The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 107: Self-binding and Confession
As soon as Wang Zhihuan heard what he said, he felt that it was inappropriate.

Although he had been an official, he was only a minor official after all, and he did not hold the position for long. In addition, he had some scholarly spirit, so he could not help but speak his mind.

He should investigate what kind of rice can be grown in Anxi himself instead of asking his superiors. It would be fine if Li Ying knew it, but if Li Ying didn't know it, wouldn't it embarrass Li Ying?
Moreover, Li Heng was a prince who grew up in Chang'an, so it was good enough that he didn't ask "Why don't we eat meat porridge?" How could he know anything about rice seeds?

Wang Zhihuan was worried and was just trying to find a way to change the subject, but he heard Li Ying say, "Growing japonica rice, Anxi Wei..."

Li Ying wanted to say that Anxi's latitude was above 30 degrees north latitude, which was not suitable for growing indica rice. However, thinking that Wang Zhihuan and the others did not understand longitude and latitude, he changed his words and said, "The terrain and weather in Anxi are only suitable for growing japonica rice, not indica rice."

Everyone was a little surprised to hear Li Heng say this so casually, and at the same time they wondered in their hearts: "Is His Royal Highness Shou really only thinking about farming?"

Li Heng didn't notice the surprise of others, but continued quietly: "Except for the Han Dynasty, only our Tang Dynasty manages this Anxi area. The rest of the time, Anxi is under the leadership of nomadic tribes. It is precisely because of this that Anxi's farming is not well developed. Therefore, if we want to truly develop Anxi's farming, in addition to improving advanced agricultural tools, it is also very important to introduce crops suitable for Anxi. I hope General Wang will take more care of it."

"Yes." Wang Zhihuan bowed to Li Heng and had a new understanding of Li Heng in his heart, and he felt more convinced.

Wang Zhihuan withdrew, and Gao Xianzhi stepped forward and said, "Your Highness told me before about the method of modifying the bow and arrow, and I have achieved some results."

"Oh?" Li Heng became interested and said, "Bring it up and let me see it."

"Yes."

Gao Xianzhi received the order and asked the soldiers to bring the bow and arrow samples and personally present them to Li Heng.

Li Heng took it and took a look. This newly made bow and arrow was indeed at the level of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Li Ying praised sincerely: "General Gao is a man of great talent!"

Gao Xianzhi said, "It was all your Highness's idea. I had your Highness' personal guidance and it took me more than half a year to make the finished product. I am not worthy of the title of great talent."

Li Heng said: "Every profession has its own specialties. General Gao is a talented general, and now he has also studied weapons. The general deserves the title of great talent."

Gao Xianzhi was no longer modest after hearing this and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness."

Li Ying nodded, looked at the bow and arrow, and his joy gradually faded.

Li Heng's joy faded away, not because he found any other problems with the bow and arrow, but because he thought of another thing: Anxi could not mass-produce bows and arrows by itself.

This is not just a problem of craftsmen and industrial chains, but also because the raw materials for making bows and arrows, trees and bamboo, are scarce in Anxi.

Therefore, the weapons of the Anxi army have always been supplied by the imperial court.

Therefore, it is simply unrealistic to want to be the only one and produce in bulk.

Li Heng sighed inwardly, handed the bow and arrow to Gao Xianzhi, and said, "Send this bow and arrow to the Imperial Arms Bureau to see if they will accept it."

Gao Xianzhi noticed Li Heng's expression just now. At first he thought that there was something wrong with what he did, but when he heard what Li Heng said, he sighed silently.

Of course, he sighed not for the same reason as Li Heng, but because he knew that it was not easy for the court to innovate weapons. If everything went well, it would be reviewed and tested at various levels and could be used in a few years. If not, it would be forgotten.

The crowd discussed other matters and then dispersed.

Li Ying sat in his seat, lost in thought.

He was thinking about two questions.

The first problem is how to report the military farming matters truthfully.

If it were in the past, he would have reported the truth to Li Linfu and he would have spoken for him, but now that Li Linfu accepted Li Longji's division of them, Li Linfu would most likely oppose him. The second problem was that Anxi was too dependent on the court. Food, supplies, and weapons all needed to be supplied by the court. With such a heavy dependence, let alone accomplishing anything big, it was difficult to be tough.

Before Li Heng could come up with a conclusion, Gao Xianzhi came back.

Gao Xianzhi hurried to Li Ying and reported: "Your Highness, Moheda Gan sent a letter, asking to come in person to apologize."

"Oh?" Li Heng was startled and stood up.

Li Heng knew that the crime Mohedagan came to confess was that he had led troops to besiege Qiuci last year, and the reason for confessing was that he wanted to gain Li Heng's support to fight with Dumozhi.

Gao Xianzhi asked, "Should we set an ambush and capture him, in order to avenge the Turkic siege of Qiuci last year?"

"No need." Li Heng shook his head and said, "As the leader of the Huang clan, Moheda Gan dared to risk his life and come here to apologize in person, which means that the price he is willing to offer is not low."

This was also Gao Xianzhi's true thought. The reason why Gao Xianzhi asked whether to capture Mohedagan first was that he wanted to see whether Li Heng cared about the hatred of the Turkic siege of Qiuci last year.

After all, Yang Yuhuan was in the city at that time.

In addition to this reason, Gao Xianzhi also looked down on the Turks. He felt that it was okay to support anyone, or even to destroy them all.

Of course, it would be best if Li Heng could put the interests of the Tang Dynasty first.

Gao Xianzhi asked: "Then what should we do?"

Li Heng said: "Reply to him that if he comes to apologize in person, I will go to greet him."

"What if he cheats and takes advantage of Your Highness's close proximity to hurt You?" Gao Xianzhi expressed his concerns.

Li Heng smiled upon hearing this and said, "If he dares to come and plead guilty in person, I will go to meet him in person. Do you think that I, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, am afraid of a Turkic leader?"

Gao Xianzhi was impressed by Li Heng's ambition and asked, "How do we decide on the time and place?"

"Mohedagan and Dumozhi are already furious. He is more anxious than us, so we will give them a time." Li Heng thought, "As for the location, it will be in Qiuci. Let's see if he is sincere enough."

"Yes, I will reply right away." Gao Xianzhi took the order and left.

After some negotiations, Mohedagan agreed to come to Qiuci to apologize and set the fastest time.

……

……

……

Outside the city of Qiuci, Mohedagan came tied up and brought only a few dozen guards with him.

The Tang army soldiers of Qiuci gathered outside the city gate, and Li Heng calmly left the city under the escort of ceremonial guards.

Mohedagan looked at Li Heng and saw that he was only eighteen or nineteen years old, but he was handsome and had an extraordinary aura. Escorted by the guards of honor, he looked dignified and calm.

Moheda Gan waited for Li Heng to come up to him, bowed and saluted, and said in a not-so-fluent Tang dialect: "I, the guilty minister Moheda Gan, pay my respects to His Royal Highness Prince Shou."

"You don't have to be so polite, Khan." Li Heng smiled and untied the rope for Moheda Gan himself, and asked with a smile: "Why did the Khan tie himself up?"

(End of this chapter)