"Your Majesty, good luck!"
When everyone saw Li Ke dressed as a rich man, they naturally knelt down and saluted.
I originally wanted to keep a low profile, but everyone in Quanli City has seen it, so I can't pretend anymore. Now Qizhou is fully engaged in large-scale infrastructure construction, and it is the most dynamic city in the Tang Dynasty. Although the prosperity is far less than that of Chang'an City, There is no guarantee that one day it will surpass the Imperial Capital and become the largest city.
Li Ke asked Chen Shou and several attendants to follow him. He wanted to see with his own eyes the Licheng under his governance, and use modern methods to govern an originally lifeless city that continued to attract farmers and merchants from other places.
Chang'an City has the largest market in the world, and the one in Licheng is also expanding. Goods from south to north are constantly coming here. In addition, everyone has money on hand. The more prosperous the market is, the more taxes Li Ke collects. After all, this is the fiefdom of the King of Shu, and his political achievements exceed those of local officials.
At this moment, the Tang Dynasty is still gradually rising. Especially when Li Shimin was alive, its territory was still expanding, and it would soon establish connections with outside the Western Regions. Li Ke did not want to miss such a business opportunity, and the famous Silk Road in history It will also be developed during the Zhenguan period.
"My lord, these unscrupulous people have benefited from you, and they have stopped now. They caused a lot of trouble for the palace before, but now everyone has a fake smile on their face that makes me sick, and they can fake it better than I can!"
Chen Shou was not a weirdo. When he first arrived in Qizhou, there were many refugees on the road. Most of them were because they heard that the emperor's son was coming to take over the place, so they blocked the road to ask for some charity.
There were tens of thousands of people blocking the road. If they really gave money, they would really drain the money of the Shu Palace. Li Ke got out of the siege after a few scares. After arriving at the Licheng Palace, he immediately began to radically transform Qizhou.
It is not necessarily true that the Tang Dynasty was a unified empire. Even if the imperial examination system was established, the aristocratic families in the empire still existed and began to get involved in the imperial examination system.
There are four major aristocratic families in Qizhou, namely Huang, Lin, Cai, and Chen. On the surface, they are respectful to the imperial court, but the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. They occupy most of the fertile land in Qizhou and enslave several farmers. People, it seems that they are from China.
"Your Majesty, good luck!"
A short and fat member of the Communist Party of China came to the front and saluted, but he did not bend down. It seemed that he was too fat to bow down and salute. In fact, he was Huang Wenlin, the leader of the four families.
"Oh, Huang Wenlin, are you still wandering around the city now?"
Li Ke was deliberately sarcastic, because he had plundered more than half of the fertile land of the four major families, and now he was forcing merchants in Qizhou to donate money to pay taxes, which was equivalent to harvesting the wool of the four major families twice.
"Thanks to the great blessing of the prince, we are free now. We don't know how to pass the time, so we can only wander around the streets. If we really can't stay, we can only find another place to live!"
Huang Wenlin was just saying angry words, but he just didn't dare to provoke the King of Shu himself. The aristocratic families were similar to businessmen. The four major families had been entrenched in Qizhou for many years, and their status was almost the same as that of the imperial officials.
I still imagine that Qizhou cannot survive without them. After all, half of the fertile land here is owned by the four major families. How many people have to survive from the farmland.
Li Ke felt funny when he thought about it. When he was blocked outside Licheng and couldn't get in, he already knew that the four major families were up to something, so he pretended to come to help.
"Your Majesty is the lord of Qizhou. If you need help, let us do it!"
"Yes, the Tang Dynasty is prosperous now, but I don't know where the unscrupulous people come from and dare to block the way. Let's prepare some manpower so that they can learn some rules and live in a lowly manner!!"
...
The words are very nice, but they are all used by the four major families to please the new King of Shu and seek more benefits from it. They have land and business, and now these major families want to enter the court to seek more benefits. One official and half job.
"I would rather be respectful than obey your orders. Along the way, I heard that the refugees have lost their fields and livelihoods. All of you here are good people in Qizhou, so I hope you can donate your fields to save the people."
"Since we all want to share the burden for the imperial court, this is not too much to ask for!"
Li Ke just doesn't follow the routine. If you really want to contribute, don't say it with your mouth. It's time for you big families who are domineering in the local area to give some benefits.
The details of the four major families have been roughly figured out. They are the inherent aristocratic families in Qizhou. They gradually gained control of the real power in Qizhou by relying on their family's money and their relationship with the court.
"The right thing is, the four major families have the final say whether there will be chaos in Qizhou." This is a jingle passed down by the refugees. Li Ke naturally regards them as the biggest threat. Since they have taken the initiative to send them to his door, he can't say anything. Let it go.
The four major families were just talking about asking for an advantage, but they didn't expect the prince to be so rude. He asked them for money, food, and fields as soon as he opened his mouth. There were local officials where they met, so he really had to do it.
After negotiation, only half of the fertile land was taken away, as well as food donated by friends. These donations ultimately made the reputation of King Shu better and better, and the local farmers would only become more and more disgusted with the four major families.
"You can leave if you want, or you can stay here and continue to generate income. The king's fiefdom needs workers now. If you don't have money and still want to hang on, don't blame me for turning your back on them!"
Li Ke also doesn’t give face. Since your four major families want to leave Qizhou, then you should really leave quickly, but you can’t let go of this family business. Other state capitals may not have such good treatment and have been domineering for so long. , and it’s just being taken care of now.
He doesn't want to be blackmailed, so as long as he says something to the contrary, he can naturally avoid it.
Huang Wenlin didn't dare to talk anymore. After all, trouble had come from his mouth before. If he rashly agreed to leave Qizhou, the other three families might not agree. Now that Licheng is prosperous, he is even more reluctant to leave.
"Your Majesty, look at my stupid brain. It was just because of the hot weather that I spoke without thinking! I won't disturb Your Majesty for his inspection. Please leave!"
They quickly walked away with their tail between their legs, fearing that Li Ke would have another excuse to seize their property.
Li Ke is riding a tall horse. The prosperity of Licheng has just begun. If you want to make this place comparable to Chang'an City, you can't just rely on road construction. The economy is the lifeblood of a place. You must find ways to keep the economy booming. .
"My lord, these merchants are really cunning. The products they sell in Chang'an City and other places are more expensive than those in Licheng. With such a huge price difference, can they survive doing business?"
Chen Shou held up a piece of silk and said, "The housekeeper in the palace is naturally very careful with his budget."
Price difference? Earning the difference, Li Ke looked at the silk in front of him in a daze before a proud smile appeared on his face.
