Spring in Liaodi comes much later than in the Central Plains, so the wheat seedlings here have just grown to the knees of people, but as far as the eye can see, the boundless green still makes people feel uplifted.

This is Anhua City, the core of the reign of Zhang Zhongwu, the king of Liao, and the seat of the palace. Anhua was originally just a small county seat, but after Zhang Zhongwu chose this place as his seat, the expansion of Anhua City has never stopped in the past six years. At this time, it is the peak of construction, and countless men and slaves are working day and night on the city walls.

The last gap is expected to close completely before today's autumn harvest. Zhang Zhongwu built Anhua City as the location of Zhang's century-old foundation, so he has always spared no expense. The city wall is more than three zhang high, the wall is about three feet thick, the wall is built with clay first, and then covered with blue bricks, and the outermost is covered with a layer of stones, and its solidity is not inferior to any big city in the Central Plains.

When fully completed, the city will be able to accommodate more than 200,000 people, and warehouses and barracks will be built in the city. The city is modeled after Chang'an City, with a square market as the structure of the city, a commercial area, a residential area, a craftsman area, and a barracks in between.

Within the boundaries of the city, there are also large areas of farmland that can be cultivated. The Tongji River passes by Anhua City, and the water of the Tongji River has also become the moat of Anhua City. The moat, which was dozens of feet wide, was the first insurmountable obstacle for the attackers.

Of course, due to the weather in Liaodi, in the middle of winter, the river will freeze, and the moat will become a flat land. But in such a season, the possibility of a large-scale siege is almost non-existent.

In the eyes of the locals of Liaodi, after the completion of Anhua City, it is an impregnable place, even if it is really surrounded by enemies, the city can be self-sufficient to a certain extent.

Two men dressed in blue cloth robes walked side by side on the ridges outside the city. If it weren't for the guards who were fully armed and guarded dozens of steps away in front of and behind them, anyone would have thought that this was just an ordinary two old men inspecting their crops, but in fact, these two people were the actual rulers of the entire Liaodi, the two most powerful people in the Liaodi at the top of the pyramid.

Zhang Zhongwu, the king of Liao, and his brother Zhang Zhongwen.

The two brothers, one in the main military and the other in the main text, divided labor and cooperated, and jointly managed the entire huge Liaodi.

Compared with back then, Zhang Zhongwu looks much older, his hair is more than half gray, and Zhang Zhongwen, who is nearly ten years older than him, looks younger.

Squatting on the ridge of the field, reaching out and gently stroking the green wheat seedlings, Zhang Zhongwu said leisurely: "As long as I am given another ten years, I can turn Liaodi into the eternal foundation of our Zhang family." Look, how well the crops are growing, and this year is another bumper harvest year. ”

Zhang Zhongwen smiled.

Speaking of this, he is only afraid that he is more proud than Zhang Zhong, Zhang Zhongwu has more worries on top of martial affairs, and he is the real ruler of the entire Liaodi, Liaodi has today's achievements, and his credit should be regarded as greater.

"If there are another ten years, there will be 200,000 new people in Liaodi, and I am talking about the people who really belong to us." When Zhang Zhongwen said about our people, he naturally refers to the people who belong to the first class, and these people are the real foundation of Zhang's rule over Liaodi. "When the time comes, we will be able to assemble an elite army that will not lose to Li Ze, and at that time, we will really have a foothold."

"Li Ze has raised hundreds of thousands of troops, and in ten years, will we be able to feed the army like him?" Zhang Zhongwu was a little lacking in confidence.

"Of course you can!" Zhang Zhongwen is full of confidence: "The land is vast, the land is fertile, and the resources are extremely rich. Just this year, our craftsmen have unearthed several large deposits. At that time, we will be able to get rid of the situation in which we are now subject to Li Ze on top of the economy to a large extent. ”

"Great! Is it iron ore? Zhang Zhongwu waved his fist excitedly. Now he suffers most about the lack of iron tools, soldiers' weapons, armor, and peasant farm tools, all of which require iron.

"Not just iron ore, but also copper mines, silver mines, etc." Zhang Zhongwen said with a smile: "You have been in the army for a while, and I haven't had time to tell you yet." Time, we just need time, and I am confident that Liaodi will truly rise. I've already arranged for a crew to do some preliminary work, and when you're done with this battle, we can arrange for large-scale mining. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhongwen paused for a moment and said, "Of course, the premise is that you must win this battle." If you lose, then it's all about it. What we have to do is probably to try our best to resist Li Ze's invasion, and at that time, not to mention the increase in the number of people and the exploitation of mineral deposits, I am afraid that even survival will become a problem. ”

"We're going to win." Zhang Zhongwu took a deep breath. "Xue Chong, that little kid, hasn't been put in my eyes yet, Wang Wenshu is just a model, it's probably good for him to charge into battle, but if he wants to coordinate such a large-scale war, he is still far behind."

