It's working!
There's water!
Now we can irrigate the fields!
The laborers on both banks of the canal shouted excitedly.
After a moment, no one knew who started it.
All four thousand laborers knelt before Fang Er simultaneously.
And shouted at the same time:
"Thank you, Lord of Liaodong, for your great kindness!"
"Thank you, Lord of Liaodong, for your great kindness!"
Liu Dacheng smiled as he witnessed this scene.
Fang Er's eyes were slightly moist as he looked at the laborers.
It was worth it!
"Get up! You don't need to thank me, you should thank yourselves.
You dug the canal yourselves, I only provided some tools.
Now that the canal is open, take your tools back with you. I won't collect them anymore.
Go to the Provincial Governor's office and claim a hundred wen each!
Now go back and water your fields!
The four thousand laborers thanked Fang Er again, then took their shovels and went back to their homes.
Of course, they had to water their own fields first.
Fang Er, with the Tianhuo Army, galloped back to Shenyang City.
The crops outside the city were left for the Tianhuo Army to water.
For the Tianhuo Army, which didn't need to fight, this was a small matter.
It could be considered a form of physical training.
In Chang'an City, Great Tang.
A soldier ran swiftly from Chunming Gate towards Taiji Palace.
As he ran, he shouted:
"Great victory! The Lord of Liaodong annihilated a nation in one battle!
A hundred-meter-tall Imperial Observatory built outside Pyongyang City!"
The soldier's face was weary, but it couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes.
The pedestrians on the road stopped one after another, listening carefully to the victory report he shouted again and again!
Goguryeo!
It's gone?
Annihilated by the Lord of Liaodong?
By the way, who is the Lord of Liaodong?
When did our Great Tang gain another lord?
But, that doesn't matter anymore!
What matters is that Goguryeo has been destroyed by Great Tang!
Did you hear? He's shouting that Goguryeo is gone!
He also said that the Lord of Liaodong built a hundred-meter-tall Imperial Observatory outside Pyongyang City!
That's great!
After the messenger soldier left, the pedestrians began to discuss.
It's so uplifting!
The Sui Dynasty suffered three defeats in three campaigns!
Now, without additional taxes or corvée labor, Great Tang has quietly annihilated Goguryeo!
What does this mean?
It means the current emperor is a wise ruler of all ages!
It means the current Lord of Liaodong is a figure like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing of ancient times!
Hooves crushing Changbai Mountain, Pyongyang witnessing the Imperial Observatory!
Just thinking about it is exciting!
Outside Chengyan Gate, the guards on duty heard someone reporting victory from afar.
The Lord of Liaodong has annihilated Goguryeo!
This is great news.
They quickly opened Chengyan Gate and cleared the way.
The soldier ran all the way to Taiji Hall, panting heavily.
Li Shimin had already received the news and was waiting in the hall.
"Quick, get him a stool and some water!"
A young eunuch hurried to comply.
The stool arrived, but the soldier did not sit on it.
This was Taiji Hall, and he dared not sit.
He just took the water and drank it in one gulp.
The soldier wiped his mouth, took out a memorial from his怀, and handed it to the young eunuch.
He said:
"Your Majesty, Duke of Chai, Lord of Liaodong, and General Cheng killed thirty thousand enemy soldiers outside Pyongyang City, and annihilated Goguryeo in one battle!
This is the memorial from the Duke of Chai. He is already on his way back to the capital.
Li Shimin took the memorial from the young eunuch and gave him a look.
He opened it and began to read it carefully.
As he read, his entire face bloomed like a chrysanthemum!
"Good! Good! Good! You may withdraw.
Go! Inform all officials in the capital with a rank of fourth or above to attend the grand court session tomorrow!"
The next day.
At Mao Shi, as dawn was just breaking.
Officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital had already arrived at Chengyan Gate.
The officials entered the hall!
With a loud shout from the eunuch,
The imperial guards opened the gate, and the officials entered in an orderly fashion.
They surged towards Taiji Palace.
They lined up separately, civil and military.
Then they looked at Li Shimin on the dragon throne.
And bowed together.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Li Shimin raised his hand to them.
He stood up from the dragon throne, looking at the officials with bright eyes.
He said with an impassioned voice:
"Yesterday, a victory report came from the northern campaign.
Duke of Chai, General Cheng, and Lord of Liaodong, outside Pyongyang City, settled the empire in one battle!
King Rongliu, Go Jianwu, knelt and came out of the city to surrender, begging for forgiveness and ordering his subordinates to stab themselves to death before the northern expeditionary army.
Goguryeo is no more!
The Lord of Liaodong has built a hundred-meter-tall Imperial Observatory outside Pyongyang City, to awe the wicked.
Duke of Chai brought back wealth totaling 3.73 million guan and 370,000 shi of grain.
They have set sail from Pyongyang and will be transported back to the capital via the Bohai Sea and overland routes, returning soon.
Furthermore, the Lord of Liaodong has petitioned for additional officials to be dispatched to receive the cities of Goguryeo and for more troops to be stationed in the cities.
Let's discuss this."
All the officials were shocked!
The hall immediately became noisy!
Fang Xuanling cleared his throat twice, signaling the officials to be quiet.
Then he said:
"Your Majesty, please present your memorial!
A drought has already appeared this year. We request Your Majesty to issue an order to the Duke of Chai to distribute the grain to the prefectures along the way to prevent the disaster.
We also request Your Majesty to permit the Ministry of Revenue to receive the money and use it to purchase grain for the south.
Fang Xuanling's words made Shi Min's face turn green.
"Damn it, you're eyeing the spoils of war before I've even seen them?"
"Duke Fang, this is not in accordance with regulations!"
"Wei believes that this money and grain should be transported back to Chang'an, inventoried, and then plans should be made."
Iron-headed Wei Zheng stepped forward to refute.
Li Shimin's mouth curved into a slight smile.
"Heh heh, this guy isn't entirely useless, is he?"