None of the high-ranking officials in the Western Regions had expected that the first thing Li Xiang did after entering Gaochang Kingdom was to let Xiao Shougui go home to visit his relatives. If they did not know the relationship between the two, many people would have thought that Xiao Shougui might have made some mistake and transferred him from his duty area to Chang'an City for arrest.
But anyone familiar with the relationship between the two knew that this scenario was impossible. Xiao Shougui was undoubtedly responsible for the orderly governance of the Western Regions. Without his tireless efforts, how could the county system have been implemented in the Western Regions? And there was no telling how many places were at war right now.
So, in this situation, it would be ridiculous for Li Xiang to attack Xiao Shougui. Didn't you see Xiao Shougui set out on his own with twenty men? If there was such a crisis, how could he, with his intelligence and talent, just take twenty men? Moreover, the Lanling Xiao family is no ordinary small family. Can you just attack them?
After Xiao Shougui set off, many people speculated some practical situations, that is, in a short period of time, Li Xiang might not launch a war with the Arab Empire. Xiao Shougui is the steward of the entire Western Regions. If he is not in the Western Regions, this war will be really difficult to fight.
Although Xiao Shougui left behind a large number of his subordinates, and Zhang Jiuli was here to help, some things were useless if handed over to others, so those who made random guesses shut their mouths. At least in the next three months, the Western Regions would remain peaceful. Many people's hearts were in their throats, but now they breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the Tang Dynasty was powerful, the Arab Empire was not at a disadvantage either. Didn't you see that they lost hundreds of thousands of people in a war? It was not a big deal for the entire country. Of course, this blow was a deep one, but the entire country did not encounter any major trouble, which shows that they were capable of dealing with this war.
So under this circumstance, the countries in the Western Regions did not want this war to break out. If the Tang Dynasty court had not insisted on going to war, I am afraid no one would be willing to do this.
Now that they have learned this inference, many people are relieved. If they have to fight a war, it will not benefit them at all. Although the Tang Dynasty has sent a lot of troops, it is still the same as last time. It is impossible to leave too much labor for the tribes in the Western Regions.
If the entire Tang army goes west to fight, and your tribe has more young men than us, what if you launch a surprise attack? You all have a history of surrendering to the Arab Empire. If the war on the front lines goes against you, you guys are likely to turn against us.
Not to mention now, even in the next ten or twenty years, Li Xiang will not really believe these people unless you can do something that people can believe. So in this case, no matter what the final result is, as long as a war is launched with the Arab Empire, the young people of the tribes in the Western Regions will not have a good time.
Taking advantage of this period of time, Li Xiang also began to inspect various regions. After all, it has been some years since he left the Western Regions. If he only relied on memorials to gain understanding, he would not be a qualified leader. Li Xiang wanted to launch an annihilation war against the Arab Empire this time, so he had to stabilize his rear. During these three months, in addition to inspecting various places, he also had to eliminate some unstable factors.
Even though nothing big is happening now, if a war really breaks out, these unstable factors are likely to bring disaster to the Tang Dynasty. So in this case, even if it makes many people dissatisfied, similar things have to be done. For the safety of the Tang Dynasty's Western Regions, Li Xiang will never show mercy.
Li Xiang came from modern society, so of course he knew how the Tang Dynasty lost control of the Western Regions. During the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty mobilized the troops from the Western Regions to quell the rebellion, and the tribes in the Western Regions immediately rebelled. So don't listen to how well they sing now, because when they get the chance, these people will be the first to stand up and rebel.
What Li Xiang has to do now is not to give them this opportunity, or even to not give them the strength.
Because Xiao Shougui returned to Chang'an, Zhang Jiuli rushed here quickly. Li Xiang needed someone who was familiar with the local situation by his side. Cheng Chuliang and others had to stay in the camp, so these people did not come. They also wanted to meet Li Xiang, but due to their duties, they could only wait for Li Xiang to come to them for inspection. It was impossible for them to come to Li Xiang on their own initiative. If you bring troops here without authorization, are you coming to meet His Highness or to rebel?
"Gaochang is indeed just as you said. It's much more prosperous than before. When we attacked us, the market area was less than one-fifth of what it is today. Now, merchants from all over the world are here, and the variety of goods traded is much greater than before. I wonder how much profit the caravans coming and going on this road will bring to the Tang Dynasty."
Standing on a high point in the Gaochang Kingdom market, Li Xiang saw the prosperity of this market with tens of thousands of people.
This is the largest trading market in the entire Western Regions. All goods from the inland areas are sent from here to the Western Regions, and goods from the Western Regions also pass through here and enter the major cities in the inland areas. Barter between the two sides also happens from time to time. So looking from this place, the people below are like ants, countless in number.
"When Your Highness founded this market, I hadn't been here yet. However, in the six months since I've been here, I've seen that the market has been expanding. Now the perimeter has been fenced off and renovations are underway. It will be operational soon. By then, 15,000 people will be able to trade here. If it weren't for the surrounding yellow sand, you'd really mistake this for Chang'an or Luoyang."
Zhang Jiuli didn't believe at first that the Northwest had such a large trading market, but after seeing it more, he began to believe it. There is a lot of trade between the two places.
Of course, the Tang Dynasty also collected a lot of taxes here. As long as you want to do business here, you must pay a part of the tax. You have to pay a certain percentage of tax according to the amount of goods you sell. Many of Gaochang’s troops rely on this market for their livelihood, so they are also very concerned about the taxes here.
