In the small study room of the Taiji Hall of the Imperial Palace, Li Er was silent for a long time after listening to Xiao Rui's report.
"It has been ten years since Jinyang launched its army. In these ten years, there has not been a single year of peace. Year after year of wars, the people suffered terribly, and the soldiers suffered countless casualties. There are many people who act like Xiaogong. I also privately It has sheltered more than a thousand disabled people."
Xiao Rui said in surprise: "You know? So you have known all this for a long time, including my going to investigate the prince of Hejian County?"
He didn't dare to say the rest, meaning, you know I misunderstood, why did you let me embarrass you?
Seeing his son-in-law deflated, Li Er smiled: "You kid, if I don't let you suffer a loss, you think anyone can investigate. I know about Xiaogong taking care of the veteran. As for your investigation of him, there is another hidden secret. Wei Xuancheng found out."
"Is there another secret? What? Did Prince Hejian lie to me?" Xiao Rui felt that he had been hasty and it was indeed unsafe to draw conclusions based on a pile of account books.
Li Er waved his hand: "That's not true. Xiao Gong is upright and broad-minded. You are one of his own, and he can't lie to you. And he has adopted nearly three thousand veterans in his fiefdom. It's not a small matter, and he doesn't dare to hide it."
"Boy, you have never doubted it. Why is it such a coincidence that at this time, someone comes to file a complaint against the King of Hejian County?"
Xiao Rui pondered: "I had doubts at first, but I was too lazy to pay attention to it. Because what the Yushitai is facing is not only the old ministers who are lying on their backs, but also all the officials and nobles of the Tang Dynasty. As long as there is real evidence, then we, the Yushitai, will all Take it. Even if someone plots against me or against the prince of Hejian County, it doesn’t matter. Yushitai is not targeting anyone, we only need to give justice to the people."
Li Er pointed at Xiao Rui and cursed with a smile: "You are just a brainless and stubborn donkey."
"According to Wei Xuancheng's verification, the person who came to sue Xiaogong was deliberately arranged by Pei Ji. However, Pei Ji was very smart and everything he prepared was true. The grievances, evidence, and selfish motives of the person who complained against Xiaogong were all true. Wait, it's all true. Pei Ji is giving you a question to see if you dare to answer it? "
Xiao Rui suddenly realized: "No wonder, no wonder I felt something was wrong when I took the case. This ordinary man seemed to understand Yushitai's case handling process very well. He had prepared all the formal evidence I needed. It turned out that there was an old fox Help."
"Your Majesty, one thing comes to another. We admire what Prince Hejian did. But because he protected the veterans, he did harm to ordinary people. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty..."
Li Er laughed loudly and said: "You kid, are you trying to scare the monkeys? You are very brave. Xiaogong can be said to be the top among the newly rich ministers. If he can be punished, other officials will not dare to mess around again. The prestige of your Yushitai has been established."
"It's a good plan, but how are you going to convict him? I don't dare to offend Xiaogong easily. He is my cousin."
Xiao Rui was calm and composed, sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai, and actually dared to drink tea leisurely. Li Er rolled his eyes: "You bastard, are you trying to cheat on me?"
Xiao Rui didn't dare. He hadn't gotten his wife yet, so he came over like a dog-leg and fawningly, picked up the teapot and personally filled some tea for his future father-in-law. At the same time, he explained with a smile: "Yesterday, I reached an agreement with the King of Hejian County. He promised to help As a favor, I promise to help him solve the veterans’ aftermath problems.”
Li Er suddenly realized, "No wonder you are so calm and composed. That's right, you have a lot of clever ideas, especially ideas for making money. In the entire Tang Dynasty, you are the only one who dares to boast like this. You can solve the livelihood of thousands of people at once."
Thousands of people? You mean, I take over the job myself and pay to help Li Xiaogong take care of the veterans? What are you thinking about? Although I have money, I won’t throw money into a bottomless pit, right?
Xiao Rui took out a thick memorial from his arms, "Taking care of disabled veterans is not a personal matter. This is a resettlement plan that Weichen came up with overnight. Maybe it can solve the problem permanently."
