When the envoys from Qian Yue and Nan Tang arrived, Zhang Yan naturally knew that they were here to wish me, Saint Zhang, my thirty-sixth birthday.
Not only did they come, but Liu Congxiao, the envoy of the Qingyuan Army who controlled Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, also sent people.
What came was not an envoy, but Liu Congxiao's adopted son Liu Shaoji.
This is the reason why Zhang Gao did not let Qian Yue and the Southern Tang envoy enter the city. Now that he is staying with Congxiao, he is still a minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty in name.
Although even if Li Jing knew about it, he most likely wouldn't have the guts to attack Liu Congxiao.
Liu Congxiao is not a soft persimmon, and he may not be able to withstand an attack, but it is better to do less than to do more. It is better not to cause trouble for Liu Congxiao.
Anyone who is familiar with me, Shengren Zhang, knows that the only people I, Shengren Zhang, care about are at least celebrities with good reputations in history, such as Liu Congxiao.
It is said in the history of the Song Dynasty that Liu Congxiao grew up in a humble life. He was known as a filial piety to his mother. He was quite knowledgeable about books, good at war, aware of people's sufferings, diligent and thrifty and loved the people.
In Erzhou, cultural and educational undertakings were vigorously developed, Quanzhou was developed, the city and port were renovated, overseas merchants were invited to trade, homeless people were recruited to reclaim wasteland, soldiers were used to farm fields, and water conservancy was built to develop agriculture.
It only took two years to restore the prosperity of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, where the people were displaced when the Southern Tang Dynasty destroyed the Min Dynasty, and made a great contribution to the development of southern Fujian.
After that, during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the maritime trade in Zhangzhou, especially Quanzhou, flourished, which was the foundation laid by Liu Congxiao. In later generations, there were still temples in Quanzhou to worship Liu Congxiao.
Liu Shaoji is only twenty years old this year, and he can be said to be handsome. Although he is Liu Congxiao's adopted son, he is no different from his biological son.
Because Liu Congxiao himself was sterile, Liu Shaoji was not the adopted son of an outsider, but the son of Liu Congxiao's elder brother Liu Congyuan.
Zhang Yan told Li Waner that he wanted to marry her to Quanzhou, but he wasn't trying to scare her.
Liu Congxiao had secretly paid tribute more than ten times over the years, and the tribute money exceeded 20,000 guan. For the small Qingyuan Army, 20,000 guan was quite a lot. It can be said that tributes were paid at all times and eight festivals.
Liu Congxiao was so desperate to curry favor with Zhang Xuan, in addition to taking advantage of the situation, he also hoped that Liu Shaoji, his adopted son, could marry a noble lady of the dynasty.
Most of Zhang Shengren’s daughters have not grown up, and Liu Congxiao does not have the luxury to ask for Zhang’s daughter in marriage, so the target is on the Zhang family, the Cao family in Shazhou and the Li family in Khotan.
What Liu Congxiao thought was that if Li Jing had such a daughter-in-law staying in Quanzhou, he would not dare to come to Quanzhou.
This is not a daughter-in-law, she is just marrying a Bodhisattva!
"I heard that your father built a mansion specifically for Wang Yanzheng's two daughters in Quanzhou and provided servants and food?"
Zhang Gao took a look at Liu Shaoji's appearance and thought it was quite passable, so while chatting with Liu Shaoji, he quietly asked Shaojian Dong to notify Li Waner to come and take a look.
After all, Liu Congxiao was also the leader of the local separatist regime. It was somewhat inappropriate for his son to marry a daughter of the Cao family.
Among the close branches of the Zhang family, Zhang Huaiqing's more than a dozen unmarried daughters were almost all married to Zhang Yan. Even two of his widowed daughters were married off. There was really no suitable one.
As for the distant branch of the Zhang family, that is even more inappropriate. He is so deferential. Wouldn't it be a bit humiliating for you to marry a distant branch to him?
Therefore, after all calculations, the daughter of the Li family in Khotan is the most suitable. With Li Shengtian's signature, the Li family is a wealthy family like Zhang Yiyi.
Moreover, the Li family's power was mostly in Anxi and Hezhong. Marrying their granddaughter to Liu Congxiao's son would not affect the court structure.
