The rise of the prince

Chapter 690
"You said you want to expand the army... I understand your worries." The emperor said slowly: "Now that the Liao Kingdom is gone, there is an additional Jin Kingdom, and there is also the Xia Kingdom in the northwest, which occupies the important town of Tang Long. The north has won for a while. But such a thing happened in the middle, I'm afraid I can't do what I want."

Li Xingzhou understood what the emperor meant, "Your majesty, I want to temporarily withdraw from the palace without money."

The emperor looked at him, with a faint light in his eyes: "But before the new army's military salary was paid from the palace, can you still handle it?"

"The big ship can continue to do business after the battle, and it will be replenished soon."

The emperor nodded happily: "Okay, if that's the case, you can do it, but what do you think?"

Li Xingzhou understood that the so-called money can make ghosts turn the clock, so does the emperor.

In the final analysis, the emperor is also afraid. The imperial army of 3 guards the capital, but the treasury is out of money. In this case, I wish he could take over this mess.

Li Xingzhou thought about it for a while: "I want to divide the new army into five compartments, one compartment for every [-] people, with the first four compartments for the horse infantry and the fifth compartment for the navy."

"navy?"

"It's the navy. I think the navy is more impressive than the navy," he explained.

The emperor nodded: "Indeed, you can do whatever you like. So the new army has increased by [-]?"

Li Xingzhou nodded, and then said: "Shenwu, Wuliejun, I want to combine them into one army, commanded by Zhao Guanghua, the commander of the bodyguard's own army Ma Jun, or the emperor appoints a commander, let them guard the capital and no longer be responsible for foreign affairs. campaign."

The emperor frowned slightly: "Why?"

"I just think the imperial army is unreliable." Li Xingzhou didn't say the real reason, he wanted to control the military power alone!Without fighting abroad, without complete logistics and training, the morale of the troops will gradually wear down, the discipline will be lax, and the combat effectiveness will decline. Over time, the forbidden army will gradually become the situation where the new army dominates.

At that time, the high-ranking members of the new army, Di Zhi, Zhao Si, Yan Shen, Wei Yubai, Shen Lin, etc. will all be his confidantes, and they can be pushed to the fore in a logical manner.

At this time, the emperor had just experienced the rebellion of the imperial army, and he was still in fear, and he had scruples about the imperial army, which was the best opportunity.

Li Xingzhou waited quietly, the emperor thought for a long time, and then slowly nodded: "Zhao Guanghua is a good person, but I am still a little worried."

"Your Majesty, I think that the newly integrated army can be stationed on the north bank of the Great River. If the enemy goes south, they will be the first to bear the brunt. There is no way to avoid it. But across the river, it is no small matter for tens of thousands of people to cross the river. It can also guarantee that something like the prince will not happen. .” He suggested that this proposal was selfish and partly for the sake of the emperor.

The emperor thought about it slowly for a while. On the way, Mr. Fu'an exchanged two cups of tea for him and the emperor, and asked him some trivial matters casually. Nod to make a decision.

"I agree with what you said, the new army will be expanded to 5000 people, and this matter is entirely up to you." The emperor asked, "How long will it take?"

"One year." Li Xingzhou said.

"One year." The emperor nodded and didn't ask any more questions, "You are not a child, you will be 19 years old at the end of this year, and everything you do is amazing, I don't ask too many questions, I believe you can do well .”

The emperor looked at him with cloudy old eyes: "I'm getting old, you have to make preparations early, I believe in you, so you just let go and do it. When doing things, think more about your ancestors and the country, and think more about Jingguo Jiangshan."

Li Xingzhou nodded and bowed, the old emperor then waved, and Eunuch Fu An hurriedly handed over a delicate booklet respectfully.

"This is a brochure for meritorious deeds during the Northern Expedition. I wanted to announce it to the world during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but I didn't think of such a mess. Go back and have a look. If there is anything wrong, come and tell me." The emperor said and handed the brochure give him.

He took it with both hands, opened it, and found that the first item included adding him as a privy envoy!

