Chapter 51: The Magical Use of Pingdiao
The smile on Li Yuanji's face froze. After all this fuss, he was still thinking about the food in my hands.
No wonder I feel so disgusted with you, but you don’t care and even play the emotional card.
Li Shimin saw that Li Yuanji's smile froze, and immediately said: "I am not taking your food for nothing. Don't you need military merit? This time, my gains on the battlefield can be counted in your name.
Whoever you want to share the profits with, just give me a document and I will seal it immediately."
Li Shimin was talking about himself and the capture of his guards in the Prince of Qin's Palace.
Li Shimin liked to lead his troops to the battlefield to fight the enemy personally. Every time he went on an expedition, he would lead his cavalry to charge.
So after every battle, he gained a lot.
Li Shimin traded his spoils.
Li Yuanji was a little tempted.
Li Shimin liked to poke at the enemy's weak spots, so he often caught big fish.
Those big fish were enough for him to secure a few titles of marquis for his men.
But a few titles of marquis could not satisfy his appetite.
Li Shimin has been eyeing the food in his hands, so can he just go with the flow?
Li Yuanji sighed: "The little food I have is not enough to help the people in Hebei..."
Li Shimin saw that Li Yuanji was somewhat interested, and immediately said, "It's better to have it than not to have it."
Li Yuanji looked at Li Shimin and asked, "Are you satisfied with that little bit of food, brother?"
Li Shimin was stunned and looked at Li Yuanji suspiciously, "What does Silang mean by this?"
Li Yuanji said frankly: "The wealthy families have plenty of food. We can definitely plunder more food from them."
Li Shimin was stunned again, and a hint of joy appeared on his face, "Silang is preparing..."
"No, no, no, I won't help you resell the title."
Li Yuanji knew what Li Shimin was going to say and immediately denied it.
The joy on Li Shimin's face disappeared instantly, and he said, "Since Silang is unwilling to resell his official title, is there any other way to get food from the wealthy families?"
Li Shimin was a little disappointed, but he heard the hidden meaning in Li Yuanji's words, so he asked this question.
In his opinion, apart from reselling official titles, there were very few other ways to obtain grain from the wealthy families.
For the people of Hebei, it is just a drop in the bucket.
Li Yuanji smiled and said, "Since Second Brother cannot come forward to resell official titles, Second Brother can be transferred horizontally."
Li Yuanji stopped there and didn't say more.
With Li Shimin's wisdom, he would definitely understand the meaning of the word "Pingdiao" when he heard it.
Li Shimin's eyes lit up.
Yes, it can be adjusted evenly!
As long as he and Li Jiancheng continue to transfer officials from the Prince of Qi's Palace, there will always be officials for sale in the Prince of Qi's Palace.
Li Yuanji only resold officials of the Prince of Qi's palace, so he didn't have to bear so much criticism.
Apart from the censors, no one would keep accusing Li Yuanji.
Some people who have benefited from Li Yuanji will not only not scold Li Yuanji, but may even praise him.
Because Li Yuanji provided them with a springboard.
A springboard to jump to his and Li Jiancheng's command.
Li Yuanji was notorious and had no chance of inheriting the throne of Li Tang. Those under Li Yuanji would definitely be willing to jump over to him or Li Jiancheng and become his loyal subjects.
Although Li Yuan had promised him the position of crown prince, outsiders were not aware of it.
At that time, he could keep the capable ones and send the incapable ones to Li Jiancheng.
Given Li Jiancheng's personality, after understanding the interests involved, he had no choice but to accept it even though he knew those people were incompetent.
The most important thing is that some of those aristocratic families who are willing to work for Li Tang but are unable to give up their face and put down their arrogance can use Li Yuanji as a springboard to become officials.
They could declare to the outside world that they bought their official positions, not granted by Li Tang; that they served as officials under Li Tang's rule for the people, not for Li Tang; and that they were still high-ranking aristocratic families.
They gained face and put on airs.
Li Tang obtained food and talents.
Although Li Tang would be mercilessly ridiculed by them, they had never said anything good about him since the founding of the country, so what did it matter if he was ridiculed again?
"Hahaha... Shiro is very wise."
Li Shimin immediately smiled happily and did not hesitate to praise.
In just one or two hours, Li Yuanji came up with a way to obtain grain from wealthy families without damaging his reputation. It was indeed a smart idea.
Li Yuanji smiled modestly and said, "Second brother, you are joking. Compared with you, my wisdom is nothing. The reason why I came up with the idea of balancing was also inspired by you."
Li Yuanji wanted to use this method to trick Li Shimin, but he certainly couldn't let Li Shimin think that he was smarter than Li Shimin.
Otherwise, Li Shimin would definitely keep a close eye on him to see if he was up to something behind the scenes.
"Great wisdom is great wisdom. You and I, brothers, don't need to hide it."
Li Shimin said generously.
Li Yuanji thought to himself "Haha".
It is because you are my brother that I should conceal my wisdom.
"Tell me, how do we divide the food we have obtained?"
Li Shimin didn't care about Li Yuanji's psychological activities at all. He cared more about how to divide the spoils.
Li Yuanji pondered and asked, "How do you plan to divide it, brother?"
Li Shimin stretched out his hand and made a number eight gesture, "If you sell an official position, I get eight and you get two."
Li Yuanji was obviously stunned for a moment.
Li Shimin meant to sell an official position and split the profits 80:20?
Then the food obtained through equal transfer does not need to be divided?
This...how can this be so embarrassing?
