A few days later, the train arrived at Chang 'an City and stopped at the station. Everyone got off the train one by one. The welcoming ceremony at the station was very grand. Except for Emperor Li Longji, the rest of the princes and important ministers were all present. In addition to welcoming the victorious return of the Tang Army, they also had to welcome the Tsangpu of Tufan who voluntarily surrendered. This showed that the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty did not bully people and treated the Tsangpu of Tufan as a prince, who was only one level lower than the emperor. Of course, he was a prince without power.
In the face of the imperial edict of the Tang Dynasty, the Tsangpu of Tufan knelt down helplessly. It was not until the eunuch finished reading the imperial edict that he slowly thanked the emperor and got up to accept the title conferred by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The rest of the Tufan nobles also knelt down to receive the imperial edict and accept the conferment from the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Some returned to Tufan to continue their work, some stayed in Chang 'an City, and some directly became retired officials who only took money but did not work.
Generally speaking, as the nobles of the defeated country, the Tufan nobles were treated quite well. At least, the Tang Empire did not mistreat them and gave them very good treatment. If they could have the mentality of Liu Shan of the Three Kingdoms, their lives would be very good.
Of course, the Tufan nobles were not the only ones who knelt down to receive the imperial edict. The generals of the Tang Army also received the imperial edict and the corresponding conferment and reward.
After the basic etiquette, the Tsangpu of Tufan and the nobles went to the imperial palace to meet the emperor of the Tang Dynasty in person and knelt down to show their allegiance. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji, was also very enthusiastic and said that the days of hostility were over. Now, everyone was a family and they should love each other in the future.
The Tsangpu of Tufan and the nobles smiled apologetically and celebrated the peaceful unification of the Tang Dynasty and Tufan, but they were very uncomfortable in their hearts. After all, this was at the cost of the Tufan nobles losing their power. The Tufan Empire was conquered by the Tang Empire. Perhaps only a thick-skinned person like Liu Shan could face it calmly.
Since they wanted to celebrate the peaceful unification of Tibet and the Tang dynasty, of course, they had to hold a banquet, which was indispensable. In order to show the strength and enthusiasm of the Tang dynasty, the guests invited to the banquet were not only the Tibetan nobles who had surrendered, but also the envoys from the surrounding countries. Of course, the envoys from the former Tibetan affiliated countries who had hurried to Chang 'an to express their willingness to surrender were also included.
The banquet was undoubtedly very successful. Not only were the food and drinks very high-end, but the various singing and dancing performances were also first-rate, giving people a kind of beautiful enjoyment.
After the banquet ended, Ang Lee wanted to go home to see his wife and children, but he was stopped by a young eunuch. The Emperor wanted to see him.
Ang Lee did not want to see the Emperor at all now. He was tired and wanted to go home. However, the Emperor was the ruler of the Tang dynasty. He could not meet him as he wished. No matter how tired he was, he had to meet the Emperor. This was the responsibility of a minister.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Ang Lee bowed out of habit.
"Assistant Minister Li, why do you look a little tired? Are you not feeling well?"
Ang Lee hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I am just a little tired. My body is fine."
"That's good. This time, you have made a great contribution to the conquest of Tibet. Next, the imperial court will rule a large piece of land in the southwest. You said some time ago that you wanted to build a railway from Longyou to Luoyan. I have already sent the people to start building it. However, it may take many years to complete. Assistant Minister Li, do you have any good suggestions about ruling Longnan and Southwest Provinces? Why don't you tell me? I would like to hear Assistant Minister Li's opinion. "
Li Longji asked very humbly.
"Your Majesty, I believe there are many officials in the imperial court who are more proficient than me in governing Longnan and Southwest Roads. In fact, it's nothing more than encouraging the people to start businesses in these two roads and giving them more benefits."
Ang Lee said.
"Encouraging the people to start businesses? The ministers did not propose such a suggestion. Assistant Minister Li, tell me! How can we encourage the people to start businesses? "
Li Longji asked curiously.
Li An was taken aback. The ministers were not fools. They could not wait to join hands and divide up all the land in Tibet. How could they think of giving these lands to the people? If someone proposed such a suggestion, they would definitely be hated by the other ministers and nobles. This would be very disadvantageous to them.
