"Mr. Lang, the eldest lady arrived outside the palace. She humblely asked her to come in. The eldest lady refused. She just knelt down at the foot of the steps and claimed to ask Mr. Lang to forgive her..."
After hearing this, Li Chengzhi paused, put down his pen, and closed his eyes without speaking.
As the saying goes, old age is still hot, and as expected, Gao Wenjun finally paid a visit to Gao Zhao.
It was just a visit, but you took Li Yuan with you without saying a word to your husband?
Gao Zhao regarded her as his own and cared for her like a pearl in his palm for twenty years. He was not his biological father, but better than his biological father. Gao Wenjun couldn't bear that his body was missing and he would not die a good death, so he took great pains to save him. This is human nature.
But she shouldn't attack Li Yuan.
This not only exceeded Li Chengzhi's expectations, but also broke through the bottom line of Li Shiliang and other Li clan members, as well as Xihai's civil and military forces.
Xihai and the Gao family are mortal enemies, and Gao Zhao is also a traitor to the country. This is the reason why Li Chengzhi raised his army. Therefore, anyone can survive, but Gao Zhao will never survive.
It is even more worrying that Li Chengzhi only has Li Yuan as his heir for the time being. He is both the eldest son and the legitimate son. Therefore, people all over the West Sea are already thinking about whether Li Chengzhi will establish Li Yuan as the crown prince in the future.
But if he gets involved with Gao Zhao, it will be like nailing a stain that can't be washed away for the rest of his life. How can he save a hair?
No matter what happened in the future, Li Chengzhi would never allow his children to fall into the vortex of power struggle prematurely, so he ordered Li Shiliang to take precautions in advance: as Li Shiliang expected, he would speak out and explain the interests and risks to Gao Wenjun.
Although Gao Wenjun is smart, he is only in his early twenties after all. He has little experience and experience, so how can he know what Li Chengzhi is planning, let alone the complexity of people's hearts, and he just wants to save Gao Zhao.
However, before he reached the other courtyard where Gao Zhao was imprisoned, he was stopped by Li Shiliang. Then he was given a wake-up call, and Gao Wenjun was horrified and his face turned pale.
At this moment, she was afraid that her intestines would turn green with regret...
After pondering for a while, Li Chengzhi said again: "This is a military base and the military affairs are busy, so I won't see her. Please speak for me. When I return home later, I will argue with her again..."
Li Xiaoxian respectfully agreed and went out of the palace to deliver a message to Gao Wenjun.
When Gao Wenjun heard the words "I won't argue with her again when I go back home", Gao Wenjun felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders.
If Li Chengzhi doesn't care about her, he will really annoy her. If he really harms Li Yuan's future, she, her own mother, will not be able to redeem herself even if she dies...
When Li Xiaoxian came back and called his wife's cry a smile, and returned home happily, Li Chengzhi shook his head like a smile.
After leaning a little, he confessed: "Please pass on the order. Don't talk nonsense about what happened today!"
"Follow the order!"
Li Xiaoxian responded with his mouth, but he was at a loss in his heart: At this time, he didn't know why the eldest lady came here to plead guilty, and he felt as if he was lost.
Guessing in his mind, Li Xiaoxian quickly brought the documents after hearing Li Chengzhi call him...
…
Time flies like an arrow, and time flies like a shuttle.
Time is like sand, slipping quietly through the cracks in your hands without anyone noticing.
March has passed in the blink of an eye, and now it is late autumn. In another half month, it will be the beginning of winter.
The grass leaves are withered and the earth is discolored. The fields outside the town are surrounded by officials of the people. Li Chengzhi is taking Cui Guang, Li Shiliang, Li Shixian, Zhang Jingzhi, Wei Zijian and others to take a closer look.
After Li Song handed over the civil affairs chief, Li Shiliang was first in charge of government affairs. After Li Shiliang was transferred to be the chief of the Gongcao, Zhang Jingzhi also took charge of it. Later, Zhang Jingzhi helped Da Xi lead the army, and Li Chengzhi simply reestablished Liucao and established the Shangshu Province, and then
Everything was lost to Cui Guang.
These six Cao Cao were responsible for officials, civilians, workers, criminals, farmers, and scholars. Cui Guang was naturally the Minister, while Li Shiliang and others were in charge of each Cao Cao and were in charge of various ministries.
In addition to these six Cao Cao, there are two other military Cao Cao, Jin and Li Cao, who are directly under the Ministry of War and under the direct control of Li Chengzhi.
Now that the war is on hold and the military has come to an end, Li Chengzhi finally has more time to focus on people's livelihood.
Today I have brought along a group of important ministers to inspect the administration of people's livelihood.
