Chapter 310: Madam Diplomacy

In the eight settlements, Li Qing'an finally chose Helicheng and Qing'an Town for inspection and condolences. The inspection in Qing'an Town only lasted for one day. This was not that Li Qing'an deliberately went through the form, but that there were too many things that he needed to deal with, including the establishment of various systems and rules, the exchange of prisoners of war in the Tubo battle, the preparations for the northern expedition of the Uighurs, the resettlement of immigration, the control of the Hezhong region, the appeasement of the Shiguo and Ningyuan countries, etc., and he had to do everything himself, even if he was not allowed to handle it in detail, he still needed to inquire about it.

So he could only make a gesture of some scenes, such as inspecting Qing'an Town, visiting officials, comforting immigrants, and interacting with gratitude. These things cannot be done too deeply. One day is enough. However, there is one thing worth mentioning when visiting Qing'an Town, that is, Li Qing'an's wife Dugu Mingyue made her debut in public for the first time to comfort some widows and children. This matter soon spread in Anxi. Many people know that Li Qing'an's wife is so beautiful that she is no less than a concubine in Chang'an. They all long to see her. Most people just see the beauty's appearance, but some people have another idea.

The day after returning from Qing'an Town, a female guest came to Li Qing'an's mansion and made a special trip to visit the wife of the governor.

Li Qing'an's house in Saiye is located in the middle of the city, in a newly built complex. This is the actual yamen of the Anxi Jiedu Mansion. The Anxi Jiedu Mansion is still in Kucha in name, but the actual power agencies have been moved to Saiye, and most of the officials have also moved to Saiye. Li Qing'an's new house is behind this complex. Coincidentally, the headquarters of the Hidden Dragon Society is not far away, which is less than a hundred steps apart.

The house covers an area of ​​twenty acres and has about a hundred rooms. Nearly half of the house is a garden with dense shade and exquisite pavilions can be seen everywhere. At this moment, in the guest room of the inner house, Dugu Mingyue is receiving her first visitor, the wife of Pugu Huaien, the deputy envoy of the Hanhai Army.

Pugu Huaien's wife was about thirty years old. Like her husband, she was also from the Pugu tribe of the Uighurs. Her grassland background made her look outgoing and enthusiastic. She ranks third in her parents' home, and many people called her Pugu Sanniang.

"Today, I took the liberty to disturb my wife, but there was nothing big. I just wanted to talk to her for a few family matters."

Pugu Sanniang is very good-looking. When she was young, she was called the number one beauty in Pugu's country. Her daughter is more beautiful and tall. She is about fifteen or sixteen years old. She is sitting next to her mother, well-behaved and cute.

Mingyue likes Pugu Huaien's daughter very much. She pulled her closer to her side, hugged her and smiled at Pugu Sanniang, "Sanniang, don't say these extravagant words. Come and have a walk when you have time. Let's talk about family matters. If you have any difficulties, you can help each other. Moreover, I haven't been in Anxi for a long time and don't know the situation here. I still need you to tell me many things."

Speaking of this, she smiled and asked Pugu Huaien's daughter, "What's your name? How old are you?"

Pugu Huai'en's daughter replied obediently: "My name is Puguyu, I am sixteen years old."

Her mother next to her smiled and said, "To be precise, my Yu Niang will be sixteen years old tomorrow. She usually likes to play the pipa the most, but unfortunately there is no famous teacher here in Saiye."

Mingyue thought about it and said with a smile: "Or I'll go and tell Wuyi if she wants to accept Yu Niang as her disciple. I can only give it a try."

Pugu Sanniang was overjoyed and said, "I heard that the girl in the dance style has unparalleled piano skills. If Yu Niang can get her as her teacher, it will be a blessing for three lives. I hope that my wife will succeed in this matter."

Seeing that Pugu Sanniang immediately climbed up, Mingyue felt a little regretful. It was not because she was not good at talking to Wuyi that Wuyi would give her this face, but she felt that Pugu Sanniang seemed to be coming for this matter, which made her feel like she was trapped.

Mingyue smiled and said, "I will go and tell her, but she is not in good health recently and has not accepted disciples after coming to Saiye. However, I will soon hire a famous piano master from Chang'an to Saiye. Even if Wuyi cannot teach, Yu Niang will have some skills to learn the piano."

Seeing Mingyue leaving room for words, Pugu Sanniang felt a little uncomfortable on her face, and she laughed dryly: "I just have this extravagant idea. How noble is the girl in the dance clothes? It doesn't matter whether this thing will be done or not, but we still have to thank the wife for her kindness."

