While the three people were talking, Li Shimin was also having a headache. He originally wanted to let Li Xiang be quiet for a while, which was a way to protect him, but also a way to suppress him. It was not a good thing to be promoted too high at a young age. Thinking carefully at home would be extremely beneficial to his future life. But at this moment, looking at the memorials in front of him, Li Shimin knew that this kid was going to make trouble again.
There were a total of twelve memorials in front of him, all of which were about Li Xiang's marriage. In addition to Cheng Yaojin's daughter, there was also the daughter of former Prime Minister Xiao Yu. The others were also from official families, but compared with these two, their identities were somewhat insufficient, so Li Shimin did not consider them. But even with these two in front of him, Li Shimin was a little undecided, not to mention that Li Xiang had not yet publicly discussed the marriage, and it was not known how much trouble it would cause at that time.
"The Emperor hasn't even had his lunch yet. Is there something major going on?"
When Li Shimin was worried, Concubine Yang Shu had someone bring food. After Empress Changsun passed away, Concubine Yang Shu almost temporarily took over the position of empress. She was really concerned about Li Shimin's health. After all, the relationship between the two was not weak in their early years. If it weren't for Empress Changsun, perhaps Concubine Yang Shu could also become the mother of the country.
"Come and help me take a look. There are so many marriage proposals here. I really don't know which one to choose, especially those from Cheng Yaojin and Xiao Yu."
In the past, when royal children sought marriage, it was extremely difficult. All the major families were unwilling to marry into the royal family. Even if the emperor's decree came down, they would replace their daughters with illegitimate daughters. They would never let their legitimate daughters marry into the royal family because they looked down on the royal family.
But now the situation is reversed. These memorials are all about the legitimate daughters of the family, but Li Shimin doesn't know how to choose.
As a princess of the previous dynasty, Concubine Yang Shu was very clear about the marriages between big families. If it was handled well, she would have almost no worries in her life, but if it was not handled well, it could be a disaster.
"Has the Emperor asked them, father and son?"
Li Shimin was somewhat dissatisfied with Concubine Yang's words. Is there any need to ask about such a thing? As an emperor, I can naturally make the decision for him, not to mention that he is his grandfather.
"Other people may not need to ask, but Xiang'er is different from other people."
As soon as Concubine Yang Shu saw Li Shimin's expression, she immediately knew what was going on. Although she had not met Li Xiang yet, Concubine Yang Shu had heard about Li Xiang's way of doing things. If she didn't ask clearly, there was a high possibility of conflict.
"I won't ask, I'm just going to keep it here and not send it out..."
Li Shimin stroked his beard and said, now it is finally my turn to make the decision. Although you major families have sent memorials, I may not agree. The longer this matter is suppressed, the more families will take action.
"Your Majesty is truly clever."
Concubine Yang Shu also understood what Li Shimin meant. Since you have a conflict over this matter, then let's fight about it for a while longer. As an emperor, unity among your subordinates is important, but conflicts among your subordinates are even more important. If you have no conflicts, then wouldn't you have conflicts with me? How can the empire be safe and sound?
The entire capital was in a turmoil over Li Xiang's marriage, but Li Xiang didn't have the time to care about it. At this moment, Li Xiang had changed into casual clothes and began to inspect the farms around Chang'an City.
According to Li Xiang's orders, the farms around Chang'an City have begun to change, and prisoners of war and purchased slaves have also been arranged in. It's still the same policy as before. I won't abuse you excessively, but you have to work for me honestly. Maybe I will give you freedom after ten or twenty years. This is also a glimmer of hope for you.
"Why do you always look so sad?"
Li Xiang had been looking at Zhou Huairen's bitter face for the whole day.
"Your Highness, these seeds are extremely valuable. Look at what kind of land this is. We have to rely on the weather for our food, but there are no irrigation channels. Even if there were a water shortage, we wouldn't be able to divert water here. Throwing seeds into this kind of land is a sheer waste of food. And what kind of seeds are these?"
Zhou Huairen said with some concern that these things were potatoes made by Li Xiang. They had been ripe for a season and the yield was astonishingly high. Now they were starting to cultivate again, so Zhou Huairen felt a little distressed. What if the potatoes could not sprout in this dry and broken soil, then all our seeds would be wasted.
"Don't worry, this is a drought-tolerant plant. I've seen the records here, and it's almost enough to survive just relying on the annual rainfall. We don't need to worry."
The rainfall in Chang'an City in this era is still relatively abundant, at least much more than in the 21st century. Potatoes themselves do not require too much water, which is why Li Xiang chose high-yield crops after investigation. If sweet potatoes were chosen, the yield might be higher, but Li Xiang does not have detailed data yet. Potatoes have already been planted for one season, so it is safer.
"That would be great. This thing should yield over 4,000 kilograms per mu. If we follow the method Your Majesty has described, it will taste very delicious. If we plant it on a large scale, we will have a large amount of food. Even if we fall out with the major families, we won't have to worry about them controlling our food supply and suppressing us."
Zhou Huairen said excitedly that the current yield per mu is about 300 kilograms. The potatoes we plant per mu can directly yield more than ten times as much as yours. Although our land is not as much as yours, if we compete in food in the future, we may not lose.
"Don't make any promises now. After all, they still have the upper hand. Have we seen any results from sending people to monitor them recently?"
Li Xiang patted the dirt on his hands, then sat down on a stone bench nearby. This was already the inside of the farm. Apart from our own people, there were only these slaves left. No one could walk out of here, so Li Xiang didn't need to pretend to be sick.
"Your Highness, the Five Clans and Seven Families have all sent their people to Liangzhou, and the auction is about to begin. If our estimates are correct, almost every family has mobilized at least three million strings of cash."
Hearing this number, Li Xiang frowned. It seemed that it was still not enough. If it could be doubled, they would be able to sell more assets, and we could profit from it...