When the secret report from Gansu reached Chang'an, Lin Ziben, the commander of the Military Intelligence Department, did not pay much attention to it because he had recently been more concerned about Meng Yuan's series of personnel changes in Henan.
After checking the fire paint and finding a translation to translate the news from Gansu, Lin Zi was still scolding his subordinates.
"Damn it, if you find an anecdote about 'Boyan', please bring it to me. Let's first find out which Boyan it is... I know that there are many people named Boyan, but even if there are many people named Boyan in Mongolia,
Called Boyan, don’t confuse the information."
With displeasure on his face, he murmured to himself: "How long has this been going on? What news do you want me to report to His Majesty?"
Then, after reading the information in his hand, Lin Zi's eyes froze.
Now he finally had something to report to His Majesty, but the affairs in Henan had not yet been settled, and extraneous problems had arisen in Gansu, which made people feel exhausted.
"Where is your Majesty?"
"Your Majesty is at Gokuyuan."
Lin Zi nodded and immediately rushed out of the city. He found that Li Xia went to Gewuyuan very frequently recently.
But after checking again and again, nothing new seems to come out...
~~
Li Xia is in a rice field behind Gewuyuan.
Wheat is grown in more places in Guanzhong, but of course there is also rice, and there are even those that grow rice in the summer and wheat in the winter. The field in Gewuyuan can be called an experimental field. The person farming this field this year is Guo Shoujing.
"Your Majesty, please take a look."
When Guo Shoujing gently bent a rice seedling a little, Li Xia leaned over and looked at it, but she didn't know what to look at and continued to look expressionless.
"Huh."
However, another official behind him was surprised: "This rice seedling looks stronger than the one just now?"
"Not bad." Guo Shoujing nodded seriously.
Only then did Li Xia notice this difference. He was a little surprised and surprised at how Guo Shoujing could do this in just one winter.
He felt that he needed this kind of officials to promote productivity.
Then I thought about it, Guo Shoujing can drive productivity by himself, with or without Li Xia.
In short, at this moment, the light of wisdom is very dazzling.
"How did Guo Qing do this?"
"I didn't do it." Guo Shoujing gave in, pulled out an old farmer from the crowd behind him, and said, "It's the seed selection method proposed by Mr. Qiao."
Everyone's eyes turned to the old farmer, who was so frightened that he shrank his neck and took a step back, trembling and speechless.
Li Xia is tall and majestic, and there are many guards standing behind him, which is a bit scary.
Guo Shoujing, who has been building canals for many years and is good at dealing with farmers, bent down so that his eyes were level with the old farmers and said a few words with a smile.
"Don't be afraid, Mr. Qiao. Tell your Majesty the secret of your family's farming."
"No...it's not the secret method of ordinary people...it's Xianggong Guo's method."
Guo Shoujing showed the face of the old farmer who gave him the secret, and then told Li Xia how he took care of the field.
"My father-in-law Qiao used to grow rice in Yuanjiang County, Hunan Road, Songjing. He would collect the seeds with full ears every year. He fled to Guanzhong the year before last. He didn't take anything else with him. He only took a bag of rice seeds with him. Fortunately,
After he entered Sichuan, he received relief from the imperial court, so he didn't eat the rice seeds."
Li Xia's eyes fell on Guo Shoujing's hand and he couldn't help but nodded and said, "The rice seeds produced by Mr. Qiao are richer than the rice seeds we sent to Jiangnan to purchase."
At this point, even the timid and timid Mr. Qiao couldn't help but respond.
"Grass people farming...that's really a good hand."
Everyone laughed and praised him for bringing excellent Dongting seeds.
Guo Shoujing added: "Last year, Mr. Qiao got a field and mixed the rice seeds he brought from Hunan with the rice seeds from Guanzhong to plant. Although the soil in Guanzhong is not as good as that in Hunan, his rice grows better than others...
..."
Li Xia's heart suddenly moved, thinking that farmers at this time of year already had the prototype of the concept of hybrid rice planting.
It is a pity that in an era of rampant wars, if there is not a strong and unified court that truly cares about people's livelihood to record and popularize these good laws, then it may be lost, and it may not be possible until the Ming and Qing Dynasties that someone can record it.
The people in this land were far smarter than he thought. They had actually thought of the few ideas he knew. What they lacked was just the time to gradually advance, the basic conditions to improve productivity, and a stable and inclusive environment that could not restrain them.
environment of.
"When I was participating in the construction of the Chang'an Canal, I met Mr. Qiao. Inspired by him, I tried methods such as the salt water method, the one-spring method, and the leaching method to increase the yield per mu."
"Guo Qing tells me one by one, what is the salt water method?"
"As the name suggests, seeds can be screened out for diseases by placing them in salt water. Your Majesty, please see that most seeds are wrapped in chaff and become embryos..."
Everyone listened to Guo Shoujing's introduction and nodded one after another, whether they understood or not.
Sun Deyu even opened his eyes wide, full of admiration.
