Chen San was trembling with fear.
Turning back in the supermarket, he checked several times to make sure there were no outsiders except for his own people before he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh my, sir." Chen San straightened his chest and said softly, "Your Majesty's title shouldn't be casually mentioned like this... If others hear it, they might report to the Duke of Luguo. Then you'll be at a disadvantage."
"Are you really not considering negotiating with the Duke of Luguo?"
Lin Shen shook his head, "I've already given him face."
"To repeatedly bully me, thinking I'm made of dough, wanting to knead and manipulate as he pleases?"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Seeing persuasion was futile, Chen San had to start packing up the goods on the shelves, preparing to turn away customers.
Of course, it wasn't time to close yet.
Tonight was destined to be busy...
Under the cover of night, Li Shimin decided to transport as much self-heating rice as possible.
The steward returned to the Duke of Luguo's mansion.
He faithfully recounted Lin Shen's words.
Duke Hou was furious, laughing bitterly. He slammed the table with his pen, "This is absurd, where is the etiquette? A mere merchant dares to speak such words to a Duke of the Great Tang!"
"Tomorrow, in my name, I'll go to the Chang'an County Office and file a complaint against him!"
In the Tang Dynasty, the law placed great emphasis on protecting social status and hierarchy. Dukes were of noble rank, while merchants, though respectable, were of lower status compared to common farmers and craftsmen.
Filing a complaint with the county office in the name of upholding proper etiquette and order would undoubtedly be accepted.
The steward bowed and left.
Duke Hou sneered.
He grabbed a fresh piece of paper and wrote down Lin Shen's name.
"A mere merchant, still wants to challenge a Duke..."
"Daydreaming!"
Duke Hou threw the pen, which flew like an arrow and landed on Lin Shen's name, leaving a large ink blot, blooming like a blood flower.
The next day.
Before the hour of the Tiger, Duke Hou got up early. After being attended to by his servants, he changed into elaborate court attire and headed to the imperial palace.
As a first-grade Duke, he also held the post of Assistant Minister of War.
Attending morning court was a daily duty.
However, today's morning attendance seemed a bit different from usual.
Li Shimin sat in his chair, a table in front of him with some odd items arranged on it.
When all the ministers were assembled,
Li Shimin cleared his throat lightly and began to address the matter: "Today, I'll discuss one thing first."
"Have you all heard of the Ruyi Supermarket in Taiping District?"
Upon hearing this name, Duke Hou's heart skipped a beat, a vague sense of unease creeping in.
Cheng Yaojin shouted loudly, "Heard of it! My wife has spent nearly a thousand taels of silver there in a month! Just for a few bottles of fragrant water, she's been fussing around!"
"If I didn't pamper her, how could she spend so much money?"
Du Ruhui sneered, "If you're afraid of your wife, just say so."
Fang Xuanling exploded in anger, "What you said, I remember your wife also spent over a thousand taels of silver there?"
Du Ruhui's face froze.
He was different from Fang Xuanling.
Fang Xuanling only had one wife.
He had several concubines, whose status was lower and couldn't spend money as freely as the main wife, but each at least had a lipstick.
Several women chatted every day, discussing which color was better and more feminine.
The harem was harmonious.
But the money... flowed out like water.
Not just them.
From the top officials in the court to the fifth-ranked officials, one after another, they began to grumble.
Li Shimin listened and calculated.
Wow!
The group of fifth-ranked officials in the court had collectively spent at least one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver at the Ruyi Supermarket, which left him somewhat astonished.
Li Shimin lightly tapped the table, "Enough of this noise, it's unbecoming."
The civil and military officials fell silent.
Li Shimin continued, "The reason I brought this up today is also related to that shop."
"Everyone still remembers the locust plague, right?"
The atmosphere in the court became somewhat heavy.
The locust plague was a significant event, but few were willing to bring it up voluntarily.
For Li Shimin, it was a great blow to his reputation.
Many of the aristocratic families who didn't support Li Shimin used this matter to attack him, trying to portray him as disloyal and unfilial, suggesting that the locust plague was a punishment from heaven bestowed upon the Tang Dynasty...
No one dared to touch Li Shimin's brow.
Li Shimin said, "Yesterday, I met the owner of the Ruyi Supermarket. Strangely enough, I sensed a bit of a merchant's aura from him."
"In conversation, I could tell he was an educated man with high moral character. He told me he was willing to provide grain for the people of the world for free."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked up in astonishment at Li Shimin.
Provide grain for the people of the world?
For free?
Duke Hou's heart trembled. This was definitely not good news for him.
Wei Zheng stepped forward and asked softly, "Your Majesty, is this true?"
Li Shimin nodded, "Of course it's true. Yesterday, I had the Jinwuwei soldiers go to the Ruyi Supermarket and collect some food to distribute to the farms near Chang'an."
"That Mr. Lin didn't refuse, he gave as much as I asked for."
Duke Hou's vision darkened.
So the Jinwuwei was involved!
It wasn't Lin Shen inviting some noble.
It was inviting the emperor!
And using the reason of providing free grain to the people of the world.
Standing on the moral high ground.
Li Shimin didn't notice Duke Hou's strangeness. He picked up a pack of self-heating rice from the table and said to the ministers, "The food provided by Mr. Lin is this kind of self-heating rice."
"No need for a stove, just some cold water."
"Now, what we probably have in abundance in the Tang Dynasty is water, isn't it?"
As he spoke, he beckoned to a eunuch nearby.
He had him prepare a pack of self-heating rice on the spot.
In the disbelieving eyes of the ministers, in a brief moment, this mysterious box of stuff turned into a fragrant and delicious meal.
There was meat!
There were vegetables!
Plenty of oil!
And most importantly, the rice inside looked very soft, much better than millet...
Du Ruhui's eyes lit up.
This kind of food would be perfect for disaster relief.
Watching Li Shimin dig into the rice, he swallowed his saliva and stood up to ask, "Your Majesty, may I ask how much of this kind of food Mr. Lin is willing to donate?"
Li Shimin looked at Du Ruhui, took a deep breath, and said softly, "As I just said, he is willing to provide for the people of the world."
"The so-called people of the world are the people of the entire Tang Dynasty..."
"How much the entire Tang Dynasty needs, he will and can provide."
This news left everyone in the court feeling a bit dizzy.
They had previously thought that when Li Shimin mentioned "the world," it was just a figure of speech.
They hadn't expected it to truly mean the entire world?