Turbulent Times Chapter 1337: Li Shimin’s calculation
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Li Shimin stood up suddenly, bowed his hands to Li Yuan first, and then said: "Father, my son thinks that the refugees should be evacuated in time, and they must not be driven back to their hometowns by force, otherwise the refugees may become vagrants and become a greater disaster." !”
Li Yuan nodded and asked: "Shimin, in your opinion, how should these refugees be dealt with? As far as I know, the reason why the counties are actively submitting letters to deport them is because they are worried that the refugees will be forcibly resettled in the counties. , so it may not be appropriate to share among the counties.”
Li Shimin was clearly prepared, and immediately said: "There is no need to share the counties, but send them to the northernmost Beixian County, where there are a lot of barren fertile land, give them a certain amount of rations, and let them become the people of the army. , build a military stronghold, and be self-sufficient.”
As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, everyone started talking about it. The North County Li Shimin mentioned was originally a county in Taiyuan County, but last year the Turkic people went south and destroyed that county directly. The original people died and escaped. , the entire North County has now become a barren land.
Li Yuan frowned slightly. He was not in a hurry to comment on the unexpected opinion of the second son. Instead, he scanned the faces of the staff and subordinates with his eyes, and asked with a smile: "Everyone thinks that the world Is it possible to say what it says?”
"I think that the words of the prince need to be scrutinized!" As soon as Li Yuan's words fell, a middle-aged scribe in his forties who was close to Li Yuan took the lead to say, "The Turks are eyeing tigers outside the Great Wall, and Hosana Khan And with evil intentions, sending these refugees to farm will only attract the Turkic people to plunder again."
The person who spoke was Ma Yuangui, an official under Li Yuan's command. He was once one of Li Yuan's most valued aides, and he always admired his eldest son Li Jiancheng.
As soon as Ma Yuangui finished speaking, the eldest grandson Wuji who was near the door stood up, first saluted Li Yuan respectfully, and then said: "Duke, this junior thinks what the second son said is feasible, because there are three major benefits to this move."
"First of all, it can solve the problem of resettlement of the refugees. As long as they are given rations and help them build villages, they will not cause backlash, let alone become rogues."
"Secondly, Taiyuan County faces the Turks directly. Regardless of whether there are people farming in Beixian County, if the Turkic people lack food, if they want to go south, they will never decide whether to go south because of whether there is food in Beixian County. It is better to let these refugees become military settlements. , and then build the stronghold army into a military stronghold, once the Turkic people go south in the future, they will become the first line of defense in the north of Taiyuan City."
"Thirdly, from the humble point of view, Taiyuan's military strength is too weak now. These refugees have experienced catastrophe, and those who can survive are the people with strong character. If they are well trained, they can become an army. Strong army."
"The three points that Mr. Changsun said are just speculations. Whether it can be done or not is a matter of two opinions. Now that we have just come to Taiyuan, we have a shallow foundation. If we attract Turkic cavalry, these refugees will suffer first, let alone train them to be strong. Army." Another middle-aged staff member of Li Yuan said, his tone was quite serious
You're welcome.
What Changsun Wuji said is well-founded. In fact, this was something he and Li Shimin had discussed. According to the rules, Li Shimin is fine. Although he is young, he is the second son of Tang Gong after all, but it is inappropriate for a young man like Changsun Wuji to refute them unceremoniously.
And when they thought about it, this young man named Changsun Wuji acted so recklessly because he was the nephew of Changsun Shunde and his sister was married to Li Shimin.
In fact, in all fairness, these old people in Tang Guogong's mansion felt that what Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji said might not be unreasonable. But for the long-term consideration of the Li family, in their view, the prestige built by the prince must be maintained.
Because Li Yuan did not stop Changsun Wuji from arguing with others, the atmosphere in the hall became a little lively for a while. The subordinates and staff members participated with various mentalities, and there was endless noise.
Most people support Li Jiancheng's strategy, and would rather drive the refugees back to their hometowns than take the risk of attracting Turkic people, even though the logic itself is very strange.
A small number of people support Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji, and believe that whether the Turkic people go south has nothing to do with whether these refugees are resettled in Beixian County to farm.
There are also those who carefully choose not to support either side. In their eyes, the eldest son Li Jiancheng is not very responsible. If you help him, if something goes wrong, you will inevitably fall into the wrong.
