A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1223: The Emperor and His Ministers Meet Again at Daming Palace

"The Daming Palace has been under construction for many years, and now it has been officially completed. Huaiyu, follow me to the Daming Palace for a walk."

After finishing a pot of tea, the emperor and his ministers were still polite to each other, and this atmosphere made both of them feel awkward. The emperor suggested going to the Daming Palace on Longshouyuan, northeast of Taiji Palace, and Wu Huaiyu readily agreed.

The Daming Palace was originally built for Emperor Li Yuan.
However, the construction was temporarily suspended due to disasters such as the Huanghuai flood. Later, Emperor Retired Emperor Li Yuan passed away without ever being able to live in the palace.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the 16th year of Zhenguan, and the Daming Palace was officially completed.

The emperor and his ministers went out of Xuanwu Gate and entered the Western Inner Courtyard.

The imperial guards are training here.
Wu Huaiyu saw his eldest son Chengsi. After not seeing him for two years, he was almost sixteen years old. He had grown a lot taller and was now almost as tall as Wu Huaiyu, and looked very strong.

"Father."

Chengsi was wearing a tiger-patterned robe, sitting on a leopard-patterned saddle, and riding a Hexi horse. He was truly a brave and young man in his prime.

Huaiyu patted his son's shoulder and said, "You have grown taller and stronger."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "Chengsi has been by my side for the past few years, with a group of meritorious officials and their children as his attendants and guards. I have personally taught them, and each of them is a talented general."

Chengsi also puffed out his chest with some pride, and said to Huaiyu, "Father, I am not only a thousand-horse guard, but also the commander of the Hundred Riders at the North Gate."

Wu Chengsi now also has a long list of titles.

The Duke of Taiyuan County, the Commandant of the Imperial Concubine's Horse, the Thousand Oxen Guard, the Grand Councilor, the Water Envoy, the Pillar of the State, and the Commander of the North Gate of the Left Camp of a Hundred Cavalry come on stage.

Previously, Wu Huaiyu had won a great victory in the Western Expedition and was promoted to the title of Duke of Taiyuan County, Doctor of the Imperial Court, and Envoy of Dushui.

In less than a year, he was promoted from Chao San Da Fu to Chao Yi Da Fu, and from the lower fifth rank to the lower fifth rank, a promotion of two levels.

He was a sixth-rank Qianniu Beishen guarding the left camp of a hundred cavalry.

This is not just a sword-bearing guard in front of the emperor, but he commands an entire battalion of imperial guards, the Left Battalion of a Hundred Riders, with five hundred cavalrymen.

A young man who was less than sixteen years old not only had an incredibly high official rank, but was also able to command five hundred elite cavalrymen. It was obvious that the emperor's son-in-law was indeed very much liked by Li Shimin, and not just because he was Wu Huaiyu's eldest son.

"Chengsi is my Huo Qubing. He will surely become a famous general like you in the future."

Wu Huaiyu looked at the eldest son who was still a little immature but full of vitality, and did not say much. Chengsi was taken to the palace by Li Shimin and had been with him for several years. He was both a hostage and a teacher.

The young man was full of admiration for the emperor and had no other thoughts.

This is not a bad thing. At least now the emperor trusts and appreciates his son-in-law Chengsi very much. Chengsi is the son of Wu Huaiyu, but he, Li Shimin, also raised and taught him.

Chengsi led a team of one hundred cavalrymen from his own camp to take on the escort mission.

"Next year, I will move to the Daming Palace." Li Shimin liked this new palace very much.

Wu Huaiyu was no stranger to the Daming Palace. When it was first built, he served as the Daming Palace Supervisor, responsible for supervising the construction of the palace, and even participated in the planning. Although the palace was renovated on and off for more than a decade, he no longer cared about it.
Walking in the Daming Palace now, I still feel a sense of familiarity.

The Daming Palace, which took more than ten years to build, is indeed very well constructed.

Every brick and tile fully demonstrates the superb technology and artistry of the Tang Dynasty palace architecture.

The majesty of the momentum, the splendor of the palace, the shimmering of the water, and the exquisiteness of the garden.

From the majestic Danfeng Gate to the magnificent Hanyuan Hall, and then to the graceful Taiye Lake, the beauty of the Tang Dynasty is evident everywhere.

