Don't be a prince

Reaching out to grab Li Ke's hand, rolling up his sleeves, seeing that the burns on his arm were still there when he was a child, Li Chengqian only felt that reality had played a huge joke on him.

"You are Li Ke? You were not so tall or fat before, but your face is still the same as before, day."

What Li Ke made Li Chengqian slander most was his handsome face. Although he didn't know what Pan An looked like, it was estimated that Li Ke would be able to get along with him even in the Tang Dynasty.

"After one or two years, I have to grow taller. Besides, although you have arranged a lot of things for me, but in Wuzhong, the Wu Palace wants to recruit talents. It is simply a lot of talent, and there is no need for it." I'm so bothered. In addition, I can't run around and stay at home all day, so it's strange that I don't grow meat."

"I believe you, but you came at the right time. The materials for all parties have not been fully prepared. Qingque and we are wondering what to do these two days. Oh, by the way, we need to build a huge ship by ourselves, and the package The one with the iron plate, do you want to play?"

Li Ke jumped up immediately: "Of course I have to be counted in!"

"It's okay for you, but this time you have to pay for it yourself! Don't expect me to pay you in advance."

"That's no problem. When I was in Wuzhong, I bought a lot of properties. Although I'm not as rich as Qingque and you two, it's okay to spend extravagantly."

After waving his hand to let Zhang Yun take Li Ke's people to hand over things, take his wife Qi Shi to the palace, and let the guards bring back a pot of sea cucumbers to the palace, Li Chengqian and Li Ke walked into a teahouse on the side of the road with a smile.

After personally clearing the teahouse, only the two brothers remained under the sackcloth roof of the entire teahouse.

Drink a cup of tea and drink it up, even if it is a cleansing.

Looking around, Li Chengqian asked: "Tell me, we brothers are the only ones here now, there is no need to talk about the scene, what is the reason that made you so fat? Although your body is not as good as Qingque's, but You have changed so much in such a short period of time, it’s no wonder that nothing happened during the period. Your martial arts are not bad, it’s impossible to make yourself so fat!”

After looking furtively around, Li Ke breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What else could it be? We agreed at the beginning that when we arrived in Wuzhong, I would help you keep an eye on the clans in Wuzhong in Kuaiji and help You opened the river transport. However, after I became a feudal clan, I realized that except for the people in the inner house, my concubine prepared them for me, and I didn’t know anyone else!

The long history of Prince Wu’s Mansion will send me a large amount of money every month, saying it is the prince’s salary. If I don’t spend much in a month, I will cry to my father and mother, saying that I am too frugal, and he can’t tell the court. cross.Although he said so, I still feel the breath of the queen mother in him!

Come here this time, it is a letter written by you, otherwise my little heart will not be able to stand such a scare.The queen mother is also in Dengzhou, you bring me here, once the queen mother is dissatisfied with me..."

He couldn't continue because Li Chengqian punched him on the cheek.

Obviously he could dodge it, but Li Ke still received the punch abruptly, and the corners of his mouth were bloodshot.

He picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea. After the two brothers clinked glasses again, it seemed that the words and punches just now did not exist.

Li Chengqian knew very well that what Li Ke said was completely true.Don't look at the eldest grandson who is now driven out of Chang'an by the emperor, wandering around like a resentful woman.But in fact, even looking at the overall situation of history, she is also the number one queen representative.Now, for him, the crown prince, only Li Tai and Li Ke could pose a threat.Li Tai is devoted to being a younger brother, and has no interest in the throne. Even if there is a fight, there is a relationship of "one mother and one brother", and no one will be finished.At least, that's what the eldest grandson planned.

And Li Ke, because of the blood of the two dynasties, has been feared by his eldest grandson since he was born.To tell the truth, the eldest grandson could be regarded as the mother of the world if he hadn't been slapped on him earlier.As for giving Li Ke some beauties, it is already the most merciful way to send two officials to lure Li Ke to degenerate.

Li Ke also knew that even if what he said was true, he shouldn't say it in front of the emperor.It is an ancestral precept for a son not to talk about his father's mistakes, and not to hear about his parents' mistakes. It is just a punch, and nothing will happen after being hit.

