Chapter 279 I really can’t think of a title (seeking monthly votes)

Cherry cakes are delicious and are the little elephant’s favorite food before and after the time travel.

The reason I like it is not just because it is really delicious.

At noon, Pei Xueqing packed his luggage and took his three concubines with her, standing at the door to reluctantly see him off as he left the Wude Hall.

Li Xiang was also a little reluctant, but after all, Youzhou was more important.

Try to come back before your wife gives birth, you have to witness it after all.

This time when he went to Youzhou, he also brought a battalion of black armor soldiers with him. This was Li Shimin's idea, and they were responsible for protecting Li Xiang's safety on the road.

This army was led by Duan Zan himself, who was an old acquaintance of Li Xiang.

After all, the two not only knew each other, but Li Xiang had also saved his father Duan Zhixuan's life.

Li Shimin, his three sons, and Li Mingda stood in front of the palace gate to see Li Xiang off.

"Remember to write to me!" Li Shimin shouted.

"I understand, Uncle!" Li Xiang replied in the same way.

He had indeed kept this matter in mind. If he had not written to Lao Li, he would probably have received more than ten letters in one day.

The carriage was very bumpy, and Li Xiang felt like he was about to be shaken apart while sitting in it.

When we get to Youzhou, we must research a carriage that doesn’t bump around! Li Xiang thought viciously.

This time when he went to Youzhou, he also brought Xu Jingzong with him.

It was the decree issued by Li Shimin yesterday afternoon, which roughly meant to appoint Xu Jingzong as the Chief Clerk of Youzhou and accompany the Crown Prince to Youzhou.

You know what, Xu Jingzong was not worried at all. Instead, he was ecstatic.

Follow the Crown Prince to Youzhou? Isn't that the first to see the moon?

As long as I have a good relationship with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, why would I have to worry about having a smooth career in the future?

However, what he didn't expect was that Li Xiang had no intention of calling him for a meeting and had been leaving him alone on the road for many days.

This time, Li Xiang planned to go to Dengzhou first and talk to Feng Qing about the next plans.

While on the road, Li Xiang did not forget to write a few letters to Li Shimin, and also wrote about the local customs and experiences, and had someone deliver them back to Chang'an to Li Shimin.

After walking for more than ten days, Li Xiang finally reached the outskirts of Dengzhou.

At the same time, Li Xiang finally summoned Xu Jingzong.

Xu Jingzong looked somewhat haggard, from being full of confidence at the beginning, to doubting his life in the middle, and then to being disillusioned not long ago.

But after hearing that Li Xiang had finally summoned him, Xu Jingzong jumped out of the carriage and ran to Li Xiang's carriage.

"Your Highness, I, Xu Jingzong, request to see you." Xu Jingzong said respectfully, without any reserve at all.

Li Xiang also felt that this man had been tortured enough, so he said, "Come in."

After Xu Jingzong got on the car, Li Xiang looked up and saw his slightly haggard face.

"I didn't expect that the Yan tribe would be in such trouble on the way." Li Xiang joked with a smile.

Yanzu is the courtesy name of Xu Jingzong.

When Li Xiang was reading it, he had a sense of déjà vu. After savoring it carefully, I was like, wow, Lao Xu, aren’t you Yanzu?

"I'm ashamed, ashamed..." Xu Jingzong said with a smile.

"Allowing you to stay by my side is a grace I asked the saint for." Li Xiang lowered his eyes and looked at Xu Jingzong.

After hearing Li Xiang's words, Xu Jingzong suddenly realized.

He said that why the emperor suddenly asked him to go to Youzhou to be the governor and asked him to go with the crown prince, it turned out that it was the crown prince's idea.

This matter...he really didn't know, after all, Li Shimin didn't tell him.

"So that's how it is. Thank you, Your Highness, for your promotion!" Xu Jingzong looked as if he had realized something.

He was not being disloyal. After all, although he was the Huangmen Shilang of the fourth rank, the word "Jianxiu" was in front of his title.

The so-called "Jianxiu" in the early Tang Dynasty was not formally appointed, but the official had the right to exercise this position, which was equivalent to an "acting" official position.

In the middle and late stages, it became a nominal position. For example, Li Yuanfang's position as the Inspector General of the Thousand Oxen Guards was a nominal position.

As Youzhou was a superior province, the chief secretary was of the fifth rank, but the problem was that it was a real position, and if he followed Li Xiang, he would definitely gain some credit.

So when Xu Jingzong said the word "promote", he was not trying to flatter.

