The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 782 War preparations
Chai Shao and his wife sat opposite Li Yuan, listening to his instructions.

“Your trip to Luoyang this time is not for negotiation, but for seeking peace. We are no longer in a position to negotiate; we are merely begging the other side to let us go. We must utilize all available resources, including your personal connections.”

"Father-in-law, when you say 'let us go,' do you mean maintaining the status quo, or that the other side withdraws its troops?"

"neither!"

Li Yuan shook his head. "We are no longer in a position to make demands. He decides our fate. I want to know, what is the best ending for us?"

Li Ping finally couldn't help but say, "Father, we still have 70,000 troops. We can fight to the death. Why don't we even have the courage to fight to the death? Why do we have to beg them for our lives?"

"Shut up!"

Li Yuan angrily rebuked his daughter, "What do you know? Our 70,000 troops are the foundation of our survival. Without them, our Li family would be nothing more than sheep on a chopping board."

Li Ping closed her eyes in anguish, "I would rather die fighting than live a cowardly life!"

"You bastard! Say another word."

Chai Shao quickly pulled his wife back, not allowing her to anger his father.

"I understand, father-in-law. Rest assured, I will fulfill my mission!"

Li Yuan nodded, "I will return Guangli Wine Shop to you once you return safely!"

"Thank you, father-in-law!"

As they left the Prince's residence, Li Ping coldly asked her husband, "Do you really want that wine shop that badly?"

Chai Shao shook his head, "I wouldn't take it even if it were given to me for free!"

"Then why did you agree to go to Luoyang? Haven't you been humiliated enough by them while serving them?"

Chai Shao turned to look at his wife, "This is my last chance. I've wanted to leave Chang'an for a long time, but I haven't been able to. This time I can leave legitimately!"

Li Ping was furious, "Your son is still in Chang'an, aren't you going to come back?"

Chai Shao looked up and laughed, “Of course I’m coming back. When I say I’m leaving, I don’t mean abandoning my wife and children. I mean I’m going out to find a way to survive, for myself, for my son, and for my descendants.”

Li Ping's gaze softened, and she took her husband's arm, saying, "I'll go with you!"

In Luoyang, inside the Smelting Bureau, Emperor Xiao Xia stood on a high place. Below him was a blast furnace, where coking coal was burning brightly. A huge crucible was glowing red-hot, containing a furnace of molten iron. A dozen smelting craftsmen stood on wooden frames above the crucible, stirring the molten iron with iron rods with long wooden handles. Beside them, an old craftsman closely watched the color of the molten iron.

"Not enough charcoal, add two more pounds!"

A craftsman poured charcoal powder into the molten iron, and the craftsmen continued to stir it. Everyone was covered in sweat. The water-powered blowers below pushed the bellows back and forth. This is how the connecting rods turned the left-right movement into the forward-backward movement.

"It's ready! The temperature is right, pour in the molten iron!" The old craftsman shouted as soon as he saw that the color and flow rate were perfect.

A dozen craftsmen pulled the iron chain together, pouring molten iron from the crucible into another crucible below, and then flowing out from the bottom of the first crucible. After cooling, it became the highest quality steel bar, with a carbon content of 0.8%. The steel bar was transported away, and they continued to refine the next batch of steel.

Xiao Xia nodded in satisfaction. The smelting technology passed down from the Han Dynasty had reached the level of the 18th century and could produce a large quantity of high-quality steel to prepare for the decisive battle with the Turks.

He turned to Cui Huan, the Vice Minister of Works, and asked, "Are there any standards for these techniques?"

"There are clear regulations, and it is classified as a top secret. Currently, thirty people have mastered the smelting technology, and we will protect each of them strictly to ensure that Chang'an and the Hu people never learn it."

Xiao Xia waved his hand, "Don't worry about Chang'an, the key is the Turks!"

Xiao Xia no longer took Li Yuan in Chang'an seriously. Their 50,000 troops were holed up in Tianshui and Longxi counties, not daring to fight the Sui army. This shows that Li Yuan's mentality had collapsed, and he was afraid of angering the Sui army.

There's no need to rush in dealing with Li Yuan; we should continue with our established tactics and gradually crush them.

Xiao Xia was considering the Turks, who were the biggest enemy and threat to the Sui Dynasty. As expected, the Turks would launch a major attack on the Sui Dynasty next year or the year after.

Xiao Xia was determined to cripple the Turks in this battle, preparing for the next battle to annihilate them.

However, the destruction of the Turks was not determined by one's own will, but by national strength, sufficient food and fodder supply, efficient transportation, strong military force, and meticulous logistical support. None of these could be a weakness; if there was even one weakness, the entire reservoir would be useless.

At this moment, a guard came to report, "Your Majesty, there is new information from Chang'an, which has been sent to the Imperial Study."

Xiao Xia nodded and ordered, "Return to the Imperial Study!"

Soon back in the Imperial Study, Xiao Xia sat down and picked up the three intelligence reports on the table to examine them closely. The first report stated that Li Yuan had decided to distribute land to the soldiers and begin the second round of confiscation of the estates of the Guanzhong nobles. This time, 14,000 hectares of land would be confiscated, involving eight families. The Dugu family was the largest, with about 70% of their land being confiscated. The reason not to confiscate all of their land was because the Dugu family still had three estates in Fengyi County.

Li Yuan really went all out, not even sparing the Dugu family. He must have been desperate. Since the Dugu family had escaped, he confiscated their land. In addition, there were the Houmochen family, the Li family, the Zhao family, the Doulu family, the Heruo family, the Changsun family, and the Yu family, a total of eight families. It seems that the Dou family escaped this calamity.

This is certainly a good thing. Xiao Xia will definitely support it fully, using Li Yuan to strike at the Guanzhong aristocracy and further weaken their power. In this way, Guanzhong will have an additional 70,000 self-cultivating farmers.

This is also why Xiao Xia has not launched a full-scale attack on Li Yuan yet, forcing him to continuously acquire resources. Most of the resources he can obtain are from the Guanlong nobles.

The weapons and ironware hoarded by the Guanlong nobles, the money and grain they had previously hoarded, and the land they were now hoarding—all these were precious strategic resources. In the end, the Guanlong nobles' accumulations were exhausted, and they no longer had the ability to stir up trouble. Their political and military resources were all depleted, leaving only money. If you guide them well and force them to invest in mines or manufacturing, they will transform from a rentier class into an industrial class.

Wu Zetian didn't need to deal with them; she had already dealt with them quite well on her own.

Xiao Xia then read the second message, which said that grain prices in Chang'an had exploded, with a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice now costing 300 wen (another unit of dry measure). This was within Xiao Xia's expectations, as most people should have some grain reserves, and only a small number of poor people could rely on porridge relief. It would be more appropriate to entrust this matter to the temple.

Secondly, housing prices have plummeted. Current housing prices are only 20% of their peak, which presents a great opportunity to hoard a batch of official residences. After all, Chang'an will become the western capital, and people will definitely want to go back and live there for half a year.

With this in mind, Xiao Xia gave Liu Wenjing the information about the sharp drop in housing prices and asked her to make arrangements.

At this moment, Xiao Xia picked up the third intelligence report: Li Yuan had sent a special envoy, Chai Shao, to Luoyang to seek peace.

Xiao Xia smiled slightly. Li Yuan finally realized that he couldn't negotiate and could only seek peace. She could set a price, and it would depend on whether Li Yuan could end the negotiations.

(End of this chapter)