Kidnapped by Princess Changle at the beginning

Page 206

Li Er couldn't help laughing.

It turned out that the Guanyin servant girl was worried that she would be stupefied.

From the looks of it, if he didn't stop, Guanyin's servant girl might call the imperial doctor.

Li Er carefully wiped away the tears on the face of Empress Changsun, and then said: "Guanyin servant girl, you are overthinking, I am fine, I just stayed up all night last night, and woke up this morning, feeling exhausted and unable to cheer up , suddenly remembered that night at the Nanshan mansion, I danced with my love friends, full of energy, so I drove Gao Chen and others out, danced for a while, sweated a little, and now I have regained my spirits, if you don’t believe me, look, I Does it look like you haven't slept all night?"

Empress Changsun looked carefully, only to see that Li Er's face was full of energy except for the sweat.

So I was relieved.

Empress Changsun turned and went out, came in with a plate of dim sum, and said, "Second brother, you have worked so hard these past few days, and my concubines specially asked the royal chefs to make some dim sum, you should try it first."

After a dance, Li Er also felt a little hungry, so he directly picked up a snack and put it in his mouth.

Ok?

Li Er was suddenly surprised and said: "Guanyin servant girl, this dim sum is so delicious, I remember, this is not the craftsmanship of the royal chefs! When did the royal chefs in the palace make such delicious things?"

Empress Changsun smiled and said: "Second brother, you are right, this is not the craftsmanship of the imperial cooks. The concubine ate so many good things in the Nanshan mansion that day, so I sent a few imperial cooks to the Nanshan mansion to learn some. Craftsmanship, I will cook food for my second brother in the future...I didn’t explain this matter clearly to my second brother in advance, I hope my second brother will not blame me."

The imperial chefs in the palace are strictly managed. Generally speaking, they are not allowed to leave the palace until they die, just to prevent people from attacking the imperial chefs and harming the emperor and the royal family.

Li Er smiled and waved his hands: "Guanyin maidservant, why would I blame you? I can't believe others, but Chen Chu, I still believe it. He won't do me any harm."

Anyway, ever since he got to know Chen Chu, from Qingfengzhai to Chang'an City, Li Er did not eat less of Chen Chu's food. Many times, no one was around to test for drugs. He already trusted Chen Chu very much.

Wait for Li Er to finish his snacks.

Only then did Empress Changsun say: "Second brother, there is one more thing. You promised Chen Chu in the Nanshan mansion that day that the Ministry of Rites would arrange the wedding for him and Lizhi, but why hasn't there been any movement in the past few days?"

Li Er laughed: "Guanyin maidservant, it seems that you are very satisfied with Chen Chu, your son-in-law, and you have urged me more than once in front of me. Don't worry, how can I change my promise to him? It's just that The war in the Western Regions has been tense for a few days, and there is no time to arrange it. Today, I have summoned the auxiliary machine and others to discuss this matter."

"It turns out that His Majesty has already made arrangements, but the ministers and concubines are busy." Empress Changsun resigned.

Empress Changsun walked out of the Ganlu Hall, but saw Gao Chen and several eunuchs holding hands in an open space outside the main hall, forming a circle, twisting and turning, looking very ugly.

Empress Changsun stepped forward and asked curiously, "Gao Chen, what are you doing?"

Hearing the sound, several people turned their heads and saw Empress Changsun, they were startled, they stopped quickly, and all bowed and waited to be punished.

Gao Chen said tremblingly: "Reporting to the Empress, the little ones are tired of standing here, and I suddenly remembered that I saw His Majesty dancing with the ministers in the Nanshan Mansion that day, so I wanted to learn to dance and be more energetic, but, the little ones You're stupid, you can't dance well!"

Empress Changsun suddenly smiled: "So it's dancing, but you're right, you guys are really stupid, your dancing is ugly, well, you guys go on dancing, I'm leaving first."

She felt that His Majesty Li Er's dancing posture was still very graceful, especially compared with these eunuchs, it was like heaven and earth.

As she spoke, she left the Ganlu Hall with the maids and eunuchs with her.

Gao Chen and the others were dumbfounded.

"The queen didn't punish us?"

"The queen is so kind..."

"Gao Gonggong, come on, let's dance for a while."

"I also want……"

A chrysanthemum-like smile bloomed on Gao Chen's face, and he said, "Okay, okay, come on, let's have another dance..."

……

Chapter 245 I'm Careless

As soon as the time arrived, Changsun Wuji, Wang Gui, Fang Xuanling and others filed into the Ganlu Hall.

After entering, everyone saw Li Er sitting behind the table, looking very energetic and full of energy.

They were all very surprised when they learned that His Majesty Li Er stayed up all night.

After all, Li Er is not young anymore.

But at this moment, he looked like a spirited boy, full of momentum.

Changsun Wuji stepped forward and asked curiously: "Your Majesty, now that the soldiers, horses, food and grass in the Western Regions have been settled, and the Tang army has entered the territory of Tuyuhun, it is as easy as backhanding Tuyuhun. I don't know if Your Majesty hastily called us into the palace today What's the matter?"

