Tang Dynasty, this male lion that had been sleeping and recharging its energy finally opened its sleeping eyes on this day, stood up and roared, roared towards the north, opened its sharp fangs, and bit away towards the north.
Outside Chang'an City, groups of heavily armed soldiers were camping, and carts of baggage were being transported to warehouses built outside Chang'an. This scene had not appeared for many years.
This Northern Expedition is not the usual small fight, but a real war. The enemy is naturally the old rival Turks, a grassland people who have been oppressing the people of the Tang Dynasty for more than ten years. This time, the Tang Emperor Li Shimin is finally gone. Be patient, challenge the Turks, and repay all the hatred and grudges you have had.
It is said that for the Northern Expedition this time, His Majesty mobilized more than 300,000 soldiers and horses. It is said that for the Northern Expedition this time, His Majesty raised mountains of food. It is said that for the Northern Expedition this time, His Majesty asked the Ministry of Industry to modify weapons. It is said...
Pieces of good news filled the military camps everywhere, becoming a source of discussion and bragging among the soldiers.
This is not a rumor, this is a fact. These things are deliberately spread into the military camp in order to boost the morale of the soldiers and give them confidence that they will win this war.
You must know that morale can be big or small. Often at critical moments, morale can even determine the outcome of a war. Many examples in history of winning with less and defeating more rely on morale that is not afraid of death to defeat the opponent. An army without morale will It is impossible for the army to defeat the opponent. These words are spread out so that the soldiers do not have to worry about failure in this war, but will definitely defeat the Turks.
Luo Zhang came to the city wall of Chang'an City early this morning and looked at the majestic scene outside the city. He was shocked for the first time in such a long time since he had been here.
The gathering of an army of 300,000 people is rare even in later generations. Moreover, this is an army, not a people. The majestic momentum and soaring power of its gathering are unmatched by the people gathering together. They are war machines. They are weapons that can slaughter and destroy a country!
Luo Zhang was not the only one who came to the city wall early in the morning. A group of courtiers also came to the city wall early. They came here to see the army gathering.
Instead, they have their own tasks. For example, Luo Zhang represents the Ministry of War. The responsibility of the Ministry of War is to register the number of soldiers and horses gathered from various places to facilitate the unified arrangement of the army's departure.
In addition to Luo Zhang's Ministry of War, there is also the Ministry of Household Affairs. After the Ministry of War counts the number of soldiers and horses, officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs will arrange the distribution of money and food. This is an indispensable thing when the army arrives. You can't let the army go hungry.
Of course, the arrangements for the distribution of money and food mentioned here are only temporary. When the army sets off, the expenses and various things needed by the army will be allocated by themselves from the military supplies allocated to the army, and have nothing to do with Chang'an City.
The Ministry of Husbandry is here for food and fodder for the army and horses, while the officials from the Ministry of Rites are here to prepare for the departure of the army. Your Majesty tells heaven that regarding the priests, the priest's platform has been built outside the city. It will be built in a few days. Then your Majesty will Stand on it, pray to heaven, ask God to bless the soldiers, and encourage the soldiers to fight the enemy bravely and return triumphantly!
The Ministry of Industry, after the Ministry of War has counted the number of craftsmen accompanying the army, it will arrange for the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry to join the army. Their task is to help the army repair carriages, sleds and other marching objects to prevent damage to things and delay the march of the army!
The Ordnance Supervisor, a department that Luo Zhang has never been to before, is also here this time. They want to calculate the demand for ordnance in order to allocate supplies so that the army can have complete ordnance before setting off, so that there will not be any shortage of this or that.
What surprised Luo Zhang the most was the Secret Service. They came today. Naturally, their arrival was not for fun. They wanted to quietly kill a person from the Secret Service after the Ministry of War had counted the troops. They are placed into the army in order to grasp the movements of the army in a timely manner. The most important thing is to closely supervise the words and deeds of the commander, the guards, and the captain.
If the commander, guard, or lieutenant acts rebellious, the secret agents will kill him on the spot, report to the superiors, and take over the army at the same time to prevent the army from being controlled by someone with ulterior motives, leading to greater consequences.
