With all this in mind, Chen Zhengtai had to make an agreement with Li Yuan that if there is any potential new stock, he should inform him in advance.

Li Yuan seemed very satisfied and asked Chen Zhengtai to support him back to the hall.

After drinking that day, Chen Zhengtai was already a little drowsy and didn't know how he was sent out of the palace.

But in a daze, I suddenly felt that I thought I was standing on the first floor, while Li Yuan stood on the second floor.

Later, I felt something was wrong and I should stand on the third level. After all, I saw through Li Yuan's greedy thoughts at first sight.

Thinking about it again, it’s not right. This Supreme Emperor also knew that he was Li Shimin’s confidant.

Although Li Yuan repeatedly said that Chen's loyalty and righteousness would be reported to His Majesty.

So what will Your Majesty think when he learns that the Supreme Emperor wants to make money?

I must be very relieved, because Li Shimin is not afraid of others loving money, especially his father.

The Emperor has earned money, and his backhand also makes his son feel at ease with him.

A kill of two birds with one stone.

But I was thinking in a daze and then I was unconscious again.

When we got up, we suddenly realized and didn't think much about it. The two people in the palace were all human spirits, and they were a father and son. The relationship between them was intertwined with love and hate. Okay, just ignore it.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the Chen clan members were summoned to gather together and have a banquet, which was lively!

The third uncle and the elders from several clans were present, and Chen Zhengtai and his son were present to accompany the last one, and everyone happily ate some wine.

The third uncle looked very happy, but when he was slightly drunk, he seemed to show some regret: "How great would it be if Zhengde was here too."

As he said, his eyes were slightly red.

Chen Zhengde was not here, he went to Shuofang. Shuofang was a desert, thousands of miles away from it, and he could be said to be one of the same places as the sky.

Chen Zhengde went to Shuofang, the only reason... he wanted to plant food in the desert.

Food is the foundation of everything.

If Shuofang cannot grow grain, then all the actions of the Chen clan in Shuofang will become meaningless.

The Han Dynasty built Shuofang City in the desert, but in the end, once the powerful Han Dynasty had a lot of civil strife, Shuofang was quickly abandoned. The fundamental reason was that military fortresses like Shuofang could not be self-sufficient in the desert.

The food needed there required the court to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to continuously supply. Once the supply is interrupted, the Shuofang will no longer exist.

Therefore, Chen Zhengde took a group of people to Shuofang and tried to transplant potato crops to Shuofang.

Once Shuofang can be self-sufficient in food, the entire grassland can both become a large ranch and a large farm.

Seeing that the third uncle was feeling this, Chen Zhengtai smiled and said, "A few days ago, I had compiled a book and asked my cousin Zhengde to come back for the New Year. If he was quick to go to Shuofang, it would be only six or seven days a day. But he came back to the book and said that the matter at hand was important. It would take only a few days. I urged him to come back and take a look."

The third uncle shook his head and sighed, "He is a person who does big things. Growing grain in the grassland is unprecedented. He is the first one. If he can really do things, it will be a success for the country. For us, Chen, it is also a great joy. If such an important thing is to be left to him as a kid, how can he be neglected? Ignore him and let us drink."

Even though he said so, the third uncle still felt a little uncomfortable. He forced a smile and stroked his beard and sighed: "The rise and fall of Chen's family is all about your generation."

…………

Shuofang.

In the past, Shuofang Ancient City was left with only weathered rammed earth walls. During the Han Dynasty, Shuofang City was located very good. The minerals were particularly rich here. There was a large river flowing through this place, and the nearby land was also more fertile than other grasslands.

Although we went deep into the grassland, at this time, countless cars and tents were endless.

There were countless laborers, guards, and some Turkic troops stationed in the distance, with tens of thousands of people.

Every day, there are endless large carts, transporting countless supplies from Guanzhong, and the merchants that follow are like vultures, flocking to them.

As early as the Western Han Dynasty, in order to garrison here, the Han army dug a large number of rivers and canals here, which made it easier for people from hundreds of years to build a large number of buildings.

In the distance, a group of Chen clans were searching for minerals nearby. The news was good. They found a large amount of coal, brass and iron ore. As for the size of the scale, they are still exploring now.

However, the existing minerals discovered are enough.

A group of people began to broaden the waterway again.

The river flowing through this place has a surprising flow rate. It can be used to dig new canals, which can be used for short-distance transportation and irrigate along the coast.

A group of craftsmen cultivated in Erpigou have now revised the construction plan several times in succession to mine nearby rocks and build a strong city.

This city is no longer rammed earth as raw material, but uses rocks. There are a large number of stone fields nearby, which is enough for building a city.

Of course, in an inconspicuous place, there are a group of strange people.

They opened up hundreds of acres of land to plant different crops here.

Of course, most crops fail.

