Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1451 Qibei
Outside the Suyu Palace in the Shendu Garden, Shao Shude walked around holding his son's hand.

The toddler, holding onto his father's hand tightly, refused to let go.

Shao Shude held his son in his arms, and played with his beard.The son giggled and pushed away with his hand.

After a while, the father and son squatted on the ground together, playing with the ants with a magnifying glass.

Zhong Shi came over, lightly brushed the hair around the ears, and the young woman's style became more and more intense.

She looked at the father and son amusedly, but also moved.

Shi Qilang is her child, and the saint likes it very much. He hugged and played with him as soon as he came back, and he spoiled him so much.

Of course, the six-year-old daughter Hui Wan is even more doted on. The saint even made a sachet for his daughter, like a woman who is good at female red, which made Zhong secretly laugh.

Both are her children.

Shao Huiwan was born in July of the fifth year of Jianji, and Shao Changyi, the seventeenth man, was born in October of the seventh year of Jianji.

Thinking back to Zhao Dejun's house a few years ago, she was given to the saint as a gift, and she was once so ashamed and angry.Over the past few years, she feels that the saint is an upright hero who cleans up the broken mountains and rivers and improves the lives of the people. Most importantly, when she goes on tour with the saint, she sees light in the eyes of the people, which is a precious thing called hope.

She is different from other women.

Born in a family like Mr. Zhong who is well-known in Hebei, the education she received was different from others since she was a child. She does not like extravagant expenses, but only loves heroes in history books who serve the country and the people. The actions of saints generally fit her heart The image of the hero in the novel—well, it generally fits, except for being addicted to women.

"Play by yourself." Shao Shude stuffed the magnifying glass into his son's hand, got up and put his arm around Zhong's slender waist, sniffed a few times, and said with a smile, "I'm very lazy now, move by yourself tonight."

"Your Majesty!" Chong glanced at his son, and gave Shao Shude a blank glance.

"Haha." Shao Shude smiled.

Chong is a woman from a very traditional scholarly family, so she is not suitable for making these jokes.He will not play perverted things on her, because he is not willing to destroy some beautiful things.

Speaking of which, Chong, who is only in his 20s, has excellent qualities in all aspects and should be left to his son to be the queen.However, a vulgar martial artist like him can't hold back in front of a woman full of literary and artistic atmosphere. He has already given birth to two children, so let's keep it for himself.

It's not accurate to say enjoyment, Shao Shude wants Mrs. Zhong to be with him, even if he doesn't do anything.A little selfish, but for a single husband like him, what is selfishness?
"Is this the lens made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" Zhong looked at his son holding a magnifying glass and asked curiously.

The sunlight falls through the treetops, and after being focused by the lens, it shines on the ants.

Shao Changyi was drooling, chasing one ant after another.The ants panicked, fled in all directions, and were routed.

"Crystal grinding is too expensive." Shao Shude smiled, and said: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs dug out a large foundation stone (marble) in the outer state, with crystals underneath, and used it to grind the lenses. Some officials are old and dim, Glasses are needed. Unfortunately, crystals are still too expensive and too rare. There are too many impurities in colored glaze, and the color is wrong."

"It's a pity." Zhong Shi also sighed.

Chen Cheng, the servant of Zhongshu, has poor eyesight. I heard that he would scold him when he saw that the handwriting written by subordinate officials was too small.

"Zhou Zhizhong, a master craftsman of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has polished a pair of glasses, but they are still a bit blurry after wearing them." Shao Shude said again: "There should be some problems, and it will take time to solve them. We can only take our time, there is no rush."

"Book of Light" has been printed in many volumes and distributed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Imperial College of the Three Capitals.

Shao Shude's first request is to allow people who have access to this book to understand the contents inside, reproduce the items mentioned in it, and reproduce various phenomena.

From his point of view, this book refuted many fallacies of the ancient Greek era, but there are still some mistakes.But he won't say, and can't say, that this kind of thing must be discovered, denied, and corrected by students and craftsmen themselves, so that it is meaningful.

You have to do everything by yourself, time and energy are not enough, he is not interested in it, and it also hinders the development of science - you have to feed everything, this way feels a bit problematic no matter how you think about it.

"When will Your Majesty go to Xijing?" Mrs. Zhong took Shao Shude's hand and walked among the waves of pines.

"It's impossible this year, let's see the situation next year." Shao Shude said: "Just returned to Luoyang, and then went out to wander again, no matter how you look at it, it's not appropriate."

Chong smiled lightly.

She knew the poem written by the saint.

