In the snow, Li Qing'an and his entourage finally returned to Broken Leaves, the army was stationed outside the city, and Li Qing'an, accompanied by Duan Xiushi, galloped towards the city.

After a few months of repair, the broken leaves gradually returned to their original appearance, the damaged city wall was repaired, the sixteen city gates were all replaced with new gates, the original filthy pavement on the street was cleaned up, all the occupied Han houses were also cleaned up, the gate was locked with locks, the once tragically destroyed Dayun Temple was renovated, when Li Qing'an walked into the city, he saw the broken leaves of the Han people who had been returning home from the north courtyard one after another, groups of children were running in the snow, and laughter spread all over the streets and alleys, At the gate of the city, two ox carts were loaded with a family, children and various daily necessities, and full of hope.

In just a few months, Shattered Leaf City had a new look, which made Li Qingan deeply gratified, he nodded and smiled at Duan Xiushi and said, "Chenggong, you have worked hard in the past few months. ”

Duan Xiushi hurriedly bowed and said: "I am just resting in the rear, compared with the tragic battle of the soldiers in front, my contribution is insignificant." ”

"Where does that also look at? Broken leaves are the base camp of our western expedition, and soon the Anxi Jiedu embassy will move here, only by managing the broken leaves well, can there be room for development, which is why I handed over the broken leaves to you. ”

Speaking of this, Li Qingan patted Duan Xiushi on the shoulder and said, "Chenggong, you are the person I trust the most, and I can only rest assured if I hand over the broken leaves to you." ”

Duan Xiushi nodded silently, he understood Li Qing'an's trust in him, more than a year ago, he was forced to give up the broken leaf and retreat eastward, and Li Qingan didn't blame him at all afterwards, only said one sentence, "It's not a public fault!" "Later, he was still appointed to guard Broken Leaf, and even the Ministry of War's demotion to him was rejected by Li Qingan, 'Broken Leaf was lost, and the Anxi Army thought it was not General Duan's fault, and he was willing to vouch for it!'

This incident made Duan Xiushi deeply grateful to Li Qing'an, and when Li Qing'an was fighting at the front, he also did his best to ensure that all kinds of military supplies and materials from Beiting were continuously supplied to the front line, so in the merit book of the Battle of Talas, Duan Xiushi's name was also among them, and he made great contributions to ensuring logistics.

At this time, Duan Xiushi suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly said, "There is something I want to discuss with the general." ”

"You say!"

"Two months ago, the imperial court sent a letter that 30,000 military households in the interior would be moved to Anxi, and I wondered if they could be moved directly to Broken Leaves, which would have an immeasurable effect on the development of Broken Leaves."

Li Qingan nodded and said, "Actually, this is also my idea, but I'm worried that Broken Leaf won't be able to place them for a while." ”

"Don't worry, General, I'm ready."

Duan Xiushi hurriedly explained: "In the past few months, I have led the soldiers to measure the land near the broken leaves, which are fertile and terra nullius, all of which are borderless lands, not to mention 30,000 households, even 300,000 households can be fully settled, not to mention mines, smelting, winemaking, weaving, and the transit of trade between the East and the West, in addition, in addition to the broken leaves, there are also surrounding small towns, which can be developed into counties, these I have made a detailed plan, the general can rest assured!" ”

Duan Xiushi's pragmatism made Li Qingan greatly appreciated, and he laughed and said, "Good! Cheng Gong really lived up to my expectations, so decided, all 30,000 military households were resettled in Broken Leaves, this time I will return to Beijing, I will fight hard, maybe I will come to more immigrants. ”

．．．．．．．．． The return of the Tang army made the city of broken leaves immediately lively, this time with the Tang army to the east, there are more than a thousand Sogdian merchants, nearly 6,000 camels, loaded with Sogdian and food items, ready to go to Chang'an, according to the Tang court regulations, the goods entering the Tang Dynasty need to pay taxes in Anxi, used to supplement the military expenses of Anxi, but this time Li Qing'an announced that those who follow him into Beijing can be exempt from tax, and can also get the protection of the Tang army, which makes the shrewd Sogdian merchants rush to take out the valuable goods that have been buried, Rushed to catch this business trip with a free lunch.

The arrival of a large number of broken leaf merchants made the large and small inns of broken leaves suddenly full, the inns were far from enough, and some households also specially vacated their rooms and temporarily rented them to merchants to collect a little rent, but the first thing the merchants did when they put down their goods and luggage was not to eat and rest, but to rush to the major shops and city offices of Broken Leaves to exchange Kaiyuan Tongbao silver coins.

