Chapter 732 The long road to Chang’an

Xiao Shougui stayed out of some military matters. He knew very well what his position was. He was just a spokesman for His Highness Taisun here, but he could only take care of some political matters and some matters in the army. You can't interfere. If you are caught by the military regime, you are not far from danger.

When Xiao Shougui came, his grandfather told him a lot. It's one thing for His Majesty the Grand Sun to value you. You must also understand your own status. If you become arrogant, you don't know how high you are. At such a height, if you want to interfere in anything, then you are not far from death.

If it were in Chang'an City, no matter what wrong things Xiao Shougui had done, people would have spared his life for the sake of his grandfather and his mother. But now we are in Gaochang, which has nominally surrendered to the Great Wall. Tang, but the actual security situation is not very good either.

If someone pretends to be a bandit in the wasteland and kills Xiao Shougui directly, then others can't say anything except to step up the pursuit of the murderer. Although his family is a wealthy family, its power has not reached this wasteland. When the time comes, whatever result someone gives him, his grandfather will have to listen.

Of course, the Cheng family brothers were very happy about Li Xiang's transfer order. They came out here just to make contributions. If they continued to return to Chang'an City, why did they come out?

Su Dingfang has not returned to Chang'an City for a long time, and he should go home to see him. We haven't seen him at home for such a long time. If he says he doesn't miss him, it would be a lie.

Choosing an auspicious day, Li Xiang and Su Dingfang hurriedly set out on the road. In addition to this batch of gold and silver treasures, Su Dingfang also brought a thousand cavalry under his men to protect them. Even if they entered the territory of the Tang Dynasty, they would carry such It is also a very dangerous thing to have a lot of money, so these one thousand cavalry must be carried.

Li Shimin's imperial edicts have been issued several times, all urging Li Xiang to go to Chang'an City quickly. However, Li Xiang also had his own reasons. This time he went back with so much money and had to personally escort it. If there was anything in between If something goes wrong, I'm afraid I won't be able to bear the responsibility.

Li Shimin was a little angry at first. He felt that Li Xiang didn't take his words seriously. I had already asked you to rush back to Chang'an City. You actually said that there were still some things that had not been dealt with here. But when you saw what happened next. When he received four million dollars of gold and silver treasures, Li Shimin immediately shut his mouth.

Everyone knows this without hitting the gift giver, not to mention that these gifts are worth one-eighth of the fiscal revenue. Li Shimin has long wanted to repair the Yellow River embankment, but it will require nearly 3 million yuan. Money, this is by no means a small amount of money. If the national treasury is allowed to provide this money, holes may appear in other places.

Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Yellow River has been basically acting like a monster. Due to lack of money, the court can only make repairs in some small areas. This cannot change the current situation at all. If you want to spend decades in peace, If so, it must be overhauled across the board.

Everyone in the court knows this, especially some officials from the Ministry of Industry, but the problem is that we don’t have that much money. No matter how well your plan is written, there will be no way to implement it in the end.

This time, we finally have a source of funds. His Highness the Emperor Taisun has promised that the money will be paid out of this sum. If originally, this money was brought back from the Western Regions by His Highness the Emperor Taisun, then This money can only be used for the military, but this time it was made clear that it would be used specifically to repair the Yellow River embankment, which would also benefit all people.

In this case, it doesn't matter how late Li Xiang comes back, as long as the safety of the money can be guaranteed. As for Nanzhao, although the time has been delayed, how dare they go to heaven for such a small country? ? We only need to send one or two officials over to explain, saying that something in the Western Region has been blocked, and we can just postpone it.

Although some people in Nanzhao were dissatisfied, facing such a behemoth, they could only swallow it with all their teeth knocked out. Although they could dominate the southwest, the entire country only had tens of thousands of troops. They couldn't even catch up with an army of the Tang Dynasty, so they could only endure it.

"I think your heart is already flying to Chang'an. You have been urging them to speed up along the way. Now it has reached the fastest speed. If you continue to speed up, these carriages will not be able to bear it."

Sitting in his carriage, Li Xiang heard Su Dingfang running back and forth several times. This guy kept ordering his men to speed up. Li Xiang could already feel the bumps. If he continued to speed up, these wooden The carriage might fall apart.

Hearing Li Xiang's words, Su Dingfang lowered his head and smiled in embarrassment. If there were no arrangements for him to go home, this guy wouldn't be so anxious. He is already on the road now, and he doesn't want to waste time on the road. .

"Your Highness, I am being reckless."

Counting the days, Su Dingfang has not returned to Chang'an City for two years. It is very normal to have such thoughts. His wife was pregnant when he left the capital, and now it is estimated that the child will be gone soon.

"I can understand your feelings, but this time we have a heavy responsibility, especially since we are escorting so much property. If something goes wrong, it will be difficult for us to explain to the court, especially since this money must be earmarked for special use. It is used for the repair of the Yellow River embankment, which affects millions or even tens of millions of people upstream and downstream."

If it were in the past, Li Xiang would definitely be able to let this guy take Jian Cong back to Chang'an with his men first, but this mission is different from the original one. This time he is bringing so much money. Li Xiang has no experience in this area. , if he were to be escorted, he really wouldn’t dare to do this.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, my subordinates will make good arrangements."

Su Dingfang said with some embarrassment. Speaking of which, he was also an old man in the military camp. Normally, he shouldn't make such a mistake, but this time it happened for a reason. He also thought that he could return to Chang'an City early to see his children. Communicating through letters is not as good as meeting in person...