The Mansion of General Tiance.
Cheng Luan has been a little unhappy these past two days. Logically, Li Xiang has returned and there are no worries in the family. This should be the happiest time, but the problem is that Li Xiang sent Li Liang to the East Palace, and his father-in-law's illness has recovered in the past two days, so the two of them began to tease their grandson.
Regarding this matter, many people in the Tiance General's Mansion spread rumors, saying that Li Xiang had already chosen an heir. If he hadn't chosen one, why would he send the child to the Eastern Palace to be raised by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself? The reason for sending this kid there was to let him familiarize himself with the situation in the Eastern Palace and prepare for taking over the Eastern Palace in the future.
In order to eliminate these rumors, Cheng Luan has beaten several housekeepers, but this is of little use. Instead, these rumors are forgotten more and more. Some servants have even gone over to express their loyalty. I really don’t know what these people are thinking about expressing loyalty to a three-year-old child. Of course, the political struggle in the palace is extremely fierce. Maybe they have all experienced it. Joining the team early is equivalent to making a choice early. Maybe it will be good for themselves. What if they make the right choice?
"Your Highness, His Highness is back."
When Cheng Luan was thinking about these things, he suddenly heard the maid beside him say that Li Xiang was back. Judging from the sky outside, he must have come back from drinking at someone's house. Li Xiang was very respectful to his father and often went to sit there, which also gave Cheng Luan face.
But now I don’t have a son, which can be said to be the biggest shortcoming. No matter how much you are respected, no matter how powerful your brother from your mother’s side is, all of this requires an heir. As long as you have a son, everything you say is fine, but if you don’t have a son, all of this is just a mirage.
Cheng Luan understood at a young age that if she did not have two older brothers, she and her mother would probably not have an easy life in Cheng Yaojin's home. Boys are the bridge that supports everything, and girls are just icing on the cake. Take her eldest princess for example, she is also the apple of Li Xiang's eye, but what's the use of her?
Apart from the usual times when he was in love with her for a while, the rest of the time he was not very useful. If one really wanted to relieve the old man's loneliness, it would be normal to send the princess over. But the question is, did Li Xiang send her? Didn't he send that kid Li Liang over?
Before, a lot of concubines came into the Tiance General's Mansion. As the head of the family, Cheng Luan analyzed all of them and even regarded Xiao Xun'er as his main competitor, but he soon found out that he had misjudged her. Xiao Xun'er had the support of the Lanling Xiao family, and her threat was indeed not small, but compared with Changsun Pingting outside the city, there was still a big gap.
Now there is Changsun Pingting outside the city and Changsun Yunyi inside the city. These two mothers are really powerful and both have sons. Although Changsun Yunyi's son is not as good as Changsun Pingting's, it must be said that their relationship is much closer. Even if Cheng Ran has a son now, he probably won't be able to compete with the aunt and nephew.
"Your Highness, why are you back at this hour? Did you go somewhere else to drink?"
Cheng Luan shook his head, drove away these thoughts, and hurried to change Li Xiang's clothes. These clothes for walking outside looked very majestic, but they were not comfortable to wear. No prince or noble would wear these clothes after returning home, unless there were serious guests at home.
"I don't have time for a drink. The battle report from the front has come back, and another batch of slaves has been shipped back. But there's something I didn't expect: the slaves in Chang'an City are the ones from the previous batch that haven't been processed yet. So I went to investigate this matter, and I didn't expect someone would dare to make a fuss about it."
Li Xiang's face turned pale when he said this. It was obvious that he had suffered a loss outside today. However, in the current Tang Empire, no one could make Li Xiang suffer a loss, except for a few people.
The Tang Dynasty has never lacked labor, but it lacks free labor. The captives on the battlefield are free labor. As long as you transport these guys back, there will always be someone willing to pay to buy them. On the one hand, it can subsidize the Tang Dynasty's finances and the bonuses of the soldiers, and on the other hand, it can promote social development.
Therefore, whenever these slaves were brought back, they were quickly sold out and there was no sign of backlog. After all, these guys only needed two or three steamed buns a day, and drinking cold water, and they could work for you for more than ten hours, and this was the case all year round. For both farmers and workshop owners, they were the best labor force.
However, when someone in Chang'an City was in charge of this matter, he did not do his best. He accepted bribes from certain big businessmen and withheld the slaves, making it impossible for people outside to buy them.
These people are also profitable. The big businessmen who asked him to do things are currently short of money and have gone back to find money. However, while those people are looking for money, part of the money will be transported here from the northwest. If it weren't for the lack of accommodation, Li Xiang would not have known about this.
"Prince Song, Li Yuanjia?"
Cheng Luan was not an ordinary woman. She knew very well about some people in Chang'an City. A name immediately appeared in her mind. This person was the son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, and the half-brother of Li Shimin.
"Who else could it be but him? Who else could have such audacity? My grandfather personally spoke up for him and gave him this lucrative position. I also turned a blind eye to some profitable areas. But this guy actually colluded with the wealthy merchants and committed such a heinous act. He detained over 20,000 slaves."
When talking about this matter, Li Xiang felt depressed. Those big merchants could not afford to buy them for the time being. You can sell these slaves to the small merchants first, and then sell them to the big merchants when the next batch comes.
However, he accepted gifts from those big merchants, kept all the strong slaves here, and then detained them temporarily. After those big merchants brought money, he would hand these people over to them. The hard-working people outside who were in urgent need of slaves could not buy them, and the court did not receive the money. This guy actually managed to deceive the court.
Another group of people were sent out from the Northwest today, but this guy couldn't vacate the barracks, so he exposed this matter.
