Chapter 126: Fear in an Era of Insufficient Firepower
After the emperor left, the city of Chang'an seemed to become quiet all of a sudden. Even the evening bell that sounded solemn and solemn in the past now sounded floaty and soft without any sense of weight.
The treasure wheel and the golden earth dominate the world, and I sit alone in the clear jade gate in the dark sky.
The wind and smoke in Beiling open Wei Palace, and the weather in Nanxuan suppresses Shangshan.
The chariots and horses hanging in the mausoleum are hanging in the willows, and the city of Jing is illuminated by the sun.
Temporarily leaving the world to wander around, the bells and drums on the Sixth Street urged me to return.
This is a poem "Raising the Wild Goose Pagoda" by Xu Mei, a famous poet who was not born in the Tang Dynasty. This poem is not a top-notch poem, but it writes the charm of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty to the core. It is awe-inspiring, majestic, and full of charm.
A little bit of seeing through the vicissitudes and laziness of the world.
After the emperor left, the imperial spirit in this poem disappeared. If Xu Mei came to this era and went up to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, she would not be able to compose such a poem.
Because the entire Chang'an has now become a huge construction site.
Those who are demolishing the city walls are demolishing the city walls, those who are digging canals are digging canals, those who are making bricks are making bricks, those who are quarrying are quarrying stones, and those who are cutting wood are cutting down trees.
Nowadays, the first priority is to prepare materials for future large-scale construction, and waterways are built to facilitate the transportation of these materials. After the construction of palaces, residences, and commercial areas is completed, these dug waterways will be used in large quantities.
filled with construction waste.
The Tang Dynasty has never lacked skilled master craftsmen. These arrangements were not made by Yunchu, but by the master Jiang Zuo who was the supervisor.
The reason why there are so many general works is entirely because Yunchu completely offended the Ministry of Industry.
The Ministry of Works hopes that Yunchu will use the craftsmen registered with the Ministry of Works in this major construction. Yunchu also likes to use the craftsmen registered with the Ministry of Works. After all, these people have a higher level in building cities and palaces.
Unfortunately, Duan Lun, the Minister of Industry of the Tang Dynasty, did not wait for Yunchu to ask how much food should be given to the Ministry of Industry in order to use the craftsmen registered in the Ministry of Industry. Duan Lun preemptively gave Yunchu a number - 270,000 guan.
This 270,000 yuan is not the total cost of using the craftsmen, but only the profit share paid to the Ministry of Industry before the start of work.
After seeing this number, Yun Chu decisively went to find Yan Liben, the great general of the Tang Dynasty.
Without saying anything during the meeting, Yunchu showed Yan Liben a document of 270,000 guan handwritten by Duan Lun, Minister of Industry.
After Yan Liben read it, he crossed out the last two words "seventeen".
Then, the craftsmen who were about to do the work showed up at the construction site designated by Yun Chu in time.
After learning about this, Duan Lun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, jumped to his feet and cursed Yan Liben, but there was nothing he could do about this third-grade general who became a great craftsman.
First, they had to unite with the Shaofu Superintendent and Taichang Temple to suppress Yun Chu, but they discovered that Hu Yushu, the Shaofu Superintendent, had become close to Yun Chu as a brother-in-law at some point.
Just when Duan Lun decided to impeach Yun Chu and Yan Liben in private with Taichang Qing, who stayed in Chang'an to guard the royal ancestral temple.
On a bright moonlit night, Taichang Qing Dai Shu was drinking wine and admiring the moon with the famous prostitute Shiqi Niang in Pingkangfang. He was extremely embarrassed when he met Li Hong, the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, who came to Pingkangfang in a white dragon fish suit to gain acquaintance.
!
Although Li Hong himself hid his face and fled, Taichang Qing Dai Shu planned to commit suicide after returning home.
Neither Prince Li Hong nor Taichang Temple Minister Dai Shu would have come to Pingkangfang to have fun with prostitutes on the day of worshiping Emperor Taizong's great-grandfather Jing Emperor Li Hu.
Just when Dai Shu hugged his family and cried, and was about to commit suicide, Prince Li Hong's confidant Di Renjie quietly came to visit.
I don’t know what Di Renjie said to Dai Shu. In short, after Di Renjie left, Dai Shu drank a jar of the strongest anti-toxic drug and became drunk for three days.
From then on, he stayed in the Ancestral Temple and never left.
At the end of April, the Ministry of Industry received an edict from the emperor, ordering him to move the yamen to the imperial city of Luoyang, leaving 4,000 registered craftsmen in Chang'an, under the command of Prince Li Hong.
At this point, Yun Chu's last restraint in Chang'an City had quietly disappeared.
Although the restraining force was gone, a group of veteran generals wearing armor and holding long knives ushered in the city of Chang'an.
They patrolled the city of Chang'an day and night. Although all of them had white hair, and there were a few white-haired old women in the middle, no one dared to ask questions when this group of people patrolled the city of Chang'an.
The emperor left, and there were no more Jinwu Guards in Chang'an City. Only Zuo Wuwei and other Six Guards soldiers and horses were left to defend Chang'an City. Even the soldiers and horses of these Six Guards only had half left, and the other half followed the emperor.
Went to Luoyang.
The 36,000 soldiers of the government who have been fully mobilized still need to be replaced with the main troops in Luoyang once a year.
