Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 290 Guo Rong: Xiao Yanyan's father? Then let's arrange a marriage between our children! [Seeking monthly votes]

The Qingshui River is a river located at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, and its source is a lake called Qiuyuan.

Last time, Chen Tang and his group passed by the lake and killed some foreign bandits, but they did not check the valley to the north. Now, looking north, they discovered there was still a large cargo.

Since there's a large shipment available, let's seize the opportunity and try to make a killing!
Chen Tang quickly divided his men into three parts: the left and right wings flanked the front along the outer edge of the river, and he launched an attack from the valley.

“Zhongqing, this is your first time on the battlefield. Use the drones to cover the enemy formation. If any aliens try to escape, just shout it out over the walkie-talkie.”

Wang Zhang objected immediately upon hearing this:
"As the Sima of the General's Mansion, if I dare not go into battle, wouldn't I be laughed at?"

Chen Tang chuckled and handed him a Song Dynasty waist knife:

"Try this knife. It's made of low-carbon steel wrapped around high-carbon steel, so it's strong, tough, and not easy to break. The modern process is called 'laminated steel,' and it works very well."

Wang Zhang thanked Chen Tang and voluntarily joined the left wing army, intending to circle around to the front of the river and launch a frontal attack on the enemy.

With the help of drones, Chen Tang and his 500 cavalrymen seemed to have a full map cheat, quickly approaching the alien tribes' valley camps.

The valley is long and narrow, with many alluvial boulders that make it impossible for cavalry to charge. However, the alien tribes also cannot escape quickly. Once they are surrounded, they either have to surrender or jump into the river; there is no third option.

Before long, the Han army, taking advantage of the terrain and walkie-talkies, completed the encirclement. Chen Tang took the lead and charged in, cutting down anyone he saw. The first wave of attack killed many of the able-bodied men inside.

What followed was simple: the various Hu people who had settled there surrendered one after another. Before nightfall, Chen Tang had captured over a thousand prisoners, all of whom were excellent tools for road construction.

While he was slaying enemies here, in the Later Zhou world, the Palace Guard, after two rounds of testing, selected more than twenty experts who could throw pebbles more than twenty feet away.

The one who threw the farthest repeatedly threw pebbles thirty feet away. Guo Rong appointed him as the Palace Guard Grenadier Captain, in charge of throwing black powder. He also ordered the Ordnance Bureau to start making gunpowder immediately.

Since firearms are so useful, the world of the Later Zhou Dynasty must catch up and not fall behind.

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi handed Xin Qiji a map showing the distribution of mineral resources in Shandong during the Song Dynasty, telling him to go back and explore it carefully, and to start blacksmithing and mining as needed.

As for the population, the numerous refugees are the best human resource. As long as they are fed, they can fight wars or mine.

Just as Zhou Yi was about to ask him if he had found any surface iron ore, Fang Hongyan arrived with explosion-proof suits, shields, and various other explosion-proof supplies.

Two hundred sets of equipment may not sound like much, but they filled a box truck to the brim.

Everyone hurriedly unloaded the vehicle, and Fang Hongyan led the driver away. Li Bai looked at the police bomb suit and said:
“If this item were brought to our side, it would surely become a divine artifact.”

The explosion-proof suit has a strong ability to withstand impacts, and also has functions such as stab protection and fire protection. In terms of style, it is extremely slim-fitting, just like the wide robes and sleeves of ancient times. Wearing it under clothing has no disadvantages except for being hot.

This is simply the "soft armor" that emperors have always dreamed of.

Zhou Yi said to Li Bai:
"Take a few sets with you when you leave. Although the emperor has the token, we still need to take precautions and can't let our guard down."

Xin Qiji took two sets and left, intending to leave them for the patrol team's captain and deputy captain, as an encouragement for everyone to go all out and not hold back during the internal competition.

In the evening, at Gongsun Da Niang's insistence, Zhou Yi made several sweet and sour dishes. The girl ate two large bowls of rice, which was more than Zhou Yi's appetite.

