After inspecting the market and the army, Li Xiang also met with some officials from Gaochang. After General Molun left, the officials in Gaochang were now relatively scattered. There were no major officials, and most of them were county governors.
According to the division of the imperial court, Gaochang's original land was divided into six counties and forty-seven counties.
In the former royal palace of Gaochang, Li Xiang also met with these people one by one. Most of them were Han people from the inland, and a small number were local people. When the counties were divided, the court also sent a lot of people here. Although they were in a hurry when they first arrived and did not know much about many local conditions, after a period of familiarity, they basically had a grasp of the situation in their respective territories.
Many Gaochang officials have also noticed that when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince summoned them, he would usually say a few words of encouragement and then leave directly. However, if it was a Han official, he would more or less talk about some serious matters. It seems that if we want to have a deeper contact with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we must make meritorious deeds on the battlefield. Otherwise, based on our original family background, we will never be able to integrate.
Li Xiang did this intentionally. Before he came, he had people spread the news and told them about the courtesy General Moren received in various places. If you also want to have such treatment, you must have outstanding achievements on the battlefield. As long as you can make contributions on the battlefield, the Tang Dynasty court will never treat you unfairly.
Many people knew this was a scheme, which is what many people called Yang Mou, but what could they do? They could only honestly dive into this trap, because everyone wanted to climb up. If they stayed in one place, they wouldn't have to become officials. Now that they have come out, who wouldn't want to become a higher-ranking official?
The Han officials watched all this coldly. They certainly knew the famous saying of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which was that those who are not of our race must have different hearts. If you people want to be on an equal footing with us, you will have to pay more than twice the price. If you want to say it is unfair, then who made you not reincarnate as a Han Chinese?
After meeting with these officials, Li Xiang led his army further west. Gaochang was still relatively prosperous. Every ten miles or so, they could encounter some tribes on the edge of the grassland. However, compared with the last time Li Xiang came here, many young people were gone from the tribes.
Thinking about the Gaochang army with a total number of more than 100,000, Li Xiang knew where these young people were going. If they continued to graze on the grassland, they could at most improve their lives, but if they joined the Tang army, they could fundamentally improve the class of their entire family.
The story of General Moren has been compiled into a fast-paced storytelling book, which is now being sung in various major armies in the Western Regions. Many soldiers in the Western Regions also regard General Moren as their idol, and they dream of one day making great contributions to the Tang Dynasty court and then going to Chang'an City to meet the Emperor.
Now that General Moren has gone to the south to serve as the Protector-General, they certainly know how large a territory a Protector-General has to manage. If they have that ability one day, their lives will be so exciting.
Li Xiang's brainwashing methods are varied, and anyone may become the protagonist of the story. For high-level people, look at General Moren, and for low-level people, look at the many Gaochang soldiers. They grow from ordinary soldiers to officers, and then receive bonuses from the court, and then they can let their families live in Chang'an City.
Anyway, the rumor was well-founded. Apart from the original Gaochang nobles, there were very few ordinary people who could actually live in Chang'an City. However, news spread extremely slowly in that era. As long as you could make the lie convincing enough, others would have no way to verify its truth.
In everyone's eyes, Chang'an City is like a paradise on this world. If you can move your whole family to Chang'an City to live, it will be worth it even if you risk your life. It's just like the Western Regions. There is big yellow sand every three days and small yellow sand every two days. If you are not prepared, you will vomit half a pound of sand after returning home.
They also received another piece of news that the average life expectancy in the Western Regions was only about forty years old. Come to think of it, it was indeed true. If a person in his fifties appeared in a tribe, it would indeed be something to be happy about.
But around Chang'an City, there are people in their fifties everywhere, and even people in their seventies and eighties. This shows that Chang'an City is protected by gods. Li Xiang understands that the natural environment there is slightly better, but the common people of this era do not understand this, and they can relate everything to gods.
When Li Xiang learned about the legends of these people, he did not think of standing up to expose them. You can think whatever you want, just think of it as something related to gods. Anyway, even if it was under the influence of gods, he was willing to take his family to Chang'an City to live.
"Your Highness, the various tribes of Gaochang are still wealthy. During this war against the Arab Empire, Lord Xiao and I have discussed that if the tribes of Gaochang contribute money, they can raise nearly eight million strings of cash."
Li Xiang and Zhang Jiuli rode in a carriage together. When Zhang Jiuli saw Li Xiang, he kept looking at the tribes on both sides of the carriage. The tents inside were layered one after another, and some tribes stretched for several miles. It was obvious that they were very rich.
"Will it affect their normal life and production?"
This number is indeed not small. You have to know that this is Gaochang Kingdom, not the inland area of the Tang Dynasty. Even in the inland area of the Tang Dynasty, where agricultural production is relatively high, it is still difficult to collect this tax. I really didn't expect that these people in Gaochang Kingdom are so rich.
"Some tribes can be influenced, but most cannot. These people used to graze sheep, but after the war, their population has decreased significantly, and their pastures have expanded, so their wealth has increased significantly."
Zhang Jiuli had investigated all these people and submitted their drafts, but they had not been released yet. So he simply reported directly to Li Xiang. The main reason was that Li Xiang had too many things to do and it was impossible for him to focus on them.
