People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1266 Prince of Nanchang, Bo of Fengchang County

It's cold in October, with light snow falling.

In the Zichen Hall, Empress Wu was reviewing memorials, while the emperor was reading military reports from Luoxue Road.

There was a sound of slight footsteps in front of the palace, and a chamberlain quickly walked into the palace, lowered his head and said softly: "Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven, Cui Zhiti, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Doulu Qinwang, the minister of the Ministry of Finance, and Zhongqian, the minister of the Ministry of Finance, are asking for an audience. "

"Xuan!" Li Zhi immediately put down the military report, and Empress Wu also put down her gold pen, her expression serious.

The three most important officials of the Ministry of Revenue asked for an audience, and everyone had to take them seriously.

Immediately, Cui Zhiti, who was wearing a dark purple official robe, Doulu Qinwang, who was wearing a dark crimson official robe, and Qian Wei, who was wearing a light crimson official robe, entered the palace one after another.

"My lord, Cui Zhiti, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Doulu Qinwang, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Zhongqian, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, please see your Majesty, and see the Queen of Heaven!" The three of them saluted at the same time.

"Stay flat!" Li Zhi waved his hand, leaned forward slightly, and then asked: "But this year's grain tax has been calculated?"

"Yes!" Cui Zhiti took out a memorial from his sleeve and held it up respectfully. Wang Fulai walked down quickly, took the memorial, and handed it to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi glanced at it and then directly passed it to Empress Wu.

Cui Zhiti cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, in the second year of Tiaolu, the weather will be smooth, the world will be ripe, and all lands will have a good harvest.

The amount of tax and grain collected by various places is 30% more than in previous years. Now it is gradually being put into the warehouse, and some of it has already been shipped to Chang'an. "

"Thirty percent." Li Zhi's expression suddenly cheered up.

The figure of 30% does not sound like much, but in fact the extra 30% of tax and grain is enough to feed 30% of the world's soldiers.

The number of soldiers inside and outside the Tang Dynasty basically maintained at 500,000, and this 30% was the loss of military rations for the 150,000 army for a year.

If we don't count the auxiliary troops, Li Xuan's Luozhe Dao and Pei Xingjian's Dingxiang Dao, the two together amounted to only 150,000.

Li Zhi was completely relieved. Today's two battles between Tubo and Grassland were so burdened by logistical matters that he could hardly breathe.

Now that there is a bumper harvest and the warehouse is full of food, at least everything this year can be settled stably and everything can be put on the agenda next year.

……

"Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen. I will give you a reward later in the palace." Li Zhi looked at Cui Zhiti and said, "Tax and grain transportation will be exempted and exempted in various places. The Ministry of Household Affairs will issue a list to report it."

"Yes!" Cui Zhiti, Doulu Qinwang, and Qian Weiwei all handed over their hands at the same time.

"As for the Turks and Tubo, we should also make preparations for the consumption of the war next year." Li Zhi continued to make arrangements.

Cui Zhiti cupped his hands and said, "May I ask, Your Majesty, what will be the status of the war between Tibet and Turks next year?"

"This is the memorial that Luozhedao just sent back." Li Zhi handed the memorial forward, and Wang Fulai immediately handed it to Cui Zhiti.

Cui Zhiti didn't open it immediately and heard the emperor say: "This year, after the defeat of Qinling, Zan Xiruo stationed 50,000 troops in front of the army and tried to attack Nagqu, but failed. He also sent 5,000 Guang troops to sneak attack Anduo, but was defeated. You Xiaowei was defeated, and in the end only 300 people were left and fled back to the south bank of the Nagqu River. After that, the two armies remained in a stalemate."

Cui Zhiti, Doulu Qinwang, and Qian Weiwei handed over their hands at the same time, and they could all feel the invisible murderous intention lingering in it.

The emperor continued: "The King of Nanchang reported that this winter, Zan Xiruo may have another offensive. After all, the winter comes, the more difficult it is to transport food and grass. It is impossible for the Tubo royal family to allow him to sit on an army of 50,000 without moving at all. Yes, so after the Nagqu River freezes in winter, there will be a wave of offensive, and the King of Nanchang will also try to take advantage of the situation to counterattack."