Wu Zetian inquired about the Kaiyuan World and learned that a large number of eunuchs had been dismissed from the palace. She immediately asked:
Have they been settled in somewhere?

Gongsun Dajia said:

"Why not just go back to their hometown? Are you suggesting we take care of them in their old age?"

Wu Zetian explained to the girl:

“Those eunuchs possess many palace secrets. Although they were repatriated, they were either killed or imprisoned as appropriate. Now that Li Longji is carrying out military reforms on a grand scale, it will inevitably affect the interests of many members of the imperial family and nobles… With Li Longji’s intelligence, he shouldn’t have made such a mistake. Could it be that he did this on purpose?”

While Her Majesty the Empress was speculating, in the Wude Hall of the Taiji Palace in the Kaiyuan World, Li Longji looked at Gao Lishi and asked:
"Is it confirmed that Ge Nu and Wei Liangyuan have made contact?"

Gao Lishi opened his tablet, accessed the photo album, and displayed the photos taken by the drone one by one:

"Your Majesty, it was indeed Li Linfu who made the communication. Wei Liangyuan even stayed at Li Linfu's house that night. Li Linfu's servants kept coming in and out, delivering letters to many people, as if they were plotting something."

This result is not surprising at all, because it was a trap deliberately set by Li Longji.

The core of the military reform was to distribute land to the people. Each person was allocated 30 mu (approximately 2 hectares), and with an army of 500,000, this would require 15 million mu (approximately 1.67 million hectares) of fertile land. For the Tang Dynasty, this was impossible to raise in a short period of time, so the aristocratic families and imperial clans had to suffer. The five prominent families and seven powerful clans owned hundreds of millions of mu (approximately 6.7 million hectares) of fertile land, and in order to maintain high grain prices, they would even deliberately abandon some of their fertile land.

If they could be taken back, it would not only weaken the control of the five clans and seven noble families over the court, but also provide countless loyal and skilled warriors for the emperor.

Li Longji would not miss such a win-win situation.

Gao Lishi bowed and asked:
"Your Majesty, if you grant thirty mu of fertile land every three years and sixty mu outside the Central Plains, the fertile land that our Great Tang currently has may not even last ten years. What should we do then?"

Li Longji picked up his thermos and took a sip of tea.
"Don't just focus on the territory within the Tang Dynasty. Look further ahead. Without 500,000 loyal soldiers, the territory would be what it is today. If we had 500,000 loyal soldiers and the territory was still so small, wouldn't the land have been divided up in vain?"

He stood up and pointed to the map of the Tang Dynasty's territory hanging on the wall, saying:

"As long as China develops vigorously, it will have at least one billion acres of fertile land. The Mekong River plain south of Jiaozhi has six or seven hundred million acres of arable land that urgently need to be developed. Pyu (now Myanmar) has two or three hundred million acres of arable land. In addition, there is the fertile land occupied by the five clans and seven noble families. There is no need to worry about not having enough land to distribute. As long as the soldiers can fight, the fertile land will only increase, not decrease."

Once the military reforms were completed, they began to seize foreign tribes to build roads and mines, and relocate people from the Central Plains to the border regions to cultivate the land.

Didn't the imperial court have more money than it could spend during the Kaiyuan era? Then let's implement an immigration program, populate the borders with Han Chinese, and establish a system that respects Han Chinese. Any foreign ethnic group that doesn't submit will be exterminated.

Insufficient living space only means that the fighting wasn't fierce enough. When all the alien races in a place are wiped out, living space is freed up, isn't it?
Li Longji made a series of plans. After gaining military power, he began to promote compulsory education, teaching people to read for free. He then compiled some patriotic textbooks. Once the people recognized the emperor, the so-called interpretation of scriptures by aristocratic families would have no influence, and their monopoly on knowledge would become a joke.

When the first batch of veterans return to their hometowns to serve as village chiefs and village heads, the gentry and landlord class will also be impacted, and a new order will inevitably replace the old one.

