Xingqing Palace has changed very quickly in the past two years, not only because of the use of cement as a building material, but also because of all kinds of products from Liaodong, such as glass, Xingqing Palace has a conservatory built with a lot of glass, in the first courtyard of the west gate of the palace, in order to build this conservatory, it cost as much as one million yuan - this money is a joint venture between the treasury and the Anxi Chamber of Commerce, and each lives in half.

Of course, the Datang treasury took out real money, but no one had seen the 500,000 yuan of the Anxi Chamber of Commerce. In winter, Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan's favorite thing is to lie under this greenhouse and bask in the sun, which is windless and warm. They pondered that they would build a bigger and more beautiful conservatory in the hot spring palace.

Ye Chang didn't even glance at this conservatory, it was just a big glass balcony, Li Longji was a treasure, but he didn't think so.

Hurriedly walked to the front of the diligent government building, Li Longji was wearing a silk robe, not wearing the emperor's crown clothes, but regular clothes, looking at his expression, there was no joy or anger, not as if there was something urgent.

Seeing Ye Chang coming, he smiled: "Ye Qing, it's hard work." ”

"It is the duty of a minister to share worries for His Majesty and manage the frontier for China." Ye Chang's eyes slipped, but he didn't see Yang Zhao, and he felt a little strange in his heart.

With Yang Zhao's current precautions against him, he should not be given the opportunity to see Li Longji alone.

"Ye Qing has worked hard in Yunnan, and he originally wanted to call you back to Beijing a long time ago, but state affairs are the most important...... Ha Lu Ha...

Li Longji vaguely said a few words of encouragement and comfort to Ye Chang, and then he himself felt bored, so he snorted, and asked curiously: "I heard that the barbarians in Yunnan have a custom that mountain songs entertain people to propose marriage, I don't know if it's true or not?" ”

"It is true that the barbarians live in the mountains, and they are busy with their livelihood on weekdays, and it is rare to have leisure, so they choose a day to gather, and they are courting each other, and there are also those who are only looking for the joy of one night." Ye Chang said with a smile: "Cang Liao knows etiquette, although this statement is biased, but it also has some truth. ”

Li Longji was leisurely fascinated, and said with a smile for a while: "If I go here, I should be like a fish in water." ”

"It is a blessing for a saint to have a heart for the whole world, and not to be strange and ugly."

"I also have to meet a person like you who is good at governing the border, now the situation in Liaodong, I am heard every day, the wealth is no less than Guanzhong, the population is more than 300,000, but the taxes can be worth a million people, Yunnan has also been politically harmonious, all chaos is peaceful, the brown sugar and frosted sugar shipped out of Yunnan every month, there are hundreds of stones......

These are all the credits of Ye Chang, but Yunnan is still just the beginning, and the large plantations planting rice, sugarcane, and tea are still just beginning, and the effect is not great. Ye Chang estimated that it would take four to five years, like Liaodong, to see initial results.

After talking about Ye Chang's contributions, Li Longji changed the topic: "Do you think Anxi can also be operated by you to manage the frontier?" ”

"Naturally," Ye Chang said without hesitation.

"How can you use your method of opening in Anxi?"

"Anxi's products are also abundant, connecting China and foreign countries, and as far as the minister can see, there are at least four major advantages to be used." Ye Chang had a vague idea in his heart, and when he heard Li Longji's inquiry, he stretched out his finger: "Anxi jade, the name of Kunlun jade, the Han Dynasty has been famous all over the world, gems and jade, the rich and noble family of Middle Earth, every family wants to hide it, this alone is enough to make the businessman go." ”

"Speaking of jade, your jade jade is also good, the jade carvings you gave to me and my concubine are very delicate and lovely, I play with them every day." Li Longji interjected.

At this time, jadeite has not yet become popular, unknown among the jade, Yunnan is connected to northern Myanmar, Ye Chang wants to develop it, and naturally has to promote jadeite as a major luxury. During this period, some hype methods, even Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan were used by him, thus opening up sales channels for jadeite.

"Second, the climate of Anxi is very suitable for kapok planting, north of the Tianshan Mountains, the water and soil are fertile, and they are turned into farms, and they hire Zhuhu to cultivate, not only can they be self-sufficient in grain and clothing, but also their cotton, fruits, and wine can be marketed in all directions."

"Jinshan produces gold, and it and the slopes of the Tianshan Mountains are all good pastures, grazing cattle, sheep, horses and camels, then there is another horse farm in Datang."

"Fourth, Anxi is located at the key point of the Sino-Western trade route, and the Silk Road must pass through on land, and only the commercial tax can be collected to support the military salary ......"