"Tsk, tsk, Mr. Guo is truly a god!"
With such sincere praise, Sun Deyu thought of something, turned around and saluted Li Xia and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you ask Mr. Guo to be the chief officer of the Gewu Academy?"
"I dare not accept it," Guo Shoujing responded quickly.
He was still talking enthusiastically about various ways to increase the yield per mu, but he was not very interested in official positions.
In fact, although he joined Li Xia late, he still holds many official positions, including river envoy, minister of the Ministry of Industry, and imperial supervisor.
Li Xia thought about it briefly and felt that Sun Deyu was very keen.
"There is no need to bother Guo Qing with the trivial matters in the Gewu Academy. If you recommend someone to know the affairs of the Gewu Academy, Guo Qing can be appointed as an academician of agriculture and academician of water conservancy in the academy. Do you know what that means?"
"I know." Sun Deyu responded: "I should recommend a steward of the Gewuyuan to take care of the complicated and trivial matters."
"That's quite clever." Li Xia said, "Set up an Ordnance Supervisor and Gunpowder Bureau, and separate them from the Gewuyuan. You will serve as the Ordnance Young Superintendent and also be in charge of the Gunpowder Bureau. We will discuss this matter privately."
"I accept the decree." Sun Deyu then asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, your salary is quite large, right?"
"Um."
Sun Deyu was overjoyed.
He is young and far less knowledgeable than Guo Shoujing. In the past, he could barely support him when no one was available, but now he is under too much pressure in Danwuyuan, and now he feels a lot more relaxed.
This was an adjustment that Li Xia had to make after he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, so that all matters would gradually become standardized.
In short, we will promote production bit by bit and standardize the system.
...
"Your Majesty, Mr. Lin is here."
With this announcement, Li Xia's inner peace of political practice was broken.
Guo Shoujing was asked to continue taking the officials to check other agricultural results, while he went to meet Lin Zi.
Li Xia was now able to deduce from the steps and demeanor of the ministers when they came to meet him whether they wanted to report good things or bad things.
As soon as he looked at Lin Zi today, he realized that something bad was going on this time.
"Your Majesty, urgent report from Gansu, Yuan troops have entered the country and attacked Yan Yunyun's team..."
After Li Xia read the information sent by Lin Zi, he seemed very calm, as if the bad news was not as bad as he expected.
But there are still doubts.
"Let's talk about it back to the palace. Call Liu Yuanzhen here."
"yes."
Liu Yuanzhen had guarded Tongguan for many years, but this time he was hit by an arrow from Dong Wenbing. Li Xia simply called him back to Chang'an and served as Minister of War.
As for Tongguan, with Mao Yi'er's current experience, he should be able to take charge of it alone.
In addition, Liu Yuanzhen was also one of the first batch of heroes who were granted the title of Duke after Li Xia became emperor. There were also Zhang Jue, Gao Changshou, Li Zengbo, Lian Xixian, Gao Qiong, Zhang Hongdao, etc., all of them were basically handsome men who could take charge along the way.
When he arrived at Jiying Palace, Liu Yuanzhen read the information and looked at the map, looking confused.
It has been nearly five months since he was injured. He has already recovered from his injuries and is now full of life again.
"The main force of the Yuan army is approaching Gaochang?"
"This is indeed a more serious matter, but with Brother Shanfu in charge, you don't have to worry about it." Li Xia said, "Let's talk about Yan Yunyun's attack first."
"Yes, the west of the Datong River should not be under my rule in the Tang Dynasty for the time being."
"Well, the land of Hehuang has been lost since the An-Shi Rebellion. The Tibetan people have not caused chaos in these years, and the imperial court has no spare power to get it back. The Qilian Mountains and the Datong River can be regarded as the national boundaries for the time being."
"But this time it was not the Tibetan people who attacked from west to east, but the Yuan army who attacked from east to west." Liu Yuanzhen muttered in his mouth, and traced his fingers on the map, saying: "They came from the desert..."
It’s a lot of trouble.”
This matter is no longer difficult for them to guess.
"Basiba." Liu Yuanzhen muttered the name and said, "It seems that the Mongolian Yuan's national teacher Basiba returned to Tibet?"
Li Xia sat there without saying anything, waiting for him to figure out the situation and give him advice.
"The Yuan army first opened the road with a vanguard force, and happened to rob our luggage to ensure the safety of Basiba. After that, the Lanzhou defenders discovered something unusual and rushed to the Huangshui River, and then sent an urgent message to Chang'an
, it has been twelve days. Pasiba has probably arrived in Xining Prefecture?"
Lin Zidao: "Yes, the Lanzhou defenders are pursuing us."
"I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up."
Liu Yuanzhen talked a lot, and after sorting out the situation, he added: "This time the Yuan people are very smart. They are still attacking Xingqing Mansion from the east, and deploy heavy troops from the west to approach Gaochang. At the same time, they secretly cross the desert in the middle to reach Tubo. If I
It’s Lian Xixian, and I can’t stop him.”