Putting down the teacup, Li Chengqian said helplessly: "Come here this time, if you want to play a bastard prince, you can play it, but you don't need to get fat. It's okay to find more beautiful women, but don't really sing every night, be careful when you are 50 years old. It's over. If I don't become emperor, I'm afraid you won't be able to rise to the top, so let's bear it!"

Li Ke nodded, perhaps the emperor brother was the one who knew him best.Others, even the mother concubine, are a bit too much....

After drinking a pot of tea, Li Chengqian left two copper coins as tea money, and led Li Ke back to the palace together.

When Dengzhou Palace was built, it was built according to the scale of a formal palace.Even if the emperor travels and lives here in person, the space is barely enough, so it is nothing to arrange for Li Ke to live in an independent hall.

Li Chengqian, who was quite pitiful for what happened to Li Ke, almost spit out a mouthful of old blood when he saw Princess Wu Qi's family.

What this girl is holding in her arms must be a child, right?

Seeing Li Chengqian's dumbfounded look, the eldest grandson who was holding the child frowned and said: "What a fuss, those little brothers of your father's emperor usually have children at this age, and now Li Ke also has children, but you are still foolish enough to believe Sun Simiao's words, what a mess!" You have to guard yourself like a jade. Now that it’s all over, Concubine Yang has become a grandma before me, hmph!"

Although he spoke harshly, when handing the child back to the Qi family, the eldest grandson took a hairpin from his head and gave it to the Qi family as a reward.In addition... Li Ke's child is a girl, which makes the eldest grandson very satisfied!

Looking back at Li Ke, who looked very uncomfortable, and Su Yuan, who was blushing, Li Chengqian only felt that life was full of malice towards him.Now that the eldest grandson has various means, he has already thought of ways to deal with it, but this is different. With the excuse of Li Ke's child, the eldest grandson can use it for two or three years!

Li Taicai came to the main hall, and when he saw the fat and white Li Ke, he laughed arrogantly.Because he has been trained by Li Chengqian's devil all this time, it seems that Li Ke is almost the same as him at this time.

"Okay, when we meet, we'll each do our own thing. Mrs. Qi stays, including you and Mrs. Su's Yan. The four of us just started a game."

Unexpectedly, the Qi family in Wuzhong could also play mahjong. He didn't need to explain, just sat down and began to shuffle the cards neatly.It seems that the toxicity and diffusion of mahjong are not so great.

The three men were driven out by a group of women, so they had to visit Zhang Liang's mansion together.Li Ke, in particular, prepared a lot of Wuzhong specialties. Among the three brothers, he knew nothing about the structure of battleships, so he had to ask Zhang Liang for advice.

This time, Li Chengqian also brought his own blueprints. Although he didn't want to be judged by others, he was not so confident in himself. DIY battleships should at least be able to float and not capsize easily.Therefore, it is still necessary for Zhang Liang to review it.

In the main hall of the Zhang Mansion, Zhang Liang carefully read the three drawings and remained silent for a long time.

"Yun Guogong, what's the matter, you can tell me!" Li Tai was the most anxious, so he urged him directly.

Taking out a blueprint, Zhang Liang said, "Except for His Royal Highness King Wu's blueprint, there is no major problem with the drawings of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness King Wei. It's just, Your Highness, you two really want to be carried on the battleship. So many eight-ox crossbows?"

Looking at each other, Li Chengqian picked up Li Tai's blueprint without hesitation, and Li Tai picked up Li Chengqian's blueprint.

Surprisingly, the blueprints of the two have a lot in common. For example, they both chose the eight-ox crossbow as the main weapon of the battleship, and the trebuchet as the secondary weapon.Moreover, both of them also marked the things thrown by the trebuchet, which turned out to be large grenades.

Li Ke also took his own drawings, read them again and then looked at Li Tai and Li Chengqian's, and was speechless immediately.When he was thinking about how to facilitate the gang jumping, the two of them had completely abolished the gang jumping plan, and they both used heavy firepower to suppress it.