"Although the prince was too harsh on the Fujian people, King Zhongyi was kind to all the people of Fujian. It was because my ancestor Liu family followed King Zhongyi to Fujian that he was able to survive in troubled times and could bear to see his granddaughter die of cold and starvation."
Wang Yanzheng is the last monarch of Wang Min, who is now detained in Jiangning by Li Jing. King Zhongyi refers to Wang Shenzhi, the king of Fujian.
After Wang Yanzheng was abducted by the Southern Tang Dynasty, his two daughters lived among the people without food and clothing. They once relied on begging in the market to survive. The Fujian people were afraid of the revenge of the Southern Tang Dynasty and did not dare to help them.
It was not until Liu Congxu took charge of Quanzhou that they built a house and provided them with food.
"Well done to your father, this is what a loyal man should do!"
Zhang Hao praised Li Jing greatly, but at the same time he despised Li Jing in his heart. After conquering the enemy country, he didn't even take away such an important trophy as the enemy's princess. What a big deal it could be.
"I thank the saint for your father's praise." After saying this, Liu Shaoji took out a secret letter and handed it to Zhang Yan personally.
"Years ago, the sage ordered his father to go to the Champa Kingdom in the South China Sea to look for high-yielding rice. Now he has some clues."
"Oh! Are there now maritime merchants in Quanzhou traveling to the South China Sea?" Zhang Hao was overjoyed and immediately took the watch and read it carefully.
Liu Congxiao said in the letter that in December last year he sent the Qingyuan Army Navy Headquarters and his nephew Liu Shaoquan to lead a hundred elite navy troops, led by Dahai Shang Lin Aju, to Champa to search for rice seeds.
In May, Liu Shaoquan returned by boat with a favorable wind and brought back twenty shi of rice seeds.
Although the rice planted by Liu Shaoji was not yet mature when he set off on his journey, according to experienced farmers, just looking at the growth and the appearance of the scions, the yield should be higher than that of rice in Fujian.
Liu Congxiao immediately ordered Liu Shaoquan to lead the elite sailors and try to go to sea against the wind.
This time I plan to bring back fifty stones, which will be trial planted in the upper-grade paddy fields, the medium-grade irrigated fields and the lower-grade dry fields.
After the statistics of the yield per mu of his two plantings were clear, he immediately submitted the planting method and rice seeds to the court.
Zhang Gao was overjoyed. Originally, he had expected that it would be good if Liu Congxiao could get him the rice seeds for Champa rice. Zhang Gao was planning to test the planting by himself, but he didn’t expect Liu Congxiao to be so attentive and already started to test the seeds. .
In this way, the promotion of Champa rice can be taken a big step forward.
Now is the time when everything is waiting to be revitalized. The population of 80 million during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty is now only 21 to 2 million. To expand the living space of the Xiajun Yi people, more than 20 million people are simply not enough. This small number of people is not enough. , even the mainland cannot fill it.
Therefore, the next twenty or thirty years will definitely be an era of rapid and explosive growth in the local population.
People at this time originally regarded having more children and grandchildren as a blessing, and Zhang Zhi would certainly vigorously support the increase. Therefore, there was an urgent need for a high-yielding grain to meet the needs of population growth.
At this stage, the only choices available are drought-tolerant Champa rice and yellow rice that can grow in swamp areas, of which Champa rice is the most important.
Thinking of this, Zhang Hao patted Liu Shaoji on the shoulder with satisfaction, "Go back and tell your father not to be burdened and to work hard.
Zhangzhou and Quanzhou belong to the state and will definitely be taken back in the future. However, my father is loyal, loyal, thrifty and loves the people. He will definitely be a pillar of the imperial court in the future, and even the position of prime minister may not be impossible.
If it is difficult to leave the homeland, you can also let your descendants serve as officials in Quanzhou! "
Liu Shaoji knelt down with a pop. Zhang Yan's words could be said to be true to his heart, and he also allowed the children of Liu family to continue to serve as officials in Quanzhou in the future for the first time.
Although the position of the leader of the separatist regime is gone, Liujia can still become a powerful family in Quanzhou in the future.
