Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 163 An unexpected person, the war to destroy the country begins

In Haikang City, Li Yuanji is inspecting the expansion of the city in the outer city.

"Jingren, how many people are there in the outer city now?"

Looking at the outer city that was being built at a rapid pace and had begun to take shape, with some of the streets and houses on both sides already built, Li Yuanji asked the question that concerned him the most.

Cen Wenben spoke immediately without any hesitation.

"Your Majesty, the outer city has already accommodated 20,000 people, and another 30,000 people have been settled in the villages outside. Now all the people in the surrounding areas are willing to become citizens. The next batch of people from various states will arrive in ten days, and by then there will be an increase of more than 30,000 people here.

Now the total population of the inner city, outer city, and surrounding villages has reached more than 232,000, and this number is increasing every day. Many people from Luozhou have voluntarily migrated here and become naturalized citizens. According to Dahe, there are about 150,000 people in Leizhou, and now at least 100,000 of them have become naturalized citizens in various places.

Now that development is very rapid in all places, those troublemakers can't sit still. However, there are a few who really don't want to come out and don't cause trouble. Those troublemakers have reclaimed some arable land by themselves and are able to be self-sufficient.

I have no other options. I plan to put these people last and deal with them later. Now I want to settle the majority of people who are willing to come out first."

Listening to Cen Wenben's words, Li Yuanji was also happy. They were finally getting closer and closer to the 300,000 population mark, and it seemed that his task would be completed soon.

As for those who were unwilling to come out, Li Yuanji did not consider them anymore. It was normal for some people to resist, but as long as they did not cause trouble, he would not clean up these people.

"Okay, do as you wish. As for those who are unwilling to come out, don't worry about them. We are only in the first stage of development now, solving the problem of food and clothing. When we develop well and all aspects of life are improved, those people will naturally be unable to resist coming out.

As for the population, you can just move them in. When Xuan Ce comes back, there will be enough supplies to support the large population. All those who have already arrived should be allowed to engage in land reclamation. There will be no problem with food in the short term, but more arable land must be cultivated to meet the food demand here.

You have to handle these things well. I won’t say anything else. For now, it’s still very good.”

Li Yuanji gave a few instructions and left. Cen Wenben was much better at handling these things than Ning Chun, and he handled all the details better. Li Yuanji really had nothing to say.

Afterwards, Li Yuanji came to the academy again and took a look. Now there were more than a hundred students studying there. Most of these students were descendants of those brought from Chang'an, and there were also a small number of descendants of local people.

Li Yuanji basically gives priority to those who followed him from Chang'an. Now there are only about a hundred people, and the scale will be expanded to 500 people later.

The students still wear a variety of clothes, but most of them are made from the precious fabrics collected by each family. Although some of them are patched, at least they are neater than before.

After watching for a while, he saw Wei Ting was teaching these people how to read, so Li Yuanji went back without staying to talk.

"Shufang, isn't this place looking more and more like Chang'an now?"

After hearing this, Xie Shufang thought for a moment before speaking.

"Your Majesty, you must say, it really does look like it, but compared to the prosperity of Chang'an, this place is still far behind, but it is already very good. I still remember when I first came to Haikang, that dilapidated and ancient city, it couldn't even be called a city, it was just a village.

Now it is gradually developing. If it weren’t for the king, where would we see such a scene in Lingnan?”

Li Yuanji looked at Xie Shufang suspiciously. He was a little surprised that this man suddenly became serious. The city planning here was based on the later Chang'an, so he asked Xie Shufang this.

Xie Shufang looked at Li Yuanji and immediately spoke with resentment.

"My lord, am I that kind of person in your mind?"

Li Yuanji was happy.

"Is not it?"

The two returned to the palace after some joking around. However, as soon as Li Yuanji arrived at the courtyard of the harem, he saw a strange woman. Li Yuanji was stunned.

When did he have a new person in his palace?
If new maids were added, how could he not know about it?
Li Yuanji was full of suspicion, mainly because the woman was quite pretty. Although she was not particularly stunning, she was still outstandingly beautiful. It was the dignified temperament that the woman exuded that made Li Yuanji a little unbelievable that she was a maid.

What surprised him the most was, what was the difference between what the woman was wearing and what he was wearing?
Li Yuanji was really confused. Could it be that his palace was so wealthy that the maids wore such good clothes?
When the woman saw Li Yuanji, she seemed to have recognized him and came to Li Yuanji and bowed.

