allendalepharm Chapter 2714 You Can't Afford It
Chapter 2714 You Can't Afford It
"One...one...one..." Hou Junji's jaw dropped when he heard Li Shen's offer. He stood there speechless for a long time.
He stood there stunned by Li Shen's words.
He even doubted his ears, thinking, "A thousand strings of cash for a set of equipment?"
Upon hearing the price, Changsun Wuji's brows relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face.
Just as he had guessed, Prince Ji still had to consider the Empress's feelings.
“Your Highness Prince Ji, please don’t joke with this old minister. There is no such thing as a set of equipment that costs a thousand strings of cash. Please give this old minister a real price.”
It took Hou Junji a while to recover before he smiled at Li Shen.
He didn't believe it would be this price. Just like the carriage, there must be a lot of room for price adjustment. If it were a set for several tens of strings of cash, it would really be worth buying.
This time, it was Li Shen's turn to look serious.
"Minister Hou, do you think I'm joking with you? I just said that it costs 1,000 strings of cash for a set, and I'll have to lose 500 strings of cash."
"If it weren't for the lives of the border soldiers and the safety of the Tang Dynasty, would I have sold it to you so easily?"
Is it cheap? Hou Junji smiled bitterly to himself, thinking, "A set costing a thousand guan isn't cheap at all."
"Your Highness Prince Ji, a set costs 1,000 strings of cash. The imperial court simply cannot afford to equip it. With hundreds of thousands of border troops, wouldn't that mean..."
Hou Junji stopped abruptly at this point, unable to even imagine that astronomical figure.
"Minister Hou, if you can't afford to assemble it, then don't assemble it. Everything should be done within your means. I'm not asking for an exorbitant price."
If you don't believe me, you can ask His Majesty. He ordered a thousand sets of equipment from me and paid the same price, and even then, he had to wait a year.
Because this equipment is so robust, it's extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive to manufacture. Even if you wanted to buy the entire army's set, I couldn't produce that many.
Li Shen held the teacup and gently blew on it, his tone calm yet somewhat arrogant.
Everyone looked at Li Shimin, who nodded slightly.
“Indeed, what Prince Ji said is true.”
The answer was simple, but very convincing.
Everyone gasped in shock. They hadn't expected it to be true. A thousand sets cost a million strings of cash, but it was only enough to equip a thousand people. Was it really worth it?
However, everyone also realized that His Majesty must have purchased it for the Hundred Cavalry Division to protect himself.
"If that's the case today, how much would the other levels cost?"
Hou Junji was a little disappointed and could only settle for the next best thing.
"Minister Hou, my Prince Ji's residence doesn't actually deal in weapons, so our prices are considerably higher."
Even the lowest-level equipment for a garrison soldier costs thirty strings of cash, and the price of this set of equipment can arm ten garrison soldiers.
so....."
At this point, Li Shen didn't need to say anything more; everyone understood that Prince Ji didn't want to do the weapons business, and he didn't have workshops for large-scale production.
So the high price is just an excuse for not selling to you.
These people are all shrewd; how could they not understand the meaning behind Li Shen's words?
"Thank you for informing me, Your Highness." Hou Junji naturally understood what Li Shen meant, bowed to him, and sat back down.
Li Shen nodded slightly; to him, this was just a minor incident.
So far, he has no intention of selling arms; why would he reveal his trump card to someone else?
He didn't know what Hou Junji was thinking, that he would actually ask him to buy weapons and equipment.
Li Shen was not good at strategizing, so he stopped worrying about it when he couldn't figure it out.
Next, the mode of enjoying time together as emperor and his ministers resumed, with Li Shimin recounting his heroic exploits from the past.
Li Shen and his brothers could only listen from the sidelines, unable to get a word in edgewise.
Later, when he was really out of breath, Li Shen got up, apologized, and left. Li Chengqian and the others followed him out.
"Phew~~~ Finally out. I felt so uncomfortable around those people."
After coming out, Li Shen let out a long breath and stretched his muscles.
He felt like his bones were rusting from being around these old guys.
"I think you're uncomfortable being with your father, aren't you?"
Li Chengqian said with a smile.
"Brother, I've told you so many times, there are some things you should see through but not say out loud. You need to correct this."
Li Shen said this for the first time, sounding rather annoyed.
"Hehe, I can only be so straightforward with you, after all, we are brothers."
Li Chengqian chuckled, completely unconcerned.
"If that's the case, then don't consider me a brother anymore." Li Shen rolled his eyes, though his words sounded nice.
“We are brothers, family, inseparable.”
Li Chengqian patted Li Shen on the shoulder.
"You're kidding me. Do you even know that in ordinary families, brothers divide the family property when they split up?"
We don't divide family property.
Not only do I not get any, but I also have to put a lot of money into it every year. Tell me, what kind of family is this?
"Would you be living so comfortably in this family if it weren't for me?"
Li Shen slapped Li Chengqian's hand away and said sarcastically.
"Haha, it seems that Tenth Brother wants to divide the family property like ordinary people. Tell me, which piece of land have you set your sights on?"
"When I succeed to the throne, I will divide it among you." Li Chengqian laughed heartily.
This Li Shen is always thinking about dividing the family property. Last time, his father almost collapsed, and this guy was still thinking about the family property.
“A place? I don’t want it.” Li Shen shook his head.
"Then what do you want?" Li Chengqian asked, puzzled.
"I want a share of the imperial treasury; there's still a lot of money in there that's mine," Li Shen said without any attempt to hide it.
"Divide it into the imperial treasury?" Li Chengqian touched his face, then shook his head:
"The imperial treasury is the foundation of our royal family, belonging exclusively to the emperor, and cannot be touched without the emperor's order."
Even after I, your elder brother, succeed to the throne, I won't be able to touch the money inside unless Father approves.
"Get out of here, you surnamed Li, stop making excuses."
Let me tell you, there's still a lot of money in the imperial treasury. My mother's savings over the years are all in there, at least several million strings of cash.
And all those things inside... I got them all; you have to give me half.
Otherwise, I'll... I'll die of a horrible death on the Vermilion Bird Gate tower.
Li Shen, hands on her hips, pointed at Li Chengqian like a shrew and shouted rudely.
All that gold inside was obtained through deception.
You need to understand that the current economic climate is so bad that it's not as easy to scam money as it used to be.
Fortunately, he was ruthless back then and managed to swindle all the gold from the aristocratic families. If it were now, it wouldn't be so easy.
Why should the money that I worked so hard to earn be given to Li Chengqian, who gets something for nothing?
Facing the shrew Li Shen, Li Chengqian remained calm and simply smiled as he looked at her.
Suddenly a furious roar came from behind:
"Go hang yourself at your Prince Ji's residence. Don't keep bringing up the Vermilion Bird Gate. Doesn't your Prince Ji's residence have a main gate?"
(Now even novel writing is this complicated. I met someone today who wants to write a time-travel novel. He's been reading the Four Books and Five Classics at home for two months.)
He can recite quite a lot, and can rattle off entire passages of history at a glance. Is he really that dedicated?
Should I buy the whole set of the comprehensive history to read?