"After I return, I will convey the saint's words to my father verbatim. The entire Liu family and the people of the 14 counties in Qingyuan Army and two prefectures are looking forward to hearing the holy message day and night."
Zhang Gao helped Liu Shaoji up with his own hands and said, "I will never be stingy with high-ranking officials and generous salaries for meritorious ministers.
Food is the most important thing for the people, and rice in the city is related to the people's livelihood. It must be treated as the most important thing for the entire Qingyuan Army. If it is done, I and the people of the world will inherit your kindness to the Liu family. "
Hearing what Zhang Hao said, Liu Shaoji, who had just been helped up by Zhang Hao, knelt down again with a pop.
The Liu family couldn't bear this kind of kindness, because the emperor first mentioned this thing, and they were just the executors.
If you dare to take credit for the emperor's achievements, you are not seeking death!
So he left Shaoji on the ground and quickly replied: "There is a Champa rice shop thousands of miles away. It was actually discovered by the saint's discerning eyes.
The Qingyuan Army is located in the East China Sea and is susceptible to early drought. If they can get rice from Champa to resist the early drought, countless people will survive.
This is not due to my contribution to the Liu family, but to the saint's great kindness to the people of the Qingyuan Army and the people of the world. "
What I said was exactly what I, Saint Zhang, wanted. I couldn't help laughing three times, and I became very satisfied with Liu Shaoji.
Behind the curtain, Li Waner was immediately frightened.
Although Liu Shaoji seems to be a talented person, his father is the leader of two states, and he is very handsome.
But the Qingyuan Army is too far away from Hexi! The customs and sentiments were different, and she didn't want to marry so far away.
So before Zhang Gao noticed, Li Waner quickly ran away.
However, she could not escape the first grade of junior high school, but she could not escape the fifteenth grade. Li Waner thought for a moment that only her loving grandfather could save her life at this moment, so she turned around and ran to Li Shengtian for help.
When Li Shengtian was returning from a hunting trip, Zhang Gao gave Li Shengtian the Yongshou Palace where his aunt, Empress Dowager Ciyou lived, to live in. After the couple arrived at Liangzhou Mansion in Chengtian, they stopped messing with Zhang Gao.
Instead, he selected a group of young men from Liangzhou who were virtuous ministers. They either drank and had fun every day, or went hunting in Tianti Mountain in the south of the city or even further in the Qilian Mountains, or went boating and fishing in the Baiting Sea in the north.
It’s a blast to play!
Zhang Yan didn't ask much, and even sent Li Shengtian a large amount of money, guards, maids, cooks, etc., just to make Li Shengtian have more fun.
My uncle was supposed to go to Shazhou at the end of last year, and then return to Khotan in the spring of this year.
But Zhang Gao delayed, and so did he, until he and Zhang Gao arrived in Liangzhou together, and he didn't say anything about setting off these days.
This Yuchi family seems to have engraved their love for Zhongyuan into their hearts.
Anyone with the surname Yuchi never wants to go back when they arrive in the Central Plains. This is the same for big and small Yuchi, it is the same for Yuchi Sheng, and it is the same for Li Shengtian now.
Moreover, Li Shengtian privately revealed to Zhang Xi a few days ago that he no longer wanted to be called a Khotanese, and suggested that Zhang Xi should let his subjects call the Khotan Yuchi clan as the Xianbei Yuchi clan in the future.
After hearing this, Zhang Gao couldn't laugh or cry. Among the Khotanese who were descended from Li Shengtian, there was indeed a group of people who followed Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty into the Central Plains.
Ding Dingding, Yuchi Gong and Yuchi Yuchi all belong to this tribe called the Xianbei Yuchi Tribe.
However, Zhang Gao thought for a while and still refused. Now, through the efforts of Emperor Xiaowen, the Gao family of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Yuwen family of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and even the efforts of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, the Xianbei people were finally indistinguishable from the Han people.
There is no need to separate the Yuwen, Yuchi, Murong, Duan and other tribes of Xianbei now. That is not asking for trouble.
Li Shengtian may have realized at the time that there were some problems with this, but he didn't want his family to continue to be called Khotanese.