"See you, Your Majesty."

Li Yuanji smiled.

"Well, keep doing your work."

Li Yuanji did not continue the conversation and walked forward. The woman's eyebrows flickered, but a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. She followed Li Yuanji, but Li Yuanji did not pay any attention to her.

After walking a few steps, he saw Yang Qingwan and Li Yuanji immediately smiled.

"lady."

"I thought you were somewhere else, but you're here."

Li Yuanji had just opened his mouth when Yang Qingwan interrupted him. Li Yuanji was not angry. Seeing Yang Qingwan walking towards him quickly with a happy face, Li Yuanji opened his arms, ready to hug Yang Qingwan.

Li Yuanji really didn't expect that Yang Qingwan would be so anxious and impatient. Li Yuanji was already thinking about where to start next.

However, Yang Qingwan, who was walking over, ignored Li Yuanji and went straight to the woman behind Li Yuanji, whom he thought was a maid.

"Gui Mei, why did you come here? I spent a while looking for you. Let's go and continue our chat."

Li Yuanji looked at Yang Qingwan with a dark face. At this moment, he still kept his arms open. Seeing the look Yang Qingwan was looking at him, he awkwardly stopped his movements, and then looked at Yang Qingwan and the other person with a smile on his face.

At this moment, Li Yuanji fully demonstrated the idea that as long as I am not embarrassed, it is others who are embarrassed.

"Madam, why don't you introduce me to Guimei? How come I don't know you?"

Yang Qingwan rolled her eyes at Li Yuanji.

"I won't tell you, Guimei, let's go."

This woman was none other than Wei Gui, the Imperial Concubine Wei of Li Shimin in history. She came from Chang'an and was Wei Ye's elder sister.

Wei Gui looked at Li Yuanji, then at Yang Qingwan, and had no choice but to apologize to Li Yuanji with his eyes. Then he followed Yang Qingwan. The laughter of the two people went directly into Li Yuanji's ears.

Looking at the backs of the two, Li Yuanji was confused. What was going on? When did Yang Qingwan have a younger sister? Guimei? He really didn't know when Yang Qingwan had such a younger sister. Li Yuanji was too lazy to think about it. He went to the rocking chair in the yard and lay down. Anyway, Yang Qingwan would tell him tonight at the latest, so he was not in a hurry.

At this moment, he was thinking about how to punish Yang Qingwan at night. She dared to treat him like this. He must let Yang Qingwan know how powerful he is.

Not long after Li Yuanji lay down, Xie Shufang hurried in.

"Your Majesty, Yu Minghe has sent a military report."

Li Yuanji was stunned for a moment, then he took the military newspaper and started reading it. After reading it, Li Yuanji felt very happy.

"Yes, Yu Ming and his men have won seven battles. The Liaozi tribe's men are constantly being defeated. However, there are no cities over there, so it is difficult for them to carry out follow-up matters. They want to build a city there. What do you think?"

After Yu Minghe and the armies of Li Xiang and Yang Shu joined forces, they directly launched an attack on the Liaozi tribe without waiting for the imperial army. Due to the huge gap, the war can be said to have gone very smoothly.

The only bad thing is that there are no cities in those places, and it is impossible to choose an effective central foothold. This is also an important reason why Yu Minghe wrote to Li Yuanji.

Xie Shufang pondered for a moment and then spoke firmly.

"Your Majesty, the city must be built. If the army does not have a city as a foothold, it will be difficult to carry out subsequent conquests, and the storage of supplies will also be a big problem. The most important thing is that we must occupy it, not just destroy it and then withdraw.

Moreover, with the city, the army can radiate to the surrounding areas with the city as the center, and can also better guard against those provocative counterattacks.

After the army advances again, we can build a city at a certain distance. The surrounding area centered on the city can effectively control the enemy, which is very helpful for the subsequent march. "

Xie Shufang was talking about the military aspect, while Li Yuanji was considering governance. With the construction of a city, not only would combat be more convenient, but the city could also be used to develop and govern the surrounding areas. Moreover, the city built in the early stage did not have to be very good. It could be said to be more like a military fortress, but it would be of great help in the subsequent governance.

Li Yuanji did not hesitate any longer and spoke immediately.

"Okay, you send a message to Yu Minghe about this matter and agree to let them build a city. In addition, you can send more subsequent supplies over. With a city, they can also store a certain amount of supplies themselves, so they don't have to keep transporting them.