In fact, the sage has only written three poems so far. The first one was "Crossing the Yellow River" at the Yanshuiguan Ferry of the Yellow River in the third year of Dashun in the former Tang Dynasty (892).Among them, "There are more storms and dangers in the world, and the Yellow River is afraid of the road" is quite meaningful.

The second time was in the eighth year of Jianji (908), at the mouth of the Tuomen River in Liaodong, he wrote the first "Salmon".This poem has some rhymes, and it also uses Mohe dialect words. It is actually very common, but Chong thinks it is very interesting.

The third time was in the ninth year of Jianji, when I wrote "Khitan Customs" in Shuangliao County, Yingsheng Prefecture, and the queen was very happy when she heard that she saw it.

Chong understands the Queen's feelings, even she herself wants to be by the saint's side.

"Do you want me to take you on a west tour?" Shao Shude asked.

Chong wanted to say yes, but felt a little embarrassed.

"You do it yourself tonight, and I will take you there." Shao Shude looked at Zhong's delicate and dignified face, and couldn't help but teased again.

Of course, it can only go so far.Zhong's skin is thin, and she is not a married woman, so it's not good to go too far.

Zhong gave the second supercilious look today.

Shao Shude laughed out loud.

Molesting the little white rabbit, the mood is so pleasant, and the tense nerves can be relaxed a little bit.If it was a woman like Yu Lu Jiangu, he would want to go around now, he was afraid.

Zhong and Gao, he wanted to take them with him.These two women are really a breath of fresh air in the harem, which can effectively heal his restless mood.

******
On October [-]th, Shao Shude came to Shendu Garden again after the Shuowang Grand Court Meeting.

Last year he met the chieftains of Yanbei and Liaodong in Beijing, and this year the chieftains of Guanbei and Daibei will come to Luoyang to face the saint.It was already mid-October, and those who came early had already arrived one after another.

Zhuang Ao, Hun Changhe, and Qi Birang arrived yesterday, and Shao Shude specially hosted a small banquet for the three of them today.

They are not actually outsiders.

Zhuang Ao is the inspection envoy of Jiyuquan, and Princess Shang Xinmi Shao Liu (daughter of Zhang Quanyi).

Hun Changhe is the son of Hun Shi, the patrol envoy of Kedun City, and Shao Yan (daughter of Zhu Quanzhong), the princess of Shanglinqiong.

Qibirang's niece is the wife of Shao Mingyi, king of Yan—not yet officially married.

Strictly speaking, they are all relatives of the emperor.

"I don't like what I say, but it's all for your own good." Shao Shude looked at the pieces of meat rolling in the big iron pan, and said, "Over the years, you've been focusing on making money, and your ability to fight has dropped a lot. .We are about to go into battle later, if someone beats you to the point of running away with your head in your arms, I will certainly lose face, and you will also be despised."

Zhuang Ao and the three looked embarrassed.

The brave and nimble prairie warriors now live a better life and are not as able to endure hardships as before.

Lying on ice and eating snow, enduring hunger and hunger, and at the same time being able to fight bravely, is a bit far away from them after all.

"Zhuang Langshen has foresight and insight." Shao Shude commented one by one: "Before anyone realized it, he was the first to build cities on the grasslands, reclaim wasteland, and recruit craftsmen of all ethnic groups. The Silk Road on the grasslands, he eats It must be full of oil. But in my opinion, the soldiers of Liyuquan are the worst ones to fight. They are all like philistines and businessmen, and they are not half-hearted. Every time the Tatars go south to plunder, they always make you In a hurry."

Zhuang Ao blushed.

The sage spoke the truth.The Tatars continued to move eastward, and with the support of the Uyghurs, they had taken back the former Uyghur royal court.The people left by the Zhuanglang tribe were beaten to the ground, and then they were plundered southward, and they lost a lot of people and property every year.

But he was also a little wronged.

The situation has improved somewhat in the past two years.No matter how incompetent Zhuang Lang's department is, after being beaten for so long, it's time to practice.In fact they were now able to repel the Tatars going south and inflict considerable damage on them.After doing this a few times, the Tatars didn't dare to go south to find trouble.

"Let's talk about your troops." Shao Shude continued: "We have close ties with merchants in Fengzhou, Lingzhou, and Xiazhou, and opened up a business route to the south to sell honey, leather, medicinal materials, and livestock. This is very good, but you need to train soldiers. You are also being plundered by the Tatars. Twice people even rushed to the vicinity of Yinshan Mountain. Feng and Sheng prefectures urgently assembled more than 8000 town soldiers and government soldiers to repel the thieves. I want to ask, What is the use of you if you can’t defend the border for the country? I allow your family to inherit the position of native officials, not to make you complacent and depraved.”

Hunchanghe also blushed.

