After five days of adaptation, the entire army's speed finally increased to 100 kilometers per day. Cheng Ying was also sent to the carriage at this time, so there was no need for her to follow Li Xiang. Li Xiang himself also got on the carriage.
The main reason was that the journey time was too long every day. If he had to ride a horse all the time, many of Li Xiang’s memorials would not be approved.
After becoming the General of Tiance, many memorials from the Ministry of War had to be transferred to him. Without Li Xiang's approval, many things could not be done. This was also one of the reasons why Li Xiang had to ride in a carriage.
Li Xiang's carriage was very spacious, and it looked like a small room inside, nearly ten square meters in size. It was also high enough, and Li Xiang had modified it into a four-wheeled carriage.
In addition, Li Xiang made some shock-absorbing devices, so there was not much shaking inside.
"Send to the southeast road."
After Li Xiang finished approving a memorial, he pushed it to the front. Cheng Ying immediately took it and placed it at the window. Immediately, a guard took it in his hand.
Five minutes later, the memorial was delivered. In addition to the memorial, two carrier pigeons were released into the hands of a soldier. This is also a traditional method of delivery.
If the carrier pigeon is fast enough, it can reach the target half the time as the soldier.
However, there is a high possibility of problems among the carrier pigeons, so the method of soldier transmission must be retained.
"Your Highness, please have some tea. I've already added hot water twice."
It was almost an hour, and Li Xiang had approved a total of 18 memorials, and hadn't even had a sip of tea so far. Cheng Ying called several times, and finally had to remind him. When Li Xiang opened his mouth, the tea bowl was already at his lips.
Li Xiang smiled and nodded. At this time, he didn't care about tasting the tea. He drank it all in one gulp and then began to review the memorials.
Li Xiang's office efficiency was still very high. He spent a full two hours reviewing a large number of memorials. After he finished, new memorials came in, but they were not sent to Li Xiang, but to a carriage behind him.
Zhang Jiuli and his men had to read the memorials first, then summarize them. If they were urgent, they would be sent over immediately. If they were not urgent, they would be sent to Li Xiang the next morning. The first two hours of each morning when he started his journey were the time when Li Xiang would concentrate on his work, and he would use the rest of the time to enjoy life.
There was a large reclining chair in the carriage. Li Xiang waved his hand and Cheng Ying sat in Li Xiang's arms. This was the way of moving that both of them liked best.
The windows on both sides were also opened, so not only could we enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, but we could also eat fruits from all over the place. We were now far away from Chang'an City and had arrived in Sichuan, so the weather was a little warmer.
"Your Highness, the King of Chengdu is waiting to greet you."
The imperial edict from the court has come down, and the King of Chengdu is responsible for supervising some of the military pay this time.
"Go tell him that the military situation on the front lines is urgent and that the two countries have united. I will not meet with him, and the troops don't need to stop. Just let him supervise the supply of food and fodder."
Li Xiang was already very tired from reviewing memorials and had no time to deal with these royal children. In fact, asking them to supervise the grain and grass was nothing more than a name. Did they really think they would do the work themselves? That was too naive.
King Chengdu was standing beside the official road at this moment. He was unwilling to meet Li Xiang, and there was no deep affection between the two. Although they were related by blood, what would they say if they really met?
If they were to talk about national affairs, King Chengdu and his father, King Shu, had already left the imperial court long ago and were unaware of many things. If they were to talk about family affection, the affection between the two sides was only mentioned in words, and talking about it would only make both sides more embarrassed.
So Zhang Jiuli conveyed the message on behalf of Li Xiang, which also made King Chengdu feel relieved. Looking at the army passing by quickly in front of him, it was impossible for King Chengdu to say that he was not jealous.
We are all grandsons of Li Shimin. Although you are the son of the crown prince and I am the son of a prince, there is no difference in our status.
Of course, King Chengdu had no ambition to compete for the throne. Since the day he left Chang'an, King Chengdu knew that he would never ascend to the throne, and everyone including his father would be a branch of the Li royal family.
If I could stay in these mountains honestly, I would be able to maintain my wealth and glory in the future. But if I had those inappropriate thoughts, I might not even have the life I have now.
Although King Chengdu is young, he has fully experienced the fact that there is no family affection within the royal family. How did Li Shimin obtain the throne? Is there anyone in his family who doesn't know this?
If those people could leave Chang'an earlier and find a place to be a leisurely prince, the court would not bother you. As long as you don't go against the higher-ups and I raise some soldiers myself, then your life will be much more comfortable than that of ordinary people.
Take the King of Chengdu for example. In addition to the money given by the imperial court every year, there are tens of thousands of acres of fertile land around Chengdu, which are specifically used for his family to live on. What kind of life can you imagine that he cannot live?
What the imperial court fears least is that the royal family members become parasites. As long as you do your job well, the imperial court will still spend money on you, but you cannot cause public outrage. If you cause chaos in the local area, you will probably be in trouble.
The King of Chengdu's favorite thing was to listen to operas and watch singing and dancing, which didn't cost much money. What's more, he had an opera troupe in his palace, so the money given by the court was enough. As for asking him to supervise the grain and grass this time, if he were in Chang'an, he would have wanted to resign to Li Shimin.
Isn’t it good to just stay at home and enjoy your life?
Why bother supervising the supply of grain? If the war is won, at most, there will be some rewards. For the royal family, as long as they are not allowed to return to the capital, what use are the other rewards?
But if something goes wrong in supervising the supply of grain and grass, it will not be a small matter. People from top to bottom will cause trouble for you, so King Chengdu is the most sober-minded in this matter.
"Your Highness, should we wait until the army has passed before returning to the city?"
Thinking of this, King Chengdu turned his horse around and was about to go back.
