People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 888: The imperial court is short of food, not the Tang Dynasty.

In the courtyard, Li Xuan slowly stepped forward and stood up, bowed deeply and said: "Your Majesty, Wang Xuan of Nanchang, pays homage to your Majesty. May your Majesty be blessed with good health."

Under the nave, while Li Zhi continued to play with Xianniang, he waved his hands casually and said: "No need to be polite, I came here today, firstly, to see my Lord Fuchang County, and secondly, I have something to do. I need to trouble Mr. 27."

"Your Majesty, please order me!" Li Xuan held her hands solemnly, feeling awe-inspiring in her heart.

The emperor has not left the palace for a long time, especially after he suffered from wind disease in his early years, he rarely left the palace.

Even when traveling back and forth between Chang'an and Luoyang, most of the time, it is behind thick curtains.

Like now, it was the first time that Li Xuan appeared in front of Li Xuan without any obstruction. It was the first time that Yulongbai appeared in the world of Chang'an.

"Silang is getting married before the New Year. He is not in Chang'an now. I need a younger gift-giver to accompany Aunt Huainan to the Dou family for the appointment period." Li Zhi looked up at Li Xuan and said with a smile: "So I came here to find him. you."

"Your Majesty's personal presence is a great blessing for me. I will definitely be your Majesty and His Highness the Prime Minister. I will settle down smoothly and have a good time." Li Xuan bowed deeply.

He could feel that behind Li Zhi's arrangement, there seemed to be a faint connection between him and Li Dan.

"Stable placement." Li Zhi nodded with a smile, and then sighed softly: "How many people in this world know the preciousness of the word "stable."

Li Zhi let go of Xiaoxia Niang's hand, stood up, looked towards the backyard and said, "27 Master, come with me for a walk."

"Here!" Li Xuan immediately accepted the offer, then took a step ahead and said, "Your Majesty, please come this way!"

……

Prince Peng's Mansion is not luxurious, there are not many pavilions, simple courtyards, and there are not many servants and maids in the mansion.

In the east courtyard, Li Zhi looked at the swing cradle built in the courtyard and said with surprise: "Did you make this yourself?"

"Yes!" Li Xuan bowed slightly and said seriously: "I usually do a lot of handicrafts. Occasionally, my heart moved, so I did this."

"The stroller in the front yard that can only be pushed is also made in the same way, right?" Li Zhi understood immediately.

Li Xuan slightly cupped her hands and said, "Yes, these are just convenient for my wife and daughter to play together."

"Some ingenuity. Send the drawings to the Young Mansion and ask the Young Mansion to prepare some for the East Palace." After Li Zhi finished speaking casually, he turned to ask directly: "Mr. 27, you said that the Crown Princess is pregnant with the Emperor's eldest grandson. Or the emperor’s granddaughter?”

"This..." Li Xuan hesitated, and then said: "Your Majesty, I don't want to say it, but I don't know. Because this matter can only be detected clearly by detecting the pulse at once. It will take a long time." Only through careful perception can you be sure.”

"How long, how long?" Li Zhi turned around and looked at Li Xuan solemnly.

Li Xuan smiled bitterly, cupped her hands and said: "Twelve hours, don't leave your hands. After three times in a row, you will be able to feel it, and it needs to be in the fifth month of pregnancy..."

"The Crown Princess has been pregnant for more than six months." Li Zhi looked at Li Xuan with a half-smile and said, "In three months, which is roughly before the New Year, I may have a double happiness."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty." Li Xuan quickly handed over his hand.

Li Zhi smiled, then looked at the bright moon above his head, and said softly: "27 Master, you really brought me a lot of trouble this time."

"I am guilty." Li Xuan bowed solemnly. He somewhat embarrassed the emperor regarding Wang Benli's matter.

"It's none of your business. He has been targeted a long time ago. This sudden attack means that I will not protect him, and the more I protect him, the more uncontrollable the situation will be." Li Zhi turned around. He stood up, looked at Li Xuan, and asked: "What did you guess before?"

Asking the emperor to give up Wang Benli was Li Xuan's suggestion, because he sensed that Wang Benli had something to do and was caught.

"I don't know what Wang Langzhong did for His Majesty, but I guess that Wang Langzhong must have had a hand in this matter. In addition, it is very likely that it was also known to others, and even secretly set Wang Langzhong a obstacle. , which led to the risk of exposure to what he did." Li Xuan handed over again.

Wang Benli's matter must be related to the theft of grain and grass.

The people from Beimen Bachelor learned about this incident from some unknown source, and then started to take advantage of it.

Li Xian was reprimanded by the emperor before for this reason.

This matter is more than that. Once the matter is revealed, the emperor will definitely not take responsibility, so the person who takes responsibility must be Cui Zhiwen, the minister Zuocheng.

Coupled with the previous incident of Quan Shancai, Cui Zhiwen, the minister Zuocheng, will definitely not be able to do it.

"Yes, there are people!" Li Zhi sighed softly. Although he knew what the North Gate bachelor was doing, he had no intention of pursuing it.

The Beimen bachelor himself was Li Zhi's method to restrain himself. He would not cut off his own hand.

After recovering his thoughts, Li Zhi said: "27 Master, let me tell you one thing. Even if there is no Youbian flood this year, the army will still be in short supply of food."

Li Zhi's words stopped here and did not continue.

But Li Xuan already understood what Wang Benli was doing to help the emperor just by listening to the ending.

If military rations are insufficient, then they need to make up for it. How to make up for it? New rations must be replaced by old rations.

No, it should be said that this matter itself was proposed by Wang Benli to the emperor.

Li Zhi has not yet used this method, or it may not be the emperor behind this incident, but the prince.But the emperor knew about this, but did not stop it.

