A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 721 Surrender
Wu Huaiyu accompanied Feng An into Chang'an.

Feng An was riding a clean and refreshed BMW. He was extremely curious about Chang'an City and even looked shocked.

"It's completely different,"

"I came here 40 years ago. At that time, in the outer city of Chang'an City, only a few walls at the city gates had been repaired, and the rest of the city walls had not yet been repaired.
A long stretch of the road in Nancheng is all wasteland.
When we entered the city, we saw all the high walls along the way. I remember that I was still very young at that time, and my impression of Chang'an was that it was tall, majestic, and very majestic. "

"What about now?" Huaiyu asked knowingly.

"Busty and lively," Feng An sighed. It's the end of the year, and Chang'an Street is full of people. Especially after the street walls were demolished, the market shops and even the vendors along the street, the shouts and cries, made the place extremely noisy. ,

Full of market smoke.

The city is large, there are many people, and there are many goods.

"What a difference."

Feng Zhidai, who was accompanying his father, also said, "Don't talk about Aye, compare it to 40 years ago. I have only been in Chang'an for four years, but the changes are changing with each passing day. I am the first year of Zhenguan. When I first came to Chang'an, the square walls had not yet been demolished, and the Nancheng City had not yet been built, so the Lower Nancheng City was also deserted."

“When I first came here, rice and silk in Chang’an were not only expensive but also not always available in time. The grain shops in the East and West markets could only open for a few hours a day.
In just the past few years, this food has become cheaper and cheaper. At the lowest point, a bucket of rice cost only two cents.Now it’s only five cents for a bucket of rice. The grain shops in the East and West Markets and Nan Markets are no longer short of grain. Even the shops in each mill can easily buy grain at any time.

Not only is food abundant, but all kinds of oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, and sugar are now abundant.

Aye, do you know how many pigs and sheep come in from outside the city to be slaughtered every morning?Thousands of these pigs were rushed into the city early, sent to various slaughterhouses for slaughter, and then quickly wholesaled to various stalls.

Chang'an consumes the same chicken, duck, and goose eggs in an astonishing amount every day,"

Feng An was riding on the horse and was very shocked when he listened to his son's words.

Compared with the rapid changes in Chang'an, their hometown in Lingnan seems to be a pool of stagnant water with no ripples.Not to mention Gaoliang, a small town that looks the same every year, but it is already one of the wealthier and better cities in more than ten surrounding states. It is second only to Guangzhou in the eastern part of Lingnan. Well, it should be said that it is also second to Shaozhou now.

But even Guangzhou has not changed much. You can see shabby houses everywhere, bamboo buildings and wooden houses built haphazardly, smelly ditches exposed, and the people are mostly dressed in rags, and they are dark and thin.

When he passed by Shaozhou, he found that Shaozhou had changed a lot. The city had been expanded a lot, walls had been demolished, and markets had been built. There were many workshops in the city, and they were very lively.
There are even nearly half of the Central Plains people in Shaozhou City.
But Shaozhou is not big after all.
Coming all the way north, we followed the Ganjiang River, Yangtze River, Hanjiang River, Danshui Bashui River to Chang'an. I didn't have time to take a closer look at any big changes on the way. It was when I entered Chang'an City that I was shocked.

How long has it been since the world was unified? It took five years for Lingnan Wude to fully surrender to the Tang Dynasty. Less than ten years ago, Chang'an was already so prosperous and lively.

Although many people on the street have patches on their clothes, they are basically very clean. It is rare to see such unkempt faces, beggars everywhere, and filth everywhere.
Walls were demolished and shops were opened on the street. The flow of people increased, and vendors were allowed to operate. However, there was no mention of the mess. Even the carriages, mules and donkeys coming and going did not say that they left excrement everywhere. If you look closely, you will find that the horses and mules entering the city all have a dung bag tied to their buttocks.

There are even many garbage spots on the roadside for garbage collection, and there are public huts across the road.

Orderly and organized.

Also, these Chang'an people, whether they are officials, scholars, or traders, you can see a kind of self-confidence on their faces.

Feng Ang also discovered that there were many barbarians on Chang'an Street. Their appearance and even clothing were completely different from those of the Tang people.
But they are well integrated into Chang'an City.

Feng Ang had met Yang Jian and served Yang Guang, but this was the first time he came to court the emperor of Tang Dynasty.

"Today's saints are really remarkable,"

Feng An was full of praise. Although he often heard the subordinates sent to Chang'an report back information about Chang'an in the past, even Feng Zhidai would regularly send back some news about Chang'an, even newspapers, books, etc.
But Feng Ang didn't see it with his own eyes, so he didn't quite believe it, and he couldn't believe that Chang'an would really change so much.

"Your Majesty is wise and wise, with sacred literature and martial arts, and there are many virtuous assistants in the court, such as Wu Xiangguo, a great talent sent from heaven to assist the saint in governing the world."

Feng Zhidai told me that many changes in Chang'an City were due to reforms promoted by Xiangguo Wu, such as demolishing village walls, building markets and shops, and introducing new laws to reduce the burden on ordinary people...

"The scene of prosperous times," Feng An praised.

Riding along Shili Zhuque Street, Feng Ang became more and more shocked as he watched.

If he hadn't been in a hurry to meet the emperor first, he would have really wanted to visit the whole of Chang'an to see what Chang'an City was like now, or whether it was just the prosperity on both sides of this sky street.

Li Shimin met Feng Ang in Wude Hall.