"This trip to Youzhou has a heavy mission." Li Xiang stretched out his hand to adjust his sleeves, and said at the same time: "Before going to Youzhou, I decided to go to Dengzhou first. During this time in Dengzhou, the Yan clan still needs to follow Feng Changshi, who is in the Dengzhou Grand Military Governor's Office, to learn a little."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Xu Jingzong said excitedly.

He had also heard of Feng Qing's name. He was not only the third-rank chief secretary of the Grand Marshal's Office, but also a close minister to Li Xiang.

More importantly, Feng Qing’s daughter was Li Xiang’s concubine.

Because of this relationship, Xu Jingzong did not dare to look down on Feng Qing.

"There is a sentence that I would like to give you. I hope you can understand it with your heart." Li Xiang said meaningfully.

"Your Highness, please tell me. I will take it as a guiding principle and study it every day!" Xu Jingzong replied respectfully.

Li Xiang reached out and tapped the table, then said, "We must learn economic work from all those who are experts. No matter who they are, we must worship them as our teachers, learn respectfully, and learn honestly. If we don't understand, we don't understand. Never pretend to understand when you don't."

Hearing Li Xiang's words, Xu Jingzong said sternly: "I understand."

"Well, I believe in the ability of the Yan clan." Li Xiang smiled gently.

"Your Highness, we have entered the territory of Dengzhou." Someone suddenly shouted from outside.

"Let's go out and take a look." Li Xiang said to Xu Jingzong with a smile, "Take a look at what Feng Changshi has been doing in Dengzhou during this period. Watch carefully and feel it well."

As he spoke, Li Xiang opened the curtain and walked to the car.

The Black Armor Army at the side led a horse over, Li Xiang jumped on the horse, sat on it and began to look around.

Since entering Dengzhou, the road condition has been much better than before. Li Xiang looked down and saw that the gravel road was very flat, with a few harmless potholes occasionally.

The road was very wide, and there was an endless stream of merchants coming and going, some pulling horse-drawn carriages, some pulling ox-drawn carts, heading towards Dengzhou or heading out from Dengzhou.

"It is said that Dengzhou is rich. Seeing it today, it is indeed as it is said." Xu Jingzong sighed. "Oh? Why do you think so?" Li Jingren asked with a smile while riding on his horse.

Li Jingren didn't know much about Xu Jingzong. He only knew that he was saved face by his elder brother Li the day before yesterday, and his brother spoke up to help him out.

"The number of merchants here is no less than that of Luoyang, and even slightly exceeds that of Chang'an." Xu Jingzong replied, "If Dengzhou was poor, how could there be so many merchants patronizing it? You must know that merchants are profit-driven. If Dengzhou was poor and weak, they would not necessarily come to Dengzhou even if a knife was placed on their necks."

"What Xu Changshi said makes sense." Wei Daijia also said with a smile.

Xu Jingzong knew that these people were Li Xiang's brothers, so he smiled and said, "It's too formal, just call me Old Xu."

Lao Xu has always been very agile and he doesn't care about his age. After all, being well-known is more important than saving face.

Seeing him like this, the young men were not too shy. After all, this was the person Li Xiang had specifically requested to come.

"Then we will be offended in the future, Lao Xu." Yuchi Xunyu asked with a smile.

"Hey, what's the point of offending or not, I'm just doing things for His Highness." Xu Jingzong waved his hand indifferently: "I'm just a few years older than you think."

Li Jingren looked back at Li Xiang, and seeing Li Xiang nodding with a smile, he also accepted Xu Jingzong's statement.

Soon, the group arrived at the foot of Penglai City.

As the capital of Dengzhou, Penglai City is extremely prosperous.

The tall city wall looks even more majestic than the one in Luoyang.

You know, Luoyang City was the new capital designated by Guangshen, and it was built with the conscription of millions of workers.

Of course, although Penglai City is more magnificent than Luoyang, it does not waste much manpower.

Of course Feng Qing also had reasons to say, what kind of team is that you lead? What kind of people do I use? They are all prisoners of war from Goguryeo, Baekje and Japan.

Even though there was a shortage of manpower, they found some laborers from the surrounding areas and did not treat them harshly. In fact, each of them could earn more than ten dollars a day. The work was not very tiring and the food was oily and filling.

In building the entire Dengzhou, Feng Qing almost attracted all the people from the surrounding states.

If they didn't have to take care of the fields at home, perhaps those farmers who own land would come to Dengzhou to work.

Some time ago, there was a flood in the Huaihe River, and more than 100,000 refugees rushed to Dengzhou.

If this happened in Chang'an, Luoyang, or other provincial capitals, it would definitely be a headache.

