A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 943 New Gold Mountain

"Ashna She'er led his tribe to join the tribe, and his tribe settled in Linghui. He went to the pilgrimage to face the saint. The saint granted marriage to the emperor's sister, the eldest princess of Hengyang, and was granted the title of Duke Bi and the general of Zuo Xiaowei Temple."

"Tie Le Qibi's brother discussed the changes and did not give anything to the grandson of Mohe Khan. Qibi was greatly benefited. Qibi Heli and his mother led his tribe to six thousand tents. The imperial court placed them between Liang and Gan. When he entered the dynasty, he was granted the title of Duke of Liang, granted the title of General of the Left Army, and given to the clan daughter as the wife of the head of Lintao County."

"The saint married Princess Honghua to King Nuohebo of Yan, the grandson of Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun, and granted him the title of General Youxiaowei..."

On the big ship,
Wu Huaiyu listened to the many recent developments in the DPRK and China that had just been sent through Liuqiu.
There is a lot of news, but the most important event in the court recently is undoubtedly the marriage proposal from the Tibetan people. Then the court dealt with it and agreed to the marriage proposals from Xue Yantuo, Western Turks, and Tuyuhun. Each of them gave the princess a marriage, but they said they were princesses. In fact, They are all clan girls,

For example, Princess Honghua, Li Shimin also said that she was his biological daughter. In fact, not many people knew that the sudden appearance of Princess Honghua was actually the daughter of Prince Yin Jiancheng, and she was promised to marry the male son of Tong Eshe and Xue Yantuoyi of the Western Turks The two princesses were actually Li Shimin's nieces, and neither of them were his brothers' daughters.

On the contrary, Ashina She'er married the true emperor's daughter just like Zhi Shisi Li, but she married the daughter of the Supreme Emperor, who was regarded as the emperor's sister.

Qibi Helize, like Ashina Momo, Ashina Zhong and others, were the county heads of Shang.

But regardless of whether it is Sheer or Sili, the problem can be seen from the wording of the imperial edicts, such as Yugu She, Tong Ershe, Xue Yantuo Khan Yinan's second son canonized as Xiaohan, and Tuyuhun Khan Fu Allowing your grandson to be granted the title of general will be waiting for you.

The words used for them are canonization, conferment,
But for the Hu generals such as Ashina Zhong, Ashina Sheer, Zhi lose Si Li, and Qibi Heli who joined the dynasty, they used conferment and worship.

However, it was still later than Prince Chenghui Han got pregnant, and it is said that the emperor was not happy about this, and even called Li Tai to the palace to reprimand him because Princess Yan of Wei was too young and was only ten years old. When she was three years old, the emperor and empress originally told her not to consummate their marriage for the time being, but to wait two years before consummating the marriage. As a result, Li Tai couldn't wait to get her pregnant.

The eldest son who is not the eldest son of the eldest son can only be called the eldest son when compared with the bastard son born by the father's concubine. In front of the eldest brother, they are the same as the eldest son of the eldest son, and they are regarded as the bastard son.

Ashina Sheer and Qibi Heli, one of them used to guard Mobei and later became a khan in the Western Regions; the other was a man whose grandfather established the Tiele Khanate in the Western Regions and was now forced to join the imperial court.

Cheng Qian also asked in the letter, "Is it really that great that the King of Tubo was really born in the same year as me? Which one of us is older? Will Tubo really become a threat to the Tang Dynasty? Then this time the Tang Dynasty can provoke Tubo and The Battle of Tuyuhun?"

In front of the eldest son, whether he is his half-brother or his half-brother, they are all called concubine, sidekick, or branch son.

They were all great Hu chiefs in the past, and now they are very famous, and they are all relatively young and capable of fighting.

Chengsi was sitting next to Huaiyu fishing. He had always been interested in fishing.
I had no choice but to accept the letter, open it and read it.

Among the Hu generals who joined the court, there were two Princess Shang Zhen and several Lord Shang County. However, those vassals who asked for marriage only got fake princesses, who were actually just clan daughters.