Li Longji said to Gao Lishi:
"Ten years from now, if I can achieve something worthwhile, I will ask the immortal to help you return to normal. At that time, you can fake your death, leave the palace, find a beautiful place to live as a wealthy man, marry a beautiful wife, take several concubines, and live out your remaining years in peace. Are you willing?"

Gao Lishi was stunned, completely unexpected that Li Longji would say this. He subconsciously felt it was a test, and was about to deny it when Li Longji laughed:

"Stop making wild guesses. This isn't a test; it's a reward for you. Of course, if ten years from now we're both rats in the street and the people of the Tang Dynasty are suffering, then just pretend I never mentioned this."

Well, the premise for you to grow a little jelly is that the Tang Dynasty will make significant progress; otherwise, it's all just empty talk.

Gao Lishi got really into it. For the sake of his comfortable and secluded life, he decided to stay up all night and diligently help Li Longji fill in the gaps and design the next encirclement plan.

Wei Liangyuan and Li Linfu are in cahoots; they're bound to cause trouble. We need to make sure the 10,000 cavalry are prepared to raid their homes.

Over the next two days, everything proceeded smoothly in all the worlds. Guo Rong fantasized about dealing with the Khitan cavalry, but in the end, he found that the Khitans were holed up in Youzhou and hadn't made a move.

Xiao Siwen, the Nanjing garrison commander stationed in Youzhou, was rather timid and had no other options besides holding his ground and constantly tightening his defenses.

Xiao Siwen was born into the Bali clan of the Liao Dynasty. He did not achieve much in his life except for supporting Emperor Xiao Jingzong to ascend the throne and having a good daughter, Xiao Yanyan. Otherwise, the name Xiao Siwen would not have been recorded in history.

In 958 AD, Guo Rong led the main force of the Later Zhou Dynasty to fight against the Southern Tang Dynasty in Yangzhou. Emperor Muzong of Liao, Yelü Jing, ordered Xiao Siwen to lead his army to invade the south and occupy the cities of the Later Zhou Dynasty, thus preventing the Later Zhou army from supporting both the north and the south.

As a result, Xiao Siwen dared not march south, using the excuse that the summer was too hot. He only slowly marched south when the autumn air was crisp and clear. He encountered resistance as soon as he reached the Hutuo River, and then led his troops back to Youzhou in a flash.

After reviewing Xiao Siwen's information, Guo Rong was actually thinking of arranging a marriage between their children. His son was only seven years old this year, while Xiao Yanyan seemed to be five or six years old, so there wouldn't be a big age gap.

As for whether the Xiao family would submit, that wasn't a big problem, because the Yelü family had always been the royal family of Liao, while the Xiao family were just foreign officials, making them relatively easier to win over.

Guo Rong traveled north until he arrived outside Liangxiang City, where he witnessed the grand spectacle of Zhao Kuangyin's conquest of Liangxiang.

With the help of drones, sieges are indeed much easier.

Liangxiang was a satellite city of Youzhou, where many Khitans were stationed. Now, they had all been captured alive by Zhao Kuangyin, which greatly excited the soldiers of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

We are only one step away from recovering Youzhou, a momentous event worthy of being recorded in history.

Upon meeting Zhao Kuangyin, Guo Rong asked:
"Were there many captured Khitans?"

Zhao Kuangyin said:
"There are quite a few, at least tens of thousands of people. If we hadn't discovered the breach in the city wall with drones, it would probably have taken more than a month to achieve anything here."

Guo Rong thought for a moment and then issued a military order:
“The Khitans with the surname Xiao among the prisoners were imprisoned separately, and the prisoners of the Yelü royal family were repeatedly tortured.”

Zhao Kuangyin immediately understood Guo Rong's intention:
"You want to turn Xiao Siwen against his side? I'll take care of it right away and make sure the Xiao family can't stay in Liao!"

(End of this chapter)