There is no need for Liu Yuanzhen to explain this truth. Li Xia also understands that in a large and sparsely populated place like Gansu, without the Great Wall and without a large number of troops, if the Yuan cavalry is not even allowed to come and go, then what will happen?
It's just too whimsical.
In fact, Lian Xixian made the Yuan cavalry dare not attack towns, passes, and trade roads, which can be said to be an extremely terrifying deterrent. If Kublai Khan was guarding Gansu and Li Xia wanted to pass through, he would not dare to do so.
Try to sneak attack a few important towns.
"Let's just go there. If Pasiba wants to go back to Tubo, he can go to the Western Regions instead of Gansu. If that doesn't work, he can go around the Khyber Pass," Li Xia said.
Liu Yuanzhen thought for a while and quickly came up with an idea, saying, "Although we can't catch up with Pasiba, we can take other ways to stop him."
As he said that, he took one last look at the map, with determination in his eyes.
"I am willing to lead a small force, cross the Dadu River from Sichuan and Sichuan, climb over the mountains, go straight to Sakya, intercept and kill Pasiba, capture Chana Dorje, and subdue Tibet for your majesty."
Lin Zi, who was standing aside, glanced at Liu Yuanzhen and guessed that he wanted to take the credit from Hao Xiuyang.
Conquering Tubo was definitely an unparalleled achievement.
Not only is the title of king hereditary, but it is also bound to go down in history, not inferior to the title of Fenlang Juxu...
Thinking of this, Lin Zi simply stood up, cupped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, I am also willing to go!"
"Even if the mountains are high, the water is deep, and the abyss is extremely cold." Liu Yuanzhen said, "Even if I narrowly escape death, I will definitely kill Pasiba for Your Majesty!"
Lin Zi was not as good at talking as he was, so he said loudly: "Me too!"
Li Xia didn't expect to summon Liu Yuanzhen to discuss matters. He only got this suggestion. He shook his head and asked, "What's the use?"
"Conquer Tubo."
"I ask you, even if Phagpa returns to Sakya, what will happen?"
Liu Yuanzhen said: "You can hit our belly and back during the decisive battle between the Tang Dynasty and the Meng Yuan Dynasty, and you can cut off..."
"I'm asking you, after Basiba returns, will he be able to call on all the Tubo tribes to be loyal to Meng Yuan?"
"This... is certainly possible."
Li Xia frowned, stood up, walked around for two steps, called Liu Yuanzhen to his side, and said, "I have an idea, please don't tell other important ministers." Liu Yuanzhen was overjoyed and seemed to think that he was the most outstanding among the founding officials.
Li Xia asked, "Do you think Meng Yuan's plan can be resolved as long as I take down the Loop?"
Liu Yuanzhen was stunned.
"Look." Li Xia raised his hand and pointed at the map, "Why was Meng Yuan able to attack Xingqing Mansion? Why was he able to attack the Western Region? Why was he able to pass through A
From the Lashan Desert to Qinghai? Because the Hetao Plain was their springboard, they rested in the Hetao and used the Hetao as a military center to disperse their troops, including forming oppression in Yan'an Prefecture all year round."
"I understand, but..."
"As long as the Loop is captured, it is equivalent to cutting off an arm of Meng Yuan and destroying its influence in the southwest. Even if Pasiba returns to Tubo, can Tubo still be loyal to Meng Yuan?"
"Your Majesty has learned from this." Liu Yuanzhen said: "But after years of fighting, the national strength has already been overwhelmed. Not to mention that Your Majesty promised the princes to rest for two years. Even if the princes support it, where will Your Majesty get the troops, money and food to attack Hetao?"
"But that's the big picture."
Li Xia also knew that he was unreasonable, so he only recruited Liu Yuanzhen to ask the next question today.
"If I personally conquer the Loop, it will boost morale. I can save a lot of money and food with only elite troops. The treasury will be squeezed and my belt will be tightened."
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, this is obviously impossible. We fight in person every year and tighten our belts every year. The soldiers are tired and there is no food in the national treasury." Liu Yuanzhen said: "We must rest for two or three years. If we can not fight during these two years,
It is a good strategy to subdue Tibet and greatly increase the national strength before sending troops to Hetao."
"I understand. I'm afraid Kublai Khan will be able to recover in two or three years..."
Li Xia was thinking and tapping on the desk, hoping to find another opportunity.
Opportunities often come at the same time as crises. There may be one right in front of you.
——Pasiba.
This Mongolian imperial master, a great nobleman of Tubo and the head of the Buddhist clan were indeed an opportunity.
It's just that it's difficult to catch up with them on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
.......
Seeing Li Xia deep in thought, Liu Yuanzhen reminded him carefully: "Your Majesty is now the most powerful person, and there is no need to do everything personally. It is up to us ministers to share your worries for Your Majesty. I will do my best."
This sentence moved Li Xia.
"I agree with what you said, I hope you can share my worries..."