Li Xingzhou was surprised, and then frowned and said: "This privy envoy." It's not that he doesn't want to be a privy envoy. If he becomes a privy envoy and expands the new army into a five-compartment capital, he will completely grasp the military power, but the privy envoy It is He Zhaobei's position, and everyone has this kind of tacit understanding in their hearts.

It has almost become the practice of the imperial court that the former privy envoy, Shen Zhizhengshi or Pingzhangshi resigned, and the successor must be the governor of Kaiyuan.

The emperor glanced at him: "Are you worried about He Zhao?"

Li Xingzhou nodded.

"Don't think too much about it. He Zhao just added a transfer envoy this year. It is not a good thing to add too fast. I have explained it, and everyone can understand." The emperor said lightly.

After hearing this, Li Xingzhou suddenly realized, no wonder why the emperor added He Zhao as a transshipment envoy on the west side of Jingxi Road a few months ago, when the army went out to fight, it turned out that it was for this reason.

The emperor had long planned to add a privy envoy to him, so that the military power would fall into the hands of the royal family, but He Zhao was the candidate recognized by everyone, and it was also the court practice, so it was irrelevant to add a privy envoy to him, who had a real position but no real power. The transfer envoy, then it is logical to add the privy envoy to him on the grounds that the promotion is too fast.

Li Xingzhou was stunned, Jiang was still old and hot, he must have made preparations long before the army set off, and thought about doing this. In this way, forcing Zhong Daoyu away might be the old emperor's intention to centralize power for the royal family. .
At the same time, he was even more apprehensive towards the old emperor, but he was also a little moved. Although the old emperor was cold-blooded, ruthless, and did not treat people as human beings, and had more blood in his hands than a fighter like him, no matter what the reason for Whether it is considering the country's future or continuing the power of the Li family's royal family, this person has paved a smooth path for him and has done a lot for him.

Centralization of power is not good, because high-level decision-making mistakes will be infinitely magnified, but it also means high efficiency and high execution. At this moment, internal and external difficulties, Jin Guo is eyeing, Mongolia is about to move, Li Xingzhou must firmly hold Jing Guo's military power in his hands. There is a chance.

He stood up and bowed deeply to the emperor, the old emperor just nodded slightly, then waved his hand to let him go.

When he returned to the palace, Duke De also came, and he proudly showed off the achievements of entering the palace to Duke De. He was also very surprised, surprised that the emperor agreed.

But then he was relieved and said to him: "The emperor has made up his mind to entrust the country and the country to you. Don't act recklessly and recklessly like before."

The so-called imperial guards guarding the capital are not all stationed outside the capital, but are divided into various places near the capital, east, west, north, south, large and small. It is impossible to let the enemy into the capital to fight.

What's more terrible is that Kaiyuan City, as Tokyo of the country, is located on a plain, connected to a big river on one side, and uncovered by mountains on three sides. Although this makes Kaiyuan's economy and culture prosperous, it also creates another problem, that is, there is no danger to rely on.

Once the enemy from the north breaks through the Zhending Mansion, they can drive straight in and reach the city of Kaiyuan. Because of this, Jingguo has always needed to raise a large number of forbidden troops, stationed everywhere, especially on the other side of the river, to protect the safety of Kyoto.

That being the case, didn't Jing Guo think about moving the capital?Li Xingzhou asked De Gong this question curiously.

".Like Luoyang, the capital of Xijing, there are dangers to defend in all directions, so why choose Yimapingchuan, there is no Kaiyuan to rely on."

Degong first scolded him for talking nonsense, and then said seriously: "Actually, Emperor Taizong also thought about it back then. Emperor Taizong was born as a military general, so he naturally saw it clearly and knew that Kaiyuan was difficult to defend.

But at that time, more than half of the ministers in the court were from Kaiyuan. In addition, although Kaiyuan was a land of four wars, it was rich and rich, and many big families were nearby. Emperor Taizong couldn't move if he wanted to. "

Li Xingzhou nodded, then shook his head again. When the Jin people marched down the plain and approached the city, and the heavy infantry of the Jing State on the vast plain could not fight against the cavalry of the Jin State, it would be too late for these people to regret it.

Of course, what he has to do is to try his best to prevent these things from happening within a year or two.
(End of this chapter)