Li Tai nodded, and said with a hey smile: "That's natural, that is, the emperor ordered the thunder to be too powerful, and there is a danger of smashing his own hands and feet, otherwise the king will never let it go, and if he can wipe out the enemy ships before they get close, it is a victory." , anyway, things can be solved with weapons, gunpowder weapons, why do you have to use knives?"

When he said very reasonable words, Li Tai's smile was extremely obscene, and even Li Chengqian began to wonder if he had the same expression when he said these words.

How obscene!

After pondering for a long while, Zhang Liang suddenly said seriously: "Actually, my minister's suggestion is for you two to think about it again. The two warships at sea were transported back to Chang'an by some means. It is impossible for you two to stay in Dengzhou all the time, or in Isn’t it on the ship? Even if such a warship is produced, who do you two plan to entrust to it? Even a humble minister would not dare to take such two warships under his command! It is no exaggeration to say that with these two warships, you can The country has been established overseas!"

Hearing Zhang Liang's words, not to mention Li Ke, Li Tai was also taken aback. They were so excited that they wanted to play, but they never thought about the aftermath.Indeed, even if Zhang Liang is a nobleman at the level of Duke, he would never accept such a warship.Such a battleship is really too powerful and too dangerous!Holding these two warships in hand, it will not be surprising when they are labeled as rebels.

But to the surprise of all three, Li Chengqian was indifferent after hearing these words.

After taking a sip of tea, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "It's serious! These two warships can only bully the turtles outside the Tang Dynasty, and they are not a threat to the Tang Dynasty. First of all, if it wants to enter the inland, it will be very difficult. Difficult, except for the two rivers of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, even the canals are a bit narrow for it. Tigers fall into Pingyang and are bullied by dogs, and warships enter rivers. There are ten thousand ways on land to turn it into waste.

Besides, now it is the emergence of the hydraulic giant hammer and the new iron wrought method that can support us to do such a thing. Before that, who would dare to waste iron like this?The times are progressing, maybe when we have new ideas, we may be able to build a pure iron warship.Or, when a weapon more powerful than the eight-ox crossbow combined with gunpowder crossbow and arrows appeared, wouldn't this battleship still have to be eliminated?

So, there is no need to worry about it.Duke Yun, I don't want to keep this from you anymore. These three warships are under your control.Not to mention that Dengzhou is close to the waters of Korea and other countries, whether it is used for defense or to take the initiative to attack in the future, it is extremely important. Even if the shipyard in Lingnan starts construction in the future, we also need enough sea power in the north.

Lingnan, after all, is not completely included in the mainland.Once the soil turtle family over there thinks something else, we don't have the means to subdue them, that's impossible! "

"You mean, Lingnan's shipyard won't build such warships?"

Seeing Zhang Liang's sudden realization, Li Chengqian said helplessly: "Otherwise, what do you think? After all, Lingnan is the sky high and the emperor is far away. Before he has complete control, he has enough to support and develop armed forces there?"

Zhang Liang smiled awkwardly, took the teapot handed over by the concubine, and poured tea for the prince himself to express his admiration.

His arm was touched by something soft, and when he looked away from Zhang Liang and the teapot, Li Chengqian saw a voluptuous woman.

The referee, this bitch, actually dribbled the ball into someone!

Chapter 354 The relationship between the government and the common people

When their eyes met, Li Chengqian realized that the person who bumped into him was a seductive woman.If the prediction is correct, it should be Zhang Liang's concubine—Li Shi.

Seeing her turning her head three times a step, squinting her eyes coquettishly, Li Chengqian felt that the tea he just drank was about to spit out from his mouth.Tsk tsk, this girl is dishonest!I don't know how Zhang Liang will react when he finds out that he is wearing a cuckold?

Speaking of one thing that people criticized about the Tang Dynasty, it was that there were too many men wearing cuckolds.From ordinary people to the level of the consort's captain, to the level of Fang Yi'ai, to the emperor Li Shimin... It wasn't just the Zhenguan Dynasty who messed up, but it was because of its large scale that it became so famous.

