SWNOVELXO Page 236
Fang Xuanling took a look, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes: "The ghost rider has appeared again?"
"Haven't you found it yet?" Li Er asked suspiciously, "It's been two years, and there is no clue at all?"
"Your Majesty forgive me."
Fang Xuanling smiled wryly, and said helplessly: "The speed of ghost riders is too fast, they come and go without a trace, and the timing of each appearance is irregular. Please give me some more time, Your Majesty."
"The combat power of the ghost rider is so amazing, but as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, I don't know the origin of the ghost rider, and what is it?"
Li Er frowned and said, "Do you know how people talk about me behind my back?"
At first, when the Ghost Rider first appeared, the common people thought it was the court's secret trump card.
But as the Tang army was defeated again and again, the ghost riders seemed to evaporate from the world.
As a result, some gossip spread among the people.
Ghost riders are not the army of the imperial court.
But those heroes who have died in battle.
They are a group of heroic spirits who crawled out of hell.
Although the body dies, the soul remains.
Stick to the land of China and revive the majesty of the Han people.
This is the belief of ghost riders.
Some people even gossip behind their backs.
This is because of the incompetence of the Tang Dynasty today, the heroic spirits of the ancestors of the Han people reappeared.
In this regard, Li Er didn't really believe it.
Therefore, he must find out the origin of this ghost ride.
If he can figure out why ghost riders possess such powerful combat power, Datang will be able to defeat the enemy and strengthen himself.
"Your Majesty, there are no clues..."
After thinking about it, Fang Xuanling said thoughtfully: "I have calculated that from the beginning of the interval between the appearance of ghost riders to now, the interval time has been significantly shortened."
After a pause, he continued: "The last two appearances were only three months apart."
"Why do you think this happened?" Li Er asked suspiciously.
I only heard Fang Xuanling continue to say: "I boldly guess that they are also growing and improving. The more frequent they appear, the bigger their scale is."
Hearing this, Li Er frowned instantly, with a complicated look on his face.
On the one hand, the strength of ghost riders can greatly help Datang.
But such a force of unknown origin, a force that cannot be controlled, is also an unstable factor for Datang.
After pondering for a moment, Li Er suddenly thought of something, and asked, "Where are the spies you sent to Qiongzhou? Did you bring any news back?"
"Your Majesty." Fang Xuanling frowned slightly, "This matter is very strange. In the past six months, I have sent three groups of people to Qiongzhou, but there has been no news from them, as if they have disappeared."
"Then explore again!" Li Er said impatiently.
"Return to Your Majesty, a few days ago, I transferred a master from the Privy Council, and he has already gone to Qiongzhou."
"Um……"
Li Er nodded.
After pondering for a moment, Li Er asked again: "The Dongying people have been active in Qizhou and will not continue to attack. What do you think?"
"Qizhou has a mighty general named Li Changge defending the city. His prestige is great. Naturally, the Dongying people don't dare to attack rashly. They probably want to wait for the Turks to consume my Tang's strength, and then sit back and reap the benefits."
Speaking of this, Fang Xuanling sighed: "As expected of a child taught by Li Jing, in the past three years, she has repelled Dongpu's attacks eight times. This girl will definitely be the pillar of my Tang Dynasty's national defense in the future."
Li Er thought for a while, frowned and said: "This is by no means a long-term solution. The Turks will attack Jizhou again, but the ghost riders may not appear again. If this situation is not broken, everything will be in vain. What is Aiqing's plan?"
"Your Majesty." Fang Xuanling thought for a while and said, "I feel that now is a very good time."
"how do I say this?"
"Jieli Khan has been frightened by the ghost riders. If at this time, His Majesty uses the power of the whole country to personally conquer the Turks and deal the strongest blow to the Turks, they will definitely be able to beat the Turks back, and they will not go south for at least a year. "
"The power of the whole country?" Li Er frowned, "Where does the Tang Dynasty get its troops?"
"some."
Fang Xuanling said thoughtfully: "Although the governors of various states and counties have sent troops to support the war in the north, I can conclude that this is by no means all of their troops, at most it only accounts for [-]%."
After a pause, Fang Xuanling continued: "Of course, once His Majesty's imperial decree arrives, they will definitely say that there are no more troops to dispatch. After all, the rest are private soldiers, shameless."
"So, Your Majesty might as well..."
"Give rewards to all the princes, heirs, and county kings who serve as governors abroad, relax the restrictions on the size of the troops in various places, and recruit soldiers and horses as soon as possible."
"In this way, although there may be a situation where the land is occupied by the king and the armed divisions of various places may appear in the future, it is the best solution to the current situation."
Hearing these words, Li Er frowned.
Easing restrictions on the size of the troops in the states and counties...
In other words, the imperial court's control over the states and counties will be greatly weakened.
In the long run, this is a very stupid decision.
But now Datang is in jeopardy.
Extraordinary times, extraordinary things.
After thinking about it, Li Er finally nodded.
……
At the same time, Qiongzhou City, Yuewang Mansion.
