Great Tang princess

Chapter 697 The Mother Who Changed Her Mind
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Shangyuan Festival.

Since the morning, a large number of citizens have been looking forward to the fireworks at night.

No matter in the teahouse or the wine shop, you can hear discussions on this matter everywhere around you.

Those with richer families sent their servants to reserve the location in advance.

The fireworks are set off outside the city, and the best place to watch them is actually on the main street of Dongdu.

Therefore, the buildings above the second floor facing the street are basically rented or booked early.

Some people came to the main street early to occupy a seat so that they can watch at night.

Among them are high-ranking officials, wealthy businessmen, and foreign envoys, etc...

So much so that it was still broad daylight, and the pedestrians on the street were already crowded with each other.

No matter how far away it is, it's not impossible to see it, but the visual effect is naturally not as good as the best position.

In the morning, Li Yuechen, who had just come out of the Princess Mansion, was shocked by the sight of people coming and going on the street.

But then a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The carriage was not hindered in any way, and the pedestrians in front consciously did not occupy the main road and did not affect the passage of the carriage.

Inside the carriage, Shangguan Wan'er said softly: "This time, Wan'er knows why His Highness laughed."

"Oh?"

Li Yuechen who was drawn back turned his head slightly: "Then tell me why."

"His Highness has looked at the street outside the window and laughed many times since he was a child, but the times are different. Come to think of it, this scene is what His Highness expects, right?" Shangguan Wan'er replied softly.

While she was speaking, her eyes were looking straight at her without dodging at all.

He seems to be confident in his own judgment.

Li Yuechen didn't answer right away, but leaned forward slightly, met her eyes, and observed carefully.

Shangguan Wan'er didn't dodge at all, just looked at her like that.

There was a brief silence in the carriage.

But it was quickly broken.

Li Yuechen suddenly gave a "puchi" smile, and lay back on the backrest: "Wan'er has been so smart since she was a child."

"It's hard for others to praise His Highness, but they know enough about His Highness." Shangguan Wan'er replied with a smile.

"Yeah, you must understand me." Li Yuechen said while turning his head to look at the scenery outside the window again.

In a daze, he seemed to think of the scene when he first came to Dongdu when he was a child.

At that time, the people outside the window could not see many smiles on their faces, and they only had an inexplicable sense of awe and fear for Luanjia slowly passing by on the street.

And now, they see these ornate carriages.

The expression on his face was no longer one of fear, but a warm smile.

The great achievements of Princess Taiping are well known all over the world, and everyone admires this princess from the bottom of their hearts.

It is because of this princess that they can live a good life.

Although most people are still poor, at least they don’t have to worry about starving to death or being frozen to death in winter. Compared with before, this is already an unimaginable life.

……

All the way to the palace, into the Jixian Temple, I saw my mother sitting on the table reading the report.

Prince Li Xian was also at the side, serving her tea and learning along with her.

Today's Li Xian is an intern, and his ability is actually not bad. Wu Zetian, a mother, basically doesn't need to be guided at any time.

"Auntie, can you look forward to the fireworks tonight?"

As soon as Li Yuechen entered the door, he ran to her side and asked.

"Well, I'm somewhat looking forward to it." Wu Zetian nodded slightly.

Li Xian interjected from the side: "I'm looking forward to it as a brother."

"Brother, you don't need to say it, I know it." Li Yuechen waved his hand slightly.

Such obvious indifference made Li Xian pull his face down instantly.

Fortunately, he also knew he was joking, and he never took it to heart. He turned around and poured himself a cup of tea, and slowly tasted it.

Wu Zetian also smiled: "Okay, let's talk about something serious. In the past few days, envoys from various countries have come to play, saying that they want to buy potatoes... What do you think?"

"It doesn't matter. It's been a long time since the official promotion anyway. Let's chat first."

Li Yuechen waved his hands with open arms, saying that it will be a few years later, and there is no need to worry now.

Although potatoes have been successfully planted in Hainan, it still takes time to plant and promote them in the inland area. Now that they are settled, it will be a few years before the actual implementation.

"But speaking of it, how is the recent experiment with potatoes at the Shangshi Bureau?" Li Yuechen asked, "Is the mother satisfied with the taste?"

