Great Tang princess

Chapter 177

Hearing his daughter's answer, Li Zhi smiled: "What? Are you afraid that I won't be able to afford the money for you to support the army?"

In fact, it stands to reason that Datang is a military system, and there is no need to spend money to support the army.

Fubing is a compulsory soldier without any income. Even after more than a thousand years, many countries still adopt a similar system.

That is to say, citizens must enter the military service when they reach a certain age, which is written in the constitution.

However, the emperor's personal guards and noble soldiers are exceptions.

For example, Qianniuwei and Jianmen guards, they do not farm or produce, and they live on the monthly wages paid by the emperor. They are professional soldiers.

Another example is that the vassal kings in other places also have a certain number of personal soldiers. This kind of personal soldiers have to be raised by themselves. If they go to the battlefield in the future, they will also be the backbone of an army.

Both discipline and combat effectiveness are much better than ordinary troops.

Of course, this is only from the perspective of this era, but in Li Yuechen's eyes, these personal soldiers are still not good enough.

The reason is simple. Even professional soldiers like prison guards don't train every day. They are actually idle most of the time.

And the soldiers Li Yuechen wants are those who have received intensive training similar to the army of later generations.

But to do this, there is a prerequisite, the soldiers have to eat well!Otherwise, if you blindly increase the amount of training, but the nutrition cannot keep up, people will be crippled by training.

But having said that, this matter should really be put on the agenda. Since my father brought it up, I should think of a way.

The first thing to do is to expand the business so that you can have money to support the army.

"No..." Li Yuechen shook his head, "I think that I don't know much about the military system now, and I will consider forming a guard when I understand it in the future."

Regarding his daughter's thoughtfulness, Li Zhi nodded: "Okay, Chen'er has always had his own opinions, and I won't participate too much. If you need help, just ask!"

"Okay, thank you, Grandpa!" Li Yuechen gave him a slap in the face, and of course he didn't forget his mother.

Wu Zetian was a little puzzled: "But there are no personal guards. If one day we go out to fight, won't there be no one to command?"

"It's okay, Grandpa will lend the guards to the children first." Li Yuechen said with a smile, "Recently, the children train with them every day, and they are more familiar with each other, so they should be able to cooperate well."

"Okay, sure!" Li Zhi nodded and agreed, "If it's time to go on an expedition, you can choose some people to take with you."

"Okay!" Li Yuechen nodded in agreement.

……

Because there is an extra leap in March this year, by the end of April, the weather was already hot and uncomfortable.

But the first one who couldn't stand it was my mother Wu Zetian, who had already changed into the sleeveless vest and wide-leg pants that Li Yuechen made the year before last.

As soon as the empress took the lead, other noble women also began to follow suit. For a while, all the women in the upper class of the Tang Dynasty basically wore this kind of dress.

In a sense, the queen is the fashion pointer of this era, and many of the things she uses also represent the current fashion.

……

Of course, as expected, this matter was also unanimously opposed by the officials of the DPRK and China.

In the eyes of Confucian scholars who don't think about progress, but only want to abide by the ancestral system, any new thing will always subconsciously find fault first.

So in the court hall on April 28, Tianhou started a heated debate with the ministers.

It seems to have a premonition that there will be excitement today, so the old man Li Zhi actually came to court!

But he didn't sit on the dragon chair, but hid in the side passage with his daughter and listened.

Shangguan Wan'er, who was in charge of recording the news, seemed a little unaccustomed to the fact that the emperor was standing next to her, her hand trembling slightly.

Li Yuechen patted her shoulder lightly, and said with a low laugh: "It's okay, it's just the same as usual."

Then he turned his head to give the old man a smile, and at the same time peeked out from behind the screen to look at the ministers below.

At this moment, they must have never imagined that the emperor of the Tang Empire was actually in the passage next to him, imitating his daughter's usual appearance, with his hands folded around his chest, leaning against the wall in a non-stop manner and listening to their speech.

After the previous news report was finished, Wu Zetian behind the bead curtain raised his hand to look at his nails, and asked casually, "Is there anything else you can do?"

