Tibet

Tian Chengsi nodded, "Now that things have happened, we don't need to make any false claims. My nephew also knows that Li Baochen and I got married, and our two families formed a joint alliance. Now Li Baochen and I hope that Zhu Si and your father will also join this alliance." alliance."

"I also come here with sincerity. I want to know how the conversation between the prince and Zhu Si went?"

"To be fair to my nephew, our two families have signed an understanding agreement with Zhu Si. The next step is to talk about an alliance. Zhu Si is under great pressure. Guan Long's army has captured Feihu County and can enter Yizhou at any time. He hopes that Li Baochen will be at the critical moment If we can send troops north to fight against the Guanlong Army together with him, the three parties can reach an alliance agreement in the next two days. "

Li Na did not say anything. He actually knew that Tian Chengsi was telling the truth. The biggest problem affecting the three families was land. Taking advantage of the civil strife in Youzhou, Tian Chengsi and Li Baochen sent troops to occupy Hengzhou, Dingzhou, and Mo that originally belonged to Youzhou. Zhou Si and Cangzhou, so after Zhu Si came to power, he has been clamoring to go to war with Li Baochen and Tian Chengsi to regain the land of the four states. It can be said that the hatred between Zhu Si and the two families is very deep and difficult to resolve.

Now that the understanding agreement has been signed, it seems that the pressure Zhu Si suffered is not trivial, so he gave up hatred and chose understanding. Then there will be no obstacles to signing the alliance agreement. It will definitely be reached, otherwise there will be no understanding agreement. .

Li Na was shaken in his heart. If the three families formed an alliance and he was excluded, he would be dealt with by Guan Longjun.

"Of course we are willing to participate in the alliance, otherwise I would not come. I wonder what agreement the two parties need to sign?"

Tian Chengsi said slowly: "To form a joint alliance between our four families, we must first build a joint army of about 30,000 people. I will send an army of 10,000, and the other three families of yours will each send an army of 6,000. No matter which family is affected by Attack, these 30,000 combined troops will definitely participate in the coordinated operation, and then the other three families will send troops to rescue according to the situation. Can my nephew agree to this plan? "

Li Na nodded, "I agree in principle!"

Li Na was rather vague and only expressed his agreement in principle, because he also knew that Tian Chengsi's words were only half of what he said. Who would bear the military salary and food and grass for the thirty thousand army? If each family bears the burden, there would be no problem. But if it is unbalanced, it is worth discussing.

Tian Chengsi glanced at Li Na and said calmly: "My dear nephew, don't think that I am trying to take advantage. At this critical moment of life and death, we can no longer fight among ourselves and must unite. I have convinced Li Baochen that the military salary and salary of the thirty thousand combined army will be Food and grass, each of our four families is responsible for their own troops. I will send the most troops. I will designate the leader of the thirty thousand troops. You will each appoint one as a deputy general. Our first battle will be to destroy Xue Song and seize the four states of Xiang, Wei, Ming, and Xing. The surrendered troops and spoils will be divided equally among the four families. I will send another 30,000 troops to fight and occupy Xiangzhou and Weizhou. Li Baochen will also send another 30,000 troops to fight and occupy Xingzhou and Mingzhou. "

Li Na nodded, "I understand. I will write to my father immediately and let him make the final decision."

"Can!"

Tian Chengsi said happily: "I hope we can sign a new joint vertical agreement within ten days."

On the carriage back to the VIP hotel, Li Na asked Jia Shen in a low voice: "What do the military advisors think?"

Jia Shen thought for a moment and said, "It's indeed a bit beyond my expectation. After seeing Tian Chengsi, he is indeed sincere!"

Li Na frowned and said: "We established a joint army, but took the lead to attack Xue Song. The land in the four states was divided between the two families. Isn't this a wedding dress for them?"

Jia Shen smiled slightly and said: "Actually, this matter has advantages and disadvantages. Although we sent troops to help them attack Xue Song, it seems that the two families took advantage, but in fact they also diverted the trouble to the north. Once Weizhou loses, Huaizhou It is dangerous. Huaizhou is the north gate of Luoyang. Li Ye will definitely not be able to sit still and will definitely send troops to recapture Weizhou and Xiangzhou. Weizhou and Xiangzhou are close to Tian Chengsi's lair. The battle to cut down the vassal will start from Tian Chengsi. From now on, it’s our turn to be the last.”

Li Na thought about it, it was a good thing that Tian Chengsi wanted to start a war now!

"I will report to my father immediately and strive to reach an alliance agreement within ten days!"

Li Ye was inspecting Huzhou at this time. Huzhou is rich in high-quality rice. The most expensive grain in Chang'an is Huzhou rice, which costs 120 yuan for a bucket of rice.

