Man Tanghong

Chapter 713 Human Heart
Li Yuanji laughed and said, "You, you are flattering me."

Su Dingfang laughed and said, "What I said is the truth."

Li Yuanji glanced at Su Dingfang dumbfounded and said: "Okay, let's stop flattering each other and bring your soldiers into the city. I have already ordered people to prepare wine and food to clean up the dust for you.

When you have eaten and drank to your heart's content, we will return to the imperial court in class. "

Su Dingfang hurriedly agreed, then knelt down on one knee again, and presented the handsome seal.

Seeing this, Li Yuanji didn't refuse, and asked Li Shentong to act as an intermediary. After checking the commander's seal, he withdrew the commander's seal.

Only then did Su Dingfang get up, and accompanied Li Yuanji back to Huai'an City.

Although there are no lights and festoons in Huai'an City, there is a sense of joy everywhere.

After experiencing the ravages of the Turks, this is the first time it has been revived.

In the eyes of the people in Huai'an City, Master Wang not only drove the Turks out of Huai'an, but also chased the Turks all the way out of Qingzhou and to the edge of the Great Wall. This was revenge for them.

So when the army returned to the division, even though they were sad in their hearts and did not let go of the pain of the death of their relatives, they still got together in small groups and used their own methods to send their own gifts to the army that avenged them. gratitude.

Of course, the most important thing is that Li Yuanji ordered people to slaughter thousands of cattle and sheep at one go. In addition to supplying the army, each household can also get some minced meat and big bones. , You can also get six taels of wine and ten catties of meat.

So the common people don't care if they want to be happy.

The whole city celebrated for three days and killed nearly ten thousand cattle and sheep. Li Yuanji couldn't wait to give the order to return to the imperial court.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from the twelve guards, a total of nearly 9 soldiers and horses, plus hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep captured by the Turks, and tens of thousands of horses, flocked to Chang'an mightily.

The team is tens of miles long.

When the head of the team had already traveled tens of miles, the tail of the team started.

All the way through Ningzhou and Binzhou, and entered the border of Gyeonggi.

After the soldiers and horses from the four prefectures of Hanzhong entered the boundary of Gyeonggi, they did not return to Chang'an with the army, but turned south and returned to Hanzhong. Only some outstanding soldiers were eligible to go to Chang'an to receive rewards.

The same is true for the government soldiers in other places. They turned back on the road and returned to their respective states.

Therefore, after the army entered the boundary of Gyeonggi, there were only twelve soldiers and horses left, as well as the local braves recruited from Gyeonggi, and other miscellaneous soldiers and horses.

The team was still very long, stretching for more than 20 miles.

Li Yuan sent Li Gang and Xiao Yu as angels, and set up a banquet in Liyuanzhai to entertain the soldiers who had returned from the victory.

In this battle with the Turks, Datang mobilized a lot of troops, consumed a lot, and lost far more than before, but the results of this battle were astonishing.

Not only repelled the Turkic invasion, but also regained the territory of six and a half states, also regained the important military barrier of the Great Wall, and captured a Turkic Khan alive.

It can be said to be the biggest victory over the Turks since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, even if they paid a lot, no one in the ruling and opposition parties made irresponsible remarks. Instead, they were full of joy and joy.

From time to time on the road, you can meet people who line the road to welcome you, and from time to time on the road, you can also meet people who straighten their backs and brag to their fellow villagers.

The battle was won, and the powerful enemy who had bullied Datang for many years was defeated. This undoubtedly declared to the common people the strength of Datang, and also declared to the common people that under the protection of the powerful Datang, they can straighten their backs and be human. , raising his head to face all the people outside the territory.

The good days are coming soon, and even though the people are hungry, their faces are filled with bright smiles.

When Li Li Gang and others hosted a banquet in Liyuanzhai to entertain the soldiers who had returned from the great victory, the common people spontaneously formed a team of laborers, led by village officials from all over the country, and offered dirty wine and grass balls to the soldiers. , dry goods and other precious foods they accumulated in winter and collected in spring.

The soldiers almost always refused to come, and they celebrated together with the common people.

Li Gang held up the wine cup and toasted Li Yuanji from a distance. Looking at the soldiers who were celebrating together with the common people, drinking together, eating meat together, and bragging together, he said sincerely, "Such a magnificent scene, my minister Haven't seen it in decades."

In the eyes of others, a grand event full of flowers, colorful clothes, and a scene full of wine and meat is a grand scene.

But in Li Gang's eyes, the real grand scene is that the soldiers put their lives to the test, and the people put their hearts into it, working together for the imperial court and celebrating the coming prosperity of the country and society together.

"Me too……"

Li Yuanji didn't want to have a deep talk with Li Gang, so he sipped the sanle syrup in the wine cup, and then agreed.

It's not that Li Yuanji doesn't want to chat with Li Gang, but that Li Gang, an old man, chatters endlessly, sometimes talking about feelings, sometimes talking about poems and songs, and sometimes preaching.

If that's all, Li Yuanji can bear it.

The most important thing is that after the old man talked a lot, his final goal was to fight the autumn wind.

