A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1257: Reunion at Mount Li and the Expedition to Liao

"If I plan to live in Luzon for a long time in the future, would you like to go with me?"

Wu's Lishan Manor covers an area of ​​300 mu, which is much more luxurious than the 17 mu courtyard granted by the emperor under the palace. Lishan hot springs are also introduced here, and there are 17 hot spring pools in the manor.

At Huaiyu's strong request, Fan Xuanfu reluctantly agreed to have a bath together today.

"Why did Alang suddenly have this idea?"

"It's not that I suddenly had this thought, but I have always had this idea."

The hot spring water is smooth and cleans the skin. It is a great enjoyment to soak in a hot spring in the cold spring, and it is even more comfortable to take a bath with my wife. Although we have been married for 17 years, perhaps because we are often apart, we are not in the state of no feelings after being married for a long time.

In fact, she is still very young, only in her thirties. Although she has given birth to several children, as a martial artist, she has always had a good figure and fair skin.

Xuan Fu wiped the two new scars on her husband's body, "Is it because of this?"

"It's lonely at the top,"

Fan Xuanfu said, "Marry a beggar where you go, marry an old man where you go. People in the countryside say marry a chicken where you go, marry a dog where you go. Wherever Alang goes, I will go, but what about Chengsi and the others?"

Chang'an is the center of the world and the most prosperous place. People from all over the world are trying their best to get there. Although it is not easy to live in the capital and rice is expensive in Chang'an, there are many opportunities here.

Even those noble families would not think of leaving Chang'an. Leaving Chang'an means leaving the center of the empire, away from power, and being marginalized from then on.

"If you inherit this house, you will stay in the capital."

Wu Huaiyu had actually made arrangements many years ago and even divided the family property in advance. For example, Luzon was assigned to the third son, Chengzhi, while the property in Jiaozhou was given to the second son.

Regardless of whether he was a legitimate son or an illegitimate son, each son had already been allocated a piece of property.

Of course, the legitimate sons will definitely get more, especially the eldest legitimate son Chengsi who will inherit the family line. In the future, he will not only inherit Huaiyu's title, but also the position of the head of his branch. Many important family businesses will definitely be given to him.

The eldest son was placed in Chang'an, the second son in Luoyang, the third son in Guangzhou, the second son born out of wedlock in Jiaozhou, and the third son in Luzon.
The twenty-odd sons were all divided up.

Naturally, the daughters had already prepared a generous dowry.

"But how can we go to Luzon? Your Majesty will not agree easily, right?" Fan Xuanfu said.

"Yeah, I've been worried about that."

But he didn't want to stay in Chang'an anymore. It wasn't that Chang'an was bad, it was too good. It was so prosperous. Although Chang'an was so big, the streets were all muddy. Only the main street near the imperial city was paved with sand dug from the Chan River every year. The other roads were dusty on sunny days and turned into mud puddles on rainy days.
But looking at the world today, this is the most prosperous city in China and abroad. It has abundant goods and everything you need. There are also countless slaves working and serving the people of Chang'an.

If Wu Huaiyu wanted to go alone, it would actually be very easy. It wouldn't be very difficult to fake his own death, and then he could live freely in Luzon.

But he couldn't bear to leave his wives, concubines and children behind.
Of course, there is another very important issue. The main reason why Wu Huaiyu went to Luzon was to protect himself and his family, not to really abandon his home and career.

He still wanted to preserve the family business he had worked so hard to build, as well as the status of the Wu family.

Without a reasonable arrangement, it would be impossible to keep these things. The emperor must agree to let him go to Luzon.

But now, it's difficult.

Wu Huaiyu had a premonition that Li Shimin would deal with him sooner or later.

Although Li Jing had a good end, he still felt that he was somewhat different from his teacher.

The bad thing is that he is too young now, only ten years older than the crown prince. And the situation of the crown princess Su is there. Even if she is not deposed, she has no children.

The Crown Prince now has three sons, two of whom were born to Wu Huaiyu's niece, and one to her cousin. Their status in the East Palace is second only to that of the Crown Princess, so when Cheng Qian ascends the throne in the future, the new Crown Prince must be the son of these two.

How could the emperor not worry?

