Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

To build this railway, which stretches for tens of thousands of miles, Duho planned to conscript 800 million laborers and send 80 able-bodied prisoners of war to do the project.

If the task is then assigned to officials in each prefecture and county, who are responsible for laying a section of the railway track, the construction of the railway should proceed more quickly.

According to his current estimates, it should be completed within 10 years without much problem.

"it is good!"

Li Shimin nodded, then stroked his beard and said, "Sun Simiao said that my hidden ailment has eased, and after this period of rest and recuperation, I am in good health."

"Living for another ten or eight years is no problem at all."

Looking at Li Shimin's muscular physique, Du He no longer believed what Li Shimin was saying.

With Li Shimin's energy and spirit, he could easily live for another twenty or thirty years.

Chatted for a while.

Li Chengqian said softly, "Du He, tomorrow you will see off the generals on my behalf. You must remind Hou Junji and Xue Wanche to control their greed."

“If they continue to violate military discipline, I will not be able to grant them official titles.”

Their previous military disciplinary violations on the Western Regions battlefield had already greatly displeased many ministers, and even a number of officials had submitted memorials pleading for Hou Junji and Xue Wanche to be demoted.

If Du He hadn't pleaded for them, he really would have ordered Hou Junji and Xue Wanche to be punished.

Du He cupped his hands in greeting and replied, "Alright!"

The next day.

At the first light of dawn.

Wearing a purple official robe, Du He escorted Hou Junji, Xue Rengui, Cheng Yaojin, and others for fifty li outside Chang'an City.

After they joined up with tens of thousands of imperial guards, Du He reined in his warhorse.

After encouraging the generals, Du He then gave instructions to Xue Rengui, Cui Shenji, Wang Jingzhi, Xiao Kai, and others.

"Be careful!"

Everyone bowed respectfully with solemn expressions.

Choi Shin-ki chuckled and said, "King Han, I will certainly select some of the most beautiful women for you and Your Majesty. You'd better prepare your bedchamber in advance."

Upon hearing Choi Shin-ki's words, all the generals burst into laughter.

Du He laughed and scolded, "Cui Shenji, if you don't pick the right beauties, I'll replace all your concubines with African beauties after you return victorious."

"Enough with the small talk, let's get going."

The group bowed again before mounting their horses and galloping off towards Luoyang.

Watching their figures disappear into the distance, Du He shook her head slightly.

...

Since the army set out on its expedition, people in all departments of the imperial court have become very busy.

In particular, Du He, as the head of all officials, not only had to handle various political affairs within the Tang Dynasty, pay attention to the war of the army, and prepare for the construction of the 10,000-mile railway, but also had to spend time cultivating Li Jue and Du Ping'an.

Seeing Li Chengqian practicing with a flintlock pistol all day, Du He also dragged him to take charge of some government affairs.

After working tirelessly for more than four months, Du He was so exhausted that he personally went to the Ten Temples and Five Directorates and various prefectures and counties of the Tang Dynasty to select officials with real talent and learning to serve in the Three Departments and Six Ministries.

Besides the two great talents Pei Yan and Xue Yuanchao, he also promoted Hao Chujun, Lou Shide, Li Jingxuan, Cui Zhiwen, Wang Dezhen, and Du Shenyan, and had them assist Ma Zhou and Pei Xingjian in handling government affairs.

With the addition of many capable ministers, Ma Zhou and Pei Xingjian's pressure was greatly reduced, and Du He finally had some free time.

Early September.

Du He summoned all the chief officials of the three provinces, six ministries, ten temples, and five directorates, as well as the officials of the governor's offices along the route from Qizhou to Lu'ang, to Chang'an.

Inside the Xuanzheng Hall.

Each official carried a stack of documents, which included not only the general route of the railway line but also the specific directions of the railway lines in each prefecture and county.

After these officials had carefully read through the documents...

Du He then said loudly, "Gentlemen, starting this month, the imperial court will officially begin construction on this railway line, which will stretch for tens of thousands of miles. This is a top priority for local prefectures and counties, and you must do your utmost to complete it."

"The person in charge of building this railway was Pei Xingjian, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and his deputies were Yu Chang, the Minister of Works, Qiu Xingyan, the Chief Craftsman, and Lu Chengqing, the Minister of Revenue."

"I will only remind you of one thing: the names of those responsible for the project will be inscribed on a monument. If any quality problems arise later in the project, the person in charge will be beheaded at best, and their entire family will be exterminated at worst!"

"Does anyone have any further questions?"

Currently, when the Tang Dynasty builds bridges and city walls, it is necessary to inscribe names on steles to implement a lifelong responsibility system for project quality.

This system can prevent officials from cutting corners and neglecting their responsibilities in construction projects.

After a moment of silence, the officials stood up and responded with solemn expressions.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Seeing that none of them had any questions, Du He then asked Pei Xingjian to chair the rest of the meeting, while he left the hall with his hands behind his back.

Five days later.

After receiving their orders, the officials along the railway line returned to their posts and, under Pei Xingjian's command, began a vigorous railway construction project.

Apart from the 80 slaves and 800 million foreign laborers who received no wages, the people of the Tang Dynasty who participated in the construction of the railway received 10 coins a day, and were also provided with three meals a day.

After the autumn harvest, the people of the Tang Dynasty eagerly signed up to participate in railway construction.

By late October, after the entire army of 80 had arrived in North America by large ships and various projects had been carried out in an orderly manner, Du He and Li Chengqian finally had some free time.

Daming Palace.

Inside Hanyuan Hall.

Li Chengqian said with a smile, "Du He, you have a good eye. Hao Chujun, Lou Shide, Li Jingxuan, Cui Zhiwen, Wang Dezhen and Du Shenyan, although they are only around 30 years old, their talents are truly remarkable!"

"Give them some time to hone their skills, and they'll probably become talents on par with Pei Xingjian!"

Thinking of those talented officials, Li Chengqian would wake up laughing in his sleep these days, and he admired Du He's ability to recognize talent even more.

Du He shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, if I don't promote some people, the families of Ma Zhou, Pei Xingjian, Liu Ji, Gao Jifu, and Shangguan Yi will have to kill themselves by crashing into the gate of Princess Chengyang's residence."

"They all say their husbands get up earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than the dogs, and they have more gray hair than usual."

"During this period, I have also been unable to spend time with my 32 wives and concubines."

Upon hearing Du He's words, Li Chengqian, who had more than 300 concubines, also looked resentful.

His life was originally easy and comfortable, but Du He dragged him into trouble, leaving him with a lot of political affairs to take care of, which made him neglect all his concubines.

"Hey~"

Li Chengqian sighed softly, then said with a smile, "Du He, the sun is shining brightly these days. How about we take all the concubines hunting on the southern slope of Jiuzong Mountain on the north bank of the Wei River?"

"I've been practicing my marksmanship for months, and I'll show you what I'm made of."

There was a pause.

Li Chengqian continued, "Let's invite Father Emperor as well. He's been obsessed with hunting with flintlock rifles lately, and he's even been saying he can hunt tigers."

"If I don't take him with me, he might blame me for being unfilial."