Whoosh.
The north wind howled and the temperature dropped sharply.
Several slaves put the charcoal fire in the upper study room to increase the temperature in the room.
"call--"
Li Shimin shook off the ashes and said displeasedly,
"This also costs money, and that also costs money. No matter how rich the country is, it can't spend so much money to feed so many people!"
"Listen, you, the Academy and the Ministry of Industry, are the most outrageous!"
"The money required is more than the sum of the six movies!"
In the study room, Xu Fenglei stood up and opened the window.
Whoops!
A gust of cold wind blew in, causing Li Er to tighten his clothes.
"cold!"
He frowned and said,
"Shut it, shut it!"
Xu Fenglei rolled his eyes.
"Have you ever heard of the term suicide by burning charcoal?"
He said angrily,
"Put a charcoal fire in the house and close all the doors and windows."
"Then just wait to die."
"You are closing the doors and windows now, do you want to die? There are so many people dying from burning charcoal every year, don't you have any idea in your heart?"
Li Shimin was startled.
"so serious?"
Xu Fenglei closed the window slightly and responded:
"Yes, because during the burning process of charcoal, it will produce a kind of gas, which you can understand as poisonous gas."
"This poisonous gas is so strong that if people inhale it too much, they will become dizzy and eventually be poisoned to death."
When Li Shimin heard this, he suddenly realized.
"So this is ah……"
He said,
"If you don't tell me, I really don't understand."
Xu Fenglei shrugged.
"That's why I need so much funding."
He said seriously,
"The establishment of various colleges in the Academy, to put it simply, is to make things in the world more understandable, and through this 'understanding', to benefit the people of the world."
"It's like medical school. Sun Zhenren worked hard to write a medical textbook. I went to his home to see it. It was as tall as half a man! He has been writing it whenever he has time over the years!"
"With this book, I can confidently say that the number of medical talents who can save lives and heal the wounded in Datang will definitely double in the future!"
"Do you think I can print this book without applying for funding?"
Li Shimin looked stern.
"Half a man is so tall? Be good...that's incredible!"
He was surprised and said,
"That requires strong support! This is a medical masterpiece!"
Xu Fenglei nodded.
"Right, there's also Li Zhi who wants to open a medical clinic, so I can't support her?"
He smiled and said,
"I, as the master, have supported it, so you, as the father, must also support it, right?"
"I have already purchased the store she chose. It cost me a lot of money in the prime area of Dongshi!"
"I paid for the purchase of the shop. Are you embarrassed about the subsequent decoration?"
Li Shimin curled his lips.
"For a princess to open a medical clinic, to be honest, it's a bit of a joke."
He said,
"But after what happened to Wang Zhaoyi, I also feel that it is right for her to study medicine. At least in times of emergency, we can rely on her and our own people!"
"Those imperial doctors are useless!"
Xu Fenglei laughed.
"Your Majesty, don't be angry. I have arranged for those imperial doctors to go to medical school for further training. They are the first batch to study!"
He said,
"If they fail to pass the final exam, then they will be expelled from the ranks of imperial physicians!"
"Only those who pass the exam are qualified to stay and continue to be imperial doctors. What do you think?"
These imperial doctors had a very comfortable life.
Torture them first and then talk!
"Okay, very good, let's do it."
Li Shimin smiled and said,
"Be strict! The hospital doesn't support idlers!"
"I will give you 70% of the budget you want, including the Academy and the Ministry of Industry! You can figure out the remaining 30% by yourself... Don't be impatient, 70% is already very high! I have a lot of budgets. Not approved!”
"The treasury only has so much money, please be considerate."
Xu Fenglei glared.
"Only 70%? That can't be done! I can't possibly use my own money to subsidize the country, right? I'm not that great."
He said dissatisfiedly,
"At least 90%! Then I'll just stick to it a little bit!"
"If it's 70%, then I'll have to scale back, and I won't be able to do so many things."
When Li Shimin heard this, he was immediately confused.
"You kid... okay, okay, 80%."
He bargained,
"Three provinces and six ministries always overreport their budgets, so of course I have to cut them."
"But I believe you, you won't make false reports... 80%, 80% is okay? It's not a lot!"
"You have to do everything right, and you're not allowed to cut corners."
Xu Fenglei snorted coldly.
"Eighty percent...that's still tens of thousands taels short. I have to pay for the wasted money myself."
He said reluctantly,
"Well, I will suffer a little loss this year, but you will get enough next year! No more cuts!"
