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

Chapter 276: The surprise Li Er prepared for Li Yuanji, Wu Mei's wisdom

Standing at the bow, feeling the sea breeze, Li Er's mind was extremely clear at this moment.

He already knew everything he needed to know about Lingnan. He really wanted to get all of Lingnan's things, but whether he could get them or not depended on the ability of the Hundred Cavalry Division and whether the hidden chess pieces arranged by Li Yuan could work.

This time he went to Dengzhou, he wanted to give Li Yuanji a surprise.

Previously in Japan, which is now Dongzhou Prefecture, he lost to Li Yuanji, and the general Zhang Gongjin was taken prisoner, which made him very unable to let go.

Now that he is out, he must personally take control of the deployment in Baekje and Silla, completely take down Baekje and Silla, and completely cut off Li Yuanji's way to the north.

He wanted to regain the face he lost in Dongzhou Prefecture from Baekje and Silla.

"Li Yuanji, I'm sure you never thought that I would personally arrange the affairs of Baekje and Silla. This time, it's my turn to take the lead!"

Li Er had a sneer on his face at the moment, and it was obvious that he was very confident about this matter.

After more than a month of traveling from Nanzhou Prefecture all the way to Dengzhou, Li Er couldn't wait to melt the silver coins he had purchased.

However, soon the craftsman brought him bad news.

"Your Majesty, the silver obtained after melting those silver coins is very scarce. I am afraid that we can't even get one or two taels of silver. In addition, some of them cannot be melted."

When Li Er heard this, he was stunned. He had exchanged so many silver coins, thousands of taels of silver for silver coins. Now he was told that less than one tael of silver came out of the melted silver. How could this be a silver coin?
And more importantly, there is a part that cannot be smelted? What is this?
But within a moment, Li Er's face suddenly turned gloomy. At this moment, he realized that he was tricked by Li Yuanji again. He gave Li Yuanji thousands of taels of silver for no reason, and he thought he made a profit!

Li Er was immediately furious. Although he could afford the loss of two thousand words, he felt his face burning with pain as he gave it to Li Yuanji for no reason. Thinking of his self-confidence at that time, Li Er felt his face burning with pain.

At that time, the smelting technology in the Tang Dynasty was almost entirely based on pig iron, and the fire used was not coal, which is today's coal.

The part that the craftsman said could not be melted was exactly the steel that Li Yuanji used on the silver coins. The melting point of this part of steel was obviously much higher than that of pig iron. This was why the silver could be melted but the steel remained.

Steel can also be smelted using the same method as wrought iron smelting, but because of the differences in environment and technical processes, even if these steels are melted, the strength of the re-forged steel will not be as high as the original one.

This is also the reason why Li Yuanji is not worried at all about others exchanging silver coins for smelting. Anyway, with the current technology and craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty, it would be a loss no matter how the smelting is done, and he would make free money.

There was a reason why Li Yuanji spent a lot of money to build the smelter. The color of the steel and the density of oxygen will affect the quality of the steel.

The craftsman below looked nervous, and Li Junxian beside him looked worried. Li Er was breathing heavily at this moment, and you could tell from his appearance that he was very angry.

Finally, Li Er waved his hand to signal the blacksmith to go down.

"I have been tricked by him again. Tell me, am I really inferior to the King of Qi?"

Li Er looked lonely. This time he jumped into Li Yuanji's trap. He knew very well that he was not the only one who fell into this trap. He only lost a thousand taels of silver, and there must be someone who lost more than him.

Every person who suffered a loss was giving money and warmth to Li Yuanji in disguise.

After a moment, Li Junxian's voice was heard.

“Your Majesty, why do you have to compare yourself with the King of Qi? Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and the Tang Dynasty has a lot of things to rebuild. I believe that in the future, the Tang Dynasty will definitely surpass the fiefdom of the King of Qi.

It is only a moment now, and it is still unknown who will have the last laugh.

There is still a big gap between Lingnan and the Tang Dynasty. Even though the King of Qi's fiefdom has expanded now, it still cannot be compared with the Tang Dynasty in terms of size.

Your Majesty, please trust the Hundred Cavalry Division. The Hundred Cavalry Division will definitely bring all the technologies of Lingnan back to the Tang Dynasty.

