The summer in Chang'an City is really unbearable, and this year is a little special, the drought in Guanzhong, the drought in the Central Plains, and the entire middle reaches of the Yellow River are plagued by drought. The situation of summer grain is extremely not optimistic, and in previous years, under such circumstances, grain prices have long since doubled, and public resentment is boiling. This year, however, there is a difference in the fact that rice from Huainan Province, Jiangnan West Province and Jiangnan East Province is being transported in a steady stream along the rut track, and although the northerners are a little unaccustomed to eating rice, they are always hungry.

The drought also bankrupted more yeoman farmers, who had to drag their children and daughters out to wander after pawning their land, but whenever they met such people, they were picked up by the government and driven to the construction site, where they could not only take care of their own food, but also make some money, so that their families could drink porridge and have a good stomach

According to a statistical report from Anton Bank, at most one day, there were 370,000 people on the construction site at the same time, and the track left by Chen to Luoyang could be repaired within the year, and from Luoyang to Chang'an, it should also be completed in the first half of next year.

This progress made the officials in charge of supervision in the imperial court happy, and they couldn't wait for the drought to occur every year. Of course, the most incompatible are those who have long been eyeing the interests of road construction, but the imperial court allows them to fund the construction of rutted tracks, so why not build one or two branch lines, the annual freight charge, can be higher than the interest in the field

Even the displaced people who built the road have become a sought-after resource, and many people are trying to recruit them.

"I know all this...... Anything else interesting? ”

Li Longji listened to Jia Chang beside him talk about things outside, and he lazily couldn't lift his spirits.

Although Ye Chang was not in Chang'an, his influence on Li Longji had never been interrupted, and before he was ready to part ways with Yang Zhao, Ye Chang fell in love with this Jia Chang.

There is an indirect relationship between the two, Jia Chang's cousin Jia Mao'er is Ye Chang's most trusted confidant, and Ye Chang also respects him as "big brother". In the past, Jia Chang developed this cousin who looked down on him, but now it is different, Jia Mao'er is far better than Jia Chang in terms of net worth, and relatives who have not been in contact for many years have moved around again.

"Oh...... There is still an interesting anecdote that it is said that a gold island was discovered overseas......"

"Golden Island?" Li Longji suddenly became interested: "Sure enough, the whole island is golden?" ”

Xiaochen also hearsay, saying that there were a group of wealthy businessmen in Yangzhou, and they also had the idea of Ao Laiguo, and everyone partnered to gather the money and hired a plumber to find Ao Laiguo. As a result, there was a storm, and Aolai did not find it, but found a large island, and there was a golden mountain on the island. When the watermen came back, they were covered in golden sand, and everyone became very rich."

Li Longji listened interestingly, and Ha Luha laughed.

However, he didn't think so, in recent years, because of the Ao Lai country, Datang has set off a sailing frenzy from top to bottom, and many people claim to have found something or something, but in the end it was confirmed that it was just a scam.

Li Longji, like other smart people, vaguely felt that Ao Laiguo itself was a scam. Otherwise, why is there no such country found in the long history books of China?

If it was really a scam, Ye Chang's intentions in laying out this game at the beginning, Li Longji vaguely knew it. However, he is old, and he doesn't have too many worries about Ye Chang, the only thing he is worried about is that he doesn't have enough money and food in his inner treasury to support his poor and luxurious life, or the power in his hands will be taken away by the prince and the prime minister.

"At first, Xiaochen also thought it was just a joke, and then he met a person, who was the supporter behind these hydraulic workers, he also stayed in Chang'an, and later went to Yangzhou to run a ball club, named Wang Qinian, only to know that all this was true, they really found a gold mountain overseas."

When Jia Chang said this, he couldn't help but lick his mouth.

He either knew or had heard of the two principals who had discovered Jinshan. One is Wang Qinian, the other is a yellow-shirted guest, these two people don't know when they got together, about the red leaves of the eyes to make a fortune, or maybe they want to learn the legend of the bearded guest, go overseas to become a country of their own, in short, bought a boat to explore, and really gave them to the future generations of New Taipei, Taiwan. Because some of the ship's sailors had panned for golden sand, they found golden gold in the mountain stream, and then found a large gold mine.

Wang Qinian and Huang Shangke are not restrained, and their subordinates are also mixed, so with such a harvest, it is naturally difficult to keep it secret.

"Do you know the man who discovered the Golden Mountain?" Li Longji was taken aback when he heard this: "Sure enough, there is a mountain of gold?" ”

"They say it's not that there really is a gold mountain, but it is true that a big gold mine was found, on a big overseas island...... Tsk, it's no wonder that Ye Shiyi had another article some time ago, saying that wealth comes from the sea......"