But for Dengzhou, Feng Qing not only did not have a headache, but instead slapped his thigh.

You came at the right time!

I'm not afraid of you coming, I'm just afraid that no one will come...

Dengzhou is like a population black hole, ruthlessly devouring anyone who comes to Dengzhou.

It wasn't that Dengzhou detained them by force, but after seeing the prosperity and opportunities in Dengzhou, they were unwilling to leave.

Although leaving your hometown is not a good thing, being able to beg for food is always better than starving to death at home.

What's more, the money earned in Dengzhou can be used to supplement the family expenses when I return home.

The last time he came to Dengzhou was before he was canonized as the Crown Prince and when he had just returned from the Liaodong battlefield.

Dengzhou today is more prosperous than it was half a year ago. Shops are lined up on the streets and pedestrians are bustling about. It really proves the saying "all the people in the world are seeking profit, and all the people in the world are seeking profit".

"In my opinion, Dengzhou is even more prosperous than Chang'an." Wei Daijia said from behind.

"Who said it wasn't? With so many people coming, people who didn't know would think Dengzhou was also hosting a Tang Dynasty National Games." Changsun Quan also said.

This sentence reminded Li Xiang that if he held a sports meeting next time, maybe he could come to Dengzhou?
Anyway, Feng Qing also built a temporary palace in Dengzhou. If his Li family comes to Dengzhou, they will have a ready-made place to stay without the risk of sleeping on the street.

There are no small vendors on the streets of Dengzhou. Feng Qing simply divided out a large commercial area, covering almost half of the city, and the rest is a normal residential area.

Separating commercial areas from residential areas was not Feng Qing's original idea.

The direction the group headed into the city was towards the gate of the commercial district, so it seemed a little crowded.

The Grand Marshal's Office is located at the junction of the residential area and the commercial area, which was decided by Feng Qing in order to be able to deal with various problems in a timely manner.

When Li Xiang and his party arrived at the Grand Marshal's Mansion, Feng Qing was not there. It seemed that he was busy with something at the dock.

It is now June, a good time to go out to sea - it seems that for the people of Dengzhou, the whole year is a good time to go out to sea. After all, the sea is rich in resources and there is everything. Even if they are ruthless in fishing, they will not be able to catch all the fish in a short time.

Even though people in later generations overfished the North Atlantic cod to ensure its sustainability, the cod did not become extinct, and it even led to such a bizarre incident as Iceland bullying Britain.

So, bring Ying...

You should sit at the children's table.

After a while, Feng Qing, exhausted, rushed back from the dock.

Even with so many complicated affairs, Feng Qing's clothes were still spotless and looked like new.

"Your servant Feng Qing pays his respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Feng Qing saluted respectfully with his arms crossed.

Although he was polite, Feng Qing was still feeling grateful for his good luck.

My family members, who would understand? It means that just because I was teaching in the city, I could meet the Crown Prince of Hengshan who came on a secret visit and promoted me.

So people, they don’t know anything.

"No need to be so polite, Mr. Feng." Li Xiang nodded, and when Feng Qing stood up, he smiled and said, "It has been half a year since we last met. I miss you very much, Mr. Feng."

"I miss your Highness the Crown Prince, too." Feng Qing quickly said, crossing his arms.

"Hahaha...you don't just miss me, do you?" Li Xiang smiled and asked someone to bring Feng Yingying's letter home. "This is the letter from Sister Baoer to you. I brought it to you. Don't worry, Sister Baoer is taking care of you in the palace. Sister Baoer is doing well."

When saying this, Li Xiang was still thinking in his heart that Sister Baoer was not only taken care of by Pei Xueqing, but even Li Mingda especially liked to play with her.

"I would like to thank Madam Pei for her care." Feng Qing said again: "Bao'er has a simple and honest personality. If she is not looked after by Madam Pei in the deep palace, she might cause trouble."

The title "Madam" was used to address women in the Tang Dynasty. For example, Feng Yingying could be called "Madam Feng" or "Mrs. Feng" by others.

The word "niang" here does not mean mother, but a young girl.

This is an ancient naming custom. For example, Gongsun Da Niang does not mean that she is just an aunt, but that she is the eldest lady of the Gongsun family.

"Haha." Li Xiang just laughed and accepted the thanks on behalf of Pei Xueqing. "What Feng Changshi said is wrong. Sister Baoer is as pure as ever. Not only my elder sister, but even Aunt Jinyang likes her very much and often invites her to the Sanqing Temple in Daji Hall to practice together."

"That's good, that's good..." Feng Qing seemed relieved. He really didn't expect that with his daughter's personality, so many people would like her.

(End of this chapter)