Travel to the early Tang Dynasty and become a salted fish

"Haha, Li Er, even a three-year-old child doesn't believe your excuse. Do you think I can believe it?"

"What's more, what did you do to me after you locked me in prison?"

Chu Mo didn't give Li Shimin any face and just started to complain.

Li Yuan on the side watched with relish as Li Shimin was rendered speechless by Chu Mo. Finally he shook his head, snorted coldly, glanced at Li Shimin dissatisfied, and then turned to Chu Mo and said:

"Little brother, Shimin did something wrong in what happened before. So, if you have any requests, just ask him, and I will definitely let him give you a satisfactory explanation."

Having said this, Chu Mo naturally couldn't offend Li Yuan, the boss behind the scenes.

He immediately smiled and said: "Your Majesty, there is nothing else. The main reason is that Li Er owed me a lot of money before and promised to allocate a piece of land to compensate me. But he only agreed to these. What have I paid back so far?" Never seen it before.”

Li Yuan touched his gray beard, pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, little friend, I won't beat around the bush with you. Didn't Shimin promise to allocate a piece of land for you on Lingnan Road?"

"I won't say anything else. I will directly make the decision. The compensation I will give you will be doubled, and the location will be chosen by you. I only have one request. From now on, can you just wipe off all your old debts with the world?"

"Father!!!"

Hearing Li Yuan's words, Li Shimin was shocked and shouted out involuntarily.

Li Yuan gave Li Shimin a warning look and continued to say to Chu Mo: "I am an unfilial and rebellious son who is just a bit stingy. Don't mind, little friend."

Chu Mo stared at Li Yuan. He didn't know what the other party's purpose was.

Although he has mastered explosives and can indeed scare these old foxes, he does not believe that there is a free lunch in the world.

As if he had read Chu Mo's thoughts, Li Yuan chuckled, pointed to a pavilion in front of him and said, "I'm a little tired, little friend, why don't you accompany me to sit in front for a while."

Knowing that the other party wanted to talk to him alone, Chu Mo did not hesitate, nodded and made a gesture of invitation.

Li Yuan nodded and walked forward with Chu Mo.

When Li Shimin saw this, he immediately followed.

The Hanshan layman on the side stepped forward, stood in front of Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, the Supreme Emperor and Little Friend Chu have something to discuss. You can just wait here."

Li Shimin's eyes flickered, and he didn't know what he was thinking, but he didn't go beyond the Hanshan layman and really stopped in place.

The two came to the pavilion. Li Yuan waved away the attendants around him, poured a cup of tea for Chu Mo himself, and said with a smile:

"My little friend, come and try it. I got this from your shop. I also like it very much."

Chu Mo curled his lips and said, "I'm not selling this, it's my sister's, and you're patronizing her business."

Li Yuan was not angry at all because Chu Mo was so disrespectful. Instead, he smiled cheerfully and said, "Oh, the sister you are talking about is called Chu Xin? I know that she, like you, is an extraordinary person."

After saying that, Li Yuan looked at Chu Mo carefully for a while and then continued: "Chu Mo, do you know that I have been paying attention to you since you entered the city for the second time and made a big fuss at the city gate."

"According to my investigation, when you were in Luoyang and after you came to Chang'an, you seemed to be a different person. If your sister hadn't appeared and proved that you were indeed Chu Mo, I would have thought you were a fake."

When Chu Mo heard Li Yuan mention his identity, alarm bells rang in Chu Mo's heart. He looked at Li Yuan sharply and asked, "You investigated me? Did you also find out about Luoyang?"

Facing Chu Mo's questioning, Li Yuan did not panic at all, and continued to talk to himself: "Those things you did in Chang'an City, you thought you could capture the eyes and ears of the people, but you can't hide from my royal guards."

"But don't worry, I know that you are used to being idle and don't like disputes in the court. And, most importantly, I don't want my Li family to be your enemy."

"I don't want to be an enemy of your royal family. However, the tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop. This is not something I, a common man, can have the final say on."

Chu Mo smiled bitterly.

Li Yuan took a deep look at Chu Mo and said, "I know you are not an ordinary person, so I will tell you directly. If you had not objected, you would not be standing here talking to me today."

Chu Mo's pupils opened slightly, then he laughed, stared at Li Yuan and said: "Old man, this joke is not funny. Although I, Chu Mo, have no ambitions, I am not someone who is willing to be driven by others."

"I don't want to rebel, it's just that I'm too lazy to rebel. But if you force me to rebel, I won't even have to compete in this world."

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and met Chu Mo's eyes, wanting to see whether what the other party said was true or false.

Chu Mo looked calm and allowed Li Yuan to look at him.

"That's all, I'm old. Let you young people handle your own affairs."

After saying that, Li Yuan felt like a deflated rubber ball. His originally upright back instantly stooped and turned into a decrepit old man.

Chu Mo curled his lips, he was a hard-hearted person, and if he wanted to win sympathy points from his place by relying on his age, you, Li Yuan, were still far behind.

"Old man, just now you said that you would carve out a piece of land for me in Lingnan. I don't care about it. Who knows, that place is a place of exile. Not to mention that the land there is worthless and will be given away for free. Let's just say that there is a land within ten miles. I can’t find a single family, I want to develop, I don’t have a population, do you want me to go to the mountains to find monkeys and come down to reclaim the barren hills?”

"What's more, I want to develop a business. Who will I sell my goods to? Who will supply the required raw materials?"

"The most important thing is, if I go there, will I still be able to come back?"

Hearing Chu Mo's complaint, Li Yuan was not surprised. He just kept nodding his head. After seeing the other party finish speaking, Li Yuan answered:

"My little friend said, I have also considered it for you. I can let the prisoners who are exiled there every year be directly returned to your jurisdiction to enrich your territory."

"In addition, you can collect all taxes on your own in your jurisdiction. I can pardon you from paying all taxes for ten years..."

Chu Mo curled his lips and interrupted Li Yuan: "Old man, I am such a frank person, can you please stop always thinking of setting me up?"

"The area you gave me is all barren hills. If I don't cultivate it into fields, it will always be just barren hills. Where will you go to collect taxes?"

"Besides, I am an official and have a partial tax exemption policy. Even if I reclaim some wasteland, as long as it does not exceed the upper limit, you will not receive taxes."