Seventy-eight, go to war

After the Qizhou Covenant, the Tang and Ming countries were very peaceful for two years. The Tang Dynasty was busy dealing with the rebellion in Tibet and the small countries in southern Xinjiang, while the Ming Dynasty was in a state of recuperation, and agriculture, handicrafts, commerce, iron smelting, and construction all developed rapidly.

By the fourth year of Zhengping, the Forbidden City had not yet been completed.

Covering an area of one million square meters, there were 72 palaces on the original design drawings, but only 24 were built in the past four years. Due to the shortage of the treasury at the beginning of the founding of the country, the money was misappropriated many times for the construction of city walls, moats, military reinforcements, and the construction of schools, so that the construction was stopped several times. Later, Shen Mengxi simply ordered the suspension of work and maintained the current scale.

Shen Mengxi didn't pay attention to materialism, and she didn't want to compete with Chang'an, she said to Yin'er: "If you want to build it, build it later." ”

Yin'er smiled and said, "A-Niang, the family is not large, and it is enough." ”

In addition to the three major halls of Taihe, Zhonghe and Baohe in the former dynasty, there are two halls of Wenhua and Wuying, which are places to worship and handle official business. Shen Mengxi and Wu Youji, plus the prince is now a family of five, just these seven masters, more than ten palaces in the apse, how to live is enough.

Most of the servants and maids used in the palace are still Luoyang and Chang'an, and the number is only more than 500 people, Shen Mengxi abolished the eunuch system, and the apse uses more maids, and the miscellaneous servants are sent to other places after the age of thirteen, and the guards and patrols are only outside the palace.

The royal 6,000 forbidden army, Shen Mengxi directly commanded the 3,000 forbidden army, and the remaining 3,000 were handed over to the crown prince.

Usually eat, contrary to the style of Chang'an in Luoyang, are very thrifty, and strictly order the palace servants and maids, not allowed extravagance and waste, this top-down thrift and honesty, directly affected officials and civilians at all levels, since then, there are very few extravagant and corrupt things in the country.

Although the Forbidden City is not magnificent enough, the outer city of Youzhou is strong and majestic.

Youzhou city covers an area of 64 square kilometers, built around the tall triple city wall, each side of the three city gates, the city is not like Chang'an to divide more than 100 miles, nor the commercial area and residential area are strictly distinguished, but set up 12 districts, each district has shops, restaurants, tea houses, small workshops and other functional areas, convenient for the residents to live needs. The city has convenient water and land transportation, and where the districts meet, there are four large-scale markets to trade goods from home and abroad.

Schools and clinics have been set up in various districts to provide basic education to the public at extremely low tuition and medicine costs, so as to ensure the health of the people. And officially decreed that a man in the country can only get married when he is over 20 and a woman is 18, and if both parties delay their marriage for two years, the court will also have a reward. Everyone wants to reproduce children and grandchildren earlier, at this time women are mostly married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and after sixteen is the family is disgraced, the emperor decreed, although the people were dissatisfied, but they did not dare to show more, but in the following years, the survival rate of born babies increased significantly, and people of insight understood the intentions of the imperial court.

Four satellite cities have been set up outside Youzhou City, where brick factories and mines are set up in the downstream of water sources, livestock and poultry breeding are concentrated in the downwind, vegetable and fruit planting and greenhouse planting are concentrated in one place, and handicraft workshops are also concentrated in one place. Although it is not completely reasonable, it can be regarded as not only conducive to management, but also able to supply the needs of the city in a timely manner.

The curfew has been lifted in Youzhou City, and there is also a doctor on duty at the infirmary at night. It's just that the management of household registration and identity is stricter, and the city gate also has a strict closing time. Public security offices have been set up in various districts in the city, and a large number of public security officers have been set up in each public security office to be responsible for arson and burglar prevention, familiarize themselves with the situation of personnel in their jurisdictions, and ensure public safety.

The national army is about 500,000, which is much less than that of the Tang Dynasty.

The population in the north was already smaller than that in Guannai, and Shen Mengxi did not implement a strict conscription system, but only used generous treatment and benefits to attract people to join the army. However, the investment in armaments is definitely not less than that of Datang, and the combat ability of soldiers is also several times that of Datang and Turkic countries.

The year before last, when there was a drought in Guannai, a large number of victims came to beg, Shen Mengxi accepted tens of thousands of displaced people and resettled them in northern Liaoning, as long as the land was cultivated, it would be owned by individuals, and they would be exempted from taxes for two years. For a time, the sparsely populated land in northern Liaoning gradually flourished.

******

When Shen Mengxi was fifty years old, he already had nine grandchildren.

Most of the government affairs of the imperial court were handled by Xue Chongyin, and she paid more attention to Xue Chongjian's sailing fleet, and in her heart, there had always been a wish, which only Xue Chongjian knew.

He said that he hoped that he could give it as a gift on A-Niang's 55th birthday.

Shen Mengxi smiled and said, "Good boy, A-Niang is not in a hurry, she can be at the age of seventy." ”

The plan has not changed quickly, Xue Chongjian's fleet is still being prepared, the navy is still training, and there is bad news from Chang'an: Xue Shao's cemetery has been destroyed and stolen!

Shen Mengxi was furious, and Xue Chongjian also urgently requested to return to Youzhou.

As a result of the deliberations of the ministers, it has been decided to send troops to Datang!

- Digging up people's graves is the biggest provocation and curse!

Xue Chongjian led an army of 50,000, quickly crossed the Yellow River, and sent troops to the Tang Dynasty.

Occupy Bianzhou and Luoyang within ten days.

Li Longji was shocked and angry, the deputy capital was captured, is the Tang army so vulnerable?

In fact, he was also very helpless, he didn't know who stole Xue Shao's tomb, the cemetery was guarded by the soldiers who had always been the Ming Dynasty, who knew that on a rainy night, the guards were attacked, the door of the tomb was opened, the rain rushed into the tomb, and the burial goods were stolen, and even the coffin seemed to be passive. According to the death of the guard, he speculated that the Tibetans and Turks were suspicious, and at the same time he felt that Dongying and Silla were also possible.

But in any case, in the face of Xue Chongjian, who was killing with great momentum, he had to face the battle.

The two grew up together since childhood, and they are like brothers and sisters, but now they are facing each other, Li Longji is in a trance, how did he get to this point today?

This night, Li Longji was reviewing and reciting in the Changsheng Hall of Xingqing Palace as usual, and suddenly heard the noise outside the hall, and then there was a call for "walking water". The chief attendant rushed to report, saying that the Qingliang Palace was running water and was being put out, the fire was rapid, suspected of being set on fire by assassins, and the chief manager asked the emperor to sit in Daming Palace and not go out. After the report, he paced and bowed his waist and went straight to the Qingliang Palace, before he went down the steps, and suddenly there was a crisp sound, and the chief manager seemed to be slammed by something, and he fell backwards, and then fell forward, without even struggling, gurgling blood meandered along the cracks in the gold bricks. "Bang" was another sound, this time the window lattice in the hall was broken, and a palace maid standing by the window fell to the ground and died. Li Longji trembled with fright, and the guards quickly took on the momentum of arching and guarding, protecting the emperor with flesh and blood. A large number of forbidden troops had already poured into the outside of the Hall of Eternal Life, the torches were bright, and the Assassins had nowhere to hide, but there was silence around them, and they searched everywhere to no avail.

A sharp howl came from the palace in the southwest corner of the night, followed by one terrible scream after another, as if greatly frightened.