"West to Yumen Pass, east to the sea!"
The officials raised their heads and were shocked by Li Shimin's ambition. Building a brick road from west to Yumen Pass, east to the sea, this would be a brick road across the Tang dynasty.
"Correct!" Li Shimin nodded solemnly. "This line will connect Longyou Pass, Guannei Pass, and Henan Pass. It's four thousand li long."
"Four thousand li!" The officials were shocked. This was not a small project in this era.
Although the brick road was cheap and the project was simple, it could not withstand the long route! The money spent would certainly multiply.
Of course, the benefits were also obvious. The Longhai Pass was the economic center of the Tang dynasty. Once the construction was completed, the benefits would be limitless.
However, this time, none of the officials objected. Once the Longhai Pass was completed, the east and west of the Tang dynasty would be unimpeded. At this point, the Tang dynasty had the Grand Canal in the north and south, and the Longhai Pass in the east and west. A cross traffic line was officially formed in the Tang dynasty.
"Your Majesty, please act according to your ability. Don't repeat the same mistake as the Grand Canal." Wei Zheng advised. Wei Zheng did not oppose the road construction, but advised Li Shimin not to be too hasty. Anyone could see the benefits of the brick road. However, if the common people were excessively recruited, a good thing would become a bad thing. That would be very bad.
Li Shimin nodded. "Minister Wei, you can rest assured. The construction of the brick road is simple. The common people along the way are qualified. Moreover, there are bonds issued to hire the common people. It will certainly not affect the common people's lives."
The most expensive thing to build a brick road was not manpower, but money, especially the money to buy bricks. The three major natural disasters had been solved. The Tang dynasty would have fewer disasters in the future. In terms of money, it would not be a problem.
Wei Zheng naturally also thought of this point. He did not advise anymore. He bowed and returned to the queue.
When Mo Jiazi was building the brick road in the south of the city, he had already envisioned a grand brick road with ten connected roads in the Tang dynasty. At that time, everyone shook their heads and denied it. Now, only a few months later, the Longyou Road, the Guannei Road, the Henan Road, and the Tang dynasty's roads had already been connected. How far would it be to connect the ten connected roads in the Tang dynasty?
At the entrance of the Taiji Palace, Meton could not help but smile. Once the Tang dynasty tasted the benefits of brick roads, they would certainly embark on a high-speed development path that could not be stopped even if they wanted to.
The entire court assembly had become a performance for the School of Mo. Almost all of the achievements of the officials were related to the School of Mo.
As the issues were passed one by one, everyone could not help but smile knowingly. If this went on, the Tang dynasty would definitely become stronger and stronger.
Only then did everyone remember that as early as at the exhibition of Mo skills at the beginning of the year, Meton had been full of confidence about the arrival of the prosperous Tang dynasty. At that time, everyone probably thought that Meton was just a young boy who flattered and talked nonsense.
Who would have thought that in less than a year, everyone had a hunch that the prosperous era that Meton had predicted would come soon?
Soon, the court assembly came to an end. There was only one last issue left, which was the rebellion of the southwest Taoists. This was probably the only thing that had troubled Zhen Guan for the past seven years.
"Your Majesty, in May, the Taoists in Yazhou rebelled. Zhang Shigui, the director of the Yazhou Taoist Army, pursued the rebels and returned with a great victory. In December, Jia and Lingzhou rebelled. Han Jiang Prefecture Commander Niu Jinda has already marched into the two prefectures. Currently, there is no news back. "Minister of War Hou Junji reported.
Immediately, Li Shimin could not help but frown. The Taoists were the most troublesome ethnic problem in the Tang dynasty. The southwest Taoists occupied a strategic location, and the imperial court mainly focused on pacifying them. However, even so, they still continued to rebel. Ever since the establishment of the Tang dynasty, the rebellion of the southwest Taoists could be said to be endless. This year was especially serious. Within a year, the Taoists in three prefectures rebelled.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. General Niu has been on the battlefield for a long time. How can the Taoists in two prefectures be able to stir up a huge wave?" Zhangsun Wuji consoled.
Li Shimin nodded in agreement. The elite soldiers of the Great Tang were more than capable of defeating the crudely equipped subordinates.
"The rebellions of the Taoists have not stopped. Dear officials, how do you think we should deal with them?" Li Shimin frowned. The Taoists had rebelled several times. Not only did it cause losses, but it also had a negative impact.
The officials instantly fell silent.
As the Minister of War, Hou Junji could only step out and say, "Your Majesty, the rebellions of the Taoists have not stopped. It can be seen that they are extremely dissatisfied with the imperial court. I think that the imperial court needs to amass a large number of troops in the southwest in case of an emergency. The rebellions of the Taoists should be severely punished as a warning to others."
Hou Junji's words were filled with killing intent. It was very obvious that he wanted to kill one of the Taoists as a warning to others.
Li Shimin lowered his head and pondered. He was also very annoyed by the rebellions of the Taoists. If he could solve the problem of the Taoists' rebellion once and for all, he was a little tempted.
"Your Majesty, this must not be done." Kong Yingda stepped out and said.
"The people of the five prefectures are all Huaxia. The king loves the barbarians. Your Majesty is respectfully known as the Heavenly Khan. Our Tang dynasty is also a country of etiquette. We should use virtue to convince people and educate them …"
Kong Yingda eloquently said a lot, advocating the Confucian's policy of restraint and conciliation.
Cheng Yaojin coldly snorted and said, "Pedantic. If that's the case, why do we still need Generals Niu and Zhang? Why don't we just let Minister Kong use his mouth to quell the rebellion?"
Kong Yingda's face immediately turned livid. He said, "Old Cheng, don't be presumptuous. The rebellion of the Taoists is the fault of the local Taoists. The Taoists are innocent. How can we kill the innocent? Isn't that against the Emperor's virtue?
Cheng Yaojin coldly snorted and said, "Anyone who picks up a weapon and points it at the soldiers of the Tang dynasty is the enemy of the Tang dynasty! There is no such thing as innocence when dealing with the enemy. "
For a moment, the civil officials and the military generals kept arguing. One side advocated conciliation, the other side advocated the use of force to deter and suppress.
"The people of the barbarians are all the people of the Tang dynasty. I will treat them all equally. If the Taoists rebel, I will only punish the leader." In the end, Li Shimin chose the civil officials.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Hundreds of officials bowed and said.
"The rebellion of the Taoists is only one state. The rest of the Taoists will know their place. The Imperial Court will send an envoy to pacify the Taoists who did not rebel. At the same time, they will quell the rebellion and send the leader back to Chang 'an for a joint trial." Wei Zheng said.
Li Shimin immediately nodded and said, "Minister Wei is right. This is the way to rule a country."
Feng Zhidai immediately stepped forward and said, "Lingnan Road is also a Taoist. The Feng family can mediate and persuade the Taoists to submit to the Imperial Court."
He lost face in front of Li Shimin because of the Johor rice. Now that he saw this opportunity, he naturally wanted to show off. The Feng family had a high status among the Taoists in the southwest and had a lot of power. If he could make this happen, he would definitely gain face in front of the Imperial Court.
"Minister Feng, you are so considerate. Lord Geng has contributed a lot to the stability of the southwest." Li Shimin said with emotion.
Feng Zhidai immediately looked proud. As long as the southwest could not leave the Feng family, his position in Chang 'an would be as stable as Mount Tai.
"Minister opposes!" Just as Feng Zhidai was feeling proud, a voice that was unforgettable to him suddenly said.
"Mo Jiazi!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
