Chapter 313: The Twenty-third Year of Zhenguan
Knowing current affairs is the foundation of a small country.

I think it's the same logic. If everyone were like Goguryeo, which was a small country but did not humble itself, had little strength but did not fear the strong, was rude and insulted its big neighbors, was greedy and stubborn and had bad relationships, the grass on their graves would be several feet high.

At least within five years, the great reputation of the Tang Dynasty in defeating the Xueyantuo and Western Turks with thunderous force will spread in the Western Regions.

There is even a joke circulating in the Western Regions today that whenever a child cries at night, their parents will threaten the child by saying "Li Shiji is coming." The effect is immediate and the child will stop crying immediately.

On New Year's Day, envoys from various countries in the Western Regions also arrived in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.

Pei Xingjian's convoy also entered the capital along with the envoys from various countries.

It is hard not to be shocked by the endless convoy of cargo transporting goods.

Since the defeat of the Xueyantuo, countless cattle and horses have been seized. They were also arranged by the Tang Dynasty to Youzhou and Dengzhou to be used as livestock for draught.

Although the cows on the grassland do not have many skills in plowing the land, they are still relatively stable in pulling carts.

After all, there have been relevant records dating back to the Han Dynasty.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Xianbei, Rouran, Tiele and other ethnic groups had already achieved quite advanced vehicle-building technology.

The Tiele people during the Northern Dynasties were famous for their car-making. The cars they made had "tall wheels and many spokes", which were well adapted to the grassland environment. For this reason, they were also called "Gaoche people" in history books.

The animals chosen to pull the cart are naturally cows or horses.

This mode of transportation, like boats on dry land, is also called "grassland boat".

What is "Dry Land Boating"...

Therefore, after this batch of livestock was transported to Youzhou and Dengzhou, it greatly alleviated the transportation pressure of the Tang Dynasty. In addition, the livestock obtained from the pacification of the Western Turks made the transportation industry of the Tang Dynasty reach a peak.

This time, Pei Xingjian brought back not only food from the south, but also many precious spices.

The envoys from the countries in the Western Regions felt the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty even more and became more loyal to it.

After learning that the Tang Dynasty had won a great victory in its attack on the Western Turks, the entire Chang'an was filled with jubilation.

The fact that the invincible Tang Dynasty once again conquered a rebellious country is worth celebrating in itself.

Besides, starting a war would not be a waste of money and effort for the Tang Dynasty. The court could make a lot of money, and even the people could benefit from it, so naturally the people had no objection.

The biggest reason is that the Tang Dynasty was able to win every battle.

Old Li appeared at Chengtian Gate on New Year's Eve and celebrated the New Year with the people of Chang'an.

After the New Year, the Tang Dynasty court began to implement the Western Region transformation plan.

First, the Tang Dynasty was a warm period, and the Western Regions were not as severely desertified as in later generations.

According to Li Xiang, the climate in the Western Regions is more suitable for growing crops such as red dates, grapes, cotton, and beets, so the Tang Dynasty prepared to focus on the development of these crops.

Farming is the soul of Han civilization, and it cannot be lost.

At the same time, animal husbandry in the Western Region should also be developed, and the two industries should be developed simultaneously.

In addition, under Li Xiang's suggestion, the Tang Dynasty also introduced favorable immigration policies to encourage people from the mainland to immigrate to the Western Regions and participate in production and construction in the Western Regions.

The Anxi Protectorate stationed in the Western Regions must not be left behind, and the policy of military farming must be encouraged to turn the Western Regions into Jiangnan on the Great Wall.

After the Western Turks were defeated, there were no more rivals around the Tang Dynasty.

Even the newly rising country of Tubo, after seeing the Tang Dynasty with its hands in its pockets and not knowing what an opponent was, did not have any inappropriate thoughts and served the Tang Dynasty even more respectfully.

After all, there is an old saying in the Tang Dynasty that he who knows the times is a hero.

The entire 21st and 22nd years of Zhenguan were spent in stability and development.

Chang'an became more prosperous every year. Under Li Xiang's reconstruction, even during the heavy rain in the autumn of the 21st year of Zhenguan, no alluvial disaster occurred.

The two academies have also been put on track. In the 21st semester of Zhenguan, not only children from Chang'an were enrolled, but also students from all over the country.

In particular, the two emerging cities of Dengzhou and Youzhou were keen to send their children to Chang'an to study.

After all, this is the capital of the Tang Dynasty, where the heart is. Even if you can't learn anything, it's good to come here to broaden your horizons.

Under the leadership of Li Xiang, the Tang Dynasty built wide highways between Chang'an and Luoyang, Luoyang to Youzhou, and Luoyang to Dengzhou.

