Chapter 470 Pei Ying’s Worries

The grassland in April is the season when everything grows and the grass is tender. On the banks of the river is a fresh and green grass. In the dense grass, there are blue horses, pink little trumpet flowers, small petal cat eye flowers and plain wild chrysanthemums, and wolf tail grass raising a small flag. A gust of wind blows, the flowers and grass nod and bowing. This is along the Jian River in the north of the Mo. The lush grassland is endless, stretching like the sea. Groups of cattle and sheep can be seen everywhere eating grass with their heads down and leisurely grazing.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves like thunder sounded on the grassland. A large black cloud floated in the north, covering the sky and the earth. The black clouds approached. This was a cavalry team of more than 10,000 people, densely packed and invisible. It was a black flag with a black flag on it. The red characters on it were like splashing blood. They were actually written in Chinese characters, with the three big characters "Xiagas".

Jianhe is the Yenisei River today. This is the land where the people of the Kiagas lived for generations. Decades ago, he was driven to the barren land north of the Yibohai by the Uighurs. However, in the fifth year of Dazhi, the Kiagas armed by the Tang army seized the opportunity of the Uighurs' attempt to march south, returned to the Jianhe Basin, and defeated the Uighurs' army who came to encircle and suppress it. They regained their foothold in the ancestral land. After several years of hard work, the Kiagas once again showed prosperity in humans and animals, but last year's snow disaster also brought huge losses to them.

The army slowly slowed down its pace of progress. The general led by the leader was Khan Sudalo, a loyal hero of Khagas. He was nearly fifty years old and was still wearing armor. Under his iron helmet, he received an order from the Emperor of Tang to send troops to Han Erduobali. Although he did not want to send troops in the spring, he could not find a reason to refuse. In desperation, he could only lead 10,000 cavalry south personally. He also knew that these 10,000 cavalry had no use, but at least he could explain it to the Emperor of Tang.

Since the soldiers of the Khikas trapped Han Erduobali and defeated the Uighurs' encirclement and suppression, Sudaro gradually became arrogant and no longer cared about the weakening Uighurs. He often sent troops to harass the sporadic tribes of the Uighurs and plundered a large number of Uighur herders as slaves. Especially after occupying Xiaohai (now Lake Baikal) last year, Sudaro's ambitions suddenly magnified. He began to long for rule over the desert and replace the Uighurs as the master of the grassland.

Sudaro was like a beggar who suddenly gained a wealth of wealth. His distorted and nouveau riche made him arrogant. He no longer was grateful to the Tang Dynasty as before. He began to look at his benefactors who had helped them selflessly with a provocative look. He no longer thought that it was a kind of kindness. He thought that it was just the use of the Tang Dynasty for them, and to use them to curb the Uighurs, and they should have an equal relationship of mutual use with the Tang Dynasty.

Another general next to Sudaro was also an iron helmet and armor, with a strong figure and majestic momentum. He was a big sword on the saddle. This person was Kurband. He had married Gude's other two sisters and is now Sudaro's confidant general.

"Khan, are we carrying too few troops?" Kurband seemed a little worried, and he said to Sudaro again: "I'm worried that ten thousand people can't defeat the Uighur army."

Sudaro glanced at him and snorted softly, "There are already a lot of people. Now is the season for cattle and sheep to give birth. If the army has gone to the south, who will take care of cattle and sheep? Besides, we are not going to fight the Uighurs, and we will go around Hanerduobali and go back to deal with the Emperor of Tang."

"But..." Kurband originally wanted to repay the kindness of Datang, but when he was at his mouth, he was forced to do so by Sudalu's gaze and could not say a word.

Sudaro seemed to understand his thoughts, and he said coldly: "Do you want to say that the Tang Dynasty has favors us, and you should repay us with kindness?"

Kurbend lowered his head, and that's what he wanted to say,

"You know what a fool!" Sudaro's throat suddenly became thicker, "Do you think the Tang Dynasty is a fool? Will you give me something for no reason? If we have no value for use, will they give it? Use your brain and think about it carefully, how can we maximize the interests of our Kias people? This is the most fundamental thing. Since the Tang Dynasty will use us, we must also learn to make full use of the Tang Dynasty. Do you understand?"