Even the details, such as the lotus-patterned square bricks and the gilded bronze catchers, are quite exquisite.

Think about the Western Regions.

Those oasis countries with only 18,000 households dare to call themselves a great power in the Western Regions, and even those with only 1,000 or 2,000 households dare to call themselves a country.

During the reign of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty
The capital city of Chang'an already had more than a hundred thousand households.

The entire Yongzhou now has 22 counties, 360,000 households, and 1.96 million people.

Today, Chang'an is a well-deserved international metropolis.

Although the total population of Yongzhou's 22 counties is less than two million, it is still much lower than the national population at the beginning of the founding of the country.

After the Shatai Buddhism and Taoism crackdown at the beginning of the Zhenguan period, a large number of monks, Taoists and nuns were forced to return to secular life, a large number of hidden and escaped households were cleared out, and many temples, powerful families, and government servants were granted land and naturalized.

Later, they defeated the Turkic Tuyuhun and other barbarians, and moved their leaders and nobles to the capital. As the peace and stability in Chang'an increased, it attracted more and more people.
In less than thirty years, the population of Yongzhou and Chang'an has increased several times.

A city of Chang'an,

In addition to the permanent population registered in the household register, there were also a large number of floating population, including soldiers on duty, craftsmen on duty, scholars who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations, candidates who came to Beijing for the selection, merchants who came to Beijing, as well as many palace maids, official slaves, and private slaves.

This means that Chang'an City now has a population of nearly 800,000.

The residents of Chang'an alone, plus the military horses of the northern and southern government offices, and the horses, mules and mounts of the common people, required the consumption of eight million shi of grain a year.

This huge city covers a vast area.
Huge amounts of supplies are consumed every day, including food, firewood, vegetables, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, milk, eggs, as well as salt, tea, wine, vinegar, silk, and cloth...

Just like the Daming Palace in front of us which took more than ten years to build.
The huge pillars of this magnificent palace were all cut down and transported from distant places such as Bashu and Jiangxi. Some were even cut down from Liuqiu, Lingnan, and even Annan and Yunnan. They were then shipped to the Yangtze River by sea and then transported to the capital.
Every huge piece of precious wood consumes countless manpower, material resources and financial resources.

And those floor tiles, roofs, etc., are supported by countless craftsmen and manpower and material resources.

This palace took so many years to build because there were ministers who opposed it all the time. They thought that building a palace would cost too much and that it was the people's money and should not be used for this purpose.

Every time Li Shimin received too many admonitions, he would stop the construction, but would start again quietly after a while. It took more than ten years of construction to finally complete the project.

The ministers were unable to stop it all the time because the emperor had money.

Many expenses were paid with the internal treasury instead of the national treasury, and ministers sometimes had no choice.

In addition, the first Daming Palace Supervisor Wu Huaiyu had developed a system of attracting investment and sponsorship, so many things actually didn't cost any money.

To talk about it,

Wu Huaiyu made a lot of contributions to the construction of the Daming Palace, which was so magnificent and even splendid. When he was in Lingnan, he often paid tribute to the emperor, including gold, silver, pearls, tortoise shells, corals, ivory, rhinoceros horns and spices.
Later, when the Wu family took over Luzon, Wu Huaiyu also paid tribute.

During the two years he was in the Western Regions, he did not accept any gifts himself, but he received a lot of gold and silver from the Khans and kings for the emperor. The amounts were often counted by camels, and the total amount was at least tens of thousands of strings.

Although the treasure of the King of Gaochang has not been found so far, the spoils from the palace treasuries of Gaochang, Qiuci, Shiguo, Yanqi, Zhujubo, Kepantuo and others are quite a lot. Most of them were paid into the national treasury, but many were also presented as tribute to the emperor.

Wu Huaiyu also made a clear division of this aspect. After conquering the Western Regions, the money and grain in the court treasury were handed over to the Tang Dynasty treasury, and the treasures in the king's palace were tributed to the emperor. In addition, some of the confiscated proceeds were divided between the Protectorate and the Anxi Army soldiers.

It was generally acknowledged in the court that Wu Huaiyu's ability in managing finances and making money was actually better than his ability in fighting a war.

