Li Shimin looked at Yun Yao's residence, and sure enough, there was a burst of medicinal incense, steaming, and the Dan furnace, which was taller than Yun Yao, was still on fire. It seems that her daughter is really alchemy, and the eldest grandson empress, who was holding Yun Yao, was also very surprised and asked, "You little clever, why did you still learn alchemy?" ”

"I found a few old recipes in the book, so I tried it." Yun Yao opened her big black and white eyes wide, and pretended to be innocent and said that as long as she launched the technique of pretending to be pitiful, the emperor and empress would not suspect it.

Li Shimin didn't doubt that there really was an old recipe, he was more curious about why Yun Yao wanted to make money, so he asked, "I heard that the treasure bottle said that you are alchemy to sell for money?" You're only three years old, and you're in the palace, why do you want to make money? Did your eldest brother instigate you? As a father, he immediately wondered if his eldest son had taken his sister badly.

"It has nothing to do with the imperial brother, it's because I read history and feel it. From ancient times to the present, in history, there have been many powerful countries, and many dynasties can be strong for a while, but in the end they can't escape decay, I wonder why is this? In the end, it was discovered that these dynasties did not find a direction for development when they had money, so that they eventually declined, and inevitably went to destruction. And as powerful as the Qin and Han dynasties, their development direction is external expansion, although they are strong for a while, but in the end they still failed to change the decline, so I wonder if there are any other development directions. ”

Li Shimin was stunned, this is what the three-year-old doll realized from reading? He recalled that when he was a teenager, he only read history for the people in history who were moved and regretted, and he never summed up such a truth.

All previous dynasties died in no direction? Isn't that what it is? However, listening to my daughter's meaning, external expansion is not the best direction, so the best direction is the so-called industrial upgrading. So he asked: "What are you talking about the development direction of industrial upgrading?" What does that mean? ”

It's really hard to explain, after all, this is a summary of later generations, and nothing has happened now, so it's hard to understand the reason. Therefore, a good thinker must be a good storyteller, and the reason why the hundred schools of thought can be circulated is because they tell the truth through stories, and it is easy for people to understand a truth that they have not been exposed to through association.

Yun Yao thought to herself, how should we explain industrial upgrading? In fact, to put it simply, eliminate inefficiency and upgrade to high efficiency. Li Shimin fought in the south and in the north, let it be explained by war.

"To use the analogy of battle, it is to upgrade from chariots to cavalry, from infantry to archers. Fighting a war is still a war, but the way of war has been changed, which can be called escalation. Obviously, the Terrans have long tamed horses, why would a good cavalry be behind the chariot? Obviously, the human race invented the bow and arrow very early, why did large-scale archers appear very late? "Not only that, but also the way of selecting talents, the Yangshi of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chaju of the Han Dynasty, the Jiupin Zhongzheng of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the imperial examination until now, I have obviously known the importance of talents since ancient times, but why did the imperial examination only be invented until now?"

Both Li Shimin and Empress Eldest Sun fell into deep thought, obviously not thinking about the problem from such a novel perspective. The history of the Central Plains revolves around historical figures, so it's hard to sort out the timeline. Those who study also learn how historical figures deal with problems when they encounter them, and they also know the order of history.

Listen to Yun Yao ask why the horse has long been tamed, but the useful cavalry appears after the chariot; The bow also appeared a long time ago, why did the good archers become large-scale so late; Even since ancient times, we have known the importance of talent selection, why did the imperial examination only appear in the Sui Dynasty.

Could this be the mystery of industrial upgrading?

"Yun'er, why do you say this?" Empress Eldest Sun asked for her husband.

"The chariot appeared first because there was no saddle, and it was very dangerous to ride a horse. The reason why the archers never became large was because the making of bows and arrows was too difficult. The reason why the imperial examination only appeared now is because with papermaking, knowledge spread faster and there were more readers, so the way of selection also changed. From chariots to saddles, the production of bows and arrows has changed from less to more, and the selection of talents has changed from few to many, which I call industrial upgrading. But definitely not only that, but also the increase in food production, the development of agricultural tools, the evolution of vehicles and ships, the expansion of roads, the change of building materials, etc., these changes have greatly improved our lives, but we did not take the initiative to pursue upgrades before, just waiting for everyone to find a more convenient way in life, and then promote it naturally, or learn from their experience abroad. But I think we can take the initiative to upgrade the industry, but the upgrade needs money, so I want to make money. Yun Yao tried her best to explain, if they didn't understand, then she couldn't help it. You can only do it first, and then let them understand.

Fortunately, Li Shimin and Empress Changsun are not stupid people, and Yun Yao's example is still quite obvious, it is a change in tools, a change in production, and a change in scope.

The tools are more advanced, the production is more powerful, and the scope is larger and extensive, Li Shimin not only understood it, but also made a summary, industrial upgrading is to change the tools, production methods, and coverage.

This idea is still very clear, but is this really what a three-year-old doll came up with? Sure enough, it was God-granted, thinking that when his daughter was born, the sun was full of light and red clouds filled the sky, Li Shimin knew that this must be the daughter of a unicorn. Now it seems that it is true, and it is really embarrassing to be able to put forward such an idea. As an emperor, he has never considered the development direction of the Tang Dynasty, but his daughter has considered it for her father, how smart this is.

It's a pity that it's a daughter, if it's a son......

"So you've made money, what are you going to upgrade first?" Empress Eldest Sun was very curious, and she didn't know what this quirky little girl wanted to upgrade.

The Tang Emperor couldn't help but look at Yun Yao, wanting to know her goal.

"It depends on how much money you can make, and if you have less, upgrade your learning tools. If you have more, you will find a way to upgrade the car, ship, loom and the like. In short, you can upgrade only if you have money, and you can use money to upgrade the right way. ”

Li Shimin wondered if he was saying that spending money on war was not the right way? But if you don't fight, you can't do it, there are Turks in the north, Tuyuhun in the west, and Goguryeo in the east. However, because of the end of the unification war in the south, there was no fighting on the southern front.

There were enemies in the other three directions, especially the two to the west and north, all of which could affect the Silk Road. In fact, the civilization in the west is all supported by the Silk Road, and if they can't control the Silk Road, they will suffer, because the place is not suitable for farming at all, and they can only be second-hand traders.

But why did the goods of the Tang Dynasty allow middlemen to make the difference? Therefore, in order to open up the Silk Road, the Tang Dynasty will inevitably attack the Turks in the north, Tuyuhun in the west, and of course there is a Tubo country, but as long as Tuyuhun is defeated, Tubo is no threat.

Now the Tang Dynasty is still a soldier and ready to attack at any time. Unfortunately, even if they were defeated, the Tang Dynasty did not have much energy to develop these places, because the productivity was fundamentally insufficient, and the land that was not suitable for agriculture could not be developed at all, and the local primitive living conditions could only be maintained. So once the Tang Dynasty weakened, these places would definitely rebel again.

This is also the biggest obstacle to opening up territory, it is easy to fight down, but difficult to develop. Even in the Age of Discovery, there was this problem, and the development of the wilderness was obviously not worth the loss, and it was extremely uneconomical.