"Your Majesty," / "Your Majesty."

Li Mu and Empress Changsun quickly stood up to salute. Li Shimin waved his hand and sat opposite Empress Changsun, where Li Mu had just done. When Li Mu saw that his position had been stolen, he went to the mahjong table to bring a chair back to sit without waiting for the order.

Li Shimin pointed at Li Mu and said to Empress Changsun: "See you, have I felt wronged? So there is no rule. Did I give him a seat?"

Empress Changsun smiled and said, "Don't Your Majesty give him a throne?"

"That's not necessarily!"

Li Mu's eyes glanced at the mirror beside Empress Changsun from time to time, and did not speak. Empress Changsun felt his gaze and couldn't help laughing: "Your Majesty, I just received the gift, so I have to give him a seat, otherwise I would have to return the gift."

Li Shimin couldn't help but be curious and asked, "What gift can make the queen like so much?"

"Please look at your Majesty." Empress Changsun handed the mirror in her hand to Li Shimin. Li Shimin was also startled and said in surprise: "This is a mirror? It's so clear!" He looked at Li Mu and said, "Is this your new invention?"

Li Mu said modestly: "I got it, I got it."

"Ha, you can get it by chance, but others can't get it? Li Mu, when you should be humble, you are not humble, and when you should not be humble, you are humble, I think you did it on purpose!"

Li Mu shouted: "Your Majesty, you are making things difficult for me. When I am not humble, you say that I am arrogant, I am humble, and you think I am hypocritical again. Oh! I am really embarrassed, and it is really not easy to be a talented person!"

"You boy!" Li Shimin smiled angrily and said, "I understand. You are pretending to be modest, but in fact you are arrogant. You can't change the things in your bones."

"No, I think that doing what I want is not called arrogant, and saying that being stubborn is called arrogant. So far, I have basically done everything I say, so I think that I am okay, not arrogant. I can call myself a handsome young man bathed in the glory of my emperor and grew up vigorously. As the saying goes, the young master is like jade——”

"Stop it, I'm a little disgusting." Li Shimin said angrily: "Li Mu, I won't talk to you anymore. If you don't come, I'm going to find you. Do you know how big a problem you have caused? Today, the court discusses, Shandong, Jiangnan, Longxi and Longyou, are all asking for road construction. I say that I favored the Wang family of Taiyuan and gave the Wang family of Taiyuan a great benefit for no reason. I have thought about it over and over again, thinking that the court may have suffered a loss in this matter. Who are you planning for? Tell me clearly!"

Li Mu sighed and said, "Your Majesty, I think, Your Majesty, you can just have fun secretly."

"What's the solution?"

"Your Majesty, don't be deceived by others. Exclude all additional conditions. Think about this matter again. This matter is one thing. The court does not need to take a penny to settle refugees and build roads. In three to five years, this road will return to the court. What your Majesty calls losing is something that Your Majesty has not originally. What is this loss? Your Majesty, you think, although you can wait until the food is harvested next year, but you have used the money and food to build roads. Where do you want the 10,000 cavalrymen you want come from?"

"Money and food are limited. If you use it here, there will be no more. Your Majesty is wise and wise. How can you not understand this truth?"

Li Shimin frowned and said, "As for this reason, are you lying to them?"

Li Mu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty knows me. I am a kind person. How can I do something lie? Wang Gui is not a fool. Since he can do what he wants, there must be some benefits in this matter. What I promise is not empty talk. If the Wang family in Taiyuan has built a road, they will definitely get benefits. Other forces have seen the benefits in this area and are so eager to do so."

Li Shimin couldn't help but frown and said, "I'm a little confused. Li Mu, what are the benefits of building roads besides visible money?"

"There are more benefits here. I guess, Your Majesty thought about some of it, and the uncle and others thought about it, but in my opinion, what you think about is very one-sided."

Li Shimin laughed furiously and said, "According to you, I, my uncle and others are not smart people. You are the only smart person in the world? Li Mu, when will your arrogant temper be changed? I am really annoying!"

Li Mu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, your face is here."

"It's not that I am smarter than Your Majesty, the uncle and others. I can think more and more for a longer period of time. I have said this reason countless times, because I regard money as dirt."

Seeing that Li Shimin was about to be angry, Li Mu quickly changed his words: "Your Majesty, don't be angry. What I mean is that in this matter, I don't make money and have no interest involvement, so I can look at things from the perspective of the bystanders. Your Majesty, the uncle and others all start from their respective interests, so they will be one-sided."