Although Wu Huaiyu was known as an ever-victorious general who had never been defeated, the battles he fought always gave people a very relaxed feeling, making people feel that it was not because Wu Huaiyu was too strong, but that his enemies were too weak every time.

It is said that a good warrior has no great achievements.

Among the battles that Wu Huaiyu fought, there was basically no battle worth writing about. Many of them were killed with one sword, and there were very few battles that were fought back and forth.
However, as a horse-riding emperor, Li Shimin knew very well that this was by no means as easy as everyone saw.

Those who are truly good at fighting are those who win the battle outside the battlefield. If they don’t take action, it’s fine. But once they take action, they are already prepared.

"Huaiyu,"

"You have completed in two years what the court would have taken twenty to thirty years to do. The western part of the Tang Dynasty is not only safer but also more stable. The Silk Road is more accessible. In the future, the Silk Road will be able to bring in a steady stream of tax revenue and wealth, from Anxi to Hexi, then to Longyou, then to Guanzhong, Central Plains, and then to Wuyue and Lingnan. The whole area is connected."

"You deserve great credit."

The emperor praised Wu Huaiyu sincerely.

"But I can't sleep lately."

Wu Huaiyu was shocked when he heard this. You don’t think I’m too successful and you can’t sleep, do you? Are we being honest with each other now?

"The Western Regions have been stabilized, but Jiangbei has not been resolved. When the Eastern Turks were destroyed, the court was ready to resolve Mobei next. However, more than ten years have passed, and the court has not been able to make time for it.

The Yi men of Xueyantuo became more and more arrogant and presumptuous.

Last year, they lured the Qibi tribe to rebel against the north, and sent troops to the south, intending to support the Qibi tribe and attack the Turkic people in the south of Qi. Although you dealt with it in time and sent Anxi and Hexi soldiers to defeat the Qibi tribe in time and stop them, Li Ji, Li Simo and others also stationed troops in the south of Qi, so that the Xueyantuo finally returned empty-handed.

But I cannot swallow this anger. As long as the Xueyantuo in the northern desert are not destroyed, the northern border will be in turmoil. "

Li Shimin looked at Wu Huaiyu and said, "Now that you have pacified the Western Regions for me, the court can free up its hands to destroy the Xueyantuo. How do you think we should use the army to solve the Xueyantuo problem once and for all?"

Wu Huaiyu didn't expect the emperor to say this because he couldn't sleep, so he was relieved.

The relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Xueyantuo also went through three stages. At the beginning of the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin was beaten to the gates of Chang'an by Jie Li just after he ascended the throne. He was forced to sign the White Horse Alliance, which was very humiliating. So at that time, he was determined to deal with Jie Li and joined forces with the Xueyantuo who had moved east to the northern desert.

He supported them in their rebellion against the Turks and the establishment of the Xueyantuo Khanate, and bestowed upon Yinan drums and banners and conferred upon him the title of Khan.

Later, after several years of preparation, the Tang Dynasty finally captured Jie Li alive and destroyed the Eastern Turkic Khanate. At this time, the Xueyantuo also surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, but secretly expanded its power and seized the territory in the northern desert. The relationship between the two sides was still good.

When Yi Nan took control of the northern desert, he inevitably wanted to conquer the Turks in turn, and also wanted the southern desert. The Tang Dynasty naturally did not allow this, so the two sides had many frictions, but the Tang Dynasty endured it at first because it had to assimilate the Eastern Turks. Later, it had to first destroy the Tuyuhun that threatened Helong, and then fought a war with Tubo, and then subdued the Qiang people in western Sichuan.
I couldn't take care of Mobei for the time being.

Strategically, we should still defend and wait for attack, and not take the initiative to launch an expedition to the northern desert.

Later, he supported the restoration of the Eastern Turkic nation, also wanting to use them as a buffer and cannon fodder.

Many voices in the court opposed sending troops to Mobei, thinking that Mobei was too far away and the Xueyantuo were now very powerful. The court would gain no advantage by traveling thousands of miles across the desert to conquer them. It would also be difficult and costly to supply food and fodder. Moreover, even if they won the battle, they would not be able to occupy Mobei for long, as there was no city there except for cattle, sheep and other livestock.

