When we were driving along the street and about to reach Qujiang Lake, the road was already crowded with pedestrians. At this time, the population of Chang'an City had reached 700,000 to 800,000 people, and Qujiang Lake, as the most famous entertainment place, was naturally crowded with people.
Bai Chun was thinking all the way in the carriage, and she kept the habit she learned from Li Hong. She took out a bound notebook and wrote and drew on it with the charcoal pencil in her hand. In Li Hong's eyes, she looked like a smart and capable beautiful assistant from her previous life.
Bai Chun raised his head and closed his notebook, frowning and saying, "Will the Ministry of Revenue agree to collect taxes from foreign merchants? And you also need to give an explanation to the Ministry of Revenue for this part of the money, right?"
"Have you been out of your mind recently? I'm the Minister of Revenue. Who else do I need to ask for consent from? I'll approve the note and you just do it." Li Hong said generously. The feeling of having real power in hand is really different. Although as the crown prince he already has many conveniences and rights, it is not as refreshing as this, holding real power in hand.
Li Hong also knew that the reason why the Tang Dynasty was remembered and admired by later generations was, first, its military strength, second, its cultural strength, and third, of course, its economic strength. But none of these was as impressive as the confidence of the Tang people.
The fact that the Tang Dynasty was the only dynasty in history that did not build even one meter of the Great Wall is enough to show its military strength and confidence, as well as its strategic contempt for other countries.
This kind of self-confidence made every emperor of the Li Tang Dynasty disdain to use the method of building the Great Wall to consolidate his own rule in a defensive posture.
Moreover, people in this era are confident from the bottom of their hearts, which is far from the unconfident universal values of the previous life, especially the inferiority complex of a group of slaves who respect foreign masters.
The Tang people's tolerance of foreigners was not only reflected among the people, but also in the employment of foreigners by the people, the court, and the royal family, which was enough to show how confident the Tang people were at that time.
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Economically, after a few decades, the Tang Dynasty had too much money to store, which indirectly caused the economy to be unable to continue to move forward and break through the existing model and bottleneck.
Now Li Hong is storing a large amount of money. First, he needs to develop a new economy, which must be supported by a large amount of money. Second, a large amount of money is also the basis for the future reform of the military system to the recruitment system. In addition, with the emergence of new things and the people's demand for new materials, the circulation of money in society will become faster and larger, so as to avoid the Tang Dynasty, which does not know how to spend money, from being starved to death.
He didn't bother to pay attention to Bai Chun who made a face at him, and the carriage slowed down on the crowded road to Qujiang Lake.
Li Hong thought for a moment and said again: "Levying taxes on foreign merchants is just the beginning. It will gradually spread among the merchants of the Tang Dynasty. One day, I hope to realize a beautiful ideal..."
Bai Chun's charming eyes lingered on his face, waiting for him to continue, but Li Hong kept it a secret: "Get off first. Fortunately, our carriage can come in through the royal passage, otherwise we would have to wait for a long time at the gate of Qujiang Pond."
"What kind of beautiful ideal is it?" Bai Lu got off the car first, then stood by and helped Li Hong get off the car, and asked.
"Yes, Prince, what else does our Tang Dynasty have to fear except natural disasters? Can the situation be better than what it is now?" Xia Zhi was also confused. The current weather was not good enough. What else did the prince want the Tang Dynasty to be like?
Pioneering and innovating is the most difficult thing. No matter which era people are born in, when facing the future, they often measure and compare it with the satisfaction of the present. In this era, the mentality of being content with a small fortune is not only present among the people, but also prevalent in the court and the palace.
Just like when one is well fed and clothed, the fighting within the palace walls of the Tang Dynasty was probably because there was no external pressure, causing these idle people in the palace to start to torment themselves. Otherwise, why were there so many palace fights in the Tang Dynasty?
You can write a wonderful palace fighting TV series by randomly picking out a period of palace history from a three hundred year period.
"The first beautiful ideal: no taxes on farmers." Li Hong turned around and smiled mysteriously at Bai Chun, and said three words lightly.
"No taxes on farmers?" Bai Chun frowned. She obviously couldn't understand the meaning of these three words at once. Moreover, for people of this era, this was so unimaginable that it could become an ideal in ghost stories.
Xia Zhi and his four companions circled Li Hong and Bai Chun in the middle and walked out of the Royal Forbidden Garden carefully. Hua Meng and his four companions expanded the scope, secretly protecting the six people and trying not to let other pedestrians get close to this invisible circle.
It is early summer now, and the breeze blowing off the lake still retains a hint of coolness, which brings an indescribable sense of comfort and laziness when it touches the body.
Ripples appeared on the surface of the lake, and the fish in the water were not afraid of people. In front of the tourists who were feeding them, the lake was crowded with fish scrambling for food, and they all jumped out of the water to get the delicious food first.
"Where will they have the banquet?" Li Hong stretched his neck, but among the crowd of adults, all he could see were the backs of their heads.