This is Li Qing'an announced to them on the road, an additional condition of tax exemption is that each person needs to exchange at least thirty yuan worth of Kaiyuan Tongbao silver coins, with copper coins, and even sell a part of the goods in exchange for silver coins, on the road merchants have seen the sample of Kaiyuan Tongbao silver coins, and Chang'an minted silver coins, ten pieces of one tael, according to the official price of Anxi, this silver coin is worth one hundred copper coins, although Li Qing'an is using a compulsory order to let the merchants exchange, but the shrewd businessmen immediately found the opportunity to make money in the middle, This kind of silver money can be exchanged for one hundred and five wen or even one hundred and ten wen on the Chang'an black market.

This batch of silver coins was not minted after Li Qing'an got the big food silver ingots, but began to be minted as early as after the first battle of Broken Leaves, in that battle the Tang army captured thousands of Shi State prisoners of war, these prisoners of war minted silver in the Dunduo silver mine of Broken Leaves, and then transported to Beiting to mint silver coins, although these prisoners of war were later rescued by Shi [***], but they still minted nearly 30,000 silver coins, worth 300,000 copper coins.

After the end of the first battle of broken leaves, the imperial court rewarded the soldiers of the Beiting Army with 300,000 pieces of silk and 200,000 horses, and the second time they recaptured the broken leaves, the court rewarded 200,000 pieces again, together with the conversion of silk, a total of 600,000 pieces of reward, but in fact, Chang'an only allocated 100,000 horses of silk, and other rewards were only given a quota for Anxi to solve by himself.

In other words, the imperial court has given Anxi the right to mint coins, and the money must be minted by Anxi himself, and the copper required for coinage must also be mined and smelted by Anxi himself.

But the Tang Dynasty's annual coinage was only 300,000 guan, how much could Anxi mint alone? Li Qing'an had no choice but to use silver coins instead of copper coins to reward the soldiers, although in Anxi this batch of silver coins because of Li Qing'an's decree to be universal, but in the Tang Dynasty can not be circulated, in order to solve the problem of the circulation of silver money, he must persuade the imperial court to return to Beijing this time to report on work.

Using Sogdian merchants to put pressure on the imperial court was also one of his strategies, and of course, Li Qing'an's purpose was not only to keep the soldiers' money circulated, but he also had a more far-reaching purpose.

The streets were full of Sogdian merchants holding camels for money, bustling and bustling, and at this time, several Han men in robes came to the gate of the state yamen, it was Li Huichun, Luo Pinfang and Chang Jin of the Broken Leaf Hidden Dragon Society, they had returned from Anxi and Beiting one after another four months ago, and for several months, everyone repaired the houses, reorganized the shops, arranged the goods, and prepared to do a big job in the broken leaves.

But the people of the Hidden Dragon Society are more concerned about Li Qing'an's return, in Xiangyi County, Henan Province, everyone has determined that Li Qing'an is the son of the Hidden Prince who has been missing for many years, and has made a blood oath that he must assist Li Qing'an to realize the unfinished career of the Hidden Prince.

Today, the Tang Army Brigade has just returned, Li Huichun and the other three have come to the door, and Li Qing'an has officially returned to the Hidden Dragon Society, and there is still one step to do the most important thing.

They saluted the soldiers guarding the gate and said, "We are the old people of General Li, I don't know if the general is here?" ”

"How many people have a prayer post?"

"Yes! Yes! ”

Li Huichun took out his name card, handed it to the soldier and said, "Please pass it to the general." ”

"Wait, several!"

The soldier walked into the gate quickly, and at this time Li Qingan had just finished listening to Duan Xiushi's debriefing, and was about to go to the street to inspect the exchange of money. ”

"Who is it?"

"It is said that it is the general's old man, and there is a worship here."

"The deceased?"

