A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 391 The Princess' Sky-high Price Gift

It was not yet dawn.

Wu Huaiyu got up early to go to court, and it was cold and snowy.

Fortunately, a sand embankment has been built in the middle of the main road of the Sixth Street in Chang'an. This is part of Yongzhou's work-for-relief. The disaster victims in the Kanto region of Beijing are hired to dig sand from the Chan River and transport it back to Chang'an to pave the Sixth Street.

Although the funds are limited, it is not possible to pave the entire main street, but on the wide street, a one-and-a-half foot sand embankment is laid, which greatly facilitates travel.

Even when it is rainy, snowy and muddy, there is no need to have a headache, especially for court officials who have to get up early and go to court early in the dark, this is even more a benefit, otherwise even if they go to court in a carriage, sometimes they may encounter Wheels stuck in puddles of mud.

Qin Qiong insisted on riding a horse, which was his pride as the founding general of the country. He felt that it would be embarrassing for the dignified minister of the Ministry of War to ride a horse-drawn carriage like Li Gang, Pei Juqiu and those seventy and eighty-year-old civil servants, without the demeanor of a warrior.

Wu Huaiyu, who lived in the same workshop, went to the morning court with Qin Qiong today, so naturally he had to ride with him on horseback.

"This sand embankment is well repaired, didn't it cost a lot of money?"

It's very cold, and the breath turns into frost, but this coldness is nothing to Qin Qiong. In the war years, the conditions on the battlefield were much worse than this. Climbing ice and snow, eating and sleeping in the open, I have never experienced any hardships, no matter the cold winter or the scorching heat , In order to seize the opportunity, sometimes they did not disarm for seven or eight days, and fought for thousands of miles.

Now it's just to get up early and go to court. It is much better for Chang'an City to have a city wall to keep out the wind, and besides, there is a mink fur cloak on his body.

"Actually, the sand embankment didn't cost much. Under normal circumstances, the sand embankment on Sixth Street would cost a lot of money. But now, with work as relief, the victims only need to have two meals and some food and firewood. How can you ask for too much?"

Relief with work, on the one hand, is indeed helping the people, but on the other hand, it is indeed using the victims as cheap or even free labor.

The sand in the Chan River does not require money, and the victims basically do not need any labor costs. The cost of sand dredging, transportation, and laying is kept to a minimum.

But the victims did not complain, and were very grateful that the imperial court and Yongzhou could give them a job at this time, allowing them to have two meals a day, and even after a busy day, they could bring some food back to their families in the temporary camp.

Unless the old, the young, the sick, the older or the younger, regardless of gender, can go to the construction site to do what they can. Even if the wages are low and the food earned is small, these two meals are enough to eat. .

In the dim dawn, the city of Chang'an looked like a giant beast.

On the street, the court officials rode in chariots and horses, and the entourage followed them with torches, and they continued to gather in the East Palace.

The Da'an Palace has just started to be repaired, at least until this time next year, the Supreme Emperor can move in, and now the emperor still lives in the East Palace.

Court officials still had to go to the East Palace every day.

"This year's severe drought in Kanto has affected more than a dozen prefectures, hey." Qin Qiong sighed. Fortunately, in the first half of this year, the imperial court completed the recruitment and destruction of the two forces, Liang Shidu and Yuan Junzhang, who were finally separated. And basically the court did not go to war too much, and did not consume too much money and food, which also allowed the court to have more reserves for disaster relief in autumn and winter.

If there were successive wars like last year and the year before last, and this catastrophe happened again, the imperial court would have no spare power to provide relief. I am afraid that countless people would sell their children, daughters, wives, and land.

"If it weren't for the severe drought in the Kanto region, the imperial court would have started to discuss sending troops to the Turks, and the shame of Weiqiao would be overwhelmed." Qin Qiong never forgot about sending troops to the Turks and killing Jieli Khan.