When the people's livelihood in the Tang Dynasty is restored and it becomes prosperous, with various craft techniques that are no less advanced than those in Lingnan, how can the King of Qi compare with Your Majesty when he arrives?

Even though the fiefdom of the King of Qi has expanded, it is only because the Tang Dynasty is now developing people's livelihood and has not sent troops to expand its territory.

By then, the Tang Dynasty will be more powerful than the Prince of Qi's fiefdom in every aspect, so why should Your Majesty be so modest? "

Li Er also smiled when he heard this. All his worries seemed to have disappeared, and the confident and strong-willed Li Er returned again.

Li Er's change had little to do with what Li Junxian said. He just figured it out on his own. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he could not be dejected at all. He also believed that he would be the final winner between him and Li Yuanji.

With what he has seen in Lingnan, he believes that one day, everything Li Yuanji has now will be his.

Li Er looked at Li Junxian confidently.

"You are right. There is still a long way to go. The King of Qi only has a few advantages. When the Tang Dynasty develops, I believe it will be better than Lingnan! I also believe that the Hundred Cavalry Division will not let me down!"

Now Li Er is waiting for the Baiqi Division to obtain Li Yuanji's technical skills. As long as these technologies are obtained, the developing Tang Dynasty will have nothing to fear from Li Yuanji.

Then Li Er changed the subject.

"How long will it take for Li Ji and his team to arrive?"

He no longer thought about the affairs of Lingnan. Now that he was here, he had to deal with the affairs of Baekje and Silla first.

Li Junxian responded respectfully, "Your Majesty, we will be there in half a month. We are bringing 10,000 soldiers with us this time. They are all elite soldiers and will come in batches to conceal our presence."

Li Er nodded calmly, and then continued: "In this case, send a message to Wang Da, Quan Wanchun, and Xue Wanshu first, and tell them that I am here!"

In Luzhou Prefecture, Li Yuanji finally arrived after more than a month of sailing.

“We’re finally here.”

Li Yuanji was really emotional. At the beginning, he felt it was somewhat novel and okay, but after a long time, he just felt uncomfortable.

Li Yuanji almost couldn't bear it anymore. This period of time was too boring. He regretted countless nights why he didn't bring Wei Gui with him. At least if he had brought someone with him, he wouldn't be so lonely.

"Great, we are finally here, my king, can we not come here again when we visit these places next time?"

Wu Mei and Wu Shun on the side were greedily breathing in the fresh air, and both of them looked a little haggard.

Wu Mei and Wu Shun suffered a lot along the way. Although they bought a lot of toys and prepared a lot in advance, they had no desire to play at all later on. They were counting the time every day, wondering when they would arrive.

Li Yuanji felt very sympathetic towards the two of them. He himself could hardly bear it anymore. He could understand the situation of Wu Mei and Wu Shun.

Then a smile appeared on her face. "Who said that she would go wherever I go? I told you to stay in the palace, but someone just didn't want to and insisted on following me. You can't blame me for that."

When Wu Mei heard this, her face suddenly turned bitter, while Wu Shun covered her mouth and laughed.

"Your Majesty, I was wrong. If I had known it would be so uncomfortable, I would have stayed in the palace obediently."

Li Yuanji patted their heads and said with a smile, "Okay, it's no use regretting now, just make adjustments."

Li Yuanji was also helpless. He had come now, but he would have to go back later. It was uncomfortable when he came, and it would be the same when he left.

After getting off the boat, Li Yuanji led the two of them forward, and in front, Wu Shileng was already waiting at the dock.

"See you, Your Majesty."

Only after helping the warrior Leng up did Li Yuanji speak.

"No thanks. I hope I didn't waste your time this time."

When arriving at Luzhou Prefecture, Li Yuanji had to call Wu Shiling. This place was almost isolated from the outside world and there was no business to the outside world.

Anyone who enters here must be inspected before going ashore, and if they do not have instructions, they will be expelled.

The reason for doing this is that according to Li Yuanji's plan, this place is only for agriculture, and those businesses, at least at this time, will not get involved here.

The natural climate here is particularly suitable for growing cotton and rice, so Li Yuanji is vigorously developing planting. The entry of business will inevitably affect planting to a certain extent.

