Gaochang is located above Xizhou, an important crossing of the Western Regions, and located in the center of Turpan.
Taking Gaochang will give Guanzhong a place to garrison in the Western Regions.
Bearing Li Tai's gaze, he ate his food one bite at a time. Unable to bear it, Zhang Yang quickly put down the bowl and said, "I know that King Wei admires me very much, but you don't have to look at me all the time."
There seemed to be light in Li Tai's eyes, "Now all the civil servants and generals in the court should be talking about you."
"Maybe there are a lot of people saying bad things about me behind my back."
Li Tai grinned, "That's natural."
After lunch, the little fat man left.
Li Yue was in a good mood, especially after the worry was over, and after listening to Qingque's talk about the affairs of the court, she felt a little proud.
Half a month later, the news from the Western Regions also arrived in Guanzhong.
The atrocities committed by King Gaochang soon spread throughout Chang'an City, breaking up the families who originally lived a peaceful life and reducing them to slavery, making them work day and night, becoming a tool for King Gaochang to make money.
Ruining human life is the most despised thing.
The public was full of abuses against King Gaochang.
Xu Jingzong was sitting in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites. At this moment, he had an empty mind and did not want to do anything or think about anything.
It was too difficult to follow Zhang Shilang along the way, and there were too many ups and downs along the way. From time to time, he would stand on the edge of a cliff. If Zhang Yang hadn't been able to argue in the Tai Chi Hall this time, maybe this life would be the same.
It's over.
"Shilang Xu, Duke Zhao is here to see you."
Hearing Zhang Elephant's words, Xu Jingzong raised his head and looked at Changsun Wuji.
Changsun Wuji was standing outside, his expression solemn under the sunshine.
Xu Jingzong slowly stood up and walked step by step in front of Changsun Wuji, "The court has already made a decision on the matter of Gaochang. I dare to ask Zhao Guogong what important matter he has to ask his subordinates."
"Come with me." Changsun Wuji stepped forward.
Xu Jingzong frowned and thought for a moment before having no choice but to follow.
The two of them came to the wall of the imperial city. Looking out from the wall, they had a panoramic view of the prosperity of the entire Chang'an city.
Seeing that Changsun Wuji didn't speak, Xu Jingzong also stood silently.
"You were also one of the eighteen bachelors of the Prince of Qin's palace back then. Each of you had your own future."
Listening to these words, Xu Jingzong smiled bitterly. Back then, Li Shimin was still the King of Qin and everyone was serving in the Qin Palace. Your eldest grandson, Wuji, had never looked at me in the eyes. Now, you are speaking nicely.
Changsun Wuji looked sad, "I don't understand why you have to follow Zhang Yang."
Xu Jingzong cupped his hands and said, "Because Zhang Yang is not hypocritical, he can get along with his subordinates calmly."
"Calm? Not hypocritical?"
Xu Jingzong lowered his head, feeling somewhat calm in the courtroom.
Even if there are only three or four people in the Rites Department, everyone trusts each other and is willing to hand over matters to each other.
But what about the court? I had thought at the beginning that since everyone is like this, why not live hypocritically myself? Who is not hypocritical in order to climb up?
Xu Jingzong sighed: "Dong Zhao, I have something I want to say."
Changsun Wuji whispered: "It's whatever you say."
Xu Jingzong smiled with relief, "I didn't understand it before, but now I think it's good to live calmly. Zhao Guogong might as well give it a try."
Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji's expression turned cold.
After saluting Changsun Wuji again, Xu Jingzong turned and left.
News from the Western Regions was constantly sent to Chang'an.
Li Shimin looked at the memorials one after another. Adalan was assigned by the Ministry of Rites to go to Gaochang to help the King of Gaochang solve the problem.
At the beginning, the method of recruiting slaves was also used to help King Gaochang obtain more wealth.
In fact, Adalan treats these slaves very well, treats the slaves well, and can also treat the slaves' diseases.
He will also negotiate with those merchants from the Western Regions for slavery and seek better preferential treatment for the slaves.
King Gaochang is not as kind as Adalan.
In order to obtain greater benefits, the King of Gaochang intensified his efforts. The wealth originally obtained was used to build Gaochang so that Gaochang would not be restrained by Yanqi or the Western Turks in the future.
But he did not use the wealth where it should be used. Instead, he used it to add luster to his wealthy life, indulge in wine and meat all day long, and squeeze the slaves even more harshly.
After that, the slaves worked for the merchants in the Western Regions and received no benefits at all. At most, they only gave the slaves enough food and clothing to survive.
Adalan tried to persuade King Gaochang several times not to expand the number of slaves and to do so step by step, but King Gaochang refused to listen and even threatened Adalan to recruit more slaves.
Adalan had no choice but to let the situation unfold.