"Otherwise, the little money I earn in a year won't be enough even if I pay it all!"
Li Shimin nodded repeatedly.
"Okay, okay, definitely next time, definitely next year..."
"Come, come, have a drink of tea."
"I smoke too much, and there is always phlegm in my throat. I feel uncomfortable without drinking tea."
He personally poured a cup of tea for Xu Fenglei.
Xu Fenglei still looked reluctant on the surface, but he was smiling secretly in his heart.
Fortunately, he also lied a little bit.
Li Er cut off 20% of the budget, which was just enough. The so-called losing money out of one's own pocket was all told to Li Er to give him more confidence to ask for money in the coming year.
Asking for money... is an art!
"You really need to quit smoking."
Xu Fenglei grabbed the cigarette case on the table and sighed,
"This thing is really harmful to your health."
"Oh, I really regret bringing it to you... With the way you draw it, your lifespan will be shortened by several lengths!"
When Li Shimin heard this, he didn't care.
"In life, being happy is living, being depressed is suffering."
He waved his hand and said,
"This thing can make me less depressed and help me do good things! Even if I lose a few days of life, it doesn't matter!"
When Xu Fenglei heard this, he looked helpless.
Li Er was only in his thirties now, so naturally he felt it didn't matter because he was still strong.
When his body fails and all sorts of problems begin to appear, he will definitely complain!
However, I can't persuade him now... I'm really at a loss.
"Speaking of which, the tax on cigarettes is really impressive! It has only been collected for less than a year. My dear, the tax is more than the taxes of several states combined. I am really surprised!"
Li Shimin said enthusiastically,
"If this happens in a few more years, it won't exceed the annual agricultural tax revenue?"
"You know, these cigarettes are only sold in Chang'an now, and they haven't been sold in all parts of Tang Dynasty yet! If this happens once... tsk tsk!"
Xu Fenglei nodded.
"That's natural. It's easy to raise taxes on cigarettes and support military expenditures."
He said,
"If your Majesty wants to go to war in the future, he will not need any other money. This cigarette tax alone will be enough to support the fighting expenses of an army of 200,000!"
"In this way, while fighting the war, the country can continue to develop as usual without having to use money from the treasury. Wouldn't it be beautiful?"
Li Shimin nodded repeatedly.
"Good, good, very good!"
Li Er's eyes shone brightly and he said happily,
"I just said, this cigarette is a good thing!"
"Here, for the sake of the Tang Dynasty's military expenses, I will give you another one! Do you want it?"
Xu Fenglei: "..."
Now, it seems that Li Er has even more reason to smoke!
Damn stuff...
At this moment, a message suddenly came from outside:
"Your Majesty."
"The Tubo envoy Galdongzan has arrived."
Li Shimin was about to light a cigarette, but when he heard this, he put down the cigarette.
"The Tubo envoy... I've been waiting for him for a long time."
He raised his hand and said,
"Tell him to come in."
The nearby waiter responded and retreated.
"The minister also resigned." Xu Fenglei also stood up and left the table.
"You can sit down, sit down, and listen."
Li Shimin waved his hand and said,
"You are familiar with Tubo, and you are also good at foreign affairs."
"I am too concerned about face. Sometimes I may harm Datang's interests without even realizing it. You have to be here to hold the door."
"This Tibetan envoy came well prepared. He came to ask for a hand in marriage!"
"Okay." Xu Fenglei nodded and sat down again.
He also wanted to keep quiet about what Lu Dongzan, the legendary prime minister of Tubo, looked like.
"The envoy of the Tubo Kingdom, Gal Dongzan, pays homage to His Majesty the Heavenly Khan."
Lu Dongzan walked into the study room and saluted respectfully,
"May His Majesty the Khan remain young forever and live forever."
Li Shimin smiled slightly, raised his hand and said:
"No gift."
"Gah...who is Gardongzan?"
Lu Dongzan then stood up and looked at Li Shimin.
"Yes, Your Majesty Tian Khan, you can also call me by my Tang Dynasty name, Lu Dongzan."
He smiled and said,
"I like the word "lu" very much. There is a saying in the Tang Dynasty that 'eats the king's salary and shares the king's worries'. I thought to myself that this is the reason why I came to the Tang Dynasty."
Li Shimin nodded slightly.
This Tubo envoy was actually very polite, much better than Murong Lin from Tuyuhun.
"Very good. It seems that you are also a loyal minister."
He pointed at Xu Fenglei and said,
"I forgot to introduce you, this is Prince Xu Guogong, Xu Fenglei."
