The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 487: Talented People
Li Chengqian asked again: "So the silver mine has not been mined out yet?"

"Your Majesty, I killed too many and did not leave enough Japanese to enslave."

"Well, we can't dig it all up with manpower alone. We'll send another person there later."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Jin Chunqiu bowed to the ground and said loudly.

The silver reserves in the Japanese territory are much greater than Jin Chunqiu expected. It is simply impossible for human power to dig them out. Even if they want to dig them out, it cannot be fully mined in just six years.

"The silver mine is right there, and it won't go away." Li Chengqian said in a deep voice, "Let Lord Ying arrange the rest."

Li Ji nodded and said, "General Zuo has recently received two hundred Tianshan horses. You can go and look after them."

As he spoke, Li Ji handed him a token.

Jin Chunqiu took the token solemnly.

Li Ji withdrew his hand, sat aside with his hands in his pockets and nodded slightly.

Jin Chunqiu received the token and bowed again, saying, "I will take my leave."

Originally, Li Simo was a general in Chang'an and was in charge of raising horses. Now this position has been handed over to Jin Chunqiu.

Li Chengqian clicked his tongue and said, "Has Qinling arrived in Tubo?"

Li Ji whispered, "According to the news sent three days ago, Qin Ling has arrived in Qinghai and should be in Tubo now."

"How much prestige does Lu Dongzan's son still have in Tubo?"

Li Ji replied: "He is the son of Lu Dongzan, who is the prime minister of Tubo. Songtsen Gampo is still alive. With these two people around, no matter how powerful Ru Laijie is, he cannot touch Qinling at all."

Li Chengqian walked back and forth in the hall with his hands in his pockets and said, "Ru Laijie is a minister of Tubo. He has ability and authority, but he does not have the status of Qinling. Once he becomes an enemy of Qinling, he will lose the support of the people. Once he loses the support of the Tubo people, he will lose everything."

Ying Gong nodded slowly.

The emperor personally escorted Duke Ying to Chengtian Gate.

Every time after talking with Duke Ying, the Emperor would personally see him off, which shows how much Your Majesty relies on him.

After leaving Chengtian Gate, Li Ji went to Sinong Temple.

No one can shake Guo Luotuo's position in Sinong Temple.

Seeing that it was Li Ji who came, Guo Luotuo hurried forward and saluted, saying, "Mr. Ying."

Li Ji said: "Your Majesty can let you serve in the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

What he meant was that Duke Ying felt that Guo Luotuo's official position was too low.

"Mr. Ying, I can serve as an official in the Sinong Temple for my entire life."

Li Ji looked at the few officials in the Sinong Temple and asked, "Can the grain and grass in Guanzhong be transported to Xizhou to extend the storage period of grain and grass?"

Guo Luotuo stroked his beard and said, "The wind in the Western Regions is very dry. Guanzhong can store three years of grain, and the Western Regions should be able to store four years."

Li Ji asked again: "How about transporting the grain and grass from Guanzhong to Xizhou?"

Guo Luotuo thought for a moment and said, "How much do you need?"

"One hundred thousand stones."

Guo Luotuo raised his head and said, "Mr. Ying, it would be better to use the grain grown in the hinterland of Tianshan Mountain to store it locally instead of transporting 100,000 shi of grain to Xizhou. It is a bit too much to transport 100,000 shi of grain over such a long distance..."

At this point, Guo Luotuo suddenly realized something. Instead of transporting 100,000 shi of grain and fodder, it would be better to be self-sufficient in rice in the hinterland of Tianshan Mountains.

It is obviously not cost-effective to transport such a large amount of grain from Chang'an to Xizhou. Not to mention the manpower and material resources consumed along the way, even the consumption of grain is a drop in the bucket.

Apart from these factors, there is only one reason why Duke Ying had such a plan. The war is about to start again, and the food and fodder must be sent before the troops move.

Guo Luotuo took out a map and marked out several routes for transporting grain. "It would be faster to transport grain from Qinghai to Xizhou. Secondly, we can store grain in the Hexi Corridor for emergency use."

"Besides that, if you are not in a hurry, you can grow food in various places with abundant water and grass. Lord Ying's 100,000 shi of food and grass is nothing to worry about."

Li Ji looked at the grain transportation routes along the way. Before he could speak, he saw Guo Luotuo drawing circles on these grain transportation routes.

These circles are granaries where food is stored along the way.

"Mr. Ying, this is the method used by Luoyang to transport grain to Guanzhong. Every autumn, a large amount of grain will be transported to Guanzhong and stored in various counties and regions. It can also be used in the Western Regions."

Duke Ying never mentioned the idea of ​​going to war from beginning to end.

There was no formal mobilization of troops and food.

This time, Duke Ying went to the Sinong Temple, and the matter was discussed by officials in the court and the public.