"Why does Your Highness stare at Li Shi intently, but is attracted to her beauty?"

If it was before, Zhang Liang would definitely be dissatisfied.But when he took his wife back and turned Li Shi into a concubine again, he didn't care so much.There are also three or two concubines in his room who were begged from others. As long as they like it, the original owner is willing to hand it over directly.If the prince wants to ask for it, he, a courtier, has no reason to be reluctant.

Hearing Zhang Liang's words, Li Chengqian shook his head repeatedly.Although it is a bit ridiculous to say so, he still has a mental cleanliness.He is not interested in taking over a woman who has been explored by other men.

"Mr. Yun is wrong. I just look at her face. It is very similar to the flamboyant appearance Yuan Tiangang said. I am afraid that there is a suspicion of a romantic affair!"

"Scowardly? The red apricot is out of the wall?"

Seeing Zhang Liang's bewildered expression, Li Chengqian knew that most of these two words did not exist in the Tang Dynasty.

"It means not obeying women's morals and stealing people, haha, Gu means laughing, Mr. Yun, don't mind."

Seeing the crown prince's slightly guilty look, Zhang Liang laughed out loud instead: "Haha, that's what it meant, but don't worry, Your Highness, a concubine is just a concubine, even if you steal someone, it's a big deal, just find a stinky ditch and throw it away." gone."

Chopped with a knife...

Thinking about his status as a concubine, Li Chengqian immediately understood why there was no shortage of beautiful women in the mass graves.The status of an emotional concubine at home is worse than that of pigs and dogs.

It would be too disgusting to continue to talk about Li's affairs, and Li Tai and Li Ke on the side have clearly shown gossip expressions.If they were allowed to get involved, I'm afraid that a good design discussion conference would turn into a chatter conference.Li Chengqian, who was fortunate enough to see the generals in the court to speak sarcasm, was really insensitive to the content of the sarcasm meeting.

Picking up the drawings on the table, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "Let's not talk about that, Mr. Yun, now Wuzhong's money and supplies have been sent to Dengzhou, and the letter to Chang'an has also been sent. Although the reply letter has not yet arrived, but Gu believes that the emperor can't refuse. You see, Dengzhou is not too cold now, and when we can't start construction, shall we discuss the location of the shipyard first?"

Speaking of serious business, Zhang Liang suddenly changed his expression.

After taking out the map of Dengzhou and looking at it for a while, he clicked on a place by the sea and said, "Here, I have seen this place when I went to sea. At that time, there were no worries here, and it was enough to build a harbor, let alone a shipyard. The most rare thing is that there are basically no people around here, and there is no need to clean up the surrounding people.”

Looking at Zhang Liang's fingers, Li Chengqian is very satisfied with this small harbor. First of all, it avoids the Bohai Sea, a place where wars can be fought at any time. If there is any negotiation, there is still a long way to go.

"Let's go here. Let's go to Dengzhou Inspector Zhao Yi. Before Chang'an's reply arrives, we need to open up the road and prepare the most basic warehouse."

Zhang Liangliang nodded. If it wasn't for the crown prince's order, he would not take the initiative to contact the governor of Dengzhou on weekdays.

Seeing that there were no major problems with his ship, Li Tai put away his blueprints and prepared to go home.As for Li Ke, although he wanted to learn from Zhang Liang again, it was not good to stay with him for a long time, so he went back with Li Tai.

As for Li Chengqian, after handing over the drawings to Li Tai for him to carry, he and Zhang Liang went to see Zhao Yi.

It is said to be the governor's mansion, but it is actually no different from the county government's yamen.Dengzhou is located in a remote place, and the state system is intermittent. The former governor of Dengzhou, before raising enough money to build the governor's mansion of Dengzhou, became the county magistrate inexplicably.

Entering the slightly dilapidated lobby of the governor's mansion, Li Chengqian did not refuse, and directly sat in the first seat, while Zhang Liang sat in the second seat, and he did not mean to be polite.In front of the prince and the Duke, the governor of Yizhou really couldn't rank up.