Furthermore, if the Xueyantuo people could not win the battle, they could just run away. It was difficult to fight against nomads.

It was very difficult to defeat Tuyuhun in the beginning, because Tuyuhun was close, while Xueyantuo in northern Mobei was too far away.

Li Shimin also endured it all the time, and was even unkind enough to deceive Xueyantuo into a false marriage several times, putting in all kinds of conditions, and then finding excuses to refuse in the end. Xueyantuo was also deeply resentful of being tricked.

At this time, Li Shimin mentioned Xueyantuo again.

This was because he saw a way to resolve the Mobei issue from Wu Huaiyu's pacification of the Western Regions.

The Western Regions were far away, but Wu Huaiyu still led 16,000 cavalry and attacked Yuguse for 7,000 miles.

Then the imperial court can now make another expedition to Mobei.

Moreover, after the Tang Dynasty conquered the Western Regions, it meant that the imperial court could not only unite with the Eastern Turks from the south of the desert to attack the northern desert, but also send troops from the Jinshan direction to the west of the northern desert and bring along the vassal armies of the Western Turks and the Western Regions.
Even the Tang Dynasty could also bring along the Khitan, Xi and other vassal states in the east that had long since surrendered to the Tang Dynasty to attack the Xueyantuo together.

It can also divide the Tiele tribes internally.

In short, Li Shimin felt that the time was ripe to attack Xueyantuo and he no longer had to tolerate Yi Nan.

After destroying the Xueyantuo in the northern desert, Li Shimin could sleep peacefully. However, he still had to destroy the Goguryeo in Liaodong.

But there is no rush for this, we must first destroy Mobei.

Then he could go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and I believe no one would object by then.

After offering sacrifices to the gods at Mount Tai, we can then consider destroying Goguryeo.

"I plan to attack Mobei from multiple directions and destroy Xueyantuo in one fell swoop. How about you be the commander-in-chief?" said the emperor.

Wu Huaiyu shook his head and refused without even thinking.

He knew clearly that the emperor would never really let him be the commander-in-chief. After the first Western Expedition, the emperor began to become suspicious and even resorted to the tactic of praising him to death. How could Wu Huaiyu not understand that the emperor would never give him another chance to lead troops and command the army?

What's more, the Northern Expedition against the Xueyantuo did not seem to be very difficult at first glance, but in the end the contribution was not small.

The king and his minister pretended to push the issue several times.

"Then do you have any good candidates to recommend?" asked the emperor.

The best candidate in Wu Huaiyu's mind is of course Li Jing, but Li Jing is even less likely to come out. He is more suspected by the emperor than himself. Li Jing is from a famous family in Guanlong, the Danyang branch of the Longxi Li family. The emperor is much more strict in guarding against these old aristocratic families than against the new nobles.

"Li Ji, the Duke of Ying, has been guarding the frontier of Bingzhou for more than ten years. He has a long history and high prestige in the army. He is now the Minister of War. Last year, he was in charge of the southern part of the desert and frightened the Xueyantuo so much that they could only leave the desert."

The emperor nodded.

The most suitable people to take charge are Li Jing and his apprentice Wu Huaiyu. They are the best choices in terms of prestige, qualifications and abilities, but the emperor will never use them.

Then there are several generals including Li Ji, Li Daozon, Xue Wanche and Su Dingfang. Comparatively, Su Dingfang and Li Ji should be more suitable to lead the army, but Su Dingfang is the senior brother of Wu Huaiyu, a student of Li Jing, and the emperor has to consider this aspect, so in the end Li Ji is more suitable.

Li Daozong was lacking in command, especially in offense, but he was good at defense. Xue Wanche was good at charging and fighting, but he was lacking in command, especially in commanding large troops.

As for generals such as Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, Xie Shufang, Wu Huaiyi and Fan Xing, they are all brave and powerful generals, but they are still lacking in command.

In the past, Chai Shao and Li Xiaogong were the commanders in charge of the region, but unfortunately they both died one after another.

"Then let Li Ji be the chief commander of the northern expedition and command the central route, and let the Eastern Turkic Khan Li Simo and the Chanyu Grand Protector Duan Zhixuan be the deputy generals of the central route."