When Qin Qiong heard that the emperor decided to form an alliance with Turkic Weiqiao, Qin Qiong, who was in better health, was so angry that he vomited blood, and then went to Bailuyuan to recuperate for a year.

In this comeback, Qin Qiong's biggest goal is to be able to complete the revenge against the Turks as soon as possible.

"Don't be in a hurry. The goal set by the sage at the beginning was to send troops to Mobei to destroy Jieli and East Turks in one fell swoop. It's only a little over a year now. We At least one and a half years to prepare."

Huaiyu is not in a hurry, he can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, the current situation is still very good for Datang.

Not only was the interior stable, Yuan Junzhang was recruited after the Liangshi was destroyed, and Shuofang and Datong were recovered, but Cheng Yaojin and other generals also quickly quelled the local barbarian rebellion in Bashu and other inland areas.

The external environment is also good. Due to a heavy snowstorm, the Turkic people were at odds with their uncles and nephews, Tuli and Yu Sheshe, and there were constant disputes and conflicts. With the support of Tang Dynasty, Xue Yantuo also moved east to Mobei The banner of the Xueyantuo Khanate was set up, the slogan of establishing the Tiele people's own khanate was raised, and even shouted that Mobei belonged to their Tiele people, not the Turks.

The famous Turkic king who wanted to drive the Turkic people out of Mobei, and wanted to set up and set them up to guard Mobei, had been fighting with the Tiele people for a year. There were countless battles, and the more they fought, the more they fought, and the Tiele people fought more and more fiercely. Confidence exploded.

To be honest, under such circumstances, Datang can maximize his benefits by sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, resting and recuperating in peace.

What's the rush at this time.

When we came to the gate of the palace, it was still early.

The guard of the palace gate welcomed the two into the waiting room to rest. There was not only a stove and charcoal basin, but also a kang of the same style as the Wu family. There was even a flue in the wall, and the whole room was very warm.

Once inside, it is very warm, even after taking off your coat, you can sit down and drink a cup of hot tea, have some breakfast, and even communicate with your colleagues about work.

Of course, those who can enter the waiting room are senior officials, and those who do not have a third-rank ministry are not eligible.

And the prime ministers not only have special meeting rooms, lounges, and even their own lounges.

Wu Huaiyu is not the prime minister, but the emperor specially arranged a lounge for him to enjoy the prime minister's treatment.

Du Ruhui greeted him cordially, and even offered to pour tea for him. This time, Du Jing loved to provoke too much. Drown the revenge of his brother.

But after all, Du Jing'ai is from the Du family. Others don't care about your uncles and nephews fighting among themselves. You can't write two characters of Du in one stroke. It's not about the five clothes.

Wu Huaiyu didn't pursue it in depth, although this was also the emperor's intention, Du Ruhui still accepted Wu Huaiyu's favor.

"I heard that junior brother is going to be a groom again today, congratulations."

Youwei General Lu Guogong Hou Junji walked in. This guy also got a special order from the emperor to enjoy a prime minister's lounge in the waiting room. In charge of the Palace Guards.

When he came in, he smiled at Wu Huaiyu.

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Jing, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, came in, took off his coat, and glanced at Hou Junji, "Mr. Yi is your senior brother, not your junior brother. There is a first-come-first-served approach in everything, and you must respect your teacher." road."

Hou Junji was ordered to learn the art of war with Li Jing, but the two kept arguing about it, because they felt uncomfortable in various ways, and every time they learned it, they were awkward. Hou Junji didn't want to learn it several times, and Li Jing couldn't help but teach.

But the emperor insisted that Hou Junji learn the art of war from Li Jing, and he couldn't do without it.

Hou Junji had been learning this for almost a year, but he complained to the emperor that Li Jing hadn't taught him anything real.

Now the two of them, a general of the right guard, and a secretary of the Ministry of punishment and the prince of the left guard, are officials in the same hall, but they don't look like a master and apprentice at all.

Huaiyu took Li Jing's coat and hung it up, then poured Li Jing a cup of hot tea.