The case that Changsun Wuji handled this time made him feel even more lonely at the top.

Fang Xuanling served as prime minister for seventeen years, but he could not protect his two sons and was also exiled to Suiye, thousands of miles away.

Li Daozon had always been very dutiful and had made many contributions to the country. However, he was now implicated in treason by Changsun Wuji and was dismissed from office, stripped of his title, demoted to a commoner, and exiled to the Western Regions.

The Xue brothers were known as the Tigers of the Xue family. They had made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty's conquests. They were once famous for their family, with two dukes and seven generals. Xue Wanche even became the emperor's brother-in-law. But now their necks were cut three times and their heads were separated. The Xue family was exiled to Suiye.

What a heroic figure Chai Shao was back then.
But within two years of his death, his two sons were demoted to commoners and exiled to the frontier for treason. The title of Duke he had earned, his fiefdom, and his vast wealth were all taken back.

Another example is Liu Wenjing, who was the most supportive of Li Shimin, but was unjustly killed by Li Yuan for supporting Li Shimin. After Li Shimin became emperor, he rehabilitated the case, restored the official titles of Liu Wenjing's two sons, and even let his eldest son inherit the title of Duke, and promised his daughter to him.
But later, he was inexplicably charged with conspiracy to rebel. He failed to marry the princess, and the two brothers lost their lives.

The greater the power, the greater the danger, not the greater the responsibility.

In the imperial era, if you were an official of the fourth or fifth rank in Chang'an, your life might be very comfortable, but if you were an official of the third rank or above, you might be implicated in a major case at any time.

However, if one becomes prime minister, or even has great achievements and prestige in the court, it would be extremely dangerous.

Those who threaten the imperial power will never have a good end.

Although Luzon is full of vitality today, it is far from comparable to the Central Plains, let alone being mentioned on par with Chang'an.

Luzon is hot all year round, and there are many typhoons every year.

Floods are frequent.

The mosquitoes are numerous and large.

The largest city in Luzon today is about the same size as an average county town in the Central Plains.

If possible, Wu Huaiyu would also like to stay in Chang'an and enjoy its prosperity.

Unfortunately, he was afraid of death, and even more afraid of implicating the Wu family.

Chang'an is great, not only is it rich and prosperous, but also he has many old friends here, including teachers, students and subordinates. It would be great if they could meet each other often and have a lively time.

His wives and concubines also preferred Chang'an, and of course his children liked it too. They had also followed Huaiyu to Guangzhou, and were not used to life in Lingnan.

Wu Huaiyu doesn't want to go to war now. In fact, fighting is very hard. Although he has the status and ability now, he is not willing to risk his life in a fight.
But the march was still arduous, with people having to sleep in the open air and eating only dry food for ten days or half a month. Not to mention the company of a beautiful woman, he did not want to live that kind of life.

He already has everything a minister could have, so why is he working so hard?

The days of the Lishan Hot Spring Resort passed by one after another.

Su Dingfang arrived at Mount Li.
Go meet the Emperor first, then come meet my junior brother.

"It's so dark?"

As soon as they met, the two brothers hugged each other warmly. The last time they were together was when they conquered the Western Regions. They hadn't seen each other for two years, and he had become much darker.

"Nanzhong doesn't get much sun, but it's easy to get tanned," Su Dingfang said with a smile, "I brought some Nanzhong specialties for Erlang."

The specialties brought by Su Dingfang are the eight mountain delicacies, the eight grass delicacies and the eight sea delicacies.

Camel hump, bear paw, monkey head, ape lips, elephant trunk, leopard fetus, rhino tail and deer tendon are the eight mountain delicacies.

The eight delicacies of grass include morels, hericium erinaceus, white fungus, donkey nest mushroom, flower mushroom, etc.

There are also bird's nest, shark's fin, fish belly, black sea cucumber and other sea delicacies. "You are not near the sea in Nanzhong, where do you get the sea delicacies?" Huaiyu said with a smile.

Yaozhou is between Kunming and Dali. The territory of the Governor's Office is quite large. Su Dingfang has stayed there for many years. He beat the Liuzhao with his fists and kicked the Wubai barbarians with his feet, and made all the barbarians in that area submit to him.