Kurbend was so scolded that he did not dare to say a word. Although he did not agree with Khan's idea, he did not dare to refute. Seeing that Kurbend did not dare to talk back, Sudaro raised his head arrogantly and looked deep into the grassland in the south. He was waiting for the scouts who had gone to explore the intelligence. Since he had sent troops, he did not want to go back without anything. At least he had to plunder a few Uighur tribes to return to compensate for his troops.

At this moment, two small black dots suddenly appeared in the distance, which became extremely clear on the green grassland. It was his scout who had returned. After a moment, the two scouts rushed towards him. Sudaro Zong immediately stepped forward and asked loudly, "What information can be found?"

"Reporting to Khan, Jiegangas personally led an army of 50,000 to the east, and there are only a few thousand people stationed in Han'erduobali."

Thousands of people are stationed, isn’t that an empty city? Sudaro couldn’t believe his ears. He stood in a daze for a long time, and suddenly turned around with excitement and shouted: “Kurbande, go back immediately and mobilize all our troops over, go quickly!”

Kurbend agreed and led a team of cavalry back to mobilize troops. Sudaro looked south, his eyes flashed with greedy eyes. Han's ears were eight miles away. It was a place full of gold, silver and jewelry. With a wave of his hand, the dark cloud-like Iron Cavalry of the Kias drove towards the south.

Chang'an in May is not too hot. The fragrant and soft warmth fills every corner of Chang'an City. This is the most intoxicating period before the summer harvest. However, the real-name land system issued two months ago is like a cloud in the sun, covering the sky above Chang'an City, adding a bit of solemnity to the warm May.

A gorgeous carriage drove into Anyefang under the protection of more than a dozen guards and came to Pei You's mansion. However, it did not stop in front of the gate, but drove to the side door to stop. Two maids came out of the carriage and helped a noble lady get off the carriage and went straight into the side door. The noble lady was Pei You's wife. She had just returned from the Ming Palace. Pei You's original wife died of illness fifteen years ago. The noble lady was his successor. Her mother's surname was Qian, and she was a wealthy family in Chang'an. After entering the Pei Mansion, Mrs. Qian walked towards Pei You's study, and her steps were quite hurried. She was anxious to report to her husband that she had heard about entering the palace.

A month ago, Pei You had resigned from the position of Minister of Personnel, withdrew from the Political Affairs Hall, and was renamed the Prince's Preservant. He is 66 years old this year and has retired for four years. At the same time as him, Cui Yu was 67 years old. He was appointed as the Right Pushe of Shangshu. It was not Cui Xian who replaced Cui Yu as the Chief Secretary, but Liu Yan, but Liu Yan, the commander of the Salt and Iron Supervisor. Pei Mingyuan, who was expected to succeed Pei You, was not the most popular Pei Mingyuan. He had served as the Jingzhao Yin twice and Li Gan, the current governor of Shanzhou. This was indeed beyond the expectations of many people.

However, after being shocked, people have to admire Zhang Huan's knowledge of people. Liu Yan is known as the God of Wealth in the Tang Dynasty. During the four years he was in charge of the Salt Iron Supervision, the court's fiscal revenue from salt tax was as high as 7 million guan each year. The salt price was within the scope that the people could bear. It was mainly due to his attack on private salt and the cleaning of the gray links in the salt industry monopoly. He served as the Minister of Revenue; while Li Gan was smart and skillful, understood the people's conditions, and had a great reputation when he was the Jingzhao Yin. Moreover, he was known for his integrity and courage to advise, and he was indeed the most suitable candidate for his position as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

As Cui and Pei families faded out of the high-level politics of the Tang Dynasty, this means the official end of the era of the seven major families. However, the end of the seven major families does not mean the decline of the power of the aristocratic families. In fact, the major families still have strong local strength. They still have mixed influences in the court through marriage, disciples and other relationships. The most important thing is that they are strong and have sufficient financial and material resources to cultivate family children. Cui, Pei, Wei, Lu, Fang, Wang, Chu, Changsun and other aristocratic families are like centipede insects, and they die without being stiff. In order to completely cut off the foundation of the aristocratic family, Zhang Huan sacrificed the biggest weapon of the real-name land system, which frightened the major families, as if they were at the end of their lives. In the past two months, major aristocratic families have secretly connected to find countermeasures, and Pei You is one of the most active among them.

