The court meeting lasted from the morning until it was almost time for dinner in the afternoon. Emperor Shotoku finally said: "Many people are curious about why such a large number of Tang Dynasty caravans entered Fuso."
The people below muttered disapprovingly in their hearts, it's not to help you get to the top, it's just that they dare not say it out loud.
"Actually, it's because we will have more in-depth cooperation with Datang. From now on, Sado Mountain and Iwami Mountain will be leased to Datang as concessions for a period of fifty years."
Many ministers are a little confused. To be honest, Mount Sado and Mount Iwami are not famous mountains in this era. Many ministers don’t even know where these two places are, let alone why the new emperor wants to lease these two places to the emperor. Tang, if you pay back the rent, it will be fifty years.
A chamberlain sent a map, and Emperor Shotoku also circled the approximate location. Most of Iwami Mountain originally belonged to him, so there was no problem.
As for Sado Mountain, it used to be the land of the Soga family. Now that the Soga family is gone, the land belongs to him.
"Your Majesty, what kind of cooperation is the land leased to Datang?"
Many ministers did not understand the new term "concession".
Usually I have only heard of renting a house or a car, but this is the first time I have heard of renting a piece of land from this country.
After hearing this, Emperor Shotoku said: "There are some mineral deposits in these two places, but as of now, Fuso does not have the ability to mine. So after leasing it to Datang, they will build mines and nearby roads, and Datang will mine in the concession area. minerals, and has garrison and law enforcement powers.”
"Isn't this a country within a country?" Some ministers looked at each other with wide eyes and said.
"But Datang is willing to pay us Fuso 10,000 kilograms of pig iron every year for this." Emperor Shotoku looked at them and said: "Of course I know how precious those minerals are, but they cannot be dug out if they are buried underground, and they are not even as good as stones."
"We are short of iron in Fusang, so we exchange minerals that are just like stones for us in exchange for the iron tools we need more now, so that our people can have one more hoe to cultivate the land, one more saw to cut down trees, and more Wouldn’t it be better to use a mining pick to dig for minerals?”
After saying this, the other ministers fell into deep thought.
Datang came for their minerals, this was natural.
It would be difficult for them to stop it. It seems that exchanging resources that can be developed in this way is indeed the best way now.
"His Majesty the Emperor is wise!"
At this point, the day's court meeting was completed.
The next day, Tang Ping signed a concession contract with Emperor Shotoku on behalf of the Tang Dynasty. The 20,000 soldiers from the Tang Dynasty who came this time will begin to garrison Sado Jinshan and Iwami Ginzan respectively to start preliminary preparations.
In Li Shimin's view, they can only mine this gold and silver mine for fifty years. Whether they will regret it after fifty years is not yet clear.
Anyway, for now, it is definitely a matter of digging early.
Tang Ping asked Lao Cui to keep the contract, and then accepted the banquet hosted by Emperor Shotoku.
The two of them walked towards the banquet hall. Tang Ping whispered: "Shanbei... His Majesty the Emperor, we still have some private accounts that have not been settled. You also know that it is not easy for my family to raise a family. Otherwise, before dinner Let’s settle the accounts first?”
Emperor Shotoku looked at Tang Ping and chuckled: "I thought you had forgotten."
He asked Qingyuan Sakamoto to find an empty side hall first. Now Qingyuan Sakamoto is temporarily helping him in charge of the inner treasury. If he wants to repay Tang Ping's money, of course he has to go to the inner treasury.
"Tell me how much money I want to give you!" Emperor Shotoku said quite grandly: "Although the friendship between the two of us cannot be measured by value, I can't let you suffer. Take it out and I'll pay you 20% more."
"Hey, you also know that we have a little notebook to keep track of things! But we are still brothers who settle accounts openly. When we talk about money, we don't talk about feelings."
Tang Ping smiled and said to Li Bai next to him: "Xiao Bai, please read the bills for the past few months to our chief patron Gu Niang."
"Yes, master!" Li Bai smiled and took out a small notebook from his arms. Emperor Shotoku also laughed happily when he saw it.
After I was rescued by them, every time I had any expenses, I could see Li Bai writing them down on it, and then he would ask me to sign them.
"According to statistics, the total cost of food, accommodation and transportation is 1,800 guan."
Surely Emperor Shotoku knew where he could spend so much money on food and accommodation? But as he said, Tang Ping's help to him cannot be measured by this amount of money, so he smiled and said to Sakamoto Qingyuan: "Mark it down, eighteen hundred guan."
"There are also loaned storybooks, a total of seven hundred strings."
"Okay, I'll rent the script for 700 guan." Emperor Shotoku continued to say with a smile.
"And..." Li Bai began to calculate for him.
After every word, Emperor Shotoku smiled and asked Sakamoto Qigen to add more.
After Li Bai finished speaking, Emperor Shotoku glanced at the paper in Sakamoto Qiyuan's hand and said, "So the total is 8,960 guan, right? I'll give you a round number, 10,000 guan!"
To him, ten thousand guan was not a small amount of money, but again, he felt it was worth it to Tang Ping.
"Wait!" At this moment, Li Bai stopped Emperor Shotoku: "You still haven't paid for yesterday's account."
"You guys, just like your master, like to haggle over every detail." Emperor Shotoku took the pen from Sakamoto Qingyuan's hand and sighed in his heart. This is probably the last time he will make notes in Li Bai's little notebook.
Thinking about those few months now, it is really unforgettable!
Just as he was about to put pen to paper, Emperor Shotoku stared at the numbers in Li Bai's notebook with wide eyes.
"Eight million and six hundred thousand yuan!" He looked at the book and then at Li Bai. After making sure that he had read correctly, he asked: "Did you write an extra ten thousand yuan at this time?"
"How can that be impossible?" Li Bai exclaimed: "You should know that we are innocent when doing business. Look at the details below."
"The fuel usage fee of the East China Sea Fleet is 500,000 yuan."
"The artillery and ammunition consumption of the East China Sea Fleet is 4.7 million yuan."
"East China Sea Fleet combat troops landed..."
"A total of 8.6 million yuan!"
"Yes, that's right!" Li Bai shook the small book in his hand: "Tell me, how much noise did we make yesterday to save you? My master has never mobilized an entire fleet for anyone. Yes."
"You can't possibly ask my master to pay for the fuel, ship maintenance, ammunition consumption, and the crew's travel expenses for the business trip to Fuso, right?"
"Huh...huh..." Emperor Shotoku took two deep breaths, then looked at Tang Ping and Li Bai and said:
"I remember that a famous quote often appeared in the storybooks I read."
"I don't need money, but I need my life!"