"Your Majesty, Longnan Road and Southwest Road are vast but sparsely populated, and there is a lot of land waiting to be reclaimed. As long as the imperial court offers conditions, people who go there can be exempted from taxes, or tax for the first ten years, and lower taxes in the future, many people will be willing to go there to start a business. Of course, the supporting railways must be built. Only when the railways are smooth can Longnan Road and Southwest Road have a better future, and people can see hope in living there. In addition, there are many Tibetan Mountains, and there should be a lot of minerals. If people are encouraged to go there to find and mine minerals and give them preferential tax treatment, the people will be more motivated, and the Tang Empire will be able to get more mineral resources."
Ang Lee did not care what the nobles of the Tang Dynasty thought. As long as he could make the Tang Empire stronger, he would be very happy. Letting the people who could not find a future to develop in Southwest Longnan and Southwest Provinces could not only provide these people with a better future, but also help to dilute the foreign population in Southwest Provinces and promote the integration of the main ethnic group of the Tang Dynasty with the minority ethnic group. Thus, Longnan and Southwest Provinces could be truly integrated into the Tang Empire.
After listening to Ang Lee's suggestion, Li Longji felt it was very reasonable. In this world, everyone was busy pursuing benefits. As long as the people were given enough benefits and felt that they could get more benefits and live a better life in Southwest Provinces, these people would definitely be willing to go there. The population in Southwest Provinces could be enriched and integrated, which was certainly a good thing for the Tang Dynasty.
If they were doing well, they could continue to stay there. If they were not doing well, they could still return to their hometown. The Spring Festival in the future was because people had no way out at home. They had to travel far away to work and return to their hometown during the New Year. If there was a good job and a good income in their hometown, who would be so free to travel far away to work?
"Assistant Minister Li is right. Since the industrialization of the Tang Dynasty, the number of farmers in the Central Plains has been decreasing. Although some of these idle people have joined the workshop industry and some have built roads and bridges, there are still many left. These people have no livelihood and I'm afraid it will cause unrest. Let them go to Southwest Provinces and Anxi Provinces. Each person will be given 100 mu of yongye farmland, which is five times the amount in the Central Plains."
Li Longji immediately made a decision. In fact, he had thought of this problem long ago. He just needed someone who shared his opinion to persuade him. However, none of the ministers made this suggestion. Only Ang Lee boldly put forward this suggestion that was beneficial to the country and the people.
Ang Lee originally thought that he could go home and take care of his wife and children after the discussion. However, Li Longji did not let him go. Instead, he walked to the world map and asked about the situation in America and Australia. In other words, after the conquest of Tibet, the Emperor's ambition became even greater and he set his sights on America and Australia.
"Assistant Minister Li, you said that this is Australia, which is just south of the Tang Dynasty. There are many islands in the middle. It should be more convenient and easier to send ships here than to America. We don't even need to use steam ships. We can just use ordinary sailing ships."
Li Longji looked at Australia's position and said.
"Your Majesty, Australia does not have the products that the Tang Dynasty urgently needs. However, Australia has a large area of fertile land. Your Majesty, do you mean to occupy Australia and make the whole of Australia the land of the Tang Dynasty?"
Ang Lee quickly guessed Li Longji's thoughts. This old Emperor wanted to occupy the whole of Australia. Otherwise, he would not discuss this matter with him.
"Assistant Minister Li is really smart. I think that since this place is ownerless, why don't we occupy it all? This way, our Great Tang will be able to obtain even more land. "
Li Longji said with a face full of ambition.
"Your Majesty is wise. As long as Your Majesty is willing, you can send a fleet to conquer Australia now. I believe that in half a year, you can bring back kangaroos and many other interesting animals."
Ang Lee did not object to Li Longji conquering Australia. After all, Australia was still a barren land. It was too wasteful to have a large area of fertile land that was undeveloped.
"Well, I plan to send a fleet to Australia to have a look and bring back some rare things. After confirming that Australia is really rich, I will send more people to develop it. In this way, the livelihood of many unemployed people can be solved."
