Chang'an, in the Zichen Palace, is brightly lit.

Wu Houwei sat behind the imperial case, carefully calculating the food and military consumption submitted by the military department and the household department, looking for all possible loopholes.

There was a slight sound of footsteps, but Empress Wu did not look up, her eyes were still fixed on the account book.

Although she did not come to the front line in person, she was born in a wealthy businessman's family, and she was personally in charge of the household department for many years, and she could quickly find the flaws in the account books.

There are too many places for people to get up and down in the army.

Nowadays, the court tax is difficult, and it must be eliminated as much as possible, and at the same time, for those who dare to secretly do things on the army, the Empress Wu has never been stingy in raiding the family and exterminating the clan.

Finally, the account book put down by Empress Wu was gently relieved.

At this time, the emperor's voice behind him sounded: "How is it, Mei Niang, there is no big problem, right?" ”

Empress Wu raised her head, looked at Li Zhi tiredly but cordially, and said: "There is no big problem, there are only three or two people in the state city who are suspected of stealing and selling grain in the warehouse, and then order Dali Temple and Qianniuwei to go and arrest people." ”

Li Zhi pressed his hands on Empress Wu's shoulders and helped her press gently, while sighing softly: "Xian'er is really not a weapon, this kind of thing has been easily fooled by people, how can the whole country be handed over to him in the future?" ”

"Xian'er has only been a prince for a long time, and he still needs to be experienced." Empress Wu patted Li Zhi's hand and smiled gently.

These account books were first sent to the East Palace for purpose, but Li Xian didn't see much wrong at all.

Compared with Empress Wu, Li Xian is too unsuccessful.

However, Li Xian is surrounded by Confucian scholars, descendants of the big families, what kind of accounts do you expect them to calculate.

Even if there is such a person, they can't squeeze Li Xian forward, and they naturally can't see the mistakes and omissions in this.

Li Zhi suddenly patted his forehead and said, "By the way, the batch of treasures that Twenty-Seven Lang brought back from Fu Qi City has arrived, Mei Niang, you and I should go and have a look." ”

"The concubine obeys." Empress Wu smiled softly, she really needed to relax.

……

Box after box, more than fifty boxes were moved into the palace from outside the palace.

On one side, the officials of the Inner Servant Province, the Household Department, the Shangshu Province and the Menxia Province were all watching and counting.

Immediately, one by one, the boxes were opened, gold, silver and jade, bronze Buddha statues, pearl agate, cattle and sheep skins, superb salt bricks, calligraphy and painting porcelain, swords and swords, and a large number of copper coins, all of which appeared in the eyes of Li Zhi and Empress Wu in an instant.

Li Zhi couldn't help but gasp: "Why are there so many?" ”

"Su Hegui is the Tuyuhun Dynasty, he was originally a local wealthy family, and when he betrayed the Murong clan later, he plundered a lot of wealth from them." After a slight pause, Empress Wu shook her head and said, "I'm afraid these are the things that are left over from their offerings to Tubo and their own consumption. ”

"In other words, these are almost equal to the wealth of the same Tuyuhun royal family." Li Zhi immediately understood the meaning of Empress Wu's words, and then he frowned again and said, "If that's the case, then this batch of numbers is really not much." ”

"Your Majesty!" Empress Wu glanced at Li Zhi angrily, and then said: "You forget, Su Hegui still has to raise soldiers, he doesn't dare to say 100,000 in his hands, but there are still 50,000 or 60,000 troops, so many troops, the annual maintenance of military spending is a terrible number." ”

"Yes, yes, yes!" Li Zhi understood in an instant, he couldn't help but suddenly, and said with emotion: "Twenty-seven Lang is really good, knowing that he is always thinking about me, thinking about the court, and if he wants to change to someone else, I am afraid that this wealth has already been shared." ”

"He's got it, too." Empress Wu stood beside Li Zhi and said calmly: "But everything is in accordance with the rules of the imperial court, and most of the coins he intercepted are Tuyuhun and Tubo coins hidden by Su Hegui, these things are basically useless when they are taken to the court, it is better to stay there." ”

Li Zhi glanced sideways at Empress Wu and said in a low voice: "It seems that he also said it in the recital." ”

Empress Wu nodded seriously, even she couldn't criticize Li Xuan at this point.

