Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 211 Dazhong Ten Years (Please give me double monthly tickets at the end of the month)
"Crackling..."

With the sound of firecrackers a year old, the spring breeze sent warmth to Tusu.

When New Year's Day arrived, the sound of firecrackers rang out in front of every house, which also represented that the Tang Dynasty had entered the tenth year of Dazhong.

In Chang'an City, the grand court meeting was carried out as usual and ended uneventfully.

After the grand court meeting was over, Li Chen summoned Linghu Tao, Pei Xiu, Lu Jun, Wang Zongshi and others to have a meal in the side hall of Zicheng.

In the side hall, Li Chen was sitting on a golden platform, eating his meal leisurely, while on his left and right were officials from the Southern Court and the Northern Court, who were seated in the form of the Three Prime Ministers and the Four Nobles.

Linghu Tao was busy eating, Lu Jun was not in the mood, and Pei Xiu seemed to want to say something but stopped himself several times.

Ma Gongru, Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang were drinking and chatting happily, while Wang Zongshi was isolated and drank alone.

The atmosphere in the side hall became strangely calm until Li Chen raised his glass and said:
"The state affairs are difficult, and I will still rely on you this year. Thank you for your help!"

"I am ashamed to accept this responsibility. I rely entirely on your Majesty's wise judgment..."

Everyone sang in unison, as if they had rehearsed it.

Seeing everyone's attitude, Li Chen smiled proudly and suggested:

"Although the country is peaceful now, there are still many problems with skin eczema. If you have any current affairs, please feel free to speak up!"

Faced with Li Chen's complacency, everyone was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say.

There was a severe famine in Huainan, and hundreds of thousands of hungry people were still hovering on the line between life and death. In this situation, it was actually said that "the world is at peace". What should the ministers say?
The emperor has already set the tone. If they say these things, wouldn’t that be singing a different tune from the emperor?
Because of this, Linghu Tao and others remained silent, but they never expected that Pei Xiu would actually speak.

"Your Majesty, I do have something to say!"

Li Chen looked over and saw that it was Pei Xiu who had sorted out the finances. He showed his generosity and laughed loudly:

"Prime Minister Pei, is there anything you need to report?"

In his opinion, Pei Xiu's memorial was nothing more than a matter concerning the treasury of money and grain, but he did not expect Pei Xiu to bow and say:
"It has been more than ten years since the new era was established, but the crown prince has not yet been appointed, and the country is not stable."

"I ask Your Majesty to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible to stabilize the foundation of the country!"

There was nothing wrong with Pei Xiu's words. After all, Li Chen was now forty-six years old, and the six emperors of the Tang Dynasty since Shunzong had not lived past the age of fifty. Therefore, the matter of establishing a crown prince was imminent.

Moreover, according to Pei Xiu's observation, as the emperor gradually grew older, officials from the Southern Court and the Northern Court also began to choose princes to side with. Among them, most of those from the Southern Court chose the eldest son, Prince Yun Li Wen, while most of those from the Northern Court chose the more favored Prince Kui Li Zi.

If the foundation of the country is not stable, factional strife is likely to break out again, and the Tang Dynasty can no longer withstand the turmoil of factional strife.

It was for this reason that Pei Xiu boldly advised Li Chen to establish a crown prince as early as possible to avoid factional strife among his sons as they competed for the throne.

"What do you think, sir?"

The smile on Li Chen's face suddenly froze. After a moment, he put down his wine glass and glanced at everyone calmly.

"I believe that Your Majesty has made a wise decision."

"I second the proposal..."

Linghu Tao and Lu Jun successively expressed their non-interference, but Ma Gongru, one of the Four Nobles, bowed and said, "I think that Li Zi, the Prince of Kui, is intelligent and should be made the Crown Prince!"

"I second the motion!" Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang followed suit. After all, they all knew that Li Chen liked Li Zi.

In their view, the emperor's choice of a crown prince was nothing more than a choice between Li Wen and Li Zi.

But they didn't expect that Li Chen's way of thinking was different from everyone else. At his age, he actually found a third way.

"If I establish a prince, wouldn't I be an idler?"

Li Chen opened his mouth slowly, and everyone in the side hall broke out in cold sweats. Ma Gongru and the other two were even more speechless. They opened their mouths again and again, but dared not say anything.

Even Pei Xiu, who made this suggestion, was silent at this moment.

If a prince is appointed as the crown prince, the emperor will become an idler. Doesn't the emperor mean that they want to use the appointment of a crown prince to undermine him?

