eighty people, what is this for?" ”

"When the Ministry of Internal Affairs showed its strength in the coming year, there were too many things involving accounts, and there were not enough 80 people, but there were only a limited number of qualified personnel, so we could only deal with it first. Your Majesty, the Ming Arithmetic Section is very important to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it can be said that it determines the speed of development of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so please pay attention to it. ”

"Well, I'll figure it out."

After the business was finished, it was noon, Li Mu naturally couldn't let Li Shimin and others go, beckoned the kitchen to cook, and entertained everyone. Li Shimin is here in Li Mu, he never knows what politeness is, the last time he ate beef dumplings, he ate beautiful beef dumplings, and this time he asked for a name. It just so happened that there were two bulls in the kitchen that Cheng Fu died in a fight due to estrus yesterday, and they were all sent over, and the beef was enough. Li Mu asked the kitchen to be made according to Li Shimin's taste, and changed to new tea and waited for the dishes to come up, while he was absent for a while, came to the city wall, gave the suffering gentlemen a holiday, and brought the eldest grandson back by the way.

The longer he was by Li Mu's side, the more reticent Sun Chong became. Compared with the changes before and after Changsun Chong, Li Mu felt a little sorry for him. But that's okay, the original eldest grandson Chong, the young master has too much temper. It just so happens that Li Mu is also a person with a strong personality, the two of them must not get along, the current eldest grandson Chong is very good, he has no temper, or he has a temper, but he endured it and didn't show it, no matter what, they got along happily.

A large table is placed in the courtyard, and the guests and hosts are seated. Li Mu took out the wine he had brewed himself, patted the sealing mud at the mouth of the altar, and the aroma of the wine diffused. Hou Junji sniffed it tightly and praised: "People say that the spirits of Ba Shang Liquor Workshop are the best in the world, and I don't think it can be compared with the brewing of Zhulu Hou himself." The wine in Bashang Distillery is good, but it lacks a bit of taste. After drinking the wine of Zhuluhou, it seems that his strength has increased a little, and he can't finish his strength. ”

"Everywhere, it's the same koji." Li Mu said this, but he was thinking in his heart that this Hou Junji was a person who knew the goods. The wine in Bashang Distillery is not produced by the system and has no buff, and the wine he brews himself, with the improvement of his [Brewing Technique] skills, there are more and more temporary attributes. As long as you are unconscious and feel your strength increase, it is still obvious.

Li Shimin is also a person in the army, he likes spirits, a cup of "three cups poured" into his stomach, his whole body warmed up, echoed Hou Junji's words, and said: "It really seems to be energetic, he glanced at Li Mu and said: "Don't be too lazy kid, when you have time, brew some and give the big guy a point." ”

Li Mu rolled his eyes in his heart, why should I score one point? Don't you need time, energy, food, and money? Lao Tzu's time is precious, okay?

Slandering in his heart, but he couldn't say that, Li Mu also took a sip of wine and said: "When I had nothing to do, I really wanted to live a life of studying at night, but unfortunately, there are more and more things...... That's why I worked hard to train my disciples, hoping that they would be able to share some of the burdens, but these disciples were more and more incompetitive than the other. ”

When the eldest grandson Chong and Li Tai, who were eating beef dumplings, heard Li Mu say this, they quickly put down their chopsticks, stood up and bowed down, and said, "Let the teacher down, the disciple knows that he is wrong." ”

Li Shimin felt sorry for his son, so he took Li Tai's hand and asked him to sit down, but Li Tai refused. Li Shimin looked at Li Mu reproachfully and said, "My son, I am reluctant to scold, you are good, what do you mean by holding a gun and a stick?" ”

Li Mu sighed and said, "Okay, sit down, you two have done your best." Remember to be a teacher, if you are stupid, you have to learn by heart, and there will always be a day when you will open your mind. ”

The two responded, glanced at Li Mu again, and then sat down.

Li Chengqian snickered beside him, and secretly said in his heart, fortunately, he is the prince and has no apprenticeship, otherwise he will be degraded today. But he didn't expect that the snickering voice was a little louder, so that Li Shimin next to him could hear it. Li Shimin already favored Li Tai, and when he saw Li Chengqian snickering at his younger brother, he was immediately displeased, and it was not easy to say it directly, so he looked at Li Mu and said, "Recently, I heard that you have a city management brigade?" also let Fang Xiang's second son, Fang Yiai, recruit a lot of gentlemen, what do you do? ”

Li Mu was not surprised at all that Li Shimin knew about this, and he didn't ask, and said directly: "Your Majesty, there is a folk proverb called 'If the small tree is not repaired, it will not slip straight, and if the person does not repair it, it will be corrected'. Otherwise, two or three generations later, the generation of heroes of my Datang who opened up the territory are all some waste descendants, how can Datang talk about a 10,000-year foundation, a hundred years is enough. ”

