Li Jing set off from the peninsula in early August and could return to Chang'an around the end of August.
If he hadn't been delayed on the way, it wouldn't have taken that long, but the reception and delivery were unavoidable. Wherever the governor passed by, local officials would certainly entertain him warmly.
The governor may not always remember who has done well, and whoever dares to neglect will definitely be left with nothing to eat.
Li Po had nothing to say, so he immediately ordered Wang Zhibian and Xu Shiji to make another trip to greet Li Jing.
There is no need to be busy with other things. Since the beginning of the seventh year of Yuanzhen, preparations have been underway to welcome the East China Sea army. Li Jing's return to the court is only one part of it.
Up to now, I am actually waiting for Li Jing to come back.
The main issue was the issue of welcoming Li Jing to the countryside when he returned to the capital. The court and the central government had discussed it many times. In the end, the ministers all believed that even if Li Jing was a great master, he was the head of the country and the emperor's teacher, he could not go too far.
Li Po originally wanted to greet him personally, but Li Jing is not Lan Yu, Nian Gengyao and his like, what happened to Ying Yi Ying?
However, most of the ministers were still unwilling to give Li Jing such treatment. There were many excuses, and it is not necessary to list them all in detail. The most true advice among them was that Li Jing's achievements were enough to be marked in the history of Qing Dynasty. Why should he be given more honors? Otherwise, it would be better for you.
All of you, my ministers, are of no use.
The meaning is expressed clearly enough, it is still the old saying, the superior merits overshadow the master, which is the taboo of the emperor and his ministers.
A series of wars in the East China Sea were all presided over by Li Jing, and his contribution was already great enough. There was no need to deliberately show off his glory. It would be better to do something more affordable.
That is to say, Li Jing is the eldest. If he is about the same age as Li Po, or a little younger, it will be very troublesome. A wise king will be sure of it in advance and generally will not let his ministers reach this point.
Of course, the most important point is that Li Po had no intention of harming his father-in-law. Like Nian Gengyao later, he actually walked into a trap set by the emperor.
…………
In August, various counties in the north and south of the Tang Dynasty entered the autumn harvest season. Generally speaking, in the north, the autumn harvest will come to an end in early September.
In the south, due to the climate, it will last until October.
This year, both water and land are being used. The canals are busy with canals, and the gallops are full of carriages and horses transporting grain. These are the blood vessels of the Tang Dynasty, delivering nutrients to various warehouses for storage, quickly filling the national treasury.
The common people were like hard-working ants, transporting food home and then preparing for the winter.
Compared with ordinary people, government officials are busier. From August to November, they must sort out this year's income and expenditure and report it to the court.
The various inspectors also sent people to supervise to prevent anyone from making false reports.
The entire imperial court is also waiting for the great court meeting at the end of this year. At that time, the imperial court will announce this year's annual revenue and expenditure in court. If there is an imbalance between revenue and expenditure, or the expenditure is too large, and the national treasury is in deficit, everyone will
Don't even think about it in the new year.
In fact, the main reason was that there were too many expenditures in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and there was not much surplus every year. Especially in the sixth year of Yuanzhen, we had to support the war in the East China Sea, attack Tubo, build various infrastructures, and at the same time,
Build palaces and imperial mausoleums.
If it hadn't been for good harvests in both Shuzhong and Jiangnan last year, I'm afraid everyone would have to tighten their belts to pay off their debts in the next few years.
That is to say, good news from all over the place has covered up these bad news, otherwise this year will definitely not be so easy.
The collapse of salt prices this year also made the courtiers panic. Fortunately, in September and October, due to the court's timely and appropriate handling, the salt price returned to normal levels, which was really a relief.
For this reason, Li Po specially called Su Dan to the palace to give him a banquet, which flattered Su Yuanzai, who was always scolded, and assured the emperor that even if this year's annual income could not offset the deficit of previous years, it would not drag down next year's income.
Things to do.
As the Minister of Revenue, being able to make such a guarantee shows that he is confident about this year's finances.
Li Po was in a good mood and asked about road construction next year. Naturally, the first person he asked about this was not Su Dan, but Yun Dingxing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Needless to say, Yun Dingxing will never refute anything the emperor wants to do. He will agree whether it is difficult or not. Whether it is done or not is another matter.
It's just that although he is not as good as He Chou, he is also a person who has done many big projects and is very familiar with road construction.
From Liangzhou to Zhangye, from Jingzhao Wannian County to Shuofang's Yanlv City, he could give a rough estimate of how much manpower and material resources these two roads would require.
He was not sure about the time. He thought it depended on the emperor's own wishes. If the people could be mobilized on a large scale like the former Sui Dynasty, regardless of casualties, it would only take a few months.
If, like now, we can only use prisoners, it will take a year if we can do it quickly, and half of the prisoners will probably die. This is still under the condition of sufficient material resources. If we keep letting the prisoners spread the corpses, it will be faster.
As for the engineering and technical difficulties, there is just some Gobi Desert in the middle. He thinks this is not a difficult problem. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, many such roads have been built, but it will only consume more manpower and material resources.
Li Po saw that he was taking care of everything and speaking so eloquently, but he felt that it was a bit unreliable. If it were anyone else, he would probably give some advice no matter what.
It's just that Li Po already knew the nature of Yun Dingxing. He was such a person, and he was destined to be a bitch wherever he went.
So Li Po then summoned Taichang Temple Qing Yuwen, a scholar, and craftsman supervisor Dou Shilun to the palace for questioning. After hearing this, both of them felt a little scared. This is a normal reaction.
Both roads are not very far, but it is really troublesome to build them. Even if there are no problems in engineering technology, the manpower and material resources consumed will be a large number.
They are not as careless as Yun Dingxing. They are only responsible to the emperor. They want reputation.
If the emperor summons them to discuss the matter, then they will be responsible for it. Once they speak big words and the prime ministers and other important officials find out about it, they will definitely be impeached.
So the two of them began to tell the emperor about the difficulties, fearing that the emperor would send them to supervise the work.
Li Po didn't care. The same rice feeds all kinds of people. Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune is the normal operation of courtiers. Just like when he was crossing the Liao River, Yu Wenkai shortened the pontoon bridge and killed Mai Tiezhang on the spot.
.
Is that Yu Wenkai's problem? He was ordered on the spot and had to do something. He made a mistake in haste. That was Yang Guang's problem. A master engineer was convicted of this and finally died of illness outside the Great Wall. It was really unfair.
Even though Dou Shilun and Dou Shilun acted a little slippery, what they said was very insightful. They corroborated what Yun Dingxing said, and Li Po was more or less confident.