"Your Highness, there may be some problems with the collection of labor in Dengzhou. In fact, Dengzhou implements a tax-free system. Whether it is a family by the sea or an inland family, the tax-free policy of the imperial court is applicable. Of course, this also includes corvee. "

The corvée in the Tang Dynasty was actually a rent-free system, which was based on the equal-field system.The content of Zuyong modulation is: every year, you have to pay millet and two stones to the state, which is called rent; pay two feet of silk, three liang of cotton or two feet and five feet of cloth, and three catties of hemp, which is called adjustment; 20 days of corvee, plus two days in leap years , It is for active service. If the country does not need it to serve, it can pay three feet of silk or three feet, seven inches and five cents of cloth per day, and pay the full amount of 20 days to serve as a substitute. This is called Yong.

And for a region to reduce or exempt taxes, the corvee will naturally be cancelled, otherwise, every day and every year will have to serve corvee.In other words, Li Chengqian wanted to build a shipyard at this time and could not find free labor.but....

"Since Dengzhou is free of tax, then recruit peasants and pay their wages alone. Since the people on the coast of Dengzhou are richer than those in the inland, then we should give priority to recruiting the inland people. As for the wages... you can investigate How about the labor price in the state capital, just add [-]% to it."

Zhao Yi immediately agreed to add [-]% of the wages. In this case, I am afraid that the people of Dengzhou will flock to respond, and the civilian husbands will be recruited soon.

After discussing the recruitment of civil servants with Zhao Yi, Li Chengqian handed over part of the money to him.The salary is high, and it is still "cash payment". It is strange that the shipyard does not recruit talents quickly.

After handing over the issue of civil servants to Zhao Yi and the management of funds to Li Dahai who was galloping all the way, Li Chengqian found that he suddenly had nothing to do.It is hard to imagine what Li Dahai meant by "there is still a lot" and "enough". In other words, after a series of investments in Lingnan Seaport and disaster relief, Li Chengqian found that his money has been enriched again.

Only now did he understand what the life of a capitalist is like, and he doesn’t need to worry about investment failure, because when he maintains enough industries and has a fixed output, even if the investment fails, there is still a chance to make a comeback.The actual management does not need to be done by oneself, only the management class needs to be controlled.At most, that is spending a little brains on new investments.

In addition, because of his status as the prince, he has less worries than the capitalists.

This feeling of making money while lying down is really cool...

Lying on the big bed in the side hall, Li Chengqian realized that after all, he was living a life that he hated...

Dengzhou is a city by the sea. Although it is located in the north, the alternation of spring, summer and autumn and winter is indeed somewhat blurred.Maybe I was still wearing thin clothes a few days ago, but I will change into winter clothes in two days.However, compared with the real north, the winter in Dengzhou is not so sad, because it is close to the sea, as long as there is no obvious cold wave, the temperature will not be particularly low.

In the morning, Li Chengqian, who was wearing a thick bear like head, pulled Li Tai out of the bed under Yan's worried eyes.

"Ah, Brother Huang, it's freezing outside now, even the sea is frozen, why are we still doing morning exercises!"

Throwing Li Tai's winter clothes and a set of clothes one size bigger to him, Li Chengqian said leisurely: "Anyway, you can't afford it, today is the day for skating, Li Ke is already playing in the sea, if you don't hurry up , You can go when we are tired from playing, but don’t say we won’t wait for you.”

After finishing speaking, Li Chengqian turned around and left without waiting for Li Tai to react.

"skate?"

Hearing this word, Li Tai jumped up immediately, and yelled at Yan Shi to help him get dressed.Although it's hard to imagine that it's fun to slide around on the ice with two feet on a knife, but since Brother Huang said it was fun, it must be interesting.In terms of eating, drinking and having fun, Brother Huang is the god in his mind.

The weather around minus ten degrees is perfect for skating.After the craftsmen cleaned the sea surface, they poured cold boiled water on it, and the frozen ice surface was not only flat, but also free of air bubbles.Although it was very expensive and used hundreds of people just for fun, the people of Dengzhou didn't have any opinion of the prince.