After more than a decade, the imperial court had completely brought the Nanzhong area under formal rule, rather than just a tributary rule.

"The South China Sea is connected to the East China Sea. Not only can we go directly to the Annan Jiaozhou Bay through the Red River, but we can also go to the South China Sea through the Pyu Kingdom through the Sindhu Road. We can also go west over the Great Black Mountain, enter the Indian Kamarupa Kingdom, and go down to the Indian Sea along the river.

These trade routes are very busy now. Silk, tea, porcelain and other commercial goods are transported from Jiaozhou, Yizhou and other places to Kunzhou, and then exported to various places. Our Southern Silk Road is very busy now. Our Yaozhou is also very lively.
Seafood is not rare at all.”

Wu Huaiyu is quite interested in the mushrooms from Yunnan, after all, it is a province rich in mushrooms.

Su Dingfang recommended the Eight Mountain Delicacies to him, and said that the elephant trunk was especially delicious after being cooked in the Wuman style in the south. The so-called elephant trunk is the trunk of an elephant. The barbarians there eat everything that runs on the ground or flies in the mountains, not only birds and beasts, but also all kinds of insects.

It is said that elephant meat is salty and sour and not tasty, but the elephant trunk is delicious.

An old gourmet once said that the elephant's body has meat of the twelve zodiac animals, each with its own segments, and only the nose is its original meat, which tastes better when roasted or pickled.

The elephant's trunk is fat and crispy, a little like pork, with a light and smooth taste. When the barbarians in the south catch an elephant, they always fight over its trunk first.

Su Dingfang personally went into the kitchen and made a dish of braised elephant trunk.

"The key to this dish is to first sear it over an open flame to char the rough skin, then scrape it off with a knife, put it in warm water, soak it until it softens, then scrape it again, and then sear and scrape it again. Then put it in the pot and cook for half an hour, then take it out and rinse it with cold water, then use a knife to carefully scrape it clean inside and out, then change to clean water, and cook it until it is completely soft and tender, and the crispy bones are removed. Only then is it considered cooked."

Su Dingfang's movements were quite skilled, and it was obvious that he had eaten a lot of elephant trunks in Yunnan.

While he was processing the elephant's trunk, he also got a lot of duck feet, cooked them until they were half done, and then removed the bones.

The final cooking process is also quite particular. First, boil a pot of lard. When the oil temperature is 50% hot, fry the elephant trunk, then take it out, add soup, cover it with ham skin, add scallion segments, ginger pieces, pour some rice wine, bring to a boil over high heat and then simmer over low heat.

After the pig nose is cooked, add rock sugar to the pot, stir-fry sugar color, add elephant trunk and duck feet, remove ham skin, scallion sections, ginger, etc., add pepper powder, cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens, finally pour a little lard to enhance the sauce, and drizzle with sesame oil.

The dry-roasted elephant trunk is ready with a bright red color, salty and fresh taste, and is soft and glutinous.

"This dish of dry-roasted elephant trunk is a royal dish of the King of Pyu. It tastes very good."

Wu Huaiyu tasted it and couldn't help but sigh,

"I never thought that a brave general like you would learn to cook well in Nanzhong."

"I learned all this from you, Erlang. A governor who can't cook is not a good general."

"Hahaha," when it comes to eating, Wu Huaiyu really knows how to eat, and he is also very good at cooking. He even wrote a cookbook and published it.

If you want good food, you must have good wine.

The two brothers reunited in Mount Li, eating and chatting over a pot of old yellow wine.

"When His Majesty summoned me today, he gave me a task."

Su Dingfang returned from Yaozhou in the south to take up the post of governor of Yingzhou and protector of Andong. He first went back to Chang'an to meet the crown prince to accept the official appointment, and then went to the Shangshu Province to receive the official seal, etc.
Then he came to Mount Li to thank the emperor.

"Your Majesty wants me to capture Beisha City and conquer southern Liaoning within three years."

Wu Huaiyu was a little surprised, but not that surprised.

"This is a test from His Majesty, but it is also an opportunity. It is not difficult to defeat Beisha. The key is to catch them off guard. You must launch a surprise attack and make good use of firearms.

As long as we take the initiative and catch the enemy off guard, it will not be difficult to capture Beisha with the support of firearms. The key is to hold on to it afterwards.

