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In the fifth year of Qianfu, August 5th, the Christmas of the Tang Dynasty, the Yingtian Festival.

Christmas in the Tang Dynasty means the birth festival of the saint, which is the emperor's birthday to put it bluntly. The emperor's birthday was established as a festival and became a festival, starting from Tang Xuanzong. On the fifth birthday of Tang Xuanzong in August, hundreds of officials are invited to build Christmas on the fifth day of August every year, called the Thousand Autumn Festival, and the whole country celebrates and has a three-day holiday.

Since then, the emperor's birthday in the Tang Dynasty has almost always been a legal holiday, but the name of each Christmas is different.

Tang Xuanzong's birthday is the Qianqiu Festival, and his son Suzong is the Tiancheng Diping Festival, or the Diping Festival. Xianzong's birthday was originally called "Nativity Day", and later changed to "Descending Saint Day" during the time of Emperor Wuzong; Wenzong's birthday is called "Qingcheng Festival"; Wu Zong's birthday is called "Qingyang Festival"; Xuanzong's birthday is called "Shouchang Festival"; Yizong's birthday is called "Yanqing Festival";

And today's birthday of the Son of Heaven is called "Yingtian Festival", and Xuanzong was born on the same month and day.

The Christmas of the Son of Heaven is a very grand festival, except that all parts of the world have to celebrate with the whole country, and the big holiday is three days.

As usual, the Supreme Honor, offering details, all kinds of strange things, also took advantage of this time to appear.

Lu Xian and the ministers of the political affairs hall led the ministers to the emperor to pay homage to the emperor: the Holy Spirit is wise, benevolent, philosopher, and filial piety.

At the same time, the details of various places are not progressing.

Xichuan Festival is dedicated to the details of Rui: a pair of red exemptions.

The Tiande Army presented a white wolf.

Jing Haijun presents details: four white elephants.

There is also a town navy to offer details: a pair of white foxes and two white deer.

For a time, all kinds of white-furried animals all over the world were unlucky, such as white wolves, white apes, white elephants, white foxes, white deer, white rabbits, white bears, white tigers, and so on. A variety of white-furred animals that were originally extremely rare. At once, countless were captured by various feudal towns, prefectures and counties. Competing to offer Chang'an.

If you can't catch these white-furred animals, you can only find ways to find all kinds of Jiahe and Ganoderma lucidum, and even all kinds of trees to offer to Chang'an.

After all, these are still in kind, and some local officials are even blowing directly, what is the bodhi seed descending from the sky, and many Ganoderma lucidum with the words Long Live the Tang Dynasty grow on the roof beams. There are also inscriptions such as the rising water in the river, the thousand-year-old turtle floating, and the world is peaceful. There are even mountain fissures. Flowing out of sweet springs and so on.

In short, as soon as the emperor celebrates his birthday, the entire world is in chaos.

However, this nonsense is generally some of the states and counties below.

As for the festival commanders of each town, at this time, they generally have to grit their teeth and offer a sum of money and food to the emperor, and the number is not less. If it is less than 100,000, it is embarrassing to send it to Chang'an.

The supply of the towns in the world is getting smaller and smaller, and the revenue of the two taxes is not enough to spend, and the Son of Heaven relies on several major festivals every year. Collect the contributions of each town and fill the emptiness in the treasury of the lower treasury.

The birthday gift of the town marshal to pay tribute to the emperor. It is also painstaking, and one is more valuable than the other.

Needless to say, in previous years, the feudal towns were naturally the most valuable tribute paid by Li Jing, the commander of the Zhenguo Army. The year before last, on the Yingtian Festival, Li Jing paid a tribute of one million yuan. Last year, it was a tribute worth 5 million guan in one go.

Everyone is speculating about how much tribute Li Jing will pay this year, and some people are speculating that Li Jing will pay tens of millions of tributes this year. After all, Li Jing was crowned the king of the county this year, and won Liaodong and Liaoxi, and owned the territory of sixteen states, and the commerce and trade of Dengzhou were also unusually prosperous, how could he not show loyalty to the Son of Heaven.

