Chapter Seventy-Eight: Is It Necessary to Build a Hundred Five-Tooth Battleships?

Li Xiuning thought about it, since entering the territory of Anxi, the road is three points smoother than the road in Guanzhong.

At this moment, a gong was suddenly heard.

Li Xiuning looked at Chen Ying and asked, "What's going on?" ”

"Oh, it's time for dinner, it's time for dinner." The official had obviously recognized Chen Ying's identity, and he was very excited to explain to Li Xiuning: "The general must be hungry too, just in time for a meal!" ”

Li Xiuning was actually not hungry at all, of course, the most important thing was that these meals were prepared for homeless people and war slaves, even if they were good, they were not much better.

Chen Ying nodded and said, "That's fine!" ”

Although Chen Ying is the protector of Anxi, he has not been taken special care of.

Under the leadership of the officials, Chen Ying and others came to the canteen. This canteen covers an area of not small, as large as three or four hundred acres of land, and the ground is compacted with lime and mud, which is very smooth. Although the exterior wall has the characteristics of Anxi, due to the cold weather in Anxi in winter, it turns into ice.

The walls here are not ordinary mud walls, nor are they blue brick walls, but are built with fire walls, and the walls of the outhouse are the same as those of the Central Plains, with load-bearing and defensive functions, and the inner side is made of tree bricks to form a thin wall, between the two layers of walls, there is a fireworks channel, once the fire kang is burning, the excess heat will follow the fire wall, surrounding the whole room.

Outside the walls, the cold wind howled, like a knife. But inside the house, it was very warm. Even without a thermometer, Chen Ying felt that the indoor temperature was definitely more than twenty-five degrees.

The construction of this kind of canteen is like an industrial factory in later generations, with a roof as high as six zhang, about 150 steps wide, and more than 1,000 steps long. Twenty tables are arranged in a row, neatly arranged. In the hall of the cafeteria, there was a buzzing sound everywhere, and the craftsmen and war slaves were talking excitedly.

Li Xiuning suddenly found that many of these homeless people were hungry to the bone, and some of the children had very large heads, which were obviously disproportionate to their bodies.

Dozens of officials were on the scene to maintain order, and they shouted: "No need to squeeze, no need to squeeze, no need to worry, when you come to Anxi, your heart will be in your stomach, and before you are settled, all the food will be taken care of by the government." You don't have to pay for it. ”

A little girl beside Li Xiuning who had yellow hair and looked malnourished smiled excitedly: "Mother, they say they don't need money to eat!" ”

An equally thin woman, coughing, patted the little girl's head and said, "Nier, don't worry, you'll be able to eat later!" ”

This scene made Li Xiuning feel sad.

The people who received the food in the front row began to turn around and go to find a place to eat under the leadership of the officials.

Li Xiuning saw that these people did not have a bowl in their hands, just an iron box like a tray, the iron box had four compartments, and in the lattice there was porridge, and there were also two steamed buns or three, as well as a small pile of unknown vegetables, and a piece of meat the size of a palm.

Chen Ying raised pigs in captivity by castration in Anxi, and the average supply of meat was very sufficient. Even the war slaves with the lowest status have two taels of meat every day.

These people have been hungry for too long, and they have not been given anything to eat, or they will have diarrhea.

Those people who received the food had words in their mouths, and Xie An vaguely heard that it was saying: "Thank you, long live Your Majesty."

From time to time, a servant shouted: "Don't move, everyone will have food, don't worry about not receiving your food." Meals should not be discarded at will, knowing that waste is shameful. ”

Li Xiuning smiled dumbly, this sentence is obviously superfluous, the homeless people wandered here from the Guannei, and they suffered enough along the way, not to mention that they would waste it, even if they put a knife on their necks, they would not necessarily throw away the food in their hands.

At this moment, Li Xiuning saw a man dressed as a down-and-out gentleman receiving food in front.

The man asked, "Are you a scholar?" ”

The down-and-out gentleman smiled and nodded.

The man sang: "One Confucian scholar, four taels of rice, half a catty of porridge, enough steamed buns, and two dishes." ”

Li Xiuning looked at Chen Ying puzzled: "Why does he eat more if he doesn't suffer from widowhood but unevenness?" ”

Chen Ying smiled bitterly: "The world is bustling, all for profit, the world is bustling, all for profit." ”

Chen Ying actually has no choice, there are many unfairness in him. For example, ordinary people and displaced people who come to Anxi can get houses planned by the government, as well as farming tools, seeds, and even cattle from Tongli Qianzhuang. Of course, these are not free, all of them are paid. And it has to bear half of the interest.

But the scholars are different, as long as they come to Anxi, they can not only get a three-entry courtyard covering an area of two or three acres, but also get an official position. Although it has been more than six years since the Western Regions Protectorate became the territory of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court has basically taken no action except for the appointment of more than 300 officials to Anxi.

However, most of these officials are from bad backgrounds, or they are from the side branches of the family lords. However, in a county or a state, it is not enough to have officials, but also to have officials and clerks, and these are not officials in the stream, and no one will come at all. But the natives of Anxi, even counting the literate people, are estimated to be less than 3,000

In desperation, Chen Ying had no choice but to use preferential policies to attract scholars who could not get along in the Central Plains to come to Anxi, just like the investment promotion of later generations.

As long as the literacy can exceed 500, after the preliminary assessment, the minimum can also be obtained the official position of the sixth room or teaching.

Chen Ying suddenly saw a person who looked like a man looking at the food in a daze.