"Your Highness, just got the news that the Privy Council has come to another master named Xiang Jun." Li Junxian clasped his fists at Li Xiao.
"Xiang Jun?" Li Xiao was slightly puzzled, "I seem to have heard of it."
"This person is a descendant of the Xiang family. His Highness has met him twice, at the side of the Wind and Rain Tower and at Wubenfang."
"So it was him..." Li Xiao's mouth curled up, "Where are you now?"
"I just left Xuwen City, and I can go to Qiongzhou tomorrow."
"As usual, you don't have to leave when you come, Uncle Li, you can figure it out!"
"My subordinate understands."
Chapter 267: Development Results
After three years of development.
Today's Qiongzhou has changed its appearance and has a new look.
Li Junxian handed over a brochure, and said, "Your Highness, this is the recent archives of Qiongzhou."
"Uncle Li, read it to me!" Li Xiao said calmly, playing with the long pitch-black metal pipe in his hand.
Li Junxian opened the booklet and said slowly: "Today, the total population of the South Island and Wuzhou is more than 80, which is five times that of three years ago."
"The taxation has reached 300 million taels of silver per year, which is more than 100 times that of three years ago. The sum of all income has exceeded tens of millions of taels of silver."
"Also, the army establishment, three armies and six battalions, a total of 6000 people."
"Facilities, four large arsenals, three large shipyards, two steel mills, twenty forging shops..."
"Workshops, tailor shops, stables, granaries, farmland, training grounds, barracks, etc. have met current needs."
"In addition, two medium-sized iron mines, one small-scale copper mine, and one micro-gold mine have already started digging, but the output is still not enough to meet consumption."
"We can be self-sufficient in food, copper, stone..."
"The materials that need to be purchased from the Central Plains and Jiangnan include wood, cloth, sulfur, iron ore, and herbs..."
Next, Li Junxian introduced the development of Qiongzhou City in detail.
Hearing these, Li Xiao was filled with emotions.
in those days.
When I first arrived in the South Island, the total population here was only 10,000+.
The entire island is very barren.
The main city of a state is not as good as a county in the Central Plains.
The aborigines can't even get enough food and clothing, and they live a life without a meal.
Life is very hard.
But now, Li Xiao dared to say that the prosperity of Qiongzhou was even worse than that of Chang'an.
All of this was built bit by bit by him with hundreds of people.
Seeing Qiongzhou's current prosperity, Li Xiao couldn't help feeling a sense of accomplishment in his heart.
But that's all, it's still far from the idea in his mind.
Now, it can only be said that it has just started.
"How about the large building and ship project?" Li Xiao asked after thinking about it.
He has the blueprints for the giant building craft.
It's just that there is no need to build it so big, so I made it smaller.
"The first batch of production has been completed. We already have three large-scale building ships and six medium-sized express ships, all of which are equipped with steam power systems and propellers." Li Junxian replied.
"Very good." Li Xiao nodded slightly.
The place where Qiongzhou is located is an island, and ships are the most important thing.
With a boat, many things are convenient.
After pondering for a while, Li Xiao continued: "You can consider installing some cannons on the building, and you can also add a large bed crossbow. You can tell the old men in the scientific research department about this, and let them modify it by themselves."
"Yes!"
After thinking for a while, Li Xiao said: "Also, the army is far from enough. Tell Ye Tianchen to add a fourth heavy armored infantry regiment and let him be the commander."
In the past three years, Li Xiao has also found many talents in Qiongzhou.
Under his training, these talents have gradually grown up, and each of them is able to stand alone, not losing to Li Junxian and Zhao Yuntian at all.
Among them, Ye Tianchen is the one with the best martial arts talent.
After three years of inspection and taming, Ye Tianchen's loyalty has already been full.
His three major legions are the Long Xiang Legion, the Huben Legion, and the Hungry Wolf Legion, each with a population of around ten thousand.
He, Li Junxian, and Zhao Yuntian are respectively in charge and command.
The six battalions are the Shenji Battalion, the Artillery Battalion, the Crossbow Battalion, the Scout Battalion, the Assassin Battalion, and the Sailor Battalion.
Only those who have performed well in the training of the Sixth Battalion can be selected into the three major armies and become formal soldiers.
Ye Tianchen was originally arranged by him to serve as an instructor in the Assassin Battalion.
Now that the development of Qiongzhou has begun to take shape, it is time to expand the army.
In addition to the army establishment, he also established eight ministries.
The medical department is responsible for everything from planting herbs to producing medicines to treating diseases and saving lives.
The Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for food, from growing to processing to cooking.
Then there are the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Scientific Research, the Ministry of Ordnance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Alchemy, and the Ministry of Transportation.
Division of labor and cooperation, each performing its own responsibilities.
The existence of the eight departments has made the development and operation of Qiongzhou orderly.
……
At this time, Li Junxian smiled slightly when he heard that Li Xiao wanted to expand the army: "If that kid hears the news, he will be very happy!"
Suddenly, a guard's voice came from outside the door.