The imperial palace was slightly remodeled on the basis of a Taoist temple and the original Jiangdong Economic Envoy's Palace - the Chui Gong Hall, where Emperor Jianji usually received officials and handled official duties, was originally a Taoist temple wing hall, a palace with eight classics.
It is much lower and narrower, but there is a ginkgo tree in the courtyard that has been planted for three to four hundred years. At this time, when it is at its most luxuriant and leafy, it covers less than half an acre of the courtyard in front of the Chui Gong Hall, providing a shade.
"The big trees cover it, which is enough shade, but the palace is too dark. Lamps need to be lit during the day. My father is frugal in everything, so he only allows oil lamps and no candles. Xu Hou, look at me.
My eyes were all red from the oil lamp..."
Walking to the ancient tree in front of Chuigong Hall, Yingyun beat the tree with her pink fists and complained that the ginkgo tree was too dense.
Xu Huai just glanced at the deep bright eyes of Ying Yun like a quiet pool, and said with a smile: "Your Highness just wants to cut down this ancient tree - or does His Majesty refuse to allow it and wants Xu Huai to petition on your behalf?"
"That's not possible," Yingyun said quickly, "Although there are many worries, a tree turns golden after autumn, like an army wearing golden armor, but it is a rare beauty in the palace. Compared with cutting down trees, Yingyun is worse than instigating
Father, please open two more windows in the front of the hall..."
"If you really need to open more windows in the main hall, your Highness will definitely be scolded by the courtiers," Xu Huai said. "There are mountain people in Wuyang who pick tallow seeds to make candles, which are quite high-quality and cheap. There is a shortage in the palace, Xu Huai
Then he asked someone to offer it up..."
Candles made in this era were mainly made of ointment candles and hemp candles. However, large candles made of animal fat had an unpleasant smell, and at the same time, the candles were dim like hemp candles. The large candles used in the palace in the past were mainly made of beeswax, mixed with beeswax.
Made from all kinds of high-end spices, the price is naturally high.
However, in the south of Wuyang, the Orion mountain people who were affiliated with Wutong County at this time had long picked the wild tallow tree fruits in the mountains to make candles. It is said that when lit, they are colorless and odorless, and the candle flame is brighter than beeswax.
After Shi Zhen learned about this, he ordered Wutong County to make candles according to this law and send them to the camp for trial.
Xu Huai used this kind of black tallow candle at his desk in Chushan. It felt no worse than honey candles, and it couldn't be compared to the ointment candles that have a slightly fishy smell after being left for a long time.
"What are you talking about?"
Emperor Jianji held the infant prince in his arms with a doting look on his face, and Concubine Zheng, who followed carefully for fear that the prince would fall, walked out of the Chui Gong Hall, stood in front of the corridor, and looked at Xu under the tree.
Huai, Yingyun asked.
"His Royal Highness Yingyun feels sorry that your Majesty is too frugal with palace expenses but lets the oil lamp burn his eyes. I thought of the mountain people in Chu Mountain who use tallow seeds to make candles, which are high quality and cheap, so I thought about arranging for someone to donate some for your Majesty to try." Xu Huai said.
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"Yingyun has been well clothed and well-fed since she was a child, but now that she is a princess, she has suffered a lot with me," Emperor Jianji said with a smile, "but I don't feel that the tea oil lamp smokes my eyes..."
"Xu Hou is here - I come to hold Kang'er. Your Majesty will discuss state affairs with Xu Hou..." Concubine Zheng glanced at Xu Huai, took the prince from the arms of Emperor Jianji, and stood in the palace of several palaces.
Huan and maids carefully walked towards the palace at the back.
At this time, two officials came from the side hall, holding books in their hands, and behind them were palace attendants holding inkstones. After saluting Emperor Jianji, they introduced their names and official positions to Xu Huai, but the two
He was a daily servant who was affiliated with the Zhongshu Province and was responsible for recording the daily words and deeds of Emperor Jianji.