Li Jing's attitude towards Huaiyu, his apprentice, changed immediately, with a very loving smile on his face, unlike the cold face towards Hou Junji just now.

"Are you going to pick up the girl from the Qiu family today?"

"Well, I will pick you up at dusk, prepare a few tables of beer to entertain some close relatives and friends, and then I will send a carriage to Pingkang Fang to pick up the teacher and wife."

"We'll just come over by ourselves when the time comes." Li Jing said with a smile, "I'll call you Senior Brother Su then."

Among Li Jing's students, apart from his own nephew, there were three formal apprentices, Su Lie, Su Dingfang, Wu Er, Wu Huaiyu, and Hou Junji who couldn't shoot arrows.

Wu Huaiyu assumed the identity of the second senior brother.

But Hou Junji always called Wu Huaiyu Junior Brother, usually Wu Huaiyu didn't care, but today he called him that in front of Li Jing, but Li Jing didn't give this traitor any face.

In front of Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wen Yanbo, Wei Zheng, Wang Gui, Qin Qiong and other prime ministers, he directly scolded him, which made Hou Junji's complexion swell, and he wanted to refute, but after all, he was also a teacher in name, and Li Jing could teach him a lesson in front of the prime ministers , but he couldn't openly contradict the teacher, so he had to hold back.

But it was really uncomfortable, so he turned his head and went out with a dark face. He would rather blow the cold wind outside than stay here with Li Jing under the same roof.

Wei Zheng saw it, but felt that Li Jing was obviously treating one another more favorably, which was somewhat unfair.Wei Zheng was one of the rare prime ministers who appreciated Hou Junji more. He felt that although Hou Junji had a low position before, but now he is a general, in charge of the guard, and even a close minister of the emperor, but he is still open-minded and studious. rare.

"Wei Xiang is also coming at night, so I won't come to pick him up." Huaiyu laughed.

"It's just next door, there's no need to pick it up, I'll come over by myself." The two used to be considered half-enemies, but now they are married, close neighbors plus in-laws, or ministers in the same palace, Wei Zheng's attitude towards Wu Huaiyu has changed drastically now , It is no longer the past all kinds of dislikes to look at Wu Huaiyu, a lucky minister, from the bottom of my heart.

Wu Huaiyu did not invite the four prime ministers Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wang Gui and Wen Yanbo. They were not relatives.

Otherwise, it would be bad for people to label them as cronies.

When the time is up, enter the palace early.

At the end of the court meeting, the emperor still held a court meeting, involving the prime minister and some courtiers.

Wu Huaiyu is basically the same as the prime minister now, and he has to participate in every court meeting, after all, he holds several important positions.

Discuss today in Chongxian Hall.

"Western Turkic Commander Ye Hu Khan, and then sent Zhenzhu Tong Jin Jin as an envoy, to present treasures, jade, stones and famous horses to the court, and propose marriage to my Tang Dynasty."

As soon as the court discussion began, the emperor first mentioned the matter of Western Turks asking for marriage.

Today, not only Tongyehu Khan from Western Turks, but also Yinan Khan from Xue Yantuo, and even Fuyun Khan from Tuyuhun sent envoys to Chang'an to ask for marriage.

All the Hulu barbarians wanted the Tang princess.

A few years ago, Tong Yehu sent an envoy to propose marriage to Datang. At that time, Emperor Li Yuan followed the advice of Pei Ju, an expert in the Western Regions, to send his nephew Gaoping Wang Li Daoli to the Western Turks to express his consent.

However, the East Turks obstructed it and did not allow the West Turks to make peace with Tang.

After Li Shimin ascended the throne last year in Zhenguan, Tong Yehu also sent envoys to Chang'an to present ten thousand nails and five thousand horses to the Tang Dynasty, asking to welcome the princess back.

But Jieli once again threatened not to make a marriage, otherwise he would rob the relatives, and even send troops to attack Tong Yehu.