With road connections, transportation is more convenient.

There are many branches connecting the main roads, which also increase the connection between different places and the degree of control of the Tang Dynasty over the local areas.

Two years passed in a flash, and it was already the 23rd year of Zhenguan.

Li Xiang's daughter has now learned to walk. When she has nothing to do, she runs around and likes to go to Lizheng Hall.

Li Shimin really loved this great-granddaughter to the core, and he finally found the long-lost feeling he had when he was taking care of Li Mingda.

When it comes to naming, Li Shimin surprisingly agreed with Li Xiang and named the child Li Wushuang.

There has been no addition to the Wude Hall in the past few years, and Li Wushuang is still the only child.

Li Xiang was not in a hurry. In fact, he was somewhat intentional.

Every day he would sit and joke with Pei Xueqing and Feng Yingying, and their days were very comfortable.

When he had nothing to do, Li Mingda would go to the Wude Hall to sit for a while, but more often he would go to the Lizheng Hall to take care of the children with Li Shimin.

Li Mingda seemed to regard Li Wushuang as some kind of support, and treated her more attentively than his parents Li Xiang and Pei Xueqing.

On the New Year's Day of the 23rd year of Zhenguan, the whole family gathered together and had a great time.

Li Yin was very idle in Japan, but the life of the retired emperor was really comfortable. Every day he was either hunting or on the way to hunting in Japan. In short, he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

The last time I heard from Li Yin, he had just received a batch of new ocean-going sailing ships, and he also asked Li Xiang for a nautical chart.

The letter also included the gold, silver and copper mines discovered by Japan. The copper mine had already been mined and was waiting for Li Xiang to send someone to take it over.

It seemed that Li Yin had no intention of keeping any of the copper. Instead, he hoped that someone would take the copper away quickly.

In this era, copper is the raw material for minting coins and its status is as important as silver in the Ming Dynasty.

Li Yin didn't want the copper mine, just like he didn't like money.

However, what Li Xiang did not expect was that Li Yin gave him another big job.

After the New Year's court meeting, Li Shimin was furious when he received the letter from Li Yin.

"This beast! He did such a rebellious thing when I couldn't keep him under control for a while! It really pissed me off!"

Li Xiang was also curious about what was going on. Could it be that his Sixth Uncle was up to something again?
He leaned over and asked, "What's wrong, Aung? What bad thing did Sixth Uncle do again?"

When I asked, I was still thinking, could it be that my sixth uncle had trampled on some people's fields while hunting again?
"Read it yourself!" Li Shimin snorted and threw the letter to Li Xiang in an unpleasant manner.

Li Xiang looked at Lao Li and wondered who this old man was with. Could it be that I instigated him?
Then he picked up the letter and was immediately speechless.

This letter was written by Li Yin himself, and the general meaning of it was that he went out to sea to find Yindian, as Li Xiang had mentioned, and to look for high-yield crops such as potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes for the Tang Dynasty.

In the words of Li Yin, a real man cannot eat from five tripods while alive, but will be cooked in five tripods after death.

What the fuck is Lord Father Yan...

Damn it, Uncle Six, just cheat me.

Li Xiang's eyes were moist.

"Come on, why do you have to talk to this bastard about Yindian?" Li Shimin sighed, "You know what kind of temper that beast has. If you give him a smile, he can climb up to the roof and tear down the tiles of my Lizheng Palace!"

"I didn't expect Uncle Six to be so anxious." Li Xiang also sighed, "The sea is so rough..."

"You also know that the sea is rough?" Li Shimin stared, "If anything happens to your sixth uncle, how will I explain it to Concubine Yang?"

Li Xiang opened his mouth and found that what Lao Li said was indeed correct.

Although the shipping industry in the Tang Dynasty is quite developed nowadays, it is hard to say whether it can withstand a trip to America.

After all, it has not been inspected, and no one knows whether the ship can withstand the test of strong winds and waves.

I hope Uncle Six doesn't dive headfirst into the West Wind Drift...

Fortunately, Uncle Six remembered to bring some oranges with him on his trip out to sea, which is good news.

As for tea...tea cannot prevent sepsis, and the vitamin C in it is not much different from having no vitamin C in it.

At this point, Li Xiang could only pray for Li Yin in his heart, hoping that he would return safely.

It would be even better if he could bring back some high-yield crops. In that case, Li Xiang would not mind pleading with Li Shimin to make Li Yin's position as King of Shu a hereditary one.

"It has come to this, let's eat first." Li Shimin said helplessly, "What else can we do? Can we send someone to call him back from the vast ocean?"