Fang Xuanling and the others were also at a loss.

After all, when they received Li Er's call, they felt that the situation was serious.

Li Er laughed, and said: "Auxiliary machine, dear friends, you don't have to worry, there is nothing urgent, everyone sit down."

Gao Chen and the others quickly moved the chair up.

Hearing that there was no urgent matter, Changsun Wuji and the others sat down in peace.

I only heard Li Er say: "My dear friends, there are two reasons for calling you here today. The first thing is the marriage between Chen Chu and Li Zhi. I have already promised Chen Chu that this time I will let you Lizhi really married him in secret, besides, Lizhi, as the eldest princess, has already reached the age of marriage, this matter cannot be delayed any longer, I plan to let the Ministry of Rites and Yousi immediately start preparing for Lizhi and Chen Chu's marriage, and I intend to double the reward for Lizhi, I want to make the reward for Lizhi surpass the princesses of all dynasties..."

The eldest princess, Li Lizhi, was born to the eldest grandson empress in the main palace, and she is the jewel in the palm of His Majesty Li Er, who has always been doted on by Li Er and the eldest grandson empress.

But everyone didn't expect that Li Er actually planned to let Li Lizhi pretend to surpass the princesses of all generations?

Wei Zheng was the first to object.

He stood up and said: "Your Majesty, you must not do it. As the saying goes, the strong will change from being diligent and thrifty to losing to extravagance. Although the Tang Dynasty is already very rich, the treasury is more abundant than before. Your Majesty loves her daughter so dearly that everyone in the world loves her." It's understandable, but now the eldest princess's marriage is rewarded more than the previous princesses, what about the other princesses, I think that the palms of the hands and the backs of the hands are all flesh, so many princesses, His Majesty should treat all princesses equally, and we must not treat one more favorably than another..."

Wei Zheng's words immediately touched Li Er's heart.

If someone came out to advise and say that the treasury is empty, that the people are wasting money, and so on, Li Er would definitely slap him back.

I don't want money from the national treasury, and the internal treasury is really rich.

But as soon as Wei Zheng talked about the fact that many princesses should not treat each other more favorably, Li Er had nothing to say.

In fact, all the rewards are not only for the princess, but also for the son-in-law.

Chen Chu is a commoner son-in-law, and Li Er likes him very much, so he wants to reward him more.

But what about the consorts of other princesses?

Most of the other princesses' sons-in-law are the sons of nobles.To put it bluntly, the princess is a tool person, used to win people's hearts.

Once there is a princess whose reward is pitifully small, it seems that Li Er doesn't pay enough attention to the princess's husband's family.

Li Er quickly figured out what Wei Zheng meant.

So he laughed: "Wei Aiqing, you are right. I thought too much. If that is the case, let the Ministry of Rites and Yousi discuss and come up with a charter. Since the eldest princess is beautiful, all princesses will be married and rewarded according to this rule." One standard, what do you love ministers think?"

Faced with Li Er's kindness, the ministers had no choice but to bow their heads and compliment: "Your Majesty is wise!"

After solving the first matter, Li Er was in a good mood, so he said: "As for the second matter, it is the iron ore slag matter mentioned by the love ministers in the Nanshan mansion that day. I feel that it is better to sell the iron ore slag in this world to Chen Chu. I have asked the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Industry to calculate that the iron ore slag alone can generate a lot of income for the court. It is up to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Industry to decide, but Chen Chu must not be disadvantaged, Duan Aiqing, Dai Aiqing, do you understand?"

Duan Lun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Dai Zhou, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, hurriedly stood up and agreed.

Changsun Wuji and others also expressed no opinion.

Li Er nodded: "Since that's the case, let's do it this way for now."

The crowd agreed in unison.

……

Nanshan Mansion.

In the courtyard outside the villa.

"what?"

Chen Chu's eyes widened suddenly, and he stared at Zhu Neng, "You mean, all the iron mines in the imperial court suddenly don't give us the iron ore slag for free, but charge money instead?"

Zhu Neng nodded: "I just received the news today. The original iron ore slag does not cost money. We can take as much as we want. But from today onwards, every [-] catties of iron ore slag will cost [-] Wen. Boss, Tell me, this iron ore slag is useless in the first place. I have seen a lot of iron ore slag with no place to pile up. Now our cement factory turns waste into treasure. Isn’t this a good thing? Why did the court suddenly start What about collecting money?"

Chen Chu frowned.

Careless.

At the beginning, there was no hoarding of a batch of iron ore slag.

He didn't take this matter to heart at first, but now it seems that he was careless.

When someone saw the usefulness of cement, they naturally guessed that iron slag was the raw material for making cement. In this case, how could the imperial court let go of such an opportunity to make money.

This is in line with Lao Li's style.

He laughed: "This matter is common sense. Five hundred Wen and one hundred catties of iron ore slag are a bit more expensive, but it doesn't matter. Our Nanshan Mansion has been completed, and the cement in the future will be sold out." Yes, the imperial court collects money from us, and we sell it more expensively. We don’t pay the money, but those rich people pay..."