And Adalan's prestige among slaves is getting better and better. On the contrary, King Gaochang's oppression of slaves has reached an impossible level.
More and more slaves are being worked to death.
At first, Adalan did not want to bring his slaves to rebel, but the slaves rebelled. As long as he gave an order, the entire Gaochang slaves would rise up.
Faced with this kind of trust, Adalan still endured it again and again. Until last year's winter when it was the coldest month of the twelfth lunar month, King Gaochang was still enjoying wine and meat in his palace.
Hundreds of slaves froze to death outside.
It was at that moment that Adalan truly planned to launch a rebellion.
On average, there were three to five slaves in a household. Some of these slaves were captured from outside by the king of Gaochang, and some escaped from other places in the Western Regions.
Gaochang has a total population of 30,000, of which 40,000 are slaves, and the garrison of Gaochang City is only 3,000.
Once the 40,000 slaves rebelled, they quickly caused huge chaos in Gaochang City.
The King of Gaochang indulged himself in wine pools and meat forests, neglected the construction of city defenses, and did not increase defenses for a long time.
On the day of the twelfth lunar month, Gaochang City launched a rebellion, taking down the entire Gaochang City guard almost overnight, and tens of thousands of slaves entered the Gaochang Palace.
The King of Gaochang fled Gaochang with the few remaining guards, and since then Gaochang has fallen into the hands of Adalan and those enslavers.
"These are all things that happened last year, Xuanling, you should also take a look." Li Shimin handed the memorial to Fang Xuanling.
After reading this memorial, Fang Xuanling asked, "Has your Majesty also read the strategy that the Ministry of Rites handed over to Gaochang?"
Li Shimin was surprised and said: "What strategy?"
Fang Xuanling took out a volume and said, "This was handed over by the son of King Gaochang after being interrogated by Dali Temple officials. I have already seen it as physical evidence, and I would like to ask your Majesty to take a look at it."
Li Shimin took the strategy and read it for a long time, "This strategy only describes the method of buying and selling slavery."
Fang Xuanling whispered: "Your Majesty, this strategy can indeed solve Gaochang's urgent needs, but this strategy must be used with caution. King Gaochang just did not use it with caution, and that's why we are in this situation today."
The musk in the incense burner was still burning. Li Shimin frowned and said, "So the King of Gaochang brought the blame on himself."
Looking at Fang Xuanling's expression, Li Shimin added: "Or maybe it was planned by Zhang Yang in advance. It would be heartbreaking to say that Zhang Yang made a trap for Gao Chang and waited for people to get in."
Yuchi Gong and Li Chengqian came in a hurry.
Respectfully handing over a military report, Yuchi reported: "Your Majesty, the spies sent from Gaochang have reported that the entire Gaochang has fallen into the hands of Adalan, and Adalan has appointed himself the Gaochang garrison general and takes charge of all Gaochang affairs.
And those 40,000 slaves became the soldiers in Adalan’s hands.”
Li Shimin read this military report and said, "He proclaimed himself the garrison general, and the people in the Western Regions also used our military position in Guanzhong? Why didn't he proclaim himself the king of Gaochang?"
Yuchi Gong stood aside quietly.
Fang Xuanling whispered again: "Your Majesty, now is the best time to capture Gaochang."
Li Shimin put all his weight on the backrest behind him, "What do you think?"
"Your Majesty, Adalan led the slaves to overthrow the atrocities of King Gaochang. Your Majesty, as the Khan of Heaven, should set an example for his merits and summon him to Chang'an for reward."
Li Shimin had a smile on his face after hearing these words. As long as Adalan could come to Gaochang, he could deal with him, and maybe he could take Gaochang into his hands without any effort.
Yuchi Gong said doubtfully: "Your Majesty, I still have something that I don't understand."
Li Shimin nodded and said, "Tell me."
"Here." Yuchi saluted respectfully: "This Adalan proclaims himself Gaochang garrison general, but who will be the next Gaochang king? The original Gaochang royal family, except Ju Wentai and his son, have all died in the anger of slavery."
Li Chengqian whispered: "Perhaps this Adalan is not the kind of pretentious person. He first controls Gaochang as a general. As for whether to take the throne, he still has to worry about the countries in the Western Regions. This is just a self-proclaimed general."
Quietness returned to the Manna Hall.
In the afternoon of that day, a decree came from Chang'an City. It was Li Shimin who summoned Gaochang garrison general Adalan in the name of Tian Khan and gave him a reward.
People from the Western Regions may not understand the importance of people's support, but the Emperor of the Central Plains knew that it was very important.
Zhang Yang, who was sitting in Qujiang Pool, was not surprised when he heard the news.
At this moment, Xu Jingzong was accompanied by a man from the Western Regions. This man's face had many ridges and was skinny. The marks on his face proved that he was a slave of Gaochang and was sent by Adalan.