Lu Dongzan turned to look at Xu Fenglei and was suddenly shocked.
"It turns out that you are Grand Master Xu Gong! I have heard about your name for a long time!"
He hurriedly saluted and said,
"I never thought you were so young!'
"It's true that heroes emerge from youth! Only a treasure like the Tang Dynasty can breed such heroes."
Xu Fenglei laughed.
This kid is really good at talking.
"Messenger Lu is so complimentary."
He said,
"Tubo is also a treasure land. I heard that the climate in Tubo today is mild, the food harvest is bumper, and the population is growing rapidly."
"The former plateau country is now almost a land of plenty, and it can naturally breed talents, such as your Zanpu Songtsen Gampo, and your Ludongzan."
"If you want to talk about it, among all the prosperous countries in the world, the only ones are Tang and Tubo!"
Lu Dongzan was even more surprised when he heard this.
"Xu Gong actually knows me so well about Tubo...?"
He said,
"Have you been to Tubo in these years?"
If I hadn’t been to Tubo over the years, I would never have come to such a conclusion!
Because before Songtsen Gampo came to power, Tubo was definitely not prosperous!
"No, I just heard about it."
Xu Fenglei waved his hand and said with a smile,
"The so-called scholar can know the affairs of the world without going out."
"Although I have never left Chang'an, I am very interested in information about the surrounding countries and like to analyze it."
"After some analysis, I think Tubo has great potential, which is far beyond what countries like Xue Yantuo and Tuyuhun can compare with."
Lu Dongzan looked at Xu Fenglei with a solemn expression.
He knew that the Tang Dynasty was full of talented people.
But I didn’t expect that there would be such an expert in the Tang Dynasty! So knowledgeable about Tubo!
This undoubtedly disrupted his plan and made the rhetoric he had prepared useless now!
"I, the Grand Master, have a very high opinion of Tibet! I say that your monarch, Songtsen Gampo, is wise and mighty, and his ability to govern is not inferior to mine!"
Li Shimin said with great interest,
"Ludongzan, can you tell me what achievements your Songtsen Gampo has made?"
"I am very interested in him!"
Ludong praised: "..."
"this……"
He glanced at Xu Fenglei and saw that he was smiling and had an unfathomable look.
If you tell nonsense, you might be exposed! It will be embarrassing then!
In desperation, Lu Dongzan could only say:
"Zan Pu has indeed made great achievements, but if he is to compare with His Majesty the Heavenly Khan, he will definitely not be able to compare with you. He will be out of reach!"
"Just saying that the destruction of the Turks is an achievement unmatched by any monarch! When Zamp mentioned you, he also looked at him with admiration. He said he wanted to meet you and meet the legendary Majesty Tian Khan. What on earth is this? appearance."
"Before leaving, he also told me to read it carefully and tell him in detail after returning to Tubo!"
"In fact, before I came here, I was also very curious about your appearance - I have always thought that His Majesty Tian Khan's face must be extremely handsome and majestic, otherwise he would not be able to achieve those legendary achievements! Now when I look at it - —”
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows.
"how?"
Li Er smiled and said,
"Disappointed?"
Lu Dongzan shook his head repeatedly.
"No, no, no, I take it for granted!"
He said,
"Tian Khan, I have to grow up to be like you!"
"If I don't grow up like you, I won't recognize you!"
When Li Shimin heard this, he couldn't help but feel delighted and laughed.
"Hahahaha... you Ludongzan, you really know how to talk!"
Li Er stroked his beard and said with a smile,
"I can't say that I'm very handsome, at most... I just have the appearance of a middle-aged man!"
He felt very happy in his heart, but spoke modestly, typical of Versailles.
"Your Majesty's appearance is absolutely superb!"
Lu Dongzan said hurriedly,
"But the more important thing is your temperament! It seems a bit hard to describe... But I just feel that the imperial aura in you is something that no one else can possess!"
"It's just like Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu is very beautiful, but he doesn't have your temperament. His temperament is different. It's that kind of talented and loyal... Well, I don't know if I'm right. "
Xu Fenglei curled his lips.
Good guy!
This guy is really good at talking! Listening to his words, I really felt like taking a breath of spring breeze!
Who doesn't like this kind of person?
This guy must be very popular!
Moreover, he was also very clever. He skipped the emperor's questions about Songtsen Gampo and quietly led the topic elsewhere, which made everyone happy and comfortable!
This ability... tsk tsk.
No wonder he is the legendary prime minister of Tubo!
(End of chapter)
