Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

After sailing at sea for more than half a month, we unfortunately encountered several days of rough seas.

The sailors of the fleet also needed some rest.

However, although the fleet still set sail from here, it sailed to Dengzhou Port to carry out the transshipment and loading of grain from Tibet for this foreign trade.

When the golden eagle arrived in Chang'an with the inventory list of goods brought back by the fleet, the court officials, who had just been shocked by the overseas profits of the Iwami Silver Mine, were still reeling.

Once again, he was stunned by the contents of the list in front of him.

"Take the young master?!"

"Nearly, nearly 1.5 million shi?! 1.5 million shi?!"

Fang Xuanling's neck and forehead veins bulged with excitement as he hoarsely shouted out a number that even Li Chengqian himself found shocking.

What does 1.5 million shi (a unit of dry measure) mean?

An army of 100,000 men consumes no more than 2000 shi of food per day.

The grain transported from the Tibetan colony of the Harsha Dynasty this time was enough to feed this army for more than two years!

"This, how could this be... Your Highness, is there an error written here? Could it be that His Highness the Prince of Han was in such a hurry to report that he wrote something wrong?"

Minister of Revenue Feng Deyi swallowed hard, turning his head to look expectantly at Li Chengqian, who was sitting on the throne.

Instantly, all eyes in the entire Taiji Hall turned to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian smiled faintly.

"Everything written above is correct. I specifically confirmed it with the Prince of Han again... It is 1.5 million shi! This time, our Great Tang Dynasty has a total of 36 treasure ships, 80 medium-sized cargo ships, 110 cloud-patterned Guang ships, and dozens of troop transport ships and supply ships, totaling nearly 300 ships."

"Apart from the fact that some ships were carrying gold, silver and jewelry brought back from trade with Arab merchants, the remaining space was used to transport grain."

"Currently, the grain is being transferred to new ships at Dengzhou Port, and soon it will be transported via inland waterways and canals to various granaries in Luoyang and Chang'an..."

"hiss!!!"

Feng Deyi's beard trembled with excitement at this moment, and his whole body shook violently as if he had been electrocuted.

"One and a half million shi (a unit of dry measure), one and a half million shi... This, this, this is probably not enough even for the granaries around Chang'an, and even if we add the granaries in Luoyang, it still wouldn't be enough..."

"Hahaha, now our Great Tang Dynasty will never have to worry about food shortages again! Hahaha..."

Everyone was not surprised to see the old man burst into laughter as if he had gone mad.

On the throne, Li Chengqian spoke at this moment.

"Once the grain arrives in Chang'an, the Ministry of Revenue will begin to inspect it. The Prince of Han and his men have limited manpower, so they can only conduct a general inspection and verification. The Ministry of Revenue will need to carefully examine the quality of the grain."

"If the grain is of good quality, it should be sealed and stored immediately, and then the Tibetans should be notified to conduct grain trade for the following year."

As soon as Li Chengqian finished speaking, a man stepped out from among the officials.

"Your subject Dai Zhou has a memorial to present!"

Li Chengqian looked at him and nodded slightly.

"Your Highness, the amount of grain produced in just one batch is already so terrifying. I have heard that Tibet has already occupied a considerable territory in the Harsha Dynasty. If this production rate continues, the amount of grain that can be traded to our Great Tang next year will probably at least double."

"Your Highness... low grain prices are hurting farmers! If we purchase large quantities of grain from Tibet, it may strain the funds of the Imperial Grain Reserves Bureau. Currently, farmers in our Great Tang Dynasty all praise the court for controlling grain prices. If this policy is abolished, many farmers in our Great Tang Dynasty may suffer heavy losses..."

Dai Zhou spoke earnestly, but Li Chengqian simply smiled.

"Indeed, it is worthy of your position as an advisor to the emperor to raise this question at this time. However... there is no need to worry about this matter. The Imperial Grain Reserves Bureau will purchase grain from the people at the agreed price in the future, and the court will not lower the price."

"The royal guarantee of grain prices is the fundamental national policy I have formulated for the new administration, and it must not be changed!"

"As for the low price of grain hurting farmers... Hehe, gentlemen, the children born in the first year of Zhenguan should be of school age by now. Have you ever thought about how many children were born in the first year of Zhenguan in our Great Tang Dynasty?"

"Too much grain? I'll only complain about not having enough grain!"

Li Chengqian burst into laughter.

"Now that the people have more money, their living standards can no longer remain at the level of eating white flour buns and rice. Ensuring that the people eat well is our new task, which began in the sixth year of the Zhenguan era..."

The Taiji Hall once again returned to its usual state of holding court discussions.

And at the same time.

In the Crown Prince's harem, after going through several checks, Gar Dongzan, led by an attendant, finally met their Tibetan chieftain, Samaga.

"Foreign Minister Gardonzan pays respects to the Tibetan Lady."

"Zang" was the title bestowed upon Samaga by Li Chengqian. Even if he were to succeed to the throne and make her a concubine, she would still be referred to as "Zang Concubine".

Samaga asked anxiously, "I heard that the King of Han has arrived at Guangzhou Port. Is the deal between the Zanpu and the King of Han going smoothly?"

Gardontsen bowed and said, “Don’t worry, Lady Zangliang. Just today, the Zanpu sent someone to deliver a message. The Tang Dynasty has not suppressed the price or made things difficult for us in the transaction. Everything is proceeding according to the current grain storage price.”

Samaga felt somewhat relieved.

Gardonzan looked around and then asked in a low voice.

"Tibetan Lady, the Zanpu would like to ask... are you still not pregnant with His Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty's child?"

Samaga shook his head in disappointment.

