The law of survival on the grassland is the law of survival of the jungle.

This is somewhat similar to "rivers and lakes", where a weak tribe pays a "tribute" to a strong tribe, which is equivalent to paying a protection fee.

To the surprise of the tribal leaders who came to worship, after asking the Khitans about the number of horses, cattle and sheep they asked for every year, Li Qi directly reduced their annual tribute by half.

In Li Qi's view, if you can use commercial means to grab profits, you don't need to use such predatory and brutal methods. Although the army is a machine of violence, it is not a bandit, its role is to ensure security and maintain order.

It's a pity that the martial artists of this era don't understand this at all.

Robbery is the fastest way to get money, but the devastating consequences are never considered.

The role of the monarch is to establish order and then maintain it.

Of course, this needs to be supported by strong force.

Nominally, the Later Tang forces were always able to reach the Tiande army on the eastern side of the Hetao area.

In this era, the Wuliang Suohai of later generations has not yet been formed, the Yellow River has been topping northwest to the foot of Wolf Mountain from Dengkou, and then going all the way to the east along Wolf Mountain, and then making a roundabout and then turning to the southeast after reaching the Black Mountain. The Yellow River is at the head of Montenegro, that is, the former banner of Urad in later generations, and then turns to flow eastward.

It was not until the beginning of April that Li Qi's brigade arrived at Fengzhou City.

Fengzhou and Yunnei Prefecture in the area of Eilechuan are not under the jurisdiction of Yunzhou, but belong to the jurisdiction of Tiande Military Town. Song Yao and Zhuang Zong are in-laws, and their eldest son, Song Tinghao, Li Qi's eldest brother-in-law, is currently serving as the assassin of Fengzhou. There are still more than ten miles away from Fengzhou, and Song Tinghao, the assassin who got the news, led dozens of civil and military officials to greet him early.

Although he is a royal prince, he naturally does not dare to slack off when he goes out on patrol this day.

Song Tinghao was only twenty-six years old, and he was born with a dignified appearance, wearing a helmet and armor, and dressed as a military general, and he looked majestic. Seeing the arrival of the Son of Heaven's honor guard, Song Tinghao, who was already waiting on the side of the road, took the lead in clasping his fists with both hands, bowed down and bowed: "Wait for the Son of Heaven to meet the Son of Heaven!" ”

Li Qi jumped off the horse, held Song Tinghao's hand and smiled: "You don't need to be polite to assassinate history, is my sister okay?" ”

Song Tinghao said: "The princess is very good, she was overjoyed when she heard that the Son of Heaven was coming, and she was waiting for Your Majesty in the city." ”

Li Qi said: "I haven't seen the princess for several years, and I miss it very much, so I'd better go back to the city first." ”

Li ordered a large army to be stationed outside the city, and only brought 1,000 pro-troops into the city.

Toyosu Castle is expanding its outer castle, and since tuntian farming has only been implemented last year, there is not much farmland in this area, and most of it is still pasture. However, on both sides of the Dajin River outside the city, there are large areas of barley fields, and the verdant barley is heading and flowering, and heavy ears of wheat are growing.

The Qiang and Tuyuhun tribes who moved here brought their customs from the Longyou and Qingtang generations here.

"In another two or three years, when the levee is repaired, this flat land will be turned into irrigated land, and the food produced will be enough to support the needs of more than 100,000 people." Li Qi said that his control of the Elechuan and Hetao Plains was modeled on the migration and development of later generations. Not only were large tracts of farmland along the banks of the river reclaimed, but a series of cities were built.

Fengzhou Castle is a military city, with 2,000 garrisons in the city, and more than 2,000 Tuntian military households that moved in last year.

At this time, spring has arrived in the grassland, the fields are full of green, and the newly cultivated fields are full of troops busy sowing spring wheat. The grassland in the distance is full of cattle and sheep, making people feel that this place is full of vitality.

Nearly 10,000 people in the city, regardless of men, women and children, poured into the streets, forming a lively welcoming procession on both sides of the street, and Li Qi, who was riding on a horse, gestured to the cheering crowd from time to time.

Song Tinghao led the way in front of the head, and Li Qi came to the Fengzhou Office.

The Song family's homes are in Jinyang and Luoyang, and they did not have a house in Fengzhou, so they lived in the backyard of the bureau.

As soon as I entered the office, I heard someone shouting from afar: "Da Lang! ”

Li Qi looked up and saw a twenty-four or five-year-old woman in palace makeup standing on the side of the lobby steps, holding a three- or four-year-old child by her side. ”

This Princess Yining's name is Li Jue, and she is the eldest daughter of Emperor Zhuangzong, but she is born by Mrs. Han, and she is a half-brother with Li Qi. In his original memory, the two have not communicated much since they were children, but they also feel more cordial when they get together in this different place.

Princess Yining saluted: "I've seen the Son of Heaven!" ”

Li Qi smiled and said: "How can you be polite in your own family, this is my nephew?" ”

Princess Yining said to the little boy, "I've seen my uncle soon!" ”

The little boy looked at Li Qi timidly and said, "The child has seen his uncle. ”

Li Qi smiled, leaned down and picked up the little boy and said, "What's your name?" ”

The boy said, "My name is Yubao." ”

Song Tinghao explained on the side: "The nickname is called Yubao, and the big name is Yanwei. ”

Li Qileng for a moment, and then took a closer look at this little guy who is famous in the history books, and then smiled: "This son has a big face and big ears, and he will be a blessed person in the future." ”

This is a bit of nonsense, in the history of another life, Li Qi's nephew Song Wei lived until the Taizong period of the Song Dynasty, became the founding minister, and became Zhao Kuangyin's father-in-law, in addition, he also has a son-in-law named Kou Li, but because of Zhao Guangyi's heir, he failed to become the emperor and his grandfather.

In the next few days, accompanied by Song Tinghao, Li Qi inspected Fengzhou and Yunnei Prefecture, met with officials and guards, arranged for the construction of embankments and repairs in the area of the Dajin River and Xiaojinhe, and carried out military affairs.

The work of tuntian in Fengzhou and Yunnei began last year, and this area is the most developed area in Inner Mongolia around Hohhot in later generations, but now, it is sparsely populated, and as far as the eye can see, it is an endless vast grassland.

The spring of the grassland is very short, only a little more than a month before the early summer season, and the grassland is already full of water and grass. The clear water of the Great and Small Jin Rivers flows slowly, large herds of cattle and sheep can be seen everywhere on the fertile grasslands, and the blue-gray Yinshan Mountains in the distance lie on the edge of the northern skyline.

Just after the spring floods, after the sowing period had passed, the Tuntian army in Toyosu and Yunnai began to build dams and embankments, and built reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Daxiaojin River. This is what Li Qi has long wanted to do, the grain grown by the Han family can enhance the ability of the nomadic tribes of the grassland to resist natural disasters on the grassland, and his army and workshops also need wool, leather and livestock from the grassland, especially meat and dairy products, which is very helpful to enhance the combat effectiveness of the army.

Of course, he also wanted to change the habits of the leaders of the steppe tribes, so that they could move out of their tents and live in warm brick houses with fireplaces or fire walls in the winter. As long as these tribal leaders are accustomed to settling, they will not easily rebel.