The mountain road from Shaanzhou to Tongguan has been built by captives captured by Goryeo.

According to the report received by Li Zhongyi, basically, for every mile of mountain road built, at least five Goryeo captives died.

Li Zhongyi promised that as long as the Goryeo captives who had served hard labor for more than 20 years and did not die, they could return home freely.

In fact, so far, the first batch of Goryeo captives sent to build roads, three out of ten have died, and the proportion of consumption is still quite high.

However, roads always had to be built, and instead of dying Han Min, it was better to drive the captives of Goryeo to build the roads.

Since Li Zhongyi became the ruling king, he has basically abolished all the excesses and miscellaneous taxes of the people, leaving only the power to levy and issue forced labor.

The peasants in the rural areas are busy with farming, and in their spare time they train troops, build roads, and build water conservancy. Nowadays, the financial resources of the imperial court are limited after all, and it is impossible to pay too much wages to tens of millions of peasants who build roads. Therefore, collective labor in the nature of obligation is still very necessary.

The mountain road was unusually rugged and steep, Li Zhongyi simply got off the horse and walked with the soldiers.

During the break, Li Zhongyi received a secret letter from the capital, and it was Zuo Ziguang who sent the letter.

In the letter, Zuo Ziguang gave a detailed introduction to various movements in the capital. Although it is a reporting account, Li Zhongyi still sees many problems from it.

For example, since Fan Zhen stepped down, he has been ignoring Li Zhongyi, but he suddenly went on a recital and interceded for Chai Shouli.

For another example, at the banquet of Li Yunxiao's father-in-law Zhou Chongji's 60th birthday, it can be said that there were many important ministers.

Also, the abolished emperor Chai Zongxun recently fell in love with practicing calligraphy, and the Empress Dowager Fu has been waiting quietly in the Taoist temple.

What attracted Li Zhongyi's attention was that the adopted son picked up by Concubine Du recently fell and almost broke his front teeth.

When Li Zhongyi saw this, he couldn't help but smile slightly, the so-called adopted son picked up by Concubine Du was actually his illegitimate son.

As for choosing a companion for his sons, he can choose anyone, Li Zhongyi basically has no opinion.

After all, mothers with children personally check the gates, and no one will choose second-rate sons with poor character and bring their sons badly.

Three days later, Li Zhongyi climbed the city wall of Tongguan and looked down at the mountains and obstacles, and the momentum was extraordinary.

I think that at the beginning, if Ge Shuhan had defended Tongguan and never fought in the war, Tang Xuanzong would not have escaped from Chang'an, right?

Now, the imperial forbidden army with artillery does not need to worry too much when facing Tongguan.

"This is a terrible pass, it's really a one-man pass, and you can't open it." Liao Shanhe patted the arrow stack, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Li Zhongyi smiled slightly and said, "If hundreds of artillery pieces are bombarded by it, how long will it take to break through?" ”

Liao Shanhe pondered carefully and whispered, "At most, it won't take more than three hours." ”

The troops of this expedition to the west did not carry extremely heavy 12-pounder guns, and all the troops accompanying them were 6-pounder guns.

This is mainly because, according to Song Yunxiang's report, Xishu repaired the pass between Daba Mountain and Qinling, and because of the lack of materials, it was not unusually thick.

It's just that because the pass is stuck on the choke point into the river, the troops are not easy to deploy, so it is extremely difficult to attack.

According to the operational plan of the General Staff Department, whether it is the advance of troops on the northern front or the advance of troops on the southern front, those who can attack it and those who cannot overcome it will try by all means to bypass it.

At the beginning, Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, sent Wang Quanbin to lead 30,000 infantry troops, and successfully broke through the defense line of the Shu army.

It can be seen from this that the officers and soldiers of Meng Shu relied on the treacherous situation of the mountain, and they were a little careless.

In these years, there are always advantages and disadvantages. The danger of the mountain makes Shu difficult to attack, and at the same time, it makes Shu fall into the trap of negligence, which has both advantages and disadvantages.

After the army left Tongguan, on the shore of Yuzhou, Li Zhongyi boarded the ship again and went straight to Jingzhao Mansion.

Jingzhaofu, also known as Chang'an, is the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties, the capital with the most dynasties, the longest and the most influential capital in Chinese history, and the first of the four ancient capitals in China.

Historically, there were 13 dynasties of the Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Eastern Han (Emperor Xian), Xin, Western Jin (Emperor Shu), Former Zhao, Former Qin, Later Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang dynasties.

It's a pity that since the late Tang Dynasty, the prosperous scene of Chang'an has become a thing of the past.

Economically, Shaanxi's land fertility is becoming increasingly poor, and the production in the fields can no longer support too many people, and a large number of farmers have migrated out of Shaanxi to the Central Plains, which is one of the most important factors in the gradual decline of Chang'an.

In addition, Huang Chao, Zhu Wen and others successively plundered Chang'an, causing a fatal blow to Chang'an.

Therefore, in the city of Jingzhao Mansion today, there are only less than 80,000 people living in it, and it is far behind Kaifeng.

However, no matter how Chang'an declined, it was the largest city in the northwest after all, and an important material hoarding place for the entire empire's westward expedition.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty of the previous dynasty, Jingzhao Mansion was set up with left-behind ministers, and after Li Zhongyi ascended the throne, Jingzhao Mansion remained vacant.

