Fu Tang

Li Congjia had a bad premonition in his heart at that time, and he suddenly asked, "Have they caught Long Shisan?"

Shi Xueting shook his head, Li Congjia asked, "Why?"

Shi Xueting said: "They mixed with the Tubo envoys, in order not to alarm the Tubo envoys, they did not rush out."

Li Congjia had such an expression on his face. Just now when Shi Xueting said that the Yangtong tribe had found a more powerful ally, he had a bad feeling in his heart. Now it seems that the ally of Yangtong is the Kara Khanate.

Why did the Kara Khanate subsidize the Yangtong tribe... Li Congjia thinks that it is not because they want to unite Tubo to fight the Tang Dynasty. Of course, they may have this idea, but it is more likely that they are temporarily targeting Tubo.

After all, Tubo has a large area. Although the climate is not so good and the supplies are not very abundant, who would dislike their own large territory?

Perhaps the Kara Khanate, like Li Congjia, hopes that Tubo will be chaotic, but after the chaos, what to do is another matter.

Li Congjia never thought of being a backer for any tribe at the beginning, and the Kara Khanate intervened...he was a little passive instead.

"Yangtong, the Kara Khanate didn't choose Qiangtang, which is closer." Li Congjia said, rubbing his chin.

Shi Xueting replied: "It's just a long-distance relationship and a short-term attack. Qiangtang and the Kara Khanate can be regarded as the border, and it seems that getting along with each other is not very happy."

Li Congjia patted the case and said: "This is even better. I need a tribe that has a feud with the Kara Khanate. Musa wants to achieve his goal by controlling the sheep. How can I let him succeed?"

Although Tubo is not yet part of the Tang Dynasty, but Li Congjia took aim at this place, which means that he has regarded it as his own territory. Anyway, he will take it over sooner or later. Taking Khitan and Tubo back, basically the map is complete, so Li Congjia cannot tolerate the Kara Khanate's involvement in Tubo.

"Do you really want to contact Qiangtang?" Shi Xueting asked, "In what name? People in Qiangtang may also suspect it."

Li Congjia raised his eyebrows: "Doubt? So what if you doubt? The Kara Khanate united with the Yangtong, and now Qiangtang is in a state of being attacked from both sides. Does he have a choice?"

Shi Xueting shook his head: "I think other tribes may also pay attention to this point, such as the Lhasa royal family, they are very close to Qiangtang, and they are also adjacent. If Qiangtang is occupied by the Kara Khanate, then the next It's him, it's impossible for him not to have a sense of crisis."

Li Congjia asked suddenly: "You said... If the Tibetans know that the Kara Khanate has ill intentions for them, do you think they will unite to fight against the Kara Khanate first?"

Shi Xueting smiled lightly: "Thinking well."

Li Congjia also smiled: "It is indeed a good idea. Although I really hope so, but... it will be difficult. Forget it. Anyway, sooner or later there will be a conflict with the Kara Khanate. It depends on the situation."

Shi Xueting suddenly said: "The dynasty where Islam is the state religion is not just the Kara Khanate."

Li Congjia was stunned for a moment and understood what Shi Xueting meant: "You mean... to cause conflict between them?"

Although these congregations are very united, this unity itself depends on whether they belong to the same state religion. If they are not from the same country, even if they all have the same belief, they can still hate each other.

Shi Xueting said: "Although we have won wars all these years, it is certainly not as beneficial as the national economic development. Military expenditures have already accounted for the largest portion of all projects, and the Ministry of Households is almost distressed. If you take the initiative to start a war with the Kara Khanate again, I’m afraid the cabinet will really try to persuade you.”

Li Congjia looked down at Datang's territory and nodded, "The land that has been conquered is not small, and it really needs to be stabilized."

Both Dali and Khotan are newcomers, as well as Bagan and the Zen Ministry next to Dali. When Yang Ye broke into the other party's border news, if this area is taken down, how to manage it is also a very worrying problem.

Li Congjia scratched his head and said, "What do you think if we still adopt the method of the autonomous region?"

Shi Xueting shook his head and said, "I don't like it."

"Huh?" Li Congjia looked up at him with some surprise: "Didn't you think it was pretty good before?"

When he came up with this idea, Shi Xueting praised him for a long time, which made Li Congjia feel a little guilty - this thing is not something he can come up with, is it?

