Chapter 279 Riot
The incident of Princess Yongjia soon passed, and the confined Princess Yongjia was released to continue making trouble.
Outside Chang'an City, a man rode a fast horse and came with three fiery red flags on his back, like flames dancing in the air.
The fast horse passed by and entered Chang'an City. When the residents on the street saw it, they scattered to both sides as quickly as possible to let the fast horse pass.
Everyone knew that this was a messenger delivering war reports, so everyone speculated whether there would be another war somewhere.
The horse galloped all the way to the gate of the imperial palace before stopping. The messenger jumped off the horse and handed the bamboo tube on his back to the guard guarding the palace gate, saying, "Urgent military information!"
The guard did not dare to neglect it. He immediately took the bamboo tube and turned around and ran in, handing the urgent military information to Li Er, who had just returned to Chang'an.
After Li Er read it, he had an expression of "as expected", obviously he had known that such a thing might happen.
Li Chengqian was very confused and asked, "Father, I wonder where there is a war?" "
Zhang Shigui rushed 800 miles and sent an urgent report that the ruffians in Ya, Qiong, Mei and other states in Jiannan Dao are rioting."
"Fortunately, I have been prepared, so I ordered Zhang Shigui to serve as the governor of Maozhou to prevent these ruffians from rioting." Li Er said.
After returning from the expedition to Goguryeo, Li Er felt that it was a pity that he did not conquer Goguryeo in one go! He had been thinking about conquering Goguryeo.
Therefore, conquering Goguryeo became a thorn in Li Er's heart, like a thorn in his throat. For this reason, Li Er ignored the repeated persuasion of the court officials and tried every means to send troops to Goguryeo again.
In order to prepare for the attack on Goguryeo, Li Er conscripted the people of Ya, Qiong, Mei and other states in Jiannan Road to build ships.
Due to the heavy labor, the people of these states were miserable, and they gathered together to make trouble, which eventually evolved into an uprising.
Li Er, who had expected this to happen, sent Zhang Shigui to Maozhou as the governor and monitor the movements of these states at all times. Once a riot occurred, it would be suppressed immediately.
"Father, there are riots in Ya, Qiong, Mei and other states. Even if Zhang Shigui suppresses them this time, there will be riots next time. Suppression is only a temporary solution."
"I think we should temporarily stop building ships. In this way, the people's labor will be reduced and they will not be dissatisfied with the court." Li Chengqian said.
If Li Er had not been obsessed with conquering Goguryeo, how could he force these people to work day and night, making them miserable and having no way to survive, so they had to riot.
The Gelao tribe became the main force of this anti-Tang riot.
Li Chengqian meant that he hoped Li Er would temporarily stop the expedition to Goguryeo because the Tang Dynasty really could not afford such a big move.
"Hmph! What do you know? Goguryeo has repeatedly violated the border of the Tang Dynasty and despised the prestige of the Tang Dynasty. Sooner or later, it will become a major threat to the Tang Dynasty. If we can't seize the opportunity to destroy it."
"When it unifies the peninsula and becomes powerful, it will be even more difficult to destroy it. What's more, Goguryeo has always colluded with the Turks in the northern desert."
"Once they join forces, the Tang Dynasty will be attacked from both sides. By then, the Tang Dynasty may be in danger of extinction." Li Er said, this is also what he is most worried about.
Compared with this, the riots in Ya, Qiong, Mei and other states are simply a small witch meeting a big witch, and they are nothing at all.
At most, it can be suppressed a few more times, but Goguryeo is the major threat.
At the beginning, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty might have thought the same way, which was why he wanted to conquer Goguryeo regardless of the consequences. That was why he launched three expeditions to Goguryeo, which led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty.
At this time, Li Er also had the same thoughts as Yang Guang at the time, and began to not take the people seriously.
He had long forgotten the truth that water can carry a boat but can also overturn it.
He was focused on conquering Goguryeo, so he didn't care about the lives of those living at the bottom of society.
Fortunately, the Tang Dynasty was much stronger than the Sui Dynasty. Li Er died of drugs in Cuiwei Palace before he could conquer Goguryeo for the second time.
This also stopped the huge expedition to Goguryeo, giving the Tang Dynasty some time to breathe, so that it would not end up like the Sui Dynasty.
"Your Highness knows that Goguryeo is a major threat to our Tang Dynasty. If it continues, it will cause riots everywhere sooner or later."
"In the past, Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty was the one who did not spare the people's efforts, which led to the demise of the prosperous Sui Dynasty."
"If your Highness does not stop here, your Highness will sooner or later follow the Sui Dynasty's footsteps. Your Highness will probably become the second Yang Guang." Li Chengqian said.
Li Er's face suddenly changed when he heard this. How could the tyrant Yang Guang be compared with him?
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can the current Tang Dynasty be compared to the Sui Dynasty? How can I be compared to Emperor Yang of Sui?"
"The expedition to Goguryeo was well prepared. We will definitely be able to destroy it this time, and then enter a period of recuperation. In a few years, the Tang Dynasty can still restore its prosperity."
"I have been the emperor for more than 20 years. Don't you know better than me? Do you need me to teach you a lesson here?" Li Er said very dissatisfiedly.
"Every word your son said is true! This riot can be suppressed, but what about the next one? What about the next time? There will always be a time when it cannot be suppressed, and it will become a prairie fire, burning the Tang Dynasty to ashes." Li Chengqian said.
"You rebellious son! Get out of here!" Li Er was shaking with anger, pointing at Li Chengqian and yelling.
"I'll take my leave!" Li Chengqian bowed and said, turned around and limped out. He had already advised Li Er, but Li Er didn't listen, and he had no choice.
This riot was quickly suppressed by Zhang Shigui and the right guard general Liang Jianfang, and did not cause much damage to the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, Li Er became more severe and increased the labor service, making the people of Shu suffer from the shipbuilding work, and requested to pay the ship labor service to the court.
According to the labor service of 2,236 pieces of silk for each large ship, they hired the people of Tanzhou to build ships for them as wages.
Perhaps because of the previous riots in Ya, Qiong, Mei and other states, the court agreed to their request.
The officials of the prefectures and counties urged the government to enforce the emergency, and the poor had no choice but to sell their land and houses, and even their children and daughters, but they could not meet the demand, causing the price of grain to soar.
The officials of the prefectures and counties took the opportunity to make a fortune, while the people's lives were miserable.
Even so, despite the public resentment, Li Er still did not give up his plan to march to Goguryeo, and asked about the preparations every day.
In addition to asking about the preparations every day, Li Er was immersed in refining the elixir, hoping to refine the elixir of immortality.
As for the important affairs of the court, Li Er no longer asked about them and handed them all over to Li Chengqian to handle. Of course, the military and political power was still in his hands.