Cheng Qian seemed a little unconvinced that Tubo Zanpu, who was the same age as him, was so powerful.
The Crown Prince still doesn’t like Crown Princess Su.
After listening to the letter,
Wu Huaiyu closed his eyes and thought for a while.
Generally speaking, the prince is in a good situation now. The emperor has stayed in Jiucheng Palace for more than half of each year in the past two years. The state affairs of Chang'an have been safely handed over to the prince to supervise the country. The prince has also behaved very steadily, and not only As a decoration, the prince has really begun to get some delegation of power and can learn to handle political affairs.

But after all, this is not what the father and son said when they were alone.

He also wrote about the recent marriage proposals from various tribes, and he accepted the treatment proposed by Li Yifu. He also said that this treatment was praised by the saint, and Li Yifu was promoted to Prince Sheren because of this, and was granted the title of county baron as an exception.

Wu Huaiyu gave several letters sent to him by Cheng Qian to Cheng Si to read. He was over eight years old and already knew a lot of words. It was also a kind of exercise for him to read the letters or even write the replies.

There seems to be no voice from the Wei royal party in the court now.
Under the emperor's deliberate suppression, the only news Li Tai made recently was to make Yan Wan, the little princess who married into the Wei Palace this year, pregnant.

The canonized positions, whether they are the two little Khans of Xue Yantuo of Mobei, Ye Hu and Xiao Khan of the Western Regions, or the Little King of Tuyuhun, etc., are actually just empty titles. These people are regarded as vassals.
However, Ashina She'er, Zhi Shisi Li and others have already moved south with their tribesmen, and have even entered the court to be appointed officials and become generals.
The nature is different,

It is said that only a few people heard the emperor's words to Li Tai at that time.

This kid obviously wants to steal the emperor's eldest grandson.
But it made the emperor unhappy. It is said that the emperor directly said some cruel words to Li Tai. One of the original words was that the emperor only had one legitimate son, and the second son of his legitimate mother was the same as a concubine.

The prince's performance cannot be said to be amazing, but it is also surprisingly stable.

"Dalang, please read the letter from His Highness the Crown Prince to Aye."

Cheng Qian wrote a lot of content in his letter, ranging from his own homework to the big one that he was going to be a father, and he also told Huaiyu that he was going to be an uncle.

Together with their tribal population, they have actually become the registered people of the Tang Dynasty.

This can still be said to be the emperor's test of the prince, or the emperor's cultivation of the prince, and it is not a true delegation of power.

So these words are harsh enough and even a bit of a warning,
Li Tai was originally the second son of the emperor, but now the emperor clearly told him that in front of Li Chengqian, the eldest son of the crown prince,

Li Tai is still a bastard and a concubine. He, the legitimate second son, can only be called the legitimate second son when facing other concubine princes.

But when facing Li Chengqian, he was also a concubine.

The hidden meaning is not to go beyond the limits, to be different from concubines and concubines, and to have no wrongful thoughts.

This is completely different from what the emperor told his ministers two years ago that if there was no prince, he would be the same as his mother and brother.

Those words back then made the little fat man have endless reveries, but now these words made the little fat man feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

The King of Wei Party, which had been quite powerful at first, has now lost its momentum.

Fang Xuanling, who once secretly supported Li Tai, had even been cut off early, and his consort Chai Shao no longer had any contact with the Wei Palace.
There are only a few young masters left who are still communicating with each other, but they are just leaving a trace.

In the summer and autumn of the eighth year of Zhenguan, the DPRK and Central Government were still very stable. There was no fight for the throne, and there was no financial crisis. The floods in the Huanghuai River were now under control.

There were no refugees fleeing the disaster, nor was there any major famine or epidemic.
The price of grain in the disaster-stricken areas is now about ten to fifteen cents per dou of rice, and the price of rice in Chang'an has also risen to eighty-nine cents.

Although the increase is not small, and the highest price in the disaster area has tripled compared to before the disaster, the price of fifteen dollars per bucket of rice is still incredibly low in the disaster area in the year of the disaster.

You must know that even during the Wude period, due to the war in Huanghuai, the price of grain was always as low as a piece of silk for a bucket of rice. During the lean years, it was even more expensive. At that time, a bucket of rice cost two to three hundred yuan.
But now the highest price is only fifteen or six cents per dou.
This all shows that the current food reserves of the imperial court are good, and the administrative efficiency is very high. There are good prevention mechanisms and efficient disaster relief measures, which can not only ensure that the disaster areas have food, but also prevent food prices from rising sharply.

