At the end of last year, in December of the 11th year of Datong, He Chen, the attendant of the Sanqi cavalry, spoke out four things to the emperor:

First, the search for officials in prefectures and counties was extremely cruel and the people were overwhelmed.

He Chen said that the household registration of the world's household registration has dropped sharply because many people are unable to bear the plunder of states and counties, and exploitation of local officials, and they fled one after another.

Although the court has been amnesty every year, encouraging fugitives to return to their hometowns, resume production, and ordered the exemption of taxes many times, the people did not dare to return to their hometowns because local officials still impose heavy taxes.

Second, officials are extravagant and wanton, but they waste them freely.

He Chen said that the greed and cruel officials in the world made the people live in poverty because of the extravagant customs, and people actually competed for luxury and increased the burden on the people.

Third, powerful ministers play with power and blessings, and the party fights against the differences.

He Chen said that although Your Majesty is wise and powerful, there are villains who deceive superiors and subordinates. These villains make false statements and fight against dissidents. They immediately seem to be doing things in public, but in fact they are nitpicking and rejecting dissidents.

Fourth, the imperial court carried out large-scale construction, and the people were struggling to work hard and were not allowed to rest.

He Chen believed that the court should streamline affairs, lay off redundant staff, save money, and promote the battles in Shaoxing. Some redundant government offices, including treasury, residences, and governance, can be moderately streamlined.

In this way, the people can rest and the court can also save money and food.

The four things He Chen said can be said to expose the illusion of peaceful and prosperous times created by the emperor with all his heart. It is conceivable how much trouble it will cause.

In response, the emperor refuted, and Li Li summarized the inquiry content and wrote it down in a more colloquial way:

First, you said that an official was expending heavy taxes. Whose name was? You can explain clearly how he exploited the people and where is the evidence?

As long as you hand over the evidence to prove that these officials are indeed corrupt and abused, how many of them will I kill them.

If you can't say it, you are slandering the imperial officials!

Second, you say that officials are wasteful and eat extravagantly. Well, if they are hosting guests at their own house, and if you are not on the scene, how can they know how they waste?

If the customs in the present are too extravagant, I don’t know that I have been in charge of the world for more than 40 years, and I have been scattered and vegetarian, and I have been killed for a long time.

This doesn't work, what do you want me?

Third, for more than 40 years, I have gotten up before dawn to review official documents and handle government affairs every day. Before noon, I have basically completed the government affairs that should be processed without a backlog.

If there are too many things, I will even be busy from dark (before dawn) to dark (night falls), and only have one meal during this period.

Over the years, my waist circumference has been thinner from ten feet at the beginning. I have been around for more than thirty years. I have not been addicted to wine and sex, and I am dealing with government affairs every day.

I am so diligent that I have handled all kinds of affairs myself. I have been doing it for decades. You said that a villain deceived me. Okay, who is that person? How did he deceive me? You said!

Fourth, the palace construction or the renovation of Buddhist temples was all spent money to hire people to work, and they did not collect them, nor did they owe them wages.

You said you should streamline the official office, including the garrison, the ritual, the management, and the good, which should be abolished?

Which places are not urgent to build projects? Which taxes can be levied? You should give me specific facts and report them in detail to me, and don’t talk about them in general.

You should list these measures specifically on how to make the country rich and the army strong, how to make the people recuperate and reduce labor.

If you don’t list them one by one in detail, what is the purpose of saying such ugly words?

Are you slandering the court like this in order to gain a good reputation for being a rude and straightforward advice? If this is true, would you be a subject like this?

What Huang Wen saw was the emperor's refutation of the four things Chen in He Chen. Of course, these contents were summarized and recorded by Li Li, and the writing was like a dialogue.

"This incident was very big and spread very quickly." Li Li said slowly, "The emperor's refutation left He Chen speechless, and he could only apologize and dared not say anything more."

"Therefore, the content of this refutation will be spread very quickly, because the emperor wants to express his feelings to the world so that officials and the people will know how difficult it is."

"Let others see how the court's various measures are necessary." Speaking of this, Li Li asked back: "So, what do you think?"

Huang Yan looked at the scroll of paper in his hand and wanted to say something, but he had to say too much, but he didn't know how to speak. After a long time, he sighed: "The emperor is pretending to be asleep, and no one can wake up a person who pretends to be asleep."

This metaphor is good, Li Li agrees very much: "Yes, the emperor is pretending to be confused because he understands it. He cannot not know that there are many problems and it is very serious, but he does not plan and has no ability to solve it."

"I can only cover up my ears and answer questions that are not right. He Changshi said that officials were wasting their extravagant and life was extravagant, and the emperor answered that how hard he worked and how difficult it was."

"He Changshi said that local officials were levying heavy taxes and slaughtering the people. This refers not to one person, one person, not a group of people, but a reality and a fact."

"That is, the corruption of the administration of officials can only be solved by the emperor. The supervision system must be rectified and good officials must be appointed. As a result, the emperor asked him to report the names of corrupt officials and take out the evidence of the crime."

"Can He Changshi? Do you dare? The royal family members are rampant in the capital, and no one dares to take care of them. So he can control the local officials who act as a mighty person in the local office?"

"What he faced was a rotten bureaucratic group. Such a group was hard to even the emperor. What else could He Changshi do? He could only be speechless and then accused him of the crime."

"Emperor, don't you know the good things that local officials do? Don't you know the corruption of the administration? But use this method to block He Changshi's mouth, haha."

Li Li smiled: "Just you said, no matter how others call him, he will never wake him up."