Just as Guo Luotuo said, 100,000 shi of grain and grass were not a big concern for the Sinong Temple.
For the army, the achievements of Sinong Temple were the Tang army's reliance when they were outside.

After Guanzhong entered summer, another victory report was delivered that Ashina She'er and the Andong Protectorate jointly attacked the Mohe.

The 30,000-strong Turkic army and the 10,000-strong Andong Protectorate swept through various Mohe areas, and all the 16 Heishui Mohe tribes surrendered and acknowledged their allegiance.

From then on, the territory of the Tang Dynasty connected to the northeast of Liaodong and became one with Mobei. It was bordered by the North Sea in the north and Liaodong in the south. After five years, it took over the most fertile land in the Heishui River Basin in the northeast of the Central Plains.

After defeating the Mohe, Ashir headed straight north, roughly towards Lake Baikal.

Ashina She'er was a killing-crazy man. He had rested in Chang'an for two years, but this time he was going to the expedition with no intention of coming back. He would march all the way north and would not look back.

It is possible that he was bullied during the attack on Mohe. He She'er had never suffered such a humiliation when he followed the Tang army across the Altai Mountains and headed straight for the Tianshan Mountains.

Li Chengqian stood beside his father and said with emotion: "He probably wants to conquer a piece of territory to vent his anger."

It's a good thing that the Tang Dynasty has such a powerful person, but it also brings a lot of trouble.

Li Shimin said: "When I went to the east to attack Goguryeo, Qibi Heli did the same thing."

She'er was pissed off, and now that he had vented his anger, he was desperate to get back at her.

Li Chengqian and his father looked at the golden wheat in the fields and smelled the wheat fragrance, saying: "More food can be grown on the fertile black soil in Liaodong."

When the Imperial Uncle from Hejian, the Imperial Uncle from Jiangxia, and the Imperial Uncle arrived, Li Chengqian watched the four of them working together to cultivate the fields.

"Is Father always like this?"

"I still have a few good friends to hang out with on weekdays, and I can confide in a few brothers, that's enough."

Listening to his mother's words, Li Chengqian asked, "Has Yu Tu been sensible lately?"

"He has been training even harder in the army since that spring outing."

Li Chengqian smiled awkwardly, "I thought that Father would think that I shouldn't let him compete with that Tibetan boy."

Empress Dowager Changsun patted her son's back and whispered, "Your father can no longer return to the court."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Thank you, mother."

In the ninth year of Qianqing, just after summer, two groups of students started fighting outside the city of Luoyang. The students from both sides were fighting fiercely here.

Gao Jifu seemed to have foreseen this scene and was prepared, so he signaled to the guard beside him. The guard understood and took his people away.

Soon, soldiers rushed out of the city gate and controlled the students from both sides.

Du Zhenglun walked over and whispered, "These students are getting more and more excessive."

Gao Jifu put his hands behind his back and watched the students under the city wall being captured one after another. "Didn't Li Yifu come?"

"I have advised Your Majesty, but Your Majesty..."

"Your Majesty has other plans?"

"Your Majesty said that Li Yifu is still of great use."

Seeing that the situation was settled, Gao Jifu walked down from the tower and asked, "Important?"

Du Zhenglun said: "Li Yifu killed too many people in Jiangnan back then. If this kind of person is left alone for too long, he might get out of control."

Gao Jifu nodded slightly, "Your Majesty can keep an eye on Li Yifu. As long as Li Yifu stays in Chang'an, he can intimidate the old nobles everywhere."

Du Zhenglun was still reserved in his words. As a subject's duty, he could not tell others what the emperor said.

Once Li Yifu leaves Chang'an, someone will definitely die somewhere.

This kind of words cannot be said to other people.

Gao Jifu asked, "How did you find time to come to Luoyang?"

"Luoyang is short of manpower."

It was almost like saying, "Go wherever there is a shortage of people." Du Zhenglun couldn't tell Gao Ji Fu what was really in his mind. Ever since he could remember, he had been taught from childhood that he should be careful with his words.

Gao Jifu described the current situation of Luoyang City. "The Canal Transport Supervisory Office was built on the river bank of Luoyang. We originally wanted to build it in the city, but the Ministry of Works thought it should be outside the city. So they let them do it. Xu Yushi is working outside the city. Now there are the Canal Transport Supervisor of the Imperial Censorate, the Canal Transport Supervisor arranged by Jingzhao Prefecture, and the teacher of the Literature Institute. There are more than 50 people working there."

Although Xu Yushi served as the Director of the Grain Transport Administration, he seemed to be doing a good job.

After listening to Gao Ji Fu's story, Du Zhenglun thought again that Xu Yushi's current situation was not good. It was related to the canal shipping. The Censorate, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Works, Jingzhao Prefecture, and even the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel all had people in the Canal Shipping Supervision. The interests of each department were intertwined, and supervision was the most difficult job.

It is not easy to really monitor the two north-south canals, and more canal transport supervisors need to be set up along the rivers.