However, Li Jing's tribute has not yet arrived, but the congratulatory gifts of the three people, such as the envoy of the Sanchuan Festival, Chen Jingxuan of the Xichuan Festival, Yang Shili of the Dongchuan Festival, and Niu Miao, the envoy of the Shannan Dongdao Festival, attracted the attention of the people of Chang'an. Three Tian Lingzi's henchmen who relied on gambling to obtain the position of the envoy of the Sanchuan Festival, this time they brought a full hundred ships of rare treasures, gold and silver, and their total value reached 10 million yuan.

The tributes of these three festival envoys shook the entire Chang'an.

Guarding Tianfu Shuzhong, there are three rivers, which can be regarded as the richest place in the Tang Dynasty without war.

However, it is not voluntary for the three of them to pay so much tribute at once, in fact, all the tributes paid by the three of them add up, and the last one is about three million guan, Tian Lingzi for the sake of face, turned the number three times and made 10 million guan.

Originally, Tian Lingzi asked them to get 10 million, but even if Sanchuan was rich, these three people had been desperately searching since they entered Sichuan, but 10 million was not a small number. They also knew that under the pressure of Tian Lingzi, the imperial court was constantly fighting, and the southeast, a source of wealth, had been subjected to military rebellions, and the supply to the court was becoming less and less.

Tian Lingzi wanted to be in charge of the government, so he had to let the emperor play wholeheartedly, but there was no money in the inner treasury, the emperor was not happy, and his position was not guaranteed.

In particular, after the tax officials and city envoys he sent to Dengzhou were not heard from for a long time, and Li Jing did not send a penny to Chang'an in July, Tian Lingzi was now becoming more and more nervous. On this Yingtian Festival, Tian Lingzi hoped to get a large sum of money, which could meet the needs of the emperor on the one hand, and use it to support the imperial court.

However, not everyone will give a large gift to the Son of Heaven at this time.

Yu Xuan of the Zhenwu Army gave the Son of Heaven ten horses, and Xin Yan of the Datong Army gave the Son of Heaven nine bricks of the Yan Great Wall during the Warring States Period.

Cui Anqian, the secretary of the ministry, gave the emperor a pair of calligraphy and paintings written by himself, and Zheng Congyan gave the emperor a handful of soil from Hedong.

The tribute given to the emperor by the former prime minister Zheng Zheng is a picture scroll depicting the daily life of ordinary people in Fengxiang

Li Yi, the son of heaven who returned from playing polo, and Zhang Tai, Ximen Sigong, Yang Fugong, Tian Lingzi and other ministers, under the guidance of the chamberlain, inspected and watched all kinds of tribute gifts and gift lists.

Everyone's faces were very happy, and the gifts they received this time were very rich.

"After my birthday, I was able to make a fortune." Li Yi looked at the gift list registered by the chamberlain, and Sanchuan alone paid a tribute of 10 million yuan. In addition, Gao Yu of Huainan Town and Zhou Bao of Zhenhai Town both paid tribute of one million guan.

Even the Taining Army's Queen-in-law Qi Kerang, who drove away Yang Zhizhi, the Probation Army's Queen-in-law Shi Pu, who drove away the Jieshuai's detailed support, and the newly appointed Tianping Army's Jiedu envoy Duan Yanmo. They also paid a million tributes each. He heard that the Reform Army, the Taining Army, and the Tianping Army had been plagued by bandits for several years. Unexpectedly. These three people were able to come up with such a heavy tribute. It's really commendable, and he said with a smile at the moment: "The Tianping Army Festival makes Duan Yanmo loyal, and I will add General Zuo Jin Wuwei to him." The Taining Army Qi Kerang and the probation army Shi Pu were also loyal, so they officially issued an order to be promoted to the envoy of the town. ”

The few big eunuchs present naturally knew how the millions of tributes of these people came from, and it was nothing more than forcibly apportioned from the common people and wealthy families. Moreover, this Qi Kerang and Shi Pu were not loyal, but they just came to power by driving out the Wenchen Jieshuai appointed by the imperial court and mutiniing. In the end, it's just some local military leaders. But. But no one said anything.

