Chapter 275 Enfeoffment
"Your Majesty, I cannot..."

"Hey, Brother Xuanyin, we cannot refuse a gift from an elder, let alone a gift from our king or father. We should just be respectful and obey."

Dai Zhou was loyal and serious by nature, while Wen Yanbo was tall, handsome and free-spirited. One was from the Wen family of Taiyuan, and the other from a poor family. Their personalities were similar, but they were close friends.

Li Wei hurriedly arranged for someone to bring two food tables. Even if they were given food to accompany the emperor's meal, they could not sit at the same table with him, but had to eat from separate tables.

Li Jiancheng ordered two dishes on the imperial table, one was Yunmeng meat wrapped with flowers for Dai Zhou, and the other was golden milk pastry in a basket for Wen Yanbo, and then he gave each of them a pot of wine.

Yunmeng meat wrapped with flowers is made of fragrant and chewy meat skin, wrapped with various meat and vegetable ingredients, pressed into shape with heavy objects, and served on the table in thin slices.

The golden milk pastry is made by boiling milk, adding a little vinegar, and then letting the milk solidify gradually like making tofu. The water is then drained, wrapped in silk and pressed down to make it delicious and fragrant.

After expressing their gratitude, the two ministers accompanied the emperor for dinner. Halfway through the meal, the emperor bestowed upon them Shengping Zhi, which was lamb and deer tongue roasted with spices.

Li Jiancheng's usual meal consisted of only four dishes. When they saw that there was only one dish left on the emperor's desk, the two of them hurriedly stood up to express their gratitude.

Li Jiancheng waved his hand to let them sit down and eat with peace of mind. When the food was almost ready, they put down their chopsticks. Both of them immediately put down their cups and chopsticks to indicate that they had finished eating.

Li Wei ordered his men to remove the food table and serve tea. Nowadays, everyone in the court, from top to bottom, is not reluctant to drink this slightly bitter tea. It is because if the superiors like something, the subordinates will like it even more.

Dai Zhou said, "Your Majesty, I am here for the Turkic people from the northern border who want to surrender to our dynasty. I heard there are tens of thousands of them."

The emperor nodded and said, "There are more than 30,000 people. I am ready to accept them. The Ministry of Shangshu has submitted a memorial to settle them in the scattered counties of Henan."

“I think we should use the empty land as a base and settle the surrendered Turks in Youzhou to gradually change their customs, rather than hastily settle them in the Central Plains.

The imperial court just relocated the people of Goguryeo not long ago, and now intends to relocate the people of Silla and Baekje. In the short term, it is not a good idea to fill the prefectures and counties with foreigners. "

"What you said makes sense, my dear minister. I will consider it further."

After the emperor finished speaking, he looked at the other one, Wen Yanbo said loudly: "I am here for the chiefs of Dongxie and Nanxie who came to pay tribute today."

"What do you think is wrong?"

"It's not that there is anything wrong. Your Majesty's virtue in influencing the barbarians is well known. But I think that Xie Xi and Dong Xie have had such a hard time, and most of the other tribes in Qianzhong Road are in the same situation.

For example, the Zangke barbarians had tens of thousands of soldiers and occupied several states, while the eight Dangxiang tribes, the largest of which had as many as ten thousand cavalry, and the smaller ones also had thousands of warriors.

These barbarians all value the use of force, have no laws to follow, and each makes his own living. When there is a battle, they gather together. There is no corvée or taxation, and they do not interact with each other. They raise yaks, sheep, and pigs for food, and do not know how to plant crops. "

If we can help them with kindness, make them submit to the court, take their troops and educate the people, it will be a great benefit. "

Without waiting for the emperor to answer, Dai Zhou could not help but say: "Since the beginning of winter last year, natural disasters have occurred all over the country. The court has allocated tens of thousands of shi of grain to help the eastern and western tribes, so where can we find so much grain to appease the rest of the tribes?

Your Majesty, I believe that you should always take care of yourself before taking care of others."

