Tibet.

Chapter 1335: Patient Education
After returning to the palace, Li Ye had just sat down and hadn't even had a sip of tea when Wei Gao reported at the door: "Your Highness, the Privy Councilor wants to see you!"

Li Ye wanted to take a short rest, so he had no choice but to nod and say, "Summon him to the emperor!"

The Crown Prince Li Tan, who was sitting next to him, was about to stand up and leave. Li Ye smiled and waved his hand, "My son, just sit next to me and listen!"

Crown Prince Li Tan sat down silently again.

Not long after, Duan Xueshi came in excitedly. Seeing how interested he was, Li Ye knew that he came for the steam engine.

"I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"

"You are welcome, Lord Duan. Please take a seat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Duan Xueshi then noticed the prince next to him and quickly stood up and saluted. Li Ye smiled and asked him to sit down again.

Duan Xiushi sat down and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, please assign the Bureau of Machinery and the Bureau of Firearms and Gunpowder to the Privy Council!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "Don't be impatient, General Duan, have a cup of tea first!"

Wei Gao brought in tea. Li Ye drank a sip of tea before he said calmly, "In fact, I am considering merging these two bureaus as well as the Alum Refining Bureau, Iron Smelting Bureau, and Materials Bureau to form a Firearms Bureau. They are indeed very special and have great potential for development. They are different from traditional military weapons."

Duan Xiushi bowed and said, "If you want to establish a firearms supervisory office, I am willing to be the first supervisory officer!"

Li Ye laughed, "Envoy Duan is the assistant prime minister and the minister of state affairs, but he is appointed as the fourth-rank supervisor. This is a demotion!"

Duan Xueshi shook his head. "Your Majesty, why did Guo Ziyi refuse to serve as the assistant prime minister and the prime minister, but wanted to lead troops to fight? He wanted to realize his ambitions, and so did I.

Your Majesty, I passed the Mingjing exam when I was young, but I gave up literature and took up military studies. At the age of 20, I went to Anxi to guard the border. In a blink of an eye, I have been there for more than 20 years. I was prepared to stay in Anxi for the rest of my life and guard the border for my country, but I never thought that one day I would be able to enter the cabinet.

But this is not my ambition. I have been in a daze for the past few years as a privy councilor. Until I saw the iron fire bomb, the explosive arrow and the arrow bomb, I felt as if I had found my life. To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I stayed in the firearms department after the court session every day and did not return home until the evening. I was even able to make explosives and participated in the improvement of arrow bombs. My plan was to install wooden handles on arrow bombs and turn them into hand-thrown bombs. "

Li Ye burst out laughing, "So the hand-throwing grenade was Envoy Duan's idea!"

"Exactly!"

Duan Xueshi added: "Today I saw a steam engine. Others may not understand it, but I can understand what it means to Anxi and to the overseas expansion of the Tang Dynasty. It makes me excited. I even want to become a technical official and study new steam locomotives together. Your Majesty, please help me! My mind is no longer in the Privy Council."

Li Ye stared at him for a long time, and seeing his eyes full of hope, he nodded, "I will give you a month to consider. If you still have the same intention after a month, then I will appoint you to set up the Firearms Supervisory. Your official rank and title will remain unchanged, and you will also serve as the director of the new Military Equipment Academy."

Duan Xiushi was overjoyed and bowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your help!"

Li Ye waved his hand and asked Duan Xueshi to sit down again.

He pondered for a moment and said, "I am committed to developing the steam engine. You understand my intention. Just as you said, what does the steam engine mean to Anxi? What does it mean to opening up overseas territories?
But you don't understand what firearms mean? This time I want to implement education reform, so that every child in Datang can read and write, and the biggest problem is finance.

In order to increase the population, I completely abolished the household tax, and the biggest impact was on the finances.

The army needs to be equipped with firearms and be well-equipped, and the biggest pressure is still on the finances.

