Great Tang princess

Chapter 360
The news that Tianhou had found her interviewer quickly spread throughout the court, and she had no intention of hiding it, which directly triggered a wave of discussions.

Shangguan Wan'er received various information every day, almost all of which were about someone discussing Tianhou's face-raising in private.

In Datang, because of the open atmosphere, it is actually quite normal for women to remarry after widowing.

But helplessly, the identity is different. After all, the Queen of Heaven is the Queen of Heaven, and currently the person in charge of the highest authority in the Tang Dynasty, the same gossip is naturally very unusual for her.

My mother was being pointed at behind her back, Li Yuechen was a little unhappy as a daughter, but it was not easy to show it, she could only show a calm appearance and do her own thing every day.

In the blink of an eye, it was March, and the Queen of Heaven suddenly ordered to build a White Horse Temple in the palace to worship Buddha in the future, and the abbot was naturally Pei Huaiyi.

After Tianhou's training for more than half a month, now Pei Huaiyi has shaved his head, put on cassock, and became a monk.

Not to mention, for people with good-looking facial features, hairstyle will not affect their appearance at all.

Even if the head is shaved, the face is still handsome. After 1000 years, being a graphic model can guarantee that you can eat and drink well.

Everyone knew that the significance of the White Horse Temple was only for Tianhou to facilitate her access to the forbidden area, which sparked a discussion for a while.

Li Yuechen stayed in Dongdu until March, and the period for Master's funeral was almost over, so he set off from Dongdu in a carriage and went to Chang'an to attend Master's funeral.

Before departure, Tianhou issued an edict, and Liu Rengui posthumously granted the posthumous posthumous title of Governor of Bingzhou, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and posthumously titled "Wenwen".

This series of posthumous gifts indicated that the imperial court recognized his status as an important minister of the country, and drew a successful conclusion to his glorious life.

Li Yuechen took the edict to Chang'an and read it out in the mourning hall.

Liu Rengui's family thanked him, and then prepared to raise the coffin and go to the funeral area of ​​Qianling.

"Liu Huang, carry the front with me." Li Yuechen gave the order.

"Your Highness can't do it!" Liu Huang stopped him, "Your Highness, with a thousand gold body, how can he carry the coffin for A Weng's servants?"

"The relationship between master and apprentice is here, it's not arrogance! Listen to me!" Li Yuechen shook his head.

In the end, the Liu family could only obey the princess' order and let her and Liu Huang carry Liu Rengui's coffin together.

Although it is a bit too much for the members of the royal family to carry the coffin for the courtiers, but what Li Yuechen said makes sense. It is a matter of course for the apprentice to carry the coffin for the master, and it is not considered arrogance.

During the farewell of his family and apprentices, Liu Rengui lay down in the tomb with the glory of his life, and fell into a long sleep.

When Liu Rengui was buried, Pei Judao, who was in charge of taking over his position, also attended.

For this important minister of the country, he also feels admiration and respect in his heart.

Li Yuechen stopped by the Qianling Mausoleum, walked through the long and narrow Sima Shendao, went up to the top of the mountain, and talked to his father for a while.

After coming down from Qianling, Liu Huang's eyes were still red.

Li Yuechen raised his hand and patted his shoulder lightly: "Okay, it's time to go back."

"Yes!" Liu Huang raised his hand to wipe away his tears, and replied crisply.

……

After returning to Dongdu, Liu Huang left all the family affairs to his father to deal with, returned to the army by himself, and plunged into training.

In the office, Li Yuechen said strongly to Geng Yun: "Look at it these days, don't let him be too sad and ruin himself."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I know!" Geng Yunqiang agreed.

In today's army, the term comrade-in-arms is not just talk, it really cares about each other.

Geng Yunqiang knew that he must be in a bad mood recently, so he would definitely give him some extra care.

Li Yuechen needs to be busy with the expansion of the army recently, and it is impossible to devote all his energy to taking care of Liu Huang's emotions.

In this military expansion, the number of combat troops will suddenly exceed 8000, plus logistics and other personnel, the final number is estimated to exceed [-] people.

The expansion of the military area has already started, and Li Yuechen basically stays on the construction site every day for the next time, discussing how to divide the area.

The design drawings were also gradually perfected in the detailed discussions every day, and the prisoners who were specially in charge of the work built the determined parts first.

Now the camps of the three brigades are spread out at the foot of Mang Mountain in the shape of "pin", and the distance between them should not be too far, and they must be able to take care of each other at any time.

