The population of Chang'an City has approached one million. After the cold winter, the number of pedestrians on the streets has obviously increased.

Li Kuan left two hundred of the thousand guards of the Chu Palace in Liangzhou City to assist Ma Zhou in dealing with the situation in the northwest.

After all, whether it is the northwest trade or the wool workshop, there are many interests involved. It is difficult to guarantee that some people will not have other ideas, so the necessary protection is still indispensable.

There were 800 people left, all of whom were one person and two horses. If this movement entered the city, the city gate guard would never dare to let it go, so Li Kuan simply asked Xue Li to take most of them to the annex of the Prince of Chu's Mansion.

The next one went straight to the Prince of Chu's Mansion.

Li Kuan himself left only Wang Xuanwu and Xi Junmai to follow him and ride straight to Tai Chi Palace.

…

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Chu wishes to see you!"

In the Tai Chi Palace, Li Shimin had the rare opportunity to accompany Empress Changsun for a walk in the back garden. After hearing the report from the palace officials, he directly asked Li Kuan to meet her in the back garden.

"Your Majesty and the King of Chu have to discuss state affairs, so I have to avoid it."

Empress Changsun has always adhered to the concept of not intervening in political affairs in the harem. Whenever Li Shimin was discussing state affairs, she would avoid it whenever possible. This is also an important reason why she is called a wise empress.

"Mr. Guanyin, you haven't seen Kuan'er for a long time. He just came back from Liangzhou today. I only wanted to have a casual chat with him. There is nothing to avoid."

Li Shimin summoned Li Kuan back to Beijing. The direct reason was that the clothing store in the Prince of Chu's Mansion was set on fire. He was afraid that Li Kuan would make things worse regardless of the situation. On the other hand, he also felt that the crisis in Liangzhou had been resolved and there was no need to let him go.

Li Kuan stayed in the frontier.

"We have met Your Majesty, the Queen."

This was not the first time Li Kuan came to the back garden. He was not curious about the surrounding scenery. On the contrary, he was a little stunned when he saw Empress Changsun there.

It seems that it would not be a bad thing for Li Shimin to find him.

"We haven't seen each other for a few months. Your Highness, King Chu, has become taller and stronger." Empress Changsun looked at Li Kuan with a smile on her face, "But she has also turned darker. Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you, Queen, for your concern. I just did what I should do as a minister."

The reputation of Queen Changsun in history is still very good, but she is Changsun Wuji's sister after all. She has tricked the Changsun family, so I don't know if she would mind.

Therefore, Li Kuan always respected Empress Changsun but tried to stay away from her.

"What's your duty? Humph, that sounds nice. You bought back the useless wool from the grasslands and sold them a large amount of various materials. Is this also your duty as a minister?"

Although Li Shimin was very satisfied with Li Kuan's recent performance and cared about his second son, otherwise he would not have recalled him from Liangzhou so quickly.

However, as an emperor, he would never show such concern. On the contrary, he would speak in a blaming tone.

"Your Majesty is wise, this is indeed what a minister should do!"

As soon as Li Kuan said these words, Empress Changsun's face changed slightly. Before she could help her, Li Shimin became furious and said, "How outrageous! You really think no one can cure you, do you? Do you know that during this period, the imperial court

How many people in the country have accused you of being an enemy? Do you dare to say that this is what a minister should do?"

"Your Majesty, although the King of Chu purchased wool, although the people of Xue Yantuo made some money, in the end, not all of the money returned to the hands of the Tang Dynasty. Besides, the woolen clothes are really very good warm clothes, and the price is better.

It's so cheap, I don't know how many people it has benefited." Empress Changsun helped Li Kuan on the side.

"Humph, of course I know this, otherwise do you think I can tolerate him continuing to act like this?"

"Your Majesty, the purchase of wool is related to the long-term stability of the vast grassland. This is the most important beginning of the Weichen Grassland strategy, and it is not a joke!"

Li Kuan naturally wanted to find a way to change Li Shimin's point of view, otherwise he might jump out and stop it at some point in the future.

"Grassland Strategy?"

Hearing these words coming out of Li Kuan's mouth, Li Shimin didn't lose his temper anymore. Instead, he frowned and looked at Li Kuan.

"That's right! Your Majesty, for thousands of years, the northern grasslands have been a serious problem for the Central Plains Dynasty. Sometimes they surrendered, sometimes they rebelled, and even threatened the country when the Central Plains Dynasty was weak. Is there any way to completely change this situation?

Woolen cloth?"

"You just buy wool? Oh, no, you also buy goat milk!"

Li Kuan didn't even have to stare at Li Shimin to know that his face must be full of disdain at this moment.

"Of course it's more than that. Wool is just an introduction. Your Majesty, let's assume that those herdsmen find that raising sheep and selling wool and goat milk is better than the previous nomadic plundering. What will they do?"

Before Li Shimin could answer, Empress Changsun interjected: "Raise more sheep to make your life better?"

"The Queen is Shengming! This is almost an inevitable result. For ordinary herdsmen, the most basic reason why they are willing to follow the tribal leaders to plunder is that the original life is too hard. They can't even eat some salt and wear warm and clean clothes.

It’s all a luxury. But if all the supplies can be exchanged by selling wool, will they still be willing to follow the tribal leaders to plunder?”

"Of course what you say makes sense, but relying on these alone is like completely stabilizing the grassland, which is impossible." Li Shimin has been dealing with the Turks for more than ten years, and he is very clear about the situation in the grassland.

Li Kuan was not surprised at all after listening to Li Shimin's words, "These alone are naturally not enough. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are the basic needs of human life. In terms of clothing, we can slowly control it by selling woolen clothes and linen to the grasslands.

; In terms of diet, needless to say, salt, you have always relied on me. When the time is right, I will also promote tea to them, making tea an indispensable material on the grassland like salt; as for housing and transportation..."

"Wait a minute, you said promoting tea on the grasslands?" Li Shimin asked confused, "Tea was not something that ordinary people could use in the Tang Dynasty. Can the herdsmen afford it?"

"Your Majesty, some things are not useless because they are expensive. Just like salt, even if the price increases one or two times, they still need it. Weichen has a way to make tea become the same as salt." Li Kuan sold it.

For a moment, he did not directly explain how he would promote tea in the future. After all, it is difficult to convince people by just talking about it.

"Then I'll wait and see!" Li Shimin obviously didn't believe what Li Kuan said, but he didn't hit him again.

Li Kuan then continued to explain his thoughts, basically convincing Li Shimin of his point of view.

"One day, the herdsmen on the grasslands will rely heavily on the Tang Dynasty for their food, clothing, housing and transportation. They will only be responsible for raising cattle and sheep on fixed grasslands and will no longer live in pursuit of water and grass. At that time, the vast grasslands will still
Chapter completed!