On the dilapidated city, several soldiers were holding spears, looking a little listless.
A soldier stretched. Just as he was about to continue patrolling, he suddenly saw a large number of soldiers wearing armor appearing in the distance.
"Enemy attack! Close the city gate quickly!"
The panicked voice attracted the attention of others.
When they saw the endless, unknown army in the distance, they were shouting and running away, and they were in a mess.
Fortunately, there were still a few people who were awake and closed the city gate.
When Lin Xuan saw this scene, he put down his telescope and said to Cheng Chumo and others: "Let's go!"
Although it was his first time on the battlefield, looking at the quality of Gaochang's soldiers, he knew that Tiandi City could be defeated in one battle and there was no need to stay here.
Cheng Chumo looked at the charging soldiers in the distance and was very excited. When he heard Lin Xuan's words, he said unwillingly: "General, are we really leaving like this?"
"What should we do if we don't leave? The general manager ordered us to go to a dangerous place. If we don't go, we will be disobeying the military order. Do you know the consequences?" Lin Xuan said with a stern face.
He didn't want to give Hou Junji a clue. Who knew if Hou Junji would take action against him.
Cheng Chumo asked: "Then where are we going?"
Lin Xuan took out the map, chose a place not far away, and said, "Let's go here."
The map given by Hou Junji marked more than a dozen dangerous places.
Of course it is impossible for Lin Xuan to divide his troops to defend these places.
He just needs to lead people and do enough to save face so that Hou Junji doesn't get caught.
The place Lin Xuan chose was twenty or thirty miles away from Tiandi City, and not too far from Gaochang Royal City.
Lin Xuan was riding a horse, and Cheng Chumo and others were following behind him.
The soldiers knew they couldn't fight anymore, so they all looked listless.
Part of what was captured in battle was to be distributed to the soldiers.
Although they can get a share if they don't participate in the war, it will definitely be pitiful.
Lin Xuan knew what they were thinking, but there was nothing he could do about it.
When passing by a hillside, Lin Xuan saw some shrubs growing on the hillside, with some white things mixed in between the shrubs.
Lin Xuan thought it looked familiar and couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"Stop!" Lin Xuan shouted, dismounted and ran up the hillside.
"General!"
Cheng Chumo and others shouted several times, but when Lin Xuan ignored him, he quickly dismounted and followed.
“It’s really cotton!”
Running closer, Lin Xuan realized that he had read correctly and was stunned by this huge surprise.
He had looked for cotton before, but couldn't find it.
He didn't know when cotton was introduced to China or where it came from, so he could only put his hope in the system.
Unexpectedly, there were no rewards in the system, and I discovered it in Gaochang.
Cheng Chumo and others walked up to Lin Xuan. Seeing Lin Xuan standing there stunned, they shouted worriedly: "General, are you okay?"
Lin Xuan came to his senses, laughed loudly, and said, "The opportunity to make a meritorious deed has come."
"Meritorious service? What meritorious service?" Cheng Chumo asked with some confusion.
Lin Xuan pointed at the cotton and said with a smile: "This is a credit, a huge credit."
Cheng Chumo scratched his head and said, "Isn't it just Bai Diazi? What kind of merit can this achieve?"
Lin Xuan was stunned and said, "Do you know him?"
Cheng Chumo nodded and said, "We know each other, aren't they in Chang'an?"
"Is there one in Chang'an? How come I haven't seen it before?" Lin Xuan asked doubtfully.
He had been in Chang'an for so long and even sent people to look for him. Why couldn't he be found?
"I have it in my garden, and some of them have it too. If you don't believe me, ask them." Cheng Chumo said.
Yuchi Baolin and Qin Huaidao nodded, indicating that Cheng Chumo did not lie.
garden?
Lin Xuan was so angry that he almost cursed. It turned out that cotton already existed in the Tang Dynasty, but it was just grown as a flower.
And he has never found it, probably because only wealthy families can grow cotton, and ordinary people don't know about it, so of course they can't find it.
Lin Xuan's guess was absolutely correct. Since the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, many things from various countries in the Western Regions were slowly introduced to China.
Cotton had been introduced to China during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
At first, it was used as an ornamental plant, but the flowers of cotton were not beautiful and fragrant, so fewer and fewer people planted it.
Until now, only some wealthy families can plant some.
It's not that they like it, it's just to enrich the garden variety.
"For you to plant such a precious thing as a flower is simply a waste of natural resources!" Lin Xuan said.