Although Qi Kerang, Shi Pu, and Duan Yanmo were not loyal courtiers, the money they sent over was real money.

Tian Lingzi smiled, and did not stop in front of those rare treasures, but stopped in front of Cui Anqian's picture of words.

"This birthday gift of Tianguan is very special."

Li Yi just glanced at it, "Cui Shangshu is also a member of the Cui family, and he only writes the sub-words, I don't know if Lu Dao should say that he is attentive or stingy." But Zheng Zhen and Zheng Congyan are all like this. If the court is like them, I will be born. But that's fine. ”

"The Cui and Zheng clans can be described as the world's most famous clans, especially when I heard that the two clans are now joining forces with Li Jiyu in Dengzhou to engage in maritime trade. Every year, I earn a lot of money, but I only send one or two pairs of worthless calligraphy and paintings, hehe. Tian Lingzi said with a dark smile on the side.

Li Yi's brows furrowed when he heard this, obviously a little annoyed, but he still didn't say anything after that.

"But I don't know what the birthday gift of the king of Andong County is?" Li Yi, who had been staring at the registration account book, suddenly frowned and asked. Since the beginning of this year, Li Jing has donated one million yuan of money to Chang'an every month, which is really the most gratifying thing for Li Jing. The steady stream of money sent from Dengzhou made Li Yi very fond of Li Jing, the pillar city of the country.

However, since July, Chang'an has not received any gifts from Dengzhou, which can't help but make him feel a little puzzled.

Tian Lingzi on the side saw that the emperor finally asked about this, and immediately pouted to the inner attendant, and immediately the inner attendant brought a scroll over.

Li Yi was stunned for a moment, Cui and Zheng ministers all sent some calligraphy and painting soil, could it be that Li Jing also sent him paintings?

"Is it another painting?"

Tian Lingzi smiled in his heart, "When you open it, you will know it." ”

He already knew what Li Jing sent, this year's Yingtian Festival, there was neither gold, silver, copper coins, nor silk cloth, neither salt tea, nor tribute wine, rose dew, and no glassware and clairvoyant mirrors, war horses and famous horses.

Since Li Jing was seven years old, he sent an envoy to Dengzhou, and now he has only sent a painting.

The two chamberlains unfolded the scroll, revealing a map in front of everyone's eyes.

In the upper right corner of this half-room-sized map, a large line of characters is written in thin gold font: "Andong Mountains and Rivers Situation Map"

On the huge map, on the vast Liaohe River Basin, many rivers crisscross and crisscross, and then the undulating Yanshan Mountains, Yinshan Yumai, Qianshan Mountains, Changbai Mountain Ranges, etc. On this group of mountains and hills and the plain of the Liaohe River, there are depicted city fortresses everywhere, which are the cities of the Tang Dynasty.

Around these red-colored areas are the Xi, Tatar, Khitan, Murowei, Goguryeo, Silla, Bohai, and Dongying kingdoms.

Looking at the overall situation, the Zhenguo Army has already occupied the place of victory, and has formed a trend of burning the prairies, and the entire northeast is trembling under the iron hooves of the Tang Dynasty!

The young Son of Heaven Li Yi looked up at this huge map for a long time, his face gradually flushed, his breathing couldn't help but be short, and his chest continued to rise and fall.

Looking at this map, the young man couldn't help but arouse a lot of pride in his heart. At that time, Emperor Taizong personally drove to conquer Liaodong, and Emperor Gaozong transferred troops to conquer Liaodong for more than ten years, and laid down a huge Andong Protectorate. After the Anshi Rebellion, Datang had already completely lost the land of Anton, not only the land of Andong, but also Anxi and Anbei.

