It took another two days for Li Xiang to arrive in Sichuan. The chieftains here had all been transformed into local officials. They all knelt obediently on both sides of the road, but Li Xiang had no intention of inspecting them.
"Your humble servant, Xiao Guodong, greets His Highness."
This guy is the one in charge in Sichuan. He is another grandson of Xiao Yu. He was originally an official in the Ministry of Justice and was later transferred here by his grandfather. According to the information Li Xiang has obtained in recent years, although this guy's ability is limited, at least he can do your work well.
"Get up. Your performance has been reported to me recently. Sichuan was not easy to come by. Your grandfather and I have put in tremendous effort here. You probably know better than anyone else how we punished these people. So, while you are guarding Sichuan, you must keep a close eye on these people and not let them do anything wrong."
Li Xiang knew very well what these chieftains would do. They had been wiped out several times in history, but they had also revived several times. Although they seemed to be more obedient than the other now, if something happened to the Tang Dynasty court, these people would most likely rise up again.
According to Li Xiang's idea, these people should be killed to the point of no resistance. However, these people are quite prestigious among the local people. If they are killed just like that, it will be difficult to explain to the local people, and it will bring discredit to the Tang Dynasty court.
So Li Xiang could only spare their lives, but no matter who came to Sichuan, the official Li Xiang would send someone to call him over and give him some instructions.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. They no longer have separate residential areas. Our residents are mixed with theirs. Although there are still some unfamiliarities now, I believe that in 10 or 20 years, there will be no difference. Including some of the current lower-class people, they have all been sent to the court's free schools."
Xiao Guodong listed several main methods. He had been thinking hard about it during this period. He believed that the local people must adapt to the Han people's lifestyle. Only when the two sides communicated and integrated with each other could they promote each other instead of just thinking about occupying the mountain and becoming the king.
"What you've done is excellent. Organize and test everything. It may be useful in other areas in the future. However, I still have a few words to say. War is about to break out in the south, and you must keep a close eye on these people. Our rear is Nanzhao, and Nanzhao's rear is yours. Everything is linked together, and no link can go wrong."
After hearing Li Xiang's strategy, this guy was very excited. When Li Xiang told him this, it meant that he had boarded the ship of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. Thanks to the policies you and my grandfather left behind, Sichuan is now completely different from what it was before. It has become a true land of abundance, with an astonishing annual grain output. If the south needs Sichuan's various supplies, it can almost be said that there is no need to transfer them from Chang'an."
Li Xiang was very clear that Sichuan was rich in resources. There were not so many people at that time, so after these things were produced, they were basically all stored in the treasury. When Li Xiang went south to fight, these things came in handy, and the journey from Chang'an City to Sichuan could be saved.
"That's what I need you to say. I won't be leaving now. There are many urgent matters in Chang'an City that I need to attend to. Just follow your current policy. But don't slack off. I have people watching over me. If you slack off, there will be many people who want this position."
The reason why Li Xiang did not stay in Chengdu was, on the one hand, because he wanted to go back to Chang'an, and on the other hand, because King Shu Li Ke was here. If Li Xiang stayed, he would have to visit him. Now Li Xiang didn't know how to meet his third uncle, so he simply decided not to meet him.
It can be said that the two of them can cooperate very well. After all, it was Li Xiang who saved his life when he was in the north. However, King Shu Li Ke was the emperor's son after all, and there was no way he could be under the command of someone else. Therefore, the cooperation between the two sides touched upon several times and ultimately ended in failure. Now that he has come to Sichuan to live a quiet life, Li Xiang feels that the other party may not want to meet him.
In fact, Li Xiang's idea was not wrong. After Li Xiang's caravan drove north, King Shu Li Ke came out from the dense forest on the mountain. At this moment, King Shu Li Ke looked nearly 10 years older.
He thought he would be able to achieve great things after arriving in Sichuan, but it turned out that all the local officials here were not under his control. When he wanted to remonstrate with the court about several officials, the court had all kinds of excuses and simply refused to assign these people to him.
In fact, the court officials also understand that Sichuan’s current situation is the result of the joint efforts of His Highness and Lord Xiao. Now you want to arrange your people there, so what contribution have you made to Sichuan and the court?
What's more, when Li Ge submitted his first memorial, Li Shimin simply brushed it aside. If the Emperor didn't express his opinion, why should we offend His Highness over this matter? Now everyone can see that besides Li Shimin, it's Li Xiang who's the next one. If there were enough benefits for us to be the first to speak out, everyone would give it a try. Now there's no benefit at all, and it would only upset Li Xiang. Do they really think we're all fools?
If there had only been one or two such incidents, perhaps King Shu Li Ke would have continued to work hard, but as the saying goes, three times is the limit. All three of his memorials were sent back to the original source, and everyone, including some of his subordinates, basically understood what was going on.
As for his son, King Chengdu has never done any serious work since he arrived. He spends most of his time in his own palace. Apart from seeking pleasure, he really has nothing else to do, which shows his dissoluteness to the extreme.
Li Xiang had also heard some reports from his subordinates. Although he didn't want the Li family to waste their time like this, there were some things Li Xiang didn't know how to say.
In order to maintain the stability of the dynasty, perhaps you will have to become ordinary people. You only need to enjoy the benefits brought by the dynasty's growth, but you don't need to work too hard, because your efforts may cause the entire Tang Dynasty to split...