Li Longji was obviously trying to satisfy his own ambition, but in the end, he made it seem like he was doing it for the sake of the people. However, as an Emperor, how could he not be thick-skinned? Without thick-skinned skin, how could he rule the world?
Of course, in the whole world, those who could sit in high positions were basically all thick-skinned. Liu Bang was thick-skinned enough. In the end, he defeated Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu lost because he was thin-skinned. First, he was worried that killing Liu Bang would affect his reputation. In the end, he lost to Liu Bang. After that, he felt that he was too ashamed to face the elders of Jiangdong and committed suicide. In fact, if he was thick-skinned, he could make a comeback.
Liu Bei was also thick-skinned. He refused to give up after being rejected by Zhuge Villager many times. He used the people as a shield and insisted that the people were willing to follow him. In the end, he achieved the hegemony of Shu Han.
Many officials in the future were not thick-skinned enough. If they did not curry favor with their superiors, how could they obtain a high position and get promoted? If female officials did not shamelessly seduce their superiors and were afraid of having sex with their superiors, how could they get promoted? Of course, there were some exceptions, but everyone's abilities were about the same. For the same position, if there were ten people competing for it, and these ten people were all competent. Thus, it did not matter who was promoted. In the end, of course, they had to choose someone close to them.
Wasn't Li Linfu of the Tang dynasty such a person? Any official who curried favor with him would be arranged to a very good position. Those who did not become officials through his connections would be suppressed. It was impossible for them to be promoted.
Ang Lee would not despise the thick-skinned Li Longji because he was also thick-skinned enough. So, what qualifications did he have to despise others?
After accompanying Li Longji to brag for a while and imagining how they would occupy Australia in the future, Ang Lee left and returned to his courtyard.
Since moving to a more comfortable courtyard, Ang Lee's main house had been abandoned. There was nothing else except for a few servants looking after it. Ang Lee never went back to take a look.
"Alang is back."
Zhao Liu had long heard that the Tang Dynasty army had escorted Tu Fanzan Pu to the capital. He knew that Ang Lee had returned but went to the palace. Sooner or later, he would return to the courtyard. So, he had been waiting at the gate of the courtyard.
"Have the madams rested?"
Ang Lee knew that he had come back late and probably disturbed the rest of the madams. It was all Li Longji's fault. If he had not talked to him about occupying Australia, he would have come back more than two hours earlier.
"Alang, the madams have all returned to their rooms. However, the lights in the rooms are still on. They probably haven't slept yet!"
"Mm, got it. You go to sleep first!"
Ang Lee threw the horse to Zhao Liu and strode to the main house.
As soon as he entered the main house, Ang Lee saw a few beautiful figures reflected on the curtains. It was so late, but the madams did not seem to be asleep. He did not know if they were waiting for him to come back or doing something else.
'There are so many madams. Whose room should I go to?'
Ang Lee had just stepped into the main house when he hesitated, not knowing whose room to enter.
"Alang, you're back!"
Grass exclaimed in surprise when she saw Ang Lee when she stepped out of the door. Suddenly, all the beautiful figures paused. Then, the sound of doors opening could be heard.
"Our husband is back. Sisters, come and welcome our husband home."
Yan Ruyu welcomed him happily. Man Man and Li Hanlu also walked over. After not seeing Ang Lee for so many days, the three madams missed Ang Lee. After all, Ang Lee was their husband. How could a newly married woman not miss her husband?
"It's so late. Why are you all still awake?"
Ang Lee looked at the three madams and asked with concern.
"Husband, we have to settle the accounts. The canning workshop's business is getting better and better. We're almost overwhelmed. We don't feel at ease leaving the accounts to outsiders, so we all slept late."
Yan Ruyu took the lead and said. The rest nodded in agreement.
"I asked you to manage the canning workshop because I was worried that you would be too bored. Now that I look at it, you're all tired. This is not my intention. My heart aches when I see you all staying up late."
Ang Lee said with concern.
These were not sweet words. These were all Ang Lee's heartfelt words. They were Ang Lee's truest thoughts. There was not a trace of falsehood in them.
His deep feelings could be felt. When the madams heard this, they looked at Ang Lee emotionally. They felt that although it was hard for them, it was worth it.
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