"Well, it's rather novel." Wu Zetian nodded.

Not to mention, since the potatoes were shipped from Hainan, Shangshi Bureau has tried various methods according to the method given by Li Yuechen.

And also successfully made vermicelli under her guidance.

After trying this period of time, the style of food in the palace has been enriched a lot.

Even Li Xian, who studies in the palace every day, also tasted a lot of fresh dishes, which can be described as a feast for the taste.

"Speaking of which, the next batch has arrived. The boy taught them how to make potato chips. It's a good snack." Li Yuechen smiled while drinking tea.

Li Xian was more interested in this, but unfortunately Li Yuechen didn't explain in detail, he just talked about it when the time comes.

……

In the evening, the whole family came to the palace, and Li Xian, who was in the army, also came with his wife.

The emperor took his family to watch the fireworks on the imperial city, which is a new tradition that started a few years ago.

Although the family did not show too much intimacy in front of the female relatives, the care for each other in their hearts will not change.

Gorgeous fireworks bloomed in the air with the sound of explosions, and the burst of light almost illuminated half of the sky.

The people who had been waiting early gave out cheers the moment the first firework exploded.

Countless people toasted friends and family under the fireworks.

Others tightened the hand of the husband or wife next to them.

The children jumped and shouted in place, and some put their hands together and made secret wishes to the blooming fireworks.

Some foreign envoys who saw the fireworks for the first time couldn't help shouting, saying something loudly in their own country's language.

When the Han people next to them saw it, they would roll their eyes and take a look, and then whispered to their friends about farm slaves and the like.

Many foreign envoys thought that this seemed to be something like magic or witchcraft, so they lost their composure.

Fortunately, there was someone around to explain, but nothing ridiculous happened.

This kind of stuff will naturally interest a lot of people.

But it's a pity that today's fireworks are contraband and are not allowed to be sold outside. They are destined to be impossible to get them.

……

This year's fireworks show was generally very successful, both in style and quantity far surpassing last year's, allowing the public and foreign envoys to see a truly powerful empire.

However, Li Yuechen didn't care about these things, and after school started, he still focused most of his attention on the school.

Perhaps because they are about to graduate, Li Chongrun and his group of children are working harder than usual.

Although Li Yuechen was relieved by this, he also reminded them that it is better to combine work and rest.

Originally, I thought that nothing would happen this year, but it was only February, and the envoys from the countries in the Western Regions who had left suddenly came back.

On February [-], the dragon looked up.

Sitting in Jixian Hall, Li Yuechen frowned slightly as he watched the memorial handed over by his mother.

These memorials all wrote the same thing, that Tubo strengthened the aggressive actions of the countries in the Western Regions.

In the past few years, Dazhou has seen obvious progress every year, and Princess Taiping's great reputation made them dare not invade here.

However, as a country that cannot form an internal cycle, it must choose external expansion and invasion under the premise that the target can only be the countries of the Western Regions.

Originally, it was not easy for Dazhou to intervene in this matter, and the countries in the Western Regions also wanted to try their best to solve it by themselves.

But after so many years, they found that they couldn't beat Tubo at all. They were still exhausted with each other, but now Tubo suddenly accelerated the pace, which caught them off guard.

In desperation, in order not to shake the foundation of the country, he had no choice but to come and ask Da Zhou to come forward.

In this case, it is actually not easy for Wu Zetian to interfere openly.

Although it is said that a big country has the responsibility to maintain order for the surrounding small countries, it is not easy to show partiality from a logical point of view.

"What does Chen'er think about this matter?" Wu Zetian asked with a smile.

Li Yuechen put down the notes in his hand, and shook his head lightly: "Since Auntie has already figured out what to do, why bother to ask me again? Besides, I don't know much about these things..."

Wu Zetian smiled: "Today, Tubo is smart and dare not directly provoke our country. Even when encountering merchants, they will stop fighting and let them pass... If you want to send troops, there is no reason."

Still the same sentence, no matter what you do in this country since ancient times, you must pay attention to a teacher who is famous.

Now Tubo is not tough with you at all, so it is not good for you to make trouble directly.

Of course, if you want to find it, you will definitely find it.