"What is that?" Li Longji asked Wang Wei, a Hanlin bachelor who was a consultant next to him.

Wang Wei's face was calm: "It's Ye Changzhi's "Theory of Sea Power", and the article has only been more than four months now. ”

"More than four months, that is, when he was in Jiannan, he was leisurely, and he still had the leisure to write this when he went out to fight...... Some time ago, it was said that he had recovered Yunnan Nanze and was preparing to build Yunnan City there, but I don't know what the war situation is now. ”

Li Longji's words were immediately interrupted by footsteps, and he raised his eyebrows to look, but saw Gao Lishi coming over with a happy face.

Behind Gao Lishi, followed by Li Linfu.

Li Linfu is now very old, and his energy is getting worse and worse, since he was sick once two years ago, he is now suffering from minor illnesses, and he will be bedridden to recuperate every three or five days. This made others lose a lot of weight, and it also made him look more cold and stern. Li Longji actually doesn't like Li Linfu very much now, but in his eagerness, he can't find someone who can replace Li Linfu.

Today, Li Linfu's expression was also extremely happy, with a strange red on his face.

"Li Qing, Gao Qing, how did the two of you get together?" Li Longji glanced at Gao Lishi suspiciously, he knew that Gao Lishi and Li Linfu had never been of the same mind.

"The slave and maid happened to meet Li Xianggong outside, and when they heard good news from him, they came together." Although Gao Lishi is also old, he is still very energetic, and his legs and feet are fast, so he said with a smile when he heard Li Longji ask.

"Good news...... It must be that there is a military report from Ye Shiyi, Li Qing said, what is going on

Li Linfu bowed and saluted, and then congratulated: "Congratulations to Your Majesty, the rebel pavilion Luo Feng has been awarded the head, and the rest of the rebels, big and small, Ye Chang have also been killed."

The news of "Ha Lu Ha" made Li Longji very happy: "Taihe City has been taken? ”

"Taihe City has been bulldozed, all the bricks and stones have been taken away, and Ye Shiyi wants to build a new city in the south of it to control the land of Erhai Lake."

"I know that when he left earlier, he played a song that he wanted to build a city with Yunnan Nanze and Erhai as the center, and govern the surrounding areas, and these two cities must be appointed by the imperial court to supervise the surrounding civil affairs; In addition, he was appointed as a training envoy of the Yunnan regiment, and also served as a military envoy of Yunnan and horses, responsible for military affairs. Li Longji remembered the method proposed by Ye Chang to govern Yunnan, and immediately said: "Okay, good, I thought it would take a year or two to quell the rebellion, but I never thought that it would take him just over four months to become a ...... There is a reaction from the dog Rong, I think the dog Rong must increase the number of troops in Jianchuan, right? ”

He knew very well how much pressure Yunnan would exert on the dog Rong if it was completely controlled by the Tang Dynasty. The biggest advantage of the dog Rong to the Tang Dynasty is the geographical environment of the plateau, although the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are brave and good at fighting, they are not suitable for the geography of the plateau, and they always fall ill and die. But after getting Yunnan, the barbarians in Yunnan are also accustomed to the life of the mountain plateau, and they are more suitable for plateau warfare than the Han army.

"It's impossible for Dog Rong to increase his troops in Jianchuan." Although Li Linfu's face was red, his expression was very calm, and he said calmly: "Ye Chang first lured the defenders of the Dog Rong Shenchuan to come to aid Nanzhao, and then made Gao Shi rush to attack Tieqiao City, first defeated the Dog Rong reinforcements on the shore of the Erhai Lake, and then pursued to the Iron Bridge City, flanked the Dog Rong, beheaded more than 10,000, captured 30,000, Shenchuan and Jianchuan have been the territory of the Tang Dynasty. ”

"What?"

Li Longji was originally holding a handful of rice in his hand, ready to throw it to the winning chicken in the cockfighting ring, but when he heard Li Linfu say this, he unconsciously let go of his hand, and the handful of rice slipped on the ground.

He realized that in this life, he was rare among ancient emperors, but he did not take advantage of Dog Rong, which is a regret he has always had. Now that Ye Chang has killed and captured nearly 50,000 dogs, and captured Shenchuan and Jianchuan, such feats are enough to make up for the regret in his heart.

But the victory came so suddenly, and the results were so brilliant, that he was a little unconvinced. If it weren't for Ye Chang's reputation all along, he would almost think that this was a lie about his exploits.

After settling down, he asked solemnly, "Is this really true?" ”

"It's true, now it's just a military report, the military situation is from the Yangtze River to Fuzhou, then over Bashan, to Yangzhou, and then through the Meridian Valley and Vietnam Mountain, before it was sent to Chang'an, the minister looked at the above time, the good news was sent eight days ago, and the good news of the Jiannan Festival envoy will soon arrive."

