A wooden boat went down the river and was leaving Badong.
Looking at the beautiful mountains and mist swirling in the distance, Qin Xiaoyao looked into the distance with a lot of emotion.
"Do you feel that the Tang Dynasty is not as wealthy as you think? It is not easy for people to live a good life." Next to Qin Xiao, Du Hongye, who was dressed in green and wearing a bamboo hat, couldn't help but asked when he saw Qin Xiao's sigh.
Qin Xiao nodded and said, "So there is a long way to go."
"But you have gained something from this trip to inspect Xichuan." Hongye said. "You have learned about the people's livelihood in Xichuan, dismissed some incompetent officials, and promoted talented people. The situation in Xichuan may change in the future."
Qin Xiao smiled and said, "Sitting in the Jinluan Palace, I don't know the real situation in the world and the needs of the people. How can I help them solve their problems?" He looked at Hongye and said, "Sister Hongye, thank you for protecting me these past six months."
"You don't even believe this, do you?" Hongye rolled his eyes and said, "You have become a grand master and the most powerful emperor in history. Who can hurt you? Do you still need someone to protect you? You just want to see me idle in the academy.
Panic, you have to pull me out and torture me."
"Then why don't you refuse?"
"Before I passed away, I gave the academy to you to take care of." Hongye sighed, "The senior brother is in charge of the Northeast, the third senior brother is building a navy for you, and the second senior brother is obsessed with his own affairs. The master is worried that he doesn't think well of the academy, so he just
I can leave the academy to your care."
"But before I passed away, Master asked you to take on the heavy responsibility of the academy."
"I don't have that ability." Hongye said, "There are several senior brothers above, how can I still control them?"
Qin Xiao laughed and said, "So you follow me around on inspections because of Master's orders? Isn't it because you like to be with me?"
"Qin Xiao, don't think that just because you are the emperor, you can talk nonsense in front of me." Hongye said, "Why do I like to be with you?" He bit his lips and said, "Tell the truth, you insist on me to come with you?"
Do I have bad intentions when I'm around you?"
"Why does my mother-in-law look down on people like this?" Qin Xiao sighed, "I don't have bad intentions, but my intentions are obvious!"
Hongye glared but said nothing.
It has been more than two years since Qin Xiao ascended the throne, and many changes have taken place in the world.
As the second husband, Ye Guxing, expected, the Master passed away just over a year after Qin Xiao ascended the throne. Qin Xiao was by his side before his death.
The Second Master also entrusted the academy to Qin Xiao.
Qin Xiao knew that what the Master entrusted was not just the academy, but the entire Confucian sect.
In the past two years or so, the strength of the powerful families has been greatly weakened. Qin Xiao established imperial examinations, recruited poor families, and appointed people on their merits, allowing many talented and learned children from poor families to have a smooth path to serve the country.
In fact, this is easier said than done.
However, although Qin Xiao is of the Li family's blood, he was born in a poor family and has no family connections.
There are no scruples, so many things can be done without any hesitation, let alone looking forward and backward.
Not only did the children of poor families have a way to serve the country, Qin Xiao also started to inspect officials after the situation stabilized. Those who were capable were placed there, and those who were incompetent were immediately dismissed.
With the help of the eldest son Xianhou, he broadened his horizons, improved the status and treatment of craftsmen, selected talents according to different styles, hired people based on their strengths, reduced taxes, actively restored people's livelihood, and developed commerce, which changed the scene of the empire.
There are signs of resurgence.
The Jiangnan Lin family was still an official businessman in the Xingping Dynasty, but they not only ran business in the Tang Dynasty, but also actively expanded overseas trade with the support of Qin Xiao.
The southeastern waters now have frequent merchant ships, and Linghu Xuan, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Navy, has built a powerful navy. Among them, the Southeast Navy commander Tu Kuo, the commander of the Southeast Navy, has become a powerful force in the trade between Tang Dynasty merchants and Southeast Asian countries.
backing.
