hsntnovel Chapter 2662 46% Profit Sharing in Personal Name
Chapter 2662 46% Profit Sharing in Personal Name
Li Shen was completely confused; he didn't understand what his father meant by saying that.
He understood Wang De's explanation, but he didn't understand what it meant to have become better.
If you say I've become more handsome, I'll definitely be happy, but how is "becoming better" defined?
“Father, I don’t understand what you mean,” Li Shen asked.
"Tenth Prince, answer me, are you reading a military treatise?" Li Shimin asked again.
"I did read some." Li Shen originally wanted to say no, but then he thought that saying no would make him seem unambitious, so he lied.
"Don't look at it anymore. I still prefer your extravagant and licentious lifestyle," Li Shimin sincerely advised.
"Why...why is this?" Li Shen was somewhat confused.
"You just tricked me using the strategy of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' from the Thirty-Six Stratagems, and now you've pulled another trick, 'creating something out of nothing' and 'borrowing a corpse to revive a soul'."
Finally, they took advantage of Japan's misfortune and stole what they could.
You're using all thirty-six stratagems from Sun Tzu's Art of War.
Li Shimin looked at Li Shen and became genuinely worried. A rogue isn't scary; what's scary is a rogue with education.
What Li Shen just said was nothing but creating something out of nothing; he didn't need to contribute anything, everything was provided by the imperial court.
They used the government's weapons to make their own fortune.
The land went to the imperial court, but the money went to him—a clever way to steal.
Li Shen was also stunned. Am I that amazing? I just wanted to take advantage of the situation, I didn't think that much about it.
Before Li Shen could speak, Li Shimin interjected:
"Tenth Prince, you really went to great lengths and made a good plan regarding the Japanese. The court provided weapons and sent troops to quell the rebellion, but in the end, you got all the money."
You seem perfectly comfortable taking advantage of the imperial court.
“Father, what are you saying? How could I take advantage of the court? Didn’t the court gain such a large territory?”
They call themselves Yamato, so we will establish the Yamato Protectorate, and from then on, Japan will be an inseparable part of our Great Tang Dynasty.
Isn't this wonderful?
Upon realizing he had taken advantage of the situation, Li Shen quickly offered an explanation.
"Conquering Japan is a matter for later; right now we're talking about selling weapons, so don't confuse the two."
The conquest of Japan was also carried out by the imperial court, so what does it have to do with you?
In short, the imperial court can sell you weapons, but after you sell them, the court will take 50% of the profits.
Li Shimin ignored Li Shen's explanation and directly stated his own opinion.
"Impossible." Li Shen immediately rejected the idea, realizing that he would be at a disadvantage if he did.
They would give the imperial court a sum of money, and then sell the product and give the imperial court another sum of money.
“If you disagree, the court can do it itself,” Li Shimin said calmly.
“Father, have you forgotten about the rice-selling incident in Silla? If the imperial court had done this, Japan would have found out.”
The Japanese court publicized this matter extensively. Do you think they might temporarily put aside their grudges and unite against our Great Tang?
I know Father will say that since the entire Japanese kingdom is no match for our Great Tang, if they were to unite, they would still be a considerable force.
Even if we were to wage war, it would likely inflict considerable casualties on our Tang Dynasty. Furthermore, the local people would consider us plunderers and harbor deep resentment towards us. Getting them to completely surrender would not be easy.
Li Shen analyzed the pros and cons for his father, explaining that in business, one should present the facts and reason.
After you've analyzed it, you can decide for yourself.
They went to such great lengths to muddy the waters of Japan, just so they could take advantage of the situation.
Achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost. Li Shen believed that his father was a wise ruler and would naturally understand the principles he was talking about.
"I have certainly considered what you said, but the court has paid a much higher price this time; the territorial gains can only offset the expenses of the expedition."
"But the weapons are given to you for free; the imperial court is losing out too much."
Li Shimin wasn't a foolish ruler; surely he understood these things. He simply wanted to maximize his profits, and he had to be careful when cooperating with Li Shen.
"What does Father suggest we do? Anyway, it's definitely not okay to sell it to me and then split the profits."
Li Shenyi spread his hands and asked helplessly.
Li Shimin pondered for a moment, and finally made up his mind:
"Eighty percent, I take eighty percent of the profits, and I use my own money to buy these weapons and deposit the money into the national treasury."
You can get these weapons without spending a penny, and I'll give you 20% of the profit.
“Fifty percent. Father will provide weapons in exchange for equipment, and my Prince Ji’s Mansion will be responsible for transportation and sales.” Li Shen held out a hand.
"How much money do you make from transporting and selling these goods? Do you know how many people will criticize me for doing this privately?"
At least 70%, leaving you 30% profit.
Li Shimin shook his head in disagreement.
Upon hearing this, Li Shen did some mental calculations. If he could acquire the weapons without spending money, he could make a profit by selling them. The transportation cost would be at most 10%, meaning he would earn 20%.
Although his father earned 70%, there was still the cost of weapons and equipment, which was about 10%. In addition, replacing the equipment of the soldiers would cost another 20%, leaving his father with only 40%. It wasn't worth it.
“No, even 30% of my profit isn’t enough to cover the transportation costs. If you lower your price to 40%, we’ll make a deal.”
Father, don't underestimate this small percentage. The price I'm calculating now is in our Tang Dynasty, but it'll be different over there—at least three times the price."
In order to make this happen, Li Shen tried to persuade him.
"Four times six?" Li Shimin frowned in thought, calculating the costs in his mind. He quickly nodded.
"Fine, you got the better deal."
Seeing that his father agreed, Li Shen quickly poured two cups of tea and handed one to his father.
“Ah Ye, let’s celebrate our successful collaboration with tea instead of wine.”
Before Li Shimin could react, Li Shen clinked his cup together and drank it all in one gulp.
Li Shimin also took a sip.
"Father, I wonder why it's not the imperial court that's cooperating with me. The imperial court would have earned more that way," Li Shen asked, putting down his teacup.
When you calculate it this way, it turns out that it was actually a collaboration between myself and my father; the imperial court only made money from the weapons and also replaced a batch of weapons.
“You don’t understand. The imperial court has too much money, which makes it difficult to control,” Li Shimin said, shaking his head.
Money is indeed a good thing, but sometimes too much money is not good, whether for individuals or countries.
“Indeed, I am different. I originally wanted to cooperate with the imperial court to enrich the national treasury.”
Li Shen nodded, saying that one cannot truly understand politics without talent.
"Now that the imperial treasury is full, countless people are eyeing this money. In the past, when the treasury was empty, everyone lived in peace."
However, in recent years I have discovered that some people are asking the court for money under various pretexts.
Once the funds are transferred to local authorities, the imperial court finds it difficult to supervise them.
Li Shimin explained to Li Shen that it wasn't because he was greedy for money, but because he had no other choice.
"Is Father afraid that someone will use the court's money for their own purposes?" Li Shen immediately understood.