Shi Xueting pointed to Yutu and said: "They are different from Khotan. Khotan was their king who voluntarily surrendered, so the people of Khotan may have resistance to Datang, but they will not hate Datang. The country was brought down by us with real knives and guns. There must be many family members of the common people who died at the hands of our soldiers. They are likely to hate Datang and hate Datang. Of course it depends on the degree. You can’t do that from the start.”

Li Congjia thought about it for a while. If the autonomous region was established from the beginning, it might be necessary to send troops to suppress it. Moreover, those local officials might be very resistant to Datang. It might be true that a group of people with objections are in such a far place. When will he stab Datang in the back.

"Then forget it." Li Congjia followed the good advice and felt that this idea was not very good.

After discussing with Li Congjia, Shi Xueting felt that something was wrong. He looked at Li Congjia in surprise and asked, "Didn't the Queen Kingdom and the Angkor Dynasty say they would not fight for the time being? Why are you focusing on this place again?"

Li Congjia blinked, only to realize that he had accidentally exposed something, and quickly said: "No, I'm just asking this way, Yang Ye has always been subject to military orders abroad, and we can't help if he fights over. , I can only support him, right?"

Shi Xueting raised his eyebrows and didn't say anything. He thought that Yang Ye might have received Li Congjia's instructions to take down the Queen's Kingdom and the Angkor Dynasty if he could.

The next day was the real small court meeting. Li Congjia told the news from the Ministry of Intelligence. Everyone was relieved after hearing that the Kara Khanate had meddled in Tubo!

Fan Zhi said, "That's fine, that's fine."

Wei Renpu even said directly: "Well, at least this way we can avoid a direct conflict with the Kara Khanate."

Li Congjia was a little helpless: "The national strength of the Kara Khanate is just like that. What are you all worried about?"

Hubu Shangshu was very aggrieved: "Your Majesty, although the Kara Khanate is indeed not very powerful, we are not much better. The treasury is empty and there is only a little grain in the granaries. If we continue to fight, if something happens Natural disasters and man-made disasters, the common people will not be able to survive.”

Li Congjia was shocked: "What do you mean? There is no money and no food? Isn't the harvest in the past two years very good? How could there be no food? The army needs a lot of food and grass to fight abroad, but it is not even the granary that has been emptied?"

While talking, he glanced at Hubu Shangshu suspiciously, and Hubu Shangshu thumped in his heart: It's broken, it's too much to pretend to be pitiful!

Wang Pu glanced at the Minister of the Household Department secretly, and explained: "It's not that small, but it's true that it's not very substantial. What's more, there is another Khotan now. Khotan is located in a remote place, the grain production is not abundant enough, and the national strength is also constant. Not so much, the reason why it can still be maintained is only because of the support of the Silk Road. We have been selling grain to Khotan before, but now Khotan is already in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Maybe we have to transfer grain from other places to go there For transportation, the mountains are high and the road is far away, and I don’t know how much can be transported there.”

Speaking of Wang Pu was really worried later, Li Congjia felt dizzy for a while, and had to say that when a country grows, there are indeed many things. After all, some places are rich in grain, and some places are barren. Materials, of course, are really out of balance in this era.

There is probably no such thing as poverty alleviation, as long as food and clothing can be maintained.

Li Congjia thought for a while and asked, "How do you say we buy grain from the Kara Khanate?"

"What?" Everyone said in unison, shocked by Li Congjia's thought.

Li Congjia had various novel ideas before, but none of them made everyone feel so incredible.

A country guarding a vast and fertile land, going to buy food from those countries with barren land?Isn't this neurosis?They can understand that Li Congjia probably wants to ease the mood of the Kara Khanate, but if you are like this... people will only think that you are paralyzing the other party, and then find time to trick them hard, okay?

Li Congjia coughed lightly after seeing everyone's eyes and said, "Oh, I made a mistake, that... I remember... that place..."

While speaking, Li Congjia searched for the Kara Khanate in his mind. The territory of that country includes Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, southern Kazakhstan and central and western Xinjiang. The special products of Xinjiang are probably melons and fruits. It is basically useless in this era, because there is no way to save it.

As for other things, most of these countries are resource-based countries. Li Congjia drools over oil, gas, coal, iron and other metal mines. How could such a good place be occupied by the Kara Khanate?

Well, it seems... There is a country with good cotton.

Li Congjia asked while thinking uncertainly: "The cotton over there is also good, you can buy it."

"Cotton flower?" Everyone was not very familiar with this species. They didn't know why Li Congjia mentioned this, and what they were talking about was not the same species as Li Congjia was talking about.

