Chang'an City. Morning Court, Tai Chi Hall.

Gao Jingming has been the Minister of Revenue for 17 years. He has worked in this position for such a long time, not only in the Tang Dynasty, but also in all dynasties. Gao Jingming is extremely professional in financial management, and his personality as a wealth-guarding slave is also very suitable for this position.

On that day, he said happily: "Your Majesty, the Governor's Office of Japan has sent a report saying that the silver mines there have been started to be mined, and the production scale next year can reach an annual output of 200,000 taels of silver, and will increase in the future."

"So many!"

"That's great!"

There was a lot of discussion in the hall.

Gao Jingming continued, "Your Majesty, last night, His Highness the Northwest King sent someone to send four ships of jewelry, please check it out."

Li Chengqian said, "Come on!"

Soon, a naval officer brought in about 100 boxes with a group of naval soldiers. Li Chengqian came down to watch the goods himself. After the boxes were opened, they revealed a large amount of gold, silver, gems of various colors, pepper and other spices, as well as pearls and colorful corals. The corals were particularly exquisite, and the large ones were more than one person tall.

The ministers were all amazed, with greedy eyes in their eyes, and even Li Chengqian was blinded by these treasures. Li Chengqian asked, "Where did these treasures come from?"

The officer said, "Report to Your Majesty, this was stolen by my prince and his ministers along the way when he passed through the Strait of Malacca."

Li Chengqian asked curiously: "Are those places so rich?"

The officer said, "When you say that, I will send you back this time in total 750 boxes of jewelry. My prince said that the places I just passed by are still very poor. When my prince arrives in the West, there are countless treasures there, and even if all the navy ships are transported, my prince said that when he arrives in the West, he will continue to send back the treasures."

This officer spoke to my prince, and his tone was full of respect and closeness. Li You had a very high prestige. People who followed Li You liked this name, showing how close he was to the respected prince.

After listening to the officer's introduction, Li Chengqian smiled. He suddenly became a little greedy and said, "Then send more boats!"

Gao Jingming, who was even more greedy for money, immediately said: "Your Majesty makes sense. You should send more ships to transport all the treasures back."

Other ministers also agreed, and many ministers requested to go out to sea with His Highness the Northwest King.

The naval officer said, "Your Majesty, I will unload my property and leave Chang'an immediately to strive to catch up with the prince's fleet. If anyone wants to go out to sea, please prepare immediately."

Su Wei, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was the younger brother of the current empress Su. He stood up and said, "I am the minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I requested to follow His Highness the Northwest King to go out to sea to assist His Highness in managing property."

The naval officer was a tough man with a black face. Seeing Su Wei's skinny and white flesh, he was worried that he would be seasick and cause trouble on the road. He deliberately scared him and said, "Sir, going to sea is a hard thing. I'm afraid you can't stand the taste of seasickness. I'm afraid you will spit out all your bitter galls and will not be able to eat for at least two months. If the adults want to go, they must be prepared to endure hardship."

"This," Su Wei obviously retreated, he stayed there and became silent. The other ministers also felt that they could not bear the hardship, so no one said anything.

Seeing him like this, Li Chengqian didn't want him to be ugly, so he said, "You don't want to go!"

Li Chengqian disagreed with Su Wei's departure, and there were deeper considerations. Li Chengqian trusted Li You very much. He would never send people to follow him to sea from the court, so there would be suspicion of sending people to monitor Li You, and he did not want to cause Li You's misunderstanding.

Guangcui Palace.

Just now, Empress Dowager Changsun came here in person to announce good news to Concubine Yin. His Majesty has approved the Yin family to be included in the Li clan's ancestral hall and can participate in the Li clan's sacrificial activities in the future.

Queen Yin and the Li clan had a grudge against her father, so she had never been included in the Li family genealogy, which was a long-standing concern for her. As Li You's status improved, Queen Yin knew that sooner or later this problem would be solved. But when this matter was finally implemented, she was still very happy.

Concubine Yin sent someone to call Yin Yin Hongzhi, and the siblings knelt in front of their parents' ranking to worship. Concubine Yin said, "My parents, relying on the blessing of your spirit in heaven. Now You'er is promising. Our family has a high status in the Tang Dynasty. My daughter has been included in the royal family genealogy and can publicly worship you."

This was a gift given to Li You by Li Chengqian. He did not tell Li You directly to avoid being suspicious of being invited. He felt that it would be best for the Yin Concubine to tell Li You about this matter.

Li You received a telegram from Concubine Yin and immediately called Li Chengqian back to express his gratitude.

That morning, the fleet led by Li You entered the Indian Ocean. They were sailing along the coast of the Indian Ocean. Li You were having breakfast on the ship. News came from a warship leading the way in front that it said it was detaining a cargo ship of the Indians.

Liu Rengui asked about this matter and said to Li You after he came back: "Your Majesty, it's just an ordinary cargo ship, and there is nothing valuable on it. I have a suggestion, look, are we practicing soldiers here?"

Li You and others sailed all the way, and some of the countries passing by were very weak. The powerful Tang army fleet destroyed their resistance with almost no effort.

Tianzhu Kingdom is a big country. Li You really wanted to train troops through them, especially the iron-clad ship, equipped with invincible artillery. He really wanted to try their power in actual combat.

At this time, it was the end of December. Li You didn't know how prepared Li Ke and the others were. If he took the lead here, would it affect their overall strategy? So he sent a telegram to Li Ke.

Phnom Penh, Zhenla Palace.

Li Ke's Nanzheng Army General's Mansion was located in Phnom Penh. After receiving Li You's telegram, Li Ke did not reply to him immediately, but instead sent a telegram to Cheng Yaojin. On the one hand, he asked about their preparations there, and at the same time, he told them about Li You's affairs.

Cheng Yaojin quickly called back, saying that they were ready, and said that since the prince wanted to practice troops, don't let him down.

Li Ke sent Li You back to telegram, saying that they were ready and he could do whatever he wanted.

Li You issued an order to start the war, and all the generals were very excited. Liu Rengui immediately commanded the fleet to attack Kalikat.
Chapter completed!