Thinking about it this way, there are still not enough officials in the court. Not to mention Hebei and Liaodong, the county officials in various counties in Yangzhou are not complete, and the grain transport has just started. There are too many vacancies in officials that need to be filled.

If the Tang Dynasty wants to develop, it needs more officials.

In this way, Du Zhenglun understood that His Majesty insisted on holding the imperial examination every two years, whether for the long-term plan or for the present. The Tang Dynasty was in short supply of officials, or it could be said that there were not enough officials who could do good things.

The imperial examination has been carried out for so many years, but there are still many people in the court who hold two or more positions. Just like the grassroots that Chongwenguan often talks about, the officials at the grassroots level cannot be filled, let alone the court.

And the current Majesty is a person who attaches great importance to the villagers in various counties, and he is bound to make great efforts at the grassroots level.

What officials of every dynasty have lacked is grassroots construction, and now Your Majesty is making up for these shortcomings.

Perhaps a hundred years from now, there will no longer be a situation where there are no poor people among the upper class.

It is because the beneficiaries of the imperial examination are the poor children of the world. When these people become the majority of the beneficiaries of the imperial examination, thousands and thousands of poor children will stand up together to safeguard this interest.

Duke Zheng gave the Tang Dynasty courage and integrity, the imperial examination gave the Tang Dynasty the greatest confidence, and food gave people strength.

These are the three most powerful weapons of the current centralized emperor, and they are enough to help him gain a foothold in this world.

The current emperor is a person who is good at utilizing all resources. These resources can be people, food, or coal mines.

If we make the best use of everything, employ only the most talented, and add some fairness and justice, the world can be governed properly.

These are exactly what Your Majesty is best at.

But the current emperor is ruthless, and for this reason, he is the most severe and most timely emperor since the Wude and Zhenguan periods.

Some people say that it was Li Yuan and Gao Shilian who helped the crown prince ascend the throne, but in fact it was Fang Xiang, Zheng Gong and Zhang Sun Wuji who helped the crown prince ascend the throne.

At that time, the throne was there, and as long as the prince wanted, there would be many people pushing him to sit on the throne.

I followed Gao Ji Fu and walked around Luoyang City. Luoyang City was very big, comparable to Chang'an City, but not as crowded as Chang'an.

Du Zhenglun thought to himself that based on his understanding of His Majesty, there would definitely be major changes in the world in the future.

"Reporting to the governor, the people have been captured."

A general came to report.

There was no more shouting and yelling outside the city. The students stood in front of the city, guarded by teams of soldiers.

Gao Jifu just took a look and ordered: "This year's autumn pears are ready to be picked. Let them do hard labor and pick pears. Your Majesty loves to eat Luoyang pears. I hope Your Majesty can forgive them for picking pears."

Du Zhenglun nodded and said, "Governor Gao is fair in his dealings. Even if the students were fighting under the city walls to protect the court, he was not partial. I admire him."

"How should those students who opposed Chongwenguan be dealt with in this way?"

Gao Jifu said: "Let them come to Luoyang City to clean the streets during the day, and go to Chongwen Hall at night to copy Zheng Gong's quotations as punishment."

"Here."

Du Zhenglun sighed, "Students who make trouble day after day, what should we do?"

Gao Jifu said: "Let's make a fuss. These students are innocent. It would be a waste to kill them. It is our duty to teach them to return to the right path."

After this trip to Luoyang, Du Zhenglun prepared to return to Chang'an with satisfactory results.

When leaving Chang'an City, Du Zhenglun met the legendary woman named Wu. The woman was holding a scroll in one hand and had a sword on her waist. She was giving a lecture to a group of girls, teaching them and women how to read and write.

Du Zhenglun went to the Caoyun Supervisory Office again, where he met Xu Yushi who was busy in charge of various affairs.

After recording what needed to be recorded, Du Zhenglun finally rode his horse back to Chang'an. The horse did not go fast because he wanted to see more of the scenery along the way.

Tongguan is still on the bank of the Yellow River, and Du Zhenglun saw a group of villagers hauling coal here.

"My dear brothers, you are from Tongguan."

The strong man who was pulling a cart of honeycomb coal said, "We are from Hebei."

Du Zhenglun asked again, "Is everything okay in Hebei?"

"Everything is fine. Now that the canal transportation is smooth, we can save a lot of effort and save a lot of time and money."

Du Zhenglun laughed and said, "Canal transportation has such a wonderful use?"

The dark and strong man replied: "After the canal transportation is smooth, we can transport the coal to Guanzhong for sale in just half a month, saving a lot of time going back and forth."

It turns out that it not only saves people costs, but also makes the circulation of their goods faster.

In the past, the round trip transportation of coal would cost a lot of money, but now with the canal transportation, a lot can be saved.

Du Zhenglun doesn’t understand efficiency, he only knows that people are happy.

(End of this chapter)