After walking through Yanximen and Jiafumen, Li Xuan had already arrived in front of the East Palace Gate.
Red walls and blue tiles, solemn and solemn.
The guards inside and outside the palace gate had changed. Li Xuan glanced at them and found no familiar faces.
In front of the east gate, more than a dozen officials from the DPRK and Central Government wearing scarlet and green official robes stood solemnly, waiting for the prince to summon him.
Li Xuan ignored anyone, walked directly to the palace gate, and handed over the greeting card on her body.
The waiter at the door immediately took it, and after just one glance, he hurriedly introduced Li Xuan into the East Palace.
The prince had already given instructions to introduce the King of Nanchang immediately as soon as he arrived.
The Chang'an Taiwong Palace is larger than the Luoyang Taiwong Palace. The tall green trees around it give people a faint feeling of heaviness.
With a calm expression, Li Xuan followed the chamberlain as she walked down the East Palace Street. Officials from both the DPRK and the Chinese government who were visiting the official houses of various parties passed by quickly.
Li Xian's crown prince has now quickly taken charge of part of the government affairs, just like the filial emperor Li Hong.
Li Xuan's face was calm and solemn.
It was the emperor's will for the prince to uphold the government, but the conflict between Li Xuan and Empress Wu had quietly lurked.
After passing through a crowd of officials, Li Xuan walked into the spacious and gorgeous main hall of the East Palace.
The main hall is five rooms wide, with a mountain-style roof covered with yellow glazed tiles, a corridor with eaves, and five animals lying on the eaves.
Under the eaves, there are single-warped and single-raised five-step dougongs, decorated with colorful paintings of dragons, phoenixes and seals.
The interior is made of square bricks on the floor and the ceiling is painted with double phoenixes.
Li Xuan's footsteps fell, and there was an echo immediately.
In the main hall, there is a small brown table placed on a long shelf, with various low tables lined up on both sides.
This is the place where the prince receives foreign guests.
"Your Majesty, please come inside." The chamberlain led Li Xuan toward the inner room, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
This is a courtesy that only a few people can receive. King Nanchang, who has never been to the East Palace, has the utmost trust in the prince.
Li Xuan looked calm and then walked into the prince's inner room.
Several pretty maids inside stood silently in the corner, lowering their heads and saying nothing.
Li Xian, wearing a yellow-bottomed gold silk nine-python nine-chapter uniform, sat behind the desk, frowning, and carefully reviewing the memorial in front of him.
On the side, Prince Xima Liu Nayan stood with his hands tied, and a pile of memorials were placed on the table in front of him.
Prince Zhan Shi Huangfu Zhengyi and Prince Zuo Shuzi Zhang Daan, whom Li Xuan had met before, are not here at the moment.
Later, when Li Xuan left Luoyang, Wang Bo's old friend Xue Yao, who came to see him off on behalf of the prince, was nowhere to be seen.
However, there were some young subordinate officials whom Li Xuan had never seen before, sitting at the desk on one side, writing something at the desk.
Li Xuan stood three meters in front of Li Xian, bowed his hands and said solemnly: "Li Xuan, Prince of Nanchang County, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince. May your Highness be safe forever."
Li Xian suddenly came back to his senses, breathed a long sigh of relief, and looked up at Liu Nayan beside him. Liu Nayan immediately reached out to pick up the memorial on the table and put it aside.
Li Xian then stood up, stretched, and then said to Li Xuan, "Uncle Wang, please get up."
Looking at the increasingly thick beard under Li Xian's nose, Li Xuan slightly cupped his hands and said with emotion: "After several months of not seeing each other, His Highness has become more majestic."
"Majesty?" Li Xian was stunned for a moment, then touched his beard and said with a smile, "Uncle Wang was joking, Xian was just too busy to clean up."
"Come, I'm serving tea in the back pavilion. I want to have a chat with Uncle Wang about the romance of Jiangnan." Li Xian glanced at him, then raised his hands to Li Xuan and said, "Uncle Wang, please come to the back pavilion!"
"Your Highness, please!" Li Xuan stepped aside slightly, Li Xian walked in front of him, and Li Xuan quickly followed.
Walking among the carved jade pillars, Li Xian said casually: "Uncle Wang sent several kinds of tea yesterday, exquisitely embroidered Huzhou silk, and pearl spices. After the Crown Princess and Taiping used them, they praised them repeatedly, which made me proud." Gong Duoduo thanks Uncle Wang."
