If it were hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels of silver, Li Er wouldn't be tempted.
But when he heard that there were millions of taels of gold and tens of millions of taels of silver, he was not only tempted, but even a little fanatical.
You should know that the national treasury has never had this much money before!
However, Li Er soon became suspicious: Could a small temple like Zhaoguo really have so much money?
Master Huichan, the abbot of Zhaoguo Temple, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled upon hearing these words. He never expected that Li Jue's henchmen would be so swift, finding Zhaoguo Temple's century-old treasure in less than an hour.
However, not all of this money came from Zhaoguo Temple; a large portion also came from powerful officials in the court, as well as princesses and princes.
Therefore, Master Huichan was not in a hurry, and even hoped that His Majesty would collect these money into the national treasury as soon as possible.
In that case, it wouldn't be him who would be anxious, but rather the entire court of civil and military officials, as well as the imperial family!
"Grandpa, shall we go take a look?"
"Walk!"
Li Er darted out, jumped onto the carriage, and headed straight for Zhaoguo Temple. Li Jue followed closely behind, riding a fast horse.
As luck would have it, ever since he heard how wealthy Zhaoguo Temple was, his injuries miraculously healed!
The two soon arrived at Zhaoguo Temple. As soon as they entered, they saw a group of monks kneeling on the ground, as well as lay disciples wearing monk robes.
Beside these people were varying numbers of sticks, knives, and guns, as well as guards who had been beaten half to death.
Ignoring the people on the ground, the two followed Shan Daozhen directly to the treasury in the backyard.
"Your Majesty, this is the treasury!"
"One million three hundred and eighty thousand taels of gold have been recovered so far!"
Li Shimin nodded upon hearing this, then walked into the Zhaoguo Temple treasury. When he saw the floor covered with gleaming gold, Li Er went completely mad.
"Hahaha!"
"How pitiful!"
"I, the mighty Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, have never seen so much gold in my entire life! Hahaha!"
Li Er's laughter had a somewhat desolate and self-deprecating tone, but it was not surprising. Who would have thought that he, the emperor, was not as wealthy as the abbot of a temple?
However, Li Er soon realized something was wrong, because a lot of the gold on the ground was from his own gifts!
"Huh?"
"Isn't this gold ingot made by the imperial court? It's only given to members of the royal family during festivals..."
"And this money is for rewarding nobles..."
Li Jue also noticed something was wrong, so he immediately snatched the ledger, quickly scanned it, and then silently handed it to Li Er.
"Grandpa, take a look right away!"
"What?"
"The internal accounts of Zhaoguo Temple!"
Li Shimin took it and glanced at it, his brows furrowing involuntarily.
"Big Sun, you seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest!"
Li Jue nodded dejectedly upon hearing this.
"That's right..."
"If those nobles and royal relatives found out, they'd devour me alive..."
Li Shimin nodded helplessly upon hearing this.
"Let's seal it up for now. Don't touch a single tael of gold. We'll talk about it after we've sorted out the accounts!"
“Grandpa, I can sort out the accounts, but you must be under a lot of pressure. Can you handle it?”
Li Shimin snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"I've spent my life on the battlefield, what storms haven't I weathered? Why would I be afraid of them?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue immediately urged him on.
“Grandpa, since you’re not afraid, shall we take all this gold and silver and return it to the imperial court?”
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin nearly stumbled and fell.
This grandson is really bold! If he really dares to take all this gold and silver into the imperial treasury, the court will be in chaos the next day!
It should be noted that much of the money here represents the life savings of the royal family and the nobles of the court.
If you clear it all out for them all at once, won't they come after you and fight you to the death?
These people just need to be taught a lesson, to let them know that some money can be earned and some money cannot!
"I'm leaving now!"
"If I don't leave soon, I'm afraid I'll lose control and take all this money back to the palace!"
Li Jue watched Li Er's retreating figure and couldn't help but burst into laughter. However, after laughing for a while, he couldn't help but feel admiration for Li Er.
Li Er's ability to achieve such great accomplishments in his life was undoubtedly related to his perseverance.
With so much gold, even knowing they would die, ordinary people would be tempted to steal some.
But Li Shimin managed to suppress his impulse!
Li Jue glanced greedily at the gold scattered on the ground, then gave everyone a stern order.
"All gold and silver must be registered and recorded. Anyone who dares to conceal or smuggle any of it will have their entire family executed!"
"promise!"
Three days later, all the silver in the Zhaoguo Temple treasury was counted.
Two million four hundred thousand taels of gold and thirteen million taels of silver.
As for the copper coins... we can only weigh them by scale, totaling six million catties!
Such a large amount of silver not only far exceeded the national treasury, but also represented most of the wealth of the entire Tang Dynasty.
This gave Li Jue a new understanding of Zhaoguo Temple. He realized that Zhaoguo Temple was not only a place that lent money at exorbitant interest rates, but also a rudimentary form of a bank that absorbed depositors' deposits and made loans!
Li Jue had been hesitant about implementing the modern banking model because he was very afraid that it would not be suitable for the local conditions. The small-scale peasant economy of the Tang Dynasty was simply not compatible with the way modern banks operated.
However, after seeing the financial schemes of Zhaoguo Temple, he immediately understood.
What Zhaoguo Temple did was no different from what was done in later generations, was it?
They would absorb the gold and silver of the powerful and wealthy and lend it out, then give a portion of the interest to the powerful and wealthy and keep a portion for themselves.
This is practically a risk-free business!
These bald monks, relying on Shakyamuni's reputation, have actually made so much dirty money!
Li Jue expressed his envy, jealousy, and hatred, declaring that he must reclaim this ill-gotten money from the imperial treasury!
During the three days that Li Jue inspected Zhaoguo Temple, Li Er truly felt threatened.
Yuchi Jingde entered the palace fully armed, ostensibly to protect His Majesty, but in reality, he kept a close eye on him. Li Jing, despite his ailing leg, insisted on attending court every day. Tang Jian, whom I hadn't seen for several years, was said to be almost insane from drinking too much. Yet, upon hearing that Zhaoguo Temple had been sealed off, he rushed to court early in the morning.
These people didn't speak during court sessions; they just stared straight at Li Er, which made him feel extremely uneasy.
In addition, the royal princesses also became more filial.
Li Er's sisters would come to the palace to pay their respects every day, and his daughter, whom he could not see for a year, would wait outside his palace every morning and evening to pay her respects, as if she was afraid of not seeing the emperor.
Li Er knew very well that these people hadn't come to see him at all; they were clearly there to see the gold and silver they had stored in Zhaoguo Temple!
However, Li Er cannot express his opinion now; he must wait for Li Jue's inventory results.
Only by knowing how much of Zhaoguo Temple's property belongs to Zhaoguo Temple itself and how much belongs to these powerful figures and members of the royal family can he decide how to deal with Zhaoguo Temple!
"Report!"
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin felt his hands tremble uncontrollably.
"Announce!"
"Bring him to see me at once!"
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