Of course, the rebellion here must become a fact. Only those from the Secret Service have the right to take action and take over the army. At the same time, they must present the evidence to Li Junxian. If there is no evidence, they will kill the officials. That person from the Secret Service must People will also be hunted down. Who knows why you killed officials, maybe you are the one who really wants to rebel.
In order to avoid problems, there must be more than one person from the Secret Service in an army, and these people do not know each other and serve as mutual supervision.
All this was done secretly, but the army officials knew that whenever troops were sent out, there would be people from the Secret Service hiding in the army, and they were not surprised.
Everything was going on in an orderly manner, and orders were issued one after another.
Suddenly, a long convoy of carriages caught everyone's attention, mainly because the things carried on the carriages actually emitted a golden light under the sunlight. It was really beautiful!
"What is that? How does it emit such light?" an official from the Ministry of Rites asked in surprise.
"Could it be gold? But it doesn't look like it! Besides, even if it is gold, there are so many cars, this is too much!" People from the Ministry of Industry and the Ordnance Supervisor exclaimed.
Only the Secret Intelligence Department and Luo Zhang smiled and said nothing, as if they had already guessed what it was.
As for the Ministry of Household Affairs, there was no reaction at all. After all, they sent people to transport this thing. How could they not know what it was? Otherwise, they would not have done it. It would be too derelict of duty!
When the carloads of things that glowed golden under the sunlight came closer, the officials on the city wall finally saw what they were!
"Potatoes? That's potatoes!"
"Yes, it's potatoes!"
"There are so many!"
After saying this, everyone looked at Luo Zhang.
Potatoes were presented to His Majesty by Luo Zhangjin, and His Majesty distributed them to families for planting, and finally charged 70% of the harvest as the cost of providing seeds.
But even if they charge 70%, the remaining 30% will make the families a lot of money. After all, potatoes are a new food, and the price is naturally not low. They were robbed as soon as they appeared in Chang'an, and everyone wanted to try them.
However, in recent days, the price has dropped. The main reason is that there are too many potatoes. One acre of land can produce three thousand catties, and some fertile fields can even produce three thousand five hundred catties. This is not at all what Luo Zhang said in the Tai Chi Hall at that time. Bad, proved that Luo Zhang was not lying.
It is conceivable that if all the big families have so many fiefdoms and plant potatoes, how much will they harvest? It’s strange that there aren’t many potatoes!
Being stared at by everyone, Luo Zhang's expression did not change at all. This is his achievement. Anyone who has eaten potatoes will remember that this is Luo Zhang's contribution. It is like a monument to heroes. All soldiers know that this thing is Luo Zhang made it happen, and I will always be grateful to Luo Zhang in my heart.
What's more, the reason why the army was able to launch the Northern Expedition this time was closely related to Tudou.
As mentioned before in the Tai Chi Hall, due to the severe drought around Luoyang and Hongnong, the people had no harvest. They originally wanted to use the disaster relief grain stored in Luoyang to meet the urgent need, but who knew that the grain there was secretly sold by the Changsun family? Went to Gaoguli.
His Majesty Long Yan was furious and beheaded all those who were stealing and selling food and grass. However, even though the people were beheaded, the problem was not solved.
In desperation, His Majesty could only allocate the food used in the Northern Expedition to Luoyang for disaster relief.
If we don't do this, the people may rebel.
However, the grain and grass used for the Northern Expedition were diverted for disaster relief, and the Northern Expedition naturally ran aground. At this critical moment, Luo Zhang offered potatoes, which revived the Northern Expedition, which was about to be aborted. The battle was abandoned.
For this reason, His Majesty rewarded Luo Zhang heavily, and his title was upgraded from Baron to Viscount, which was a big step forward. The reason was Tudou's achievements!
Everyone envied Luo Zhang, thinking that Luo Zhang was so lucky that he could even discover things like potatoes, and was rewarded heavily for this. Everyone fantasized about how great it would be if they donated this thing, but this was In his dream, if they could have something like potatoes, Luo Zhang would probably go to him immediately.
After all, potatoes are a specialty of South America. They were only brought to this land in the Ming Dynasty. If they appear at this time, doesn't it mean that someone has been to South America? Naturally, he has to ask about the situation, and maybe he can find a fellow countryman who has traveled through time. .