After hearing about this, Wen Wenwen specially brought drinks and food to the city to comfort these veterans or their survivors. Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived at the city, they were chased by these people with knives.
of.
After finally escaping back in embarrassment, Yun Chu gasped for air but didn't know how to explain.
After a long while, he said to Yun Chu: "We demolished the walls of Chang'an City to pieces. Is this really right?"
Yun Chu said: "It is absolutely correct. Without the people's hearts, no city can be defended. Once we build the city of Chang'an and everyone happily hides in the wall and lives a life of intoxication, no one will care about the outside of the city.
Those government soldiers and the people are strong.
If things go on like this, the government troops will be abandoned and the people will not be strengthened for a long time. Sooner or later, they will be wasted. They will also be alienated from the people in the city. Once foreign enemies invade, no one will be willing to sacrifice their lives to defend Chang'an.
To me, the government soldiers and strong people outside the city are the indestructible city wall of Chang'an City, definitely not the pile of rotten bricks."
Wen Wen said again: "Now that the Tang Dynasty is at peace, the population is increasing day by day, and there is no farmland near Chang'an for you to support the soldiers. Where can you allocate the eighty acres of land to them?"
Yun Chu glanced at Wen Wen and felt that this once smart brother had now become a fool.
Then he spread out the Chang'an plan on the table, pointed to the grain stores, medical clinics, schools, as well as the prisons for delinquents and the prison of Wu Houpu all over Chang'an, and said: "I don't have eighty acres of land."
, I don’t have twenty acres of permanent land, but I have a professional income of more than eighty acres per year, and I also have bonus income worth twenty acres of permanent land.
The most important thing is that they no longer have to bear the two items of rent and transfer, and only need to bear the corvee."
Wen Wen frowned and said, "What are you going to do with forty days of corvee?"
Yun Chu shook his head and said: "It is two months of corvee service. During these two months, they must participate in the training of the soldiers. Just like outside the city, they must prepare their own armor, weapons, bows and horses. They can carry swords in battle and go into battle in their free time.
Just do what you do to make a living."
"Are you going to replace the Koufentian and Yongye fields with regular errands?"
Yun Chu spread his hands and said: "On weekdays, they work in grain stores, inns, pharmacies, and hospitals opened by the government. They can also maintain the security of Chang'an as bad guys and Wuhou. In their spare time, they participate in the government soldiers' affairs.
Is there anything bad about various activities?”
Wen Wen sighed and said: "It should be feasible, but how are you going to deal with the group of white-haired veterans on the city wall and the family records of the fallen veterans? I saw that the large group of people above have the lowest status.
He was also a dignified baron, and let me tell you one last thing, Liang Jianfang, who was missing one of his legs, was also there. He scolded me the most harshly among the crowd, and even hit me with the wine gourd I gave him.
Your Majesty is not here, but Su Dingfang is, and it seems that he is the leader. Do you think it makes sense for a veteran like him to stay in Chang'an and cause trouble for us instead of following His Majesty to Luoyang?"
Yunchu sighed and said: "Why else? These people all experienced the Weishui River Alliance. When Emperor Taizong and Jieli Khan were forced to kill the White Horse Alliance Oath by the Wei River, Chang'an escaped.
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I have discussed the Weishui Alliance with Lao Liang before. Lao Liang said that when Emperor Taizong took the initiative to go to the center of the bridge to make an alliance with Jieli Khan, he went there with the determination to die.
Once Jieli Khan did not agree to withdraw his troops, Emperor Taizong planned to take Yuchi and Qin Qiong to raid Jieli Khan, intending to capture this guy and force the Turks to retreat.
Later, Jieli Khan accepted the gift from Emperor Taizong and withdrew his troops after the harsh conditions he proposed were met, thus allowing Chang'an to escape the disaster."
Wen Wen said in surprise: "That's not what Emperor Taizong's daily notes say."
Yun Chu curled his lips and said: "Use your brain and think about it, who is Emperor Taizong? If the troops in his hands can fight against the 160,000 troops brought by Jieli Khan, do you think he will withstand the Wei River?"
Is this such a shame?
Simply allowing Jieli Khan to take away the captive people would allow Emperor Taizong to fight Jieli Khan to the death.
The problem was that at that time, Emperor Taizong did not even have the capital to fight to the death with Jieli Khan, so he had no choice but to think of negotiating in person, and then looking for opportunities to seize Jieli Khan to bargain.
Emperor Taizong was determined to die. Think about the mentality of Lao Su, Lao Liang and other generals at that time.
Now, we have demolished the Chang'an city wall that they regarded as a model to pieces, and it is ventilated everywhere. How can they still sleep?
It is better to stand on the city wall with a knife. If the enemy comes, it is better to die in battle than to be ruined by the enemy."
Wen Wen sighed and said: "They conquered this country after all, and we should cherish some of it. You can think of a way. I have no choice. I feel guilty when I demolish the city wall. I have nothing to say to them."
Yun Chu smiled and said: "Then let these veterans see what a real city wall is."
Having said that, he took off the armor and stomach robe from the armor and stomach shelf and hung it up, inserted the horizontal knife, put the bow and arrow on his back, hung the short crossbow on his waist, picked up the ten-foot-long horse pole from the shelf, and pulled it from the wall.
He took off a horn and hung it around his neck, ordered the servants to put on their bay-red horses, jumped on the bay-red horses and went straight to the city wall.