Although Tong Yehu is very conceited and has a strong army, but the strength of the Western Turks is not as good as that of the Eastern Turks, so he can only give up again.

"Your Majesty, Tong Yehu has sent envoys to ask for marriage several times, but each time he failed because of Jieli's obstruction. Why did Tong Yehu bring up the old story again this time? Could it be that they are no longer afraid of Jieli Khan?" Zeng Wen Yanbo, the prime minister who had been a prisoner of Jieli, asked.

Today, the expert on Western Region affairs, Prince Shao Zhan Shi Peiju, who was specially invited here today, answered, "Your Majesty, after the Western Turks became strong, Tong Yehu was very conceited, domineering, bullying the people, and arousing the resentment of the people. Ge Luo of the Western Regions Most of the Ministry of Lu has already defected from him, and this year, the barbarians of Tie Le Xueyantuo led [-] tents and went to the eastern Turkic Mobei to ask me to be crowned khan by the Tang Dynasty and establish the Xueyantuo Khanate."

Pei Ju is 80 years old, but since the Sui Dynasty, he has been the minister who is most familiar with the Western Regions and is the best at diplomacy.

At this time, the real reason why Tong Yehu came to ask for marriage was revealed in one word. Tong Yehu has already deserted relatives in Western Turks, for example, Ge Luolu defected and Xue Yantuo ran eastward.

Other small tribes such as Chuyue and Chumi don't even accept him now.

Tong Yehu's uncle, the son of Datou Khan, the little Khan Mohe Du of the Western Turks, has openly called on the left side of the Western Turks, that is, the five tribes of Dulu, and called on them to resist the tyranny of Tong Yehu .

Now that Tong Yehu is sweating profusely, he can only order the five crossbows on the right side to be moved.

The Western Turks fell into turmoil again. At this time, Tong Yehu didn't care about Jieli Khan's threat of obstruction. In order to gain the support of Tang Dynasty and win the internal struggle, he sent envoys to propose marriage again, and This time, Tong Yehu took the initiative to put forward a proposal that could make Datang's heart flutter.

As long as the Tang Dynasty can send the princess to the Western Regions, Tong Yehu will no longer remain neutral, but will lead the soldiers of the Western Turks to conquer Jieli for His Majesty the Tang Dynasty.

Although Tong Yehu's elder brother Shekui Khan was an enemy of the Eastern Turks during his reign, he did not intervene in the conflict between the Tang Dynasty and the Eastern Turks. busy establishing their own authority in the Western Regions,

Join Tie Le in the north, reject Persia in the west, connect with Kubin in the south, and dominate the Western Regions.
He moved Khan court to Shiguo, and even made all the kings of the Western Regions submit to him, accepting the title of Jielifa he bestowed, and also sent Turkic nobles to various countries as Tutunfa, stationed troops to supervise, and collected taxes.

Although he asked Tang to marry him several times, but after East Turkic threatened to refuse, he let it go, and didn't want to start a full-scale war with East Turkic for this.
In the past few years when Tang and East Turks fought more and more fiercely, Tong Yehu never made a move at all.

Although the Tang Dynasty has been in contact with the Western Turks in recent years, the Western Turks have also been paying tribute and proclaiming their vassals.
However, the Tang Dynasty planned to unite with the Western Turks to attack the Eastern Turks, but the Western Turks only had thunder and no rain every time. Li Yuan, Li Shimin and his son had already seen through Tong Yehu.

Fortunately, the Western Turks at least maintained their friendship with Datang, and did not allow Datang to fight on two fronts.

"What about Pei Qing's suggestion?" Li Shimin asked Pei Ju.

"You can agree to Tong Yehu Khan's marriage proposal, but the premise is that they have to send [-] horses to Liangzhou as a gift, and they have to personally send envoys to Chang'an to meet the princess, and they have to send troops to the border of Dunhuang to meet the guards ,"

Li Shimin understands that Tong Yehu in his heyday was unable to do this before, but now Tong Yehu is too busy to take care of himself. Not only Ge Luolu and Xue Yantuo have betrayed him, but even his uncle who is in charge of the five departments of the East Chamber has betrayed him. How can we go to Dunhuang to meet the princess?
Even the [-] horses were never sent to Liangzhou. If they dared to send horses, the East Turks would definitely intercept them halfway.

