Du Ruhui had nothing left to say.
Li Shimin directly took advantage of his plan and said,
"Since you, Du, claimed that the Ministry of Revenue has put in efforts, fine. I will give the money directly to the Ministry of Revenue and give them a 20% bonus, without the need for repayment. If the Ministry of War didn't contribute, then they can go to Dai Zhou for money."
However, Dai Zhou was not an easy person to deal with, he was very upright and maybe not particularly skilled at making money for the Ministry of Revenue, but if you wanted to get money from the Ministry of Revenue, it would be extremely difficult.
Now in this situation, what else can Du Ruhui do?
It seems that he will have to look for another opportunity in the future. Your Majesty, seeing the royal treasury becoming more and more abundant, it is definitely a good target for big spenders.
The conversation came to an end at this point.
But Fang Xuanling, who had been silent all along, spoke up,
"Your Majesty, today I have realized that although I usually pride myself on being clever and resourceful, I am still no match for some people! I really can't think of a way to increase the revenue of the national treasury and the internal funds without hurting the people and wasting money."
Li Shimin's brow twitched slightly, and his face became slightly unnatural as he said,
"Hehe, my dear minister, you don't have to blame yourself. I also have occasional moments of inspiration."
At this moment, Changsun Wuji suddenly remembered that Your Majesty had been talking about seeking advice from Xiao Zhang the shopkeeper on increasing revenue for the national treasury.
These two policies were very different from the policies of Your Majesty in the past, but they seemed to be in line with Xiao Zhang's unconventional thinking.
Could it be that these two ideas were both obtained from Xiao Zhang?
But it was not convenient to ask directly, that would be too rude.
Du Ruhui also had the same idea, but he was more decisive than Changsun Wuji. Although he could not ask directly, he could ask indirectly.
"Your Majesty, have you visited Xiao Zhang's shop recently? Since my last visit, I still can't forget the taste of his cooking!"
How could Li Shimin not understand that Du Ruhui was trying to inquire if Xiao Zhang had given him any advice.
But he couldn't admit it on the spot. He obtained the ideas from Xiao Zhang with his own ability, and naturally they belonged to him. After all, he even sent a sister to be a concubine for him.
So Li Shimin calmly replied,
"I have been busy with state affairs recently and haven't had time to visit. I'll arrange to visit Xiao Zhang's shop with a few others to taste his fine wines and dishes in a few days."
Sometimes things just work out so conveniently.
As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, a eunuch entered silently, carrying a beautifully framed calligraphy, placed it in front of Li Shimin's desk, and then silently retreated without disturbing the conversation among the sovereign and ministers.
This is when Li Shimin had just returned to the palace, he ordered the eunuchs to find the best craftsmen in the palace to mount the painting and repeatedly instructed them to bring it to him as soon as it was ready.
The eunuchs naturally followed Li Shimin's instructions, so they sent the painting to Li Shimin as soon as it was ready.
But unfortunately, they should not have opened it before delivering it.
Now, the few people in front of him had all seen it at a glance.
They were all scholars who had read extensively, and for a work of art that could be placed on the emperor's table, they naturally took an interest.
So they looked at it right away.
Then, Changsun Wuji and Du Ruhui were embarrassed to see the inscription.
"Autumn of the ninth year of Wude, Zhang Nuo presents to a friend."
Okay, this was a slap in the face. The emperor had just said that he had not been to the shop of Xiao Zhang's manager, but how did he get this painting?
Obviously, it was Xiao Zhang's who gave it to the emperor.
Fang Xuanling didn't know who Zhang Nuo was, but he could appreciate poetry and prose.
Especially the "When the wind rises and the waves break, one can sail straight to the clouds and cross the sea" in front of him, which can be considered a masterpiece for all time.
Fang Xuanling, who was very interested in poetry and literature, did not know the taboo in it, and immediately said to Li Shimin with enthusiasm,
"Your Majesty, who is this talented Zhang Nuo? This is simply a great talent who excels in both poetry and prose. Can you introduce him to me so that I can exchange ideas with him?"
At this moment, Li Shimin couldn't find a reason to hide anymore. If he scolded Fang Xuanling, he would be ignorant. But when he saw Changsun Wuji and Du Ruhui pretending to be serious and looking at the poetry and prose, he became angry.
So he said in frustration,
"Yes, the methods of increasing the revenue of the two treasuries and the internal treasury were all discussed during my visit to Xiao Zhang's shop. I also asked Xiao Zhang to write this painting."
"Don't worry if Fang Qing is not familiar with Xiao Zhang. When we have a little free time in a few days, we can all go together and get to know him. Fu Ji, Ke Ming are very familiar with Xiao Zhang."
The last sentence was clearly emotional. How could the two of them be familiar with Xiao Zhang like the emperor said? This was to provoke them.
The two of them pretended not to hear and lowered their heads to carefully examine the painting, looking as if they hadn't heard anything, showing a little arrogance.
However, they both had to admit that this poem and calligraphy that Xiao Zhang wrote for the emperor were top-notch in terms of poetry and calligraphy.
It was not entirely for show, they really appreciated it. At the same time, they were secretly thinking about whether they would sneakily visit Xiao Zhang's shop and ask for a poem or write a calligraphy.
This thing could be a family heirloom in the future!
When Fang Xuanling saw that the emperor had said a few words and didn't continue, and the two colleagues next to him didn't explain, he secretly thought that there must be something going on here.
So he pretended that he didn't say anything just now and looked at the painting carefully.
For a while, the Two-Sided Hall, which was originally noisy, fell into a long silence.
Meanwhile, in the nearby Lijing Palace, Empress Changsun was helping Hongyu choose clothes and jewelry.
One by one, the pieces of jewelry were placed in a treasure box, and the female officials who were helping couldn't help but envy her.
They already knew that Hongyu had been bestowed upon a young and talented man by the emperor and empress as a concubine.
Moreover, the emperor and empress had promised that Hongyu's offspring would be treated as if they were born from the main wife, which made them even more envious.
They basically only had two options: to die in the palace or to become a concubine of some high-ranking official.
However, most of the high-ranking officials already had many wives and concubines, and were also quite old.
But Hongyu was going to marry not only a young and talented man, but also someone who was three years younger than her, which was a prime age.
Moreover, the most important thing was that there was currently no mistress in the household. After Hongyu became a concubine, although she was technically a concubine, she would be the only mistress, coupled with the emperor's promise.
It was almost no different from being the lady of the house.
They just didn't know if they would be lucky enough in the future to find such a good son-in-law!