Li Congjia knew that cotton was not widely used at this time, so he couldn't help but secretly scolded himself two hundred and five. How could he forget cotton when he was only thinking about wool?

Li Congjia said casually: "It's nothing, let's leave this matter as it is. It's best that the Kara Khanate has no intention of attacking us, but we still need to pay more attention to the border defenses on Khotan."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay and finally agreed, and when this small court meeting was over, they all had a very strange feeling-it seemed that many problems that needed to be solved were raised today, but none of them were solved!

This is unscientific. Li Congjia can be regarded as a very hardworking emperor. If there is any problem, even if he has no solution for a while, he will discuss it carefully with the cabinet to find a solution. Why is the court today so anticlimactic?

After Li Congjia got off the court meeting, he went back to Shi Xueting and asked, "Xueting, where is cotton grown now? I mean in the Tang Dynasty."

Shi Xueting was stunned by his question. Although the information collected by the intelligence department was very complicated, it was not so complicated that it even collected information about crops in various places, let alone very rare crops.

Seeing Li Congjia's expectant look, he had no choice but to say, "This... I can send someone to investigate."

Li Congjia nodded and said, "If we find out, let people collect more cotton seeds and plant them in the manor."

Shi Xueting was a little strange: "What do you grow kapok for?"

Li Congjia was stunned for a moment: "Kapok? I don't want to grow kapok."

Shi Xueting was also a little dizzy: "Didn't you just ask where the cotton is grown?"

Li Congjia laughed and said, "These two are not the same thing."

Then he told Shi Xueting about the difference between the two things. In fact, the biggest difference is probably that kapok is not as warm as cotton and cannot be weaved.

Nowadays, most people still use kapok to fill their bedding, and cotton is not popular yet.

Li Congjia said: "Cotton has good thermal performance, and it can also weave cloth."

Shi Xueting was a little puzzled: "How do you know this?"

Before Li Congjia mentioned that wool and cashmere can be used for weaving, he was already very surprised. Now he still knows about cotton, but these things have not been recorded in Shi Xueting's extensive books. I taught in my dream.

Li Congjia stared nonsense: "I saw someone using it when I was in the Western Regions. I clearly remembered to do it at that time, but I forgot too many things later. When I just mentioned the Kara Khanate, I suddenly remembered that the country's Cotton is widely planted, in fact, the Central Plains is also suitable for planting this crop, and it can be grown."

Food and clothing are always connected, and if a solution to the food problem has been found, it is true that warm clothing must be developed, at least so that the common people will not suffer from the cold.

Shi Xueting thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out when he saw this thing. In the end, it could only be attributed to his not noticing such a small thing, otherwise there is no way to explain why Li Congjia knew it and he didn't.

Li Congjia silently wiped his sweat in his heart. In fact, he knows that with the development of the country, many things that he did not think of before may be remembered at a certain time, and then promoted, but these things that he remembered may be remembered by many people. I don't know, how he justifies himself by then is a problem.

Even if the courtiers didn't care why Li Congjia knew about it, how could Shi Xueting not care?

How long can he keep it a secret?

Sometimes Li Congjia has the urge to tell Shi Xueting clearly about his background, but he feels that the other party may not accept it, so after thinking about it, he puts these things in his heart and drags them around like an ostrich.

This time Shi Xueting was fooled by him again, Li Congjia wasn't sure if Shi Xueting had seen his lie, which made him feel restless.

Shi Xueting didn't think much about it, Li Congjia never hid anything from him, and he wouldn't think about it, but he still felt Li Congjia's uneasiness, which made Li Congjia very enthusiastic when making out, Shi Xue No matter how much Ting asked him, he would only agree after a moment of embarrassment. In this case, if Shi Xueting still can't find out, then he is probably a pig.

"What's the matter with you recently?" Shi Xueting took some time and decided to have a talk with Li Congjia.

Li Congjia was a little surprised: "What's wrong?"

Shi Xueting said: "You are very wrong, what happened? Did I do something wrong?"

Li Congjia was at a loss: "What are you talking about?"

Shi Xueting asked: "You didn't like things like golden hooks and jade axes before, why did you suddenly agree?"

Li Congjia blushed when he heard this. The so-called golden hook and jade shaft are actually just things used to bind siblings. He really doesn't like this thing, and Shi Xueting didn't force him, but he couldn't hold back his consent two days ago. Yes, it's... still very exciting.

"Isn't it to your advantage that I agreed? It's better not to have a next time." How does Li Congjia explain his guilty conscience?I can only mess around.

