Chapter four hundred and forty first carriage storm
Chapter 441: The Carriage Storm
Before dawn, the rumbling drums resounded throughout Chang'an City. The originally silent and deserted streets and alleys suddenly became lively. Lanterns floated like the bright moon in the dark night on the streets of Chang'an. Carriages and horse-riding officials were hurried in the night.
Today will be the day when the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty ascends the throne. All officials from the ninth rank and above in Beijing will go to the Daming Palace to meet.
Li Qing'an went to Daming Palace from the barracks outside the city. He was sitting in a large carriage, neatly packed, wearing a three-race Jinxian crown, a purple robe in the Qilin, and a jade belt in the waist. He would attend the court meeting as the right prime minister of the Central Secretariat, but in case of precaution, he would wear fine armor inside. This fine armor is made of Damascus iron in Anxi. It is fine and dense, thick, and weighs fifteen kilograms. It can withstand the crossbow within ten steps and the powerful crossbow outside forty steps. It is difficult to cut ordinary swords.
Yesterday he talked with Wei Qingping for a long time, and Wei Qingping advised him to follow the Qin straight road to build the Tang straight road connecting Anxi and the Central Plains to strengthen the connection between the Central Plains and Anxi. Wei Qingping's suggestions made Li Qing'an consider it for almost a night. Not to mention that Wei Qingping's suggestion to retreat behind the scenes was very pertinent, and the construction of the Tang straight road was even more practical. Li Qing'an had seen the Qin straight road with his own eyes in the Guannei Dao, and it was very solid. It has not grown any grass yet. It can be called an ancient highway.
Generally speaking, it takes one month at the fastest to go from Beiting to Chang'an, which is largely inconvenient, and it is also winding and twisting. It is impossible to ride a horse for a long journey. If a straight and wide Tang straight road is built, it only takes half a month to go from Beiting to Chang'an. If a horse-changing station is built and a good configuration of Arabian horses or Dayuan horses, then it may only take ten days for the messenger to go from Beiting to Guanzhong.
This suggestion made Li Qing'an very excited. Manpower was not a problem. He had sent a letter to Saiye last night and ordered Anxi Political Affairs Hall to start the road construction. He also ordered Feng Changqing to recruit 100,000 migrant workers from Xinde and mobilized thousands of elephants to participate in the road construction. In addition, according to the agreement reached by him and Li Heng, 300,000 migrants will be moved from Longyou, Guannei Road and Henan Road to Anxi. Especially in Henan Road this year, there was a drought and hungry people everywhere. They can use labor for relief and order them to build roads from the east.
Li Qing'an opened a warehouse book on the small table. It was the result of Li Yu's investigation of the royal family for two months. There were already 10 million stones of rice and wheat stored in Taicang in Guanzhong, 6 million stagnants of Zuozang, and a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry, which forced Li Qing'an to sigh at Li Yu's determination to dispose of the land. Although Li Yu died, he gave them the later generations enough resources. With these money and grain, it should be no problem to build the Tang straight road.
At this time, the carriage suddenly stopped. Li Qingan looked through the car window and had arrived at Mingde Gate. There seemed to be a team opposite. A personal soldier whispered: "General, it's Geshuhan."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ge Shuhan's laughter came from the opposite side, "But General Li?"
Li Qingan pulled the curtain and saw a carriage opposite him. There was a carriage on the carriage. He hadn't seen him for more than two years. Ge Shuhan was obviously a little old and was not in good spirits.
Li Qing'an bowed and smiled, "Brother Shu, are you safe?"
Geshuhan rushed back overnight last night. He was in a bad mood these two days. He originally expected Li Heng to ascend the throne and would be granted the title of the governor of the inner road of the Guandi. This was also the promise Li Heng gave him, but unexpectedly, the final outcome was that Li Qing'an occupied the inner road of the Guandi.
The promise Li Heng gave him also became to give him Hanzhong and not to give him any title. This incident made Ge Shuhan very unhappy, especially when Li Qing'an killed Meng Yun and Luo Zhengyi in the street yesterday morning. Li Heng had no reaction. Not only that, he also transferred the military power of Guanzhong to Wang Sili in time. What does this mean? It means that Li Heng and Li Qing'an colluded.
In fact, Ge Shuhan misunderstood Li Heng to some extent. The reason why Li Heng betrayed Meng Yun was because of Meng Yun's habitual betrayal. He betrayed Li Yu today, and he would betray him Li Heng tomorrow. Li Heng also used Li Qing'an's hand to get rid of this trouble.
But Geshuhan didn't think so. In his eyes, Li Heng betrayed his general for his own selfish interests. He could betray Meng Yun today. Will he sell himself tomorrow? Geshuhan felt cold and saw through Li Heng.
Geshuhan smiled at Li Qing'an and said, "General Li, I have a few words to say to the general, I wonder if it is convenient?"
Li Qing'an smiled heartily, "Brother Brother Shu might as well come to my carriage, let's go to Daming Palace together."
"Okay, I'd better obey my duty than respect."
Geshuhan moved to Li Qing'an's carriage, and the two armies joined forces and headed towards the Daming Palace together.
Ge Shuhan looked at the carriage and smiled and said, "This seems to be the one I gave to the general!"
"That's right! This carriage is very good, I like it very much. Thank you Brother Geshu."
"A small matter, no need to be polite."
Ge Shuhan waved his hand and smiled, "It's just that there are no women in the carriage, which is less fun. If the general doesn't bring women, what if I give you a few? I'll give you a few? I'll make sure you like it."