"They must have come here to see the water. If they were to write a poem about water, they should have come to the Linshui Pavilion or the Water Palace. Linshui Pavilion is more likely, after all, it is the best place to view the entire view of Qujiang Lake." Bai Lu was very close to Li Hong and analyzed for him.
"Should we take a boat or walk?" Li Hong glanced at the skateboard in Mangzhong's hand. He wouldn't need it for the time being, and they would definitely not let him skate through the crowd on a skateboard.
"Let's walk there. We can enjoy the scenery while walking." Her pure white hair was blown by the breeze, and her cotton dress fluttered in the wind, revealing her exquisite and beautiful figure.
"Are you afraid of water?" Li Hong asked Bai Chun with a wicked smile.
"I'm not afraid of water." Although he said this, he still leaned forward involuntarily, and Bai Lu and he sandwiched Li Hong in the middle.
Just as Bai Lu guessed, a group of people dressed like students crowded into the Linshui Pavilion. It was more like an island than a pavilion. There were not many man-made buildings in the Linshui Pavilion. Apart from a few pavilions scattered around for sunshade, there were winding paths and towering trees.
A small path filled with soil is the only way to Linshui Pavilion. It looks like it was filled in later. It is probably just for this small island. By filling in such a small path, this small island was named: Linshui Pavilion.
"Why are Wang Bo and Yang Jiong also in there?" Xiaohan had sharp eyes and found the two people at a glance.
"Did Shangguan Yi give them a holiday?" Li Hong asked curiously.
Yang Jiong and Wang Bo were seen sitting together with students from the Imperial College and the Hongwen Academy, happily chatting about something, and bursts of cheerful laughter could be heard from time to time.
In another place, although there were fewer people, it was filled with food and drinks, with men and women standing among them. From time to time, you could hear bursts of men laughing loudly and the coquettish voices of women who wanted to speak but were shy.
"Master, Helan Minzhi is here." Bai Chun reminded quietly. Whenever they appeared in public, whether it was Bai Chun or others, they would always call Li Hong "Master". This had become their conditioned reflex, and they did it naturally without having to think about it.
Looking at the suave, handsome and elegant Helan Minzhi, who was now standing in front of a woman, pointing and talking about Qujiang Lake in high spirits, obviously introducing something, which made the woman glance at him from time to time, or laugh softly with her handkerchief covering her mouth.
"I see. Every time I see him, he seems to become more handsome. How do you think he looks like? Is it the Helan family's bloodline that is better, or the bloodline of my mother's family that is better?" Li Hong shook his head and sighed, feeling ashamed of himself.
"So what if he's handsome? He seems to be kind and gracious to beautiful women, but in fact he is cruel and vicious." Bai Chun followed Li Hong's gaze and said to Helan Minzhi.
"But this is how he can attract women's favor. He can recite poems and compose essays, and he knows the Five Classics and ancient books. I guess he has already told that woman all about Qujiang Chi's past and present life. It seems that being knowledgeable is really useful. By the way, do you think I should learn something from Shangguan Yi? If you think Shangguan Yi is not good enough, who else from the Kong and Yan families is in the Imperial College or the Hongwenguan? Get two of them to the Chongwenguan so that I can listen to them every day." Li Hong and his group slowly walked up to Wang Bo, Yang Jiong and others.
"Forget it. You still have to take care of all the affairs of the Eastern Palace. How can your little knowledge compare to your erudition and talent?" Xia Zhi walked in front of Li Hong, listened to their conversation, and immediately flattered him so as not to hurt the prince because of the comparison with Helan Minzhi.
"Xia Zhi is still good at talking, and most importantly, she tells the truth! Xia Zhi, this is what I like most about you. You are not afraid of power, you are upright, you are beautiful, elegant, virtuous, and well-educated. Just like the peony flowers in Luoyang, you give people holiness and comfort their hearts with light..."
"Master, didn't you treat me like this last time?" Bai Lu's pretty face flushed. The last time she praised the prince, he also praised her like this.
"Uh...you two are the same, you two are the same." Li Hong touched his nose and said, this is the bad point of Bai Lu, she always likes to tell the truth, especially her sense of timing, she lacks the ability.
"Puchi" Bai Chun was the first to laugh out loud. Her charming and alluring look immediately attracted Helan Minzhi, who had already noticed them. Helan Minzhi forgot about the beauty beside him and stared at Bai Chun, looking like a wooden chicken, as if only his soul was left.
Yang Jiong and Wang Bo looked at the group of people who were getting closer and closer to them, the students. They looked at each other, and their expressions seemed a little strange.
But he still stood up, walked to Hua Meng and Mang Zhong who were at the front, bowed deeply and said: "Students Yang Jiong and Wang Bo greet you gentlemen."
Hua Meng and Mang Zhong motioned for them to stand up, then separated and stood aside. Li Hong and the five women then slowly walked towards them with a smile.
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