"For the western route, the Anxi Grand Protector Wu Huaiyi will be the general manager, and the Beiting Grand Protector Xie Shufang and Nanting Khan She'er will be the deputy generals of the western route."

"For the eastern route, let Li Dao Zong be the general manager, and Fan Xing and Xue Wan Che be the deputy generals."

The emperor drew up a list of nine generals to lead the three northern expeditions.

"Your Majesty, I think there is one omission."

"Oh, go ahead."

"Liaodong Goguryeo." Wu Huaiyu said, "In the past, Gaochang State colluded with the Western Turkic Yu Gushe to rebel against the Tang Dynasty. Not only did they block the Silk Road and detain Tang envoys, they also sent troops to attack Yanqi, which was affiliated with the Tang Dynasty, and even harassed our Yizhou.
They also conspired with the Xueyantuo in Mobei to form an alliance and join forces. "

Gaochang and Yugushe were defeated so quickly that Xueyantuo had no time to send troops to rescue them, but they also succeeded in instigating the Qibi tribe to rebel to the north.

He also wanted to take advantage of the Tang Dynasty's western expedition to attack the Eastern Turks, but in the end he never found the opportunity.

"The Xueyantuo Yi men are ambitious. I dare say that they not only secretly colluded with Gaochang and Western Turks to instigate the Qibi tribe to flee north, but they must also have secret contacts with Liaodong Goguryeo."

Li Shimin stroked his beard.

Goguryeo was his target long ago, but the time had not come yet. The Sui Dynasty invaded Liaodong several times and sent out millions of troops but failed to conquer it. Instead, it caused turmoil in the country. Finally, the world was in chaos and the Sui Dynasty fell in the second generation.

Without absolute certainty, Li Shimin would not easily propose an expedition against Liao, as it would inevitably lead to opposition from countless people.

"Goguryeo and our Tang Dynasty have been living in peace for more than 20 years. They may not dare to openly collude with Xueyantuo to attack."

"Your Majesty, we have to be on guard. I think the best way to make Goguryeo behave is to use military force. Send a general to garrison in western Liaoning and station more troops on the Liao River. In this way, even if Goguryeo has the intention to commit crimes, it will not have the courage to support Xueyantuo."

Wu Huaiyu saw that Li Shimin was considering it.

Strike while the iron is hot,

"Your Majesty, I am willing to be the governor of Liaodong, inspect the area outside the Great Wall, reorganize the troops, and strengthen the city defense and military preparations and military settlements."

The emperor was stunned for a moment.

He didn't expect that while talking about fighting the Xueyantuo, Wu Huaiyu would go to govern Liaodong.

Li Shimin quickly came to his senses.

Wu Huaiyu is trying to escape. Given the current situation in Chang'an, he is at the center of public opinion and will definitely face a storm of attacks next.

But Wu Huaiyu was indeed smart. He thought of a countermeasure at this time, and among the Thirty-Six Strategies, the best one was to retreat.

He refused the emperor's bestowal of the title of king and would not stay to be prime minister, nor would he sit in Chang'an and be attacked. Instead, he went to Liaoxi outside the Great Wall. The management of Liaodong was similar to his work as the management of seven prefectures in Lingnan.

The key point is that this is an envoy position, which is a temporary assignment. There is power, but it is different from the prime minister, governor, etc., and can be recalled at any time.

"I summoned you back because I want to make important use of you. You are the Minister of the Secretariat and the Minister of Personnel. Ma Zhou's health has been getting worse recently, so I thought of letting you be the Minister of the Secretariat. You and your uncle will manage the affairs of the Secretariat together, and you will take charge of the Ministry of Personnel."

Wu Huaiyu said, "How can a brother and uncle both serve as the Minister of the Central Secretariat? This is totally against the rules. Besides, I am not qualified for the position of the Minister of Personnel. I don't have the experience."

"If Liaodong doesn't need me, I am willing to go to Luoyang to exchange with Uncle Changsun, or return to Lingnan to guard the southern border for the court."

The emperor did not reply immediately.

The emperor had prepared for today's conversation in the Daming Palace for a long time, but the result was still a little beyond plan.

(End of this chapter)