Li Qing'an thought for a while, and vaguely guessed who it was, so he nodded and said, "Show it to me." ”

The soldier walked into the room and handed the sticker to Li Qing'an, sure enough, it was Li Huichun and them, Li Qing'an smiled, and said to Duan Xiushi: "I have some personal matters, so I won't go to the street, just ask Cheng Gong to inspect and maintain order, in addition, if the Sogdian merchants want to change more, you go to the barracks to find Cui Qianyou, I estimate that the soldiers have a lot." ”

Duan Xiushi agreed, and hurriedly went, and after a while, Li Huichun and the others were led into the room, there were four people in total, one of them was a woman, wearing a veil, and she couldn't see clearly, Li Qingan took a deep look at her, and then ordered the soldiers: "I have something important, no one is allowed to come in!" ”

The soldiers closed the door and went out, and Li Huichun and the three immediately knelt down, "Subordinates knock on the master!" ”

"Hurry up!"

Li Qingan hurriedly helped them up and complained: "I told you last time, you are not allowed to see me kneel in the future!" ”

As he spoke, Li Qing'an glanced at the woman again, the woman took off her veil, and it was Mrs. Luo, that is, Li Qing'an's biological mother, she looked at Li Qing'an silently, the two looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the room unconsciously became a little tense, at this time, Mrs. Luo's gaze became soft, and she said to Li Huichun: "You guys should avoid it first!" I'd like to have a few words with Ting'er. ”

Li Huichun retreated, Luo Pinfang was a little worried, he wanted to say something to his daughter, but Chang Jin pulled him and pulled him down.

The door was closed, Mrs. Luo opened the door and looked, and saw that they were far away, so she locked the door, and she smiled at Li Qing'an: "Li Yuanjun, we have seen it, right?" ”

As soon as she said this, Li Qingan understood that she had already recognized that she was not her son who had been separated for twenty years, of course, even if she was separated for a long time, the mother could still recognize her child at a glance.

Li Qingan smiled bitterly, took out the piece of phoenix jade from his arms, put it on the table, and said, "Take this piece of jade!" It's your son's belongings. ”

Mrs. Luo picked up the jade and looked at it for a long time, with a trace of sadness in her eyes, she put the jade back on the table again, and said in a low voice: "Let's sit down and talk!" ”

Li Qingan nodded silently and poured a cup of hot tea for Mrs. Luo, "Madam, please drink tea!" ”

Mrs. Luo looked at the teacup in a daze, she sighed and said, "My lady has never poured me tea once, thank you." ”

She picked up the tea, took a sip, and asked, "Gongzi Li, where are your parents?" ”

Li Qingan shook his head, "My parents died when I was a child, and after my grandfather died fifteen years ago, I don't have any relatives in this world. ”

"Hey! Also a poor child. ”

Mrs. Luo sighed sadly, "If my Ting'er is still alive and as tall as you, his father will be very tall, he has been like his father since he was a child, and he is like you, he is also twenty-eight years old, but one month older than you." ”

Mrs. Luo felt uncomfortable, tears welled up, and Li Qingan comforted her in a low voice: "Don't worry, Madam, I will do my best to find your son for you." ”

"Really?" Mrs. Luo looked at him in surprise.

Li Qingan looked at Feng Yu for a while, and then he smiled and said, "Of course, since I have promised my wife, I will definitely do it, but I am not sure if I can find it." ”

"As long as you have this heart, I can't thank you enough."

Mrs. Luo picked up the phoenix jade and stuffed it back into Li Qing'an's hand, Li Qingan was stunned, "Madam, who are you?" ”

Mrs. Luo smiled faintly and said, "Do you think I will expose your identity?" No! In fact, I have long known that Ting'er is dead, when his father went to Persia, called Travel, in fact, to find Ting'er, he just learned the news of Ting'er's death, so he was angry and looked for revenge against the enemy, but unfortunately also died in a foreign land, he asked his entourage to bring me a word before he died, he went to accompany Ting'er, I knew that Ting'er was dead, I have been hiding this matter from my father and the people of the Hidden Dragon Society, so they told me that when you were Ting'er, I knew that in fact, you were not. ”

"Then why didn't Madame expose me?"

"That's because I don't want Yu'er to follow his father's old path again, I hope he can live a peaceful life, he can't do the career of the Hidden Dragon Society, but you are different, son, maybe you can fulfill this century-old wish for them."

"But...," Li Qingan hesitated and said, "If they knew that I was not a young man, they would not let an outsider fulfill their century-old wish." ”

At this time, Mrs. Luo's eyes brightened, and she smiled slightly: "If Gongzi doesn't dislike it, then you are my Ting'er." ”

Li Qingan raised his head suddenly, he saw a kind of tolerance in Mrs. Luo's eyes, a kind of charity, and a trace of expectation, he suddenly remembered his mother in his previous life, his mother's kind gaze, he could never see it again, Li Qing'an had a sour nose, slowly knelt down, and kowtowed heavily.