So Shi Xueting could only put this matter aside first, and instead asked: "Did the handover already begin these days?"

Li Congjia nodded and said, "Well, although I said before that half of it is a profit, I didn't expect these two tribes to actually take it all at once. It is said that the herds of antelopes and yaks are still very big. marvellous."

Shi Xueting frowned: "But... with so many antelopes and yaks... can they survive in the Central Plains? After all, the climate is different. What should we do if we can't survive?"

Li Congjia said: "Officials from the household department have already gone to Youzhou to draw up pastures for the survival of these cattle and sheep. It borders Tubo and the climate is not too different. They can always live for a period of time. However, how to deal with it is indeed a problem. .”

Antelopes and yaks are different from ordinary cattle and sheep. These two animals have no other value and can only be killed for meat. However, if so many of them come here at once, if they really pour into all parts of the Tang Dynasty, the price of mutton will probably be lowered. Press down.

Shi Xueting said: "There is no habit of eating beef in the Central Plains. This yak meat... is really difficult to deal with."

Li Congjia shook his head and said: "No, the main reason why people don't eat it is because they don't want to slaughter cattle. After all, there is still a shortage of cattle these days, and these are ordinary people. There are often real rich people or officials in their homes. Cattle that died unexpectedly, they eat a lot of beef."

Shi Xueting asked: "Do you have any ideas?"

Li Congjia said with a smile: "Yaks can only eat meat, but they are actually quite good. With these three thousand heads, they will be bred a little bit. In the future, yaks will be used exclusively for meat, and it will also make everyone's dinner table more colorful. I will tell you Say, beef jerky is delicious!"

Li Congjia wanted to drool while talking. After traveling for so long, he has never eaten beef jerky. There is no way, the emperor must set an example, how can he eat cow casually?So sometimes the emperor is not as comfortable as ordinary rich people.

Shi Xueting's focus was really wrong: "Beef jerky? What is that?"

Li Congjia: Damn it, I slipped my tongue again!

"Uh, it's a kind of snack that I've heard people say. The beef is marinated, cooked and air-dried, and finally the beef jerky tastes very good."

Shi Xueting nodded, and didn't take it seriously, just said: "The cotton you asked me to check before has been found, and it is indeed grown more in the borderlands, but it's just used to fill bedding. I have never heard of anyone weaving."

It is precisely because there is indeed cotton planting in the Western Regions that Shi Xueting is convinced that Li Congjia should have seen it there before he remembered it.

Li Congjia rubbed his hands and said, "I can weave cloth, but I don't know how to do it specifically, but I may have to trouble Mr. Gongshu again."

Shi Xueting said with a smile: "Mr. Gongshu is definitely not afraid of trouble. He was still complaining that wool spinning has reached a bottleneck, and basically there will be no better spinning machines."

Li Congjia smiled slightly and said: "Well, have the patents been registered? The Minister of the Household Department talked to me about wool and cashmere before, and I will let him go to you directly. How much should I charge at that time? All of them don’t know how to research and create, they only know to wait for others to come up with it before using it, and they still think that I will use it for nothing, they are beautiful!”

What happened to the emperor?Li Congjia never had the idea of ​​a home in the world. He clearly distinguished between his own and the country's. What was really unclear was that all the financial resources were controlled by the ministers in the end, and the emperor might be just a puppet in the end.

After hearing this, Shi Xueting immediately understood, and asked again: "Then Cotton does the same?"

Li Congjia nodded vigorously, the royal family is also short of money, especially Li Congjia spends money like water, and wants to get something good when he thinks of it.

While they were discussing, Chunsheng stood outside and said softly, "Your Majesty, please see me, Liu Yi, head of the college."

Li Congjia immediately let him in. Liu Yi didn't come by himself, he brought two wrestlers, and those two wrestlers were carrying a huge wooden pier.

After Liu Yi came in, he said: "Report to Your Majesty, everything is ready."

Shi Xueting followed Li Congjia to have a look, and was surprised to find that the annual rings on the tree stump formed a very clear pattern. The pattern showed water flow, a huge boat, a person and several small animals. .

Shi Xueting asked: "Did you make this picture?"

Li Congjia nodded: "It looks like a natural growth, right?"

Shi Xueting responded: "Indeed, if you don't tell me that I really think it's true, what are you doing?"

Li Congjia asked, "Do you know what this picture is?"

Shi Xueting shook his head, Li Congjia smiled slightly: "This is Nuha's Ark."