Although Li Xuan took the initiative to put suspicion on Li Xian, he knew deep down that Li Zhi was very likely to do such a thing.

However, these grains were probably not delivered to the frontline soldiers, but to the civilians who transported the grains.

The common people cannot tell the difference between good and bad, and there will be no obstacles.

In this way, there is no need to worry about the moral mutiny of the frontline troops, and it can also reduce the consumption of military rations.

Although Wang Benli received the instructions, he would not do too much. After all, the court is still relatively clear now, and most officials do not lack the courage to remonstrate directly.

Li Xuan was frantically trying to make up for the emperor, after all, the emperor was right in front of him.

"Is it still about the Tuyuhun people in Fuqi City?" Li Xuan asked a little cautiously.

"More than that." Li Zhi smiled bitterly, and then said: "As for the army rations, before the war, I and the queen made many calculations to ensure that the war would be worry-free. However, the sudden spring drought made everything tight. After all, the big The drought not only requires tax reductions and exemptions, but also requires the transportation of grain for disaster relief, and I cannot turn a blind eye yet."

It turned out that it was shipped to the disaster area.

Replacing old food with new food can indeed allow more people to survive, and it can also ensure that there is no shortage of military food on the Western Front.

In fact, there is definitely a lot of military rations in stock, but a large amount must be transported to the front line every month, so long-term planning must be made.

We can't transport enough food today because tomorrow we won't be able to transport even a grain of food.

Long-term considerations must be made at every turn.

If one part is missing, it immediately needs to be supplied from another part.

"In addition, the loss of military rations on the front line is also higher than expected." Li Zhi turned to look at Li Xuan and said, "In other words, you built a water tanker on the Tao River to transport food, which greatly reduced this consumption. Come down, otherwise, I really have to protect him today."

Li Xuan was stunned for a moment and said, "Your Majesty..."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said: "To be honest, I would rather you be a grain transport officer, transporting grain and grass from Taohe, Lanshan, Ganliang to Shasu. With your methods, you can definitely reduce the consumption of military grain to the extreme." Young, but a man is indispensable, and he must have the heart to conquer the battlefield."

Originally, Liu Rengui asked Li Xuan to lead a thousand cavalry and a thousand infantry to set up an interception dam at Kebo River. However, he did not expect that Li Xuan led a thousand cavalry and defeated [-] Tibetan cavalry, killing more than [-]. Three thousand prisoners were taken, and the record was astonishing.

That is to say, it is not yet the end of the war, otherwise how to reward him will be a headache for Li Zhi.

"Your Majesty, I just suddenly discovered a flaw in the Tibetan cavalry." Li Xuan's face was full of a wry smile. It was only after a blow that he realized that the problem of the Tibetan people was far greater than people imagined.

"You mentioned in the memorial that the number of slaves in the Tubo army far exceeded that of the Tang Dynasty." Li Zhi nodded seriously.

In the land of China, slavery was completely eliminated in the Qin and Han Dynasties and was replaced by the feudal well-field system.

Later, when the Five Husties came to China, slavery gradually emerged again.

The Sui and Tang Dynasties ended the Five Husties in China. Although there are still slaves today, most of them were produced in wars. Enemy prisoners became slaves, and some were demoted to slaves for crimes.

There is no doubt that the number of slaves in the Tang Dynasty was decreasing year by year.

But in Tubo, the number of people on slave islands is far beyond people's imagination.

"Tubo is just like the ancient Xia Dynasty, a tribal alliance. If the central dynasty is strong, the country will be strong. If the central dynasty is weak, the Tang Dynasty will not even need to take action. Tubo will perish on its own. Therefore, in wars, either target the slaves or target the central Tubo If the nobles take action, one will be destroyed and the other will be in chaos." Li Xuan looked solemn.

He had a clear understanding of Tubo. Although he didn't know much about Tubo's climate, terrain, and tribes, he knew Tubo's slavery system, and he was born with the trump card to completely eliminate Tubo.

But for now, he only brought a little of these to Li Zhi, and that was enough.

Li Zhi looked straight at Li Xuan and said with some envy: "I wish I were as young as you. I could travel thousands of miles and invade like a tiger. It's a pity that I have to worry about food and grass now."

"No matter how ferocious the tiger is, the reins will always be firmly tied to His Majesty's hand." Li Xuan bowed deeply.

"Okay, it doesn't have to be like this. I know your heart." Li Zhi smiled gently. He naturally knows how to recognize people. Li Xuan always shows more respect and admiration in front of him. This is what makes Li Xuan the most. Zhi is relieved, and Li Xuan's behavior of reporting everything makes Li Zhi even more satisfied.

"The problem now is still food." Li Zhi shook his head and said: "This year's food and grass can be stable, but next year, there will be trouble. If there is another drought next year..."

"Your Majesty." Li Xuan cupped his hands and said: "In this world, we are not the only country that grows food. In addition to Silla and Japan, there is also quite a lot of food in places such as Champa City in the southwest. Your Majesty can try to get food from Champa City. Buy food.”

"It's easy to say that, but where does the money come from?" Li Zhi raised his head and looked straight at Li Xuan.

"Salt, and jade." Li Xuan said with cupped hands: "In the Qingxi Basin of Tuyuhun, in addition to salt lakes like Chaka, there are also a large number of production areas of jewelry and jade, especially the Kunlun Mountains. If a large amount of jade can be mined from the Kunlun Mountains, , in addition to buying food from Champa, you can also buy food from wealthy families."

After a slight pause, Li Xuan couldn't help but sneer and said: "Now that the imperial court is short of food, it is not that the Tang Dynasty is short of food."

Li Zhi's breathing stagnated slightly for a moment.

(End of this chapter)