Autumn.
In the eighth year of Zhenguan, Qizhou, Licheng, in the Governor's Mansion
Li Ke was wearing a thin silk dress, lying lazily on a bamboo chair, enjoying the autumn evening breeze.
"Report! Your Highness, the royal palace's caravan is back, bringing back a total of six thousand kilograms of tea. The trade route south has been completely opened!"
"Also, Western Soap has been sold in most stores across the state. The sales volume in the past few days has been very impressive. Many shopkeepers have asked for instructions to increase production for fear of running out of stock."
The steward took the account book and reported the trees page by page, and Li Ke took a sip of tea.
"Storage the tea leaves well so they don't get wet. There's no rush about the soap. It's a rare and expensive thing and everyone can buy it. How can you make a lot of money by selling it at a high price?"
After he said this, the steward Chen Tao quickly nodded in agreement and was extremely flattering.
Li Ke couldn't help feeling a little emotional.
In the blink of an eye, he has traveled to the Tang Dynasty for more than half a year!
The identity at this time is none other than Li Ke, the third prince of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, King of Shu!
You must know that this Li Ke has a noble status. He is a member of the royal family of two dynasties and has the blood of the Dugu family of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He is also a hero appointed by the great men of later generations.
At this time, Li Chengqian was still the prince of the East Palace and did not raise an army to rebel.
And Li Tai, the king of Yue, stayed in Chang'an and was compiling "Kuo Di Zhi" with great fanfare, hoping to win the favor of the world and Li Bo and gain the qualification to compete for Huang Wei.
As for Li Zhi... he must have just been weaned and started to learn to walk.
Although Li Ke's biological mother was not Empress Changsun, Li Shimin still loved his son and gave him a good fiefdom in the wealthy Qizhou.
He, Li Ke, was also the only vassal king who obediently joined the fiefdom.
Before time travel, he was a doctor of chemical engineering with high IQ and high education. Relying on his accumulation of knowledge and modern vision, he opened up trade routes southward and made the royal family extremely rich.
However, Li Ke sighed.
According to the course of history, Empress Changsun will become seriously ill and die this year.
His cheap father, Li Shimin, is a doting maniac, not to mention unable to balance the power among his sons. Before long, Li Tai will have thoughts of rebellion.
As for the undercurrents surging above the court, ministers formed cliques to fight for their masters.
Today's Chang'an City is the silence before the storm.
But in the past few days, Li Shimin issued several edicts asking him to return to Chang'an.
Li Ke made several excuses, but none of them could stop his father from missing his son.
How pitiful, he just wants to be a rich prince.
The emperor does whatever he likes, but he doesn't want to anyway.
But if he returns to Chang'an, not to mention anything else, just the blood of the former royal family in him will become a tool for those who want to use him.
In history, Li Ke died unexpectedly because he was plotted by Changsun Wuji!
He, Li Ke, didn’t want to be the emperor at all, so he didn’t want to go back at all!
Li Ke just couldn't figure it out, what's the benefit of being an emperor?
If you don't work hard, you will be scolded as a fool, and if you work hard, you will be criticized by the ministers. How could he compare to being a idle and wealthy prince?
Worry less, make more.
Of course, in the past six months, in addition to making money, he also started to prepare some necessary people. Ensure the safety of his life, otherwise all the money will be wasted.
In order to achieve his small goal, Li Ke worked hard.
After thinking for a moment, he asked: "There is no news from Chang'an?"
Chen Tao, the steward on the side, immediately said: "I keep an eye on you every day. Everything in the court is normal, and the queen's illness has improved a lot."
Li Ke was relieved about this.
Queen Changsun is a rare good queen, sensible and generous.
As long as she lives, she will be the anchor of the royal family. Li Shimin will not dare to rebel, and Li Chengqian and Li Tai will not be forced to a dead end.
Li Ke calculated that as long as Queen Changsun was around, he could continue to stay in Qizhou, so Queen Changsun could not die no matter what.
For this reason, Li Ke spent a lot of money to select medicines from various places. He also used his professional knowledge to prepare pills to relieve Qi diseases and sent them to Chang'an.
