Capital
"After all, it's our Crown Prince. I heard that they suffered heavy losses over there, but after our people went there, they immediately turned the tide. No matter whether they were Turks or Xueyantuo, when they saw our army, they were so scared that they wet their pants."
On the streets of Chang'an City, a prisoner presentation ceremony was taking place. More than 8,000 prisoners were dressed in tattered clothes. After a long journey of one and a half months, they finally arrived at the capital of the Tang Dynasty. These people had never seen such a prosperous city, but they had no chance to take a good look at the city. When they raised their heads, the Tang Dynasty soldiers next to them immediately whipped them.
"I originally thought the King of Wu was a good warrior, but I didn't expect him to fail. Fortunately, the defeat was not too serious, and our Highness arrived at the perfect time."
The other guy shook his head helplessly. The common people in the Tang Dynasty all had the same idea, that is, everyone must be able to fight and beat the people around them into a pulp, then the safer our Central Plains Dynasty would be. I thought the King of Wu was also such a person, but I didn't expect that he would be defeated in the war.
According to Li Shimin's idea, if the King of Wu continued to recuperate on the front line, the news of his defeat could be blocked. Who knew that the King of Wu would come back? Fortunately, Li Shimin did not do that. Many merchants returned from the front line and they had brought back the news long ago. If the emperor lied and the people knew about it, the credibility of the court would decline.
After learning of the rumors, Li Shimin didn't blame his own men for their poor efforts to suppress the news. After all, the hardest thing to guard against is the human mouth. How could you really seal everyone's mouth? So Li Shimin could only guide the situation, saying that the Prince of Wu had suffered a minor setback before the battle and that Concubine Yang was seriously ill, so he urgently summoned the Prince of Wu to the capital to care for him.
The ministers saw all these details clearly. Even if Concubine Yang was seriously ill, it would be impossible to bring back the commander of the front line. Now that the commander of the front line has returned, how could everyone not understand what was going on? It must be that the King of Wu was unable to hold on at the front line, so he sent Li Xiang to put out the fire.
The common people didn't care much about this. In their view, no matter who led the war, as long as they won, it would be a good thing for our Tang Dynasty. For example, there was so much more land in Goguryeo all of a sudden. More than 100,000 people from the entire Tang Dynasty went there, and everyone was allocated dozens or even hundreds of acres of land. Now some people want to sign up but there are no vacancies.
"Why do you, the waiter, have such a sad face? Are you unhappy that the court won the battle?"
The two scholars who were talking just now were drinking and chatting. The waiter who served the food had a sullen face, and one of the scholars immediately became dissatisfied.
"Of course I'm happy that the court won the battle, but this time is different from the last time. My two husbands don't know that when we won the battle against Goguryeo, we got a lot of land to share. I also wanted to go there and become a landlord. It's better than serving dishes in Chang'an. But now that we have won the battle against the Turks and Xueyantuo, we can't convert the land into farmland. It doesn't benefit me much."
The second brother said apologetically. After listening to the second brother's words, the two of them also knew what was the hottest topic among the common people recently, that is, going to Goguryeo to make a fortune. Many people at the bottom of the society in Chang'an City also wanted to go to Goguryeo to make a fortune.
A moving man lives, a moving tree dies. Take the waiter just now for example. Even if he worked as a waiter all his life in Chang'an City, the best he could do in the end would be to be a shopkeeper, and it would be impossible for him to live a very good life. But if he went to Goguryeo, he would get a hundred acres of land, which is equivalent to the life of a small landlord, and he could directly achieve class crossing.
"Don't worry, the court will definitely have new policies. Have you forgotten what happened with Tuyuhun? The court also recruited a large number of people there. As long as you have an adventurous spirit, why worry about not having a good life? Those local people are not trustworthy, and our court will have to send someone to keep an eye on them. Just pay more attention to the imperial edict."
After hearing what the scholar said, the second brother's face immediately became happy. What this gentleman said was that how could the court trust the local people? They would definitely let people like us go and watch. Although it was a little dangerous, it was also a qualitative leap for our lives.
"Everyone, please go downstairs and greet the heroic spirit of the Tang Dynasty on the roadside."
Just as the two were about to continue drinking, people from the yamen shouted loudly on all the roads. This was the latest regulation of the court. No matter whether you were a peddler or a high-ranking official of the court, as long as you heard the news, those on horseback must dismount, those in sedan chairs must get off, and those upstairs must come down.
According to the latest regulations of the court, all soldiers of the Tang Dynasty must bring back the heroic spirit. On this day, everyone must observe a moment of silence on both sides of the road. Anyone who violates this rule will be arrested immediately and sentenced to a serious crime.
After hearing this, the two scholars quickly put down their wine glasses and chopsticks, then stood up, straightened their clothes, and followed the others out of the restaurant. At first, some people thought it was just a formality and unnecessary, but now most people understand that these sacrificed soldiers sacrificed for the Tang Dynasty and for the entire nation. Their sacrifice has brought us a stable life and expanded our living space.
Most of the people in Chang'an City stood on both sides of the road. Some of them were families of the fallen soldiers. They were standing here crying in white mourning clothes.
The people around them made way for them and when they looked at these people, they felt a sense of respect in their hearts. According to the order of the court, the families of all the soldiers who died in battle were exempted from taxes for three years, the salaries of the original soldiers who died in battle would continue to be paid for three years, and all kinds of corvee labor would be exempted.
Although the imperial court had pension policies in the past, they were far inferior to what they are now. This was changed, and it also indirectly improved the social treatment of these soldiers.
In this day and age, people still follow the saying that a good man does not join the army, so the common people generally do not have much respect for these people in the barracks. Li Xiang also knows that it will take a day or two to change them, and we have to change them over a long period of time.
When the people nearby saw some officials actually dismount from their horses and sedan chairs, they realized that this was not just a superficial project, but that everyone truly respected these heroes who had opened up new territories for the Tang Dynasty.
"kneel……"
Following the order given by the yamen runners, hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the road knelt down to welcome the returning heroic spirit of the Tang Dynasty...