Li Xuan slightly cupped her hands and said, "Your Highness, you're welcome. These small items are just a waste of labor and are not worth it."
What, if Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess and the Princess like it, I will have more sent to you in the future. "
After Li Xuan arrived in Chang'an, he quickly sent people to deliver the gifts brought back from Wuzhou to various princes' palaces, the prince's uterus, and even presented them to the emperor and Empress Wu.
The thing is not worth much, but it can quickly remind people of him and know that he has returned to Chang'an.
"Then thank Uncle Wang. Please sit down, Uncle Wang." Li Xian asked Li Xuan to sit down in the back pavilion.
In front of you is a bay of blue lake water, with two lotus flowers floating gently on it.
The breeze blows, making people feel cool.
With a calm look on his face, Li Xian suddenly felt much more relaxed.
The waiter brought two cups of warm tea. Li Xian took the lead in picking up one cup, took a long sip, looked up at Li Xuan and said, "Uncle Wang is traveling to the southeast and has made outstanding military achievements. I am in the court for Uncle Wang's reward." , there were many quarrels, and finally it was decided to record three rounds of merit and be awarded the title of Lieutenant of Light Vehicles."
"The saint and your highness are so kind to each other." Li Xuan stood up and cupped his hands slightly, then sat down again at Li Xian's signal, and said with some emotion: "Actually, there are many things in this industry that your highness doesn't know about. This so-called military exploit, I, sir. I am really ashamed to accept this, after all, what I am facing are actually just a group of ordinary people."
The bitterness on Li Xuan's face made Li Xian feel a little curious. He couldn't help but ask: "Uncle Wang, don't you mean that there are more than ten thousand rebels and they are not afraid of death. They once broke through Meiling Pass and were killed by Uncle Wang." A fire from the sky will burn them all; also, a whole county in Shezhou has been breached, if the rebels had not taken the initiative to retreat..."
It would be fine to deceive the ignorant state and county officials about Qiu Shenji's story, but in the center where the information is well-informed, many people know the inside story.
It's just that for the sake of the court's face, no one revealed the confusion.
"What your Highness sees is just the appearance." Li Xuan pushed the tea in front of her forward, then looked at Li Xian and said seriously: "Although the Tianyin cultists look crazy, at their core, they are just a group of ordinary people. It’s just common people, even if there are a few elites, very few have received formal training.”
"Those black pawns were mentioned in Uncle Wang's memorial." Li Xian nodded and said with admiration: "Before the war, Uncle Wang had completely strangled all the Tianyin black pawns in Wuzhou."
"Well!" Li Xuan looked at Li Xian seriously and said, "This is the biggest mistake Tianyin Cult made. Those black soldiers were originally used to serve as the most basic low-level officers of the entire army. With them, The Tianyin teaching soldiers can barely do what they ordered and prohibited. Once they are gone, those Tianyin teaching soldiers will only know how to advance but not retreat. And if they only advance, it will be fine. Once the military order to retreat comes later, those teaching soldiers will immediately It’s as messy as a headless fly, so I caught this..."
"Seizing this point, Uncle Wang will be completely defeated with a burst of sky fire, a burst of sky wind, and a burst of sky water." Li Xian vaguely understood something and said softly: "There is an old saying, Tan Gong Thirty-Six Strategy, capture the thief first and capture the king, I will take note of it today."
"Although Tan Daoji's strategy is useful, Your Highness must remember that if it is not used indiscriminately, and the strategy I use is not to capture the thief first, but to cut off its branches and stems, then destroy the branches and leaves, and finally attack Huanglong directly. "Li Xuan quickly stopped Li Xian.
I don't know if he is overthinking it, but I always feel that Li Xian has other intentions.
"Can this method be used to deal with Tubo?" Li Xian suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Xuan with a half-smile.
"Your Highness is also paying attention to the situation in Tubo?" Li Xuan was a little surprised. Why are two people asking him about Tubo affairs today?