In Li Chengqian's harem, apart from Crown Princess Qian Yingying, who has already given birth to two children, the only one who is currently pregnant is Li Xueyan, the daughter of Li Daozong, the Minister of Justice and Prince of Rencheng, who is also a Liangdi (a concubine rank).

After considering for a moment, Gardonzan finally lowered his voice and said, "Zammu, the Zanpu hopes that you and the Tang prince can have an heir as soon as possible. Now that the king of the Chalukya Kingdom has come to Tang, it may affect our Tibetan plan to annex Harsha."

Samaga nodded.

As the fleet approached the capital region of the Tang Dynasty, especially as it entered the sphere of influence of Luoyang, the atmosphere of prosperity emanating from within became clearly perceptible to everyone.

The class structure is evident, and the differences between them remain clear.

However, the lives of ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty, as observed by Pulojishe II and others, clearly reflected how high the lower limit of the Tang Dynasty's national strength was compared to their Zhelouqi Kingdom.

The climate of the Kingdom of Zhelouqi was very suitable for the growth of vegetation and crops, and that is why.

The Kingdom of Zhelouqi did not experience food shortages, but even so, the poor still suffered from hunger and oppression from the upper class.

However, in the Tang Dynasty...

Although the common people were not like the officials and nobles they had seen in Guangzhou Prefecture, dressed in fine silks and eating delicacies, they were all full of energy and had the same demeanor when they talked to others and bowed.

They were even more like nobles than the nobles of their kingdom of Zhelouqi.

Besides the Taishi Railway, this was one of the major projects completed in the fifth year of the Zhenguan era.

The Tongji Canal, which connects Luoyang to Chang'an, can also be considered one.

The Tongji Canal, after numerous improvements and widenings, has significantly enhanced the efficiency of waterway transportation between Luoyang and Chang'an.

Feng Deyi, the Minister of Revenue, had been waiting here long before the fleet carrying the Prince of Han and his men arrived in Luoyang.

Furthermore, he ordered the major official granaries in Luoyang to transfer all the grain stored there to granaries in other surrounding prefectures and counties ahead of schedule.

They looked like they were waiting to welcome guests.

"Your subject Feng Deyi greets Your Highness the Prince of Han. Your Highness, please rest in Luoyang for a while. I will soon have the grain unloaded."

Feng Deyi is over eighty years old, but he looks very energetic at this moment.

He bowed respectfully to Prince Li Ke of Han, as if he had encountered a god of wealth.

Li Ke nodded, and soon the entire Luoyang dock was in an uproar.

"Food! Holy crap, it's all food!"

"My goodness, where did we get so much grain? Are all these ships loaded with grain?"

"Hurry up, line up and get ready to work!"

At Luoyang Wharf, there were many laborers waiting to load and unload goods. When they saw the ships docking and heard their employers announce the amount of goods to be loaded and unloaded, they all stared in shock.

When bags of threshed rice appeared before everyone's eyes, it was a testament to the Tang Dynasty's consecutive years of bumper harvests and the prosperous lives of its people, causing the entire dock to erupt in excitement.

The laborers began moving things with great enthusiasm.

Some idle commoners and nearby merchants also came to watch the spectacle after hearing the news.

"Brother Qu, where did you think all this rice came from? How come there's so much? I estimate it must be at least three or four hundred thousand shi (a unit of dry measure)?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, three or four hundred thousand shi? You must be underestimating my Great Tang treasure ship, right? I've heard that this rice didn't come from Linyi, but was brought back from Southeast Asia by the Prince of Han."

"Nanyang? I heard it was brought back from a place even farther than Nanyang?"

"These ships anchored and waiting to unload are probably all carrying grain... My cousin works in Dengzhou Port, and he wrote to me a while ago saying that there are two or three hundred ships unloading cargo there..."

Merchants discussed the origin of the grain, while the common people were more concerned that if the grain came from overseas, the price the imperial court would pay for the grain this year would be lowered.

“Our family specifically applied for and leased another piece of land this year. If grain prices drop, won’t we suffer a loss?”

"Hiss... I don't think so. Most of what we grow is wheat, while these grains from overseas are rice... It seems that more people eat wheat."

People were discussing it, but the market had not yet reacted.

Having anticipated this, the government had already posted the notice immediately.

Royal Grain Reserves Bureau, Ministry of Revenue Agricultural Affairs Bureau, New Policies Commerce Bureau...

In addition, several popular newspapers in the Tang Dynasty, such as the Tang New Daily, the Tang Daily, and the Tang People's Daily, published the article on their front page.

"In the sixth year of the Zhenguan era, our Tang Dynasty is expected to welcome over 1700 million newborns!"

The Crown Prince's Edict: The Royal Family Guarantees Grain Prices—This is the Foundation of National Policy! No Changes Allowed!

Encouraging agriculture to develop towards higher yields, greater diversification, and more scientific methods! The Southern Agricultural University of the Tang Dynasty is expected to officially begin enrolling students in Guangzhou Prefecture, Lingnan Province this August.

The government's articles, like reassuring pills, fell from the sky, instantly calming the minds of the people who had just begun to feel a little worried.

Meanwhile, the mice that were secretly plotting something had to give up.

On the 20th of the seventh month of the sixth year of Zhenguan, the Ministry of Revenue in Chang'an suddenly published the contents in major newspapers.

To ensure the healthy development of the grain market and stabilize grain prices in our Great Tang Dynasty, the Great Tang Dynasty hereby suspends the approval process for imported grain from Linyi, effective immediately.

.......

Lingnan Circuit, Guangzhou Prefecture.

Du Ling, the commander of the Chu King's fleet, grinned maliciously as he looked at the prepared fleet and pointed his long sword.

"Raise the sails! Head to Linyi!"