Li Xuan can be said to be digging out his heart and lungs for the emperor, and he writes everything in the chapter as much as possible, and never deceives.

At this point, Empress Wu and the emperor, among the Qianniuwei beside Li Xuan, both have their own chess pieces.

Almost Li Xuan's every move is under their control.

Almost, of course.

Once Li Xuan doesn't have Qianniuwei by his side, then they don't know a lot of things.

However, most of these things are private matters, and the emperor and the Empress Wu don't care about it.

Of course, Li Xuan also knows this, so he does things in the music and never deceives.

"With these things, Mei Niang, the things in the west can finally breathe a sigh of relief, right?" Li Zhi looked at Empress Wu with satisfaction.

Empress Wu shook her head, looking at these boxes, as well as all the wealth in the boxes, she still couldn't help but say: "It's just a breath of stinginess, the army is conquest, every moment, money leaks like flowing water, these things won't take a few days at all, not to mention, he still has to build a city." ”

"Isn't the matter of Qugou New City already decided, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and in the book on the construction of the city written by Twenty-seven Lang, the consumption of the city has been reduced to the extreme." Li Zhi said in a low voice, while quietly comforting Empress Wu.

"Your Majesty, that's because you didn't understand, the king of Nanchang actually spread all the money prepared in the early stage of the entire city repair to each month in the future, and in the end, the money spent will definitely not be less than a slight." Empress Wu saw Li Xuan's methods very clearly.

The inner square is to be built, the outer city is to be built, the city walls are to be built, and there is even a moat.

Every bit of this, bit by bit, is a huge consumption to the extreme.

It's just that from ordinary people, from the outside to the inside, Li Xuan changed to move forward step by step from the inside to the outside, and in the end, the consumption here is also extremely terrifying, but it is not conspicuous for a while.

"If you can't take Wuhai, that city is just a dream, and it won't be long before it will be destroyed, but if you can take Wuhai and occupy Wuhai, then everything is worth it." Li Zhi's expression was completely solemn.

Although he usually doesn't settle such accounts, he knows in his heart that as long as he can occupy the entire Tuyuhun hometown, the benefits brought to Datang are absolutely terrifying.

What is it to build a city?

As long as the goal can be achieved, that is, to build ten hundred towers, he is willing to do it.

"Then transfer the king of Nanchang to guard Wuhai?" Empress Wu suddenly looked at Li Zhi with a smile.

"Hahaha!" Li Zhi couldn't help laughing and said, "He is so good at building cities and defending cities, it is best to leave such things to him." ”

Empress Wu shook her head slightly, even she had to admit that if they really defeated Wuhai, Li Xuan would be a more suitable city defender than anyone else.

It's not that other people's abilities are worse, it's just that in comparison, Li Xuan is more reassuring to do things.

After all, he really hasn't made a mistake in this regard.

"That's right." Empress Wu looked at Li Zhi and said, "There is also a Su and Gui head......

"What do I want that thing for, let Qianniuwei just find a mass grave and throw it away." Li Zhi waved his hand very indifferently, and he didn't put Su and Gui in his eyes.

"Also, the Murong clan has already written a letter complaining that the king of Nanchang is domineering, forcing the Su and Gui clan to commit suicide by force, and moving more than 30,000 people from the city to Qugou New Town, and he also hopes that the imperial court can return the 100,000 cattle and sheep that Tubo used to trade the first level......" Empress Wu said in the end, even she herself was speechless for a while.

How could there be a person like Murong in this world, almost all of them became resentful women.

"Those who betrayed the Tang Dynasty should have suffered the most severe punishment, and Twenty-Seven Lang didn't cut them with a thousand knives, I was already dissatisfied, and this can still be called domineering."

