Chapter 709

Grain reserves are the foundation of a nation's stability.

Although Li Er was concerned about the safety of his two sons, he could not disregard the stability of the nation.

Zhangsun Wuji spoke up.

"There is no need to use the grain in the Great Granary. This time, the four great noble families jointly sent a merchant fleet to Siam and bought back quite a lot of grain at a low price.

As long as we resell this grain to Great Qin, we earn money and can exchange it for the safety of the two Imperial Princes; why not do it?"

What a "why not do it"!

The people from the four great noble families were somewhat unhappy.

The grain they bought was meant to be sold at a high price at a critical moment.

What money was there to be made selling it to Great Qin?

The small price difference earned would all be consumed on the road!

"Lord Zhangsun, your words are incorrect. How can selling some grain build friendship with Great Qin? It would be better to sell more silver to Great Qin; that would make Great Qin even happier."

At this moment, Zhangsun Wuji clashed with the four great noble families.

The reason he chose to clash with the noble families was also for the sake of the big picture.

The noble families held too many resources, making them even harder to move.

The ideal situation was to control more resources himself and then let the noble families come begging to him.

Although Zhangsun Wuji already controlled the trade route to Japan, he still coveted the other trade route to Siam.

The purpose behind bringing this up today was actually to get a foot in the door of the Siam trade route.

"Does Great Qin lack silver? I heard that Great Qin is currently planning to expand its army by a million. What they lack most is grain."

The noble families were not to be outdone.

"Since Great Qin wants to expand its army, the first thing they must do is buy weapons and horses; they still lack silver more."

The two sides argued like this.

Li Er, listening from above, was weary of it.

"Enough!"

Why is everyone now so impatient to please Great Qin?

If you like Great Qin so much, why don't you go to Great Qin to be officials?"

These two shouts made the officials present dare not make a sound.

Although the starting point was for the sake of the two Imperial Princes,

the words just spoken were indeed too sycophantic; after all, Great Qin was still an enemy nation.

It was shameful!

At this time, Wei Zheng stood out.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, there is no need to please them; pleasing them is useless. It is better to remain calm; the two Imperial Princes are clever and will naturally return safely."

This was as good as saying nothing.

And it made Li Er particularly unhappy to hear.

Wei Zheng's attitude was very clear: he did not agree to sacrifice national interests for the two Imperial Princes. He believed that if they were smart enough, they would surely find a way to escape on their own.

Who could accept this?

When Empress Zhangsun was alive, she would persuade Li Er to tolerate Wei Zheng and consider his opinions.

Now that Empress Zhangsun was gone, having gone to the Inner Palace of Great Qin,

Li Er found Wei Zheng increasingly intolerable.

"The two Imperial Princes are very important to the Great Tang and cannot have any mishaps. In my view, prepare some silver and some grain, and sell them all to Great Qin!"

With Li Er's command, both sides had to pay a price, and there was nothing left to argue about.

At this moment, there was a sudden urgent report from the Ministry of War.

"Report to Your Majesty, yesterday on the sea, merchant ships trading with Japan were suddenly hijacked by a group of unidentified pirates. Pirates?"

Pirates again!

Zhangsun Wuji exclaimed.

"This is impossible! How could pirates hijack my merchant ships?"

Someone from the four great noble families asked with interest.

"Lord Zhangsun, why couldn't pirates hijack you? Could it be that you recognize them?" Zhangsun Wuji, in his anxiety, almost let the truth slip.

"All the silver and goods fell into the hands of the pirates!"

Coming to his senses, he hurriedly defended himself.

"Nonsense! How could I know pirates? I meant that my merchant ships are all warships, and there are many soldiers on board. How could ordinary pirates rob my ships?"

The messenger who brought the urgent report from the Ministry of War replied.

"These pirates are not ordinary; they possess a twenty-zhang Fuchuan ship and are very fierce!"

A twenty-zhang tower ship?

Li Er suddenly remembered, isn't this the main warship of the Great Qin naval legion?

Except for those giant 42-zhang treasure ships, these 20-zhang Fuchuan ships had the most formidable combat power.

Are the pirates the Great Qin navy?

How is that possible?

It was clearly the Great Tang side that supported the Japanese and organized the pirates. The Japanese pirates did not have large ships; they all used slightly larger fishing boats.

This could not be Japanese pirates either!

Then where did these pirates come from?

Could it be that Great Qin also supported a group of pirates?

Li Er's mind raced, instantly thinking of many problems.

"My ministers, the origin of these pirates is unknown and needs further investigation. For now, Zhangsun Wuji has already suffered huge losses, so let all the goods sold to Great Qin be grain." With this, the noble families had nothing to say.

Who could have expected such a thing to happen suddenly?

This matter was thus settled.

The rice that the four great noble families had just bought back from Siam, not even warm in their hands, had to be resold to Great Qin.

They were very unwilling.

But fortunately, selling the rice to Great Qin meant that in the end, they would at most not make money, but they wouldn't lose money either.

Zhangsun Wuji was the one who was truly miserable.

He had transported a full load of Great Tang copper coins to Japan and exchanged them for silver. All that silver had been robbed.

The losses were quite devastating!

Among this money, a portion was from the national treasury, which was also robbed.

But since His Majesty the Emperor didn't feel the pain, who else would feel pain for the national treasury?

In the end, the only one in agony was Zhangsun Wuji.

After the court session, Zhangsun Wuji returned home.

He immediately had someone send a message to the Japanese pirates.

"Investigate! Who exactly robbed my silver? You must completely annihilate them at sea!"