Chen Ying was surprised and said, "Why is the food not appetizing!" ”

The scholar choked up and said, "I thought that I would never have the opportunity to eat meat again in this life!" ”

Then the scholar began to gobble it up.

Chen Ying shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You have been hungry for too long. Don't eat too quickly. ”

A young scholar sighed: "The rice porridge is thick but not poured, there are fragrant side dishes, meat and fish, every day, how much grain does a county consume every year."

"There is no free lunch in the world, but I finally got a free lunch today."

……

Chang'an City, Taiji Palace Imperial Study.

Li Jiancheng held a wooden knife and muttered to himself: "Erlang, this time, we fought a big victory, a very big victory, and Jieli was also caught...... In the past, you always said that you should be glamorous, follow the example of the early Han Dynasty, and then send the princess to make peace...... Right now...... Our Datang is really ...... You don't have to rely on women to take refuge. ”

Li Jiancheng sighed and fell silent.

Li Jiancheng took a long time and continued: "Erlang, are you still resentful of being a brother? Oh, yes...... The country you want to sit on, the Danqi you want to scold Fang Xuan, now things are people...... I'm doing better than you...... The people of the Tang Dynasty have begun to enjoy the peaceful and prosperous world, and your wishes back then will be fulfilled one after another! ”

At this moment, Li Anyan said: "Your Majesty, General Li has arrived!" ”

Li Jiancheng got up and said, "Hurry up, please ......"

Li Jing came to the imperial study and saluted Li Jiancheng: "Your Majesty, the minister is a martial artist, he only knows how to fight in front of the army, arrange the troops, and most of the things in the court do not understand, in this life, he has nothing to do with the central political affairs, the position of the prime minister, the instrument is grand, and the extraordinary husband and vulgar can hope, His Majesty suddenly awarded the right servant of Shangshu to shoot, and the minister is afraid that it will ......."

Li Jiancheng waved his hand and said: "The pharmacist swept away the Turks, even if you talk about the merits, this Shangshu right servant shot should be awarded to you." This is not the only reason for the promotion of pharmacists. A few years ago, the court was full of martial arts veterans, and I wanted to appoint new people. I also have to think twice before acting, since I ascended the throne, although Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng have been promoted to the political hall, I always feel it. After thinking about something, I suddenly discovered the reason, that is, there is still a lack of a military master. ”

Li Jing's eyes widened.

Li Jiancheng smiled: "Is the pharmacist surprised? In fact, if you think about it, you will understand that all national policy research cannot be left out of the military. After the First Battle of Yinshan, the Turkic vitality has been extinguished, and it will be difficult to recover within a hundred years, even if there are small troubles, it will not hurt the overall situation. Is it that the world is too peaceful? Definitely! ”

Li Jing nodded in agreement.

Li Jiancheng said: "The world of Kyushu, east and west, north and south, east to the sea, north to the ice field, there is no enemy in the east that can threaten the Tang Dynasty, there is only one Goguryeo left in the north now, what about the south?" What about the west side? Have we ever taken back the people of the land of the original Han Dynasty? No! ”

Li Jing clenched his fists tightly.

Li Jiancheng said awe-inspiringly: "Pharmacist, Datang needs you, and needs you to plan the future national policy!" ”

Li Jing bowed down and said: "For Your Majesty, the ministers will fly the banner of the Tang Dynasty on the green ridge again." ”

Li Jiancheng waved his hand and said: "This matter is not in a hurry, General Chen has already gone to Anxi, presumably soon, he will use troops against the Green Ridge, what I am worried about is Liaodong, here!" ”

As he spoke, Li Jiancheng turned around and slapped the position of Datongjiang on the map.

Li Jing asked suspiciously: "Your Majesty means that you want to use troops against Goguryeo?" ”

Li Jiancheng said noncommittally: "Pharmacist, do you still remember which Eastern Crusade was the closest to victory in the previous dynasty?" ”

Li Jing said without thinking: "The first time ......"

Li Jiancheng smiled bitterly: "Yes, if it weren't for Yang Xuangan's rebellion, Goguryeo would have perished......"

Speaking of this, Li Jiancheng paused and said: "The pharmacist once organized the construction of warships in Bashu, and he must have a lot of experience in the construction of sailor warships!" ”

Li Jing nodded.

Li Jiancheng pointed to the map and said: "I plan to restart the construction of warships in Donglai, Buqi (now Qingdao), Jingkou (now Zhenjiang), and Woshi, and I plan to use three years in the four places to build 100 warships in Wuya......"

Li Jing was secretly surprised.

As the largest main warship in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Wuya warship had a five-story structure and was more than 100 feet high. Six racket rods are set up on the left and right, front and back, and are fifty feet high. Each mast is topped with a boulder, and a roller is set underneath, so that during battle and when an enemy ship is approaching, you can quickly use the roller to lower the boulder and smash the enemy ship. If you miss a hit, you can quickly put it away and put it away. If the enemy ships are surrounded on all sides, they can also "use six prongs at the same time," and their combat effectiveness can be seen.

Each of the Wuya warships can accommodate 800 soldiers, and 100 ships are 80,000 sailors. The most important thing is that the cost of the Wuya battleship is high, it is no exaggeration to say that each Wuya battleship is more than 100,000 yuan, if you count the sailor soldiers and the catapults and eight-bull crossbows, the cost of each ship is as high as 150,000 yuan.

Although today, the annual financial revenue of the Tang Dynasty has reached 8.7 million guan, however, to build a hundred ships is fifteen million guan, even Chen Ying, who is rich and rivals the country, actually can't build a few warships.

Li Jing was puzzled...... Is it really necessary to build a hundred five-tooth warships?