Looking at this picture, for Li Jing, for Zhenguojun, and for the land of Anton, the young son of heaven Li Yi suddenly had a new understanding.

He stood solemnly in front of the picture, silent for a long time.

Tian Lingzi and Lu Xi glanced at each other, and both of them showed worry in their eyes.

Li Yi returned to Hanliang Palace, still thinking about Li Jing's birthday gift.

Although Tian Lingzi took the opportunity to mention to him just now that Li Jing had cut off tribute to the imperial court since July, he faintly accused Li Jing of being dissenting and supporting the army and other crimes. However, Zhang Tai retorted loudly and said something he didn't know. That is, before Lu and Tian Lingzi sent a tax collector to Dengzhou to collect taxes. Moreover, the tax collection is extremely heavy, and it will cost two-thirds of the entire Dengzhou tax revenue at the beginning.

Zhang Tai explained to him the situation in the states under Li Jing, and although there were sixteen states, the vast majority of them were newly recovered states. Even the Qingzi Qi Prefectures in Ziqing Town were previously destroyed by Wang Jingwu. Moreover, although Dengzhou's maritime trade has achieved some results, Li Jing has taken out most of the money earned by the maritime trade in recent years to accept refugees and displaced people, buy food for disaster relief, and resettle the people.

On the one hand, it is necessary to do it for the use of the army, the Zhenguo army has been dispatched several times to fight for the country, fighting Youzhou, Vadaibei, Pingzhongyuan, and Fu'andong.

Moreover, it also provides 2 million guan of salt, tea and iron taxes to the imperial court every year, and also pays 12 million guan of money every year. Li Jing was so loyal to the country, and he also told the previous Gao Yu and others to intercept Li Jing's trade routes, seize Li Jing's goods, and seal Li Jing's shop.

This time, Li Jing did not pay tribute to the imperial court, not because Li Jing was disloyal, but because now that the battle to destroy Goguryeo in Liaodong has reached a critical time, Li Jing invested most of the money and grain in the battle in Liaodong, as well as building roads and cities in Liaodong and Liaoxi, and relocating the people. At the same time, Gao Biao transferred troops to the Zhenguo Army, and Li Jing sent 40,000 soldiers and horses south to help in the war, but Gao Biao did not provide food and wages, and Li Jing had to come up with a lot of money to supply the southbound army.

Fighting on both sides, he also had to build roads and cities in eastern and western Liaoning, and resettle a large number of immigrants, so Li Jing had no extra money in his hands at all.

Zhang Tai also told Li Yi that Li Jing had already issued war bonds in Dengzhou and borrowed money from Fufu to use troops.

The effect of these words was very good, and Li Yi did not doubt Li Jing's meaning in the first place. Especially after seeing that map, I was even more enthusiastic about what Li Jing did. An explanation immediately made him understand what Li Jing had done. Not only was he dissatisfied with Li Jing's lack of tribute, but he was also very dissatisfied with Tian Lingzi and Lu carrying him behind his back to raise taxes on Li Jing.

His Majesty, Li Jiyu said that in the eighty-ninety, eleventh-fourteenth month of this year, one million yuan will be sent to the imperial court every month, of which two million will be two taxes and two million will be salt, tea and iron taxes. As for other contributions, Li Jiyu said that he would suspend and use this money and grain to fully support the war in the northeast and the suppression of bandits in the south. ”

It's rare, the little emperor didn't think much about it, so he nodded and agreed.

However, now Li Yi is not thinking about the matter of dedication, he is still excited about the battle of Na Andong to expand the territory.

After this Yingtian Festival, it is the seventeen-year-old Li Yi, which can be said to be the most enthusiastic time. The horsemen in the palace archery and batting and fighting have made him gradually lose interest. When he saw the picture of mountains and rivers, he suddenly had an idea, like Emperor Taizong, to personally conquer Liaodong, gallop outside the pass, and establish an immortal feat like Taizong.

He dragged his cheeks, and his thoughts were flooding. (To be continued......)