Liu Yun seemed to finally muster up the courage to speak about the matter at hand.
"Auntie, I..."
"You don't need to say it," Li Yao interjected. "Let me speak."
"Huh?" Liu Yun was taken aback. "You know what I'm about to say?"
"I know," Li Yao replied.
She picked up the fishing rod on the boat and baited it with a piece of earthworm before casting it into the water.
Only then did she say jokingly, "You've got your eyes on my meager assets, haven't you?"
Liu Yun's face flushed red.
It appeared this Auntie Li did indeed know his intentions.
To be honest, this was not something he actually wanted to do, but Daling Country had been plagued by raids from the northern barbarians. This year, it had gotten even worse. Since spring, they had been invading Daling's borders.
Meanwhile, Daling's troops lacked quality warhorses and good weaponry and armor. Coupled with insufficient rations, they had been retreating at every step.
The northern borders had already been invaded by over a hundred miles.
"Auntie, I had no other choice," Liu Yun said. "But I promise I will never shortchange you."
"There's no shortchanging to speak of," Li Yao said. "I'm a subject of Daling Country, so of course I should think of Daling first."
"Auntie is virtuous."
"But I have two conditions," Li Yao said.
"Please go ahead, Auntie," Liu Yun replied.
"First, while you can't control other places, now that you're the Prince of Yi Prefecture, you must treat the commoners of Yi Prefecture better in the future," Li Yao said. "If you can promise to do that, I'll be happy to provide what little I have to you."
"Of course. I, Liu Yun, swear to the heavens that I will never exploit the commoners of Yi Prefecture," Liu Yun vowed solemnly. "Also, you don't need to give it to me. My father the Emperor intends for us to jointly run a business with your shares."
Li Yao raised her eyebrows slightly. "Your father the Emperor really said that? You're not making it up now?"
"Auntie," Liu Yun said with a wry smile, "Why would I lie to you about something like this? My father the Emperor really wanted to visit Yi Prefecture himself, but he's getting on in years and has some troublesome matters in the capital."
Li Yao had no interest in or ability to manage the capital's affairs.
However, the old emperor did seem to be a wise ruler, still trying to govern the world well despite lacking strength.
"My second condition is that you must listen to what I have to say," Li Yao continued. "Especially regarding how to develop Yizhou Prefecture - I hope you will give me your full support, even if it goes against your father the Emperor's wishes. Do you have the resolve for that?"
"I was already planning to take you as my master, so of course I will listen to you," Liu Yun nodded firmly. "Besides, I'm now the Prince of Yi Prefecture, and it's my fief. I can do as I see fit without my father the Emperor interfering too much."
"I hope you remember what you said today."
"Liu Yun will definitely not let you down, Auntie."
"Then let's get down to business," Li Yao said. "Last time, I gave Prefect Xu the method for producing high-quality steel."
"He's already passed it on to my father the Emperor. Now it's in my hands," Liu Yun said. "My father the Emperor wants me to find a place to produce this high-quality steel and provide it specifically for the imperial army's use."
"Yizhou Prefecture has iron ore, but it's not great and there's no coal," Li Yao said. "So production costs will be too high."
"The Nanzhao Kingdom has abundant iron ore, and transportation here wouldn't be difficult," Liu Yun said. "As for coal, transporting it from the north will be a bit expensive, but still acceptable. The iron slag can also be used to produce cement."
"Where are you planning to build the steel workshop?"
"Probably south of Yizhou Prefecture," Liu Yun said. "It's closer to the Nanzhao Kingdom that way."
"That works."
"So Auntie Li," Liu Yun continued, "for these steel and cement workshops, you just need to provide the techniques and take a 20% stake. How's that?"
This was practically getting 20% in technology shares for free. His sincerity was quite sufficient.
Of course, Liu Yun wouldn't lose out either, because compared to what Li Yao gave Prefect Xu, there was still much room for improvement and more techniques to be added later.
It was the same for cement.
The current traditional cement production method was far too inefficient.
If she didn't get shares, Li Yao certainly wouldn't provide these techniques again.
"What about other businesses?" Li Yao asked. "Like potted foods, herbal ointments, floor tiles, and ox carts - do you want to partner with me on those too?"
Liu Yun smiled awkwardly, "Let's forget those. We don't want people saying the imperial family is too greedy."
"What about fireworks?"
"Fireworks?"
Liu Yun looked slightly surprised. He didn't understand why Auntie Li singled out fireworks.
Although he hadn't seen fireworks with his own eyes, he had heard of them. Weren't they just things that shot colorful lights into the sky?
Wealthy officials, nobles, and merchants might enjoy them, but at most, the imperial family would only see them as a decent toy.
"Let's pass on the fireworks too."
Li Yao nodded. It seemed the imperial family still didn't realize just how incredible fireworks could be.
If they didn't know, she wouldn't bring it up either.
This thing was far too ahead of its time.
"Anything else?" Li Yao asked.
Liu Yun hesitated before finally saying, "Nothing for now."
"Really nothing?"
"If I must say something, I still want to ask Auntie for advice on how to properly govern Yi Prefecture," Liu Yun said.
"What do you think qualifies as proper governance?"
"Hmm..." Liu Yun thought for a moment. "The commoners living in prosperity, with every household able to live at least as well as the villagers of River Bend Village. Also, the commoners abiding by laws and getting along harmoniously with their neighbors. That's about all I can think of right now."
Li Yao tossed the small carp back into the water and rebaited her hook with another piece of earthworm to continue fishing.
"Actually, it all comes down to one thing - money. If the commoners become prosperous, violations of the law will naturally decrease, and they won't argue endlessly over trivial matters. So in summary, two words: get rich."
"Then how can we make the commoners rich?"
"That's difficult," Li Yao said. "But I can teach you a saying for getting rich."
"Please go ahead, Auntie!"
"If you want to get rich, build roads first," Li Yao stated.
"Build roads?"
Liu Yun contemplated the two words carefully before having an epiphany.
Indeed, wasn't Baichuan County right in front of him the best example?
Last year, Baichuan County had refugees work in exchange for disaster relief and built many roads. It was precisely because of this that it became extremely convenient for villagers of all villages to travel, and they could immediately take anything to market to sell for money.
Moreover, this was originally Auntie Li's idea, so it was definitely correct.
"But building roads requires huge amounts of silver," Liu Yun said self-deprecatingly. "Don't think that just because I'm the Prince of Yi Prefecture now means I can actually take out that much."
"Who said you need to take out money?"
"My father the Emperor won't give me any either," Liu Yun continued. "Besides, the national treasury is also stretched thin now."
"You don't need your father the Emperor's money either. Roads are built for the commoners, so the money should come from them."
"That won't do," Liu Yun immediately shook his head. "If I just came and arbitrarily collected money from the commoners, they would surely be discontent. I, the Prince of Yi Prefecture, would be reviled in the future."
"You wouldn't collect it, you'd borrow it," Li Yao said. "Borrow money from the commoners of Yi Prefecture to build roads, promise them interest, and repay the principal plus interest within three years. That's how you'll get the money, no?"
"But where will I get the money to repay it three years later?"
"Once the roads are built, commerce will naturally flourish, and tax revenues of all kinds will increase," Li Yao explained. "Add in the high profits you'll get from controlling salt, iron, and tea, how could you not have the money by then?"
"You're right, why didn't anyone think of this method before?" Liu Yun asked again. "But where will the commoners get the money to buy things in the first place?"