Anyone who dares to respond to such an answer would be wishing he had died.

"Haha! Just kidding!"

Li Chen suddenly laughed out loud, and everyone else followed suit and laughed awkwardly.

Although the atmosphere in the hall had improved, no one thought Li Chen was joking.

For a moment, everyone turned the topic to other places, until Li Chen was about to take the "longevity medicine", and then the ministers hurried away, not daring to stay.

Linghu Tao and Lu Jun walked the fastest, Pei Xiu was in the middle, while Ma Gongru, Wang Jufang and Wang Guichang walked behind Pei Xiu, and the last one was Wang Zongshi.

Looking at Pei Xiu's back, Ma Gongru frowned and said, "Your Majesty is now forty-six years old. If you don't appoint a crown prince, Prince Yun will definitely compete with Prince Kui for the throne."

"It's fine if we just keep on stalemate like this," Wang Guichang interrupted.
"King Kui is only twelve years old now. If the stalemate continues for a few more years, King Kui will grow up and more officials will support him."

"That's true..." Wang Jufang also agreed, and then the three of them walked towards Beisi, while Wang Zongshi, who was following behind them, stopped.

Soon, Wang Zonghui's figure came hurriedly from the east. Wang Zongshi glanced at him, then raised his leg and continued to move forward.

"Brother..."

"How did things go?"

Wang Zonghui followed, but Wang Zongshishi asked without even turning his head.

In response, Wang Zonghui flattered: "Prince Yun has taken care of everything, and he is closer to you and Deputy Envoy Qi."

"That's good..."

Wang Zonghui did not tell Wang Zonghui about the matter of Zichen Palace because there was no need.

As for why he chose Prince of Yun Li Wen, it was mainly because Ma Gongru and others chose Prince of Kui Li Zi, and they had repeatedly excluded him, so it was naturally impossible for him to flatter the three of them.

Now he has Gao Pian outside and Bu Yuanshi inside, while those guys in the Southern Court have always been committed to establishing the eldest son as the heir.

Li Wen took up a long position, so no matter what, he should be the one to be appointed.

Thinking of this, Wang Zongshi felt much better, but Wang Zonghui said, "Brother, Wang Maoxuan..."

Hearing this name, Wang Zongshi stopped because this person posed a great threat to him.

The Shence Army was divided into left and right, with the highest rank being lieutenant. Wang Zongshi was the lieutenant of the Left Shence Army, and Wang Maoxuan was the lieutenant of the Right Shence Army.

Wang Maoxuan never appears in crowded places, he just obeys the arrangements of the Supreme.

If the Supreme chooses Li Zi, the Prince of Kui, then it would be hard to say who would be the Crown Prince.

But when Wang Zongshi thought of what the emperor had just said, he temporarily felt relieved.

At least judging from what the emperor just said, he has no intention of establishing a crown prince in the short term.

As long as the selection is uncertain, I have a chance...

While thinking, he also responded to Wang Zonghui: "Don't worry about him."

After the voice fell, the two of them walked out of the palace and headed towards Beisi.

At the same time, Pei Xiu, who had just returned to the Southern Court, had no intention of governing the country, but was recalling what the emperor had just said.

After serving as prime minister for several years, he had a general understanding of the emperor's temperament.

Although the emperor appeared to be magnanimous, he was actually very vindictive.

I have forced the emperor to say these words today, and I am sure that this will not end well.

Rather than being dismissed, it is better to take the initiative to resign from office.

However, it is now the first month of the year, and he is about to resign immediately after the emperor said those words. This actually seems a bit threatening.

Pei Xiu finally decided to wait until the first month of the year was over before submitting his resignation.

After his thoughts came to an end, Pei Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that being a prime minister in the court was full of fear and anxiety.

However, compared to his own frightening steps, the man who used to be frightened step by step now feels that the road ahead is smooth.

"Crackling..."

In Fenghuang Mountain in Longyou, hundreds of officials from Linzhou, Zhibai and thousands of martyrs' families stood outside the national funeral cemetery.

As the sound of firecrackers rang out, Liu Jilong took the lead and walked onto the shrine and into the Martyrs' Shrine.

As in previous years, he bowed his head and burned incense in front of the main stele of the Martyrs' Shrine, and then walked into the cemetery. Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, Zhang Chang and others followed suit. In the team, Li Shangyin was ranked fourth in the line because of his official position as Linzhou Beijia, so he watched Liu Jilong bow his head and burn incense in front of the main stele from a close distance, and also saw Gao Jinda and others follow suit.