Li Yuechen knew very well that with his mother's shrewdness, it was easy to solve this kind of thing.

But asking himself the question now, it was clear that there was something else in the works.

"Ma'am, if you have something to say, just say it... My child is very bad at guessing these things..." Li Yuechen said helplessly while drinking tea.

Wu Zetian picked up the teacup: "Didn't you... have always wanted to stabilize the country. Now that the countries in the Western Regions are in chaos, if you can take this opportunity to merge them into the country together, would it be beneficial to your plan?"

Hearing this sentence, Li Yuechen was slightly taken aback, and immediately understood what his mother meant.

Simply put, just ignore it and let them fight.

Anyway, they can't beat Tubo, it's best to fight until the country is about to perish, and then stand up and clean up the mess.

In this way, there will no longer be any talk of the Western Regions in the future, and they will be completely incorporated into the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

At that time, it will no longer be an administrative agency like the Duhufu, but will completely become a part of the Great Zhou!

It can be said that if it is done, the land area will instantly exceed the period when the father was in power.

But this aroused Li Yuechen's doubts.

She knows her own mother quite well, her specialty is intrigue, and she has never been interested in expanding territories.

I don't know why, but this suddenly came up today.

"Why did Auntie suddenly..."

"Before, this matter was too laborious and costly. It is really unnecessary..." Wu Zetian had a smile on his face, "But now seeing the results of stability in the north, maybe it is my mother's short-sightedness after all..."

Having said that, there was a relieved smile on his face.

It seems that it is because he has been competitive all his life, but in the end he finds that his vision is not as good as his daughter's.

In fact, when Li Yuechen said that the northern border should be stabilized, she didn't agree with it too much in her heart.

But I just thought that my daughter fought well in the war, so it doesn't matter if I let her try it, I just want her to accumulate more experience.

After all these years, the effect of the stability of the north is also visible to the naked eye.

First of all, people living in the north can farm without worrying about the invasion of foreign enemies outside the border.

In this way, the increase in food production will not only develop the economy, but also stabilize the society.

If the country is stable, the population will naturally increase steadily... A series of chain reactions of consciousness.

Perhaps here, she also has to admit that she is really inferior to this daughter in some things.

That's why I said something like this today.

If it is someone else, with such a long-term vision, it is either to win over or get rid of.

But since she is her own daughter, why not pave the way for her while she is still there.

"What? Now that my mother is following your way of thinking, you don't want to?"

While talking, Wu Zetian picked up the teacup and took a sip with a smile.

"How could it be?" Li Yuechen leaned on the back of the chair, "It's just that I couldn't believe it for a while."

"Heh... well, let's talk about it. If all the countries in the Western Regions are merged into the country, will they be able to support it now?" Wu Zetian put away his smiling face and asked a little seriously.

"If it was before, it would definitely not work, but at this time there is no problem." Li Yuechen said with a smile, "Don't forget, Auntie, there are potatoes now."

Although Li Yuechen is not an agricultural expert, he vaguely remembers seeing it on the Internet before. This kind of thing is actually more suitable for planting in colder places.

The potatoes sent by Zhenzhou years ago were also planted when the temperature in winter was relatively low. This year's summer is hot, so there may not be a higher yield.

However, it should be more appropriate to grow potatoes in the Western Regions, and there is no need to worry about the problem of starvation after being merged into the country.

So at this time, the method proposed by my mother is just right.

"Since that's the case, how about leaving this matter to you to implement?"

"Don't worry, Auntie. You can continue to observe for a while. If the time is right, it will be fine." Li Yuechen replied.

You must know that today's Western Regions are much larger than the future Xinjiang. This matter cannot be settled immediately on impulse, but a decision must be made after careful consideration.

"I understand. You should go back and think about it carefully. If you have any questions, just explain to me at any time."

Wu Zetian patted Li Xian on the shoulder while talking: "By the way, Saburo also learns how to deal with such things."

Before Li Yuechen could speak, Li Xian nodded with satisfaction: "Well, it's been a long time since I worked with Yuechen! Brother, I'm looking forward to it."

I don't expect it at all... Li Yuechen complained in his heart.

(End of this chapter)