In fact, these businesses were all run by his father.I don't know what's going on, but my father and several uncles and brothers sold grassland goods to Guanbei, and bought daily necessities and spirits from Guanbei to sell to the shepherds.

To be honest, I am long and a little ashamed.

Shepherds are not fools.Other tribes can use high-quality and cheap commodities, but they can't.Over time, the morale has been low, and there are undercurrents in the tribe.

Shao Shude glanced at him, and said: "Your grandfather is not young anymore, come to Luoyang to enjoy the blessings after the Chinese New Year. You should shoulder all the burden."

"Yes." Hun Changhe was surprised and delighted when he heard that.

To my surprise, Grandpa's job as an inspector was deprived.This is the first time that the imperial court has severely dealt with the Jumi tribe, and the Hunbu has shown a big face.

The joy is that he can take over the post of Chief Hunbu and the inspector of Kedun City, many years in advance.Well, it’s not easy to show it on the outside, but I’m really happy inside.

"Finally, let's talk about the Qibi tribe." Shao Shude turned his attention to Qibirang again, and said in a much better tone, "The Qibi tribe has participated in the conquest of Khitan many times, and its combat effectiveness has been maintained well. I heard that your tribe also recruited farmers from the Central Plains, Craftsman, planted a lot of oats, sea beet, very good."

The "oats" mentioned by Shao Shude are actually naked oats, that is naked oats.

The origin of oats is not in China, but the origin of naked oats is China, and at this time there is the saying of oats, and it is named because the sparrows like to eat it.

Liu Yuxi's "Revisiting Xuandu View": "Revisiting Xuandu, there is no tree left, only the rabbit sunflower and oats are shaken by the spring wind."

The climate in Johor State can be used to grow wheat, rye, and oats. The latter two are more suitable than the former, especially in the context of a colder climate—if Liaodong becomes colder in the future, Maetuo Lake will not be able to grow. If rice can be grown again, rye and oats are also good substitutes.

"Growing grain, extracting sugar, and grazing, the three things go hand in hand, and the combat effectiveness has been maintained, which is very good." Shao Shude said: "In the new year, the Lifan Academy and the Beiya Privy Council will send people north to Rouzhou to reward tea and porcelain. , and some farm tools."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Long En." Qi Birang was overjoyed.

Shao Shude took another look at Hun Changhe.

The Lifan Academy and the Beiya Privy Council formed a "joint investigation team" to go north, and of course they would also deal with Hunshi's crime of dereliction of duty.

"You probably have heard some rumors." Shao Shude finally said: "Yes, that's right! I'm going to attack the Gaochang Uyghur, but not now. You can prepare in advance. After returning, prepare soldiers, armor, and grass After turning back to Qing, Zhuang Lang, Hun, Geshu, and Qibi jointly dispatched troops to sweep north, and first cut off the flanks of the Uighurs, understand?"

The three of them were shocked when they heard the words, and said in unison: "I obey the order."

Shao Shude nodded.

If you want to wipe out the Gaochang Uighurs, it is not enough to send troops in one way, it is better to attack in two ways.

This is also his old routine.Zhengqi complements each other, the routine is not afraid of getting old, as long as it is easy to use.

When Gaochang was destroyed in the early Tang Dynasty, the Tang army and the vassal tribes together dispatched about 20 soldiers and horses, mostly cavalry.

Compared with the Western Expeditions of the Han Dynasty, the military operations in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty were much more "Hu Feng".

The Western Han Dynasty fought on the grasslands, and most of the time they used horse-drawn carts to transport grain from the rear, which consumed so much that it was unsustainable in the later period. The population of the whole country dropped sharply and was on the verge of collapse.

The population in the early Tang Dynasty was far smaller than that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it was impossible to talk about savings. The mess left by Guangshen had not had time to recover.But they used the correct strategy and tactics, that is, to attack the Turks first, conquer the northern grasslands, obtain the loyalty of the Fans, and then use the cattle and sheep supplies of the Fans to march westward with 20 cavalry to attack and destroy the enemy's country.

The cost-effectiveness ratio is actually quite high.

Shao Shude now has this condition, he can even be more generous than Li Shimin, dispatch two groups of soldiers and horses, both on foot and on horseback.Although the Gaochang Uighurs were much stronger than the Gaochang Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty, they were still at a disadvantage overall. He was confident that he would win in a single battle, expand Daxia's sphere of influence to the Western Regions, and regain his homeland.

But at present, the grassland road in Qibei is not smooth.The first thing that needs to be done is to cut off the Tatar forces occupying the Uyghur royal court, and open up this circuitous outflanking route, so that they can graze and march westward at the same time. This requires the efforts of the Yinshan tribes.

(End of this chapter)