Li Yuan listened with great interest for a while, he liked the buzzing atmosphere. Politicians can only make correct decisions when they listen to others. He hopes to teach his two sons through his own actions. Of course, his focus is always on his eldest son Li Jiancheng.
When the debate became louder and gradually developed to directly attack the character of the other party, Li Yuan waved his hand, interrupted everyone, and said, "Okay, let's just discuss the matter, don't make excuses. Our Li family will not Let’s talk about it later.”
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After the meeting was over, the seventeen-year-old Li Shimin returned to his mansion with his eldest grandson Wuji with gloomy eyes, and immediately ordered someone to call over his subordinate Liu Hongji and the warrior Xun. For now, Li Shimin only has these three Compared with his elder brother Li Jiancheng, who is surrounded by a group of civil and military talents, his young confidants are very weak.
After Liu Hongji and the samurai Xun arrived, Li Shimin took a few steps before they saluted, supported his arms one by one, and apologized repeatedly: "You two brothers, don't meet outsiders, and don't salute when you see me in the future. Now, and Shimin's behavior is shameless, I am really sorry for calling the two brothers here at this time."
"Second Young Master, you are being polite, we still have to abide by this humble etiquette..." Liu Hongji shook his head with a smile, his arms and elbows still sinking. He has always been prudent in doing things, and he knows that this is just a way for the son of the family to win people's hearts. If he is really rude when he sees the second son in the future, then he will be fine
It's called stupid. But the samurai Xun was inexplicably moved by Li Shimin's way of respecting the virtuous and virtuous, and he wished to be Li Shimin's dead soldier immediately.
Speaking polite words, the four of them had already entered the lobby of the middle hall and living room.
Li Shimin was at this age and was born in troubled times, so he was naturally good at martial arts, so even in the lobby dedicated to entertaining guests and meeting subordinates, the decorations used were weapons.
The largest and most eye-catching piece of furniture in the room is a weapon rack made of pear wood, on which various long soldiers are horizontally placed. Opposite the shelf obliquely above is a row of wall hooks, on which hang more than a dozen horizontal knives of different widths.
"This is the weapon I have used since I was a child in college, and I am reluctant to give it to Yuan Ji, so I put it all here!" Li Shimin invited the three of them to sit down, while pointing to the introduction of weapons that occupied half of the room.
After the four of them had some courtesies, they sat down in the positions of master and slave, and Li Shimin asked Changsun Wuji to tell the story of the discussion just now.
Thoughtful, Liu Hongji thought of the three thousand elite soldiers he had brought from Guanzhong for the Second Young Master, and said, "The Second Young Master wants to select people from these refugees to form a second elite army."
"Brother Hongji's eyes are like a torch, that's exactly what I mean." Li Shimin's eyes flickered, he knew very well that in this troubled world, only the army in his hands has the right to speak, even among the brothers of Tang Guogong's mansion. , he believes that when he has a certain amount of power in his hands, even his father has to delegate some important things to him.
"My lord please give me instructions!" Samurai Xun and Liu Hongji hurriedly stood up and cupped their hands at the same time.
Li Shimin took a piece of paper from his bosom and said: "I have long expected that resettling the refugees in Beixian County, establishing a military camp, and becoming a citizen of the military village will not pass, so after discussing the matter, I went to my father. I got my father's permission to set up another 3,000 elite soldiers. As Brother Hongji said, I am going to take the strong and strong of the refugees as soldiers. You two, Brother Hongji, will be the leader, and Brother Shiyi will be the deputy. The 3,000 elite soldiers brought from Guanzhong Select one hundred backbones from among them, and train a second elite army in a period of three months."
"I obey the order." Liu Hongji and the warrior Xun hurriedly got up, bowed to accept the order, and took the official document at the same time.
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After personally sending Liu Hongji and the samurai Xun out of the mansion, Changsun Wuji whispered to Li Shimin: "There is news from Fanyang County that King Qin An has transferred his third younger brother Xuanba back from the Annan Kingdom of Goguryeo."
Li Shimin was shocked when he heard the words, his eyes flickered, and said: "Xuan Ba is now in any position under Wang Junlin's command, how many people does he have?"
Of course Changsun Wuji knew what Li Shimin was thinking, he said with a smile, "Xuan Ba is in charge of the Stormy Bear Battalion alone, with 20,000 cavalry, and all of them are elite soldiers."
Li Shimin was overjoyed immediately, and said: "I will immediately write a letter and send my confidant to Fanyang County. We must contact Xuanba as soon as possible."
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