Considering that there will be joint training in the future, Mangshan's training ground is shared, and it will be more convenient for exercises and the like.

But what made Li Yuechen more troublesome was the selection of officers. The army had expanded so much all of a sudden, and there were too many people below, and it was a bit overwhelming.

Think about it carefully, my mother is a commander-level cadre, why should I worry about the following things?All these years of reading have been wasted!

Thinking of this, he immediately sent someone to call Geng Yunqiang to the office.

As soon as he entered the door, before he saluted, Li Yuechen interrupted him: "Okay, sit down first, I have some things to discuss with you."

"Yes, Your Highness please order!" Geng Yunqiang saluted and sat opposite.

"Now that the army has expanded to such an extent all of a sudden, a lot of troubles will follow. In the future, as a teacher, you have to take care of this matter!" Li Yuechen picked up the teapot, poured two cups of tea, and handed it over casually a cup.

Geng Yunqiang quickly caught it with both hands, "Don't worry, Your Highness, the lower officials are also considering this matter recently."

"Suddenly expanding the army, there is a serious shortage of officers. But the kids in the military academy are not yet capable of leading the army. If you have any suggestions, just talk about it." Li Yuechen picked up the teacup and blew on it twice.

Although Qiu Shenji and Linghu Zhitong have entered the military academy and are learning while training, they still haven't fully understood the rules and regulations of this new type of army, so they can't come out to serve as officers immediately.

As for Liu Huang, it shouldn't be a problem to arrange to be a company commander now, but it's still a little bit worse at the battalion level and above.

Except for these people, the military academy is full of half-grown kids, who are useless.

Even people like Zhong Qin who have been on the battlefield and have been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant cannot be released as officers immediately.

Geng Yunqiang naturally understood what she meant, nodded and said: "Speaking of which, the lower officials are also considering that Niu Ermao can be the brigade commander, there is no need to continue to be the deputy division commander with me."

It sounded like he could overwhelm Niu Ermao, but in fact, the power in the hands of the brigade commander was greater than that of the deputy division commander.

After so many years, Niu Ermao's ability is obvious to all, so it is no problem for Geng Yunqiang to propose him as brigade commander.

"Hmm..." Li Yuechen nodded slightly, "What about the other two brigades? Don't forget that you are the teacher now."

Speaking of this, Geng Yunqiang also felt a bit of a headache. There is really a shortage of officers in the army now, and he couldn't find suitable candidates for a while.

After thinking about it, he raised his head and asked, "I wonder if the previous battalion commander can be promoted to a higher level?"

"It seems that this is the only way to go." Li Yuechen nodded, and there is no other way now, although it is a bit rushed to the shelves, but this is the only way to go.

As a result, the previous battalion commander, company commander, and platoon leader were basically promoted to a higher level, and when they received the transfer order the next day, they could see the same doubts on each other's faces.

However, even so, the rank-and-file officers were still a lot worse. In the end, there was no other way. Geng Yunqiang proposed a way to select a group of old non-commissioned officers who followed Li Yuechen from the beginning, and go to other companies to serve as company commanders and platoon leaders.

The two discussed in the office for three days in a row, and basically finally settled on these matters.

Now the largest number of people under him is not the front-line combat force, but the logistics force of his elder brother Li Xian. After careful consideration, Li Yuechen decided to let him become an independent brigade-level unit and upgraded to a joint logistics support brigade.

Today's logistics includes engineering units, medical units, and food and grass transportation and logistics units... At the same time, it is also responsible for the maintenance of ordnance and weapons... and the manufacture and approval of special weapons such as grenades...

Less than an hour after the notice was issued, Li Xian ran to Li Yuechen's office angrily.

Seeing his elder brother coming over, Li Yuechen poured him a cup of tea happily: "Why is brother coming to see me?"

With a "snap", Li Xian threw the notice on the table, "What's the meaning of this? Is Yuechen planning to exhaust my brother to death?"

"Where do these words come from?" Li Yuechen asked back, "Isn't that what brother has been doing all the time?"

Li Xian sat across from him, and said angrily: "How many people were there before? Now with such an upgrade, the number of people has increased several times, and the responsibility is greater than before. I don't know how much..."

Li Yuechen smiled slightly: "Anyway, brother is also a person who has been the prince, I believe this matter will not trouble you!"