Li Shimin smiled: "You think far ahead," he glanced at Li Chengqian, and said, "The prince is also very idle every day, why don't you take one with him?" ”

"Ahem, cough, cough......" The eldest grandson Wuji was drinking, and when he heard this, he almost choked himself, quickly cleaned up, got up and said, "Your Majesty, don't do it!" The prince is the prince, how can he be with the prince, if the prince is bad, what will happen to the future of the Tang Dynasty, Your Majesty think twice! ”

"Uncle is bad!" Li Chengqian's face turned red with excitement, and he hurriedly said: "This palace just lacks experience!" Now that my father has given me a chance, how can this palace shirk it? After that, he looked at Li Shimin and said: "Father, rest assured, the son will definitely lead the urban management brigade and make immortal contributions to the Tang Dynasty!" ”

"Your Majesty," Li Mu looked at the appearance of the bear child, and smiled bitterly, and said: "You better think twice, what the prince should do is the prince's business, the chengguan brigade is a yamen that deals with people in the market, and it is not suitable for the prince's experience." ”

"Why doesn't it fit! Eldest brother! Li Chengqian grabbed Li Mu's hand, tears were in his eyes, and said, "Big brother, it's suitable, there's nothing more suitable than this." My father also often said that water can carry boats and capsize boats, and the people are the foundation of society. I am the crown prince, if I can't get close to the people, how can I be a king in the future? You say yes, big brother! ”

"This ......" Li Mu was choked by the thirst in Li Chengqian's eyes, and looked at Li Shimin, hoping that he could stop it, but Li Shimin clearly wanted to give Li Chengqian a punishment, how could he be accommodating, looking at this stupid son who couldn't hear what he could say, Li Shimin was also depressed, and said: "Let the prince go through the training, but you can't let him lead, you have to let him be incognito, and you can't let people know that he is the prince." ”

Li Mu was dumbfounded and said, "Your Majesty, how can this be hidden?" There is not a single flat-headed common man in the chengguan brigade, they ...... You should all know the prince, right? ”

"No, no, no, I don't recognize!" Li Chengqian hurriedly said: "This palace doesn't often go out of the palace, where do they recognize it?" I've also heard of the people in this chengguan brigade, most of them are the second and third sons of each family, and they all study in Hongwen Hall. Their eldest brother is the one who accompanies him in Chongwen Pavilion, so the eldest brother doesn't have to worry, they don't recognize me, their eldest brother will recognize me, and he won't show his stuff! ”

"Is that so?"

Li Chengqian nodded vigorously and said, "If someone recognizes me, I'll go back to the East Palace, right?" Big brother, I beg you, let me go through it! ”

"Oops......" Li Mu frowned, and said in a frightened manner: "It's hard work!" ”

"Eat hard, eat hard!" Li Chengqian slapped his chest thumping and said: "We people who practice martial arts, if we don't suffer hardship one day, don't worry, big brother, I have been practicing martial arts for ten years, just wait for today!" ”

Li Mu just wanted to laugh when he heard it, Li Chengqian was only thirteen years old after the New Year, so why did he practice martial arts for ten years. However, Li Shimin has already decided, and he doesn't want to be a bad guy in vain, so he said: "Okay, tomorrow the first day of the new year will be a holiday, and the second day of the new year will let the eldest grandson Chong take you there, you will pretend to be a distant relative of the eldest grandson's family, change your name, and exercise for a while." In other words, if the identity is revealed, it will be terminated and obediently return to the East Palace. ”

"Okay, okay! I must be careful! "The matter is settled, Li Chengqian is so happy that he jumps and jumps, and he forgot the original intention of coming, what map is not mapped, how can he be happy out of the palace, thinking that he doesn't have to squat in the palace to be a canary anymore, the corners of Li Chengqian's mouth can't help but rise, and he can't wait to arrive at first glance in the second year of junior high school.

After eating and drinking for a while, Li Shimin took Li Chengqian and Li Tai away, there was a banquet in the palace at night, it would not be possible without the emperor and the prince, Hou Junji would also take over the escort work, and the officials of Chang'an City would go to the palace today, and Suzaku Street would be blocked, and the Ministry of War would naturally be responsible for scheduling. Li Mu sent the eldest grandson Wuji and Wang Qi again, and the eldest grandson Wuji took out a pair of jade pendants from his sleeve and gave them to Li Muquan as a thank you gift. And Wang Jue gave a brocade box, and when he opened it, there were four pairs of clear jade bracelets, and he didn't say anything, but the meaning was self-evident.