However, after thinking for a while, Li Xuan said: "I am not optimistic about a quick victory against Tubo. The situation of Tubo is different from that of the Eastern and Western Turks. On the contrary, it is somewhat similar to Silla. The Turkic clan owns the homeland of Silla, Baekje and old Goguryeo... "
Li Xian's face suddenly became heavy. The Battle of Dongdao started from the Taizong Dynasty's war against Goguryeo until fifteen years ago, when Silla asked for help from the Tang Dynasty. It took three years to destroy Baekje, and then there was civil strife in Goguryeo. At that time, it also took three years to lose Goguryeo, and then Datang and Silla turned against each other.
Then nearly seven years passed. Although Datang still had an advantage in the East Island, Silla had gradually established a foothold.
If the three countries of the East Island are replaced by Turkic combat power, the result can already be foreseen.
"Xian took note of what Uncle Wang said." Li Xian nodded seriously.
He had heard many accounts of the Tubo War, but what Li Xuan said today still shocked him.
There were simple side dishes on the stone table, and Li Xuan was left to have lunch by Li Xian.
Li Xian raised his wine glass and said sincerely, "I would like to thank Uncle Wang. If Uncle Wang had not reported all the details of the southeastern group, I would not have known how difficult the lives of the people are."
"This is my responsibility." After a slight pause, Li Xuan quickly raised his glass and said, "I just met the saint. The saint said that I should write a memorial to His Highness every seven days in the future... "
Before Li Xuan finished speaking, Li Xian couldn't help laughing: "Then I'll trouble Uncle Wang."
In five days, Li Xuan will get married. In seven days, wouldn't it be necessary to write down the wedding details?
"The saint said... forget it, I just obey the order." Li Xuan nodded with a wry smile.
Li Xian drank the wine in one gulp, put down the glass and looked slightly solemn, and then said: "Looking at Uncle Wang's memorial, I found that Uncle Wang likes to pay attention to the prices of goods in one place?"
"That's right." Li Xuan nodded, put down the empty wine glass in his hand, and then looked at Li Xian seriously: "In my memorial, most of it is the price of goods in a place, and the harvest of the people in a year, so it can be calculated How do people live during the year..."
After a slight pause, Li Xuan continued: "I have Changpingcang in the Tang Dynasty, but the annual income of this Changpingcang needs to be adjusted every year. When the people's income is low, the income of Changpingcang will be less. When the people's income When there is more, just as much as possible to prevent the low price of grain from hurting the farmers."
"I have remembered this truth before, but after Uncle Wang and his colleagues gave me some guidance, I realized that this statement is even fundamental to governing the country."
"Yes, as long as the kings of the world can keep these four words in mind: low grain and harm to farmers, the world will be prosperous."
"Xian even took note of what Uncle Wang said." Li Xian nodded, and then sighed and said, "No wonder Uncle Wang is known as the 'King of Three Autumns'. He always thinks about this, how can there be no peace down there."
"Your Highness is overly complimentary." After a pause, Li Xuan continued: "I have been in Wuzhou for several months. Although my focus is on the Tianyin Sect, I never dare to neglect the affairs of the people. But even so, the surplus food in the people's homes is only It will last until next summer's harvest. If there is any natural disaster, I'm afraid the people will immediately take out a loan. Once a loan is taken, it will be a mortgage on the land..."
"These are the methods used by wealthy families to annex people's property. Uncle Wang mentioned it in the memorial." Li Xian nodded seriously. He attached great importance to Li Xuan's memorial because through the lives of these lower-class people, some previous history books and official memorials The things he couldn't understand finally appeared clearly before his eyes.
"Therefore, I plan to renovate the wharves of Wujiang River after the autumn harvest. Instead of issuing labor, the state government will hire people to distribute grain, silk, and money." After a slight pause, Li Xuan continued: "In the state government's grain depot, Every year, a batch of grain is sold at a low price, but I plan to stop selling it and distribute the grain directly to the people."
Li Xian nodded: "Is it the reselling of grain from official warehouses that Uncle Wang once encountered?"
"That's the matter." Li Xuan looked at Li Xian seriously and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, don't believe the numbers on paper. Sometimes, the Ministry of Revenue tells Your Highness how much grain is stored in the world's warehouses. This The real situation must not be like this. It is common to give 30 or 20% discounts, and it is not uncommon to even cut them off in the middle. The saint has been preparing for the war with Tibet for more than a year or two. Why he refused to take action lightly is the reason."
"Oh!" Li Xian completely understood now.
This is exactly why the Tang Dynasty, with an annual income of tens of thousands, was able to prepare for a war with Tibet, but failed to complete it after years of effort.
