Volume 31 Entering the capital is as deep as the sea] Chapter 17 The king’s heart is unpredictable
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Chapter 17 The king’s heart is unpredictable
"Your Majesty, I heard that the cattle and sheep that Yang Yuanqing supplied to the Holy Driver this time were all obtained from the Turks. There are 120,000 in total."
Yang Guang laughed, "What's the point? He must be exchanging tea or something with the Turks. Isn't it a normal trade? Besides, Wuyuan County doesn't even have a population of 100,000. With my army of 500,000, he
How do you offer food, Yuwen Aiqing, you are a bit like a warrior."
"Your Majesty, I am not a soldier. The imperial court has regulations. As a frontier general, he cannot trade with the Turks without authorization. If he trades with the Turks through merchants, he can. I have nothing to say, but he did not do that.
He directly sent people to trade with the Turks, and he got cattle and sheep in exchange so smoothly. I suspect that he has colluded with the Turks."
Yang Guang shook his head, "Yuwen Aiqing, this matter is not what you think. Maybe his approach is a bit inappropriate, but it is understandable. How could they, the generals, not deal with the Turks? Some of the rules of the imperial court were also set by the civil servants.
, they do not understand the truth. If they say that Yang Yuanqing colluded with the Turks, this label is a bit too big. It is impossible. I understand him."
Yuwenshu wanted to say more, but Yang Guang waved his hands and didn't want to listen anymore. Yuwenshu gritted his teeth and threw out his trump card, "But Your Majesty, Yang Yuanqing would rather trade with the Turks in violation of regulations than take money from the soldiers and civilians of Fengzhou.
, is he trying to win people’s hearts?”
Yang Guang's expression changed, and he slammed the table, "Yu Wenshu, if you dare to talk nonsense again, I won't let you go, stand down!"
Yu Wenshu hated Yang Yuanqing deeply in his heart. He finally managed to seize Yang Yuanqing's excuse and sued him in front of the emperor. However, he did not expect that the emperor would be so partial to Yang Yuanqing and almost fell out with him. He hated Yang Yuanqing in his heart, but he could do nothing about it.
, had to retreat angrily.
But just as the black cat barked, although it had no effect, it still made people aware of the existence of the black cat. Yu Wenshu's last words, 'Is he trying to win people's hearts?' were deeply engraved in Yang Guang's heart.
Only then did Yang Guang realize that Yang Yuanqing had been in Fengzhou for almost ten years. No general manager could stay in a certain place for ten years. Although Yang Yuanqing had not been the general manager for a long time, after all, he had stayed in Fengzhou for nearly ten years.
Ten years later, I believe he had feelings for Fengzhou, so he couldn't bear to pay more food tax to the soldiers and civilians of Fengzhou.
Yang Guang paced slowly in the room with his hands behind his back. One of the important reasons why he came to Wuyuan County for inspection was to follow the example of the Han Dynasty and develop the Hetao on a large scale. As Wei Siyun said in the memorial, the Hetao would become a deterrent.
A major Turkic territory.
Frankly speaking, he planned to continue to let Yang Yuanqing stay in Hetao. The battle of Dali City left a very deep impression on Yang Guang. Even the 100,000 powerful Xue Yantuo people could not attack Dali City guarded by 6,000 people. Almost the entire army
After being destroyed, with Yang Yuanqing in the Hetao, the Turks did not dare to take a step beyond Yin Mountain.
But if there is a large-scale immigration to develop the Hetao, and Yang Yuanqing is finally allowed to manage the Hetao Plain with a population of one million, will he become ambitious? Just like Yu Wenshu's worries, he is buying people's hearts.
Yang Guang fell into deep contemplation for a long time. He didn't know how long it had passed before Yang Guang's contemplation was interrupted by a eunuch's report, "Your Majesty, we have information from the Ministry of Rites."
"Send it up!"
An eunuch presented a folded piece of paper on a gold plate. Yang Guang opened the note expressionlessly. It should contain some information about Yang Xuangan. It had been two years since Yang Su's death, but he still had influence in the court.
, made Yang Guang quite afraid of the Yang family, and sent people to keep an eye on Yang Xuangan's every move.
Of course, Yang Guang's intention was not to suspect that Yang Xuangan wanted to rebel, he just wanted to seize some evidence of Yang Xuangan and use it as an excuse to remove him when necessary.
Yang Guang regularly receives a report about Yang Xuangan, but it is usually trivial and does not constitute a reason to remove him. Yang Xuangan is quite cautious. After a long time, Yang Guang is not very interested in this report.
.
He just opened it casually and glanced at the content of the report. But when he saw the content of the report clearly, his pupils suddenly shrank into a line. There was only one sentence written in it, "Yang Yuanqing met Xuangan, and the two sides talked about their relationship as father and son."
'
Yang Yuanqing's camp is located in the north of ** City and consists of nearly a hundred large tents. Yang Yuanqing, Wei Siyun and some more important officials live in it, as well as more than a thousand soldiers.
As soon as Yang Yuanqing returned to his tent, he saw a person standing in front of his tent from a distance. As he slowly approached, he recognized the person waiting for him. It was Cui Zhi, the tea supervisor.
Cui Zhi had been waiting for Yang Yuanqing for a long time. Seeing that Yang Yuanqing finally came back, he quickly stepped forward and saluted, "See you, Manager Yang!"
Yang Yuanqing suddenly thought of Yu Wenhuaji's caravan. He guessed that there was news, so he waved his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Cui, please speak in the tent." There was a blanket and a wooden box in the corner of the tent, which contained his personal belongings.