In their minds, the prince came to Dengzhou, and he didn't rob flower girls or hit people everywhere, which is already very good.What's even more surprising is that, unlike the previous Sui Dynasty, the crown prince even paid back the money when he recruited labor, one day at a time, without any delay.Moreover, I have never heard of anyone whose money was robbed after they got it.

In this way, even if the prince is prodigal again, they should not have seen it, not to mention that the prince did not say that the people are not allowed to enter the skating rink, and some urchins are even playing with ice carts there, and soldiers will help them when they fall down.Although when the prince himself came, those soldiers wanted to clear the field, but no one felt that it should not be done.

Zhao Yi, governor of Dengzhou, was also in the ranks of Li Chengqian's invitation. Seeing the people watching from the shore, Zhao Yi put on his own skates and said to Li Chengqian, who was trying to walk, "Your Highness, I just arrived at the beginning. When I was in Dengzhou, the people of Dengzhou were very afraid of me. It took me half a year to gradually make them trust me, an official sent by the imperial court. Do the people accept it?"

Looking back at Zhao Yi, he lost his balance and fell to the ice.Foreseeing such a thing, Li Chengqian specially made armor and wore thick clothes.

Getting up and patting his buttocks, Li Chengqian said: "It's actually very simple. The people and the government have always had a relationship between discipline and being disciplined, and a relationship of mutual wariness and mutual suspicion. If you want the people to trust the government, how do you compare it? Blindly speaking is much more useful. The land of Shandong is considered the most severely expropriated area because of the Sui Dynasty’s conquest of Goryeo. The people here have experienced the chaotic times of the end of the Sui Dynasty, and they don’t trust the court even more. So, I want to regain it To trust, we must take the initiative to do things that make them trust.

You just wait and see, within a few days, the steward at the shipyard will propose a one-day payment, which will become a seven-day payment. Full of doubts about Gu.But when the wages are paid after seven days, and after fourteen days, they will blame themselves for guessing, and instead trust the prince even more.Boy, you have almost figured out the power of the governor, but you still need to explore how to govern the people! "

Hearing the prince who was younger than himself, lecturing in an old-fashioned tone, Zhao Yi only felt a strong sense of disobedience.It is said that His Highness the Crown Prince is a monster, and he has seen it today.Obviously he is the governor, but if the crown prince is placed in the position of governor, it is estimated...not estimated, he must be qualified, at least, more qualified than him.

Li Chengqian was very interested in ice skating in his previous life, but he never had the chance to get involved.Now that the temperature in Dengzhou has dropped sharply and the sea is frozen, he immediately came up with the idea of ​​ice skating.

It is estimated that Chang'an's reply letter will be delivered within two days. After the emperor's order comes down, the shipyard can be officially built.The timber merchant in Dengzhou has also begun to send the dried timber to the shipyard, and the shipbuilding industry is about to kick off.If you don’t play now, you probably won’t have free time when you get busy!

After stepping on the ice and getting used to walking, Li Chengqian tried to slide slowly, just like roller skating, the feeling of breaking away from the usual way of walking and jumping a long way as soon as he exerted his strength is really great!

Li Ke, who arrived at the skating rink early in the morning, has already mastered the method at this time. He is skating fast on the ice alone, and has to play tricks from time to time.Although due to unskilled reasons, I always fall down and slip far on the ice, but with the protective net on the edge, coupled with protective gear and heavy clothes, there will be no major problems.

After getting familiar with it for a while, Li Chengqian can skate quickly with the experience of roller skating.This feeling of freedom is really great.

The great feeling lasted for a while. When a tonnage-level player entered the field, especially this player who had fallen several times and hadn't grasped the essentials, but was about to slide, Li Chengqian suddenly felt scared.

With Li Tai's weight, hitting him is no worse than falling on the ice.

"Hahaha, Qingque, if you can't do it, you'd better go ashore and watch. Seeing how stupid you are, I feel sorry for my brother."

Hearing Li Ke's ridicule, Li Tai gritted his teeth, got up again, and began to look for the feeling of skating.

Chapter 355 The Emperor's Thoughts