Since the founding of the Dai Viet dynasty, officials have been accompanied by historians to record daily affairs in order to prevent mistakes and report them to the queen. They are called "lianglang".
When Emperor Jianji ascended the throne in Xiangyang City, many things were in great chaos at that time. There was a serious lack of official positions, and there was no one dedicated to record the daily life of Emperor Jianji. Xu Huai did not expect that when the capital was moved to Jianye, the regulations in this area were completed first.
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Emperor Jianji had long been accustomed to having people around him recording his every word and deed. He sat with Xu Huai at the stone table under the ancient tree and said as if no one else was watching:
"...I believe that the Chushan Army can protect Jingxiang on its own. It was only at the beginning of the year that it decided to mobilize the Shenwu Army to reinforce Huainan. Although the captive soldiers have been expelled from Huainan, the captive soldiers are still thief-minded and are still gathering in Xusu.
Soldiers, horses, and supplies, Huainan still cannot relax for a moment. The Shenwu Army has been unable to return to Nanyang in the past two years. Regarding the defense of Jingxiang, many ministers advocated that the Chushan Army withdraw and defend Nanyang. Regardless of the difficulty of defense or the consumption of money, food and materials,
It’s far worse than guarding the perimeter!”
Xu Huai was still not used to people sitting aside with paper, inkstones and ink to record everything he said and did with Emperor Jianye. Moreover, these were destined to soon reach the ears of Zhou He, Gao Chunnian and others. After a moment of pondering,
said:
"Chushan abandoned Rucai Prefecture and retreated to Nanyang. The defense line stretching for six to seven hundred miles suddenly shrunk to Wusheng Sanguan and Fangcheng Pass. The difficulty of defense was greatly reduced. However, let alone the small ministers in Chushan
We have been operating for many years. Regardless of your Majesty's desire to regain the Central Plains in the future, it is very convenient to send troops from Chushan. If the Chushan army shrinks to Nanyang, the captive soldiers only need to drive the troops from the west of Beijing to confront us. There are 100,000 troops in Heluo.
Whether the horse is marching westward or joining forces with Prince Ping Yanzong and invading Huainan, is it really something the ministers in the court would like to see? Maybe some people in the court feel that a humble minister coming here to build Ye will be a lion's lord?"
"The memorial written by Marquis Xu in late May really frightened many people," Yingyun sat aside and said, "For the battle of Huainan, more than 300,000 soldiers were gathered to defend the battle, and more than 100,000 casualties were lost.
To expel the captive soldiers, countless money and food were consumed. At this time, relatively accurate figures have not been calculated, but Huaidong and Huaixi were separately guarded, with 60,000 troops and horses in Huaidong and 100,000 troops in Huaixi.
Ma, the Yuying Secretary has already estimated a figure. The annual additional payment will be no less than 10 million gu, fine grain 1.2 million shi, and the other firewood will be raised by each camp. The Yuying Secretary feels that Huaidong,
It is natural for Huaixi to be so extravagant, but Chushan alone defends the north of Jingxiang, and the amount of money and food requested is less than half of this amount, but they are frightened!"
The two living men looked at Emperor Jianye hesitantly, wondering whether they should faithfully copy down Princess Yingyun's words.
However, Emperor Jianji waved his hand without hesitation, indicating that it would be okay for Li Lang to record the truth, and said to Xu Huai: "I also know that Chushan will guard Ru and Cai's front line. The number of soldiers will be expanded to 40,000, and the garrison will be maintained as needed.
Between 30,000 and 60,000 people are already extremely economical, but the difficulty in the court does lie in the word "money and food". Now that they have won the great victory in Huainan, the morale of the generals and officials is high. They do not think that the Jinghu invaders are a serious problem, but the Jinghu invaders are
If the Lake invaders are not eliminated for one day, they will swallow up Jinghu's money and food like a bottomless pit, making it difficult for the central government to mobilize Jinghu's money and food to support the war expenses of various defense lines."