If young and strong people do other things, isn't that a disguised way of weakening the development of planting?
Here, road construction is relatively slow, and main focus is on reclaiming wasteland and planting.

This is also the reason why he must contact Wu Shiling. Going there by himself will not work.

Wu Shi Leng stood up and took Li Yuanji into the city.

"Your Majesty, I welcome you very much. The people of Luzhou and Songzhou are all waiting for your inspection."

Li Yuanji also laughed immediately, and then came into the city. Looking at the city which was not as prosperous as Haikang, he didn't say anything.

Wu Shi Leng brought Li Yuanji into the city and spoke slowly.

“Your Majesty, the construction of the city is progressing slowly. There are still relatively few people here. Although there are some people who can attract people, they are not many. I will still focus my main energy on opening up the wasteland.

Later, as more people migrated here, the construction of the city was put on the agenda. What the king sees now is indeed a bit poor. "

Li Yuanji did not say anything. Along the way, the road from the dock to the city was not a completely cement road. A distance outside the dock, it was just a widened road and there was no cement.

Today, the city walls are still under construction. There are a few wooden houses scattered inside, and many houses are still under construction. Only the main roads are paved with cement.

Even when we arrived at the government office, it was still quite simple, and it could be said that it was not even as plain as any house in Haikang City.

Li Yuanji did not go in, but walked around the city again.

“You should also pay more attention to the development of the city in the future. Although the main focus is on reclaiming wasteland and developing arable land, the place where the people live cannot be too bad.

When I first arrived in Haikang, Haikang City was even more dilapidated than it is now, but it still developed later.

You must remember that no matter what you want to do, people are the foundation. Only when people are better will you have more motivation to do other things.

From now on, you need to allocate some more young and strong people to build the city. We have already provided the necessary support for the shortage of money, food, supplies, etc., and nearly 200,000 people have already moved here.

I haven't seen the cultivated land yet, but from what I can see, you've done a poor job."

Li Yuanji looked at the dilapidated city and the people who were obviously lacking energy while working, and he felt very dissatisfied.

He let Wu Shileng be in charge of Luzhou Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture. However, because Wu Shileng was good at farming, the things he was doing now were obviously still somewhat step-by-step.

His support for this place is very great. Now the support is far greater than that of other prefectures. There are 300,000 people behind him who are about to be sent here continuously. The money and material support for this place account for the majority.

Now that he came, he saw such a scene. How could Li Yuanji be happy?

Wu Shiling has been here for five months, and there has been development before that, but the city is still like this. Li Yuanji was very angry, but still gave Wu Shiling face.

Wu Mei and Wu Shun, who were following beside him, were a little angry at the moment. Wu Shiling was their uncle, but although they were young, they knew clearly that what Wu Shiling had done had delayed Li Yuanji's plans.

Wu Mei and Wu Shun were a little angry because they had delayed Li Yuanji's business, even though it was their uncle.

Upon hearing this, Wu Shi Leng bowed without any explanation.

"I know my crime. I failed to handle the affairs of Luzhou and Songzhou. I feel guilty towards Your Majesty. Please punish me."

Li Yuanji looked at Wu Shiling deeply. At this time, his anger was getting even greater.

At this moment, Wu Mei's voice suddenly came.

“Captain Wu, the king is not telling you this to ask you to apologize or admit your mistakes. You need to adjust your direction as soon as possible, make new plans, and start developing this place again.

If you really have no confidence, you don't have to admit your mistakes. You can just resign to the king instead of pretending to confess here.

It is not terrible to make mistakes. What is terrible is that the king has pointed it out, but you don’t know where you are wrong and you don’t correct it.

You should tell the king now what you will do next. Explaining this to the king is not an apology."

Wu Mei was really disappointed with her uncle. In fact, she had no right to speak, but the man in front of her was her uncle after all, and Wu Mei really couldn't stand it.

After saying this, Wu Mei was ready to accept Li Yuanji's punishment, but now was not the right time for her to admit her mistake to Li Yuanji.

Li Yuanji looked at Wu Shileng with interest, and then looked at Wu Mei. He was really surprised that Wu Mei was so smart at this time.

When he was in the palace, the Wu Mei he saw was rather naughty, or to be more precise, a lively and cheerful little girl. Although she showed intelligence, he did not pay much attention to her.

(End of this chapter)