As she said that, she took out a pair of agate qilins and placed them on the table and smiled: "This is a pair of jade qilins left by my ancestors. The wife is a famous family and naturally doesn't like it, but my first visit is just a little bit of my wish."

How could Mingyue accept her things? She pushed Yu Qilin back and said with a smile: "Sanniang may not understand the rules of our home. Friends and guests come to the door and must be warmly treated, but no gifts can be collected. This is the rule set by the general. I am his wife, so of course I cannot violate it. I will receive Sanniang's wishes, but I really cannot accept this Yu Qilin. I hope Sanniang understands."

Pugu Sanniang pushed her back and smiled and said, "This is not a gift, nor is it valuable. This is etiquette. There is no reason to come to the door with no hands. Madam, let's take it and make a small decoration!"

Mingyue stopped pushing it back and said lightly: "I said that Sanniang has received her intentions, but the things cannot be collected. This is our family rule. If Sanniang doesn't take it back, I will hand it over to the general and let the general return it to General Pugu."

Seeing that Dugu Mingyue refused to accept her things, Pugu Sanniang had to take them back embarrassedly. After chatting for a few more words, she got up and said goodbye. Mingyue sent them out of the door. She smiled at Pugu Yu and said, "Yu Niang, you might as well come and sit more often when she has time."

Pugu Sanniang immediately seized the opportunity again and couldn't speak her daughter, so she kept saying, "It must come! It must come!"

She pushed her daughter again, "Daughter is not ready to agree!"

Pu Guyu bowed and replied obediently: "I must come and chat with my wife more often."

The two of them said goodbye and left. Mingyue looked at them as they got on the carriage and walked away. She shook her head gently. Based on the woman's intuition, she felt that Pugu Sanniang had something to do, but they did not say it clearly and did not ask too much. Such things usually come from men, so she had to tell her husband at night. As for Puguyu's intention to find Wuyi to learn the piano, she could make the decision. Even if Wuyi was willing, she should act cautiously and not rush to agree. Thinking of this, Mingyue turned around and returned to the mansion.

From early in the morning, Li Qing'an was not idle. The craftsman of the minting leaves had already cast a silver coin mother mold. This was a big deal for Li Qing'an. It was related to whether he could control the Tang Dynasty's currency and then control the Tang Dynasty's economy. Now Anxi has 1 million kilograms of silver. According to 16 taels of kilograms, that is 16 million taels, worth 16 million kilograms, which is exactly the fiscal revenue of the Tang Dynasty in one year, but this is not enough. He needs at least three years of fiscal revenue of the Tang Dynasty to control the court.

"Please look at the general, this is the female mold of the small silver cake cast by Anxi craftsmen."

Wang Changling carefully placed a silver dollar mother mold and a silver dollar in front of Li Qing'an.

Currently, Wang Changling is the Anxi Du Division envoy, responsible for the finance of the entire Anxi. The coins are within his jurisdiction. The silver dollar was just minted ten days ago. Now they are waiting for Li Qing'an to pass the inspection. Behind Wang Changling, Yao Zhi, the chief maker of the broken leaf coin, looked at Li Qing'an with some anxiety.

Li Qing'an picked up the silver dollar in front of him and nodded immediately with praise. He only wrote a simple quick letter in Chang'an, and the craftsmen fully implemented his intentions. The mother model weighed about one or two taels, and the mold was generally a little larger than the real money. That is to say, the standard silver dollar would be one or two taels. He picked up the real silver dollar and weighed it, and it was indeed one or two taels.

There is no hole in the middle of the silver dollar, the front is the Yumen Pass city wall, and the back is the Kunlun Mountains. Below the mountain range are four vigorous and powerful seal characters: "Anxi Supervisor Casting". The workmanship is very exquisite. Although it cannot be completely compared with the silver dollar in later generations, it is not much different, which makes him sigh at the high level of casting craftsmanship in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Qingan looked at it repeatedly for a while. He picked up the silver dollar with his finger, aimed it at the edge and blew it suddenly, and immediately put it in his ear. There was a little noise, but it was too faint. This was not the effect he wanted. The effect he wanted was a "clang" sound.

The heart of the craftsman Yao Zhi next to him immediately hung up. He saw that Li Qing'an's brows were frowning, which meant he was a little dissatisfied. He couldn't help but look at Wang Changling as if he wanted help. Wang Changling quickly explained with a smile: "General, our small silver cake has a lot of silver content and no trace of adulteration."

Li Qingan shook his head and smiled, "Sterling silver is good, but if you want to blow it loudly, you probably have to mix a little copper. Generally, perfection is not the best solution."

