The night before, Li Shimin thought Li Yunze might be a Turk with a mental problem.
But on the second night, after hearing the face-to-face report from Wu Yan, the captain of Baiqi Division, he immediately became uneasy.
"You said he brought fifty cattle from the yard?"
Li Shimin stared with disbelief, "Did Fang Qing leave it in that yard?"
"His Majesty."
Wu Yan's expression was extremely solemn, "I guarantee your majesty with the heads on my neck that there are no cattle in Fanggong's courtyard. I checked before and found that not to mention the cattle, even the local dogs were there when Fanggong's people left." Taken away."
After a moment of silence, Li Shimin finally asked, "Where did the fifty cattle come from?"
This question really got to the point. Wu Yan couldn't explain it and could only be speechless.
Li Shimin, who sensed something supernatural, paced back and forth for a while with his hands behind his back, then stopped and said, "Go and call Fang Qing into the palace!"
】
Wu Yan didn't bother to talk about the palace. The palace was already locked. Summoning important officials of the imperial court to enter the palace at this time would cause uproar and panic.
That's not something he needs to care about.
When Fang Xuanling was brought to Li Shimin, even with his strategizing head, he didn't expect anything to be urgent enough to require him to enter the palace overnight.
Then, he learned from the emperor that Li Yunze had brought fifty cattle from his yard...the yard that once belonged to him.
"There are only six cattle in total in my village." Fang Xuanling's first reaction was to tell him off, "When I sold Zhuangzi to that person, I had already packed up everything." Let’s go. Not to mention the cattle, not even the local dogs are left.
One. "
After clearing himself, he asked, "Is this serious?"
There was no reason not to be suspicious. After all, Datang's cattle were strategic materials, and each one had to be registered with the government office.
Suddenly fifty heads appeared, and the first reaction was to doubt whether it was real.
Wu Yan, who looked serious, saluted, "I saw it with my own eyes, and even took the opportunity to touch and pinch it. It is indeed a farm cow with a nose ring."
Fang Xuanling was still waiting to ask again, but Li Shimin said calmly, "I believe him."
Just such a sentence made Wu Yan's eyes turn red, and he leaned over to salute the emperor heavily.
Now Fang Xuanling had nothing to say.
The emperor wins people's hearts, how can he play a negative role?
"This matter... If it weren't for a blind eye, I wouldn't be able to figure it out." Fang Xuanling shook his head repeatedly, and then saluted the emperor, "Your Majesty, as soon as the city gate opens tomorrow, I will go and see with my own eyes what is going on."
"I'll go with you!"
This night, many people had insomnia.
After the city gate was opened at dawn, Li Shimin, with red eyes, rode his horse and led a large group of people straight to Zhuangzi.
He was too impatient and came too early.
When we entered Zhuangzi, breakfast had just started.
Seeing the large number of knights appearing, the people in Zhuangzi were a little flustered, but not too frightened.
After all, this is the foot of the Emperor, right on the edge of Chang'an City. Hundreds of thousands of troops from all directions guarded Chang'an City. No kind of horse thieves and bandits dared to massacre Zhuangzi in broad daylight. That's not asking for money, that's digging graves and erecting monuments for the whole family.
According to custom, the old man stepped forward and saluted, "May I ask what you are doing in Lijiazhuang?"
"Hahaha~~~"
Fang Xuanling, who also followed on horseback, laughed loudly after coming down, and stepped forward and said, "I am Fang Xuanling. This village was sold by a certain family to the owner Li the day before yesterday."
The common people didn't know that Fang Xuanling was an important minister of the dynasty. After all, a group of illiterate people didn't even know the emperor's name, let alone a certain minister.
I just saw that everyone was dressed in luxurious clothes and had extraordinary bearing. They must be nobles in the city. I didn't dare to neglect them and could only be submissive.
Over there, Li Shimin couldn't bear the politeness, so he walked directly to the largest courtyard in Zhuangzi, where the owner lived, with his riding whip in hand.
But when he was about to reach the door, he stopped.
Because after walking around the house, I saw dozens of cattle tied to a row of weeping willows by the stream not far away.
Li Shimin immediately stepped over, looked around and asked Lao Niu several times without saying anything. He even waved his whip and gave Lao Niu a few lashes.
Seeing is believing, this is it.
Indeed, fifty cattle were tied here.
After confirming, Li Shimin frowned and turned to look at the old man, "It's cold in early spring, why don't you send the cattle into the cowshed? Just tie them outside like this, what a loss if they fall ill!"
The people on Zhuangzi looked at each other, saying this like their own cattle.
Li Shimin was not in the right position, no matter how you explain it, he was not in the right position.
It is precisely because of this that he wants to work hard to prove himself and prove that becoming the emperor is the most correct choice and that he can do better than his elder brother.
The Tang Dynasty he took over was not as wealthy as many people imagined.
In fact, after the continuous fighting in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, the Eighteenth Route Army rebelled against the king, and the Seventy-two Route Army fought in smoke and dust, the national power of the Tang Dynasty was actually very weak.
Not to mention the large-scale population reduction, productivity has also dropped significantly.
Moreover, his father, Li Yuan, enfeoffed people wantonly. Many people were rewarded with tens of thousands of acres of land just because they were good at talking and pleasing Li Yuan. Even the expressly prohibited gift of slaves was repeatedly prohibited.
Coupled with the Turkic nuisance, disasters continued in various places, which can be regarded as a series of natural and man-made disasters.
Therefore, for Li Shimin, who is bent on proving himself, every person is an important labor force, and every cattle is an important means of production.