"Dear Shilang Zhang, please give me a call." This native of the Western Region said in unskilled Guanzhong dialect.
Li Yue looked at the contract carefully.
Zhang Yang wrote his name on it, signed it with his fingerprint, and took out another penny.
The slave accepted the money respectfully and took out the seal of King Gaochang, "From now on, you are the King of Gaochang, and everything in Gaochang will be at your command from now on."
Zhang Yang took the contract and the seal, and bought the entire Gaochang for just one penny.
It took a year in total. Under Li Yue's shocked eyes, "Will our family really have endless amounts of grape wine in the future?"
The slave said: "Dozens of barrels of grape wine have been prepared, just outside Chang'an City."
Zhang Yang smiled and said: "Send it to our fief."
The slave nodded, "Sir Zhang, what else does the slave need to do? Or is there someone else who needs the slave to kill?"
"Killing people..." Zhang Yang sighed with emotion, but hesitated to speak.
The slave replied: "The slave is very skilled in killing people and kills them with one knife."
Zhang Yang coughed and said, "That's not necessary."
"The general often talks about Shilang Zhang. We slaves are able to rebel today because of Shilang Zhang's arrangements. As long as Shilang Zhang gives the order, I can kill everyone here and slit the slaves' throats. This is
No one else will know anything."
"No, no need to kill people." Zhang Yang waved his hands repeatedly.
The slave nodded heavily, "Do you need the slave to work? The slave is very strong."
Zhang Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "There's no need to do this. You can deliver the wine to our fiefdom and give it to the people in the village. Then you can return to Gaochang and report back to General Adalan."
Taking out another volume, Zhang Yang handed it to the slave, "Give him this volume. This is my instruction for the future development of Gaochang. After reading it, he will understand what to do."
Adalan, who has never understood governance or how to manage people's livelihood, should be confused about what to do now. Why not let him take good care of Gaochang first, and let him take care of good relations with the countries in the Western Regions. This is what he was told above.
There aren't many things.
The Tang Dynasty will not send troops in a short time. Gaochang is safe for the time being. It is always good to prepare for a rainy day.
Now that Li Shimin has no time to take care of Gaochang, and Songtsen Gampo is also fighting monsters and upgrading to gain experience, the Turks' vitality is seriously injured, Yinan Khan does not know whether to live or die, and the biggest giants in this land cannot care about the small place of Gaochang.
time is also the best window period to accelerate development.
After this window period, Li Shimin will definitely follow Gao Chang's will, let alone summon Adalan now.
[Recommended, the Huanyuan app is really useful for chasing books. Download huanyuanapp here. You can try it soon.]
Adalan will not obey Li Shimin's will.
It's just that Gaochang's plan in the next two years is to expand the land to grow cotton, develop the economy, and establish good "neighborhood relations" in the Western Regions, making a few enemies and many friends.
Seeing that the slave had taken the scroll and was about to leave, Zhang Yang asked again, "Buy some more Central Plains books in Chang'an City and bring them to the general, so that he can read more books and gain wisdom."
Xu Jingzong whispered: "Don't worry, Minister Zhang, the lives of Adalan's whole family are in my hands."
"take good care of."
"rest assured."
Li Yue held the national deed in her hand and looked at her husband in disbelief. She has not come back to her senses yet. In her husband's hands, there is a small country in the Western Regions, and Gaochang has become the property of the family.
The entire Gaochang is my family's property.
Sitting in Qujiang Pond, Li Yue felt a little dizzy. Her husband is so awesome and so happy...
After returning home, Li Yue pinched her shoulders diligently, "Husband, do you want to knock on your legs?"
Zhang Yang breathed out a sigh of relief, "No need."
"Husband, do you want some tea?"
"Need not."
"Husband, do you want to take a shower at night? I'll prepare hot water."
"I will prepare it myself."
Li Yue winked playfully, "My husband spent one year to buy Gaochang. In a few more years, our family can also buy Tubo. I heard that Tubo has snow-capped mountains."
Zhang Yang changed his sitting position and said, "Songtsen Gampo is a wise man who is difficult to deal with. He is not easy to deal with like Ju Wentai."
Things seemed to be in trouble, as my wife fell in love with the snow-capped mountains of Tubo.
Buying Gaochang seemed simple, but things got a little out of control. I originally thought it would take two or three years, but I didn't expect that Ju Wentai would be so useful. He was indeed too cautious.
With nothing to do and nothing to worry about, Zhang Yang can live his life leisurely every day.
After leaving Chongwen Hall, Zhang Yang came to the Ministry of Rites.
Since the last time the Ministry of Rites was burned down by Li Xiaogong, it has now been rebuilt and has become more impressive. Li Shimin has also re-viewed the role of the Ministry of Rites.