Tibet.

Chapter 1483: The Past and the Future [End]

Half a year later, the first batch of 3 million kilograms of silver and 20 million taels of gold shipped from Chola arrived at Guangzhou Port. Also arriving were 3.5 million kilograms of high-quality pig iron and countless rare treasures. The 800 years of accumulation of Chola finally contributed to the Tang Dynasty.

The whole Chang'an was in an uproar, so Li Ye specially changed the year name to Da'an.

In the first two years of Da'an, five batches of pig iron were transported back from Chola, weighing more than 30 million jin, which was three times the annual pig iron output of the Tang Dynasty. In addition, more than 3 million dan of grain were transported back from Chola.

In addition, agricultural crops were brought from the American continent and began to be promoted. The first crop to be promoted was corn, which was planted in large quantities in Liaodong.

The second is American cotton, which is long-staple cotton and easier to weave. Li Ye attaches great importance to this kind of cotton and orders a comprehensive replacement for the current Gaochang cotton.

Then we started to promote sweet potatoes and potatoes in mountainous areas. These two crops have high yields. A small plot of land in the mountains can produce hundreds of kilograms, which can provide enough food for the poor people in the mountains.

Also promoted is sunflower, which is a very good oil crop.

Then came the promotion of pumpkin, tomato, peanut and the like.

Seven years passed in a flash.

On the morning of February of the eighth year of Da'an, Li Ye and Queen Dugu Mingyue came to the Greenhouse Palace. They came to the private courtyard behind the Greenhouse Palace, which was the residence of the old Queen Mother Mu.

I saw a large group of children busy planting vegetables, some carrying water, and some turning the soil. These were the children born to Li Ye's twenty or so concubines. They took turns to accompany Aunt Mu every day, mainly to water and fertilize the crops.

Today happened to be the day for farming, and except for the three married daughters, everyone else came.

Li Ye's eldest daughter Xingsha married Liu Xiangjing, the third son of Liu Yan, the left prime minister. Liu Xiangjing won the third place in the imperial examination and is currently serving as the magistrate of Yunyang County.

The second daughter, Yaoguang, married Wang Ning, the grandson of Grand Secretary Wang Wei, and the third daughter, Qiuhe, married Su Jin, the grandson of Su Zhen. Both of them were Jinshi graduates and currently serve as officials in the court.

Li Ye's eldest son Li Tan married Guo Ziyi's granddaughter and made her the Crown Princess.

Wei Jiansu died of illness in the fifth year of Da'an, and Zhang Li retired last year.

Now it is the second generation of prime ministers and assistants in charge of the government, including the Right Prime Minister Li Mi, the Left Prime Minister Liu Yan, the Minister of Personnel Li Xun, the Privy Councilor Ma Lin and so on.

Li Ye's relatives also died of illness. His father Li Dai, the retired emperor, also died of a stroke last year at the age of 63. He was posthumously named Wuzong.

Empress Dowager Pei Sanniang moved into the Daming Palace and lived in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, next to Aunt Mu. Zhang Qian, who originally lived in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, moved to the Zhujing Hall. She gave birth to a daughter seven years ago and was named Zhaorong as she wished.

Next to the vegetable garden, Aunt Mu was sitting on a wooden bench. She was over seventy years old and had become a hunchbacked old lady with gray hair and only a few teeth left. She was leaning on a cane and watching the children busying around with a smile on her face.

Her roof is planted with pumpkins. Last year, there was a bumper pumpkin harvest, and Aunt Mu harvested sixty-three large pumpkins in front of and behind her house.

Seeing a group of children busying themselves, Li Ye gently pulled his wife and they both retreated.

"My husband is going to Fengxiang for an inspection tomorrow. Would you like Yuhuan to accompany you?"

Li Ye nodded and said, "The imperial examination will be held in twenty days. I will be back in ten days at most."

"I heard that Fengxiang built an iron bull?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "That's why I went there. However, Iron Ox is just a popular name. The official name is a tractor, or more accurately, a steam tractor."

"what's the function?"

"It's used for farming and transporting goods. However, the speed of transporting goods is relatively slow and not as convenient as a horse-drawn carriage. It is mainly used for farming."

"Father, emperor, mother!"

Li Ye heard someone calling them from behind, and when he turned around, it turned out to be Crown Prince Li Tan.

He quickly stepped forward and saluted his parents. Li Ye asked with a smile, "What are you planting today?"

"Peanuts, sweet potatoes and tomatoes are my great-grandmother's three favorite foods."

"Go and get busy! Tomorrow the Emperor will be going to Fengxiang and will be gone for about ten days. If there is anything, please discuss it with the Prime Ministers."

"My child obeys the order!"

Crown Prince Li Tan also had a position. He served as the Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Household and was in charge of the White Tiger Hall.

Li Ye added: "Daddy is not around, you should spend more time with the Empress Dowager, and go to pay your respects every morning and evening!"

"The child must obey!"

Dugu Xinyue smiled and said, "Go! My sister-in-law and I are waiting for your instructions." Prince Li Tan bowed and went back.

...........
The next morning, Li Ye and Yang Yuhuan boarded the dragon boat. There were three thousand cavalry guards on both sides of the river, and hundreds of carts along the wide and flat Tangzhi Road to Fengxiang.