This is now a vegetable field, and it is also a good planting land for farmers to "supplement food with vegetables". There is no farming in the beginning of spring, only plowing and raising in the sun, and then waiting for the weather to get warmer, roughly until April when there is no frost.
Will sow vegetable seeds.
It is now more than March, the leaves and cauliflowers have already fallen, and the ears of vegetables are half withered. It is the harvest season.
Among them, the most abundant ones are cabbage and radish.
These two are the best to grow and take care of, and have high yields, and can be perfectly separated from summer crops, so they naturally became Li Chengzhi's best choice.
And saving seeds is also very simple: just select the seedlings when they are in the strong seedling stage, and then cut off the outer stems and leaves, and they will naturally ear, bloom, and bear fruit.
In this way, year after year, by selecting the best from the best, you will naturally be able to select good varieties.
Just like when Li Chengzhi first traveled through time, the cabbage was not much bigger than a fist, but now it is bigger than a human head. The radish was even more pitifully thin, only as thick as a finger, but now it is comparable to the forearm of a strong man.
The storage of these two items is also extremely simple. Digging a small cellar can store them for one winter. If they are covered with a layer of wet sand, they can be stored until the beginning of summer the following year.
Furthermore, there is no shortage of salt in the West Sea, and the salted vegetables can be stored for a year without going bad.
In addition, alfalfa can be used as a food substitute. This food does not need to be picked out. It can grow in saline-alkali soil and sandy soil. It is easier to plant. There is no need to plow, let alone fertilize, and sow grass seeds into the ground.
It can grow in the middle. And the more water it is watered, the more luxuriant it will be. You can cut at least three crops a year.
It can also improve the soil. After planting it for at most three years, the barren fields can be transformed into fertile fields. Therefore, in just two years, alfalfa in the West Sea has been planted from Biansi County to the shores of Juyan Lake. It is only two hundred miles from east to west, but seven miles from north to south.
More than eight hundred miles.
But this thing belongs to the legume family and has a high starch content. Livestock will bloat to death if they eat too much of it, so the animal husbandry has to migrate down the Qilian Mountains.
So there is absolutely no problem in using it as a food reserve for emergency use...
After looking at the vegetable field, Li Chengzhi and a few others went to the farmer's warehouse and took a special look at the grain varieties. They were generally satisfied.
"Food is the first priority for the people, and farming is the foundation of the country, so we must never slack off..."
Everyone agreed in a loud voice, and then Cui Guang frowned again: "There is no danger of good seeds, it is nothing more than striving for excellence and selecting the best. And now the West Sea sits in the land of Hexi and Longxi, with more than three million hectares of arable land.
Just follow the four seasons and follow the steps.
However, under the rule of the people, even if we add the three towns of Shanshan, Wuhan, and Dunhuang, and the three prefectures of Binghe, Qin, and Liang, there are still less than 500,000 households. How can we cultivate so many fields?"
Li Chengzhi couldn't help but laugh: "How can anyone complain about having too much land? If it is good land, each household will naturally cultivate it intensively and sow wheat and millet. If it is bad land, it will be cultivated by various armies. If it is planted with alfalfa, only
I will sow seeds in the spring. If there is a lot of rain, I will not even need to water the fields. I will only wait for the harvest at the end of the summer, the harvest at the summer equinox, and the harvest at the autumnal equinox. Even if there is little rain, one soldier can manage a hundred acres, so why should the minister worry?"
That's easy to say. Could it be that in a calamity year, both soldiers and civilians would have to chew the horse feed?
Furthermore, after three years of alfalfa cultivation, even barren fields can produce more grain than stone, so why bother using fertile fields to plant grass?
What's more, since you, Li Chengzhi, have made a rebellion, how can you live in a corner for a long time and be willing to live in vain in these several states?
Seeing the trap and being speechless, Cui Guang simply got straight to the point: "If we have no choice, we can only do this. But I think about it, if we can go to a higher level, have more people, and grow more wheat and millet, wouldn't it be better than eating chewing food? The horse material is much better? But seeing that the third month is approaching, but there is no movement from the court, so I dare to ask the Duke if he can just stop the matter of ceding the land and relocating the people? "
After hearing what Cui Guang said, everyone became energetic and stared at Li Chengzhi with burning eyes.
Just because they had been curious for a long time, Li Chengzhi taught him deeply several times. As time went by, even Li Shixian didn't dare to ask more questions.
Is it for this?
A smile suddenly appeared on Li Chengzhi's face: "I don't mean to deceive you, it's because the imperial court has never come here to say a word, so I don't know. The day before yesterday, the Queen Mother came from Luojing on a fast horse. With the edict written by His Majesty himself..."
Before he could finish speaking, Cui Guang asked impatiently: "How did you respond to the imperial edict?"