When it was his turn, although he felt uncomfortable, he still knelt down and kowtowed, burned incense to the main stele, and then walked into the cemetery.

Here, 1,246 martyrs' tombs are arranged in a stepped manner leading up to the top of the mountain.

With their backs against Phoenix Mountain and facing Didao City, one can clearly see what kind of life their relatives of martyrs lead.

"Li Beijia, the wine is ready."

Li Shangyin was awakened by the soldiers' call, and a pot of wine was handed to him, and he took it subconsciously.

There is a prohibition on alcohol in Longyou. Since brewing wine requires grain, drinking is only allowed during certain festivals.

However, in front of Li Shangyin, there were thousands of bottles of rice wine.

"Just place the wine in front of the tombstone, and let the martyrs' relatives pay tribute to them later."

Zhang Chang stayed behind deliberately to remind Li Shangyin what he should do.

Li Shangyin nodded as if he understood, and then he saw everyone following Liu Jilong's footsteps, walking past the tombstones one by one.

Every time they passed a tombstone, someone would put down the pot of wine in his hand, until a pot of rice wine was placed in front of each of the 1,246 tombstones. Then many of the people left one after another, while the officials continued to stay in the cemetery.

Apart from Zhibai, there were no more than 200 officials in Didao, most of whom were middle and lower-level military officers such as cooks and captains.

They stood in front of the first row of tombstones, quietly waiting for something.

Soon, the martyrs' families began to walk out of the Martyrs' Shrine and head towards the tombstones of their deceased relatives.

Some of the martyrs' relatives have died for several years, but they still can't help sobbing when they see their relatives' tombstones.

Some of the martyrs' relatives lost their loved ones less than a year ago, but they have already walked out of the haze and are just quietly wiping the entire tombstone with wine.

Looking at this scene, Li Shangyin couldn't describe the feeling in his heart.

He had never seen any of the martyrs here, so naturally he had no regrets, but he felt a little uncomfortable unconsciously.

He felt like there was air in his chest, which he couldn't hold in or let out, and he felt very uncomfortable.

He looked at Liu Jilong, but saw Liu Jilong squatting in front of a tombstone, wiping it with rice wine.

Zhang Chang had been paying attention to Li Shangyin. When he saw him looking at the commander, he immediately explained in a low voice: "That is Zhao Qian's tombstone."

"His family stayed in Ganzhou, but his tombstone was still erected here."

"He, the other five brothers, and I, Ma Shishi, Li Shishi, and Geng Shishi were the first soldiers to fight with the general."

"It's just that their luck was not as good as ours. They died in the battle to retake Ganzhou. Otherwise, they would at least be a captain now."

Zhang Chang's tone was somewhat melancholy, but Li Shangyin said: "When I passed by just now, I saw some small tablets standing next to some tombstones. I wonder which tablet is..."

"That is a monument that records their life stories." Zhang Chang explained slowly:

"Marshal Jie said that the life stories on the tombstones were too brief, and that a person's life story was summarized in one sentence. He wanted future generations to understand them better, so he visited their relatives and wrote a monument for each of them."

"It's just a pity that many people here are single and don't have wives and children to tell about their past, so there are not many martyrs with monuments to their deeds."

"I remember that Marshal Jie also said that history is like this too. A simple page of paper or a paragraph can summarize a person's life, but it is something that really happened and is what a person left behind after living for decades."

Zhang Chang let out a long sigh, and before Li Shangyin could continue asking questions, he saw Liu Jilong stand up and walk out of the cemetery.

Not only him, many officials followed him out, which meant that today's memorial service was over.

Half an hour later, everyone went down the mountain and returned to Didao City, and Li Shangyin also returned to his courtyard.

He sat in the study in silence for a long time, thinking about what he had seen and heard in the past few days, as well as what had just happened, especially what Zhang Chang said to him.

After a while, he stood up, ground the ink, picked up the pen, wrote the words "New Year's Day Memorial to the Martyrs of Longyou", and then continued writing.

At the same time, Liu Jilian, who had returned to the Protectorate, also held a brief meeting in the main hall of the Protectorate.

There were not many people in the small meeting, only Liu Jilong, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, Zhang Chang and Cao Mao.

"Have all the troops from Hezhou been withdrawn?"

Liu Jilong asked Zhang Chang, and Zhang Chang nodded and said, "They have all withdrawn to their respective states. As for Lun Kongre, he is probably fighting fiercely with the monks and maids in Kuzhou."