Today, the biggest minister in Jingzhao Mansion is the prefect Yang Wencan. As far as Li Zhongyi knows, Yang Wencan is Liu Jinshan's disciple.

According to the factions in the court, since Yang Wencan is Liu Jinshan's disciple, he can be regarded as Li Zhongyi's descendant.

After all, under Li Zhongyi's men, there are many military ministers who can win battles. However, the so-called protégés of the Son of Heaven are very few.

After all, even if Li Zhongyi opened Enke twice, there were still not many Wenchen hired.

To tell the truth, most of the low-level civil servants who made it to the high school had no experience in governing the local government.

In the final analysis, Li Zhongyi could not have just taken the taxi and sent them to the local area to be the magistrate of the county or the prefecture.

"Knowing the military affairs of Jingzhao Mansion, the minister Yang Wencan knocked to see the emperor." Yang Wencan led the civil and military officials to greet Li Zhongyi's arrival respectfully.

"That's it." Li Zhongyi was drowned in red tape all day long, and he was tired of all kinds of so-called etiquette.

It's just that, based on a certain degree of ritual demand, Li Zhongyi has endured it until now.

Yang Wencan and the others, who had saluted, slowly got up and accompanied Li Zhongyi to board the car to the temporary palace for a rest.

is still the old rule, Li Zhongyi's temporary palace is set up in the Jingzhao Mansion Soldiers and Horses Governor's Mansion.

Zhao Shengping, the head of the Jingzhao Mansion's Soldiers and Horses, is Li Zhongyi's old subordinate, and has been following Li Zhongyi's left and right since the Hechi Army was prosperous.

Li Zhongyi is a very nostalgic guy, after he washed up for a while, he pulled Zhao Shengping and talked about the old things.

"Hehe, I still remember, it was the first one you learned to copy the upper beam, right?" Li Zhongyi asked Zhao Shengping with a smile.

Zhao Shengping touched his nose, a little embarrassed, but he had to answer hard: "Yes, Your Majesty, your memory is really good." ”

"Alas, the old brothers who followed me, some died in battle, some were crippled, and there are fewer and fewer of them." Li Zhongyi sighed, and then said, "An old brother like you, one less is one, which is very cherished." ”

Zhao Shengping's nose was sour, and he said with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, you are already the supreme in the world, and you still remember our old courtiers, ministers and ......."

"Alas, the clothes are not as good as the new, the people are not as good as the old, you old people who follow me to fight the country, I have always remembered it clearly, clearly." The number of times Li Zhongyi leaves Kaifeng will only decrease in the future, so he especially cherishes the long talk with the old brothers.

"Don't smack, the tea won't taste good when it's cold." Li Zhongyi smiled, "Wait a while, let's get drunk." ”

Zhao Shengping finally couldn't bear it, cried out, and choked up: "The emperor's grace is as deep as the sea, and the minister can't ......repay it."

"Hehe, it's really not easy for you to tie your head to the waistband of your trousers and follow me to fight the country......" Once Li Zhongyi opened the old chatterbox, he couldn't stop it, and he couldn't stop nagging.

In the past, Zhao Shengping hated people to make noise in his ears the most, but now, he can't wait for Li Zhongyi to keep making noise.

"Your Majesty, if it weren't for following your left and right, your subordinates would still be a poor ghost, wearing torn pants handed down by your grandfather......" Zhao Shengping was also full of emotion, and had endless words.

Li Zhongyi really felt that there were fewer and fewer old brothers, and suddenly broke out of Wenqing's disease, and he kept nagging endlessly.

Of course, Zhao Shengping wanted to get closer to the emperor, so he kept telling some interesting stories about the year.

After the wine and food were put on the table, Zhao Shengping accompanied Li Zhongyi to get drunk and didn't wake up.

After Li Zhongyi woke up the next day, he recalled the scene of the banquet and couldn't help laughing: "The old man Liao is crazy about his youth!" ”

Ye Xiaolan, who was serving Li Zhongyi's wide clothes, covered her small mouth and laughed softly: "It's been a long time since I've seen the emperor drink so well." ”

"Yes, when you are in the capital, there are endless government and military affairs to deal with, where do you dare to drink more?" Li Zhongyi touched his chin and said with a smile, "It's better to stay outside, not only can you move freely, but you can also sleep lazily." ”

Ye Xiaolan tidied up the man's belt and said with a smile: "Could it be that the king has not been in court since then?" ”

"Hehe, demon concubine, where are you fleeing?" Li Zhongyi raised his hand on Ye Xiaolan's chin and teased her.

Ye Xiaolan knew that the man was in a good mood, so she made fun and said, "The slave family doesn't go anywhere, just hides on the couch." ”

Li Zhongyi became more and more happy, stared at Ye Xiaolan with a smile, and said, "I suddenly thought of a few new tricks, why don't you try it now?" ”

"As long as you don't scold the concubine for being a demon concubine, try it." Since Ye Xiaolan gave birth to a son, she has become full of confidence, and she is not afraid that Li Zhongyi will suddenly turn her face.

As the saying goes, the mother is more expensive than the child, even if Li Zhongyi doesn't look at Ye Xiaolan's face, he always has to look at the face of the badger, right?

After breakfast, Li Zhongyi still followed the old rules, led Ye Xiaolan, and turned to the street.

Jingzhao Mansion has experienced several military disasters, fires and banditry disasters, but the pattern after reconstruction is roughly similar to that of the former Tang Dynasty.