"The Empress Dowager only said to advance and retreat, saying: If she agrees, there will be criminals from the Yuan family, and the clan and courtiers will rise up to criticize her. If she doesn't, there will be another war. So it is difficult to make a decision, so we have to send envoys again. Discuss with me!"
"I just sent the edict yesterday. It was obviously calculated in time. Even if the envoy was sent, he must have left Beijing not long ago. He has traveled more than three thousand miles. I don't know when he will go? And now it is almost frost. Winter will begin in half a month, but if it snows heavily, there will be delays. As a result, it is possible to reach the end of the year. After a few more talks, maybe it will be this time next year again? "
The more Li Shixian talked, the angrier he became, "The court is clearly using the 'drag trick', but you can actually laugh at it?"
It's okay if I don't say it, but Li Chengzhi smiles even happier when I mention it.
Li Chengzhi knew very well how harsh the conditions proposed to Liu Fang were. Not to mention Gao Ying, even if he offered Cixi in exchange, he would never dare to agree.
Li Chengzhi's purpose was nothing more than to advance while retreating. The first was to test the court. If Gao Ying really dared to perish, he would have to resort to tricks.
If the imperial court was willing to delay, Li Chengzhi would not have wished for it more. It would be best to delay for two to three years, and wait for Xihai to recharge his batteries, prepare enough gunpowder, and save enough food, and then it would not be too late to launch a counterattack.
Now that the imperial court has resorted to dragging tactics, it can be said that it plays into Li Chengzhi's favour. Why is there any reason for him to be unhappy?
It was just that Li Shixian was new to the country and would spill the beans without knowing the importance of it, thereby leaking the news, so he didn't know much.
Cui Guang and others looked indifferent, but a cautious person like Wei Zijian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why should my father be angry? If the imperial court doesn't respond, then just follow the original agreement and start a war. I'm sure the Queen Mother and the princes will express their opinions!"
This means that the softer you are, the harder I will be...
"If we really want to start a war...where do you want to conquer from, could it be Guanzhong?"
Li Shixian was doubtful, always feeling that Li Chengzhi was not telling the truth.
Since he could attack at any time, why didn't Li Chengzhi rush into Guanzhong, pass Tongguan, and point his troops at Luoyang?
Instead, it will drag on for several months to allow the court to breathe a sigh of relief?
"Longshan is easy to defend but difficult to attack, otherwise Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms would not have attacked Wei several times, but returned without success. Furthermore, there was Cui Yanbo who sharpened his sword and wanted to avenge his previous shame. Later, there was the Yang family who deliberately planned to defeat Wei in Guanzhong.
Provoke a war so that both the West Sea and the imperial court will suffer losses. It can be seen that the war in Longdong is now in full swing, why should I bother to make a wedding dress for the Yang family?"
Li Chengzhi smiled slightly, "Of course you have to pick up the soft persimmons. Since Cui Yanbo is not easy to beat, then let's do the next best thing and use Xingluan to do it!"
Seeing that he was confident and not joking, everyone was thinking: Do you really want to fight?
But when I think about it carefully, it seems natural.
After all, Li Chengzhi was categorical at the time and wildly claimed that the three months would last for three months. Even if it was delayed by one day, war would inevitably begin.
If we don't fight, wouldn't it be exposing the fact that we are strong on the outside and weak on the inside?
It's even more possible that the court was delaying the attack intentionally, wanting to see if Li Chengzhi was really fighting or pretending to fight.
Even if we fight for real, winter is about to come, and the weather will be freezing cold. The cost and damage will be more than doubled, so this battle will definitely not last long.
When the court is a little more submissive, Li Chengzhi will most likely borrow the donkey from the slope.
And if we continue to pull each other's back, it might be delayed until this time next year, as Li Shixian said.
At this time, Xihai's top priority is not to seize the city or occupy the land, but to recuperate and recuperate. The longer the court delays, the more beneficial it will be to Xihai.
Why not?
As for Xingluan, there are only 50,000 newly surrendered troops under his command, which is almost the same as Li Feng's. Moreover, there is only one big river between Bogulu and Liziyuan (where Xingluan troops are stationed), and there are no high mountains and dangerous passes to defend.
The terrain is flat, making it easy to attack but difficult to defend.
Now the gunpowder reserves in Xihai have reached 156,000 kilograms, half of which was given to Li Feng. With only 10,000 guns fired, Xingluan can be forced to several miles away from the east bank. After that, the bridge can be built leisurely, and crossing the river is not difficult.
.
It is also possible that Xing Luan did not dare to fight to the death and could only fight and retreat. If Yuan Yao could not be rescued in time, it would be possible to capture Gaoping Town.
At that time, Huangfu was in the south and Li Feng was in the north, just like two knives, pressed against the heart of Guanzhong...