strictlysupreme Chapter 1856 Discussing the Competition
Chapter 1856 Discussing the Competition
Li Shimin knew this rebellious son too well. He would never come to him just for a simple football game.
He must have come here because he needed my help with something.
And this must be no small matter, otherwise we would have just asked the prince for help.
This kind of thing didn't happen once.
"Hehe, Aye is very smart and can predict things like a god. He guessed that there are other things right away."
Li Shen chuckled to hide his embarrassment and complimented his father.
"Don't give me that crap. Just say what you want to say." Li Shimin was unmoved.
"Well, I don't think this football match is much fun just playing the ball.
So I want to organize a prize-winning guessing contest.”
Li Shen said carefully.
"Guessing contest with prizes? What does that mean?" It was the first time Li Shimin heard this term.
"This... is to let people guess who will win or lose in football. Then give out certain rewards."
"Oh, I see. Based on my understanding of you, do I still have to spend money to guess?"
Li Shimin immediately understood what Li Shen meant and asked jokingly.
Li Shen smiled awkwardly:
“It does cost a little bit of money, but isn’t the reward also money?
It’s similar to guessing lantern riddles during the Lantern Festival. Almost.”
"It's far from enough! Isn't this just gambling? Do you still want to get away with it from me?
Rebellious son, do you know that according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, opening a gambling house is illegal?
Those who gamble lightly will be punished as theft, while those who gamble heavily may be sentenced to death.
Officials who gamble will be demoted and their property will be gone.
You actually want to open a gambling house?" Li Shimin was furious. His own son actually wanted to open a gambling house.
How can we save our dignity if this gets out? Will we still be able to maintain the royal family's reputation?
"Calm down, Aye, I'm not running a gambling house, I'm just running a football betting site.
There is nothing else.
Moreover, there is no regulation in the Tang Dynasty law that prohibits gambling on football.
Football is a sport, just like the art of archery.
According to Tang law, contests involving archery or martial arts, with money as the stakes, are not treated as gambling. "
Li Shen had done his homework. He spent a long time reading the Tang Dynasty Code at home and memorized it all night.
The purpose is to be convincing in front of his father.
“Old Ten, do you know that the imperial court has banned gambling since ancient times, because gambling will make the people neglect their work, corrupt morals, and affect the stability of the rule.
Many people lost their families and even their lives because of this.”
Li Shimin said to Li Shen solemnly.
"But Aye, there are still many underground gambling houses in Chang'an City. If they are harmful, why don't we eradicate them all?"
After hearing his father's teachings, Li Shen also asked.
Li Shimin was speechless when asked this question. Of course he knew about this.
However, many of these properties are owned by aristocratic families and cannot be touched at will.
“Your Highness Prince Ji, this matter involves a wide range of people. If we eradicate them all, it will easily cause instability in the court.
Your Majesty is also waiting for the right time." Wang De at the side stepped forward to explain.
Li Shen nodded, looked at his father and said seriously:
"Aye, the time has come.
The aristocratic families are no longer the same as they were ten years ago. They are no longer as powerful as before, either in government affairs or in wealth.
I think they are now choosing to lie low, accumulate wealth, and wait for the right time to turn things around.
Therefore, we cannot let them take advantage of the situation, and the first thing we have to do is cut off their source of income.
This gambling house is one of their sources of income.”
"What do you want to do? How does this relate to your gambling house?"
Hearing Li Shen's inspiring words, Li Shimin asked.
"There is no connection now, but there may be some connection in the future. Maybe all the gambling houses in Chang'an City will be wiped out in one fell swoop."
Li Shen said mysteriously that he had a plan, a plan to eat meat, but he couldn't tell anyone because he wanted to eat meat himself.
“Do you know how many people in the court would impeach you if you opened a gambling house?
Do you think your gambling house can continue to operate?
If the prince opens a gambling house, it will also affect the reputation of our royal family."
Li Shimin still couldn't accept the fact that his son opened a gambling house.
"Father, my son's business is not a gambling house, it's called Tang Dynasty Charity Guessing.
It is a place where doing good deeds is the main focus.
Our income will be used to support the Beitianyuan and Jibingfang in Chang'an City, and we will also use the money to buy food and donate it to the people in the disaster-stricken areas when disaster strikes.
This is a good thing to do and accumulate virtue.
Moreover.....we intend to give 30% of the profits to the court as taxes.
I wonder what Aye thinks?" Li Shen said with a smile on his face.
This is his trump card, a 30% bonus, that’s a lot of money.
Sure enough, when Li Shimin heard about the 30% bonus, he immediately became interested.
"How much is your 30% bonus every year?"
"I haven't calculated this, but it should be at least several million." Li Shen had indeed never calculated the profit.
"How many millions?" Li Shimin was shocked. He did not doubt the authenticity of this number at all.
If it was hundreds of thousands of strings of cash, this rebellious son would not have tried so hard to persuade me.
"Is there such a huge profit in gambling?" Li Shimin asked curiously.
"Yeah, this is not gambling, this is a prize-winning guessing game, it's different." Li Shen corrected again.
Li Shimin ignored it and started to ponder, the annual income was millions of strings of cash.
The imperial court can do a lot of things, but no one would have thought that its prosperity could depend on just one person.
"Are you really not afraid of being impeached?" Li Shimin confirmed again. No matter how nice Li Shen's words sounded, it was just a gambling house.
“Father, if you impeach me, then we can use this opportunity to wipe out all the gambling houses in Chang’an City, and even in the entire Tang Dynasty.
This is also an excuse.
It's impossible that they would just wipe out my family and keep all theirs. That doesn't make sense.
I guess the aristocratic families don't dare to impeach me, and they are also afraid that the court will take action against them.
When the Censorate impeaches me, they will have to help me defend myself.
Add to that the 30% bonus given to the court, this is real money."
Li Shen had already thought about this. If he was impeached by the aristocratic families, Li Shen would take this opportunity to make a big deal out of it.
Let the imperial court eradicate all underground gambling houses in the country.
We'll see who will suffer more then.
But Li Shen estimated that they would not do that. They are not fools. They would not do something that would hurt the enemy by a thousand and hurt themselves by twelve thousand.
Only the iron-headed men in the Censorate would stand up and impeach this matter, but for his own sake, the aristocratic families and those nobles who run gambling houses will definitely help him to exonerate himself.
"How did you divide the dividend?" Li Shimin felt that what Li Shen said made some sense and began to ask about the dividend.
"My son is 30%, the court is 30%, and that bunch of dandies is 40%.
In a year, each person can probably earn tens of thousands of strings of cash, Li Shen replied.
Li Shimin shook his head after hearing this:
"No, the court must take 50%."