Li Shimin frowned, nodded slightly, and said, "It makes sense, so you can analyze it. Where is my one-sided place, my uncle and others?"

"This is very simple." Li Mu became serious and said, "After all, it's nothing more than money and grain. Your Majesty needs money and grain to build a army of thousands of victories and wipe out the barbarians around the Tang Dynasty. The uncle of the country, Wang Shizhong and others considered more about the long-term interests of each family. If you can build a road and charge tolls, it would be a long-term input, which is a great benefit for a family. Why are you so interested in building a road? Isn't it because there are benefits?"

"If you extend it, building roads will not only benefit, but also have many benefits. For example, if the Wang family in Taiyuan built the road from Taiyuan to Chang'an, then according to the rules, as long as they take this road, they will have to pay them tolls. The scope covered by this road will be subject to a certain degree. At the same time, they will also know that where there are more populations, less populations, where there are grains, where there are fish and rice, their control over various information will be far beyond the previous one."

"If they are smarter, they build a warehouse to stock up on goods, buy low and sell high, and make profits from it, they are like making money while lying down. If they are well managed and only stock up on goods, they will only buy low and sell high, and the benefits they get will even exceed the toll, so this transaction will never lose money."

"Your Majesty, you think that most of the business in the world have risks. How many things are there to make a profit without losing money? Nowadays, road construction is a business with stable profit without losing money, and there are many additional value, so we naturally have to flock to it."

Li Shimin slowly digested the meaning of Li Mu's words and said, "If they do the road construction, if they do it, they will deepen their influence on the local area. This is not a good thing for me."

"This is what I just said, the starting point is different. Your Majesty first considers his own interests when doing things. In short, the country of Li Tang. When a family nobles do things, the first thing they need to consider is their own interests. The contradictions are naturally and irreconciled. So don't do things? I don't think so. I think that things still need to be done, and it depends on the pros and cons of this matter. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with building roads. Although this matter has relatively deepened the influence of the family nobles on the local area, Your Majesty must understand that even if the roads are not built, the influence of the family nobles still exists. If the road is built and the time limit is limited, it is equivalent to limiting the time limit for the family nobles to influence the local area. When the day comes, the road is taken back to the court, which is the time to deepen the influence of the court."

Li Mu increased his tone and said, "Your Majesty, if Your Majesty is a commoner, if the road is repaired for the first three years, the nobles and other families will charge tolls. After the road is collected by the court, the court will charge less or even not collect it. Who will the people's hearts be?"

Li Shimin was stunned and suddenly said, "Of course, it's the court that charges less or does not charge tolls! My dear is good at planning!"

Li Mu laughed and said, "That's right, Your Majesty, my Tang Dynasty will not be as good as the previous Sui Dynasty. We can all wait for three, five, or even ten years. The Wang family in Taiyuan, etc., have long-term plans for the family, and Your Majesty should also be the same for the long-term plans of the Tang Dynasty. The truth is the same. If the court can build roads without spending money, it is really a great thing that benefits the country and the people!"

"When the road is built, the connection between the various places will be faster, the materials will be operated more promptly, and the trading and trade will be smoother. In short, if you want to be rich, you will first build the road! Furthermore, when the court uses troops, the value of road construction can be better reflected. If the road is good, the troops will be dispatched quickly. Your Majesty's words "The four words of "soldiers are the most important and the speed of war" will not be explained by the minister."

Li Shimin nodded frequently and said, "What I said is very true, but I still don't understand one thing. Since building roads is a good thing for the court and the nobles of the family, why did you only let the Wang family in Taiyuan take advantage of this?"

Li Mu smiled and said, "Your Majesty doubted that I have received the benefits?"

"No, I guess, they can't show the benefits you like. After paying hundreds of thousands of yuan in deposits to you, even the Wang family in Taiyuan shouldn't be able to come up with any money." Li Shimin glared at Li Mu and said angrily: "Sometimes, you are really angry, why can you always come up with a way to make money? If you don't lack money, you can come up with a way. If I lack money, I can't think of it--"

Li Mu quickly continued, "How could you say that Your Majesty is the emperor? I was a good life as a village brave in Dingxiang. If it weren't for the guidance of God, how could I get Su Hui and come to Chang'an to serve Your Majesty?"

"You're your mouth!" Li Shimin pointed at Li Mu and laughed: "Don't be careless, explain it to me quickly."
Chapter completed!