The Tang Straight Road was fully completed five years ago and leads all the way to Qiuci. After completion, it only takes one month to travel from Chang'an to Qiuci. There are five large post stations along the way where horses can be replaced, ensuring speed.

Trains are also being actively developed, and it is planned to lay the first rail between Chang'an and Luoyang in ten years.

The Guanzhong New Canal was only completed last year, after seven years of digging. It starts from Long County, Longzhou in the west and ends at Huayin County, Huazhou in the east, with a total length of more than 700 miles.

It is possible to sail a huge ship of ten thousand stones. Li Ye's dragon boat is a ship of twenty thousand stones. A square wooden building was built directly on the ship. It has forty-eight double-story rooms. There are more than one hundred and forty palace maids and female guards on board.

In the warm imperial study on the second floor, Yang Yuhuan took off all her outer clothes as soon as she entered the room, wearing only a tight-fitting, translucent silk skirt. She nestled lazily in Li Ye's arms, holding a small mirror and carefully drawing her eyebrows.

While drinking milk tea, Li Ye flipped through today's "Chang'an Morning Post" and yesterday's "Xijing News".

The Chang'an Morning Post is a news paper that reports news from all over the Tang Dynasty every day. The headline on the front page is "The Iron Bull of Fengxiang Locomotive Factory is Launched."

This was a great feat after the miniaturization of the steam engine.

Another front-page headline: The population of the Tang Dynasty exceeded 15 million households.

Li Ye had known all this for a long time. According to news last month, the population of the Tang Dynasty, excluding overseas, had exceeded 15 million households and a total population of 63 million, an increase of 15 million people from when he ascended the throne ten years ago.

Of course, the areas with the smallest populations are still Nanda Island and the South Continent. The two counties of New Jiangning Prefecture have a population of 180,000, and the three counties of the South Continent have a population of 210,000.

In addition, the total number of Han people in Ceylon Prefecture was 300,000, the populations of Zhongnan Prefecture, Jiaozhou Prefecture, and Liuqiu Prefecture all exceeded 500,000, and the population of Liaodong exceeded one million.

The number of Han people in Suiye Prefecture and Hezhong Prefecture also exceeded 500,000 and 400,000 respectively, and the number of Han people in the most remote Xianhai County and Jingxi County also exceeded 100,000.

This is the change in the Tang Dynasty’s territory brought about by the demographic dividend.

What Li Ye was concerned about at this time was today's price changes. These days, one million dan of new rice from the Central and South Delta and two million dan of rice from the new Borneo Kingdom in India were transported to Beijing, and the price of rice plummeted.

Sure enough, yesterday a dou of rice cost twelve cents, and today it has dropped to ten cents. This is the official minimum protection price, and it cannot go any lower.

Then there is the price of meat. Due to the large-scale cultivation of corn, pig production has also soared. Together with mutton, these are the two most important meats in the Tang Dynasty.

Pork is a little more expensive, at 15 cents per pound, while mutton is still 10 cents per pound.

For the common people of the Tang Dynasty, whose monthly income was generally five strings of coins, food and meat were not a problem at all.

Another newspaper that Yang Yuhuan read was the "Xijing Xinbao", which was also a daily newspaper and could also be called the Women's Friend. It specialized in talking about various interesting things in the streets and alleys, as well as makeup techniques, parenting tips, price changes, fashionable clothing, delicious food, etc., which were all the content that women were most interested in.

After reading the newspaper, Li Ye turned his gaze to Yang Yuhuan who was drawing her eyebrows.

Her skin was as delicate as before and her appearance was peerless. She was still as plump and mature as a young woman in her thirties. There was no trace of time on her face and body.

Yang Yupei's charm had completely disappeared, but Yang Yuhuan was still bright, beautiful, and charming. She had been with him for more than ten years, and not only had she not aged, but she was getting younger and younger.

Li Ye was filled with emotion, and he put his arm around her waist and said with a smile, "I finally understand, my beloved concubine is indeed a fox spirit turned into a demon woman, the reincarnation of Daji..."

Yang Yuhuan put down the mirror, turned around, hugged her husband's neck, blew sweet air into his ear and said with a smile: "I am a demon woman named Daji, and you are a thousand-year-old demon Taoist. A demon woman and a demon Taoist, aren't they a perfect match?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "I am not a demon. I am Luo Tian Shangxian, who specializes in suppressing demon women. Why don't I suppress you, the demon woman, now!"

Yang Yuhuan smiled charmingly and said, "The demon girl Daji likes the immortal weapon of Luo Tianshangxian the most!"

.........

In the rich spring scenery, the fleet and the caravan advanced both by land and water, heading westward in a mighty manner.

【Complete book】

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It's finally over, and Lao Gao will devote himself to his new book.

The new book "The Chess Game of the Sui Dynasty" has uploaded 30,000 words and is getting better and better. Welcome everyone to point out the shortcomings so that Lao Gao can write a better book for everyone.

"Tibet" has come to an end. Thanks to the brothers for accompanying us along the way. We moved our small stools and moved on to read new books.

(End of this chapter)