It is indeed the rule of Zhenguan.
Although the Zhenguan Dynasty is not yet prosperous and wealthy, its politics are indeed clean, honest and efficient.

Wu Huaiyu smiled.

The situation in the disaster area is good, and he and the Wu family have also contributed a lot. The seven prefectures and forty-nine prefectures in Lingnan Province have provided assistance and relief. They not only sent people to deliver material relief, but also recruited workers and immigrants from there, and transferred many victims. , reducing the pressure on the disaster area.

The Wu family benefited even more. Not only did they recruit a large number of hired workers, they provided much-needed manpower for the workshops, mines, farms, and shops in Wu's Central Plains. They even secretly transported people to overseas places such as Liuqiu, Zhuya, Annan, and Luzon. Got a lot of manpower.

If it weren't for the massive floods that affected thirty or forty states, and for two consecutive years, Wu Huaiyu would never have had the chance to recruit so many people from the mainland of the Central Plains, especially since there were many rare craftsmen among them.

Poaching people under the banner of Lingnan also made it convenient for Wu Huaiyu to secretly lure many people into his pocket. It’s easy to fish in muddy water.

next year,

The battle of Tuyuhun is about to begin.

Li Jing and Li Daozong took command respectively, each commanding the north and south.
This is to be expected,

The emperor pulled out all the Hou Junji in Jingzhou to arrange a deputy general position, but he did not mention Wu Huaiyu, the Zhenguan God of War.

Generals Qin Qiong, Li Ji, and Yuchi Gong also had no arrangements.

Qin Qiong, Yu Chi Gongna were door-god-level generals, and Wu Huaiyu and Li Ji were also praised by Li Shimin as being able to command troops and stand alone.

Su Dingfang, the most powerful pioneer who has also performed well since Zhenguan, was not named, and Cheng Yaojin, the most powerful pioneer of the older generation, naturally did not share his name.

The emperor does not use Qin Qiong, Wei Chigong, Wu Huaiyu or Li Ji, he does not use Cheng Yaojin, or Su Dingfang.

However, the old commander Li Jing was used as the main general to control the North Road, the famous clan king Li Daozong came to control the South Road, and generals such as Chai Shao, Xue Wanche, Fan Xing, Li Junxian, Qibi Heli, Xue Wanjun, and Li Daoyan were used as general managers. The lineup was still very luxurious. of,
But it can be seen that this lineup is more like the emperor wants the old marshal Li Jing to assist the famous king Li Daozong of the clan. Li Daozong is the most trusted and appreciated king in the clan by Li Shimin. He has been practicing at Shuofang Border Pass for a long time and has quite a lot of experience. It just lacks some hard enough military merit.
For example, Wu Huaiyu's army destroyed Shuofang Liang's division and puppet Liang Dynasty, Yehuling's lone army blocked and defeated Jieli's 200,000 army, Saibei severely damaged the Turkic army and captured Jieli alive, and wiped out the Beishanxi and Lingnan rebellions in Yanbei and other hard military achievements. ,

It is very difficult to capture a king and destroy a country. Li Daozong held Lingzhou for a long time, but it was Wu Huaiyu who finally destroyed Liang Shidu. Even after the six-pronged attack on the Turks, Li Daozong did not gain any military exploits.

Li Daozong's qualifications were much higher than Wu Huaiyu's, but his actual military exploits were far behind. The emperor used an old and lame former prime minister to take command, and asked the veteran general to help the new commander get on his horse and give him a ride. His intention was obvious.

Li Ji and Wu Huaiyu could only watch the battle of Tuyuhun, and they had no part in it.

Qin Qiong, Yu Chigong, and Cheng Yaojin and Su Dingfang had no share either.

On the contrary, my father-in-law Fan Xing, the governor of Liangzhou, got the position of deputy commander of the North Road this time.

His son Chengsi seemed a little aggrieved for his father, "Aye, everyone says you are the number one general in Zhenguan. Why did the imperial court want to fight Tuyuhun and not call Aye to take command?"

"Gong Wei is my teacher, who dares to disobey him when he takes command? The veteran will take action, one can stand up to the other two." Huaiyu said with a smile.