After Xu Huai arrived in Hanchuan this time, he was forced to go ashore to avoid thieves, and then borrowed a road from Huangzhou to come to Jianye. He did not have the opportunity to go into the core area of Jianghan Plain to take a look, but he saw that after the flood near Qianchapu
Looking at the boundless water and sky, we also know that Dai Viet's wealth is more dependent on the Jianghuai and Zhejiang regions, and much less dependent on the Jinghu region. It is not without reason.
However, no matter how poor the management and development of the Jinghu area is compared to the Jianghuai area, it is still far better than that of Guanshan. It is not the same thing that the bandits have been trapped in the lake and cannot be exterminated.
Xu Huai could see that Emperor Jianji still wanted to wipe out the Hu bandits as soon as possible, but he had no way to persuade Emperor Jianji that there was no need to rush.
This time, great sacrifices have been made to defend Huainan, but the situation is far from stable enough to counterattack and regain the Central Plains in the near future.
Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, all dynasties in the Central Plains have been invaded by the Huru barbarians from the north. The period of real peace was actually very short-lived.
The combat effectiveness of the Red Husband Cavalry was not only more powerful and sharper than that of the Hulu barbarians who had invaded the south for more than a thousand years in the past. What made Xu Huai unable to relax was that the Red Husbands had a more complete and more powerful weapon than the Hulu barbarians in the past.
A military and political establishment that is conducive to military mobilization.
The latter means that the Chihu people have stronger offensive resilience. They will never be frustrated or pushed back to the north bank of the Huaihe River once or twice, and their ambition and momentum to devour the world will be exhausted.
Therefore, stabilizing the interior of Dai Viet as soon as possible, gathering all the troops and resources to resist the aliens, and finally regaining the Central Plains should be the core goals that the government and the opposition should strive for with all their strength.
However, the reasons why the Dongting Lake bandits became powerful were complicated. The scale of the hungry people heading south was too large, and the local area was unable to relocate them. Xu Huai was also worried that things would be counterproductive if he acted too hastily.
Although Xu Huai had noticed Emperor Jianji's doting on the young prince and Concubine Zheng before, he really didn't want to get involved in these whirlpools. After pondering for a while, he decided not to test Zhou He, Gao Chunnian and others.
His thoughts directly revealed the purpose of his trip:
"The ministers in Rucai acted differently and used extraordinary methods. For example, they confiscated the gentry who fled south, the fields and houses of the households, the retired gentry, and the valleys and beaches privately occupied by the clan. They were very criticized - everything depends on
His Majesty's protection prevented any disturbance, but the ministers had no choice but to do so. From October last year to April this year, more than 4,000 soldiers of Chushan were killed in battle, and some were seriously injured and disabled. However, Chushan really took
There is no money and food for pensions and merit rewards, and even the military pay is insufficient on weekdays. Chushan can still keep the generals from slacking off. On the one hand, the whole army is loyal to the court, grateful for His Majesty's kindness, and vows to expel
The Hulu wanted to restore the Central Plains. On the other hand, Chushan took the confiscated fields and distributed them to generals and their families as rewards and pensions. However, the two states of Ru and Cai, and Pingchuan, either fell to the enemy, or both
The flooded land and the valleys are rugged and rugged. Except for the aboriginals, there are too few fields that can really be used for reward. It will be exhausted by the end of this year. This time Wei Chen passed through Hanchuan and saw the floods between Jianghan and Han.
, the hungry people were trapped in the floods and were bewitched by the bandits, roaring and causing trouble. They thought, if they could recruit refugees to build embankments in these swampy areas that are not subject to prefectures and counties to prevent floods, it would not only eliminate the hidden dangers of local unrest.
In addition, some land can be given to meritorious generals as a reward and to make up for the lack of military resources..."
"The method you mentioned is good. You can discuss it with Zhou He and Gao Chunnian in the past two days to see if you can draft a specific clause and submit it..." Emperor Jianji said.
