When Changle left the palace, he glanced at the female officer following him and couldn't help but feel a little confused:
I was delivering a big cart of spices to my father, but I didn’t get any reward.
On the contrary, it inexplicably earned Elsa the status of county owner.
The last time I mentioned Elsa's identity to my father, wasn't he very unhappy?
It had only been a few days, but why did Dad suddenly change his mind and take the initiative to give Elsa the title of County Lord?
Hey, never mind it!
Anyway, Elsa is one of our family members, so letting her get an advantage is also a benefit to our family.
Changle shook his head and got on the carriage to go back to Sujiazhuang.
Back home, Changle called Elsa out to listen to the seal.
After several days of recovery, Elsa's condition has almost recovered.
The two female officials read to Elsa the imperial edict of Queen Changsun, naming Elsa the head of Xihai County.
Elsa knelt down excitedly to accept the reward.
After the two female officials read out the imperial edict, they received the reward and went back to the palace to deliver their errands.
Lotus Sun glanced at Elsa, who was holding the dress and giggling: "Does this make her the county head?
So casual?"
Changle curled his lips: "Her title is just empty, it's not an imperial edict from my father, how formal can it be?"
"My father, the real county magistrate of the Tang Dynasty, ordered a large reward ceremony, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites watched the ceremony..."
Elsa bowed and thanked Changle: "Elsa, thank you, Princess!"
"Elsa is satisfied with having a false title. I am a foreign woman and I am not the royal family of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, I cannot become the real head of the Tang Dynasty."
Changle waved his hand: "You don't have to thank me. I didn't ask for your title. I don't know why Dad suddenly added such a title to you."
Elsa said happily: "Your Highness, please thank Your Majesty and Your Majesty for Elsa!"
Changle asked the maid to help Elsa put on the dress. He and Lotus Sun looked at Elsa from side to side:
"Don't tell me, there's nothing awkward about this Han family dress on you!"
Lotus Sun said: "Sister Princess, Elsa has always been wearing Han family clothes, you have long been used to it!"
Changle: "That's right, I haven't seen you wearing your Canni costumes yet!"
As he spoke, he looked at Elsa with some curiosity.
Elsa smiled and said: "I don't have any clothes from West Asia around me now,"
"When I left the country of Cannae, I had a lot of clothes as a gift, and there were all kinds of clothes from all over the Mediterranean."
"It's a pity that I stayed in the cabin when we landed in Guangzhou."
Changle and Lotus Sun were a little disappointed. They also wanted to see what the costumes of various countries in West Asia were like!
"Brother Su Chen will bring back all your salutes."
Changle said to Elsa: "You just know that your position as county lord is a false one, don't go out and show off, or you will be embarrassed."
"Of course you, the county lord, don't have any fiefdom, salary, etc., although you don't have to go to worship my mother like other married women,"
"But you still need to know some etiquette..."
Changle then began to explain some palace etiquette to Elsa, asking her to remember,
Who knows when A Niang will call her to the palace to summon her, so as not to lose her etiquette and let others catch her and embarrass herself.
…
After Chang Le left the palace, Li Er returned to Ganlu Hall, looked at the map on the wall, and sighed:
"It's too far!"
"Hey! This world is so big, far beyond my imagination!"
"That's all, since Cheng Qian has an idea, let him do whatever he wants!"
The reason why Li Er changed his attitude towards Elsa was because he felt that this Elsa might be of great use to Datang in the future.
Li Er has recently been supplementing his knowledge of West Asia, North Africa and Europe.
In addition, I received a follow-up letter from Li Chengqian,
A clearer understanding of the situation along the Mediterranean coast,
At the same time, it was discovered that Li Chengqian was very interested in overseas affairs.
Judging from the arrangements Su Chen and Li Chengqian have in West Asia, these two guys are planning to run the business for a long time.
From Guangzhou to the Persian Gulf, Li Er traced the coastline with his finger on the map.
"It's a distance of 20,000 to 30,000 miles, and there are so many countries and forces along the way,"
“Perhaps we won’t open up new territories like before in the future.”
Li Er put away the map and shook his head:
"When Cheng Qian and Su Chen come back, I have to have a good chat with them,"
"The overseas territories are so vast, we must find a way to bring them under the control of our country, the Tang Dynasty."
Li Er thought about the vast land overseas, feeling eager and helpless.
Looking away from the southwest, Li Er looked toward the northeast of the Tang Dynasty.
Looking at the Goryeo Peninsula, the Japanese Kingdom, and the surrounding sea areas, Li Er frowned.
After a long while, Li Er said in a deep voice: "Eight Hundred Miles is urgent. I ordered Duke Zhang Liang of Yun State to lead the Dengzhou Navy to clear out the pirates around the Koryo Peninsula and the Japanese country after receiving the military order."
"The pirates in the northern seas must be wiped out before the end of the year!"
Li Er has long wanted to clean up those pirates raised by rebellious families in the northern seas.
However, Li Er also understood that those pirates in name were the naval forces rebellious in the northern seas.
Its strength is not weak, and it is not easy to clean up. If it attacks rashly, it will not only be ineffective but also alarm the enemy.
Now that Zhang Liang has been training the navy in Dengzhou for more than half a year, it's time to go out and practice his skills.
Next year the Tang Navy's attention will definitely be on Nanyang, where the remnants of the powerful families defected overseas.
If you want to go to Nanyang to suppress rebellion, you must first clear the northern seas to ensure that there is no trouble in the rear.
Moreover, Li Er has been coveting the gold and silver of Japan for a long time.
Su Chen had previously excavated the surface layers of known gold mines, and a large amount of gold buried deep in the ground had not yet been excavated.
And compared with the known gold mines, there are still more gold and silver mines that have not been discovered.
Su Chen said that the gold and silver of Japan could be mined by the Tang Dynasty for decades!
Although the situation in Datang has been prosperous in recent years, and tax revenue has increased significantly every year, the treasury has always been empty. There are too many places that need to spend money. Li Er is very short of money!
Moreover, with the economic growth of Datang in recent years, Li Er discovered that Datang itself also needed a large amount of precious metals to serve as currency.
Du Ruhui had told him several times that there were not enough copper coins in the Tang Dynasty market, and copper coins were very unfavorable for large-scale transactions. He asked Li Er to use the gold and silver in stock to mint gold and silver coins to increase market circulation.
But Li Er was reluctant to part with the little gold and silver he had in stock, which he kept for emergencies.
Money shortages have begun to appear everywhere in the Tang Dynasty.
Extracting large amounts of gold and silver from Japan has become the established national policy of the Tang Dynasty.
However, since last winter, pirates have appeared in large numbers in the northern waters.
Changle withdrew all the Su family's personnel from the Japanese country. Datang and the Japanese country had lost contact for almost a year.
Li Er estimated that those overseas rebels were also interested in Japan's gold and silver.
How can this allow them to succeed?
Now the Dengzhou Navy has been training for some time, and Su Chen has also returned with the Royal Navy.
It's time to cleanse the northern seas of pirates.