Cui Zhiti, Doulu Qinwang, and Qian Weiwei subconsciously raised their heads at the same time, staring at Li Zhi.

Li Zhi smiled and said: "If everything goes well, Zan Xiruo's 50,000-strong army should be defeated. In this way, the army can completely stabilize both sides of the Naqu River, and then plant grain next year, which can support the army for about one month."

Cui Zhiti, Doulu Qinwang, and Qian Weiwei breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. A month's supply of food and grass for tens of thousands of troops was not a small amount.

If I could get one in July and early autumn, I don't know how much easier it would be for the household department.

Li Zhi continued: "Regardless of the success or failure of this battle, next year, the army will fight to the foot of Luoche City, and the next step will be to attack the city."

"I heard that the city of Luozhe is four feet high and is quite difficult to attack." Cui Zhiti raised his hands with a solemn expression.

Li Zhi nodded and said: "I am also worried that the army will be in a long-term stalemate under Luoche City. However, the King of Nanchang has a plan and the secret guards have arrangements in Luoche City. If everything goes well, there should be results around the early autumn of next year."

Qian Weiwei raised his head instantly, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, does the King of Nanchang plan to take action in the early autumn of next year when there is a shortage of food?"

"They have this plan, so they will start to go to Luozhou after the spring planting in Tubo." Li Zhi explained the calculation more thoroughly.

Every year before the autumn harvest, the people have the most difficult time.

The old food is exhausted and the new food is not harvested.

Starvation is common.

It is the same whether it is Tang Dynasty or Tubo.

But as long as we survive this period and harvest the autumn grain, we will naturally be able to relieve our difficulties.

But if after this period of time passes, there is still no new grain harvest, then the people will fall completely from the predicament into the abyss.

A truly outstanding commander has always been able to seize this opportunity very keenly and completely defeat the enemy.

Li Xuan is like this now.

Cui Zhiti, Doulu Qinwang, and Qian Weiwei secretly made eye contact, showing a trace of solemnity among each other.

Because they all heard that Li Xuan was more ruthless and asked the Tubo people to finish the spring planting before taking action.

By the time the Tibetans complete their spring planting, it means that by the time of the late summer and autumn harvest, not only will they not have enough food to survive the famine season, but they will even have a stronger desire for the Tibetans to send out troops to get the food back because of the food problem. If the Tubo people send troops, they will easily fall into Li Xuan's trap; if they do not send troops, conflicts will intensify between the two and they will be more easily provoked.

"The Ministry of Revenue first prepares the food and grass for the war before the Tubo autumn harvest next year. As for the future...if Luoche is successfully captured, then the grain near Luoche will probably be used to appease the people in Luoche. The Ministry of Revenue needs to prepare more "More." Li Zhi looked solemn.

"This is not a difficult task. We only need to send the captured Luo Zhidao in Tubo back to Chang'an, and then sell some of them. This will naturally make up for the shortfall." Cui Zhiti raised his head and looked straight at Li Zhi.

"If Cui Qing has anything to say, you can say it directly," Li Zhi couldn't help but smile, waved his hand and said: "The capture of Luo Xuedao in Naqu today was basically used to reward the officers and soldiers and appease the people. All the writings were even written by Wang Qing He did it himself, and the King of Nanchang didn’t even intervene.”

"I'm presumptuous." Cui Zhiti cupped his hand, and then said: "The King of Nanchang handled the Tubo matter fairly well, but for the grassland matter, I would like to ask your majesty for a time for the general withdrawal of the troops in the grassland battle, ten or so. The consumption of an army of ten thousand day and night is not a small number."

Li Zhi immediately understood that Cui Zhidi's real purpose was still on the grassland.

Pei Xingjian has an army of hundreds of thousands, and the daily consumption of military rations is extremely terrifying, and the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue is terrible.

Although Luo Xuedao also felt a heavy pressure on the Ministry of Revenue due to the heavy loss of military rations due to the long journey, after all, Li Xuan had Tubo in return.

Especially next year, he has already begun to think of various ways to save military rations, and even has Luoche, the ancient capital of Tubo.