, there is also a weapons rack, which holds his halberd and bow and arrows.
The lights in the tent were bright. Yang Yuanqing entered the tent and took off his heavy armor. He felt relaxed all over. He smiled and asked Cui Zhi, "But what's the news about the Hanhai Caravan?"
Cui Zhi nodded, "They came to buy tea this morning and bought five hundred tons of tea."
"Are you sure it's Hanhai Caravan?"
"Yes, it is indeed them. I went to their caravan specifically to confirm."
Yang Yuanqing was stunned for a moment and then asked: "Since you went to their caravan, how many mules and horses do they have?"
"Reporting to Manager Yang, there are about three to four hundred mules and horses, as well as dozens of camels, totaling more than fifty people."
Yang Yuanqing frowned. The information Pangyu gave him to investigate was that there were thousands of mules and horses, more than 400 camels, and more than 300 people, which was obviously much less.
"What about the car? Is there a big car?"
"I didn't see the big car."
Yang Yuanqing probably understood something in his heart. It was obvious that the Hanhai caravan was separated, the contraband was transported by another group of people, and the tea was just a cover.
He smiled and said: "Thank you very much, Commander Cui, for coming to report the news. Please keep it secret for me, Commander Cui."
"Don't worry, General Yang. I won't say much. I'll take my leave!"
Cui Zhi bowed his hands and bowed, then left. Yang Yuanqing thought for a moment and then ordered: "Call Yang Si and Yang Wu!"
After a while, Yang Silang and Yang Wulang walked into the tent, bowed and saluted, "Master, are you looking for us?"
"I'll give you one thing. Bring a few brothers to keep an eye on the Hanhai caravan for me."
Yang Yuanqing whispered a few words to them, and the two of them followed the order and left. Yang Yuanqing looked at their backs disappearing into the night, and said with a smile to himself: "Yuwenshu, I am very willing to accompany you!"
Yang Guang's Holy Driver continued to move forward, gradually speeding up. Three days later, Yang Guang's Holy Driver finally arrived at Dali City on the bank of the North Yellow River. Due to the obstruction of the Pu Tao Garden, Yang Guang's Holy Driver could no longer move forward.
Stopped ten miles outside the city.
The endless rose peach orchard aroused great interest from Yang Guang and the officials. Thousands of rose peach vines sprouted together, and the tender green branches and vines formed a light green ocean, which was extremely spectacular.
Yang Guang stood on the female wall of the city, stroking his beard and looking at the endless rose apples, his eyes full of admiration. He smiled at Queen Xiao and said: "We also have more than a hundred rose apples in our Xinei Garden. Zi Tong also said
It’s very spectacular, but compared to the rosewood trees here, our rosewood trees are really just a drop in the ocean.”
Empress Xiao did not agree with her husband's words, and said with a smile: "What the Holy lord said is unfair. Our rose apples are only for viewing, so they are rare. They are here for wine making. Of course, rose apples are specially planted. Our West Inner Garden also has thousands of trees.
Hua, if all the flowers are planted with sweet apples, I think it will be more spectacular than this one."
"Haha! What Zi Tong said makes sense, but there are not enough peach trees here."
Yang Guang turned back and smiled at Yang Yuanqing who was standing aside: "Yang Aiqing, I will give you two years to plant three hundred miles of rosewood groves for me."
Yang Yuanqing smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, the sycamore tree consumes a lot of water. A 300-mile sycamore forest requires at least hundreds of ditches to be dug, and there are not many people who know how to grow sycamore trees."
"Then you refuse my proposal?" Yang Guang interrupted him and looked at him with a half-smile.
Yang Yuanqing said quickly: "I don't dare. I just have a plan. If your Majesty agrees, I think it can be done."
"Tell me, what's the plan?"
"Your Majesty, at present, almost all the land in the Hetao area is owned by the government, and it is mainly distributed to immigrants on an equalized basis. I suggest that part of the land be sold to rich households all over the world, and allow these rich people to come to the Hetao to plant sycamores and make wine. I think it is inappropriate.
After three years of production, the peach wine will be available to ordinary people."
"We are all here to plant rose apples, what about the food?" Yang Guang asked with a sigh.
"Your Majesty, apples are only a sideline business, and grain is the main business. I will put growing grain as an additional condition. One acre of apples must be planted with one acre of grain. And in the future development of the Hetao, apples will only be a small part of it, and most of it will be
To grow grain, I just want Hetao to become the origin of peach wine in the Sui Dynasty, so that we no longer have to transport wine all the way from the Western Regions."
Yang Guang nodded, "You can write me a statement. If there are no big problems, I can agree!"
"His Majesty!"
Shi Xiang, the right-guard general, rushed to report, "There are peach trees in front of us, and the city cannot move forward. Do we allow the soldiers to open a way?"
"No need! It would be a pity to destroy such a magnificent rosewood forest. I will ride on horseback."
Yang Guang and all the officials changed their horses, closely guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers, and marched toward Dali City along the middle avenue of Pu Tao Garden.
As soon as Yang Yuanqing got on his horse, a soldier rushed over, pulled his horse and reported in a low voice: "General, Yang Si has sent news that the two caravans have met south of Xiling Ferry and are about to cross the river.
Go, Yuwen Zhiji was found in the caravan."
Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed. He immediately turned around and waved to Pei Xingyan. Pei Xingyan urged his horse forward and saluted, "General, please give me your orders!"
Yang Yuanqing whispered to him: "You take a thousand brothers to arrest this caravan, and you must get everyone's stolen goods!"