Late Tang

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In the fifth year of Qianfu, on August [-]th, it is Christmas in the Tang Dynasty, Yingtian Festival.

Christmas in the Tang Dynasty means the birthday of the Holy One, which is also the birthday of the emperor.The emperor's birthday, Jianjie, became a festival, which began with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty.Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was born on the fifth day of the eighth month, and all officials are invited to build Christmas on the fifth day of the eighth month every year, which is called Qianqiu Festival. The whole country celebrates it and has a three-day holiday.

Since then, the birthdays of the emperors in the Tang Dynasty are almost all statutory festivals, but the names of each Christmas are different.

Tang Xuanzong's birthday is the Qianqiu Festival, and his son Suzong's birthday is the Tiancheng Diping Festival, or the Diping Festival.Xianzong's birthday was originally called "Jingsheng Festival", and later changed to "Jingsheng Festival" during Wuzong's time; Wenzong's birthday was called "Qingcheng Festival"; Wuzong's birthday was called "Qingyang Festival"; It is called "Shouchang Festival"; Yizong's birthday is called "Yanqing Festival";

But today's emperor's birthday is called "Yingtian Festival", and Xuanzong was born on the same month and the same day.

The Son of Heaven's Christmas is a very grand festival, except that all parts of the world will celebrate with the whole country, and there will be a three-day holiday.

As usual, all sorts of strange things, such as Shangzun title and Xian Xiangrui, also took advantage of this time.

Lu Xie and the ministers of the Zhengshitang led a group of officials to honor the emperor with the title: Emperor Shengshen Congrui Renzhe Mingxiao.

At the same time, Xiangrui Bujin from all over the world continued to play.

Xichuan Jiedu offered detailed auspiciousness: a pair of Chimian.

The Tiande army offered Xiangrui: a white wolf.

Jing Haijun offers details: four white elephants.

Zhen Haijun also presented Xiangrui: a pair of white foxes and two white deer.

For a time, all kinds of white fur animals from all over the world were unlucky. White wolves, white apes, white elephants, white foxes, white deer, white rabbits, white bears, white tigers, etc., all kinds of white fur animals that were originally rare, all of a sudden Countless were captured by feudal towns, states and counties from all over the country, competing to contribute to Chang'an.

Those who can't catch these white fur animals can only find ways to find all kinds of Jiahe and Ganoderma lucidum, and even all kinds of tree joints to offer to Chang'an.

After all, there are real objects, and some local officials even boasted that Bodhi seeds fell from the sky, and many Ganoderma lucidum with the words "Long Live the Tang Dynasty" growing on the roof beams.There are also such as the rising water in the river, the thousand-year-old tortoise floating out, and the inscription on the world's peace.There are even mountain cracks, outflowing sweet springs and so on.

In short, as soon as the emperor passed his birthday, the whole world was in chaos.

But these nonsense are generally some states and counties below.

As for the commanders-in-chief of the towns, at this time, they usually grit their teeth and donate a sum of money and food to the emperor, and the number is not small.If it is less than [-] guan, it is embarrassing to send it to Chang'an.

The donations from towns all over the world are getting less and less, and the income from the two taxes is not enough to pay. The emperor also relies on several major festivals every year to collect donations from towns to fill the emptiness of the national treasury.

The festival commanders of the towns paid tribute to the emperor's birthday, and they also tried their best to make each one more expensive than the other.

Needless to say, the vassals and towns in previous years were naturally the most valuable tributes paid by Li Jing, the commander in chief of the town.The year before last, on the day of the festival, Li Jing paid 100 million guan as a tribute.Last year, it paid tribute worth 500 million guan in one go.

Everyone is guessing how much tribute Li Jing will pay this year. Some people speculate that Li Jing will pay tens of millions of tribute this year.After all, this year, Li Jing was conferred the title of County King, took down Liaodong and Liaoxi, and owned the territory of sixteen states. Dengzhou's business is also extremely prosperous, how could he not show his loyalty to the emperor.

However, Li Jing's tribute had not yet arrived, but the congratulatory gifts of Sanchuan Jiedu Envoy, Xichuan Jiedu Envoy Chen Jingxuan, Dongchuan Jiedu Envoy Yang Shili, and Shannan Dongdao Jiedu Envoy Niu Xu attracted the attention of Chang'an people.The three confidantes of Tian Lingzi who won the position of Sanchuan Jiedushi by relying on gambling, this time brought a full hundred ships of rare treasures, gold and silver, with a total value of 1000 million guan.

The tribute of these three Jiedu envoys shocked the whole Chang'an.

Guarding Tianfu and Shuzhong, occupying Sanchuan, this can be regarded as the most prosperous place in the Tang Dynasty without war.

However, it was not voluntary for the three people to pay so much money at once. In fact, all the tributes paid by the three people added up to about 300 million guan. In order to save face, Tian Lingzi tripled the number and got 1000 million guan .

Originally, what Tian Lingzi asked was for them to get 1000 million, but even if Sanchuan was rich, the three of them had searched desperately since they entered Sichuan, but 1000 million is not a small number, and in the end they worked hard to get 300 million.They also know that Tian Lingzi is under pressure now, the court is constantly fighting, and the source of wealth in the southeast has been subjected to military chaos, and the number of confessions to the court is decreasing.