"Go to the Meridian Valley ......" Li Longji smiled first, he was very familiar with this road, Yang Yuhuan likes to eat lychees, fresh lychees are extremely difficult to preserve, and they were sent to Chang'an by this road from Fuzhou, before and after, but only three days.

But he immediately restrained his laughter, because Li Linfu reminded him in a later sentence that the good news of the Jiannan Jiedu envoy should also arrive.

The envoy of Jiannan Jiedu was Yang Zhao, who was unwilling to return to Chang'an when he was driven out of Chang'an by Li Linfu. Originally, this big victory, he could take the opportunity to return to Chang'an, but at the beginning, he had an agreement with Ye Chang, and his military merits were not his.

Li Linfu mentioned this matter, in fact, he was reminding Li Longji that this credit has nothing to do with Jiannan Jiedu Yang Zhao, just like Kaiyuan Tongbao is named Kaiyuan, but it is not actually cast in Li Longji's Kaiyuan years.

changed others, and temporarily complied with Li Linfu's wishes, but this is Yang Zhao, these days, the Yang sisters have not cried less.

"Okay, okay...... With such meritorious service, I will not be stingy with rewards...... So be it, Mr. Wang."

Wang Wei, who had never had any sense of existence, bowed beside him: "The minister is here." ”

"You draft a holy decree to Prime Minister Ye Chang for Yunnan military and political affairs, and concurrently serve as the military and horse envoy of Jiannan...... In addition, Jiannan was ordered to allocate the rewards of meritorious soldiers, which were deducted from the taxes paid to escort the Jingshi this year. As for the promotion and knighthood, it will be drafted after Ye Qing plays it in detail. ”

"Yes," Wang Wei arched.

He is also a big pen, and after a while, he took the pen and wrote the holy decree, and after using the seal, he handed the holy decree into the hands of Li Linfu. Li Longji thought for a while and said with a smile: "Congratulations to Li Qing, I just want to make amends to Ling Yuan for my good life, but I'm afraid that I will keep her Ailang in the frontier for more time." ”

He didn't mention Yang Zhao's matter, Li Linfu was even happy in his heart, and immediately thanked him. As long as Yang Zhao is contained, no one can threaten Li Linfu's status in the court, and as for whether his son-in-law Ye Chang will stay outside for more time because of this, Li Linfu doesn't mind too much.

Since he is his son-in-law, it is a matter of course to make certain sacrifices for himself.

With a happy mood, Li Linfu left Xingqing Palace and returned to his house, but he did not ask the coachman to stop, but asked the coachman to take him to Ye Chang's house.

Ye Chang's mansion is still on the West Market, and Li Tengkong is married to Ye Chang, so he naturally wants to enter the Ye mansion. Originally, Ye Chang went on the expedition and asked her if she wanted to return to Li Linfu's mansion to live, but she sternly refused. In the past few months, she has not even returned to her parents' home.

"Why did my father come here in time...... Could it be that there is news of Li Lang? Seeing Li Linfu coming, Li Tengkong came out to greet her, she was very smart, and when she saw Li Linfu's appearance, she asked with joy.

"This ...... It won't be long before he returns to Beijing for a while. Li Linfu said with a smile: "There is a big victory ahead, and he is going to win and return to the court."

"Ah" Although he was mentally prepared, Li Tengkong still covered his heart, only to feel that ecstasy surged up.

Ye Chang is amorous and likes to provoke women, but at least his friendship with Li Tengkong is not fake, Li Tengkong has six sisters, and none of those brothers-in-law can treat her sisters as well as Ye Chang. Even when he was out on the expedition, he did not say anything about "why should the Huns be at home before they were destroyed", on the contrary, he used the post station of the imperial court to transmit military information, and said that he would send one or two letters to her every month, not only to tell her about the customs of southern Xinjiang, to confide in his lovesickness, but also to bring some small gifts from time to time.

Those gifts were not valuable: a leaf, a colored stone, or something else, until some time ago, the messenger brought a small box, and in the box was a stone, which Ye Chang called the jade rough, and Ye Chang said in the letter that this stone came from Yunnan to the southwest, and after polishing, you can get beautiful jade, which will become one of the important commodities in Yunnan.

Therefore, Li Tengkong's friendship with Ye Chang not only did not become indifferent because of marriage and separation, but on the contrary, it was like wine, the older it became, the more fragrant it became.

"Aye, I wonder when Ye Lang will return?" She asked joyfully and eagerly.

"The saint has already drawn up his will, and he will be back in more than a month." Li Linfu saw the smile on his daughter's face and responded with a smile.

"Will you be able to stay in Chang'an this time?" Li Tengkong asked again.

The smile on Li Linfu's face was gone.