Tong Yehu's so-called sending 20 cavalry for the purpose of the Great Tang's crusade against the Eastern Turkic Jieli, this kind of nonsense is good to hear, he really has this ability, and has already wiped out Yi Nan, Mo Hedu and other rebellious officials and thieves.

Not directly rejecting Tong Yehu, of course, because he does not want any changes in the current relationship between Datang and Western Turks, and it is better to maintain the status quo.

"Xue Yantuo's request for marriage, the old minister thought that it could be done in the same way, and asked Xue Yantuo to prepare cattle and horses as gifts and send them to Lingzhou. After receiving the gifts, I, Tang Dynasty, will prepare for the princess's marriage."

As for Qinghai Tuyuhun Fuyun Khan who also wants to join in the fun, ignore him, he was beaten by Datang last year to beg for mercy and pay tribute, what qualifications do they have to dare to ask Datang to marry the princess?
"Your Majesty, I have objections." Wu Huaiyu listened there for a long time, and then took the initiative to express his opinion.

"I think Pei Gong's strategy is very clever, but Pingli only has [-] horses, which is too little. In case, Yehu Khan and Xue Yantuo Yinan Khan, the Western Turkic Commander, really drove the horses to Liangshan. State or Lingzhou, what shall we do then?
The minister suggested that there should be more points, just in case.

It is best to have [-] horses, [-] cows and [-] camels each, and [-] sheep. They must be required to drive these to Lingzhou or Liangzhou alive, and they will have to be verified when the time comes. It doesn't matter if you are sick, thin, old or young, you must have enough people who are healthy and strong. "

It is not easy to complete this amount, even if Tong Yehu and Yi Nan have the heart, they are probably powerless.Not only do they have to prepare so many livestock, but they have to be sent to Liangzhou or Lingzhou alive and healthy, which is even more difficult.

Not only is the distance far away, but the key is that there is an East Turkic Jieli Khan between them and Datang. How can Jieli allow them to marry Datang smoothly?

Now that we're married, don't we want to fuck him together?
At that time, Xieli sent troops to intercept them. If he wanted to send so many livestock into the Tang Dynasty, it would be as difficult as climbing the sky, and they might be robbed by Xieli.

That would be the loss of the princess and the army.

Of course, Datang's conditions are here, and I agree to your marriage proposal, but you have to show your strength and sincerity, if you can't do it, that's your business.

In this way, there is no need to directly refuse, and there is no need to actually make peace with them.

Anyway, Wu Huaiyu was very resolute against marrying the princess to the barbarians. If ten thousand horses were sent, would they marry or not?

If you don't marry, you will break your promise.

Hearing what Wu Huaiyu said, Pei Ju couldn't help shaking his head, it was too dishonest.

[-] horses, [-] cattle and [-] camels each, and [-] sheep. Even if Jieli is asked to bring out so many animals now, he probably won’t be able to get them out anytime soon. Qi, Shiwei and other ministries apportioned collections,

But whoever wants you to marry a princess, I'll give you the oxen and horses, and the tribes on the grassland will definitely fight.

Li Shimin stroked his beard.

"The princess of my Tang Dynasty is naturally precious, how can she be married with five thousand horses? Yes, according to Huaiyu's conditions, tell their envoys,"

"There is also the envoy of Tuyuhun, who told them the same conditions. If they can also bring out [-] horses, [-] sheep, and [-] cattle and [-] camels each, and rush to Lanzhou, then I will also marry a big brother." Princess Tang gave it to them."

In ancient times, two peaches killed three warriors.

Today, there is a sky-high price gift from the Tang Dynasty to disrupt the grassland Rongdi Hulu!
(End of this chapter)