If Tian Lingzi wanted to be in charge of the government, he had to let the emperor concentrate on playing, but the inner treasury had no money, and the emperor was not happy to play, so his position was not guaranteed.

Especially since there was no news from the tax officer and city ship envoy he sent to Dengzhou, and Li Jing did not send a penny to Chang'an in July, Tian Lingzi is now more and more nervous.This time, Tian Lingzi hoped to get a large sum of money for the Yingtian Festival, which would satisfy the emperor's needs and support the imperial court.

But not everyone will send big gifts to the emperor at this time.

Yu Jian of the Zhenwu Army gave the Son of Heaven ten horses, and Xin Yan of the Datong Army gave the Son of Heaven nine bricks from the Great Wall of Yan during the Warring States Period.

Cui Anqian, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, gave the emperor a pair of calligraphy and paintings written by himself, and Zheng Congyu, the Jiedu envoy of Hedong, gave the emperor a handful of soil from Hedong.

The tribute presented to the emperor by the former prime minister Zheng Tian is a picture scroll depicting the daily life of ordinary people in Fengxiang.

......

The emperor Li Xuan, who returned from playing polo, together with Zhang Tai, Ximen Sigong, Yang Fugong, Tian Lingzi and other courtiers, under the guidance of the servants, inspected various tribute gifts and gift lists.

Everyone's faces were very happy, and the gift they received this time was very rich.

"It's my birthday, and I can make a fortune." Li Yan looked at the gift list registered by the servant, and Sanchuan alone paid 1000 million guan.In addition, Gao Pian from Huainan Town and Zhou Bao from Zhenhai Town both paid 100 million guan.

Even Qi Kerang, the queen who drove away Yang Zhizhi from the Taining Army, Shi Pu, who drove away Jieshuai Zhixiang from the Probation Army, and Duan Yanmo, the newly appointed Jiedu envoy of the Tianping Army, each paid 100 million guan.He heard that the Probation Army, the Taining Army, and the Tianping Army had suffered from banditry for several years, but he did not expect that these three men could pay such a heavy tribute.Really loyal, he said with a smile, "Duan Yanmo, the governor of Tianping Army, is very loyal. I will add him as General Zuo Jinwuwei. Qi Kerang of Taining Army and Shi Pu of Probation Army are also loyal. Officially decreed to be promoted to Jiedushi of this town."

The few big eunuchs present naturally knew how the millions of tributes of these people came from, it was nothing more than forced apportionment from the common people and wealthy families.Moreover, Qi Kerang and Shi Pu couldn't be regarded as loyal, but because they drove away the civil servants appointed by the court, they mutinied and came to power.In the final analysis, they are all local military leaders.However, no one said much.

Although Qi Kerang, Shi Pu, and Duan Yanmo were not loyal courtiers, the money they sent over was real money.

Tian Lingzi smiled, and did not stop in front of those rare treasures, but stopped in front of Cui Anqian's calligraphy and picture.

"This birthday gift from the Heavenly Official is very special."

Li Yan just glanced at him, "Cui Shangshu is also a member of the Cui family, and he only wrote adverbs. I don't know whether to say that he is hardworking or stingy. However, Zheng Tian and Zheng Congxuan are also all of them. That's it. If the imperial court is like them, my birthday will be fine." "

"The Cui and Zheng clans can be regarded as famous families in the world, especially I heard that the two clans are now joining forces with Li Jiyu to engage in maritime trade in Dengzhou, earning a lot of money every year, but on His Majesty's birthday, they only give one pair or two for a dollar. Worthless calligraphy and painting, hehe." Tian Lingzi smiled sinisterly at the side.

Li Xuan frowned when he heard this, obviously a little annoyed, but in the end he didn't say anything.

"But I don't know what the birthday gift of King Andong is?" Li Xuan, who had been staring at the registration book, suddenly asked with a frown.Since this year, Li Jing has donated 100 million yuan to Chang'an every month. This is really the most gratifying thing for Li Xuan.The continuous flow of money from Dengzhou made Li Xuan very fond of Li Jing, the pillar city of the country.

However, since July until now, Chang'an has not received any gifts from Dengzhou, which made him feel a little puzzled.

Tian Lingzi, who was on the side, saw that the emperor finally asked about this matter, and immediately snarled at the servant, who immediately brought a set of scrolls over.

Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, the ministers Cui and Zheng all sent some clay for calligraphy and painting, could it be that Li Jing also gave him paintings?

"Is it another painting?"

Tian Lingzi smiled secretly, "Open it and you'll know."

He already knew what Li Jing sent. This year's Yingtian Festival, there is neither gold, silver, copper coins, nor silk cloth, nor salt tea, nor tribute wine and rose dew, nor glassware, binoculars, war horses, etc. These famous horses.

Since Li Jing sent envoys to Dengzhou when he was seven years old, he has only sent one painting so far.

The two servants unfolded the scroll, and what was displayed in front of everyone was a map.