"I appreciate Brother Brother Shu's kindness. I have a concubine who follows me and will come in two days. There are too many women, so I have a headache when I see it."
Geshuhan laughed, "That kind of general will lose a lot of fun in the world, and I don't envy you."
Li Qingan also smiled and said, "Brother Geshu probably won't like my fun either."
After the two chatted for a few moments, Ge Shuhan's topic slowly entered the right path, "Is the general still paying attention to Tubo?"
Li Qingan shook his head and said, "I'm really hiding it from Brother Shu. In recent years, my energy has been mainly fighting against Dashi. I don't know much about Tubo. They seem to have been silent for a long time."
"The general does not understand Tubo, but I know very well. There is only one explanation for the silence of the Tubo people. They are accumulating strength. As early as a few years ago, Chisong Dezan began to take charge of the government. Although this person is young, he knows and makes good use of it. He uses Shangxi Dongzan as a great theory and is in charge of government affairs. He also grants Dazalugong as a general and is in charge of the army. He has carried out comprehensive reforms in Tubo and prepares for war. In recent years, he has begun to recover his vitality. I estimate that in another one or two years, the Tubo people will invade the Tang Dynasty again."
Speaking of this, Ge Shuhan sighed and said, "But the Longyou Army of the Tang Dynasty was not fully equipped, the food and grass were not maintained, and the morale was low. If the Tubo army attacked, I really don't know how to resist it?"
Li Qingan heard what Geshu Han meant, and he asked the court to allocate money and rice to him and supplies the support army. He smiled faintly: "I have understood the request of Geshu Grandmaster, but defending against Tubo is not just a matter of Longyou, including Anxi Jiannan, and I must consider it together. I will raise this issue at the Political Affairs Hall meeting and find a safe package of solutions."
Li Qing'an's attitude was lukewarm, which made Ge Shuhan touch a soft nail. Ge Shuhan smiled embarrassedly and said, "Then please, General."
Li Qingan smiled and changed the topic again. He talked with Geshuhan about his experience in dealing with the Tubo army. This is also a topic that Geshuhan is interested in.
Before they knew it, the two of them came to the Danfeng Gate of the Daming Palace. It was crowded with ministers who were preparing to enter the palace. Before dawn, the ministers left the carriage and were preparing to enter the palace one after another. Wang Gong came a little later and was talking about today's ceremony with Wei Jiansu. Wei Jiansu was dismissed from the Minister of Works more than a month ago for the Yang Guozhong case, but was soon appointed as the Minister of War by Li Yu. This is Li Yu's indecisiveness and always lacks a thoroughness in his work.
As the two of them were talking, the front door was empty and they could enter the palace. Wei Jiansu suddenly turned around and turned his eyes back. Wang Gong looked back and saw Li Qing'an and Geshu Han coming out of a carriage. The two were chatting and laughing, with intimate expressions. Wang Gong couldn't help but be stunned. At this time of a clear camp, when will Geshu Han and Li Qing'an get together? What does he mean?
Wang Gong sneered and went straight into Danfeng Gate. Thousands of officials had gathered in the square inside Danfeng Gate. Today is the New Emperor's Ascension Ceremony. All officials from the ninth rank and above in Chang'an must participate, including officials from other places in Beijing, non-official officials with titles of scattered officials, and some officials who have retired from office. In other words, as long as the civil servants who took the imperial court's fortune, they basically had to participate, with tens of thousands of people.
Danfeng Square covers a vast area, and even if there are another 10,000 people, it seems empty and open. Thousands of officials are gathered together to chat in groups. Generally speaking, the core areas near Longyou Road are basically high-ranking ministers, while small officials under the fifth rank will consciously stand aside.
In front of Ryutodo, Li Heng was talking to several important officials about today's ceremony. Today's ceremony will be fully responsible for the Ministry of Rites. However, time hastily, many ceremonies were forced to be exempted. After accepting the court officials' bow, Prince Li Shi enthroned officials of the Political Affairs Hall and then went to the Taimiao to pray to his ancestors. This was considered the completion of the throne ceremony.
Since Li Shi was a young emperor, although the ceremony was a bit lacking, the ministers did not care much. What they cared about was the distribution of power that would form after the ascension to the throne this time.
At this time, Wang Gong walked over quickly and everyone greeted him. Wang Gong smiled and gave him a gift. He gave Li Heng a wink. Li Heng understood and followed Wang Gong a few steps away from everyone, whispered: "What's the matter?"
"I just found out that Ge Shuhan and Li Qingan were actually riding in a carriage. When they got off the car, they looked very close and had an extraordinary relationship."
A hint of unhappiness flashed in Li Heng's eyes, and he frowned and said, "Maybe they just met on the road, chatted about something, and took a car together."
"I think so too, but Ge Shuhan knows that today is a ceremony, but he rides the same car with Li Qing'an, regardless of the impact, regardless of the officials' attention. This will cause misunderstandings and cause great passivity to the Regent. I think it is necessary for the Regent to remind Ge Shuhan."
Li Heng is a suspicious person. Although he didn't care about Geshuhan and Li Qingan riding in a carriage, he was extremely unhappy. What did Geshuhan mean at this time?
He suddenly remembered the conditions proposed by Geshuhan, and became the governor of Guan Nei Dao and also in charge of Longyou. Because he could not accomplish this condition, he went to please Li Qing'an. Is that true?
Thinking of this, Li Heng snorted heavily. Needless to say, it must be like this.
Chapter completed!