Those people were willing to pay tens of thousands of shi of grain just to get a position as an official in the Prince of Qi's Palace.
In order to obtain positions as officials in the Qin Palace and the Eastern Palace, they could offer more.
The profit was a bit too much, and Li Yuanji felt that with his appetite, he might not be able to eat it all.
This kind of thing cannot be hidden and will be discovered by Li Shimin sooner or later.
It is better to make things clear now than to wait until Li Shimin finds out and turns against him.
"Second brother, I can't share the grain from selling officials with you."
"Um?!"
Li Shimin's eyes widened.
Good boy, you dare to eat alone? !
Do you know that eating alone will not end well?
Li Yuanji saw through Li Shimin's thoughts and explained, "Brother, I sold the officials in my house and gave you the grain. Your house quickly transferred people away from my house. Others will definitely see something fishy.
By then, not only will my reputation be ruined.
My second brother’s reputation will also be ruined.”
Li Shimin frowned. This was indeed the truth.
Li Yuanji gave him the food and he transferred the people away right after. Anyone could sense that there was something fishy going on.
"Although I can't give you the grain from selling officials, I can split the grain from the transfer with my second brother 50-50."
Li Yuanji looked at Li Shimin and said.
Li Shimin subconsciously opened his eyes wide and asked in surprise: "Does Pingtiao still need food?"
Wow, this is asking one person to eat two crops, isn’t that a bit cruel?
"Of course, food is needed for a transfer. How can I be transferred from my notorious Qi Palace to the prestigious Qin Palace without paying something?
They want to follow the second brother to get benefits, but they are not willing to sacrifice their lives, nor are they willing to provide food. Why should the second brother take them to get benefits?"
Li Yuanji said as a matter of course.
Li Shimin nodded in agreement.
Yes, the threshold to enter his house is not that low, not everyone can enter.
Those who want to follow him to reap the benefits should indeed pay something.
If he is not willing to pay, there is no reason for him to bring those people to reap the benefits.
It's a bit cruel for one person to eat twice.
But since the food was from wealthy families, he was happy to see it happen.
"Shiro's words make sense, but isn't a fifty-fifty split too little?"
After understanding the key points, Li Shimin shifted his attention to the division.
Li Yuanji looked at Li Shimin and asked, "How are you going to divide it, brother?"
Li Shimin said decisively: "I'll take nine, you take one."
Li Yuanji immediately shook his head.
Li Shimin glared and said, "You took the grain for reselling official titles, and taking another 10% is already enough."
Li Shimin felt that Li Yuanji was too greedy.
Li Yuanji said bluntly: "We not only need my eldest brother to transfer people, but we also need my father to transfer people when necessary. My father will not compete with us, but my eldest brother will definitely compete with us.
After all, the food shortage is not only in Hebei, but also in other places in the Tang Dynasty. "
As the crown prince, Li Jiancheng was also shouldering the important task of regulating the country. He not only had to take care of Hebei, but also had to take care of other places.
Elsewhere, granaries were empty and famine was spreading in many places.
There is a chance to get some food to provide relief.
Li Jiancheng will definitely not let it go.
Li Shimin gritted his teeth and said with a heartache: "Then it's 80-20. I'll take 80 and you take 20."
Li Yuanji said strangely: "I'll give you 10%, big brother, can you agree?"
One percent, just to send away beggars.
It would be strange if Li Jiancheng agreed if he knew about this.
Li Shimin was like being cut into pieces of flesh, and said viciously: "Jun Si, give Big Brother 30%, no more. Big Brother is far away in Chang'an, and all he needs to do is write a document for transfer, 30% is already good.
If he is not satisfied, then let him come to Luoyang and handle the matter personally."
Li Shimin was sure that Li Jiancheng would not come to Luoyang, so he was only willing to give Li Jiancheng 30% at most.
Li Yuanji didn't know whether Li Jiancheng would be satisfied after knowing this.
But Li Yuanji was very satisfied.
After monopolizing the grain from reselling official titles, he could still eat a lot of grain from ordinary transfers, intercept a large number of talents, and gain a big favor from Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin. It was totally worth it.
After all, from the surface, he was the one who suffered the most in this matter.
It would be unreasonable if Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin did not give him some benefits in private.
"Then we'll follow what Second Brother said. If Big Brother is not satisfied, I'll just have to tell him the truth. Don't blame me then."
Li Yuanji got the advantage and started to act nicely.
Li Shimin glanced at Li Yuanji and said nothing.
So what if Li Jiancheng is dissatisfied?
When Li Jiancheng saw him again, he was already the crown prince of Li Tang.
Li Jiancheng's position as crown prince was taken away, and he would be ruthless to the point of being cruel to the core. So what if he was a little more dissatisfied?
"Since Second Brother won't blame me, I'm relieved. But before doing this, there are two things I need to discuss with Second Brother."
"What is it?"
Li Shimin asked.
Li Yuanji admitted, "First of all, this matter can only be done by our people. We cannot show up. We are not aware of this matter to the outside world."
Li Shimin pondered for a moment and nodded.
Li Yuanji did this in order to distance them from the Pingtuo incident. Even if there was any scandal in the Pingtuo incident in the future, it would have nothing to do with them.
The second thing, even though Li Yuanji didn't say it, Li Shimin knew it.
They need two people to take the blame.
"Yin Ashu, He Deren, Li Sixing, Yuwen Shiji!"
Li Shimin gave four candidates without waiting for Li Yuanji to speak.