"However, it's okay to just pretend to be asleep on the couch. If a coachman pretends to be asleep and the carriage is driving on the edge of a cliff, don't you feel cold on the back when you look at the coachman pretending to be asleep?"

This makes sense. Huang Yan nodded silently, and Li Li continued:

"The emperor tried his best to maintain the situation and embellish the peace. However, the ordinary people were in dire straits and the powerful were insatiable and wanted more. As for those royal families who were friendly and respectful..."

"The clan members are like enemies. When the old emperor is there, he can barely maintain the superficial 'harmony'. When the old emperor collapses, a civil war between the clan king will break out sooner or later. How many years can the emperor live in an old age?"

"What will happen to the civil war between the sect kings? Just think about the rebellion of the Eight Kings in Jin Dynasty and you will understand."

"So, troubled times will come soon. This is not my dream, it is something that will inevitably happen, just like the sun will set sooner or later, and now it is dusk."

Li Li looked at Huang Gui and said seriously: "I just want to live a good life, but in the troubled times, if you can't protect yourself, there will be only a dead end. If the troubled times recorded in historical books become reality, do you think it's fun?"

Huang Yan shook her head, and after Li Li's analysis, she realized that the situation was not good and had to make plans early.

Then, Li Li's intention to make ring lock armor and sell ring lock armor is very clear: self-protection.

She had read books and of course she knew how miserable the ordinary people were in troubled times. Then building a village to protect yourself is one of the choices to survive.

Only when there is enough money and food can we gather young and strong people gather and build villages to protect ourselves.

Only by equiping the young and strong armor can we resist bandits after band of bandits, defeated soldiers, and powerful armed forces taking advantage of the situation.

Since he talked about the secret, Li Li showed his assets to Huang Gui and let the other party know his current approximate strength:

"I can pull out a thousand infantrymen. These people are nominally guarding the courtyard and the pond. By clearing out the water bandits to train soldiers, they have killed people, seen blood, and have practical experience, and at least meet the standards of qualified combat soldiers."

"They can shoot arrows all of them, they can be step archers."

"They can also use swords and shields to form formations to charge, and they can be swords and shield soldiers."

"They train long soldiers with harpoons and bamboo poles, form formations to defend against the enemy, and can be spearmen."

"I have ten brigged sailboats, which can be used as warships, and a thousand fishermen who protect fishing can be used to fight, throw harpoons, and shoot archery with good accuracy. They also have practical experience, just like a navy, fishing on weekdays, and can fight when necessary."

"These two thousand people, their families, can be placed around the workshop. You know, the workshop is like a village now, with a large scale."

"With these two thousand people, I am a local snake. I am not afraid of any powerful family. After all, the number of county soldiers is only two or three thousand."

"If necessary, I can use these two thousand people as the core to expand the team. With my current connections and reputation, I can recruit soldiers within half a month. At least three thousand young and strong people can be recruited in the territory of Poyang County. Please note that I am healthy young and strong."

"In such a team, there are two thousand bloody soldiers who have seen them as backbone and sufficient military equipment. I dare not say that they can conquer cities and territories, but at least they can defend the village."

"I have stockpiled more than 100,000 hu of grain. By consuming two hu of grain per person per month, I can let these five thousand people, together with their families, eat for more than half a year without purchasing food."

"If an enemy attacks by water, I can summon fishermen from all over the shore of Pengli Lake to help fight, and gather hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of people into fleets, like naval forces, even if this naval force can only defend but not attack."

"Of course fishermen cannot compete with war soldiers, but there must be brave men under heavy rewards. I can spend money to increase my morale. I have prepared these money and silk."

This is the family fortune that Li Li spent three years to save. Even if the world is in chaos immediately, he can still have the capital to save his life.

Huang Yan only learned the exact situation today, but by looking at the account book, he found that Li Li's family background was not ordinary.

But the problem that followed was that the expenses were huge, Li Li made a lot and spent a lot, and Huang Yan was stunned by the account book.

If Li Li's ambition was just to be a rich man, then now Li Li could buy several fertile land, several other courtyards, hundreds of guards, and dozens of concubines.

Li Li could live a luxurious life, but he didn't have the money he earned, either hoarding materials, grain, buying horses, or maintaining a home, protecting fishing, and protecting ponds.

The expenses are huge, and it is difficult for outsiders to notice that Li Sanro Shiraishi Village actually has such strength.

"I understand, the workshop will continue to be managed well." Huang Gui's eyes became firmer, and he was happy and encouraged by Li Li's belief in him so much.

"I will... pretend to be confused when I understand."

"Then, maybe I'm in a mess. One day, will I really rebel?"

Li Li asked, Huang Gui looked at Li Li and smiled: "Muxi is like the forest wind, it will be destroyed. Sanlang is so good at making money and will not do business at a loss."

Li Li also smiled happily. Since he married Huang Yan, he decided to trust the other party and leave the property to the other party to manage so that he could free up his energy and do other things.

Of course there are risks. If Huang Gui reveals the secret to Huang Dache, then the Huang family father and son will take the secret to seek credit and report to the government.

Li Li was not afraid, thinking that the probability of this was low and he had the means to deal with it himself, so he was willing to let Huang Gui manage the industry.

Only when he has an internal boss to do housework can he concentrate on all preparations.

Primitive accumulation is the most difficult and time-consuming thing. In three years, he finally completed the accumulation and had the capital.

Now it is the twelve years of Datong, and Li Li believes that there is probably not much time left for himself to prepare.
Chapter completed!