Zhenguan Crown Prince Li Chengqian

Chapter 82 On Grain Road (2)

The few people sitting here are all people who have been familiar with the military for a long time. How could they not understand what Li Chengqian said.The army has always been the most hierarchical, and the lowest ranks are the Huotou army and the grain soldiers.

Tang Jun counted military merit by beheading. These selected soldiers were not seen by the chief officer. Not only did they have little chance to make military merit, they were rewarded.They are often ridiculed by other soldiers, and what is more, they are often beaten. Anyway, whether they win or not has nothing to do with them.

In the Datang army, they are doing coolie work every day, and they are also doing coolie work if they are arrested by the barbarians. Why don't they do it there? This is also the reason why they don't protect the food road wholeheartedly.

"Chengqian, it's not impossible to set up a special army for food and roads. But how to calculate military merit, not everyone is willing to transport food."

Li Shimin's question was exactly what Du Ruhui and the others wanted to ask, and they all looked at Li Chengqian with questioning faces.

"Sun Tzu said: The method of using troops is to drive a thousand four-wheeled chariots, a thousand leather chariots, a hundred thousand armors, and food for a thousand miles. The internal and external expenses, the use of guests, the materials of glue and paint, and the decoration of chariots and armors cost thousands of gold a day. , and then a division of [-] will be raised. It can be seen how huge the cost of military ration transfer is, so it is particularly important to ensure the safety of military ration supplies.

The minister thought that Sima, the grain trough in the general, could be designated separately, and the responsibilities of the general who commanded the army should be clearly defined.And according to the actual situation, corresponding troops will be assigned to guard the grain road.

As for the reason why no one wants to go, I know.As long as the guard troops can guarantee the military supplies on the front line, the military merits will be compared with the troops with the lowest meritorious service in this battle. If there is a problem with the supply line, it will be doubled. "

Li Chengqian's meaning is very clear. Encourage the enthusiasm of the grain detaining troops by means of military merit, so that they can settle down to specialize in this duty. At the same time, they have also clarified the relationship of responsibility. Once the grain road is lost, they can directly find the person responsible, the generals on the front line. You can also concentrate on fighting without being distracted.

At the same time, another advantage of doing this is that if the general has a different heart, the officials in charge of the food road can cut off his supplies at any time, so that they cannot make trouble.

Well, Li Shimin was naturally very satisfied, so he nodded and said: "Chengqian's remonstrance is good. This way, the responsibilities are clear and no one will suffer. What do you think of the Qing family?"

After Fang Xuanling took a look at Li Jing, he said in person: "Your Majesty, what the prince said is very reasonable. Since the military law department can operate independently in the army, I believe that the food system can also. And according to what the prince said, everyone I got something. I think I can give it a try."

Of course Li Jing knew what Fang Xuanling meant, the days of this battle would not be short, with hundreds of thousands of troops in hand, there would be some rumors and rumors, which would inevitably make the emperor suspicious of him.

The prince's doing this can really save him from these worries, so why not do it.

"Your Majesty, the safety of military rations has always been the most important thing for military strategists of all dynasties. Many battles were lost because of the severance of food roads, such as the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao. The veteran led the army all the year round and encountered many such problems. , Also dealt with many generals.

But they think that while fighting, they also have to take care of logistics and military supplies, and it is inevitable that they will not be able to take care of them, so they are still very wronged.There are special troops to manage the military supplies and food roads, which can not only guarantee the security of the military supplies to a certain extent.At the same time, it can be regarded as reducing the ambitions of the generals on the front line.Therefore, the old ministers seconded the proposal, and I ask your Majesty to issue an order. "

Pa, Li Shimin reached out and patted the imperial case, and said: "Okay, that's it, you three have to work hard, go to the Ministry of War to draw up a regulation, and then we, the monarch and ministers, will discuss it and issue it for implementation."

"The ministers are waiting for the edict." Fang Xuanling and the three immediately retreated after receiving the imperial edict.

After the three of them left, Li Shimin pointed at Li Chengqian and scolded with a smile: "You boy, you almost surprised my general. Fortunately, the Duke of Dai is very generous, otherwise you would have offended the military god of this dynasty, you know?"

Li Chengqian rubbed his nose, and said with embarrassment: "What the father said is that Dai Guogong is the pillar of the country, and the gully in his chest also makes my son admire him very much."

Although Li Chengqian embarrassed them all today, his remonstrance did solve one of Li Shimin's heart problems.To be honest, he was really worried about handing over all the wealth he had saved so hard over the years to Li Jing.And Li Chengqian happened to help him solve this problem, so the embarrassment just now was naturally out of the question.

"Tell me, you have always been in the Three Treasures Hall for nothing. What is the purpose of coming to see me today?"

The other princes like to hang out in front of him when they have nothing to do, in order to win their favor.On the other hand, Li Chengqian likes to keep his head down and do things, and he will never be dissatisfied because he is too kind to that prince.Not to mention that it will not prevent other princes from receiving awards for meritorious service. The case of Li Ke is an example.Of course, this is also what he is most satisfied with Li Chengqian.

"Father, do you have enough food in your hand?"

"Nonsense, don't you know how much grain there is in Taicang? If you hadn't asked the household department to buy some from Nanzhao and Linyi to make up for the shortfall. I don't have any grain this time to hit Jieli. Tell me, you want to buy it again this time." What's wrong with it?"

Although Li Chengqian was able to make troubles, he also brought a lot of benefits to Datang.Take the last locust plague in Guanzhong as an example. If there was no food brought in from the south, the people in Guanzhong would have died, and how long it would take to accumulate the lost population.

The teasing of his father made Li Chengqian dumbfounded.But it was still a matter of business: "Father, I don't know what you think of my Tang Dynasty's sailors?"

Li Shimin thought for a while and replied: "Navy division, a branch of our Tang army has always been an auxiliary unit. Since your Hejian Wang Shu pacified the south, he has been idle. He usually takes care of trivial matters on the dock. , does this have anything to do with food?"

"Father, my son wants to build a batch of warships suitable for ocean-going operations to form a new Datang navy. First, the grain purchased in Linyi and other places can be transported by sea.

Secondly, it can also defend Datang's sea area and fight against pirates.The most important thing is to develop the Maritime Silk Road on the sea and increase the taxation of the imperial court. "

Hearing the words "Silk Road", Li Shimin's eyes lit up.After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, the Silk Road in the Western Regions was cut off, and Li Tang had no time to look around because he was busy eliminating the anti-kings in the country, which also reduced the court's income.

Now Li Chengqian also proposed to develop the sea trade route, through the trade with various countries on the sea, it will definitely add a lot of income to the court, how can this make Li Shimin not tempted.

But building a fleet requires a lot of money, and the imperial court has to prepare for the Northern Expedition, and the Ministry of Household Affairs can't afford so much money.

(End of this chapter)