This transport line is not short, so we should use it as little as possible.”

The roads in Lingnan are difficult to travel, and the transportation of materials is not easy at all. There was no way around it before, and something must be changed in the future.

Li Yuanji stopped thinking about it. The battle between Yu Ming and there could be said to be not difficult. It was just that the gap was too big. It was just that it was impossible to advance quickly. It would take time to gradually occupy it.

After a while, Xie Shufang came in again. Li Yuanji, who had just closed his eyes for a while, was suddenly speechless.

"Shu Fang, can you please tell me everything at once? It's hard for me to rest like this."

Xie Shufang was full of thoughts. Rest? He also wanted to rest, but he was too busy.

"Your Majesty, I don't want to either. These things were sent separately. This time it was an expedited letter sent by Junmai using a carrier pigeon."

This time, Li Yuanji stood up directly and took the urgent letter sent by Xi Junmai seriously.

He immediately took the note and started reading it, and after finishing it, he was filled with solemnity.

"Linyi has become restless again and has even begun to send reinforcements to Aizhou. Junmai and Tandian have already led a large army to Aizhou, and the letter they sent now is asking when they can launch the attack.

Since Linyi is seeking death, there is no need to wait. You should send a message to Jun Mai first and start attacking Linyi directly.

Then let everyone come to the palace to discuss the matter immediately."

Li Yuanji, who originally wanted to wait a little longer, now doesn't want to wait at all. Lin Yi wants to die, so he has to fulfill his wish, right?
Xie Shufang responded solemnly, and after a while, everyone came.

"Xi Junmai sent a military report that Linyi is now sending reinforcements to Aizhou, and Xi Junmai and Tan Dian have already led the army there.

Linyi is becoming more and more restless, so this time, I am not going to wait any longer. I have already ordered Xi Junmai and Tan Dian to directly attack Linyi.

Now, the battle to destroy Linyi has officially begun. Now that the battle has begun, we must win!

Liu Rengui, I appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the entire army. Yuwen Hu, Xue Wanche, and Yang Jianhe are all under your command. The army here, as well as the army that Feng Zhixun of Nanzhou Prefecture has already prepared, including the 20,000 troops coming from Guangzhou Prefecture, will all be under your unified command.

I don't care how you fight, but I have only one request, which is to destroy Linyi. Can you do it?"

Li Yuanji didn't say any nonsense and went straight to the point. After Liu Rengui and others, Xue Wanche and Yuwen Hu were excited, but Cen Ben had a heavy face, because the army was going to set out, and they had to start preparing food and supplies. They had saved up some with great difficulty before, and now they had to spend it out again.

Liu Rengui was filled with solemnity, yet he was also excited deep down in his heart. This was a war to annihilate a country, the first war to annihilate a country since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. If successful, it would surely go down in history, and the situation in Lingnan and the surrounding countries would instantly become different.

Before the destruction of Ryukyu, no one cared much, because in their eyes, how could Ryukyu be considered a country?
Now Linyi is a country that has been destroyed in the true sense. Once it fails, Liu Rengui dare not even think about how serious the consequences will be.

At the same time, Liu Rengui was extremely moved. This time, Li Yuanji could be said to have given him great power, and everything was at his disposal. You have to know that he had only been here for a short time, and compared with people like Xie Shufang, he was still not qualified.

However, Li Yuanji resolutely let him command the army, and Liu Rengui was extremely determined.

"Your Majesty, I will lead the army to destroy the Linyi Kingdom and capture Linyi King Fan Fanzhi and present him to Your Majesty!"

Liu Rengui felt his whole body trembling. He was excited. The first real foreign war would be fought by him, and Liu Rengui would never allow himself to lose.

Xue Wanche was also extremely excited at this moment. He could finally participate in the war to annihilate the country. He looked at Liu Rengui and remembered Liu Rengui completely in his heart. He thought that Xie Shufang would be the commander of the army, but he didn't expect that it would be a stranger like Liu Rengui.

Li Yuanji helped Liu Rengui up.

"I believe in you, and I hope you won't let me down. We must win this battle no matter what!"

After Li Yuanji finished speaking, he looked at Cen Wenben.

"Jingren, immediately collect money and food supplies from all states to ensure that the army has sufficient food and grass. You are fully responsible for the dispatch of supplies."

Cen Wenben agreed immediately, and the battle to destroy Linyi officially began.

(End of this chapter)