"This is a treasure? The flowers are not fragrant and the fruit is inedible, so what's the use?" Cheng Chumo said nonchalantly.
Lin Xuan found that he was just playing the piano to a cow, and said angrily: "You have people collect all the white stuff from these cottons."
Qin Huaidao saw that Lin Xuan was so serious and asked: "General, could it be Bai Diazi? Oh no, it's cotton. Is this cotton really useful?"
Lin Xuan nodded and said: "As long as we bring cotton back to the Tang Dynasty, even if Gaochang is destroyed, it won't be as great as our contribution."
If 30,000 people attack Gaochang, as long as they are not idiots, they can basically defeat it. It is just a matter of speed and battle damage.
But cotton is different. This is a major event that will last forever.
"General, if you want Bai Diazi, I can give you some as a gift when you return to Chang'an. Why bother getting them from Gaochang?" Cheng Chumo said.
"I can't explain it to you right now, but you know that the more of these things we have, the greater our achievements will be," Lin Xuan said.
Even if there are seeds in Chang'an, how many seeds can there be? But it's different in Gaochang. You can see them in the wild, so there must be a lot of them.
"Can we still defend that dangerous pass?" Cheng Chumo asked.
Lin Xuan thought for a while and said: "Huaidao, you take two thousand people, and everyone else will go look for cotton for me."
"General, as we are not familiar with the place, we might as well wait for Duke Lu to conquer Tiandi City and find some people from Gaochang to lead the way. This will make things faster," Cheng Chumo said.
Lin Xuan glanced at Cheng Chumo in surprise and praised: "Not bad, you know how to use your brain."
Cheng Chumo was praised by Lin Xuan and said proudly: "That's right!"
"Let's go, let's set up camp first." Lin Xuan said.
Anyway, Gaochang won't be destroyed in a day or two, so don't rush it.
…
"General, all the enemy troops in the city have been wiped out."
Hou Junji nodded and said: "Give me the order, all the army will go into the city for repairs, and people will be sent to patrol the city. If there is any disturbance, we will kill without mercy!"
Qibi Heli said: "General manager, now that Tiandi City has been conquered, what should we do next?"
Hou Junji thought for a while and said: "There are only twenty-two cities in Gaochang. If we attack each city one by one, it will take a long time. There may be other changes. I am planning to repair the city in Tiandi for three days and directly attack the royal city of Gaochang."
Qibi Heli admired and said: "What the chief manager said is that as long as Gaochang Royal City is conquered, other cities will fall."
He was not a general, and he was a Turk, so he naturally did not dare to oppose Hou Junji's decision.
"Haha, as long as you and I work together, I will take credit for you when we return to Chang'an!" Hou Junji said with a smile.
At this moment, Hou Qing walked in and said: "General, Cheng Chumo, Colonel Cheng, please see me!"
Hou Junji was stunned and said, "Let him come in."
Cheng Chumo strode in, bowed his hands and said, "General Cheng Chumo will see the chief manager!"
Hou Junji smiled and said: "My dear nephew, please get up quickly. I wonder if my nephew is here. What's important?"
Cheng Chu said in a silent voice: "Back to the general manager, the general from Jingyang County is coming and wants to select some people from Tiandi City to lead the way."
Hou Junji didn't think too much and said with a smile: "Just choose as many people as your nephew wants."
"Thank you, Chief Manager, I will resign!" Cheng Chumo said.
"Hou Qing, accompany Captain Cheng to select people. No matter how many people are needed, help him find them all," Hou Junji ordered.
"Yes!" Hou Qing responded.
…
"Your Majesty, our Duke wishes to see you!" Li Mu said.
Li Shimin said with a headache: "Let him come in."
Wei Zheng walked in with a solemn expression, bowed and said, "See your Majesty!"
Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Xuan Cheng is here, what's the matter?"
Wei Zheng cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, during this period, due to the theft and selling of illegal salt in Chang'an, Chang'an has been in chaos and everyone is in danger. I sincerely ask your Majesty to stop."
"Stop? These people deserve to die if they are guilty. Do you want me to stop?" Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng expressionlessly.
Li Shimin knew that now was not the best time to deal with the aristocratic family, but that did not stop him from using these two things to cut off the aristocratic family's wings.
However, what made him angry was that before he could arrest a few people, most of the civil and military ministers in the court came to stop him.
Now even Wei Zheng has come to persuade him.
This is just to deal with some ordinary officials, there are such big obstacles.
Then wouldn't the resistance against the aristocratic family be even greater in the future?
This incident further strengthened Li Shimin's determination to deal with the noble family.