night.

The city gates have been closed for a long time, but the walls have been gradually demolished in the city, and now there is no longer a night ban.

Pingkangfang and several other places even have lively night markets that last all night long.

Li Shimin put on his casual clothes and took a carriage out of the palace.

The eunuch Zhang Anan is dressed in the attire of an aristocratic steward, which is very ordinary. However, the prince's concubine Ma Zhou, who is responsible for the affairs of the censor and admonishes the officials, is no longer wearing a purple robe and jade belt today.

Scholars from poor families who serve as curtain clerks are very similar.

The emperor also wears white robes,

But his demeanor is still extraordinary, and he is lucky to be sitting in the car.

"Chang'an is getting more and more lively,"

Li Shimin opened a corner of the curtain and looked at Chang'an City at night. Unlike Chang'an City in the past few years, which was quiet and lonely after dark, today's Chang'an night is full of lights and people everywhere, which adds a lot of human fireworks.

"This wall is demolished correctly,"

The emperor said to Ma Zhou, "When Wu Huaiyu wanted to demolish the walls and build shops along the street, how many people opposed it, but now, in just two years, the changes have been so drastic."

Ma Zhou smiled.

Demolishing the walls and setting up street shops not only brought convenience to the people, but also made Chang'an lively. It even gave many ordinary people more opportunities to make money and make a living.

Even after the curfew ceased, Chang'an also became lively.

"Many of Wu Huaiyu's ideas are very advanced," the emperor expressed his praise in front of Ma Zhou.

Their trip was to the Wu family,

During the day, the ministers argued endlessly, and Li Shimin had a headache. Among the five opinions, Wen Yanbo and Wei Zheng were the most extreme. One was to be fully inclusive, and they also talked about the relationship between the Han and the Southern Xiongnu. The Southern Xiongnu had attached themselves to the Han for more than a hundred years and had always been the Han Dynasty.

Protect the northern frontier.

Wei Zheng, on the other hand, did not trust the Turks at all and drove them as far away as possible, but he used the painful lesson of the Five Husbands to Disrupt China.

To be honest, Li Shimin felt that what both of them said was reasonable, but military and state affairs were not just about reasoning, they also had to be implemented and based on reality.

Although Jieli has been captured, Tuli, Yusheshe, Shabolushe, Zhiwiseli, etc. have all surrendered, except for Jieli's headquarters and Yugushe who have been defeated, the rest of the tribes are still roughly intact.

It's just that the Turks have suffered many disasters in recent years, were repeatedly defeated in the war with Xue Yantuo, and were suppressed by the Tang Dynasty, so all tribes are relatively weak.

But if they can unite, they will still be a powerful force.

What's more, there is Xue Yantuo in Mobei,

Li Shimin must consider everything comprehensively, otherwise if he blindly regards the Turks as his enemies and pursues them fiercely, then those Turkic tribes may rise up to resist.

This great victory in the Northern Expedition, which took three years of hard work, was in itself a matter of taking advantage of the situation, using surprise attacks and beheading tactics.

It is not that it has been completely able to crush the Turks.

Using Wei Zheng's idea of ​​driving the Turks directly to Mobei would definitely not work. Either the Turks refused to leave and rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, or they went to Mobei and were annexed by Xue Yantuo, strengthening the Yinan power in vain and rebelling against the Tang Dynasty.

became a threat to the Tang Dynasty.

Wen Daya's acceptance of the proposal was helpful to appease the Turkic tribes, especially those small khans and Shes who still commanded tens of thousands of tents, including Tuo She who fled to the Western Regions and Yu Gu She's appeasement.

Moving inland or directly stationing at the frontier, based on the current actual situation, is indeed more sudden and more advantageous at the moment, but in the long run, it does have hidden dangers.

Li Jing didn't say a word in the palace, and Li Shimin was a little disappointed.

But I had expected this result.

The upset emperor had two fresh dishes for dinner.

One is braised bamboo shoots in oil and the other is pickled fresh. These are bamboo shoots sent by the Wu family. They are made using the Wu family’s recipes. The fresh bamboo shoots are paired with ham from Longyou Yanjing Village and fresh pork. They are stewed slowly in a clay pot over medium heat.

Yu Chu's skills are very good, and the Wu family's food comes with recipes. Yu Chu's perfect reproduction, the taste is salty and fresh, the soup is thick and white, the meat is crispy and fat, and the bamboo shoots are fragrant, crisp and tender, and have a strong umami flavor.

Another dish of braised bamboo shoots is also very good.

While eating this dish, Li Shimin finally thought of Wu Huaiyu.

He wanted to hear what Wu Huaiyu had to propose.

Near the Duke's Mansion of Jin State,

Fang Xuanling, who had been notified, had already arrived in advance. He was dressed in a green shirt, with soft-legged futou and a mountain beard. He looked like an old official who had left the country.

The emperor got off the car and several people walked to Wu's house.

The guards dispersed quietly, protecting him secretly.

"His Majesty."

Li Shimin took Fang Xuanling's hand and actually wiped his tears, "When I saw you just now, I seemed to see Ru Hui again in a trance. Hey, if Ru Hui was still here, I wouldn't have such a headache."

Several people could not help but remain silent.