"Come on less!" Li Xian understood this sister's ability to flatter her parents since she was a child, "Brother is only a commoner now, why do you want to worry about the emperor?"

Hearing what my brother said, Li Yuechen sighed helplessly, and his tone became a little tired: "Brother, the grenade is an important weapon in the country. I really don't feel at ease if I hand it over to others!"

Now that this is all said, Li Xian can't continue to complain, and sighed helplessly: "Forget it, brother is not too old anyway, so let's continue to take care of it."

There is no way, what my sister said is very reasonable, this thing must not be easily handed over to outsiders.

Li Xian is the emperor now, so it is impossible to do it himself.Li Dan couldn't restrain others, so he had to come by himself.

But in the future, I will always grow old. If I think about it carefully, I should train my successors well.

Now the two sons are studying in the military academy, and they should be trained well in the future.

Although he said that he came here today to complain to his sister, but in his heart, Li Xian, who is an older brother, still loves him very much.

……

Li Yuechen stayed in the barracks for a month, and when he returned to the Princess Mansion, it was already April.

Now the preparatory work for the expansion of the army has basically been completed, and the rest just needs to be completed step by step, there is no need to stare there every day.

I haven't seen my mother for a month, and the first thing Li Yuechen does after coming back is to go back to the palace to see his mother.

After entering the Hall of Renshou, I saw her practicing calligraphy in front of the table, and she looked good, at least she didn't look so busy recently.

"Aniang, I'm back!" Li Yuechen ran over and gave her a hug.

"Yo, you know you're coming back!" Wu Zetian smiled softly, "I thought you had forgotten about me, my aunt."

Li Yuechen said with a smile: "Oh, I've been too busy recently, I don't have time to come back to visit, I hope Auntie will forgive me!"

As he spoke, he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Go, go, go..." Wu Zetian pushed her away, "I'm too old to do this."

Li Yuechen cooperated with her to take two steps back, picked up the teacup and drank it on his own.

"Speaking of which, you spent a lot of money on this military expansion, right?" Wu Zetian asked lightly as he put down his brush.

"It's more than that..." Li Yuechen smiled wryly, "The odds and ends add up to nearly 20,000 people, and I feel like I'm getting poor again."

This is the truth, although Li Yuechen's business is big, his shop is also big, earning a lot and spending a lot.

Coupled with her high standards, the cost is naturally extremely high.

"Originally, your dividends account for a large proportion of the current royal family's income. If this continues, I'm afraid you will be unable to make ends meet?" Wu Zetian asked, "Have you thought of ways to improve it?"

Li Yuechen spread his hands helplessly: "It's not the time for public money, and it's not the time to reform the tax system... I don't know what to do, my child."

Speaking of this, Li Yuechen was suddenly taken aback, as if thinking of something, raised his head and asked: Speaking of which, iron and salt are both run by the imperial court, right? "

"What? Is your manganese steel production enough for business?" Wu Zetian asked back.

Most of the manganese steel produced by Li Yuechen in Mangshan was used to arm the army, and a small part of it was handed over to the royal family. The output has not been too high.

"No, no, no..." Li Yuechen shook his head suddenly, "My boy has cement! Auntie! Selling salt has nothing to do with outsiders, why don't you let me go to Shandong."

Wu Zetian was puzzled: "Shandong? Are you going to cook salt?"

In this era, people living by the sea have begun to boil seawater to make salt, but it will be strictly controlled by the government.

But this method is too backward, at most it can be barely used by coastal people, and the price is still very expensive.

Because it takes more to cook salt in an iron pot, the cost is relatively high.

People living inland mostly eat well salt or rock salt, the production process is very complicated, and the cost is much higher than that of sea salt.

People spend a lot of income on salt every year, and even in many places, they can only eat salt once every few days.

The most important thing is that salt is the business of the royal family, even if Li Yuechen moves, no one can say anything, especially if there is an order from the Empress Dowager.

"Aniang, I have a skill that can make everyone in Tang Dynasty afford salt!"

Li Yuechen got up and said: "Moreover, by the way, I can form a naval force by the sea to keep our borders in the Great Tang sea area stable!"

Wu Zetian seemed a little disbelieving, raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Really?"

"When did the boy say big things?" Li Yuechen asked back with a smile.

Although he was boasting, Wu Zetian still nodded in agreement, it was indeed the case.Back then Li Yuechen said he could fly into the sky, but in the end he really did!
Now that she said that Datang would not be short of salt, she naturally believed the same.

(End of this chapter)