Li Chengqian’s meal is very simple now. Each meal is two meats, one vegetable and one soup. If you invite someone to have a meal, you will add one dish and add some portions.

Cheng Mingzhen looked at the four dishes and one soup on a round table in the side room, but he didn't know where he should sit. Li Chengqian walked to the main seat and sat down. The old ghost held a chair next to him and said to Cheng Mingzhen with a smile: "Cheng Min-team, your seat is here."

Cheng Mingzhen was shocked when he heard this because the seat was on the same table as Li Chengqian, which was on Li Chengqian's left hand.

I couldn't believe that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had a close meal with him, but when I saw Li Chengqian smile and nodded at him, I walked over and sat down with a thorn.

Li Chengqian was busy all morning and was exhausted greatly. He was already very hungry and saw Cheng Mingzhen sitting down, so he picked up his bowl and started eating.

Cheng Mingzhen looked at the table with only four simple stir-fry dishes and one soup, but he still felt that it was too simple. Because the Tang Dynasty was a separate meal system, Cheng Mingzhen, as a minister, did not dare to touch the dishes on Li Chengqian's plate, so Cheng Mingzhen, who sat down, looked at the dishes on the table for a while but didn't know how to start.

After eating a few bites, Li Chengqian saw that Cheng Mingzhen couldn't move his chopsticks, so he reached out to pick up a piece of wax fish for him and put it in his bowl and said, "The Lone King has always been simple to eat, but this method is the latest stir-fry, and the ingredients are carefully selected by them. It is not considered a simplified dish, so it can only be said to be a waste.

The Lone King’s meal alone is much smaller, but they have to finish it every time. Today, because the Lone King wants to eat with you, they specially added a dish, and the portions of other dishes have also increased. You should eat more, otherwise it would be a pity if it is left." Li Chengqian’s actions and words were very natural, and he treated Cheng Mingzhen as if he had been with an old friend for many years.

Cheng Mingzhen looked at the piece of wax fish in the bowl and felt a lot of emotion. From the appearance, the fish meat looked very strong, yellow, and the texture was clearly visible, just like a piece of yellow pine wood.

Cheng Mingzhen had been in the officialdom for decades. Although he had been in the local area, he led troops to fight many times in the late Sui Dynasty.

Moreover, many times he is extremely dangerous to defeat the more with less. He has his own persistence in his heart, but by this time he admires Li Chengqian and is already promising.

Cheng Mingzhen made a secret decision in his heart that this life would be handed over to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, as long as he is not a traitor and evil person in the future... he laughed when he thought of this. How could a person like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince be a traitor and evil person?

Cheng Mingzhen thought about all this and suddenly stood up and knelt down and shouted: "I am willing to charge for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in this life, and I will never die."

Li Chengqian looked at Cheng Mingzhen's attitude and was kneeling there firmly, reached out to help him up, and waved his hand with a smile and said, "Since ancient times, Yan and Zhao are so generous and tragic, and the promise of Cheng Qing's family is more than Mount Tai!"

Cheng Mingzhen smiled embarrassedly when he heard this, "I dare not take it, I dare not take it."

"But the Lonely King wants to give you a word, 'Don't flatter you, a gentleman is not selfless; don't be enemies with villains, a villain has his own rivals; the Lonely King is never stingy with those who can serve the country, no matter whether he serves the Lonely King or not, he will never be lenient to those who cause harm to the country, no matter whether he is the relative of the Lonely King."

When Cheng Mingzhen heard this, he sighed in his heart that Li Chengqian had a broad mind and stopped acting artificial and letting go of his nature.

After Li Chengqian finished his meal, he waited until Cheng Mingzhen finished eating before he rinsed his mouth. The two returned to the main hall of Chongjiao Hall and sat down.

"Okay! Let's talk about the price of food after eating!" Li Chengqian said straight to the point.

"Please give advice from your prince!" Cheng Mingzhen knew in his heart that Li Chengqian had long been confident about this.

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "In recent years, the grain prices in Chang'an are only three or four coins per dou, ten dollars per stone, and a mu of land produces two stones per year, and only six or seventy dollars per dollar. This is the price of grain stores, and the price of people who grow grain is even lower.

Logically speaking, there should be a full grain everywhere and a full grain stock. However, in the last winter, there was nearly 100,000 people with extremely poor victims who had no one in the winter. Do you know why?"

Cheng Mingzhen asked anxiously, "Why?" After asking, he realized that this was not his attitude towards the monarch, so he hurriedly clasped his fists and lowered his head, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, please give me some advice!"

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "This is because the grain is low and hurt farmers. In the past few years, some people went bankrupt due to various changes in their homes. They could only make money by helping workers in wealthy families. In winter, they were bombed out. If it was not cold in winter, they could survive the winter by chopping wood, hunting, burning charcoal and other things in the mountains. However, this year, the livelihood of a snowy mountain was cut off. If these more than 100,000 people raised their flags and rebelled like the Wagang Village back then...

Spring has come these days. They should raise mulberry strips, irrigate mulberry forests and hatch silkworm eggs and find that no one can be found. So they are anxious to let the Lone King disperse the manpower of the Dragon Shouyuan clearing land so that they can raise silkworms and weave silk brocade to sell money.

So the price of grain should have risen. Only when the price increases can farmers have some surplus, can cope with birth, old age, sickness and death, and be able to afford farm tools to reclaim more fertile land. In this way, there will be more people who will make irons in the Tang Dynasty in the future, and they don’t have to work as weavers…”

"But what should the people who buy grains when the food prices rise?" Cheng Mingzhen hesitated.

Li Chengqian smiled calmly and said, "If a dou of grain rises to eight to ten, the people who buy grain will definitely make some credit, but they won't starve to death and cannot cause any major problems. But if no one grows grain, the country will be in chaos. What's more, someone is scolding you for blocking the gun for you, and you are just following the trend."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince?" Cheng Mingzhen remembered what Li Chengqian said before the meal and roughly understood what he meant.

"Before, the orphan king did not dare to let the people know that Chang'an had shortage of food. Now you can do it with confidence.

Tomorrow you will open a warehouse to sell grain in limited quantities. When they raise the grain price, the court's grain price will also rise, as long as it is a little lower than him."

Cheng Mingzhen already fully understood Li Chengqian's meaning, but he was still worried and said, "What should you do if the price of grain rises too high?"

Li Chengqian smiled confidently and said, "The Lone King has his own way to calm this matter. You have to plan to build several large granaries and ensure that you can collect the people's food for five dollars in one bucket during the bumper harvest this autumn."

Cheng Mingzhen heard this and said in a deep voice: "I obey the order!"

Seeing that Cheng Mingzhen was about to leave, Li Chengqian thought of giving Changsun Wuji a little color, so he quickly ordered Cheng Mingzhen: "After opening the warehouse tomorrow, you must write a memorial for Changsun Wuji to tell him what might be rising in grain prices."

Since Cheng Mingzhen knew that it was recommended by Li Chengqian, he naturally knew that Li Chengqian had such a dirty filth between him and Changsun Wuji. When he heard this, Li Chengqian's intention was vain.

Changsun Wuji is now the number one figure in Pingzhangyuan and the number two figure in the Chongjiao Palace, but it does not mean that Li Chengqian can completely suppress him, because there is also Shangshu Youpushe Gao Shilian who fully implements his political propositions.
Chapter completed!