Trade in the Northeast and trade in overseas Southeast Asian countries alone brought huge profits to the Tang Dynasty. Although it did not last long, the treasury was no longer as weak as it was when Xiahou was in power.
The Murong clan in southern Xinjiang once wanted to support him, but half a year after Qin Xiao ascended the throne, he did not wait for Murong to come to Changdu, and was no longer polite, ordering Pei Xiaogong to march into southern Xinjiang.
In the past six months, the pawnshop controlled by Tang Rong also made many moves in southern Xinjiang. After the southern army captured a city, the counties in southern Xinjiang began to take action when the Tang army arrived.
There are wars everywhere in southern Xinjiang, and the southern Xinjiang army is overwhelmed.
Fortunately, Murong Changdu was a capable person after all. He realized that even if he could rely on the geographical advantages of southern Xinjiang to stop him for a while, he would definitely be defeated in the end. After one of the troops in the southern Xinjiang army rebelled and returned to the Tang Dynasty, Murong Changdu immediately
He presented a letter of apology to the court and went to Beijing in person, bearing thorns on his back.
Qin Xiao was a toothless tiger until Murong Chang left southern Xinjiang. It was not too difficult for him to deprive him of the king's title, but he granted him the title of duke and settled him and his family in the capital, but it also left the Murong family without
Suffering the fate of genocide.
After that, it took another half a year to rectify southern Xinjiang and implement lenient policies, which won the support of the people in southern Xinjiang.
The establishment of the Southern Xinjiang Army was eliminated, but Qin Xiao still selected many elite men and transferred them to Yongzhou.
The tens of thousands of troops in the Southern Army also followed the method of survival of the fittest. Except for some soldiers and horses stationed in the southern states and counties, the rest were either given money and land to return home, or were transferred to Yongzhou and handed over to Han Yunong to prepare for war.
In two years, Yongzhou has assembled 40,000 to 50,000 elite soldiers and horses, training day and night, and built many large granaries to store strategic grain and grass.
In addition, he deliberately spread the news to Xiling and let Xiling know about Yong
The state's military readiness situation put tremendous pressure on it.
In fact, Jiayuguan has been blocked in recent years, and the situation in Xiling has been deteriorating.
With the trade blocked, Xiling was not only unable to profit from the trade routes between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions, but many materials were also extremely scarce. In addition, there was another drought this year. Qin Xiao had already learned that many teams had appeared in Xiling to stage an uprising.
Everything was as Qin Xiao expected. The longer the communication with Xiling was cut off, the greater the damage would be to Xiling.
Although the blockage of trade routes from the Western Regions caused considerable losses to the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty was too large and had the Bohai Kingdom, grassland tribes, and Southeast Asian countries as trading partners, so it could completely cope with it.
Xiling is a broken body.
Although Xiling can trade with other countries in the Western Regions, the Wutuo Khanate has never been a kind person. The purpose of coveting Xiling in the first place was to covet the wealth of Xiling, so naturally it is impossible to give benefits to Xiling.
If Xiling merchants wanted to trade with the countries in the Western Regions, they had to cross the vast borders of the Wutuo Khanate. They set up checkpoints along the way and collected heavy commercial taxes. After a hard-working transaction, there was almost no profit, and even some
Many caravans were robbed by Wutuo thieves, but the Wutuo Khanate turned a blind eye and didn't care at all.
Under this situation, Xiling cannot even trade normally with the Western Regions.
With the loss of trade between the east and the west, Xiling became an orphan. In order to cling to the thigh of the Wutuo Khanate, Li Tuo also searched for people's fat and anointing to pay filial piety to the Wutuo Khan. This made the situation in Xiling even worse, and the people were miserable.
Jiayuguan was blocked and Li Tuo's spies could not enter the pass. However, spies from the Tang Dynasty sneaked into Xiling in batches and knew the situation of Xiling well.
If you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight without danger!
Qin Xiao knew very well that it would be very easy to deal with Li Tuo and his party to regain Xiling.
