At the dinner table, Qin Ming kept offering Li Yuan the latest dishes developed by his family.
Li Yuan had a great time eating it, especially the stir-fried liver and kidneys and the stir-fried pork intestines, which were simply to his liking.
During this period, Qin Ming also learned the names of the two women. One was Chunhua and the other was Qiushi. They were cousins.
I heard from Li Yuan that their two families were originally well-known local families in Taiyuan, but their family fortunes fell into decline. Because they wanted to rely on the power of the Li family to regain a foothold, they sent two girls from the family into the Li Mansion as concubines.
After having enough wine and food, Qin Ming accompanied Li Yuan back to the small courtyard.
Qin Ming bowed to Li Yuan and said:
"Grandpa, you came from Taiyuan and it was a tiring journey. You can have a good rest in the courtyard in the afternoon, and my grandson will come to accompany you in the evening."
Li Yuan sat on the chair and waved his hands and said:
"It's true, you kid. How come your grandfather has only been away for twenty days and is so out of touch? I know you still have things to do in Chang'an. You should go about your business. Don't worry about Grandpa here."
"But, grandfather..."
After hearing this, Li Yuan stood up and patted Qin Ming on the shoulder and said:
"Okay, grandpa knows that you are a filial child, but how can a man live in the world and be burdened by an old man like me! If you keep doing this, how can grandpa survive?"
Qin Ming nodded when he heard this, then bowed and said:
"Thank you, grandpa, for your understanding. This time my grandson will go to Chang'an for as little as two days or as long as three days. He will definitely be able to return home. I also ask grandpa to live here with peace of mind. If anything happens, send someone to the house in Xingdaofang to find me."
Li Yuan stroked his long beard and nodded slightly:
"okay."
After a while.
After Qin Ming explained to Xiao Changxi again, he took Xiao Qingwan and his party to Chang'an.
.......
At the second moment of Shenshi, the palace of Chang'an City, Ganlu Hall.
A young eunuch hurriedly entered the hall and bowed to Li Shimin:
"Your Majesty, Qin Ming, a man from Lantian County, is outside the palace gate and wants to see you."
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows when he heard this.
[Why is this guy here? Shouldn't he be accompanying his father right now? Could it be that his father told him what happened in the court? Shouldn't it? 】
"Announce his presence."
"promise."
After a while,
Qin Ming followed the young eunuch into the Manna Hall.
The last time Qin Ming left the palace, he and Xiao Dongzi specifically inquired about the etiquette and rules in the palace.
So he did not kneel down this time, but walked to the center of the hall, bowed respectfully to Li Er who was reviewing the memorial on the jade steps, and said:
"The humble minister Qin Ming is here to see your majesty."
Li Shimin raised his head, raised his arms in the air, and said:
"Qing family, please get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After saying this, Qin Ming stood up straight. According to the rules of the palace, he only raised his head slightly, just enough to see Li Shimin's boots and half of the dragon robe.
Compared with last time, Qin Ming's actions this time were very in line with the palace's standards.
But for some reason, Li Shimin felt a little disappointed.
After all, the phrase "Long live, long live, long live" is so comfortable to listen to!
If Qin Ming could hear Li Er's thoughts at this time, he would definitely give him a big look.
Li Er's thoughts wandered for a while, but he soon came back to his senses. He asked Qin Ming in the hall:
"Qing family, you are in a hurry to enter the palace. What do you want?"
Qin Ming took a deep breath and said:
"I am here this time to petition Your Majesty to build a cement road from Chang'an to Luoyang."
Li Shimin frowned when he heard this, wondering what Qin Ming meant at this time.
After he personally experienced the flatness and strength of cement roads, he wished he could turn all the roads in Datang into cement roads.
If that day comes, he can't even imagine how powerful Datang, which is full of concrete roads, will be.
After all, once the road is cleared, it will be much more convenient whether it is business transactions, marching to war, or escorting grain and grass.
Moreover, it can also greatly shorten the exchanges and interactions between people in various parts of the Tang Dynasty.
More importantly, it will be more convenient for the court to control local areas.
Li Tang's empire will be more stable.
The most important thing is that if this thing can be done, then he will definitely go down in history.
Become one of the greatest emperors in history, or even the only one.
But when he and the prime minister came out of the Qin Mansion that day, they made a careful calculation and found out.
Not to mention building cement roads all over the Tang Dynasty, even if you want to build roads near Chang'an City into cement roads, it is difficult.
As for building a cement road from Chang'an to Luoyang, it is even more difficult.
Not to mention how much cement is needed and how much money it will cost to really build this road.
Just the labor force required would be at least 100,000 or even 200,000 people!
Now that spring plowing is approaching, where will so many laborers be recruited from?
Even if the court had money to buy cement, I am afraid that the ministers would not agree to the conscription of labor.
It's hard for others to say, but Wei Zheng will definitely jump out and object!
When it's hard to say, he has to be labeled as someone who doesn't care about people's efforts.
However, based on his understanding of Qin Ming, Qin Ming is not an aimless person.
[Is there anything he can do? 】
Thinking of this, Li Shimin became more energetic, but thinking of the difficulties involved, Li Shimin felt that it was impossible.
"Of course I want to build this cement road, but I'm afraid the Ministry of Revenue may not have enough money?"
Qin Ming's mouth curled up when he heard this.
[I’m afraid you don’t want to! 】
"Your Majesty, what if I have a way to repair this cement road without the court paying a penny? And if it is done well, maybe the court can still make money."
Li Shimin stood up immediately after hearing this, looked at Qin Ming in disbelief and said:
"Is this true?"
Qin Ming nodded and said:
"really."
After hearing this, Li Shimin walked down the jade steps, looked at Qin Ming with hot eyes and asked:
"Well, dear nephew, tell me, what can you do?"
Qin Mingchao Li Shimin smiled slightly and said:
"It's very simple. As long as the court sells the qualifications to build the road and guarantees that after the road is built, the ownership of the cement road will belong to the person who built the road within thirty years."
Li Shimin frowned when he heard this:
"How is this possible? Who would spend money to buy this? Hey, no, nephew, what do you mean when you say that the ownership of the cement road belongs to the person who built the road?"
Qin Ming breathed a long sigh of relief when he heard this. Li Shimin finally took the bait.
He folded his sleeves with his hands, curled his lips towards the chair beside the hall and said:
"Your Majesty, why don't we sit down and talk?"
When Li Shimin heard this, he immediately knew that Qin Ming had a feasible strategy.
So he laughed, pointed at Qin Ming and cursed:
"You kid!"
After speaking, Li Er pulled Qin Ming to sit on a chair beside him.
...
