The crown prince Li Heng took a deep breath and walked into the hall, the Tang Dynasty Son of Heaven, who was also his father, was sitting on the couch obliquely, and because of the dim light in the hall, he couldn't see his expression clearly. Several chamberlains were busy on tiptoe, and the cases were carried to the Son of Heaven by the two, and together with the case of the Son of Heaven, the mutton in several copper basins on the case was steaming.

This kind of situation is much beyond Li Heng's expectations, is it because he wants to eat in the same case? At that time, there was a difference between the dignity and inferiority of the people, and all banquets were eaten separately. In his memory, the Son of Heaven ate with him no more than three times.

"Eat it while it's hot!"

Li Longji's voice was tired, but he couldn't hear joy or anger. Li Heng even counted his steps carefully when he walked, and only after saluting and paying homage did he sit down in a proper manner.

When he sat down, Li Heng raised the corners of his eyes slightly, and secretly glanced at the Son of Heaven, his father. He couldn't remember the last time he had been in such close contact with his father. At this time, in addition to the wrinkles and age spots that indicate aging, there is endless exhaustion.

The chamberlain tiptoed with a copper plate on it, and a leg of lamb that had just been roasted was placed on it, and the smell of the burnt smell of the mutton immediately spread. Immediately after that, another chamberlain brought a plate of freshly baked cakes and placed them on the table.

"Prince, do you remember the method of cutting the leg of lamb that I taught?"

Li Longji suddenly said another gossip, but there was not a word in Li Heng that was not golden and jade, and hurriedly replied respectfully: "Erchen remembers!"

"Okay, let's cut the meat!"

Li Heng held the leg of mutton bone with his left hand, picked up the silver knife on the desk with his right hand, and skillfully divided it. The freshly grilled leg of lamb is charred on the outside and tender on the inside, and the fatty juice overflows when you cut it, and it flows all over your hands. With the rapid and precise movement of his subordinates, the scenes of the past are also like the juice of the leg of mutton overflowing, flowing in front of his eyes, at that time he was still a carefree prince, living a worry-free life in the Ten Princes' Mansion, his father often gave banquets, and even taught the method of cutting meat by hand. Father is kind and filial piety, how can people not weep and remember?

Li Heng blinked vigorously to dispel the fog in front of him, and his movements did not slow down at all. Until one day, the second brother, who was the crown prince, was suddenly executed by his father, so he became the prince of the Tang Dynasty in a daze. Since then, Li Heng has completely bid farewell to a stable life, and at the same time lost his loving father, living in fear and worry all day long, and the people around him, from the crown princess to the subordinate officials, have all become the target of the traitorous ministers.

Soon, the leg of mutton was stacked on two silver plates, and immediately a eunuch stepped forward and brought one of the plates of divided leg of mutton to the Son of Heaven.

The Son of Heaven was like this, which flattered Li Heng, until he finished dividing the leg of mutton, his hands still couldn't help but tremble slightly. After putting down the silver meat cutting knife, he habitually picked up a piece of bread and wiped the juice and fat from his hands.

However, it was such an inadvertent action that immediately made Li Heng break out in a cold sweat, and he quickly glanced at his father who was sitting opposite him, and sure enough, his old face was gradually cold as frost. However, this little negligence is nothing in front of Li Heng, who has been cautious for more than ten years. He pretended to be casual and picked up the greased bread again, rolled it up with the sliced leg of lamb, and put it in his mouth and chewed it.

Sure enough, the face of Li Longji, the Son of Heaven, softened greatly, and said, "Blessings should be cherished like this!"

If he annoyed the old man who was both the Son of Heaven and his father because of a trivial matter, wouldn't the gain outweigh the loss? Moreover, he also knew very well that today's edict to enter the palace would never be just to eat a worrying leg of mutton.

The attendants stood cautiously on both sides, and there was only the sound of gently chewing bread and meat in the hall, and the Son of Heaven only ate a bite of lamb leg meat and did not continue, and then said slowly: "Such a blessing, but some people don't know how to cherish it......" He sighed, "The situation in Shandong outside the Guan, does the prince have an opinion?"

Li Heng put down the food in his hand, and his face became worried.

"According to Erchen's view, the war is about money and food, if the chaos cannot be quelled as soon as possible, and it will last for a long time, the waste will not be known!"

The Son of Heaven nodded, the prince's words were reaching his heart, and the problem was not limited to that. What's more, everywhere the rebels went, the local counties were all eroded, the people fled, and the household registration in the hands of the imperial court became a pile of useless words and numbers. In this way, where will the rent adjustment and household tax be collected in the coming year?

Seeing the expression of appreciation from the Son of Heaven, Li Heng was greatly encouraged, so he continued: "As far as Erchen knows, the money and grain stored in the treasury of Chang'an Mansion are only enough to support 100,000 people to fight for half a year, and not counting the expenses required by Anxi, Longyou, and Shuofang!"

Li Heng said it very tactfully, but the meaning was obvious, the imperial court no longer had the money to maintain the expenses of Anxi and other military towns.

Suddenly, the face of Li Longji, the Son of Heaven, turned from surprise to anger and disappointment.

"The four towns of Anxi, Longyou, and Hexi consume only millions of guan a year, and Datang earns tens of millions of guan a year, so how can you say that you are overstretched?"

In his impression, with the annual income of the Tang Dynasty, it was enough to support the military expenditure of Anxi, Longyou and other places for several years, how could it be that there was only half a year left in the mouth of the prince? And this did not include the expenditure of those military towns.

Li Heng sighed secretly, his father is really old, and he is so unclear about these most basic figures, is this still the shrewd and enterprising emperor?

"In the early years of the new century, Anxi Longyou and other towns spent 2 million yuan, and their annual income was 30 million yuan, but only one of ten. In the early years of Tianbao, the consumption expenditure of Anxi and other towns soared to 10 million yuan, and the government treasury should begin to be stretched. Today, this number has exceeded 15 million guan, and the annual income of the imperial court this year is less than 50 million, accounting for three-...... of ten."

As a series of numbers came out of the mouth of the crown prince Li Heng, the face of the Son of Heaven Li Longji changed from anger to contemplation, he believed that the prince did not dare to tell lies, and only blamed himself for his disdain for such trivial matters of money and food in recent years, and he did not know that the treasury expenditure had reached such a tight point.

"The military towns of the Tang Dynasty, especially the four towns of Anxi, spend the most money. The road from Guanzhong to the Western Regions is long, and more than half of the food and materials are consumed on the Gobi Desert everywhere. In contrast, Hebei Province, where the border fighting was more intense, cost more than half of the money. ”

Li Longji frowned, he knew that the crown prince Li Heng was euphemistically admonishing that if the imperial court did not give up its influence on the four towns of Anxi, there would be more than 10 million holes to be plugged every year. However, can the four towns of Anxi give up?

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