He took a fancy to the hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep seized from the Turkic people, and he deliberately scraped a layer of these cattle and sheep before they were transported to Chang'an, and then distributed them to the prefectures and counties that were tortured in the war.

Li Yuan did not tell him to do this.

Although Li Yuan returned to the Tai Chi Hall, he still ignored government affairs.

It just acts as a humanoid mascot and a humanoid stamp.

Let everyone know that even though the princes of the Tang Dynasty, the King of Qi, and the abolished King of Qin all went to war, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty is still there.

Everyone can rest assured to do what to do.

So the idea of ​​scraping off a layer of cattle and sheep first was the old man's own idea.

The old man adhered to his idea that this is also for the good of Datang, and he took action directly without discussing with others.

"I don't know how your Highness thinks about your proposal to the minister?"

After Li Gang stared into the distance for a while, he looked away and asked.

Li Yuanji put down the wine cup, and said angrily: "These cattle and sheep need to be escorted back to Chang'an, and handed over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for distribution."

The Ministry of Civil Affairs is also the Ministry of Households, but at this time it is not called the Ministry of Households, but the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Historically, after Li Zhi came to power, in order to avoid the name of Li Shimin, the Ministry of Civil Affairs was changed to the Ministry of Households.

Li Gang sighed and said: "His Highness should be very clear, if these cattle and sheep are taken back to Chang'an and handed over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for distribution, then they will fall into the homes of various dignitaries, and the common people will not get any benefits.

Maybe he will suffer for it. "

In many cases, good things can easily turn into bad things after experiencing countless twists and turns.

Especially in matters such as national decrees, the decrees issued by the imperial court are often good things, but after being misinterpreted by the yamen at all levels, they become bad things.

This is the same as Confucianism. When it was first developed, almost all the classics of the philosophers were good things, but because there were no punctuation marks, they were misinterpreted by later scholars. In the end, many of the classics of the philosophers were Distorted beyond recognition.

Even the meaning is far from the original meaning.

This is also the reason why Zhu Zi was revered after his birth.

Because he set a standard meaning for the classics according to his thinking.

Latecomers only need to learn according to his meaning, and don't need to pay attention to other meanings.

Li Gang said that after the cattle and sheep are handed over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for distribution to the dignitaries, the common people will not get any benefits, and they are likely to suffer.

That is to say, the influx of so many cattle and sheep into Chang'an City at one go will not only lower the price of the cattle and sheep raised by the common people, but also easily prompt the powerful to graze in enclosures or occupy people's fields.

Although the land in various parts of Chang'an City could not be allotted to the dignitaries and common people, once they started to enclose the land and build pastures, there would not be enough land.

"If Li Gong is worried, how about letting Li Gong watch over this matter after returning to Chang'an City?"

Li Yuanji stared at Li Gang and asked.

Li Gang let out a long sigh and asked, "Why does Your Highness insist on taking these cattle and sheep back to Chang'an City? Doesn't Your Highness know that after taking these cattle and sheep back to Chang'an City, the loss along the way is a huge number?"

Dead cattle and sheep are far less valuable than live cattle and sheep, and live cattle and sheep have to eat grass.

Hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep consume a huge amount of fodder every day.

Although the time has come to the early spring, everything is recovering, and the vegetation has begun to emerge, but if hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep eat it all the way, many places will still be gnawed into white ground.

If you don’t have enough to eat and have to travel every day, you will lose meat and fat, and eventually you will even starve to death.

These cattle and sheep have only experienced a cold winter, and the autumn fat on their bodies has been almost consumed, and they can no longer afford it.

Li Yuanji gave his answer with emotion, "I need to use this to inspire people and inspire the people of my Tang Dynasty. It has been more than ten years since the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty to the present.

During this period, there were continuous conquests from various places, and the common people were already exhausted and miserable.

So I have to tell them the war is over.

There will be no more military disasters to endanger them in the future.

They can safely serve Nongsang and have children. "

Li Gang froze for a moment, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then wriggled his lips to refute.

Li Yuanji continued: "There are only less than 60 million households in Dingkou in the Tang Dynasty, and there is hardly a lot of food and grass hoarded. It is precisely because of this that after we defeated Jieli this time, we have no way to take advantage of the victory and pursue it. Can chase after Xieli, and take back all the territory south of the Great Wall when Xieli can't stop the troops from blocking us.

If my Tang Dynasty had a large population and plenty of food and grass, we would not need to do this at all. After defeating Xieli, we could enter the Turks without hesitation and drive out the Turks.

Turn Turkic cattle, sheep, horses, and territory into our place.

Therefore, I must encourage the people to have children as soon as possible, to expand the population of my Tang Dynasty, and to plant more fertile fields. "

Li Gang opened his mouth, but finally said nothing, just let out a long sigh.

Compared with the wastage of hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep rushing to Chang'an City, and the harm caused by distribution to the powerful, it is obviously more important to motivate the people.

Although the human heart is something that cannot be seen or touched.

But being motivated and not being motivated are two completely different things.

An inspired heart can move Mount Tai and accomplish all the difficult things in the world.

A heart that is not motivated is just a mess, unable to do anything, and even adding chaos.

(End of this chapter)