He said to the chief craftsman Yao Zhi again: "Thank you more to the hardest, you can try it a few more times, add a little bit of copper, and make sure that it can be blown when the silver content is highest, and it must be clanging. That is the effect I want. As for the mold, don't change it, I am very satisfied."

"Yes! I'll try now and try to get the results within three days."

"Don't hurry up, do it slowly, and make it more refined. In addition, I want to tell you that the recipe and craftsmanship are the highest secrets, only the three of us know it, so we must not leak the secret."

"I understand, please don't worry, General!"

After saying that, Li Qing'an picked up the teacup and slowly drank the tea. After a few sips of tea, Li Qing'an put down the teacup and said to Wang Changling: "I have released the prisoner of war, but the silver mine will continue to dig. Sir, I will find a way to recruit a group of miners."

Wang Changling thought for a while and said, "Otherwise, if we recruit miners from immigration, the rewards will be higher, and someone should be willing to go."

"Okay! The teacher is responsible for this matter, including the casting of silver dollars. This matter is of great importance. Once the test is successful, it will be cast in large quantities, and there is another thing."

"Please say, General!"

Li Qing'an pondered for a moment and said, "Han Yue, the resettlement envoy of Qing'an Town, was my old acquaintance when I was working as an observer in Henan. At that time, I felt that he had good character and ability. Mr. might as well observe for me. If this person is really good, I plan to reuse him."

Wang Changling was a real person and had no scheming in his heart. He immediately smiled happily: "That Han Yue is really good, down-to-earth and hardworking, has a good reputation. He is a good official, so I must pay attention to him."

"Well! This matter is for Mr. Lu."

The two chatted for a few more times. Seeing that Wang Changling seemed to be worried, Li Qingan wanted to speak but stopped, he smiled and said, "Sir, do you have anything to say?"

Wang Changling sighed and said, "General, I want to talk about the abolition of slavery, I don't think it's good..."

He was a little unable to speak anymore. Li Qingan glanced at him and smiled faintly, "Does sir oppose the abolition order?"

"No! No! No!"

Wang Changling quickly waved his hand and said, "My original intention is to support the abolition order, which can increase the number of Anxi households, increase taxes, and alleviate land annexation. But has the general ever thought about what the court would think of this matter? What is the attitude of the emperor? How will the powerful royal family members who have widely stored slaves dislike the general? This is not good for the general!"

Li Qingan nodded silently. Didn’t he know? Until there were contract workers in 1,300 years later, how feasible would it be for him to abolition the slaves in the Tang Dynasty? But he had to do some things, not necessarily abolish slaves completely, but at least to allow most people to be free. If he wants to instill the concept of equality and freedom into the world, he must do some practical things. The abolition order is a practical thing. Of course, he did not want to implement any capitalist system in the Tang Dynasty. He just wanted to show the common people's thoughts and the civilian class of the Song Dynasty two hundred years in advance, so that the prosperity of the Song Dynasty would arrive as soon as possible, and that the Tang Dynasty would not take another two hundred years of detours.

However, he could not say these to Wang Changling. He could not understand them even after he said that. Li Qing'an smiled and said, "I understand the worries of sir. Abolition slaves are not a hot-headed person. I have repeatedly thought about the pros and cons of them. Of course, the disadvantages are obvious. They will be disgusted by the powerful and will harm their interests. But then again, the implementation of the abolition order in Anxi will cause a large number of Central Plains slaves to escape, and will bring us the most urgently needed population in Anxi. I will be sincerely supported by the people and the army of Anxi. This will not be so easy even if the emperor wants to dismiss me. When the pros and cons are compared, the more important ones will be obvious. Please rest assured!"

Wang Changling had been thinking that Li Qing'an would offend people, but it was not as deep as Li Qing'an thought. He also knew very well that after the abolition order was introduced, Li Qing'an's reputation reached an unprecedented level. Whether it was ordinary people or the middle and lower-level members of the army, they all supported him extremely. Or, as Li Qing'an said, it was indeed difficult for the emperor to dismiss him with the support of the middle and lower-level people. The benefits outweighed the disadvantages. After understanding this, Wang Changling no longer opposed it.

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Qingan got up and prepared to go home. Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out of the door, he heard a loud noise, mixed with crying, as if something had happened at the door.

Li Qingan walked to the gate and saw a coffin parked outside the gate. Dozens of men and women wearing mourning clothes patted the coffin and cried sadly. Several men were arguing loudly with the guards guarding the gate.
Chapter completed!