The monarch and his subjects met for the first time,

Li Shimin, the king of Lingnan, also attached great importance to him. Before he entered the palace, Zhang Anan, the eunuch's eunuch, read to him the order of conferment and reward.
He paid homage to General You Xiaowei, added Prince Shaobao, and gave him a nine-ring jade belt.Feng Ang Xie En,

The emperor also gave him a brocade purple robe with two peacocks holding branches in their hands.
Then he led Huaiyu and him into the temple to meet the saint.

"Gong Guogong has worked hard all the way,"

"I came late. I should have come a long time ago. I can't leave." Feng Ang said.

"Yeah, I understand too,"

Li Jing went to Lingnan in the fourth year of Wude, and all the people in Lingnan surrendered in the following year. However, in the sixth year of Wude, many shoguns and powerful chiefs rebelled in Lingnan. In the eighth year of Wude, another great rebellion broke out.
During the Zhenguan period, local raccoon barbarians also continued to rebel.

Of course, if Feng Ang wants to go to Beijing for pilgrimage, it will not have any impact. No matter how chaotic it is, a round trip to Beijing will only take a few months.
Feng An never came to Beijing, and everyone knew why.

It was not until the first year of Zhenguan that many people said that Feng An was separatist and rebelling, which caused the court to almost send [-] troops to Lingnan. After Wei Zheng stopped admonishing, Feng An quickly sent his eldest son Feng Zhidai to Beijing, who was actually a proton.

Now that Feng An is finally willing to come in person, the balance is naturally broken.

Feng Ang is still very keen as the duck prophet of Chunjiang Plumbing.
Since he had to come sooner or later, it was better to come now than to be taken in a prison car in the future. Of course, it was impossible for him, Feng An, to come in a prison car, but there was no need to fight against the increasingly powerful imperial court.

"I heard that Duke Geng and Duke Jin are also married?" Li Shimin asked with a smile.

Huaiyu said, "I have a new daughter. The Duke of Gaoliang liked her, so he got married." "

"Okay, okay," Li Shimin said with a smile, "I originally wanted to have a family with Duke Geng, but unexpectedly, Duke Jin got there first, so that's fine."

After the pleasantries, Li Shimin got down to business.

They wanted Feng An to stay in Chang'an, let Feng Zhidai go back and take over as the governor of Gaozhou, and the imperial court would set up six governor's offices in Lingnan, six armies in border towns, three patrol naval armies, and twelve unified military offices.
"What do you think, Duke Geng?"

"I fully agree. In the barbaric borderland of Lingnan, the raccoons and ferrets are savage and fierce. They do not submit to the king's rule, and rebellion is not common. Although we are determined to guard the border and govern the people for the imperial court, we want to establish a county and township in Xidong and organize households to integrate the people. But these barbarians are unwilling to accept the king's rule, and are really helpless. We look forward to the heavenly soldiers of the imperial court, just like we look forward to the rain after a long drought..."

When he was in Baqiao, Feng An had some opinions on the things Wu Huaiyu mentioned, but now when faced with the emperor's questions, he completely agreed.

This matter was already done anyway, and he couldn't stop it at all, so Feng An followed the crowd and agreed.

If objection is invalid, support it.

Hahaha, the emperor is very satisfied,
It is said that the King of Lingnan is the King of Lingnan. Now seeing this King of Lingnan being so obedient, Li Shimin felt happy and finally relieved of his worries.

As long as Feng Ang is so obedient in Lingnan, everything else will not be a big problem.

Wu Huaiyu said before that to solve the problems in Lingnan, we must use means and not be too simple and crude, especially when dealing with Feng An. If he is forced to rebel, there will be chaos in Lingnan, and the court will have to spend more energy and cost. Come and clean up.

As long as the Feng family is willing to compromise, the court can take appropriate care and reservations.

"Gong Guogong is Huaiyu's in-laws, and I am Huaiyu's in-laws. We are half in-laws. When we arrive in Chang'an, it's like arriving at home. If you need anything, just ask. You can tell Huaiyu directly, or you can contact us. Supervisor Zhang.”

Zhang Ananda stood in the shadow, as if dozing off. When he heard the emperor's words, he opened his eyes and nodded to Feng An.

The first conversation ended here. There was no need to talk too much. Feng Ang left Lingnan and came to Chang'an, which is worth a thousand words. And if he is willing to stay in Chang'an, it is already... It showed that he, the King of Lingnan, completely surrendered to the Emperor of Tang Dynasty.

that's enough,
After retreating, the emperor rewarded Feng An with a lot of gold, silver, and slaves.
Feng Zhidai left Beijing three days later and returned to Lingnan to take over as the governor of Gaozhou. Li Shimin asked Feng Zhidai to leave his eldest son in Chang'an, saying that he would accompany Feng Ang and learn more about cultural etiquette in Chang'an.

Wu Huaiyu's son-in-law Feng Junhao was awarded the title of Viscount of Songkang County by Li Shimin.

"Huaiyu, please treat Duke Geng well on my behalf."

Feng Ang and his son thanked him and left.

Zhang Ananda took them to the mansion rewarded by the emperor.

On the way, Feng An remained silent, and Wu Huaiyu did not disturb him either.

The result of this meeting was good. The emperor was very good to the obedient Feng An.
The Cuan family from Nanzhong and the Xie family from Qianzhong came to Chang'an to meet the emperor, but they did not receive such treatment.
(End of this chapter)