After some consideration, Zhang Gao suggested that the surnames of the world should be re-compiled in the near future, and that the Yuchi surname, like the Murong surname, would be directly added to the Han surnames, and that the Yuchi surname would also be ranked higher. Li Sheng was satisfied.
When Li Waner found Li Shengtian, Li Shengtian was ejaculating a fat muntjac and was excitedly massaging the bones and flesh of the muntjac who had slept like a baby.
Li Waner didn't start crying directly, but squatted down to help her grandfather give the muntjac a massage. '
Not to mention that although this little girl is a little willful, her skills are really good, much better than Li Shengtian.
Li Shengtian saw that Li Waner was indeed interested, but he held back and didn't ask.
Until Li Wan'er couldn't hold it any longer, she told her the news that the saint, who she didn't know he called her cousin or uncle, was going to marry her to Quanzhou in the east of the Yangtze River. She also squeezed out a few strings of pear blossom ribbons. Rain tears.
Cao Yuanxin, who was dressed in men's clothing, quickly drove away the surrounding guards and maids. Of course, Cao Yuanxin, who was a ghostly man, deliberately left behind a few eunuchs sent by Zhang Zhi to serve them.
Moreover, this eunuch was not sent by Zhang Zhang, but was forced by her.
Cao Yuanxin understood one thing very well: Li Shengtian could have no scruples with Zhang Gao, because this was what Li Shengtian deserved.
But people around Li Shengtian should not think about enjoying such treatment, otherwise there will be big problems in the future.
Li Shengtian slowly brushed the venison that Li Wan'er had cleaned and cut into oil and prepared it for roasting. He asked at the same time: "What does Liu Shaoji look like? Is it good enough?"
Li Waner just wanted to roll her eyes at her grandfather, "You didn't listen carefully to a word of emotion just now," but she didn't dare.
"You are pretty good-looking, but grandpa, Wan'er doesn't want to marry into the Qingyuan Army and goes to that desolate place over there. I won't see you anymore."
Li Shengtian pushed Li Waner's approaching head away in disgust, "The Qingyuan Army is indeed a little far away, but they are also the leader of hundreds of thousands of people in two states and thirteen counties. What else are you dissatisfied with?"
When Li Waner heard this, she was about to die! He quickly acted coquettishly again.
Li Shengtian couldn't bear it anymore and could only spread his hands, "In this case, then you can go back to Khotan with your grandfather, and my grandfather will find you a good husband in Khotan."
When Li Waner heard this, she was instantly embarrassed.
She disliked the distance of Quanzhou, but she didn't want to go back to Khotan. The little girl is now fascinated by the prosperity of Liangzhou, Luoyang, and Tokyo, and doesn't want to go back at all.
"Look! He said he couldn't bear to leave his grandfather, but when it came to returning to Khotan, he didn't want to!" Li Shengtian teased Li Waner for a few words, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"You are really a member of my Yuchi family! Once you come to the Central Plains, you don't want to go back."
The sound of horse hoofbeats was heard in the distance. Cao Yuanxin stood up and took a look, and then said to Li Shengtian: "Your nephew is so attentive. I am not afraid that your uncle will be angry, so he sent someone right away."
Li Shengtian snorted, "That's natural, I'm not Zhang Huaiqing.
But we can't be too flattering. This saint's nephew from a certain family is the best at poking fun at his nose.
If you spoil him, he will dare to make the final decision on the marriage of our granddaughters, just like he married Zhang Huaiqing's daughter. "
Cao Yuanxin thought of Zhang Huaiqing's dozen daughters and granddaughters who were all married off by Zhang Gao, and nodded with deep sympathy.
Li Waner next to her saw that her grandparents had reached a consensus, and she was so anxious that she burst into tears.
Cao Yuanxin couldn't help but roll his eyes at this granddaughter who looked smart but was actually stupid.
"Grandma, I am so smart all my life, why did I end up with a stupid granddaughter like you? Do you think the emperor will let you go to Quanzhou?
You are going to Quanzhou, and now you have the leverage to stay in Congxiao submissively. I don’t know if you will change your mind.
Just wait, the emperor will definitely let Liu Shaoji stay in the imperial court, and then wait until major events are basically determined, then he will put Liu Shaoji back and replace Liu Congxiao. "
(End of chapter)