Du Ruhui had always been the emperor's confidant during his lifetime. Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Fang Mou and Du Duan were his right-hand men. They cooperated with each other tacitly and became an invincible partner.

Walking to the Duke of Jin's Mansion, Li Shimin pointed to the Wutou Gate and said, "I originally admired this boy and wanted him to succeed Ruhui, but this boy disappointed me so much."

Having said that, today the emperor still paid a private visit to the Wu family incognito.

Fang Xuanling stood at the door and felt very emotional. Wu Huaiyu made great achievements this time, but made even bigger mistakes, but the punishment he received was neither painful nor itchy.

Many ministers, such as Liu Zhenghui, Liu Shili, Changsun Shunde, Liu Hongji, Yuchigong, Chai Shao, etc., all directly reduced their positions and seized titles at that time.

Some were even sent to jail directly.

Wu Huaiyu was only relieved of his official position, honors, ranks, titles, and fiefs.

How many days have you been reflecting at home?

The emperor actually visited at night in person.

Wu Huaiyu was in Chen Runniang's courtyard, lying under the ginkgo tree in the courtyard and listening to her talking about the accounts she was managing.

Chen Runniang was Wu Huaiyuna's first concubine. Although she is still a concubine to this day, her status in the mansion is not ordinary. Now that she has given birth to two children, she still helps Fan Xuanfu manage the accounts.

In fact, although Fan Xuanfu likes to buy land, he has no patience for trivial matters such as managing accounts, so he leaves it to Runniang and Wuniang.

"Alang, I heard a rumor recently. It was said that Mr. Wen proposed to the sage to move all the Turks to the interior, teach farming and etiquette, organize the people into households, and change customs. He even said that the court would pay for the move of Alang in the north of Saibei.

Is it true that all the more than 200,000 Turkic captives who were given as slaves to the soldiers when they conquered the Turks were bought back and placed in Hebei and other places?"

"Alang also divided a lot of Turkic slaves last time, and later the eldest lady asked him to buy many more. If the court wants to redeem them, I'm afraid they won't really pay them, or they will only give them a very small amount. So what can we do?

It would be a big loss.”

Wu Huaiyu was lying there, and a maid was gently massaging him. One was tapping his shoulders and arms, and the other was kneading his legs and feet. The two maids were petite and very gentle, but they came from Haidong Silla.

These Silla maids were in their twenties and eighties and had good looks. They could even speak Tang dialect well. Therefore, they were extremely expensive. One of them cost 70,000 to 80,000 yuan, which was worth as much as several Turkic and Tibetan maids.

"Thanks to Xianggong Wen's idea, the imperial court provided money to redeem them. Two to three hundred thousand Turkic prisoners were rewarded to the soldiers as slaves. Many of them were resold and are now scattered all over the country. How can they be redeemed?

Besides, how much does it cost to redeem a Turkic Din slave? A Turkic Din slave must cost 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. Just do some calculations, and these 200,000 to 300,000 Turkic people must be worth several million yuan. Where did the imperial court get so much money?

?

Why pay all this money?

How could the soldiers be willing to hand over their slaves to the imperial court if they were not given money or were given less money?

Isn't this just looking for trouble? The rewards for the soldiers of the Northern Expedition have not yet been fulfilled, but they have such a leisurely mind."

Wu Huaiyu was very disdainful of Wen Yanbo's proposal. It was true that the southern Xiongnu attached themselves to the Han and the borderland had been stable for more than a hundred years, but some things cannot be wishful thinking.

"You don't have to worry about that. Mr. Wen can't do it, and the court can't do it either. There are Turkic slaves who can continue to buy them. Our family is in need of manpower to open up the frontier. Shuofang grows corn, Youyan grows potatoes, and Lingnan grows sugar cane.

Cotton is grown in Longyou, wheat is grown in Guannei and Henan, and rice is grown in Jianghuai.

The Wu family's Zhuangzi has a lot of land, but the labor gap has always been huge.

The mainland of the Central Plains is fine, as it can hire local people from the surrounding area, and even temporarily hire some part-time workers during busy farming periods. However, in the border areas, where the area is sparsely populated, it is very difficult to rent out crops or hire workers.

Difficult, the main thing is to rely on slaveholding as the mainstay.

The border areas must adopt the production model of large estates, slaves and large livestock, otherwise they will not be able to do it.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China after the Great Chaos, the most lacking thing was population, unlike at the peak of prosperity when there was an overabundance of labor force everywhere.

Just as he was saying,

The hunchback Hou Cheng led Ma Zhou in, "Alang, Ma Lang's son-in-law is here."

Wu Huaiyu came forward in surprise, "Why is brother-in-law here now?

It was already evening, although it was still too late, but it was still strange to come here in the middle of the night. Moreover, Wu Huaiyu had just made a big mistake and was ordered to shut up and reflect on his mistakes. The Wu family also refused all visitors.

Although Ma Zhou is a brother-in-law, they both serve as ministers in the same palace. It is not easy to come to the door at this time, let alone come in the dark in the middle of the night?

Huaiyu saw that Ma Yiyi was wearing a white shirt and it became even more strange. This was obviously a deliberate disguise.

"What happened?"

"The saint came to visit in disguise. Erlang hurriedly followed me to greet him."

In the front hall, Wu Huaiyu saw Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and Zhang Anan, who was as inconspicuous as an old servant.
To be continued...