hsntnovel Chapter 2689 I heard you owe a lot of money
Chapter 2689 I heard you owe a lot of money
"Tenth Prince, Chengqian, come to my carriage."
Just as Li Shen was about to climb into the carriage, Li Shimin's voice rang out again from not far away.
All eyes turned to Li Shen. Sure enough, Prince Ji was very favored.
Under the envious gazes of Li Zhi and Li Tai, Li Shen reluctantly got into his father's carriage.
Sometimes what others crave isn't necessarily what you want.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but Li Shen hadn't been back for more than half a year, and his father had already beaten him countless times in just a few days.
This heavy paternal love was something Li Shen couldn't quite bear.
"Tell me about it."
After Li Chengqian boarded the carriage and closed the door, Li Shimin spoke.
"Yes, the reason I am late is because the Tibetan Grand Minister Gar Tongtsen just came to my residence and discussed some matters with me."
Li Shen replied.
"What is it?" Li Shimin asked.
As the carriage slowly moved forward, Li Shen briefly recounted Lu Dongzan's visit.
"You mean he wanted to marry that Samaga to you, and you didn't agree?"
Li Shimin personally poured a cup of tea for Li Shen and handed it to him.
“Yes, how could my son possibly agree?” Li Shen took the teacup and nodded.
"Then you'll have them marry the princess to your elder brother?" Li Shimin glanced at him sideways.
"Yes, what's wrong with that? It's exotic, after all, our eldest brother will inherit the throne in the future."
Li Shen said indifferently.
"You bastard, how can this be related to beauty?" Li Shimin kicked Li Shen and said angrily.
"What does this have to do with anything?" Li Shen asked, puzzled.
"Tenth brother, if I were to marry that princess and have children, what would I do? After all, they are not of pure Tang blood."
He still has the blood of the Tibetan barbarians flowing in his veins, and in the future he will be enfeoffed as a king and prime minister with his own fiefdom.
If the Tibetans were to exploit this, it wouldn't just be a loss of face for our royal family, but also a threat of war.
Li Chengqian took a sip of tea and explained to Li Shen, his tone somewhat helpless.
"Really? He's still of royal blood, he wouldn't dare to rebel, would he?"
Li Shen did not believe Li Chengqian's words. Although he had not read many books, he had studied history for a few days. During the Han Dynasty, many Xiongnu people offered beautiful women and also left behind princes.
There were similar cases during the Wei and Jin dynasties, but there haven't been any during the Tang dynasty yet.
Actually, no, it's not that there aren't any. The Li family should be considered one too. His grandmother's generation were Xianbei, and his father was also Xianbei, yet they still managed to seize the throne.
"Tenth brother, you should know that it's better to be prepared. We are different from them. They ask for a princess to bear children so that they can be related to us by blood."
"And we don't need to have anything to do with them," Li Chengqian explained again.
“That’s right, our Great Tang doesn’t need to have anything to do with them.” Li Shimin nodded in agreement.
Li Shen, however, was disdainful. If it weren't for him, who knows how many princesses would have married into the family. It's all just talk now.
"Yes, I have learned my lesson." He was inwardly disdainful, but he couldn't say it aloud.
"Once the gold arrives, it must be immediately sent to the imperial treasury, understand?" Li Shimin leaned back in the carriage, his eyes half-closed in contentment.
“Ah, this gold probably needs to be re-smelted before it can be used. Tibetan gold is not that pure.”
Li Shen rolled his eyes and offered a suggestion.
"It's alright, I will have the Ministry of Works refine it again."
Li Shimin opened his eyes.
“Father, the Ministry of Works’ smelting technology is not good. The smelting technology of my Prince Ji’s Mansion is better, and the gold produced is purer.”
Li Shen immediately shook his head in denial.
"Is that so? I'm really afraid that after you refine 2,500 catties of gold, not even 2,000 catties will be left."
Li Shimin looked at Li Shen with a mocking expression.
Trying to play these tricks on him is too naive. Haven't you learned your lesson after all the times you've been burned?
Li Shimin even suspected that Li Shen might be mixing brass into his gold.
"Hehe, how could that be? Since that's the case, Father, why don't you name a price and I'll just exchange it for copper coins for you?"
This will save Father from having to exchange money again; I heard that the Luoyang Palace is still under renovation.
Li Shen smiled awkwardly, not expecting his father to be so clever now.
"What? You've started minting copper coins again?" This was Li Shimin's first reaction.
If we switch to copper coins, will the copper coins be counterfeited?
Li Shen immediately put on a bitter face and said aggrievedly:
“Father, is your son so worthless in your eyes? Counterfeiting coins is illegal, a serious crime.”
Good heavens, even his own father imagines him as an unforgivable sinner.
"This is enough to show how unruly you are, two thousand five hundred pieces of gold and eight hundred thousand strings of copper coins."
“Father, after smelting, there will be no 800,000 strings of cash left. It will be at least 20% less, 640,000 strings of copper coins.”
Upon hearing that his father wanted 800,000 strings of cash, Li Shen refused, thinking it would be better not to pay it back at all.
"You told me it was 800,000 strings of cash." Li Shimin remained unmoved. He wouldn't stand for a loss of 160,000 strings of cash.
Li Shen really wanted to get off the bus and stop talking; there was no way to talk to an uncultured and shameless old man.
He discovered that his father lived entirely in his own mind; whatever he thought was what he believed. He was completely unreasonable.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Li Shimin asked, noticing Li Shen's silence.
"I think Father doesn't need to exchange them for copper coins. Too many will be hard to store. Let the Ministry of Works smelt them and put the money into the imperial treasury."
Li Shencai was too lazy to care; this king wanted to skim off a little and squeeze out the price difference.
"Hahaha, Gaoming, you see? This rebellious son is unwilling to suffer any loss, not even from me."
Li Shimin suddenly laughed.
“Yes, my tenth brother is greedy and unwilling to suffer any loss.” Li Chengqian laughed as well.
Li Shen then realized that his father was teasing him.
"Tenth Prince, why are you so fond of money?" Li Shimin asked, taking a sip of tea.
"Does this need a reason?" Li Shen frowned.
"Don't you need it?" Li Chengqian asked back.
"Of course not, who would complain about having too much money?" Li Shen said directly, convinced that what he said made perfect sense.
"Tenth Brother, since you love money so much, why did you spend it all and end up with a huge debt?"
I have heard that you now owe the central bank over four million.
Li Shimin asked with great interest.
Since he's a miser, he shouldn't spend money, but this guy spent all his money and even owes a lot of debt.
"Sigh..." Li Shen sighed. He couldn't very well say it was because he was afraid the two of them would be suspicious, could he? Wouldn't that hurt their feelings?
The Prince Ji's Mansion initially borrowed more than two million strings of cash from the bank using a contract, and at the end of the year, Wang Hongfu borrowed another two million strings of cash.
The total amount was approximately 500 strings of cash, which would require Li Shen to work for a year without eating or drinking to pay off.
At this rate of spending money like water, I'm afraid I won't be able to pay it back anytime soon.