hsntnovel Chapter 2390 Melancholy
Chapter 2390 Melancholy
"What five hundred thousand? When did I promise five hundred thousand?"
When Li Shen was reminded by Shitou that he still had to pay his father 500,000 strings of cash for his hard work, Li Shen started to act dumb.
"That's it..." Shi Tou wanted to remind him, but when he saw Li Shen's vicious look, he swallowed his words back.
Prince Ji wants to default on his debt. Isn't this a bad idea?
Isn’t Prince Ji afraid of being punished by His Majesty when he returns?
"Hmph, didn't I give the Crown Prince 300,000 strings of cash? I told him back then that wealth and honor are achieved through risk.
I said that the 500,000 yuan is the labor fee for helping me to deal with the problems here.
Since it has been given to the prince, it can no longer be given to my father.
Otherwise, wouldn't I have to pay two labor fees?
And are you stupid? If you give my father 500,000 strings of cash, he will definitely think it is not enough.
Even if the prince was given 300,000 strings of cash, he would still be flattered and think it was too much.
Isn't it obvious at a glance which is more important?"
Li Shen snorted coldly and stated his own reasons.
What I do here naturally needs someone to take care of it. I will only help others get rid of their troubles if I get paid, but there is no reason for me to pay twice.
"But... Your Majesty, didn't you promise to give him 500,000 strings of cash in your letter to His Majesty?
If I don't give it to you, wouldn't that be a crime of deceiving the emperor?"
Hearing Li Shen's sophistry, Shi Tou couldn't help but remind him.
Prince Ji's reason is too far-fetched. He has already promised something, but he dares not fulfill it. He is His Majesty.
He is the king of a country, and deceiving the king is a serious crime.
"Hasn't it been enough for me to deceive the emperor? Compared with 500,000 strings of cash, is deceiving the emperor a big deal?" Li Shen said indifferently.
"But..." Shitou wanted to say something, but Li Shen waved his hand impatiently:
"Alright, I have my own plans. It's not easy for me to make money.
Now that I'm here, look at what I've done: extortion, fraud, and robbery.
I am the prince of the Tang Dynasty, but I actually did something like a thief. If I don’t gain anything, wouldn’t it be a waste of my efforts?
They are in the government, unaware of the sufferings of the people, and they want to easily plunder the money that I have worked so hard to earn.
How could I possibly let them have their way? Do you think I'm easy to bully?"
Li Shen got angry when he thought about being ripped off. He had finally made some money, but now he had to give some away.
These people who get something for nothing are the most hateful.
Wang Xuance's hand holding the pen trembled slightly, and he looked up at Li Shen. Could he be referring to His Majesty when he said "above the temple"?
He almost said the name of His Majesty. Prince Ji is becoming more and more daring.
"Okay, write a third letter to Wang Hongfu and ask him to notify the First Carriage Company to free up half of its carriages. We will depart in January next year and try to arrive in Xizhou before February.
The key point is that the flatbed truck that the king asked him to build must meet the king's requirements."
Li Shen began to write the third letter. The first carriage company was the one established by Li Shen’s retired guard battalion. It can also be called an escort agency or logistics company.
It is to help merchants in Chang'an City transport goods and ensure their safety along the way.
Their biggest advantage is that they are not exploited by states and counties, which is something other car dealerships cannot do.
Because the First Car Dealership is backed by the Prince Ji's Mansion, if there is any problem, they can directly go to the local newspaper to communicate. For this kind of illegal extortion, the newspaper only needs to report it to the Prince Ji's Mansion.
The local authorities would immediately release the offenders and punish the corrupt officials to show that they had nothing to do with the matter.
They can't afford to offend the newspaper. Even the governor who governs several states and counties can't afford to offend the newspaper.
If what they did were reported and known to the imperial court, they would not only be punished but also be infamous for eternity.
Fortunately, the newspaper of Prince Ji’s Mansion will not meddle in other people’s business. As long as it is not a matter of great evil, they will not interfere in the affairs of the government.
On the contrary, if a governor or county magistrate did something beneficial to the country and the people, the newspapers would report it extensively to increase their popularity and reputation.
Many officials who have tasted the admiration of the people want to make some achievements and publish them in newspapers.
This is Li Shen’s encouraging education. Doing good things and receiving praise from others will make you happy.
After writing the three letters, they were put into envelopes, sealed, and covered with Li Shen's special sealing lacquer.
"Do you think there is anything I have forgotten?"
One person's plan is short and two people's plan is long. Li Shen cannot take care of everything.
Although his superiors have cultivated his overall perspective over the past decade or so, he still misses many things.
Wang Xuance fell into deep thought and sorted out all the things. As the Chief Secretary, he knew everything that King Ji handled.
After a while, Wang Xuance looked up:
"Your Majesty, it seems we forgot to tell His Majesty something."
"Oh? What's that?" Li Shen was puzzled after hearing this. Is there anything else he hasn't told his father?
"Your Highness, do you still remember the tens of thousands of prisoners we captured?" Wang Xuance asked.
"Of course I remember, what's wrong?" Li Shen replied.
"Your Highness, those captives will be used as corvée labor and will be escorted back to Chang'an City next year.
And our spoils of war must also be handed over to the court..."
"Impossible, the spoils belong to this king."
Before Wang Xuance could finish his words, Li Shen glared at him.
"Yes, yes, most of the spoils belong to the prince, but there are also a lot of weapons, equipment, food, horses and other worthless things.
Should the prince also ask the court to send someone to escort him back?
Otherwise, with only 3,000 of us left, we might not be able to take care of so many prisoners.
We have too much stuff to transport back to Chang'an."
Wang Xuance quickly explained that they had gained a huge amount of money this time, including 1.5 million strings of cash from Yanqi and hundreds of thousands of strings of cash from bandits.
Of the money extorted from the Xizhou officials, in addition to the 1.3 million strings of cash that were handed over to the court, another 700,000 to 800,000 strings of cash belonged to Li Shen.
You don’t need to transport the materials you robbed from the workshop area back.
But there were even more worthless things such as horses, weapons and equipment, and food left behind by the tens of thousands of rebels.
In addition to the nearly 20,000 prisoners, Li Shen's 3,000 men had no way of escorting them back.
Wang Xuance's words made Li Shen think for a moment, and he realized the problem: the transport team was too large.
Just transporting the supplies would require at least several thousand horse-drawn carriages.
And there are more than 10,000 prisoners.
"What's your opinion?" Li Shen asked Wang Xuance.
"Your Highness, this matter still needs to be reported to His Majesty, so that His Majesty can send someone to escort the prisoners and supplies.
All these people and items must be handed over to the imperial court anyway," Wang Xuance suggested.
"But...I want these prisoners. With so many people building the road, how much labor will I save?"
Li Shen opened his eyes wide and looked at Wang Xuance, looking very melancholy.
(Hi everyone, it's late again. There's no excuse for oversleeping.)