He did not act rashly because he was worried that once the Tang Dynasty sent troops, the Wutuo people would not sit idly by and watch. Therefore, the real enemy of Xiling was not Li Tuo, but the Wutuo Khanate.
The use of troops is a major matter and must be done without fail.
Therefore, Qin Xiao has only been preparing for war in the past two years. Firstly, he is building up the strength of the Tang army, and secondly, he is consuming Li Tuo's strength. When the time is right, he will get twice the result with half the effort and will not use troops impulsively.
In the past six months, Qin Xiao, accompanied by Hongye, visited many places in the Tang Dynasty and learned more details, which will naturally be of great help in governing the country in the future.
"Where to go next?" Standing at the bow of the boat, Hongye was not sure where Qin Xiao would go. In the past six months, wherever Qin Xiao went, it was always on impulse.
When he came to central Sichuan this time, Qin Xiao originally planned to go to Qingcheng Mountain to meet She Yue, but he did not go after all.
He hoped that he would go and announce the good news after the Tang Dynasty was truly restored.
Qin Xiao looked up at the sky, smiled and said, "I want to relive old dreams."
Hongye didn't understand, so he frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Sister Hongye, do you still remember Mumu Lane?" Qin Xiao asked.
Hong Ye was startled, but sighed softly.
How could she forget.
At that time, under the order of the master, he disguised himself as Mapo to secretly protect Qin Xiao. He lived in Mu Mu Lane at that time.
The two of them lived door to door, and Qin Xiao would pass by the oil shop and walk out of Mumu Alley every day.
"Would you like to go back and take a look?"
Hongye said, "Xiling is still in the hands of the rebels. You are the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, how can you be involved in danger?"
"Didn't you say that I have become a great master and am invincible in the world?" Qin Xiao said with a smile, "I want to go to Mumu Lane to take a look, then to Sword Valley, and then to visit Brother Nalusheng, the Khan of Utuo Heaven!"
The red leaves and flowers turned pale, and he exclaimed, "Going to Wutuo?"
After Qin Xiao ascended the throne, the young master's aunt and Zhuque Fairy both said goodbye and left, taking the remains of their respective masters with them and going their separate ways.
Time passed and Qin Xiao had not seen the two of them for two years.
Hongye didn't care that Qin Xiao was going to Sword Valley, but she was shocked when she heard that he was going to Wutuo.
In just a moment, she understood Qin Xiao's thoughts.
Qin Xiao's visit to Brother Nalusheng was of course not a real visit.
He is going to kill someone!
The strength of the Wutuo Khanate should not be underestimated, and Brother Narusheng was a hero among the Wutuo people. The existence of this man was naturally a threat to the Tang Dynasty.
Moreover, once the Tang army left the border and entered Xiling, Brother Nalusheng would hardly sit idly by and would definitely send troops to fight the battle with the Tang Dynasty.
Qin Xiao was the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He wanted to regain Xiling, but he also wanted to pay the minimum price.
If Brother Narusheng really dies, the Wutuo Khanate will definitely be in chaos, and they will definitely fight each other in order to compete for the position of King Wutuo Khan.
Brother Narusheng can intimidate the eight tribes of Wutuo, but it does not mean that others can.
The eight tribes of Wutuo are all powerful. As long as Narusheng brother dies, the eight tribes will definitely want to gain huge benefits from it.
Even if an outstanding figure does succeed to the throne, it will inevitably go through a bloody storm and it will be impossible to restore stability in a short period of time.
Hongye can almost conclude that after more than two years of preparation, Qin Xiao obviously feels that the time is right and is ready to leave the country.
Before that, he was planning to personally kill Brother Nalusheng and plunge the Wutuo tribes into civil strife. If the Tang army reached Xiling, the morale of Wutuo would be low even if they sent troops. This would create a more favorable situation for the Tang army.
condition.
Looking at Qin Xiao's smiling face, Hongye sighed in his heart, thinking to himself that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was really brave, courageous and unparalleled.