Once the logic is taken, the wealth accumulated by the Tubo Dynasty for hundreds of years will be transported back to Chang'an.

Various methods can replenish the blood loss in the court.

But as for the Turks, even if the Turks captured Ashina Wenfu, their final gains would be very little.

No wonder Cui Zhiti mentioned this matter in a roundabout way.

Li Zhi frowned tightly. If anyone else asked about this matter, he might have to scold him.

If the Turks were left alone, the damage to the Tang Dynasty would be greater than the loss of military rations in the past two years.

This kind of minister simply has no regard for the overall situation.

But the person in front of me is the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.

The Minister of Household Affairs who controlled all the money bags in the entire Tang Dynasty.

Li Zhi took a deep breath, looked at Cui Zhiti and said: "The battle on the grassland will not be mentioned in the future, but the war will be over this winter, but the withdrawal of troops depends on the situation next year."

Cui Zhiti breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I am not unreasonably worried, but it is best not to extend the grassland war to July next year."

Li Zhi suddenly became solemn.

Next July, even the Tang Dynasty will have a food shortage.

Even if there is a bumper harvest this year, there will definitely be a food shortage before next year's autumn harvest. Especially with hundreds of thousands of troops piling up in the north, it will be very troublesome if something goes wrong.

"Don't worry, next autumn, the war on the grassland should be over. All that's left is to manage everything." Li Zhi frowned again.

The hearts of the Turkic people have been in turmoil, and it is far from easy to regain complete control.

North Korea and China are also arguing over various strategies and means.

Li Zhi still remembers that Li Xuan also proposed two strategies when he resigned at the beginning of the year, but they were also inconclusive.

The same is true now for the DPRK and China. Li Zhi doesn't have too many ideas in his heart now. The key still depends on the future situation of the grassland.

But generally they are still groping in the direction originally designated by Li Xuan, such as Ashina Nishugui.

But after all, it will be adjusted at any time according to the situation.

A rush of footsteps came from outside the hall, but when they arrived in front of the hall, the footsteps slowed down again, as if they were hesitating whether to come in after seeing so many people in the hall.

Li Zhi sighed, looked up at the palace door, and asked, "What happened again?"

A thirty-year-old servant in green clothes walked in from outside the palace, stood slightly behind, cupped his hands to the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, Nanchang Prince's Palace reported to Zongzheng Temple, Nanchang Prince Teng's concubine Liu Shubi gave birth to a son, genealogy Log in, Zong Zuo continues."

Li Zhi was stunned, and then he suddenly came to his senses.

Li Xuan has a concubine who is the granddaughter of Prime Minister Liu Rengui. She was pregnant at the beginning of the year and is now exactly ten months pregnant.

"The genealogy is registered, and Zong Zuo continues." Li Zhi chanted softly, with a hint of joy on his face.

After all, Li Xuan is the grandson of Emperor Gaozu and Li Zhi's cousin. Li Xuan's son, even if he is a concubine, is still the great-grandson of Emperor Gaozu and is of the same clan bloodline.

"It is rare for the household department to report a good harvest today. If so, I will give him the title of Fengchang County Son." Li Zhi had already given the title of County Son to him as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Your Majesty." Empress Wu finally spoke at this time and said: "The King of Nanchang has made many contributions over the years. Although he has not been rewarded because of his promise to succeed the king, Your Majesty should still express his gratitude."

Li Zhi suddenly came to his senses, and then said with a smile: "It was also this year that we finally invaded Tubo and defeated the 100,000-strong army of Lun Qinling. Now we have sent the remains of Lun Qinling to Chang'an..."

"And Her Royal Highness Princess Wencheng." Empress Wu spoke and said carefully: "We can't let people wait until next year."

"That's right." Li Zhi nodded, and then said: "It is passed that the fifth son of King Nanchang be granted the title of Bo of Fengchang County, and his mother will be promoted to the sixth rank of Tengren."

After a slight pause, Li Zhi said: "It will be prosperous and prosperous. I hope that next year we will have a prosperous harvest and a prosperous industry."

"Your Majesty, everything is going well, the Tang Dynasty will be prosperous, and the world will be dominated." All the officials in the palace cupped their hands at the same time.

(End of this chapter)