In the upper right corner of this map, which is the size of half a room, there is a line of large characters written in thin gold fonts: "Map of the Situation of Andong Mountains and Rivers"

On the huge map, in the vast Liaohe River Basin, there are many rivers, and then there are the undulating Yanshan Mountains, Yinshan Mountains, Qianshan Mountains, Changbai Mountains, etc.On the mountains and hills and the Liaohe Plain, there are cities and fortresses depicted everywhere, which are the cities of the Tang Dynasty.

Surrounding these red-bottomed areas are Xi, Tatar, Khitan, Shiwei, Goguryeo, Silla, Bohai, and Dongying.

Looking at the overall situation, the town has already occupied the most victorious place, and has formed a prairie fire. The entire Northeast is trembling under the iron hooves of Datang!

The young emperor Li Yan looked up at the huge map for a long time, his face gradually flushed, his breathing was involuntary and his chest heaved continuously.

Looking at this map, the young emperor couldn't help but aroused great pride in his heart.At that time, Emperor Taizong personally drove to conquer Liaodong, and Emperor Gaozong even mobilized troops to conquer Liaodong for more than ten years, and laid down the huge Andong Protectorate.After the Anshi Rebellion, Datang had completely lost the land of Anton, not only the land of Anton, but also Anxi, Anbei, etc.

Looking at this picture, the young emperor Li Xuan suddenly had a new understanding of Li Jing, the town, and the land of Andong.

He stood in front of the picture and remained silent for a long time.

Tian Lingzi and Lu Xie looked at each other, both of them were worried.

Li Xuan returned to Hanliang Hall, still thinking about the birthday gift Li Jing presented.

Although Tian Lingzi took the opportunity to mention to him just now that Li Jing had stopped paying tribute to the imperial court since July, he vaguely accused Li Jing of having a different heart and supporting himself with self-respect.But Zhang Tai refuted aloud, and said something he didn't know.That was before Lu Xie and Tian Lingzi sent tax collectors to Dengzhou to collect taxes.Moreover, the taxation is extremely heavy, requiring two-thirds of the tax revenue of the entire Dengzhou from the very beginning.

Zhang Tai explained to him the situation of the states under Li Jing's rule. Although there were [-] states, most of them were newly recovered states.Even the Qingziqi states in Ziqing Town were completely destroyed by Wang Jingwu before.Moreover, although the sea trade in Dengzhou has achieved some results, Li Jing spent most of the money earned by the sea trade in the past few years to receive refugees and refugees, buy food for disaster relief, and resettle the people.

On the one hand, it has to be used for the army, and the town government has been dispatched several times to fight for the country, fighting Youzhou, conquering Daibei, flattening the Central Plains, and restoring Andong. The money obtained from business and trade is used for military operations.

Moreover, 200 million guan of salt, tea and iron taxes are paid to the court every year, and 200 million guan of money is also paid every year.Li Jing is so loyal to the emperor and the country, he also told the previous Gao Pian and others to intercept Li Jing's business routes, seize Li Jing's merchant goods, and seal Li Jing's shops.

This time, Li Jing did not pay tribute to the imperial court. It was not that Li Jing was unfaithful, but that the battle against Goguryeo in Liaodong had reached Guan Jian, and Li Jing spent most of his money and food on the battle in Liaodong and road construction in Liaodong and Liaoxi. Fortification and resettlement of the people.At the same time, Gao Pian sent troops to the town, and Li Jing sent [-] troops south to help in the battle, but Gao Pian didn't pay for food, so Li Jing had to spend a lot of money to support the army going south.

Fighting on both sides, and building roads and cities in Liaodong and Liaoxi, and resettling a large number of immigrants, Li Jing has no extra money at all.

Zhang Tai also told Li Xuan that Li Jing had issued war bonds in Dengzhou and borrowed money from Fu Fu to use his troops.

The effect of these words was very good, Li Xuan didn't doubt Li Jing's meaning at all.Especially after seeing that map, he was even more excited about what Li Jing had done.After an explanation, he immediately understood what Li Jing had done.Not only was he dissatisfied with Li Jing's failure to pay tribute money, but also very dissatisfied with Tian Lingzi and Lu Xie who went to raise taxes on Li Jing behind his back.

"Your Majesty, Li Jiyu said that during the 100th and 200th months of this year, 200 million yuan will be sent to the imperial court every month, of which [-] million will be tax money, and [-] million will be tax money for salt, tea and iron. As for other contributions, Li Jiyu said that he would suspend it and use this money to fully support the war in the Northeast and the suppression of bandits in the south."

It was rare that the little emperor nodded in agreement without much consideration.

But now Li Xuan is not thinking about making contributions, he is still excited by Anton's battle to expand the territory.

After this Yingtian Festival, 17-year-old Li Xuan can be said to be the most passionate time.He has gradually lost interest in horse-riding archery and ball-fighting in the palace.When he saw the picture of mountains and rivers, he suddenly had an idea, like Emperor Taizong, to personally conquer Liaodong, gallop outside the customs, and establish an unworldly achievement like Taizong.

He dragged his cheeks, his mind racing with thoughts. (To be continued.)