Whether it is wheat and rice... even if I think there is a river passing by here, the land is still fertile, but after all, the temperature difference between day and night here is too large, and wheat and rice cannot withstand such a climate at all. Not only that, because this place is an endless pasture. Once a strong wind blows, the barely planted rice and wheat will soon be blown down by the wind. Before it matures, it will be damaged by seven or eight.

In such a place, it is impossible to grow grain.

Whether it is Hu or Han people, they generally think this is the case.

Therefore, when someone saw the land reclamation, they found it interesting at first, but soon they sneered.

Isn’t this full and full? I know that I can’t grow anything, but I still insist on planting it. The Chen family is just full and full.

Chen Zhengde is obviously not willing to deal with people.

He silently brought more than a dozen people and still cared for the crops here every day.

Although most of them ended in failure.

But he was calm, after all... failure to some extent was also an experience.

If you don’t personally plant one and draw this conclusion, how can you know that it doesn’t work, and how can you know why it doesn’t work?

Of course, now it seems that only potatoes...it seems that everything is normal.

Therefore, Chen Zhengde put all his hopes on the potato. He recorded the data every day, observed the growth, and observed possible pests.

The cultivated land is a very quiet place. No one comes on weekdays, only dozens of tents, and some people deliver supplies on time.

This place is extremely vast. Looking around, the sky seems to be connected to the grassland. When the grassland in winter comes, it is so cold that it makes people tremble. The tent has poor ability to shelter from the wind and rain. There is no condition to build a stone house. Therefore, every time I get up, although I have a thick wool mattress and a stove is lit in the tent to keep warm, I still feel a little painful all over.

Some older people can no longer stand it.

Thanks to Chen Zhengde's youth, most of the people around him are young men like him.

Day after day, they opened their eyes every day and walked out of the tent. Facing the north wind, their eyes almost couldn't open. They felt that there was only one person left between the heaven and earth. The grass clippings blown by the strong wind in the sky were like flying snow.

In fact, many people in the team have already stepped back. Can we really grow food here?

Even if the growth of potatoes looks good, there are not many people with confidence. After all, after experiencing too many failures before, and under such an environment, people naturally lose confidence.

Every once in a while, someone comes to say goodbye.

Chen Zhengde was not good at speaking. Looking at his friends who were saying goodbye, everyone went out of seclusion and took care of the farmland together, but now the other party rode on a horse, carried his luggage, and parted ways with each other. He couldn't help feeling an indescribable sadness in his heart.

But everyone brought this can leave. They are not in the desert, but can go back to Chang'an. Even if the Chen family makes them unable to gain a foothold in Chang'an, they can still go to Guandong and enter Shu. Anyway, as long as it is not in the desert, they can go anywhere.

But Chen Zhengde had no way out. His grandfather had already explained before he left. The head of the family Chen Zhengtai said that the Chen family must take root in the desert. Where others dare not go, the Chen family wants to go, and where others cannot take up, the Chen family needs to take up.

The new city built several miles away is just the branches and leaves on giant trees. No matter how luxuriant the branches and leaves are, if there is no root, the north wind on the grassland will be gone, and in the end, it is just a pile of loess.

What Chen Zhengde needs to do is take root. Only by taking root, the deeper the roots, the branches and leaves will flourish.

He has no way to escape.

Therefore, in addition to taking care of crops every day, Chen Zhengdegan's most popular one is sitting on the ridge of the field. At night, he likes to light a bonfire and sit like this, observing the stars in the sky.

This is true on the New Year and the first day of the Lunar New Year.

After drinking a sip of water and wine, your body will not be cold. When you wrap your cowhide jacket and wool blanket tightly, the stars will be reflected on his pupils, and the pupils are spotted, and they are like the night sky, shining with stars.

At this moment, looking up at the stars in the sky, Chen Zhengde seemed to know that perhaps at the same time, there would be someone who would look up at the same time, look at the same stars, and miss the same thing.

Only at this time, the reflected starlight was covered with a layer of mist in the eyes that were as clear as the night sky.

Chen Zhengde felt a soreness on his nose and couldn't help but choke: "Ahon..."

…………

On the ninth day of the year.

Li Shimin began to meet with officials from the outside dynasty.

The plan for the year lies in spring. After the Chinese New Year, it will be considered as spring.

As soon as spring blooms, the entire Tang Dynasty began to rejuvenate after the dormant in winter.

The annual cost of money and grain was calculated. Dai Zhou, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, discovered a terrible expense, so he quickly submitted a memorial!

Soon, the court was in an uproar.

The expense is too great.

The Chen family built a city in Shuofang, which was nothing.

But the scale is too large.

Li Shimin may have promised to take out a lot of money and food.

Originally, the construction of Shuofang City was something that the ministers should do. During the Qin and Han dynasties, they built military fortresses there.
To be continued...