Ye Chang came up with four reasons in one go, Li Longji nodded again and again when he heard it, and sure enough, Ye Chang didn't say anything about the situation in the Western Regions, he still made quite preparations.

Although Ye Chang said briefly, each article has its own pertinence.

"Now that the Central Plains is rich, we can suppress the four sides, if the four sides rise, the wealth is better than the Central Plains, so what can I do?" After Ye Chang finished speaking, Li Longji asked again.

This question is extremely acute, and to some extent, it even questions Ye Chang's border strategy, believing that his method of developing the frontier is actually promoting the tendency of separation. Li Longji believes that with Ye Chang's cleverness, he will not fail to see this tendency to separate, even so, his set of side strategies, on the surface, seems to solve the immediate difficulties of Datang, but in fact, it is a bigger hidden danger in the future.

Ye Chang smiled.

"No matter how rich the frontier is, there is something lacking after all, how can it be compared to the Central Plains? Besides, if the frontier can be rich, can't the Central Plains be richer? With the abundance of resources and manpower in the original place, if you can't be richer than the frontier, there is only one reason, that is, the prime minister and the county guard are not competent."

"The wealth of the four sides will eventually gather in the Central Plains, gather in Chang'an, and the sage is not worried about the wealth of the frontier than the Central Plains, but rather worry about how to make the wealth of the four sides gathered in the Central Plains create greater wealth for the Central Plains."

This is said very truthfully, it can be described as unceremoniously, Li Longji is not angry but happy, and Ha Lu Ha Da Lu laughed.

"Okay, okay, Eleven Lang will talk to me about Yunnan again, Yunnan uses the new sugar method to make frosted sugar, it is really sweet, it is really good."

Ye Chang talked to him for a while about the customs and customs of Yunnan, and naturally did not forget to mention the annexation of the entire Indochina Peninsula by Yunnan again, he knew how important it was for China to control the two oceans in the future, but even Li Longji couldn't think of what the future would look like at this time, so he was not in a hurry, just said that the century-old business strategy was just a step by step.

However, Li Longji was not interested in these, so he asked about the customs and customs of Yunnan, and asked how the women were looking at them. ”

Li Longji laughed and motioned for Ye Chang to leave, after Ye Chang left, the smile on Li Longji's face did not change, and he looked back: "Yang Qing, how is it?" ”

Yang Zhao walked out from behind the screen, and there was a smile on his face: "As the sage expected, Ye Chang was really prepared...... It's just that he is now a multi-tasker, with high official power, how can he be willing to go to Anxi to help Gao Xianzhi

"Ye Shiyi has selfishness, but his selfishness is not the same as yours, his selfishness is not in power, but in fame, and in leaving a name in history after thousands of years." Li Longji clapped his hands slowly, squinted and thought for a while: "Liaodong and Yunnan, the envoy he has appointed is the same, so that he can lead it from afar, and the imperial court will appoint another person to hold an important position." However, you must not leak the news, and make arrangements after Li Linfu leaves Beijing. ”

"The minister knows." Yang Zhao lowered his head and saluted, with a cold smile on his face.

No matter how capable Ye Chang is, he is not playing with him in the palm of his hand, as long as he is slightly provoked, he will go to the northwest again

Yang Zhao is not worried at all that Ye Chang will make new contributions when he goes to Anxi, because of Li Linfu's resignation, Li Linfu has not received many news now, for example, what is happening in Anxi, Li Linfu does not know what is happening. Even if there is no current happening, Anxi's trip to the troubled waters is not so easy to wade. Ye Chang himself repeatedly wrote to the court about the situation in Anxi, and Li Longji himself was impatient to read those chapters, but Yang Zhao read them carefully.

Now Anxi, which is like cooking oil with fire, is brewing a terrible storm under the dominant surface of Datang. Ye Chang reminded more than once that between the complete outbreak of this storm, what Datang had to do in Anxi was to consolidate what he had already obtained, turn it into the national strength of Datang's reality, and then further develop to the west of the Green Ridge. Otherwise, even if one or two victories are lucky, the long supply line will greatly consume the national strength and eventually drag the Tang Dynasty down.

"Step by step, colonization profits, turn the enemy into me, soft and hard", these sixteen characters are Ye Chang's general strategy for the expansion of the Tang Dynasty's frontier.

Ye Chang walked out of Xingqing Palace, and felt very strange in his heart, Li Longji summoned him, could it be that he really just wanted to ask about the customs of those barbarian girls?

If it's just for that, why is it so urgent?

After pondering for a while, Ye Chang sorted out the conversation between Li Longji and him again, Li Longji mentioned many things, including Liaodong, Yunnan, Anxi, and ......