In the study, Pei You was explaining some precautions to Pei Sheng, the second son who was preparing to serve as governor in Guangzhou. Pei Sheng was a Jinshi in the 14th year of Qingzhi. He went from chief clerk, county magistrate, and county magistrate to governor step by step. He had rich experience in local officials. According to the principle of separation of power between the monarch and the prime minister, the appointments of officials above the third rank, the Censorate, the ministers of various ministries, and the governors of each state all belonged to the emperor's authority. This time, Zhang Huan appointed Pei Sheng as governor of Guangzhou, which was also a kind of care for Pei You to withdraw from the prime minister.

However, Pei Sheng was not happy. Guangzhou is located in Lingnan and has been a barren exile since ancient times. Although there are ports to trade, many officials with similar conditions have served as the governor of fertile lands such as Hedong, Hebei, and Jianghuai. In contrast, he felt that he had been demoted, and it seemed a bit sad to say goodbye to his father.

"This time the child is thousands of miles away. I don't know when he will return to Chang'an. The child cannot serve his father. I hope his father will take care of his health and not let him worry."

Pei You was also a little sad, but he saw that his son was depressed and knew that he thought Guangzhou was a barbaric land. He didn't understand the profound meaning of the emperor's appointment of him as the governor of Guangzhou, so he patiently enlightened him: "My son, don't think Guangzhou is a barbaric land. In fact, this is a very promising local official. Unfortunately, that fool Cui Xian didn't understand this. He had been a governor in Guangzhou for such a long time. My son could be the governor of Guangzhou. I think this is the emperor's favor, but it is more promising than those governors who were in Jianghuai and Hedong."

Seeing his son stunned, he continued to smile and enlighten him, "Why do I say that? It is mainly because my Tang Dynasty is about to sign a peace agreement with Dashi. As one of the attachments is to encourage both sides to develop trade. According to the court's plan, Guangzhou will be the main port for my Tang Dynasty to trade with Dashi. In the future, not only will Dashi merchant ships gather in Guangzhou, but the court will also encourage my Tang Dynasty merchants to go to sea for trade. I can imagine that the prosperity of Guangzhou's business will begin next year, and the prosperity of business will be no less than that of Yangzhou in a few years. The emperor once told me that he had plans to put the market in a certain market. The rebel moved from Yangzhou to Guangzhou, which is one of them. Secondly, the climate in Lingnan is hot and the precipitation is abundant. The rice there is said to be ripe three times a year. In order to ensure the output of our Tang Dynasty grain, the emperor has ordered the five Lingnan governments to implement military camps. On the other hand, the court is also considering immigrating to Guangzhou, so that Guangzhou can become another granary for our Tang Dynasty. As the governor of Guangzhou, whether in foreign trade or agricultural development, this is a treasure land that is extremely easy to achieve political achievements. My son is in his prime and wants to be a governor in Guangzhou, which will become your greatest qualification to become a prime minister in the future."

Pei Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, and a strange light flashed in his eyes. At this moment, he wanted to fly to Guangzhou to realize his ambitions. Pei You saw that his son had been persuaded by him, and he was very pleased and further encouraged him: "Everyone says that Pei Mingyuan is the future of the Pei family, but I don't think it is necessary. If my son can seize this opportunity, make outstanding achievements in Guangzhou, and win a good reputation among the people, your future achievements will not be inferior to being a father."

Pei Sheng nodded silently. He secretly vowed to make the family and make the world look at him with admiration. At this time, a servant's report came from the door, "Master, Madam is here."

"Oh! Let her come in quickly." Pei You hurriedly ordered his wife to come in. Early in the morning, he asked his wife to bring a letter to the palace to the queen. He had been waiting for his wife's reply, but he didn't want his son to get involved in this matter, so he said to Pei Sheng: "You go first! Take your wife and children with you this time, take a few days to rest, and choose a good day to go on your way."

"Then the child will take his leave first." Pei Sheng retreated and happened to meet Mrs. Qian who entered the house at the door, so he gave her a gift and walked quickly. Mrs. Qian saw Pei Sheng's back disappear, and then walked into the room. It was the first time she entered her husband's study, and she felt a little uncomfortable. She bowed and said, "Master, I believe I have handed it to the Queen."

"Then how did she answer you?" Pei You asked impatiently.