"Mother!"

"Kid, get up quickly!"

Mrs. Luo hurriedly helped Li Qing'an up, and tears flashed in her eyes, "Child, from now on, you are my Ting'er." ”

Mrs. Luo wiped away her tears, looked at Li Qing'an carefully, nodded and sighed: "Sure enough, it is a talent, in fact, when I saw you for the first time, I was thinking, if my Ting'er is still alive, I should be as heroic as you, I didn't expect that I would get such a promising son, if Yu'er can compare to half of your brother, I will be really satisfied." ”

Li Qingxin also sighed secretly, although he was willing to recognize Mrs. Luo as his mother, but letting him recognize that gentleman as his younger brother gave him a headache.

Mrs. Luo seemed to understand Li Qing'an's thoughts, so she smiled and said: "Actually, Jue'er's surname is not bad, but he has been spoiled since he was a child, and no one can control him. ”

Li Qingan nodded and said solemnly: "If he can take the right path, I will naturally take care of him, and ask my mother to strictly restrain him." ”

Mrs. Luo was also very relieved in her heart, although Li Qingan was not her biological son, she could treat Li Qingan as her own righteous son, and she could be regarded as her son.

She opened the door and said to Li Huichun and the others: "Please come in!" ”

Li Huichun and the three of them were a little uneasy in their hearts, although they had already decided that Li Qing'an was the young master of the hidden dragon, but if Mrs. Luo did not admit it, this would also be a great obstacle, Li Huichun was extremely careful, he saw that his wife's face was full of tears, and he knew that the matter was almost over, but Luo Pinfang didn't notice that he was a violent temper, and as soon as he entered the door, he asked his daughter: "No problem!" ”

Mrs. Luo took Li Qingan's hand and said with a smile: "That's right, he is my Ting'er, my biological son who has been separated for twenty years." ”

Li Huichun's heart suddenly fell, this is great, Mrs. Luo pointed at Luo Pinfang and smiled at Li Qingan: "Ting'er, this is your grandfather." ”

Li Qingxin scolded secretly, and had no choice but to bow down and salute: "See grandpa!" ”

"No, you don't! No! ”

Luo Pinfang scratched his head happily and smiled, he hurriedly said to Li Huichun: "That's no problem, then take the young master to worship the spiritual seat now!" ”

Paying homage to the spiritual seat of the hidden prince Li Jiancheng is the last and most important step for Li Qingan to be the lord of the hidden dragon, Li Huichun nodded and said: "Don't worry, I have already arranged it, early tomorrow morning, the young master will officially visit the shrine." ”

After completing Mrs. Luo's confession, everyone agreed with Li Qingan on tomorrow's time, and they were about to leave, but Li Qingan left Li Huichun behind, and he still had something to explain to Li Huichun.

The two sat down again, and Mrs. Luo was gone, which made Li Qingan feel relaxed for a while, and regained his composure and sanity.

He drank tea and said with a smile: "Mr. Li knows about the Sogdians exchanging money on the street, right?" ”

"I was just about to ask the young master about this!"

"Don't call me Young Master!" Li Qingan reminded him: "Remember, now is not the time to reveal my identity. ”

Li Huichun was stunned, and hurriedly asked: "Then when can the identity of the envoy be revealed to the world?" ”

"I don't know exactly when, but if the time comes, I'll arrange for you to leak it in the right way."

"Yes! The subordinates understood. ”

Li Qing'an nodded, changed the topic again, and said: "Now continue to talk about the silver money, these Sogdians are just me using them to put pressure on the imperial court, and they are only part of my plan, and the other part needs to be completed by the Han and Tang Dynasties for me." ”

"Plan?" Li Huichun was a little confused, and asked hesitantly, "What is the plan of the envoy?" ”

"It's hard to describe this plan, so don't ask for the time being, just carry out my orders."

Li Huichun had never met such a strong Hidden Dragon Guild Master, and he was not used to Li Qing'an's order for a while, but he reacted immediately, and secretly admired in his heart, this is the descendant of Prince Yin, with the momentum of saying the same, he immediately stood up, bowed down and said, "Please give the envoy orders!" ”

Li Qingan took out a booklet, handed it to Li Huichun and said, "My plan is all in it, you can take it!" The stakes are high, and I want you to do it immediately. ”

(To be continued)