"Then Wei Gong will be in command and control the North Road. Aye will be the deputy commander and control the South Road. Just like the DTZ campaign, wouldn't it be very successful?"

Huaiyuxin said that the emperor just didn't want to give Li Jingwu, Huaiyu and his two brothers more achievements like the battle to destroy DTZ.

"There are so many powerful generals in the imperial court, no matter who you choose, they will be the same."

Just rest assured in Lingnan, he probably won't be able to leave in another ten or eight years.

This is not necessarily a bad thing,
"Get ready, we will go south to Xinjinshan Port in a few days."

Xinjinshan Port is another stronghold of the Wu family in Luzon Island. It is located near the mouth of the Agno River in Lingayen Bay, Luzon.

The most fertile central plain in Luzon Island is surrounded by two mountains on the east and west sides. The plain is bordered by Lingayen Bay in the north and Manila Bay in the south.

On the north and south sides of this great plain, the Wu family established a stronghold each. In the north is the Xinjinshan Port built at the mouth of the Agno River in Lingayen Bay. Lingayen Bay is also called the New Golden Bay. The name of Xinjinshan is based on It was taken from Jinshan Port in the north, so the Agno River was also called the New Golden River.

Xinjinshan was named not only because there is a gold mountain in the north, but also because in the mountainous area northeast of Xinjinshan Bay, there are more streams and rivers that produce gold sand, as well as tribes with a lot of gold.
The New Gold River is also very long, more than four hundred miles.

The huge central plain of Luzon is more than 380 miles long and 200 miles wide, with dense rivers and fertile land. It has two large bays in the north and south, which are also excellent harbors, and large mountains in the east and west.
It was simply an ideal secret back garden, an overseas private territory.

However, the Luzon Plain is so big, there are many tribes here, and they are all relatively strong.

After two years of operation, the Wu family only established a stronghold at the mouth of the two bays in the north and south of the Luzon Plain. They carefully dealt with the native tribes and opened up some situations through trade.

He didn't dare to make any big moves, he was growing insignificantly.

"Is Xinjin Mountain as full of gold as here?"

"In the mountainous area northeast of Xinjinshan Bay, many rivers with gold sand and many gold mines have been discovered. Many tribes there have been mining for gold for generations, and their tribes generally use gold to trade,"

"Another place full of gold. This Luzon Island is really a treasure island in the sea."

The young Wu Chengsi couldn't help but sigh. Even though he was young, he still knew the beauty of gold, and those golden things had incomparable charm.

"Aye, we have to recruit more people to explore for gold mines and pan for gold sand. This can directly mine gold, which is much better than clearing wasteland to build workshops and manufacture."

"What you said is not entirely correct. It is unreasonable to think like this. Look at the tribes over at Jinshan Bay. Who has the gold they have accumulated for generations now?"

"And how did this gold get from their hands to ours?"

"One of our archer's armors cost only 3,000 yuan, but we sold them 6 taels of gold sand, making a profit of ten times. We also sold it in limited quantities. For the more exquisite armors, we even sold them to them for dozens of times. A set can be sold for dozens or even a hundred taels of gold sand.”

"Can you say that manufacturing is not profitable and has no future?"

“Then there’s no gold mining?”

"Of course not. If there is gold, mine it and mine it, but you can't just ignore other things. Planting, breeding, manufacturing and trade are all indispensable,"

"Exquisite porcelain, noble silk, mellow wine, snow-white salt, fragrant tea, even ships that ride the wind and waves, and carriages that run on land, none of them are good things,"

"We have to mine gold on Luzon, but we will also plant sugar cane, rice, peanuts, and corn on the plains, dry salt on the seashore, build ships and cars in workshops, cut wood in the mountains, and cook brains..."

Wu Chengsi suddenly asked, "Will Aye tell the court about Luzon and tell His Majesty, just like Liuqiu Island?"

He shook his head and said to his son seriously, "No, this is a reserved land for our Wu family, a private land. I will not hand it over to the court. I also hope that after you inherit the Wu family in the future, you will also manage and protect this land." A piece of private land,"

"Okay, I promise Aye," Chengsi responded.

(End of this chapter)