Zhu Neng and the others stared wide-eyed.

Can you still do this?

Chen Chu asked again: "Old Zhu, how long can we use the iron ore slag we have in reserve now?"

Zhu Neng thought for a while and said, "It's gone, it can only be used for two days."

Chen Chu: "..."

Oh, I was really careless this time.

Zhu Neng explained: "Boss, our cement factory is not wide enough to pile up too much, so... all of this is due to our ineffectiveness. Please punish the boss."

In fact, the scale of the cement factory is not large. The cement produced every day was barely enough to supply the Nanshan mansion. The reason is that the technology is immature and can only be operated by skilled workers, and Chen Chu wants to keep it secret, so the production volume is not enough. big.

Some time ago, all the iron ore slag obtained from the iron mine in the north was used, but now it is almost used.

Chen Chu waved his hand: "It's not your fault...Old Zhu, the current situation is not optimistic. Our Nanshan mansion still needs a lot of cement, so we must not be able to supply it. Could it be that we really have to pay the court first?" A protection fee..."

Chen Chu was a little unwilling.

If the cement is sold to the outside world, then the money can be passed on to the person who bought the cement.

But now it is for personal use, so you can only pay for it yourself.

Just when he was at a loss, he heard a burst of haha ​​not far away: "Hahaha, fifth brother, I'm afraid you are going to treat me to a drink today."

As soon as Chen Chu turned her head, she saw Cheng Yaojin walking towards this side with big strides, laughing haha, with a bright smile, as if he had picked up money.

……

Chapter 246 Partnering with Cheng Yaojin in the Cement Business

Chen Chu looked up and saw Cheng Yaojin's smile, and asked a little puzzled: "Fourth brother, what do you mean?"

Cheng Yaojin said with a smile: "Fifth Brother, I have learned that Your Majesty has decreed that from now on, the iron ore slag in the world will no longer be given to you for free, but will be sold to you for five hundred Wen and one hundred catties of iron ore." Scum, if you think about it carefully, it's not cheap."

Chen Chu frowned, nodded and said: "Fourth brother is right, I am worrying about this matter now, although I have already announced that the construction of this mansion has been completed, there are still a lot of projects that need cement, which is also true That is to say, the only way I can do now is to pay the imperial court a sum of money, otherwise the cement matter cannot be resolved.”

Of course, the raw materials for cement production are not only iron slag, but also many substitutes.

But Datang's technology was backward, even if Chen Chu mastered the method of making cement, it would be useless without technical support.

Chen Chu understood a truth: If you walk too fast, it's easy to talk nonsense.

Right now, only iron slag is the most suitable cement raw material.

It is estimated that those ministers in the court were sure of this point, so they unscrupulously persuaded the father to collect money from iron ore slag.

Chen Chu thought in his heart, but saw Cheng Yaojin wave his hand indifferently, and said, "Fifth brother, if you want to say that it is iron ore slag that has been used for several years, I can't help it, but if you want to say that it is the iron ore slag that will be used in your mansion next The iron slag needed for cement, perhaps, I have already solved this trouble for you!"

Ok?

Chen Chu was taken aback.

He was surprised and said, "fourth brother, don't joke with me!"

Cheng Yaojin waved his hand and said, "Old Cheng, I won't joke with you... Chu Mo, come here and tell your uncle about the situation."

Cheng Chumo stepped forward, showing a simple and honest smile, and said: "Brother Chen Chu, at the beginning, my father knew that you might need a lot of iron ore slag, and the iron ore slag from the imperial court didn't cost a penny. Some people go to various places to collect iron ore slag. Now it is calculated that the iron ore slag collected in our entire Tang Dynasty is worth hundreds of thousands of catties. It does not cost a penny. All that is needed is the cost of manual transportation and stacking. That's all."

Hundreds of thousands of catties?

Layout in advance?

Chen Chu was dumbfounded.

Hey!

Which bastard said that Cheng Yaojin is a fool, isn't that rough and subtle?

Chen Chu laughed: "Fourth brother, if this is the case, then you have helped me a lot. Even if the production of these hundreds of thousands of catties of iron ore slag is expanded in the later stage, it will be enough for more than a year...Since that is the case, how about , How about we partner in this business?"

Cheng Yaojin didn't understand what Chen Chu meant, and stared at Chen Chu in astonishment.

Chen Chu smiled and said: "You don't know, fourth brother. At the beginning, I pried the Chunming gate to transport the stones of this gate. In order to appease the anger of the emperor, I repaired it with cement. Who knew, The emperor and the ministers all believed that this cement is a sharp weapon for building a city wall, and it is also a sharp weapon for building a mansion. Therefore, since then, my eldest grandson, my lord Wang Gui, and even Old Wei have approached me many times in private. Let me sell the cement to them, but I was busy building my own mansion at the time, so I didn't have time to deal with them. Now that the mansion has been built, I plan to let Zhu Neng and others expand the scale of the cement factory, which is to sell cement to the outside world... It's a huge business, and you can make money without worrying about it for at least five years, fourth brother, why don't we form a partnership, what do you think?"