Li Shimin listened very attentively, even more attentively than when he listened to ministers discussing matters in the imperial court.
Although he found Li Jue's words very naive, he did not find them laughable; in fact, he felt a sense of awe and respect.
Because this is not only Li Jue's dream, but also the dream of the emperor!
There was a time when he witnessed the chaotic government, the suffering of the people, and the devastation of the Sui Dynasty, and he had made similar grand aspirations.
However, as he became the King of Qin and then the Emperor, he seemed to forget his original aspirations and became more complacent with his existing achievements.
"Great grandson, well said!"
"This is how people should live, and this is the kind of life the people of our Great Tang should lead!"
Hearing Li Weng's affirmation of him, Li Jue smiled shyly.
In fact, this was not only his dream in this life, but also his dream in his past life.
In his previous life, he diligently sought for thirty years, and all he wanted was a house of his own.
"Uncle Li, I'm not as good as you say..."
"I'm not building houses for people for free; I'm lending them money to build them, and they'll have to pay me back when they make money..."
Li Shimin naturally did not believe such childish words. In his view, since these hundreds of households had been granted to Li Jue, their taxes, corvée labor, and all other outputs belonged to Li Jue.
How do you settle a debt when someone lends money to themselves?
"Silly child, what do you mean by lending? What's theirs is yours..."
To be honest, even though Li Jue had been in the world for a year, he still couldn't understand the personal dependency relationship under the feudal monarchy. He always felt that farmers were farmers and he was himself.
The farmers simply handed over the taxes due to the imperial court to themselves, but they still made their own decisions on other matters.
That's why he did so many things, such as building houses for them, digging irrigation ditches, and constructing reservoirs.
"Grandson, tell your grandfather how you plan to build the irrigation canal?"
“Uncle Li, I’ve done the calculations. Sanglin Village is very close to Fengshui, only about ten li away. Moreover, the terrain on the Fengshui side is high, while our side is low. All we need to do is build a water channel along the official road to reach us!”
"Look, this is the construction drawing I made for the irrigation canal!"
Li Shimin took the construction drawings handed to him by Li Jue and was amazed by their detail after just one glance.
This isn't some kind of irrigation canal construction plan; you could call it a defense plan for Xianyang if you changed the name!
"Grandson, did you draw these blueprints?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue scratched his head in shame.
"Please excuse my poor drawing, Mr. Li. This was just a quick sketch, and there are many inaccuracies..."
"Isn't this accurate enough?"
Li Shimin was speechless when he heard this. If this map was not accurate, then all the scouts under his command who drew the map should be beheaded!
Compared to his grandson's map, what they drew looked like chicken claws scratching!
Li Shimin suppressed his surprise and looked at the map seriously.
"Da Sun, even according to the location marked on your map, it's probably not something that a few hundred people can accomplish by building an irrigation canal, is it?"
"Uncle Li, it is indeed not easy for us to manage with just a few hundred people, but I plan to hire more people!"
"Hire someone?"
"Hiring people requires a lot of money, where will you get so much money?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue confidently stretched out his two small hands.
"I'm the best at making money!"
"Look at those brand-new brick houses in our Sanglin Village, I built them all with the money I made from selling fried dough sticks!"
"Selling fried dough sticks..."
Li Shimin became even more curious upon hearing this. He had already sent people to investigate the profit of fried dough sticks. Each one could earn one coin, and even if a thousand were sold in a day, it would only be worth one string of cash.
Even if business is booming and 100,000 sticks are sold a day, it's still far from enough to build houses and repair irrigation ditches for the villagers.
"Grandson, tell Grandpa, how exactly do you make money?"
Li Jue smiled mischievously upon hearing this.
"Keep it a secret!"
"When Li Weng returns to Chang'an, he'll see for himself, hehehe!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin feigned anger and slapped Li Jue's buttocks.
"You little rascal, trying to outsmart Grandpa!"
"If you don't talk, I'll spank you!"
"I won't tell, I'd rather die than tell, hahaha..."
The two chased and ran, fighting and laughing all the way to the village.
Hu Delu had already instructed the women of the village to prepare dinner. Now, seeing the Duke and the nobleman returning together, chatting and laughing, he hurriedly went up to inquire.
"My lord, I have already ordered Wang Er's wife to start the fire and cook. Please ask your grandfather what he likes to eat, and I will have someone prepare it immediately!"
Li Shimin generally did not dine outside, for the simple reason that he feared being poisoned.
But when he saw Li Jue approaching him with such eagerness, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Uncle Li, what would you like to eat? I'll have someone make it for you right away!"
"Grandpa has no dietary restrictions; he eats whatever is available, so there's no need to trouble the farmers!"
"That won't do!"
"Without you, I wouldn't have become a baron, let alone know them."
"Therefore, your grandson must treat you well!"
"Fine, I'll cook it myself!"
"Although Wang Er's wife is also a good cook of soup and rice, she's still far inferior to her grandson, hehehe!"
Li Shimin was both surprised and taken aback when he heard this. Even if his grandson was demoted to Qianzhou, he would still live a life of luxury with people taking care of him. How could he possibly cook?
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