Ye Chang's heart jumped violently: Anxi

The places or events mentioned by Li Longji are more or less directly related to him, such as Liaodong and Yunnan, where he has both official positions or overseas Xianshan products, which are either discovered by him or have trade with him. This Anxi alone has nothing to do with him, except that he has often mentioned it in the recital in the past two years.

Thinking of this, he called Ye An: "Sort out all the news related to Anxi and bring it to me."

When others were not in Chang'an, Ye An stayed in Chang'an, the clansman he trusted the most, who was stable and reliable, and could be said to be one of the people he relied on the most. He didn't treat Ye An badly, and now Ye An also has a meritorious position, and in terms of rank, he also has six grades. As for the family wealth, it is far better than the average rich person.

Ye An left as he said, Ye Chang returned home, Li Tengkong had already returned from Li Linfu's mansion, the two held hands and whispered, full of warmth, but at this moment, someone came: "Lang Jun, there are people outside asking to see." ”

Ye Chang was stunned: "When I arrived today, someone came to ask to see me?" Who is it? ”

"There's a thorn in here."

Ye Chang took the name thorn and looked at it, but it was "Weiwei Shaoqing, Yi Wang You Huangheng", this name is very familiar, Ye Chang thought for a while, and then suddenly remembered: Isn't this Abe Zhong Ma, the very famous Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty?

"What does he want to see me?" He hesitated in his heart, and seeing that Ye An hadn't brought the information yet, he said, "Please let him in." ”

After a while, a thin man walked in, this person was over half a hundred years old, his expression was calm, and he gestured, quite a scholar's style. However, Ye Chang was a little displeased with his appearance, so he bowed his head lightly: "Gong Chao came to the cold house, I don't know what is more expensive?" ”

He is a little arrogant, but it is normal in Chao Heng's eyes, in fact, when Chao Heng saw Ye Chang for the first time, he felt awe, so young, he has become the most powerful person in the Tang Dynasty, and the person he relies on is not the family bloodline, but the personal hard work.

Such characters can only exist in Datang.

"Servant, a friend of Li Taibai." Chao Heng first introduced himself: "I have never known Zhongcheng in my life, and I want to see each other early, but it's a pity that Zhongcheng has every opportunity and works hard for the country, which is rare for a while." Today, when I heard from the sage, I returned to Beijing, I was overjoyed, I came in a hurry, I lost my etiquette, and I invited Zhongcheng Haihan. ”

This guy is very sympathetic, not to mention his official status, but only to say that he is a friend of Li Bai, with the friendship between Ye Chang and Li Bai, since he is a friend of Li Bai, Ye Chang will not neglect him. Ye Chang really got up and arched his hand to him: "Rude, rude, friend of Taibai, that is, my friend...... Come on, serve tea, Chao Gong, please taste the wild tea I found in Yunnan"

After the guests and hosts were seated, Chao Heng praised the tea, and then said respectfully: "I came to pay homage to Zhongcheng today, firstly, to comfort the wish of Pingsheng, and secondly, to ask Zhongcheng for help if there is something." ”

"What?"

"The old servant, in the Tang Dynasty has been thirty-four years, intends to return to the country with the Tang envoy, and now the saint has resigned, but he hates to have no boat to cross, and he heard that the merchant ship of the Anton Chamber of Commerce, going back and forth in the Tang Dynasty and Japan, such as the Panjiang River, is not afraid of turmoil, so he came to invite Zhongcheng, borrow a cloud sail, and send the servant back to his hometown."

Ye Chang was taken aback, he had heard of this person, but he didn't know that he had stayed in Datang for thirty-four years, let alone that he would ask for his return to China.

He didn't know that it was also related to him. The envoy sent to Tang in Chao Heng's mouth was the envoy who came from Japan with the Andong Chamber of Commerce last year, and on the first day of this year, there was a stir in order to compete for the seat of worship to Li Longji.

"This matter is easy to hear, and Chao Gong can return to China with this Tang envoy...... However, there are some things that I would like to ask Chao Gong first. ”

Ye Chang was originally about to take a sip, but then he thought of something and added.

Chao Heng sat solemnly and said, "Ye Zhongcheng just asks, and the servant knows everything." ”

"What are your plans for Chao Gong to return to China this time?" Ye Chang asked.

Chao Heng was stunned for a moment, he originally thought that Ye Chang was going to ask about the customs of Japan - Ye Chang was interested in these things, and they were all spread in Chang'an City, but he never thought that Ye Chang would ask him about his own plans.

Chao Heng is familiar with Ye Chang's "The Wealth of Nations" and other books, and knows Ye Chang's intention to manage the four sides, such a person will never ask casually.

What's the point?