Wen Yanbo was not dissatisfied with his friend's rebuttal, but just smiled and said: "The news that Xie Dong and Xie Xi got the grain can't be concealed, and the Xiang people will definitely come to the court to ask for it.

It is easy for our dynasty to refuse. Will the chieftains of the Qianghe and Dangxiang tribes watch their people starve to death? They will surely go to the east and west to plunder, and even gather troops to attack the counties where the imperial court is located.

Even though our soldiers are brave, once a war breaks out, not to mention the amount of food and supplies consumed, it will also create hatred among the various tribes, which is not worth the cost.

There is still enough grain in Jiangnan this year. We have prepared nearly 80,000 shi to be transported by water to Luoyang granary for storage. I think we can temporarily divert it."

Dai Zhou frowned: "Not right, the Turks have suffered serious damage and may move south at any time. The food in Luoyang granary is prepared for this purpose."

Wen Yanbo stopped talking, and decided that he would have to let His Majesty come down after all. He had already expressed his intention. The emperor thought for a moment and said, "The Turks should not go south this year. The little Tuli sent an envoy to borrow food, but I did not agree. He turned around and squeezed the Tiele tribe.

It is not impossible to divert grain, but we should wait for the Xiang people to come and ask for it first before discussing the matter.

Wen Qing, please pay more attention to this matter."

"Your Majesty, I wish to follow the leader of Dongxie back to Qianzhong Road."

"allow."

...............

In the summer of the fifth year of Taiping, good news came from Liaodong that the Baekje Kingdom was destroyed and all its royal family members surrendered. Only three of the eight major clans survived because of their meritorious service in surrendering.

The Tang Dynasty also gained control of Baekje's entire territory, including five tribes, thirty-seven counties, two hundred cities, and a population of five hundred thousand households.

The emperor was delighted and promoted Zhang Huli to Duke of Ying and Luo Yi to Duke of Lu. He also rewarded the rest of the generals based on their merits, regardless of their background.

Even the surrendered generals from the Three Kingdoms period in Liaodong received due rewards.

The total population of the Three Kingdoms was over one million households, and if one household had five people, that would be six or seven million people.

In terms of expanding territory and absorbing population, the emperor has far surpassed many emperors in the first five years of his reign.

Of course, given the size of the Andong Protectorate, it is still very difficult to control such a large territory and population.

Amid the praises of his ministers, the emperor looked at them and said, "I have said that I will grant fiefs to the meritorious officials of the court to reward you for your contributions in assisting me in governing the country.

The great victory in Liaodong today is God’s will.”

The emperor waved his hand, and the Minister of Civil Affairs came out to announce the decree. The first to be awarded was the royal family, with the highest number being Prince of Qin, Li Shimin, who was rewarded with a fief of 30,000 households and a fiefdom of two counties.

Among the ministers, the Duke of Wei naturally had the most, with a fief of 20,000 households and five counties.

Then they were ranked according to their merits, and the lowest one had a fief of a thousand households.

With such a great favor, what else can the ministers say except kowtow and express their gratitude?

No one expected that they would have a share of the benefits gained from the court's expansion of territory.

Although the counties and prefectures they were granted were relatively remote, they were truly their own territories.

After the news came out, the whole world was shocked. Your Majesty's generosity was rare in the world. Then he urged his sons and daughters to enter the government and make meritorious contributions. As long as they could get a county, they would be great contributors to the family!
The emperor's authority was consolidated once again, and he returned to the status of a saint. No one in the world would tolerate anyone saying anything bad about him.

The officials who only received fiefs but not territories also hated themselves for not having made good contributions in the previous years and missed the opportunity to be granted land.

Those who were granted fiefs immediately sent their family members to Liaodong, determined to govern the country well and leave a family business for the next generation.

Some people who come from poor families have little power and can only recruit fellow villagers from their hometown to ensure that they can actually control the territory.

………………

(End of this chapter)