Chapter 385 The situation has changed

Lu Dongzan looked at the imperial edict carefully. He had stayed in Chang'an City before, and naturally knew that the hierarchy of the Tang Dynasty was strict. If Li Xiang pretended to be the edict, he would probably be guilty of a big crime, even if he was the emperor's wife. Sun couldn't afford it, not to mention that there were several children from other big families in this tent, and these people couldn't afford it even more.

Although they may be Li Xiang's best friends, they also have hundreds of people in their family. If they dare to do this, it will be equivalent to putting these hundreds of people in danger. Once If someone revealed this matter, their whole family might be put to death.

Therefore, Lu Dongzan concluded that this imperial edict was true. After counting the dates above, it was indeed sent a month and a half ago. The soldiers must have not rested on the road, so they sent it to Tibet at this point. It seemed that it was very Northern Tang Dynasty is indeed experiencing war.

If this is the case, then food must be settled faster, even if the price is high. Everyone knows that the price of food rises fastest during the war, and the price at noon is often much higher than in the morning. , if you are still hesitating at this time, then you are just waiting to starve!

"Your Highness, there is no need to worry. It is just a Goguryeo country. I once heard someone say that this is just a small country. It cannot compare with your Tang Dynasty. It cannot even catch up with Tuyuhun. Why should you worry?"

Lu Dongzan felt a little disgusted when he said this. He was very familiar with the history of the Han people. At that time, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Goryeo three times and almost exhausted the national power of the Sui Dynasty. Now it is so easy to say that if the Tang Dynasty also If you can't get it, they will have something to say when the time comes.

"The Prime Minister is right, but we in the Tang Dynasty like to go all out when doing things. Even if the opponent is a small country, we must show our true strength. I have suggested to my grandfather before that we should mobilize a large number of The army went to Liaodong and tried to wipe out them all at once. However, there was insufficient food and grass at that time, but now the Tang Dynasty has enough food and grass..."

Li Xiang doesn't have that much free time to talk nonsense with him here. Even if we want to talk nonsense, we have to be friends. Not only are we not friends, but others are possible, so two or three sentences We are leading them to the grain and fodder, and we are also forcing you people to bid. If you don’t bid, then we will be on the road. You will spend this winter in hunger!

Lu Dongzan felt unhappy. Of course he understood what Li Xiang meant. If anyone spoke first, they would lose the opportunity in the negotiation. But now Tubo has no cards to play. Just like Songtsan Qian It's the same as what Bu said. If the Tang Dynasty really controlled food, maybe the Tubo Dynasty would collapse, and a new dynasty would emerge by then.

Of course, Li Xiang would never do this. If a new unified dynasty emerged, it would be of no benefit to the Tang Dynasty. The current situation is the most beneficial. The central and local governments of Tubo are in chaos. If we fight for one more month, your comprehensive national strength will drop by at least 3%, and it will drop by about 40% in a year. When we finish Goguryeo next year, will you still have the strength in Tibet?

Some people may not be able to see clearly Li Xiang's long-term plan, but Li Shimin can see it clearly. Therefore, although Li Shimin feels a little uncomfortable with many of Li Xiang's decisions, he also knows that this is the one that is most likely to bring down Tubo. Strategy, so Li Shimin gave the green light to Li Xiang's requests. Otherwise, how could so many people cooperate? This is in the interests of Datang and Li Shimin.

"It's just Goguryeo. The Tang Dynasty has a vast territory and a large amount of grain output. Will it affect the price of grain in the Tang Dynasty?"

Lu Dongzan has already begun to prepare for the negotiation. If the conversation continues according to Li Xiang's words, it is estimated that the price of food in Chang'an City will increase two or three times, and then when it comes to Tubo, it will not be forty cents. Things will probably double.

"The Prime Minister's words are wrong. The Prime Minister does not understand the situation of our Tang Dynasty. This time the Emperor is planning to send 200,000 troops to conquer Goguryeo. It will take at least a year for the 200,000 troops to finish the task. We will not have enough food for this year. You have to be prepared.”

Li Xiang saw that there was no substantive negotiation, so he mobilized Qin Huaiyu with a glance. What are you people doing here? You should all get involved. Let's work together to deceive the prime minister and wait until the price is good. , we will definitely give you dividends.

What Qin Huaiyu said is half true and half false, because there is no news from the Tang Dynasty in Tubo. Of course, it may be received after a while, but it is indeed not available now. The matter of sending 200,000 troops to conquer Goguryeo may be true. After all, At that time, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty raised an army of millions.

If the way things were done by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was followed, it is very likely that Li Shimin would also send troops. Two hundred thousand should be a very small number. If this is really the case, then according to Lu Dongzan's speculation, the Tang Dynasty Domestic food prices will rise.

The Jiangnan region produces more grain, so the price should increase by about one to two times. The Guanzhong region is also a grain producing area, but it has a large population, so the price of grain should increase by about three times. Even the price in Chang'an City can increase by three times, so if it is shipped to It will definitely be higher in Tubo, and there may be a series of policies, such as not allowing grain exports, so the price...

"Your Highness, the food issue we discussed before..."

After Lu Dongzan thought about these things clearly, he was really a little anxious. Unfortunately, before he finished speaking, Li Xiang came over shaking his head and waving his hands, obviously disagreeing with what happened before.

"I would have forgotten if the Prime Minister didn't mention this. Fortunately, we didn't reach an agreement before. Our country needs 200,000 troops of military rations, and they need to be transported to Liaodong in advance. So now the food prices everywhere are skyrocketing. The Prime Minister also You can ask, and you can get results in two or three days, so fortunately we didn't reach an agreement. If we had reached an agreement, I would still have to buy food for you at a loss."

Li Xiang shook his head and said, feeling as if he was surviving a catastrophe. If all this was true, Li Xiang would indeed have lost money based on the price of twenty-five cents that day...