Li Shimin was furious. He was still listening to someone explain things to him like a fool, while his three most trusted ministers had already hitched a ride on that grandson Li Jue's coattails and made a fortune!
Li Jing gave an awkward laugh, then shoved Yuchi Jingde away. Yuchi Jingde turned around and glared at him, then pulled Cheng Yaojin over.
"Your Majesty, I am not good with words. Let Cheng Yaojin explain it to you!"
Cheng Yaojin was so angry when he heard this that he cursed, "When you were making a lot of money, you didn't think about me. You had to rely on my godson to give us information. Now that we've encountered His Majesty's questioning, you've pushed me out here!"
Although Cheng Yaojin was inwardly grumbling, he still forced himself to speak.
"Your Majesty, I entered this trade late, and I haven't even recouped my initial investment yet. I've heard that the families of the Duke of Wei and the Duke of E have already made a fortune. They now own tens of thousands of looms and earn several thousand strings of cash every day!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's face darkened further, and he glared fiercely at Yuchi Jingde.
"Why didn't you tell me about such a big matter!"
"Your Majesty, you didn't ask us either..."
"You won't tell me unless I ask?"
"Take me to your workshop!"
"ah?"
Li Shimin's words nearly terrified Li Jing and the others. However, remembering that he was their boss, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead the way.
"Your Majesty, our workshops are all outside the city, quite far away..."
"It's okay, I'll take a car!"
Before long, Li Shimin arrived at Yuchi Jingde's workshop outside the city.
As soon as the group reached the workshop entrance, they heard the creaking and groaning of weaving machines. Judging from the orderly sound of weaving, there must have been at least several thousand looms.
Although Li Shimin had prepared himself mentally, he was still deeply shocked when he saw the endless looms.
How many looms are there here?
"Your Majesty, this is our family's textile factory, which only has three thousand looms!"
"So, there's a second factory and a third factory?"
"have!"
"However, they were all built in Xianyang, not in Chang'an..."
Why is that?
"Your Majesty, labor is expensive in Chang'an, far less affordable than in Xianyang."
"If it weren't for the eldest grandson insisting that we build the factory in Chang'an, we would have preferred to move it to another county..."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin asked again out of curiosity.
Why does Li Jue make this request?
This time, Li Jing spoke up first.
"Your Majesty, this is the benevolence of the eldest grandson!"
"Our eldest grandson taught us that the people of Chang'an have a hard time making a living, and that we should give them more opportunities to earn money..."
"oh……"
"Moreover, when the eldest grandson sold the looms, he prioritized selling them to ordinary people, and only sold them to us when the ordinary people couldn't afford them..."
Li Shimin snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"You're not short of money, yet you always do things that compete with the people for profit, don't you feel ashamed!"
"Yuchi Jingde, how many bolts of cloth can your workshop produce in a day?"
"Your Majesty, approximately one thousand horses!"
"Are they all sold to that grandson of Li Jue?"
"No, no, no, the eldest grandson only accepts goods from commoners; we find our own markets for our linen."
"Who did you sell them to?"
"us……"
Upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde immediately began to stammer, then looked nervously at Li Jing, hoping that Li Jing would step forward and say a few words.
"Don't look at anyone else, I want you to speak!"
"Your Majesty... Your humble servant... Your humble servant has sold them all to the grasslands..."
Li Shimin was shocked to hear this, and then roared angrily.
"How dare you colluded with the grasslands!"
"Your Majesty, this doesn't count as illicit relations, does it? The court only prohibits the transport of salt and iron to the grasslands; linen is not among the prohibited items!"
When Li Shimin heard Li Jing's words, he was so angry that he wanted to kick him.
However, considering Li Jing's advanced age, he was afraid that he might not be able to control his strength and kick him to death.
"You guys..."
"You are all my trusted advisors, yet you've abandoned all shame for money!"
Li Shimin scolded them a few times, then suddenly asked a question.
How many looms are there in Chang'an County?
The three of them were stunned upon hearing this, and then shook their heads in unison.
"have no idea!"
"Your Majesty, this matter should be addressed by the magistrate of Chang'an County!"
Li Shimin said angrily upon hearing this.
"Bring Li Jue here to me!"
"If you can't find this guy, bring Su Dingfang to me!"
"promise!"
Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji and the others were startled, thinking to themselves, "His Majesty actually called out Su Dingfang's name so readily?"
You should know that His Majesty may not even recognize all the people who attend court every day, let alone a minor official like the magistrate of Chang'an County.
The fact that Your Majesty can now call out Su Dingfang's name must be because this man was recommended by Li Jue.
Su Dingfang had been keeping an eye on Li Shimin and his entourage for a long time. When he saw Li Shimin and his group enter Yuchi Jingde's workshop, he led his constables to guard the door.
Sure enough, a moment later he heard someone calling him, and he quickly followed them inside.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"
"Rise!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"I ask you, how many looms are there in Chang'an County?"
Su Dingfang answered without hesitation.
"Your Majesty, there are 58,000 looms registered. Every day, we also make 500 to 800 new looms. As long as they are sold within Chang'an County, they will be registered by our government."
Why would you need to register something like this?
"Your Majesty, it's certainly for the purpose of collecting taxes!"
"Tax collection?"
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