Not long ago, Lai Heng, who had just been promoted to prime minister, came out and saluted respectfully: "The weather is getting hotter and hotter, but recently many women in the folks have bare their arms, which is extremely indecent. The Queen of Heaven is the mother of the world, and she should set a good example .The Empress Wang ordered that such indecent clothing be abolished..."

Li Yuechen behind the passage smiled. What she admires most about these ministers is their level of speaking.

I didn't directly talk about noble women, but folks.And I didn't blame the queen, but I hope she can play a good leading role... she is too good at talking.

"Well, it makes sense..."

Wu Zetian nodded in agreement, but then changed the topic: "It's just folk women, whose clothes are mostly made of linen, and summer is hot, so they are prone to sweat rash. It would be a blessing if the disease can be avoided."

Sweat rash is prickly heat, and it is indeed a relatively common symptom in the summer of this era.

"But this looks really indecent..." Lai Heng had a complicated expression on his face.

"Old people have lost their teeth, and their eating habits are also extremely indecent. Do you want to kill all the toothless people because of this?" Wu Zetian asked rhetorically.

"This this……"

Lai Heng was speechless for a while, he wanted to remind that this was a sneaky change of concept, but he didn't dare to say that, he could only stand still and think about the appropriate answer.

Li Zhi in the passage turned his head and looked at his daughter with a smile, and couldn't help but think to himself, not to mention, it sounds different from sitting on a dragon chair here.

It feels as if the overall thinking is clearer, especially being able to see the other side of these ministers from a bystander's perspective.

Li Zhi seemed to be in a good mood as if he had discovered a new world, leaning against the wall with a smile on his face.

Li Yuechen felt that if Dad came here to listen next time, he should prepare some food for him, and listen while eating.

……

In the court hall, Yang Wu, the admonishing doctor, first came out and expressed his opinion. He felt that women should pay attention to their manners, otherwise they would appear a little dissolute.

Of course he didn't say that directly, but that's obviously what he meant.

Wu Zetian directly stated that the lack of clothing was due to the heat. According to this logical explanation, that profligate woman will become a chaste woman in winter?

Afterwards, many prime ministers and censors joined the debate, while Li Zhi and Li Yuechen watched Wu Zetian fight with a group of ministers in the passage.

What is rare today is that most officials are on the same level and joined the debate one after another.

And Wu Zetian faced the whole audience alone, with a calm expression on his face, he came and went with the ministers to express their views.

During the debate, both sides will dig a hole from time to time, trying to catch the mistakes and loopholes of the other party.

However, all the people present were human beings. Although the confrontation between the two sides was fierce, they didn't step into a pit.

Looking at the mother behind the bead curtain who was facing the audience alone, Li Yuechen couldn't help shaking his head slightly.

I sigh in my heart that she is worthy of being the future queen. Whether it is the completeness of logic or the reaction speed of thinking, it is far beyond what ordinary people can compare.

Li Yuechen, who saw this scene, had a deeper understanding of his mother.

In the past, I always thought that she could get to the top by killing all the way up by bloody means.

But after seeing today's scene, Li Yuechen also had to lament that being able to secure the throne was definitely not something that could be done simply by means of a butcher.

……

This debate continued until noon, and there was no accurate result, but in fact, my mother still won.

Because the ministers have not convinced her to order it removed, so go ahead.

After returning to Renshou Hall, Li Yuechen offered a cup of tea with a wink: "Madam must be thirsty, right? Drink some tea to moisten your throat first."

The daughter is so sensible, Wu Zetian couldn't help showing a smile.

The meaning of today's debate is actually not to improve the status of women, but to maintain the prestige of the queen.

Li Yuechen didn't intend to use the guise of freedom to dress to improve women's status.

To be honest, she never expected to achieve equality between men and women in this era, at least after the Industrial Revolution.

What Li Yuechen wants to improve in this era is not "women's rights" but "human rights".

Don't expect everyone to be equal, but at least don't treat people like animals.

What happened today was just a small episode, Li Yuechen didn't care too much, and didn't even let Shangguan Wan'er be published in the newspaper.

But she ignored the status of the queen in the hearts of women in this era. Some things, once started, are not so easy to suppress.

……

The next day, Li Yuechen went to the prison guard in the morning to finish the actual combat training with the soldiers, and after coming back to take a shower, he drew the design and waited for the meal.