"You forgot about Han Qi. He was sent by Li Ze. I'm afraid it's coming for us. Zhang Zhongwen was a little worried: "This person has a lot of fights with us, and he can't be underestimated." ”

Zhang Zhongwu laughed: "Han Qi is idle, appeasement?" What's that? With such an official position that is not relied on, do you say that you can control Xue Chong or Wang Wenshu? This person has always been at odds with Li Ze, Li Ze wants to be the emperor, but he is a staunch royalist, Li Ze sent him here, I'm afraid it is also to avoid disgusting himself in front of him, right? This person doesn't have to worry too much. ”

"That's just as well." Zhang Zhongwen nodded and said: "Looking at Li Ze's arrangement, the day this person conquers Chang'an, I'm afraid it will be the time for him to stand on behalf of Tang." But it's good for us. If Li Zezhen comes to this point, then he will continue to march to the south and fight again with the powerful faction in the south led by Xiang Xun, and Zhu Youqi in Shu is not so easy to fight. Zhu Youqi himself is not too good, but the Shu land he occupies is a good place. ”

Hearing Zhang Zhongwen say this, Zhang Zhongwu was a little melancholy. The anti-Tang banner was the first to be raised by him Zhang Zhongwu! At that time, he was the real soldier. But the world makes people, he was the first to raise the anti-flag, and in the end it was someone else who made the wedding clothes. He was attacked by a group, and was finally defeated by Li Ze, who had sprung up suddenly, and had to abandon Lu Long, who had been in business for half his life, and fled all the way to Liaodi.

What he never expected was that the first person to usurp Tang and stand on his own feet was Zhu Wen. Thinking of that big fat man, who actually took this opportunity to live an emperor's addiction, Zhang Zhongwu felt extremely uncomfortable.

Now the Liang established by the Zhu clan will soon be finished, but the second one who will sit on the throne is still not him, but Li Ze.

And I, the one who raised the banner first, has not had a chance until now!

When Li Ze's army was defeated this time, the position of the Zhang family in the northeast was completely established, and he could also ascend the throne and become emperor. Although it only occupies Liaodi, this land is also vast enough, as long as it is managed well, in the future, there may not be a chance to compete in the Central Plains again.

Even if he encounters Li Ze, a bad star in his life, he has no chance. But his descendants can continue to compete with Li Ze's descendants.

"Xiang Xun contacted me to send troops, I'm afraid I also saw this!" Zhang Zhongwu said with a smile: "Looking at Xiang Xun's arrangement and arrangement, he is afraid that he also has other ideas." For his son-in-law, he doesn't have a bit of loyalty! ”

"Tang lost his deer, and the world chased him!" Zhang Zhongwen smiled and said: "This is the original meaning of the question. Zhongwu, Goguryeo's side has always been not peaceful, this time our army attacked, where are all arranged? ”

"Li Zaidao is not very obedient now, and he actually contacted Tan Daoji in private, and he is ready to negotiate peace, and I have sent someone to tell Chengyou to change an obedient emperor. Li Zaidao didn't know the current affairs, so he had to let him fall ill and die. Zhang Zhongwu said coldly.

"That's fine. As soon as Lee Jae-do dies, there will inevitably be a new round of struggle for power and profit within Goguryeo, and for a while, there will be no waves, and we can also choose a group of new people to come to power. Zhang Zhongwen nodded. By the way, before this sortie, I am going to make some adjustments to some policies in Liaodi. ”

"Adjust some?" Zhang Zhongwu asked.

"The first is to give the slaves more upward paths so that they can be converted into free people. The second is to prepare to reduce the taxes of the freedmen and the local tycoons, and the initial plan is to reduce them by 10% first. The third is to prepare to vigorously absorb a group of heroes into our team. Zhang Zhongwen said.

Zhang Zhongwu pondered for a moment: "Big brother wants to try his best to maintain the stability of Liaodi when this big war is coming, which is good." But if the tax is lowered, will it affect the collection of money and food? ”

"No!" Zhang Zhongwen said: "From the first day we came to Liaodi, I knew that you would definitely have today's battle, so all along, I have been saving money and food for you, and now Liaodi's money and food are enough for you to fight this battle." As long as the battle is won, then this tax is nothing. ”

"Okay, political affairs, big brother, you are in charge." Zhang Zhongwu said: "At this time, we should indeed be more popular, so that more people can see that following us is a good life." Anyway, the land is very vast, and now there are many borderless lands, which is nothing more than giving some more land to those people. ”