"Pei Mingli, you're from the Pei Clan of Hedong. Which branch are you from?" Li Shimin asked.
"Your Majesty, my parents passed away early. They were both farmers and illiterate. They only told me that I was from the Pei family of Hedong. I really don't know which branch I belong to. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Pei Mingli bowed respectfully, kowtowing to the ground. His eyes were fixed on his reflection on the ground, and he didn't dare to look up at all.
Li Shimin just smiled and said nothing. "You came to Chang'an alone after your parents' early death, and now you've built up such an estate. You're a smart man and good at seizing opportunities. Today, I'll give you a chance to return to your hometown in glory. How about it?"
"I'm stupid, Your Majesty. Please make it clear."
Pei Mingli had no idea what Li Shimin was up to at this moment. He just felt that he had been targeted.
Could the royal family be so unscrupulous?
"I'm planning to build a library in each of the ten circuits. The specifications will be slightly smaller than the one in Chang'an. If the selected workshop is not the one you're from, then you can decide where to build the library in the Hedong Circuit. Of course, you'll also cover the expenses." Li Shimin said, looking at Pei Mingli.
After hearing this, Pei Mingli felt a bit regretful. There was a big difference between building a library in the Hedong Circuit and in Chang'an City.
"Your Majesty, this time it doesn't require a thousand taels of gold, does it?" Pei Mingli asked cautiously.
If he wanted to earn back a thousand taels of gold, he would have to work hard for several years. Maybe he would even have to start some new projects.
In short, it would be almost like going back to square one overnight.
"Pei Mingli, do you still want to bargain with me?" Li Shimin's face darkened, looking as gloomy as water. It seemed that he was about to get angry.
Pei Mingli's mind was in a mess. He didn't have much affection for the Hedong Circuit. Returning to his hometown in glory was just for show. He didn't even know those people. What difference did it make whether they saw it or not?
The library of a circuit was one step lower in name than the library of a country.
But since the emperor had said so much, if he didn't respond, his fate would be hard to predict.
"I'm willing, Your Majesty." Pei Mingli let out a long breath after saying this.
He felt a sense of relief, as if he had bought his life with money.
Li Shimin immediately smiled. "Good. I knew I wasn't wrong about you. You're brave and decisive. No wonder you've risen from the son of a farmer to a well - known wealthy man in our Great Tang. After the library in the Hedong Circuit is built, I'll appoint you as an assistant director in the Ministry of Works."
Li Shimin was really good at the tactic of giving a stick and then a carrot.
It was okay for wealthy merchants, but it was unacceptable for officials to have such huge fortunes and be able to offer hundreds of taels of gold at once.
Confucius said that wealth should be distributed among the people, not concentrated in the hands of these high - ranking officials.
What? You said that it was Li Shimin's elder brother - in - law, Sun Wuji, who first set this tone?
This was actually a trap they had planned together.
These silver and gold were useless sitting in the treasury. Instead of letting them go to waste, it was better to use them to build libraries for the Great Tang. Wasn't this the purpose of their coming to the Taiji Palace?
He was just fulfilling their plan.
Pei Mingli now understood. It was the same for him, and it was probably the same for those officials. There were ten circuits in the Great Tang, and just as the princess said, there were ten people ranked by the amount of money they offered. They were just waiting to see who was lucky enough to get the right to supervise the construction of the library in the Guannei Circuit.
The Guannei Circuit included Chang'an City.
Pei Mingli still knelt on the ground respectfully. "I'm grateful for Your Majesty's grace. It's my lifelong honor to serve Your Majesty and contribute a little to the prosperity of the Great Tang."
"Good. You may leave."
"I take my leave, Your Majesty."
After Pei Mingli left the Taiji Palace and walked on the long street, he found that his back was soaked in sweat. The heavy stone in his heart finally landed.
He wondered if this counted as buying an official position with a thousand taels of gold.
In the Taiji Palace, the palace servants immediately replaced the ice, and the hall instantly became cool. Li Jingyun still didn't understand her father's tactics. She was just curious. "Father, why did you hide behind the screen instead of coming to the front to watch?"
"My little princess should have knowledge and means, even though you're a girl, just like your third aunt. How can you always rely on your father and mother to handle everything for you?" Li Shimin said with a smile, picking up Li Jingyun.
Like third aunt?
Did her father want her to lead troops in battle?
But there was no shortage of famous generals in the Great Tang now. There were so many great generals sitting below just now.
Then what could it be? She couldn't figure it out.
Seeing that it was getting late and feeling tired after watching for an afternoon, Empress Zhangsun got up to take her leave. "Your Majesty, I'll go back to the palace first."
"Okay. You go first." Li Shimin said.
"You all sit down. Let's have a good talk between father and sons. Among these ministers today, including Pei Mingli, who do you want to choose?"
"Those who answer well later can get a bowl of ice cream. Those who answer poorly won't have it."
After Li Shimin finished speaking, the princes and princesses found their seats. Li Jingyun instinctively wanted to sit in the back, but Li Zhi pushed her to the front, sitting next to her eldest brother, Li Chengqian.
She was helpless and felt extremely uncomfortable, as if sitting on pins and needles.
It was just like a teacher testing students in class.
Would her school days be like this in the future?
It was so terrible! So terrible!
"Gaoyang, you have a lot of ideas. You go first." Li Shimin accurately spotted Princess Gaoyang, who was hiding in the back, planning to eat some snacks.
"Father?"
Princess Gaoyang was called up, looking completely dejected.
Why was she called? Wasn't she just here to make up the numbers?
"Daughter thinks that among these people, Cui Gan, the vice - minister, is the most likely. He's from the Cui family of Boling. He lacks neither books nor money. But to be fair, daughter hopes it will be Dr. Kong. He values knowledge the most in his life." Princess Gaoyang quickly searched her mind for information about these people and recalled the amount of money they had offered just now.
How much did Dr. Kong Yingda say he would offer? Two hundred taels or three hundred taels?
"Kong Yingda must have a lot of books in his collection." Li Shimin laughed. Gaoyang was not bad. She had her own opinions. "Bring up the ice cream."
"Thank you, Father!" Princess Gaoyang let out a sigh of relief. Holding the bowl of ice cream, she didn't take a bite for a long time. On the surface, she was looking at her brothers and sisters, but actually, she had eaten too much outside and needed to take a break.
Li Chengqian was confident. He had already made up his mind and was just waiting for Li Shimin to call him.
Li Mingda had some ideas, but she was still nervous, afraid that her father would call her and she would answer poorly and miss out on the ice cream.
The three brothers, Li Yin, Li Zhen, and Li Zhi, lowered their heads deeply, wishing they could bury their faces in the table.
They prayed in their hearts that they wouldn't be called. They didn't care about the ice cream. It would be really embarrassing if they were asked by their father and couldn't say a word.
Li Jingyun was still thinking about Pei Mingli just now. Why did her father ask Pei Mingli to supervise the construction of the library in the Hedong Circuit? Was it an impromptu decision?
Wasn't it said that merchants had a low social status? Why did her father give him such a high - ranking official position all at once?
Also, did many ministers go to the villa? Did Big Li the sheep give birth to new lambs? She had asked Su Gui to keep an eye on it for her. She wondered if he still remembered.