In addition, Huzhou's silk weaving industry was also very famous in the Tang Dynasty. The abundant Hu silk was also a first-class satin in Chang'an, alongside Su silk.

An important reason for Li Ye's inspection of Huzhou this time was that Champa rice was introduced to 30 acres of land in Huzhou. It was originally planted on a trial basis in Quanzhou, but Wei Chenji of Jinjiang County asked for a few kilograms of rice seeds and sent people to send them to his hometown of Wuxing. County trial planting.

This news made Li Ye very interested. No matter whether it could succeed or not, it was always good to try it.

The biggest characteristic of Champa rice is its strong adaptability, so it has been promoted to the entire Jiangnan region.

At present, winter wheat and late rice are combined in the Jiangnan area, with two crops a year, while Champa rice is an early rice with a short growth period, strong adaptability, and large yield. It is sown in the spring, harvested in the summer, and then planted with late rice, and can be harvested in the autumn. Late rice can be used to maintain farmland in winter, which is very beneficial to soil moisture. Farmers also build water conservancy facilities and no longer need to plant winter wheat.

When Li Ye arrived, the rush to harvest and plant was over, and late rice was planted.

The head of the Shen family is currently Shen Yizhi. After the fall of Chang'an during the Anshi Rebellion, he abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown.

Shen Yizhi was the father of Wei Shenji of Jinjiang County. Thirty acres of rice in Zhancheng were planted in his family's field.

"Generally speaking, it's pretty good. This kind of rice can adapt to the soil and water of Jiangnan, and its yield is similar to our local rice. If we cultivate it for more than ten years and find high-quality rice seeds, I feel that the yield will increase by more than 30%."

"The yield per mu will be six to seven hundred kilograms!" Li Ye was pleasantly surprised.

"It's almost the same. The current yield per mu is 500 jins, and it will definitely increase to more than 600 jins."

It can produce more than 1,000 kilograms of grain per mu in a year, which is double the annual output of more than 500 kilograms of grain in the north. This result really made Li Ye extremely happy. If within five years, the entire Yangtze River Basin and Fujian Road could grow two If rice is harvested, the world's food production will double, and the population will increase accordingly.

The most important thing for Li Ye now is population. Encouraging more people has become the national policy of the Tang Dynasty. Only when the population increases can the Tang Dynasty be able to expand outward.

"How is Li Shi's situation now?"

Li Shi lived in the Shen Mansion, which was also an important reason for Li Ye's inspection of Huzhou. After Shen Zhenzhu learned that her son Li Shi had been poisoned by Li Fuguo, she was very frightened when she saw that Li Fuguo was in power. She was worried that Li Fuguo would further kill her son. He took Li Shi back to his parents' home, Wuxing Shen family, and was taken in by his father Shen Yizhi.

Shen Yi shook his head and sighed: "If you have met His Highness before, then he has not changed much."

Li Ye nodded, "I'm going to see him and stay with the Shen family for two days. I'm sorry to bother the Shen family."

Shen Yizhi was overjoyed, "Welcome His Highness to the Shen family. This is the supreme honor of our family!"

As the supervisor of the country and the actual ruler of the Tang Dynasty, Li Ye's words and deeds were of great significance. The fundamental purpose of his inspection of Jiangnan was to win over the Jiangnan gentry and gain their support.

Therefore, wherever he went, he would hold discussions with the local nobles, listen to their difficulties, and listen to their voices. You must know that the most densely populated area in the Tang Dynasty is the Jiangnan area, with a population of nearly ten million.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty was almost completely destroyed in the north. At the same time, it encountered three major political cancers: the separatist rule of vassal towns, the dictatorship of eunuchs, and crony warfare. However, the dynasty actually survived for more than a hundred years. The key was to obtain food from the south of the Yangtze River. and supplies supplies to Chang'an.

Therefore, Li Ye also had to work hard to win over the Jiangnan gentry. The Jiangnan gentry was relatively balanced, but the Shen family of Wu Xing could be said to be the representative of the Jiangnan gentry. It owned 30% of Huzhou's silk weaving industry and thousands of hectares of fertile land, making it an extremely wealthy country.

Until the Ming Dynasty, the Shen family also gave birth to Shen Wansan, which shows that the Shen family has been prosperous for thousands of years.

It was not without reason that Li Heng asked his son Li Yu to marry Shen Zhenzhu. It was also to win over the Jiangnan gentry, so he also chose the Shen family.

In the afternoon, Li Ye took a carriage and arrived at the Shen family's ancestral home, which covers an area of ​​nearly 100 acres.