"Yes," Liu Jilong nodded, then looked at Cao Mao: "How is the matter of Kou Ma?"

Cao Mao bowed first and said, "The more than 7,400 people in Lizhou were arranged to go to Daxia County and Weiyuan County."

"On the eve of New Year's Eve, more than 4,000 people brought by Yu Conghui and Wang Tao from Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road were also restored to good status and arranged to go to Baohan in Hezhou."

"I have calculated that the total number of people we received from various states last year was 21,467."

At present, Cao Mao is in charge of the horse trade with the south, so he is naturally clear about these situations.

Not only that, he was also responsible for the intelligence work of the "Three Immortals Towers" set up by dental dealers in various states.

It is called intelligence work, but in fact it is to send the information that can be obtained from the people in various states to Didao via carrier pigeons.

However, Longyou is sparsely populated and mountainous, so there are many birds of prey in the mountains and a lot of carrier pigeons are consumed. Therefore, except for extremely serious intelligence, each building reports once a month.

"During the twelfth lunar month, nothing major happened in the south. The only major event was probably the replacement of the governor of Dongchuan by Wei Youyi, the former assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the transport commissioner of salt and iron."

"Yu Conghui, Wang Tao and others had already told me before they went south that if Wei Youyi wanted to stop the government's horse trade in Dongchuan, they would find a way to win over Wei Youyi."

In order to do business, Yu Conghui, Wang Tao and others also made a lot of efforts for Longyou.

Knowing that nothing major happened in the south that could affect the horse-trade, Liu Jilong nodded with relief and turned his gaze to Gao Jinda.

Gao Jinda saw this and immediately bowed and said, "There are now 47,640 households and 199,627 people in Longyou."

"There are 1,424,357 acres of cultivated land, and another 346,511 acres of land that will be reclaimed in one or two years."

"Based on last year's pace, we can reclaim at least 200,000 mu of wasteland for reclamation this year."

"In addition, Longyou has 92 pastures in Hezhou, Linzhou, Weizhou, Lanzhou, and Minzhou."

"There are 2,645 breeding horses, 7,654 riding horses, 36,260 draft horses, more than 56,227 cattle, and 185,000 sheep on the ranch..."

"In the treasury, there are still nearly 130,000 strings of gold, silver and copper coins, more than 426,000 dan of grain, more than 43,000 dan of beans, more than 337,000 pieces of linen, and brocade..."

Gao Jinda reported all the situations in Longyou like a treasure, and finally concluded:
"As long as the Fuku Ranch continues to exist, it can still support the military and political operations in Longyou for 14 months."

"In addition, the tax revenue of the seven states in Longnan will return to normal this year. According to the tax rate of 50% tax to 100%, the tax grain this year should not exceed 400,000 dan. The other types of silk, linen, and ivory merchants will earn at least 100,000 guan."

"At present, the military and political expenditure of the Protectorate is more than 232,000 dan for the army and 40,000 guan for various miscellaneous items."

"The government expenditure is over 126,000 dan, and various miscellaneous items are 50,000 guan."

"All told, we should be able to make a surplus of 30,000 shi and 10,000 guan this year."

Longxi, as the granary of Longyou, was able to maintain a surplus even though it had to support 16,200 soldiers, 1,700 officials, and 5,400 craftsmen. This made everyone proud.

Although life will be difficult without the rewards from the Tang Dynasty, with the increase in population and agricultural development, life in Longyou will continue to get better and better.

Seeing Gao Jinda finished speaking, Zhang Chang bowed and said:
"General, last year the army had 8,647 horses, but 729 of them were lost in the war. We need to replenish them from the ranch."

Liu Jilong nodded: "Add more! You ask Gao Changshi to write a note, and I'll circle it in red."

"Yes!" Zhang Chang agreed, and Liu Jilong also asked, "What has Li Shangyin been doing these days?"

"I will take him to understand the situation in the state government, and after he is familiar with the situation, I will send him to Changle County to lead the people of Changle County to build water conservancy projects and reclaim wasteland."

"By the way, Marshal Jie, Li Biejia wants to see you."

Zhang Chang responded to Liu Jilong and mentioned that Li Shangyin wanted to meet him.

Liu Jilong naturally would not refuse this, after all, he liked Li Shangyin's poems very much.

The reason why we didn’t meet a few days ago was mainly because we were too busy during the New Year and couldn’t spare the time.

Now that he is done with his work, he can finally meet Li Shangyin properly.

"It's all right now, send someone to call him over."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)