Li Er became interested, "You mean to permanently solve the aftermath of disabled retired soldiers? Boy, do you know how many people there are? How much financial resources are needed to feed these people? Over the years, the Ministry of War has made several efforts, but to no avail. If you can find a reasonable countermeasure, you won't even have a single battlefield..."
As he spoke, Li Er opened Xiao Rui's memorial. As he looked at it, he held back his next words. His whole mind was attracted by that memorial.
Xiao Rui looked like he had known this for a long time, sitting there drinking tea with the old god in his sight. The high chamberlain serving on the side became more and more frightened. Even the most favored uncle Changsun Wuji did not dare to drink tea in front of His Majesty. What is the background of this young man? How much courage has he gained?
After reading it three times in a row, Li Er's shock was palpable and he asked excitedly: "Boy, according to your plan, is it really possible to resettle 200,000 disabled veterans?"
Xiao Rui laughed loudly: "Two hundred thousand? Two million is no problem. After they retire, they are not soldiers, but ordinary people. If they are left idle and the court pays to support them, it is impossible. They can't support even 20,000. But as long as they don't lose their limbs and lose their labor force, to me, it just provides 200,000 or 2 million jobs."
"It would be much easier to provide them with job opportunities and support themselves with their own efforts. Maybe not only would they not have to spend money, but they would also be able to generate income for the country."
Li Er was a little doubtful and said: "The people of the Tang Dynasty are all soldiers and farmers. If these veterans are disabled, it will be difficult to go back to farm. These workshops and factories you mentioned can really, really support such people." How many people?”
Xiao Rui clapped his chest and said: "Weak ministers can issue military orders. In the Tang Dynasty, the scholars, farmers, industry and commerce have always been regarded as lowly industries. But if hundreds of industries rise, the national strength will at least double. Didn't the treasury make hundreds of thousands of dollars from confiscating homes recently? Do you agree? Give me 50,000, no, 100,000. Approval of another piece of land, and the results will be seen before the Chinese New Year."
What? One hundred thousand? fifty thousand?
Li Er immediately became alert when he heard that it would cost money. It is not easy for the court to save some money, but you dare to speak.
Seeing that the emperor was stingy, Xiao Rui stood up and said, "Well, it doesn't matter if you don't want to pay. I'll find a way to scrape together tens of thousands of taels of silver. It's okay to squeeze in. But by then, these two hundred thousand people The income created, haha, is Wei Chen’s private income, so don’t regret it.”
"Wait a minute?" Li Er panicked, stood up, and asked in a low voice: "Can you really make money?"
Xiao Rui really wants to say, you are the king of a country, can you be more generous? How about bargaining with me?
"Pretend I didn't say anything, I'll go find the Prince of Hejian County to cooperate."
"stop!"
Li Er stopped Xiao Rui, walked over and kicked the guy, "Asshole, you are my son-in-law. If I don't support it, who will? Isn't it just one hundred thousand taels? Here you go, here you go fifty thousand taels. You, you Save your money. It’s not easy to save some money for the treasury.”
Seeing this scene, Xiao Rui really wanted to take a photo with his camera, looking so provocative.
Xiao Rui took the money note and left. Before leaving, he asked the emperor for 500 people to work.
"This kid, if he can really handle this matter, can he be transferred to the Ministry of Works for training?" Li Er murmured, looking at Xiao Rui's back.
The next day, news came from the court that Li Xiaogong, the prince of Hejian County, was personally held accountable by His Majesty for bullying the people and occupying fertile farmland. He was dismissed from the post of Minister of Rites and promoted to Zong Zhengqing. He was also fined one year's salary.
As soon as the news came out, the whole country was in an uproar. The newly wealthy ministers were shocked that Xiao Rui didn't recognize his relatives, how dare anyone dare to do anything to him? The Minister of Rites has the real power, while Zong Zhengqing is just a sinecure responsible for royal sacrifices. Li Xiaogong has already accepted his defeat. Is the emperor doting on this son-in-law too much?
After Pei Ji, who was scheming against Xiao Rui, heard about it, he no longer sat quietly on the Diaoyutai. After being frightened, he locked himself in the study for a whole day. The next day, Pei Ji took the initiative to submit a memorial and decided to retire and return to his hometown, resign and go into seclusion.