It is not difficult to understand why he was angry and tied the cattle outside.
The atmosphere in the threshing floor was a bit awkward, but fortunately at this time, the ladies brought breakfast out from various houses.
The hot biscuits and the large pot of rice porridge immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Li Shimin, who was no one around, simply stepped forward, reached out and took out a piece of Hu cake from the basket.
Before he could say anything, Wu Yan rushed over and stretched out his hand.
Li Shimin frowned, stretched out his hand and stuffed the Hu cake into his hand.
Wu Yan ate and chewed it, and then reported, "It has been brushed with oil, and it still tastes like sugar."
Li Shimin looked at the rice porridge in the big pot.
Over there, Fang Xuanling came over with a smile and saluted everyone, "I'm sorry for bothering you. I'm tired from the journey and haven't eaten yet. I hope you'll forgive me for buying some food."
After that, he snatched the bowl filled with rice porridge from Wu Yan's hand, drank it all and smashed his lips, "It tastes really good, and it also contains sugar."
Datang also has sugar.
Volume 10 of "Qi Min Yao Shu" writes about many crops that are not native to China, and the twenty-first among them is sugar cane.
"Zhe" existed as early as the pre-Qin era, and was called "sugar" in the Han Dynasty.
When the Silk Road opened, the stone honey that came from India was sucrose.
Sugar cane has long existed in China, and sugar rolling technology was later introduced, and sugar was successfully obtained through this technology.
So there was sugar in the Tang Dynasty, but ordinary people basically couldn't afford it.
Li Shimin pushed away Wu Yan who was blocking him, took a bowl of rice porridge and drank it himself.
It tastes good, and it does have a lot of sugary flavor.
Because of this, Li Shimin looked at Fang Xuanling in shock, "Why is this?"
Indeed, the price of sugar is not low, that is, only noble families can afford it. You actually feed these refugees in front of you expensive candies. Is this because you have a brain problem and you are too greedy for money?
Li Yunze gave candy to the refugees just to replenish sugar and make their bodies stronger as soon as possible.
Sugar in Datang is expensive because the output is small and the quality is not high.
What Li Yunze got was white sugar produced industrially in the modern world.
Of course, buying sugar on a large scale in the modern world is not an easy task, and it is not a matter of price.
But now there is no obstacle for Li Yunze to buy anything, it is very smooth.
Li Shimin waved his hand, "Buy these rice porridge and Hu biscuits."
The refugees looked unhappy, this was their breakfast.
The old man over there waved his hands repeatedly, "We can't decide, the owner of the village has to make the decision."
Fang Xuanling smiled and nodded, "Then please invite Master Li to come out and meet."
"The owner of the village is still sleeping." The old man shook his head repeatedly. "The owner of the village is very angry when he wakes up. We dare not disturb him."
Li Shimin rolled his eyes, and just as he was about to order someone to shout, the gate to the courtyard over there was opened.
Li Yunze came out yawning, "You have been arguing so early in the morning, do you still have a sense of public morality?"
"Hahahaha~~~"
Seeing the real master coming out, Fang Xuanling hurriedly stepped forward and shouted, "Li Langjun, I'm here to bother you."
Li Yunze's gaze went beyond Fang Xuanling and landed on Li Shimin.
As soon as the two people's eyes made contact, they were immediately inseparable... Bah! They are looking at each other.
After looking at Li Shimin, he looked at the well-trained knights, then looked back at Fang Xuanling, "That one is..."
Fang Xuanling turned around and looked over, saw Li Shimin shaking his head slightly, and then responded with a smile, "I am an old friend, and you and your husband are from the same family."
Li Yunze nodded.
Since you are willing to pretend to be a tourist, I will pretend not to notice.
He walked up to Li Shimin and said, "Do you want to buy these biscuits and rice porridge?"
Li Shimin, with a stern look on his face, stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Yes."
"Okay." Li Yunze nodded, "Ten taels of gold, all for you. This pot and basket are free."
"Mr. Lang!"
Fang Xuanling chased after him and said with a dark face, "This is too much. Ten taels of gold and one hundred guan are enough to buy several cartloads of rice and noodles."
"It's you who take the initiative to buy it, not me who rushes to sell it." Li Yunze reached out and picked up a piece of cake. "I am a person who pays attention to integrity in business, and pays attention to your willingness to do so. If you are not willing to spend money, you can just grab it. Well. So many people carry swords, right?
Just grab this Zhuangzi. "
Fang Xuanling, who was dumbfounded, was still waiting for further persuasion, but Li Shimin waved his hand impatiently, "Give him ten taels of gold."
Then he called to his knights to "eat."
Li Yunze also called on the refugees to "keep making breakfast and make better ones."
He said to do better is indeed better.
The Hu Pancake is cut into pieces and stuffed with minced meat.
Originally it was just rice porridge with sugar added, but the eggs were directly beaten, shredded pork was sprinkled with chopped green onion and even sesame oil, and a few bowls of pickles were even placed on the table.
Comparing the two sides, Li Shimin suddenly felt that the Hu cake in his hand was no longer fragrant.
After eating, Li Shimin, with a dark face, was ready to go crazy.
But they saw Li Yunze directing the refugees to carry iron farm tools one after another to the threshing floor.
Looking at the strange-looking farm tools, he couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"
"The curved shaft plow." Li Yunze extended his hand to indicate, "The efficiency is many times that of the straight plow, and it is very suitable for cattle plowing."
'Hiss~~~'
Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling took a breath together.