To defend Beisha, it is not difficult to just defend the mountain city. The mountain city is dead. We have to rely on the two ports of Shimajin and Qingnipu to ensure the smooth flow of sea support and supplies. As long as these two are alive, Liaonan will be stable. "

Su Dingfang was somewhat excited.
He had not expected to be transferred back from the wild south. Although Yingzhou was also a frontier, he was from Hebei and was more adapted to the north.

It is even more exciting to receive such a big task as soon as you are transferred.

He won the first battle in the Tang Dynasty's conquest of Liao.

"With Erlang's guidance, I am more confident. When I arrive in Yingzhou, I will start making preparations. This summer, I will personally lead the troops to capture Beisha City and Liaonan."

The emperor gave him three years to conquer Beisha, and did not limit the time of action. As long as he was sure, he could start the war at any time.

The Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo have kept their distance from each other for nearly thirty years.
But the Tang Dynasty had long been preparing to fight Goguryeo, and the Goguryeo people were well aware of this, so they spent 16 years building a thousand-mile Great Wall defense line.

Both sides are preparing.
This year, when the emperor blamed the assassination of Wu Huaiyu in Luoyang on Xueyantuo Yinan Khan and Goguryeo's great rival Lu Quangaisuwen, he had actually torn his face off.
Be prepared to fight at any time.

The northern expedition to Xueyantuo was about to begin, and Su Lie was planning to launch a surprise attack on Beisha this summer.
Li Shimin agreed with his idea and was not afraid of fighting on two fronts.

After the conversation with Wu Huaiyu on the mountaintop, Li Shimin also realized that to conquer Goguryeo, he could no longer just break through from the Liaohe River.
Southern Liaoning is the most important breakthrough point.

Beisha is a mountain city that is large and dangerous. It is not easy to attack Beisha after the fighting starts, but if you surprise attack Beisha in the first battle, your chances of winning will be much greater.

By capturing Beisha and occupying southern Liaoning, the Tang Dynasty completely grasped the strategic initiative when facing Goguryeo.

Wu Huaiyu originally recommended Cheng Chumo, the governor of Huanzhou in Annan, to lead troops to attack Beisha and occupy southern Liaoning, but now the emperor has given this task to Su Dingfang.

"Do you need me to recommend some naval commanders to you? I am very familiar with the navy in Lingnan. I can also help you contact the navy and merchant ships in Denglai."

"Thank you very much, Erlang. If we want to raid Beisha, we can only go by sea. We need to transport enough soldiers, money, food and equipment at one time. We really need Erlang's help in this regard."

"Why are we being so polite to each other?"

"I can also contact the pirates over there for you."

In the early years, Wu Huaiyu had recruited pirates from there, many of whom were from Silla, Baekje, and Japan. Wu Huaiyu asked them to sell the stolen goods in Dengzhou, provided them with ship repairs, and even directly sold them ships and weapons.
They were not allowed to plunder Tang merchant ships and goods on the Bohai Sea route, nor were they allowed to plunder Tang coastal areas.

The Tang Dynasty did not care if they robbed Goguryeo, and even encouraged it. The Tang Dynasty merchants in Dengzhou bought up all the looted Goguryeo people.

Those pirates can also buy houses and settle their families on the Miaodao Islands in Dengzhou, which can be said to provide great help and protection for these pirates.

Wu Huaiyu also led them to attack Qingnipu at night and rescued many veterans who were prisoners of war from the Sui Dynasty.

These pirates, with the support of the Tang Dynasty, are becoming more and more active and stronger. They are half merchants and half pirates, and are thriving.

It would be a good idea to let them cooperate with Su Dingfang in attacking southern Liaoning.

The Wu family also has many merchant ships running in the north, which can also cooperate with Su Dingfang's sea crossing transportation.

"How many days will you stay in Mount Li?"

"We have to leave early tomorrow morning. Once we get to Yingzhou, we have to spend time sorting things out and preparing for battle. It will be very busy and we can't delay."

"Okay, let's take a bath together. How can we not take a bath when we come to Mount Li?"

"Okay, I'll follow Erlang's instructions."

The two brothers clinked their glasses.

(End of this chapter)