"That's good. Mother, please be more careful. Don't be afraid of spending money and trouble. If you have anything, you have to report it to me."
Chen Tao immediately agreed.
Li Ke stood up and patted his silk clothes: "Get ready, I'm going to Qiuyue Pavilion."
But what Li Ke didn't know at this time was that Li Shimin and Queen Changsun were already on their way to Qizhou!
The reason for their visit was Li Ke's medicine.
Li Ke's letter was very conclusive, saying that this medicine could relieve the queen's Qi disease. However, none of the imperial doctors had seen this pharmacy. Empress Changsun defied all opinions and started taking medicine as required.
However, within a few days, her condition improved a lot.
Sun Simiao, the king of medicine, also recognized this pharmacy, and everyone regarded it as a miracle medicine.
However, this Qi disease is a chronic disease and it is difficult to cure it with medicine.
Li Shimin persuaded Queen Changsun, saying that since Li Ke could come up with a prescription, he must have a radical cure, so he decided to come to Qizhou.
―――
official way.
A motorcade was moving forward slowly, and everyone was sweltering under the sun.
Although it was cool inside the carriage, Queen Changsun was over fifty years old, and after several days of running around, she looked even more haggard.
Li Shimin couldn't help but look worried, and supported Empress Changsun: "Li Ke, this bastard, didn't come even after I issued several orders. According to my temper, I should kidnap him! You still have to come in person, how can your body bear it? "
Queen Changsun shook her head and smiled tenderly.
"Li Ke has a well-behaved and cautious temperament. He has rarely written to us since he obtained the fiefdom. I don't know how he has been doing in the past six months. I might as well come out to see how he is running the fiefdom."
Li Shimin has a hot temper. Although he loves his son, he loves his wife even more.
So he was even more angry: "This little bastard writes few letters home, and his memorials are even more perfunctory!"
"I gave him a few orders to come back for a visit, but he kept making excuses!"
"When we get to Qizhou, I want to see what this little brat is up to!" Before he finished speaking, the carriage suddenly stopped, and both of them were jolted.
Li Shimin looked unhappy and asked outside, "What's going on outside?"
"Your Majesty, the road ahead is blocked."
block up?
A robber?
"Guanyin Maid, please sit down first. I will come back as soon as I go." After saying that, Li Shimin touched Empress Changsun's hair comfortingly and jumped out of the carriage with the sword in hand.
After seeing the front clearly, he was not only stunned on the spot.
There was a dense crowd, thousands of people in total, blocking the pipeline.
Is this... a refugee?
It shouldn't be. The weather has been good in recent years, and Qizhou is a prosperous place. How come there are so many refugees? And I didn’t receive a memorial.
Could it be that that boy Li Ke, who lives in the fish and meat village, still deceives the king?
Li Ke shouted: "Fang Xuanling!"
When he came to Xuzhou this time, Li Shimin didn't bring many people, and the most effective one was Fang Xuanling.
Therefore, his car was very close, but as soon as the moderator thought about it, Fang Xuanling appeared in front of Li Shimin.
"See Your Majesty."
Li Shimin was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, so he directly picked him up, pointed at the team in front, and said with a gloomy face: "There are so many refugees in Qizhou, why didn't I receive a report?"
Fang Xuanling was also stunned.
Qizhou suffered a disaster? He hasn't heard of it.
Fang Xuanling stepped on his feet and looked at the huge team carefully for a long time, becoming even more confused.
He said, "Your Majesty, these are not refugees."
Li Shimin squinted his eyes and looked into the distance, and also found clues.
Because the people in this team were neatly dressed and full of energy, and there seemed to be leaders leading the way, it really didn't look like they were fleeing.
So what do so many people want here?
Li Shimin's face was still gloomy, "Let's go over and have a look."
They were all wearing private clothes, so no one could tell that he was the emperor, but the guards around him immediately tensed up and only stood guard on the left and right.
Li Shimin saw an old man sitting on a big rock to rest.
"May I ask, old man, where are you going?"