Fulai entered the hall: "Your Highness, the newly bought slaves will arrive in a few days, how do we arrange them?"

Li Yuechen stopped the brush in his hand and fell into thinking.

This batch of slaves was bought by Fulai some time ago, thinking that they could be used for road construction in the future.

But because it is now decided to use captives, these slaves can be arranged to do other things.

"Speaking of which, is there any free space in the factory outside the city?"

"There are still some, but I'm afraid it's not enough..." Fulai thought for a while, "Do you want to add a few more bunk beds?"

"Okay, you can make arrangements, let them live first." Li Yuechen nodded, "Also, ask me about the prices of pigs and chickens, I plan to start a breeding farm..."

When Fulai heard it, he showed an awkward expression: "Your Highness, pigs are lowly things, and anyone with good conditions will not bother to eat them..."

"That's a problem with the breeding method!" Li Yuechen curled his lips, "You don't have to worry about these, just do it. Anyway, there is a big place outside the city, and we will see if we plan to build a breeding farm..."

"Yes!" Fulai agreed, and quickly turned around to do it.

Pork in this era is actually unpalatable. There are probably two reasons. The first is that it has not been castrated, and the second is that it eats human feces, so the taste is very bad.

And Li Yuechen will consider raising the princess's personal guards in the future. It is impossible to provide beef to the army, so he can only work on pork and chicken.

Now the grain production has increased a bit, and things like wheat bran can be combined into different feeds for feeding.

After all, pigs are still omnivores and can eat anything, so they are relatively easy to raise.

A few days later, Li Yuechen personally took Fulai to the outside of the city, picking a place to build a breeding farm.

Now there are glass and soap production factories and paper mills outside the eastern capital city, and it doesn't matter if there is another breeding farm.

After finding a good place in the lower reaches of the Luoshui River, Li Yuechen started to build a breeding farm with his left hand.

What the princess had to do was naturally very efficient, and the Ministry of Industry handed over the quotation the next day.

Li Yuechen allocated the money directly to let them get it done as quickly as possible.

At the same time, let them meet with the craftsmen on Mangshan Mountain to see if the cement can be used in this area. While doing experiments, it may save some costs.

……

In a blink of an eye, it was the fifth day of May, and Li Zhi took his family to watch the dragon boat race above the imperial city as usual.

Compared with previous years, the atmosphere this year was a little more relaxed, and everyone even held a bottle of canned food in their hands!
And this year's champions were much more than previous years, the reason is very simple, because now there is money!
In the past few years, Li Yuechen's business has grown bigger and bigger, and the emperor's private coffers have also expanded a lot, and he has become more generous in his sales.

Generally speaking, although the price of transparent glass is dropping a little bit, the sales volume is also increasing a little bit.

Especially after foreign businessmen take this kind of transparent glass out, they often come over to buy more goods in a short time.

The craftsmen in the glass factory are also improving their craftsmanship day by day, and now they can even make some handicrafts with more complicated shapes.

Now that many of the utensils in the palace have been replaced with transparent glass, Li Yuechen waited until the tea-frying process was almost perfect, so he gave his parents a transparent teacup.

Just after the Dragon Boat Festival, Prince Li Xian was sent back to the Chang'an Supervisory Kingdom by his father, and when he left, Li Yuechen sent him ten miles away on purpose.

At the time of parting, Li Xian said something nonsensical: "Yuechen, my brother will surpass you!"

After speaking, he got into the carriage directly and left without looking back.Only Li Yuechen was left standing there with a dazed expression.

overtake me?which aspect?
But after thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure out what he meant. Li Yuechen shrugged, got on his horse and returned to the palace.

Recently, Li Yuechen has not been idle, and the design drawings of protective equipment such as helmets and gloves have basically been completed, and they can be brought to the military supervisor for craftsmen to try and start making.

At the same time, the preparatory work for my mechanical compound bow has been completed, and I will officially enter the production stage next.

Because it was the first time for the craftsmen to make this thing, Li Yuechen had to watch over it to prevent them from making mistakes in details.

After this bow is made, it should be able to surprise the old man, right?Li Yuechen couldn't help laughing when he thought of his possible expression.

　Thanks to [Wangmaoyu] for the reward of 200 starting coins!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)