Li Tai immediately repeated what he had just said, causing another shock throughout the court.

"Your Highness, are you sure you can accomplish this with a mere one million strings of cash?"

Li Tai shrugged indifferently upon hearing this.

How would I know?

"I was merely submitting documents on behalf of my father-in-law; whether I could accomplish that is for my father-in-law to decide!"

"you……"

The Minister of Revenue immediately stepped forward and spoke.

"Your Majesty, I impeach Yan Lide for exaggerating the facts and deliberately using low prices to lure Your Majesty in order to curry favor with you..."

The Minister of Revenue's words immediately resonated with many people.

"Your Majesty, Yan Lide has deceived the emperor and cannot be tolerated!"

Li Shimin was also very clear that a mere one million strings of cash was definitely not enough.

But Yan Lide gave so much that he felt a little embarrassed.

"My esteemed ministers, please step aside for now. Allow me some time to consider this..."

"this……"

Although no one wanted to leave, His Majesty had already started to urge them on, so they could only leave with their heads hanging low.

Just as Li Tai was about to leave with the others, Li Shimin stopped him.

"Qingque, stay here!"

"promise!"

After everyone had left, Li Shimin personally walked down the steps and took Li Tai's hand.

"Qingque, tell me the truth, is your father-in-law's memorial genuine, or is he just making fun of me?"

Li Tai smiled slightly upon hearing this.

“Father, my father-in-law certainly doesn’t have that ability, but don’t forget that Li Jue is still in Zhaoling…”

"This must have been done by Li Jue. Since he was so confident, he must really be able to do it, right?"

Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Yes!

My eldest grandson is still in Zhaoling!

It must be that my grandson thinks my imperial mausoleum is too shabby, so he made up a reason to expand it!

This is truly my beloved grandson, oh my!

Thinking of this, Li Shimin was so moved by Li Jue's filial piety that he burst into tears.

Little did they know, Li Jue was practically ready to throw explosives into his imperial tomb...

"I've treated my grandson so well, and he still thinks of me, his grandfather, so dearly. I... I'm so... so touched, sob sob..."

Li Tai knew why Li Shimin had demoted Li Jue, so when he saw Li Shimin crying so sadly, he didn't bother to comfort him.

In fact, in his view, it might not be a bad thing for Li Jue to be away from the court at this time.

The court is now in a bloody frenzy, so Li Jue's trip to Zhaoling is a good way to escape this turmoil.

"Your Majesty, you've agreed?"

"This is my grandson's filial piety; what reason do I have not to agree?"

"Your Majesty, I must tell you the truth. The court can only afford a little over two million taels of silver at most. If you give Li Jue one million, there won't be any money left to renovate Zhuque Avenue in Chang'an."

Li Shimin's eyes widened upon hearing this.

"My great-grandson built such a large-scale project and only asked me for one million. This child, Zhinu, just wanted to renovate Zhuque Street, yet he dared to ask for two million!"

"It seems I have been too lenient with Changsun Dan, making him forget the rules!"

"Issue the imperial decree: hand over Changsun Dan to Li Jue for disposal!"

"Another imperial edict was drafted, appointing Li Jue as the deputy commissioner for the construction of the mausoleum..."

Although all the officials thought Yan Lide's memorial was ridiculous, they couldn't stop the emperor from believing it.

Therefore, under Li Shimin's unified plan, the expansion plan for Zhaoling was officially approved.

Li Shimin attached great importance to the expansion plan of Zhaoling Mausoleum. He allocated all the funds in one go in just three days and provided a large amount of important materials such as grain and stone.

These supplies cost Li Juesheng a fortune, since there was never enough food in Guanzhong, and sometimes even money couldn't buy it.

Now, with the hundreds of thousands of dan of grain allocated by Li Shimin, the food supply for the Zhaoling construction site can be guaranteed for several months.

With Li Shimin's strong support for the construction of Zhaoling Mausoleum, Li Zhi's plan to renovate Zhuque Avenue was naturally shelved.

Actually, it can't be said that the project was shelved. Li Shimin referenced the Zhaoling project and still allocated 100,000 strings of cash to Li Zhi for renovation.

This greatly troubled Li Zhi, who thought that his father might as well not allocate a single penny.

To offer only 100,000 strings of cash and expect me to renovate the entire Suzaku Avenue—isn't that bullying an honest person?

Li Zhi had no choice but to seek help from his maternal uncle, the eldest grandson.

"Uncle, can 100,000 strings of cash be enough to repair Suzaku Avenue?"

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji secretly pondered for a moment.

How do you want it fixed?

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi immediately spoke with great passion and fervor.

"Of course, it's a complete renovation, turning Zhuque Avenue into the most magnificent, smoothest, most solid, and most beautiful avenue in the Tang Dynasty!"

Changsun Wuji rolled his eyes upon hearing this.

"If that's the case, three million strings of cash wouldn't be enough!"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi immediately began to pour out his grievances.

"yes!"

“Originally, the two million guan my nephew had set was just enough, not a penny more. But ever since Father Emperor learned that Yan Lide could use one million guan to expand the imperial mausoleum, he felt that my nephew had over-reported the amount of money and grain, and forcibly cut the budget of two million guan to one hundred thousand guan…”

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji sighed inwardly.

"Child, do you really think that memorial was submitted by Yan Lide?"

Li Zhi looked puzzled upon hearing this.

Isn't that so?

Changsun Wuji smiled bitterly upon hearing this.

"Of course not!"

"Don't forget who's over there!"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi was suddenly startled, and a person immediately came to mind.

"Uncle, are you talking about Li Jue?"

Changsun Wuji snorted disdainfully upon hearing this.

"Who else could it be but him?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!