This is actually true. In ancient times when there was no electronic communication, let alone on the vast ocean, even in Chang'an City, if two people did not agree on a place in advance, they might not be able to meet each other in Chang'an City, let alone on the sea?
"By the way, don't tell Concubine Yang about this." Li Shimin once again reminded Li Xiang, "Just keep it to yourself, hey..."

"Don't worry, old man. I'll keep my mouth shut." Li Xiang nodded.

As they were talking, Li Zhi also came over.

"Aye, Xiang'er." Li Zhi asked with a smile, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, telling a secret." Li Xiang replied indifferently.

"What secret?" Li Zhi immediately became interested. "Can you tell me?"

"I can tell you, but can you keep it a secret?" Li Xiang asked back.

"Of course!" Li Zhi patted his chest.

Li Xiang laughed when he heard this: "Sorry, Uncle Yao, I can do it too."

Li Zhi:......

Li Shimin looked at Li Xiang with a helpless look. Just now he thought that his grandson was going to leak the secret, but he never expected that he was just teasing his uncle.

"Okay, stop teasing your uncle." Li Shimin patted the back of Li Xiang's head. "You are indeed very suitable for confidentiality work."

"Of course, I'll keep it a secret." Li Xiang said, patting his chest.

"Really?" Li Shimin glanced at Li Xiang with a half-smile, "Last time your aunt asked you to keep it a secret, how come you betrayed her in the blink of an eye?"

"Heh." Li Xiang put his hands on his hips, "Of course I can't let you find out for nothing. Forget about betraying my aunt!"

Li Shimin:...

"If you were born in a war era, you would definitely be a coward." Li Shimin snorted.

"How is that possible? I would rather die than surrender, Li Xiaoxiang!" Li Xiang put his hands on his hips.

"Go ahead and have some fun." Li Shimin waved his hand. "I still need to chat with my ministers. You should go find your ministers!"

"Okay." Li Xiang Xiaoxiang spread his hands, and without paying any attention to Old Li, he went to find Li Jingren and others.

After the New Year's court meeting, the Tang Dynasty's machine started running again.

When going to sea in the south this year, Li Xiang did not arrange Pei Xingjian to lead the team, but chose Cheng Chubi to lead the team to the south.

He asked the Crown Princess to arrange a marriage for Pei Xingjian. The girl was the daughter of Li Xiaogong, the Prince of Hejian, and her name was Li Qinglan.

It was not known whether Pei Xingjian was satisfied or not, but it seemed that his mother was very satisfied.

Come to think of it, if a man is not married at such an old age, how can a mother not be anxious?

What's more, it is still the Tang Dynasty, and it is a time when we must leave incense in our family.

Of course, this has nothing to do with "not having an heir is the greatest sin". "Not having an heir is the greatest sin" refers to the fact that Shun married without informing his wife, which meant he had no heir.

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, Pei Xingjian formally married Li Qinglan, the daughter of Hejian Prince Li Xiaogong.

As Pei Xingjian's good friend and subordinate, the unmarried Cheng Chubi served as the best man and took many beatings for Pei Xingjian.

Fortunately, he was smart and wore Ming Guang Armor under his clothes, so he did not break any bones.

But it was not easy for him, as his Ming Guang Armor was covered with many dents.

At Pei Xingjian's wedding banquet, Pei Xueqing melted in Li Xiang's arms, looking at her brother and sister-in-law with an aunt's smile on her face.

"What's wrong, sister?" Li Xiang asked quietly.

"Nothing." Pei Xueqing leaned her head on Li Xiang's shoulder, "I just feel that my brother has grown up."

Li Xiang: …

You really are my wife. If we are not from the same family, we won’t marry, right?

This actually shows Tiangang's proficiency, and it's clear at first glance that he's from the Li family.

After Pei Xingjian got married, Wei Daijia's wedding banquet was held.

With Li Xiang's introduction, and the fact that Wei Daijia was indeed a promising kid, he not only made contributions in Li Daozon's army, but also even sailed in the wind and rain on a fleet sailing to the south.

Now he is the Earl of Annan, so it is more than enough for him to marry Li Xueyi, the daughter of Li Daozon, Prince of Jiangxia.

In fact, the two were a couple in history, but Li Xiang naturally didn't know about this. Even if he knew, he could only sigh at the coincidence of fate.

As early as three years ago, Li Jingren, the second brother who was the leader, had already married Ashina Yun, so it was naturally not his turn to be the best man.

Naturally, this important task was given to the experienced Cheng Chubi.

Cheng Chubi had been beaten out a long time ago, but he walked all the way without changing his expression, his face was not red, he was not out of breath, and his heart was not beating fast. He was completely like a veteran.

(End of this chapter)