Li Xiang was indeed waiting to see what would happen in Samarkand. In fact, Li Xiang already knew the outcome of the war. Whether it was the Tang army, the Gaochang army, or the army temporarily formed in the Western Regions, as long as they did not make any big mistakes, the Arab Empire would not be able to cause too much harm to them.
If it was the first time they fought, Li Xiang might not have been so sure. Now they have fought several times. Although Li Xiang has a high opinion of the Arab Empire in his heart, to be honest, he still overestimated them in this situation.
But during this period, many people within the court talked about the issue of the war budget.
Li Xiang could not refute this point. This was also the first one he proposed. Every war must have certain benefits, unless it is our national defense war. Otherwise, all other wars must have certain benefits.
When someone said this, many people in the court refuted it. However, after they refuted it for a while, they found that Li Xiang did not make any form of rebuttal. Only then did they realize that Li Xiang also agreed with this statement.
After all, I am a man, standing up no shorter than others. Everything I said before was true. How can I deny it now? Although Li Xiang did not refute these people's words, he also hoped that they could give him more time. After a while, the feedback would definitely come back.
It has been more than half a month since the end of the battle of Samarkand. It is time for these people in Chang'an to shut up. A large amount of money has been sent back from the front line, and these people should understand.
The wars led by Li Xiang have never been unprofitable, and they can also make you a lot of money. Now, the money sent back alone is more than 1 million yuan more than our military expenditure and post-war pensions.
In addition, nearly 9,000 girls were transported back from the front line, which can be regarded as our spoils of war. Li Xiang does not prohibit such things. Doing so is also to let all the people of the Tang Dynasty see clearly that as long as you can win a war, these people will be our spoils of war.
But if you lose a war, your sisters may also be dragged into the market. In order to protect our sisters from being harmed by others, we must win this war and let all the people see clearly the differences between the winners and losers after the war. This will inspire everyone to bravely move towards victory.
"Ha ha ha ha…"
Li Xiang was reviewing official documents when a familiar laugh came from outside. Su Dingfang had just returned from the Ministry of Revenue.
"Look at how triumphant you are. The officials in the Ministry of Revenue didn't mean to make things difficult for us. This is what I said at the beginning. Every war has a cost. If we can't make up for this cost, then we might as well not fight the war at all!"
Li Xiang knew why Su Dingfang was so happy. He had just taken the banknotes to the Ministry of Revenue to return them to the government. "Didn't you say we would definitely lose money?" When those people saw the banknotes, Su Dingfang was extremely pleased. "When has our Tiance General's Mansion ever caused the court to lose money?" "If we hadn't been fighting outside for these years, would you officials be so happy?"
"Your Highness, you are a magnanimous person. You can let that go, but I can't. When I saw the mean look on the face of that group of people when they reported to me, I wanted to beat them up. Now that they have seen our banknotes, they are all saying nice things again. I didn't let any of them go. I repeated to them one by one what they said in the hall that day. I also taught them to look at things in the long run and not to keep staring at the account book in front of them. Otherwise, they will not achieve great things in the future."
When Su Dingfang said this, he felt very happy in his heart. That day in the Golden Palace, these guys quoted scriptures and belittled the people in our Tiance General's Mansion as worthless, and kept talking about the disadvantages of the financial crisis.
Ever since our Highness went on the expedition, when has there ever been a financial crisis for you? It's only showing signs of this now, and you're already getting impatient. It's only been a fortnight, and you should know the outcome, so a reprimand is all that's due.
Li Xiang didn't know what to say about Su Dingfang's temper. Those people were not doing this purely for themselves. Many of them were also working hard for the construction of the entire Tang Dynasty. They were just afraid of a financial crisis.
Take the entire Tang Dynasty as an example. The financial budget has become the most important task every year. All places have been regulated. It is not like the past when money was spent on whatever was thought of. Now most of the money is useful. Because part of the money was diverted to the war, of course it must be made up quickly. If it is not made up, then other work of the court will have to stop. This will not affect tens of thousands of ordinary people, but most likely millions of people.
"By the way, Your Highness, the group of girls from the Western Regions are already on their way. Do you have any…"
Su Dingfang didn't finish his words, but as a man, he understood that since these people were our spoils of war, they would be taken to Chang'an City to be sold anyway, so of course we should have the first right of choice.
"I'm already overwhelmed. Go to my harem and see all the jealousies going on every day. I feel exhausted. If you're willing to mediate, just pick one yourself. Just make it within your salary. Also, send a message to the palace."
Even if the beauties from the Western Regions are very beautiful, Li Xiang is not in the mood for that now. All kinds of things happening at home are already bad enough, so Li Xiang does not have that idea now.
But it was different for Li Shimin and Li Chengqian. Li Shimin had already been idle, and most of the things were handed over to Li Chengqian and Li Xiang. But now Li Xiang stayed in the capital, and Li Chengqian didn't have much to do.
These two men were both very energetic. If they were not given a chance to break through, they would probably find a lot of trouble. These women were all transported from the Western Regions. They were slaves with no foundation at all, just good-looking. So if they were chosen by these two men, they would not pose any threat to Li Xiang, but would be of great help.