Li Zhi's face was slightly ugly, and he said unceremoniously: "There is also the matter of relocating the people, but if the Murong clan can move faster, then it will not be taken away by the twenty-seventh Lang at once, who would have thought that they would be so unsuccessful." ”

The combat strength of the Tuyuhun people really disappointed Li Zhi.

Whether it was Wang Xiaojie's 6,000 men who easily pierced Su Hegui's 20,000 cavalry, or Li Xuan's soldiers who took Fu Qi City without blood, it all shows that the Tuyuhun people are vulnerable.

Especially in the end, it was just a few trenches, a few bridges, and Tuyuhun made people drag on for four days in a row, which was also too disappointing.

"He still wants to go back the cattle and sheep, it's really shameless, what the soldiers have worked so hard to beat, he wants to go back in a word, what daydreams he wants." Li Zhi couldn't help but snort coldly, since Li Xuan moved away 30,000 people of Tuyuhun, as well as 6,000 elites, Tuyuhun's role in his heart has been declining day by day.

"But he can still easily surprise the Left Guards from the flank." Empress Wu's expression became solemn.

"Then, as the king of Nanchang said, in the north of Chaka, set up castles and checkpoints, and block their eyes from watching the left guard." Li Zhi's fists suddenly clenched.

If it weren't for the fact that the two families were still allies now, Li Zhi would really not have sent troops to destroy Tuyuhun.

"It's okay for the rest, the tea card should be held firmly in your hand, and the loss of this war is all expected to be made up for from this." A trace of ruthlessness flashed in the expression of the Empress Wu, and she said softly: "If they really dare to cross the tea card at will, let the King of Nanchang destroy them." ”

"Good!" Li Zhi nodded directly, this couple turned out to be all of the same idea.

At this time, Wang Fulai came from the front yard quickly, and the two forbidden soldiers behind him each held a box in their hands.

It's just that one is a square box and the other is a bar box.

Walking in front of Li Zhi and Empress Wu, Wang Fulai directly sent a piece of music: "Your Majesty, Queen of Heaven, King Nanchang is in a hurry." ”

Empress Wu's expression suddenly became serious, and she took the chapter and looked at it.

Li Zhi walked in front of the two boxes and nodded, and Wang Fulai immediately opened the boxes himself.

A cyan jade Buddha and a gold-handled sword.

"The long sword was carried by the elite of Qinling who pretended to be the light army to ambush the city to discharge the flood, and after being ambushed by the king of Nanchang, he left this sword, and later it was identified that this sword was the sword assassinated by the first king of Tuyuhun, and it was later carried by the king of Tuyuhun to alert himself." Empress Wu's voice sounded beside Li Zhi.

"How could this thing appear in Fu Qi City, is someone provoking contradictions between Tang and Tu?" Li Zhi thought of a conspiracy in an instant.

Empress Wu nodded and said: "It should be, but the twenty-seventh Lang can't believe in the Murong family, so he sent these things to the court, and there is also this Buddha statue, which is a congratulatory gift from the Murong family to the lord of Fuchang County, but the time is too coincidental, and the king of Nanchang didn't dare to accept it, so he sent it back and offered it to His Majesty." ”

"He also knows that only I can stop these things." Li Zhi couldn't help but smile and said: "The sword will be left behind, the ominous thing will be pressed into the depths of the inner library, as for the Jade Buddha, send it back to the Nanchang Palace, I will not rob the juniors." ”

"Your Majesty is wise." Empress Wu smiled and complimented.

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "What is this, it's just that Twenty-Seven Lang is too timid, if it is replaced by ......"

"Your Majesty." A shout suddenly sounded in the distance, and then, Xue Yuanchao, the chief doctor, walked from a distance quickly, and finally stopped and bowed, and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, there is a royal history to participate in the king of Nanchang and the heart of a courtier." ”

Li Zhi was stunned, what is going on?

At this time, Empress Wu suddenly spoke: "Spread the decree and immediately summon the king of Nanchang to return to Beijing." ”

Behind the scenes, Li Xuan's recital was put into Li Zhi's hands by Empress Wu, and a few words were written at the end: The West Star has fallen.

(End of chapter)