Mrs. Qian shook her head, "The Empress said nothing. She burned it after reading the letter, and then said that there was something wrong in the palace and sent me out."

"Burn it!" Pei You cried out in a panic. He never expected that Pei Ying would burn the letter. Extreme disappointment emerged from his face. This time the real-name land system had a very serious impact on the Pei family. According to the land granting standards, the current 13,000 hectares of land in the Pei family can only retain 1,200 hectares of land, and the remaining 10,000 hectares of land will be confiscated as a homeless land. This is a catastrophe for the Pei family. Without land support, the Pei family is like a dead water at the source, leaving only a pool of stagnant water, which will be completely defeated within ten years. Although some clan members also suggested doing business, how could the Pei family have been a prominent family for generations to damage their identity as business.

As the head of the Pei family, Pei You worked hard for the past two months to find all possible solutions. He once asked Yang Yanjin to persuade the emperor to go online, but Zhang Huan's firm attitude made him realize that the so-called real-name land system is actually directed at the aristocratic family. Wanting Zhang Huan to make concessions is undoubtedly a trick to get a tiger. In desperation, he had to turn to Pei Ying to see if she could make Zhang Huan make concessions slightly to the Pei family. After all, the Pei family is the prince's uncle, but Pei Ying actually burned the letter. This cold attitude made him really difficult to accept.

Pei You couldn't say a word for a long time. Could it be that he just watched the Pei family's land disappear? Pei You was in a very heavy mood. It was him and Zhang Huan who had reached the conditions to retain 10,000 hectares of land, and the Pei family disbanded the army, but now he was asked to face the family's questioning.

At this moment, a family member hurried in with a roll of pigeon letter, "Master, Xiangzhou's urgent letter."

Pei You hurriedly opened the pigeon letter, and he was stunned.

In the harem, Pei Ying was packing her husband. In a few days, her husband would leave Chang'an to inspect Suiye. It would take at least half a year to come back. After her husband left, the emperor would be punished by the emperor. This made Pei Ying both sad and happy. She was very complicated. On the one hand, the emperor grew up and also meant that she was old. Pei Ying sat blankly on the couch. She couldn't help but remember when the emperor was just born, she helped Cui Ning set up the school with her big belly. That day, the emperor was born. At that time, she was only seventeen years old and was still in Wuwei. But sixteen years have passed, and the years are so short.

Pei Ying sighed softly, lowered her head and folded a few underwear for her husband. The husband spent the night in Pingping today, which also made her feel relieved. Otherwise, she would not be able to talk to her husband about the Pei family. This morning, the second uncle actually asked her to send her a letter to him, and the letter actually asked her to plead with the emperor to relax the land standards of the Pei family. Pei Ying certainly knew that the real-name land system would cause the Pei family to suffer major losses, but this was the plan that her husband had planned for several years. It can be seen that he had thought deeply that he was his wife and should support him, not to drag him back. Moreover, as the queen of a country, how could he make such a hole for his family and make people laugh at the world? More importantly, the prince was just named the prince. If the husband was disgusted with him because of this incident, it would definitely endanger the prince's position.

Pei Ying didn't know that Zhang Huan officially enthroned Qi'er as the crown prince was the result of repeated consultations with the prime ministers. It was considered from the future of the Tang Dynasty and had nothing to do with personal feelings. She always believed that the enthronement of the crown prince was because Qi'er was the eldest son. She also knew that Zhang Huan's favorite son was the second son Li Gui, and her favorite princess was her daughter Li Qiu, which was considered a balance with Cui Ning. However, the one who inherited the throne was the son rather than the daughter. A few years ago, Pei Ying was very worried that her husband would make Gui'er the crown prince. He once said more than once that Gui'er was very similar to his years.

When he was young, Pei Ying also admitted that Gui'er was bolder, tougher, and more persevering than Qi'er. Since he was ten years old, he would get up before dawn every day to go to the forest of Xi'neiyuan to study and practice swords until noon. He had never stopped for several years, but his Qi'er could not do it. But in the end, her husband still conferred Qi'er as the crown prince and also conferred Gui'er as the king of Shaanxi. This made Pei Ying always feel a sense of crisis. Qi'er's position as the crown prince was not solid, so she was more cautious because of this. So at noon, she would not agree to the matter when the second uncle asked him to plead for the Pei family.
Chapter completed!