Eight hundred thousand stones of grain and five hundred thousand taels of silver.
Liu Wenjing couldn't help but gasped when she heard the conditions given by Yang Gao. In recent years, the Tang Dynasty has continued to use troops abroad, causing huge losses. The inventory in the treasury was only one million dan, and to support Li Shimin's campaign against Bingzhou Zhao Kuangyin, the 300,000 dan army rations were already stretched thin. If 800,000 dan were given, then Li Shimin's 150,000 army would be ready to drink from the northwest wind.
Five hundred thousand taels of silver also exceeded Liu Wenjing's bottom line. The tax situation of Datang in the past two years was not optimistic. After Li Yuan came to the throne, he was greedy for pleasure, lived extravagantly, and spent a lot of money. According to the current tax situation of the Tang Dynasty, it is impossible to come up with 500,000 taels of silver.
Liu Wenjing carefully tested Yang Gao and said, "Does Your Majesty want too much? Can you please give it a little..."
"no!"
Yang Gao flatly refused with a firm expression, showing that there was no room for negotiation at all.
Liu Wenjing shook her head helplessly, raised her hands and said, "Your Majesty's request is really too high. Can I ask the foreign ministers to ask my Majesty for instructions on this matter first?"
"sure!"
Yang Gao smiled coldly: "But I will soon go to the Central Plains for inspection. I hope Mr. Liu can reply to me before then."
Liu Wenjing was shocked when she heard this and asked hurriedly: "I wonder when your Majesty will set off for the Central Plains?"
"Five days from now!"
"What?"
Liu Wenjing's expression changed greatly, and she lost her voice and said: "Your Majesty, it is a long way from Jiangdu to Chang'an. Even if we use Eagle Letter, it will take ten days to go back and forth. How can I do it before Your Majesty leaves for the Central Plains..."
"That's your business and has nothing to do with me!" Yang Gao interrupted Liu Wenjing impatiently.
Liu Wenjing was so angry that she bit her lips and asked, "How long will it take for Your Majesty to return to Jiangdu from the Central Plains?"
Yang Gao pinched his fingers roughly and said: "Mr. Liu should also know that after many years of war, the Central Plains is full of victims. My inspection of the Central Plains this time is also to check the relief situation of the victims in each county, so I will travel throughout the Central Plains . In addition, Princess Yicheng has returned south. She is my elder and has made many sacrifices for our Sui border. I should go to welcome her in person. This trip can be as short as three to five months, or as long as one year."
"One year!"
Liu Wenjing immediately exclaimed, how could he stay in Jiangdu for a year? Then his power in the court would have been divided and disintegrated by Pei Ji, his mortal enemy, and Li Yuan would not have been able to wait that long!
In desperation, Liu Wenjing could only calm down, nodded and said: "Okay, the foreign minister will agree to your Majesty's conditions on behalf of my Majesty."
Yang Gao smiled slightly, nodded and said, "Then we will make an agreement!"
"It's a deal!"
. . . . . . . . . .
Looking at the retreating figures of Liu Wenjing and Yu Wenshi, Yang Gao raised the corner of his mouth slightly and inadvertently raised a sneer. Naturally, he knew everything about the finances and taxes of the Tang Dynasty, but Li Yuan didn't have them in the treasury, which didn't mean he couldn't get them.
The Guanlong nobles were the largest force in the Sui Dynasty and are now the largest force in the Tang Dynasty. He has a profound foundation and his wealth is much more than Li Yuan's treasury. The reason why Yang Gao asked for so much was to provoke a conflict between Li Yuan and the Guanlong nobles. In order to collect enough money and food for redemption, Li Yuan had no choice but to look at the Guanlong nobles.
The relationship between the Guanlong nobles and Li Yuan is by no means monolithic. What Yang Gao has to do is to try every means to intensify the conflict between them and use Li Yuan's sword to suppress the Guanlong nobles. Lest these cunning foxes hide behind the scenes and cause trouble for him when he marches into Guanzhong in the future.
. . . . . . . . . .
It was early spring, the Yellow River had thawed, the willow trees had sprouted tender yellow buds, and green grass quietly emerged from the soil. Fang Xuanling, Zhan Zhao and others who had already received Princess Yicheng and her party quickly crossed the Yellow River and entered the territory of Qingzhou.
Qingzhou now belongs to the most chaotic territory in the entire Sui Dynasty. Although Song Jiang completely occupied the entire Qingzhou in name, Song Jiang was just a petty official, Wu Yong was just a down-and-out scholar, and the others, Chao Gai, Li Kui, Wang Ying, and Dong Ping were all reckless men who only knew how to fight fiercely on the battlefield. Husband, I don’t know how to govern a place at all. Moreover, there were many generals in Song Jiang's army who had backgrounds as bandits. Not only did they not help stabilize the local public security, they repeatedly broke into people's houses, looted money and robbed women and children, making Qingzhou even more chaotic.
Fang Xuanling, Zhan Zhao, Ouyang Chun and others led a group of royal guards to guard Princess Yicheng and the Ashina sisters day and night, non-stop. On this day, I arrived near Zhangqiu County, Qi County. Seeing that it was getting late, I decided to rush to the county town to find an inn to stay overnight, and then continue my journey tomorrow.
A group of people drove several carriages to the county seat quickly, and were stopped by several soldiers guarding the city at the gate. The leading captain looked at the group carefully up and down, and asked in a deep voice: "What are you doing? of?"
Fang Xuanling, who was dressed as a merchant, hurried forward and said with a smile on his face: "Master Jun, I am a merchant from Hebei. Because it is getting late, I want to stay in the city for one night and set off tomorrow." A few taels of silver were stuffed into the hands of the captain.
The captain carefully weighed the silver in his hand and couldn't help but be overjoyed. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Let them enter the city!"
"Wait!"
Fang Xuanling and others were driving the carriage into the city when a group of soldiers and horses suddenly rushed out from the city tower and surrounded the group. The leader was short in stature, no more than five feet tall. His appearance is even more unflattering. He has a flat nose, thick lips, a face full of flesh, and a very vicious appearance. It was Wang Ying, the short-footed tiger who was born with Song Jiang.
Wang Ying was a lustful person. He had been watching from the tower for a long time. The families of these merchants must be walking in the carriage secretly. He suddenly became lustful again and led his troops to surround Fang Xuanling. He shouted carelessly: "In the carriage Who are these people? Get out of the car and check them all!"
Fang Xuanling hurriedly stepped forward to stop Wang Ying and said: "General, in the carriage are the family members of the little people. Their bodies are weak and cannot bear the cold, so the little people rented a few carriages..."
Sure enough, they are concubines!
When Wang Ying heard this, he was overjoyed and pushed Fang Xuanling away impatiently: "What nonsense, let me check it myself!" Then he strode to the first carriage, opened the curtain and looked inside.
In the first carriage was Xiao Yanyan, the captive sister of Yelu Abaoji. She was wearing a long white dress, which highlighted her jade-like skin.
As soon as Wang Ying saw her, her eyes widened, and the corner of her mouth was unconsciously dripping with laughter as she murmured, "She is really a stunning beauty!"
The deputy general on the side hurriedly bumped Wang Ying twice with his elbow and shouted in a low voice: "General Wang, Brother Wang!"
Wang Ying woke up suddenly, hurriedly wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth, and stared at Xiao Yanyan furtively. Suddenly he waved his hand and ordered: "These people are spies pretending to be merchants, catch them all!"
