Liu Rengui was indeed very clever. When he heard Li Tai say that Yan Lide could use one million strings of cash to expand Zhaoling tenfold, he guessed that this matter must be related to Li Jue.

The thought of Li Jue filled Liu Rengui with curiosity.

In his view, Li Jue was simply different from everyone else in the Tang Dynasty. He was always full of vigor, and full of hard work and ambition.

Expanding the imperial mausoleum with only one million strings of cash was a task that seemed impossible to everyone, yet Li Jue dared to do it!

But how exactly will he do it?

Just as Liu Rengui was lost in thought, Changsun Wuji coughed softly twice.

"Ren Rail?"

"Ah... Lord Sikong, please speak!"

"Ren Gui may not know, but we only have 100,000 strings of cash left to renovate Zhuque Avenue..."

"Ten thousand strings of cash?"

Liu Rengui was not particularly surprised when he heard this. In his opinion, this thing should not cost two million strings of cash. If it really cost that much money, he would have to write a memorial to impeach the Crown Prince for wasting national funds.

However, he frowned slightly when he heard that it was only 100,000 strings of cash.

"Lord Sikong, if we only have 100,000 strings of cash, then this project will be quite difficult to complete."

"Disaster?"

"It's still relatively..."

Li Zhi was shocked when he heard this. In his opinion, 100,000 strings of cash was simply not enough to do it. Who would have thought that it would only be a little difficult for Liu Rengui!

"Lord Liu, do you have any brilliant ideas?"

Liu Rengui responded calmly upon hearing this.

"Actually, it's not exactly a wonderful method!"

"When Zhuque Avenue was built, it was built with high-quality bluestone bricks. Although it has been damaged by wind and rain over the years, the stone itself is not in any major problem. Just turn the bluestone bricks over and they will be brand new again."

"This...this..."

Li Zhi was shocked when he heard this. How could he not have thought of this?

"Lord Liu is truly a capable minister in times of peace!"

"It seems I made the right choice in seeking out Lord Liu. Can you calculate for me how much money we can save by renovating in this way?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Rengui spoke again calmly.

"It will definitely save money, but the cost of feeding the laborers and horses is considerable, and we also need to order a new batch of bricks to replace the completely broken stone bricks."

"I estimate that if all of these are included, it would be at least 200,000 strings of cash."

"Two hundred thousand strings of cash..."

Changsun Wuji was knowledgeable about engineering and knew that the 200,000 strings of cash Liu Rengui offered was definitely not much. Even if he were to do it himself, it would cost at least 300,000 strings of cash.

But His Majesty only gave him 100,000 strings of cash, so he couldn't spend a single extra penny!

"I'll give you 100,000 strings of cash, plus an extra 100,000 dan of grain and 1 million jin of salt. Are you confident you can take on this task?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Rengui quickly waved his hand and said...

"Lord Sikong, we don't need that much. Fifty thousand dan of grain and five hundred thousand jin of salt will be enough."

Although the Tang Dynasty did not control the trade of salt and iron, salt was still a hard currency and a very expensive commodity.

One million catties of salt would be worth nearly 100,000 strings of cash...

Changsun Wuji waved his hand very generously.

"Don't refuse, this is all I'm giving you. As long as you do a good job on the project, you can take whatever you want from the rest!"

Changsun Wuji's words were blatant bribery. If Liu Rengui were to be more careful, he could save at least tens of thousands of strings of cash.

However, Liu Rengui didn't care about money, or rather, his life pursuits weren't about money at all.

"All right!"

"Since Lord Changsun trusts me so much, I will certainly do my utmost!"

Three months later, the renovation project of Zhuque Avenue was completely completed.

Li Shimin was very pleased and led all his ministers to the gate of Taiji Palace to admire the brand-new Zhuque Avenue.

"Chinu, aren't you quite capable? You really did a complete renovation of Suzaku Avenue with just 100,000 guan!"

"Your Majesty, I owe this all to Your Majesty's influence. Many people in Chang'an, upon hearing of this matter, spontaneously took to the streets to help, which is why this was accomplished with only 100,000 strings of cash!"

"oh?"

"Do ordinary people really support this?"

"certainly!"

"Your father will soon find out just how much the people love and respect you..."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin knew there was more to come. Sure enough, after walking for a short while, he saw people on both sides of the street kneeling down and shouting "Long live the Emperor!" to him.

Li Shimin was overjoyed and waved to the crowd of people repeatedly.

Even though he knew that these people were specially invited by Li Zhi to perform, he was still very happy.

"Have you all had a tough time with your blind dates?"

"Your Majesty, this is what we commoners should do!"

"I will reward you!"

"Your Majesty, we, the common people, thank you!"

The conversation between Li Shimin and the people started out normally, but after a while, all sorts of noises began to appear.

"Your Majesty, you have given birth to a fine crown prince!"

"His Highness the Crown Prince hired us to work, and not only did he pay us wages, he also gave us food and salt. He's practically a living Buddha!"

"Um?"

Li Shimin frowned slightly upon hearing this, wondering what the grain and salt were all about.

Li Zhi lowered his head guiltily upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, my uncle has allocated me another 100,000 dan of grain, plus one million jin of salt..."

"You mean you used 100,000 dan of grain, 1 million jin of salt, plus 100,000 guan of silver to renovate the entire Zhuque Street?"

"yes……"

"hiss……"

"Who did it for you?"

When Li Shimin saw that Li Zhi had fair skin, he knew that someone else had done the work for him. Otherwise, how could he have grown so plump and fair-skinned after three months of exposure to wind and rain?

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