Therefore, the financial problem will put enormous pressure on the court for a long time. In order to solve the financial problem, I can only cut the largest fiscal expenditure, military spending. The best way is to reduce the number of troops and maintain an army of 500,000.

But what should we do after the army is reduced? Then we should take the road of elite soldiers. An army of 3,000 people can defeat an enemy army of 30,000. What do they rely on? They rely on firearms, cavalry and heavy armored swords. At a distance of 100 steps, the enemy's bows and arrows cannot penetrate our soldiers' armor, but our arrows and thunders can explode everywhere. When the enemy cavalry charges, we have 1,000 sword-wielding soldiers among our 3,000 people to fight back. When the enemy army flees, our 1,000 cavalry will chase and kill them.

Duan Xueshi finally understood, "I understand now. Your Majesty developed firearms for the sake of elite troops, which ultimately benefits the finances."

Li Ye nodded, "This attack on Nanzhao is a test for me. Li Sheng only brought 50,000 troops, but he has 10,000 firearms troops, carrying gunpowder arrows, iron fire bombs, explosive arrows, arrow bombs and grenades, as well as fierce fire oil. Nanzhao's army is more than 200,000, and Tubo also has more than 50,000 troops stationed in the north of Nanzhao. The total strength of the two sides is five times that of the Tang army. I want to see whether 50,000 elite soldiers carrying the most advanced firearms can destroy a medium-sized country."

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that the advanced technology will be leaked and the enemy will soon learn it. I have a suggestion. Can we set up a special office to protect secrets? It will review all kinds of secrets and prevent them from being leaked!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "There is a Confidentiality Bureau under the Internal Security Bureau. They have been doing a good job in confidentiality for a long time. I suggest you don't mention confidentiality now. When you really take over the Firearms Bureau, you can go deeper and see if there are any loopholes."

"I understand!" Duan Xueshi immediately stood up and said goodbye. Li Ye smiled at his son and said, "Tell me, what do you feel?"

Although Li Tan is young, he is not an ordinary child. He has received a strict education and has gained considerable knowledge.

He bowed and said, "Reporting to the Emperor, my first impression is that Envoy Duan is a man of character. He pursues his own ideals and is not obsessed with power. He is admirable!"

Li Ye nodded, "He is the real backbone of the Tang Dynasty and a loyal minister. For such an outstanding minister, we cannot just say admiration and leave it at that. We must respect him with actions and retain his official position and title, but this is not enough. Once he is appointed as the Inspector of Firearms, I will also give him the honor and status of Kaifu Yitong Sansi and Prince's Guardian, so that all officials can see that I will never treat him unfairly if he really does things."

"Father's teachings, I will keep them in mind!"

"And what else do you feel?"

Li Tan added: "Also, the ultimate goal of your father's elite troops is for finances, which makes me feel like I have been enlightened."

Li Ye laughed, "Silly child, you don't understand this. If you read more history, you will slowly understand it."

Li Tan blushed and said, "Father, can you tell me about this?"

Li Ye asked calmly: "Have you ever fought with other children?"

Li Tan thought for a moment and said, "I only fought with Brother Nan once."

Brother Nan is Li Nan, the son of Li Ye’s eldest brother Li Huai. He has been raised by his father Li Dai. When he was twelve years old, he was named King of Huai by Li Ye.

Li Ye asked, "Who will start first?"

"Brother Nan, hit me first."

"And then? Did you go back?"

Li Tan nodded, "I fought back, and then grandfather saw us and made us kneel for an hour. We apologized to each other and never fought again."

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "Why does Father ask you this question? In fact, it is the same between countries. We raise an army not only to defend our country, but also to be invaded by grassland cavalry. Can we just drive them away? Who will bear our losses?
Our army must not only defend our country, but also fight back and return the favor double, killing their young and strong men and taking away their national treasury wealth. Just as Emperor Wu of Han said, "Whoever offends the Han Dynasty will be punished, no matter how far away they are!"

But why do we have to do this? Isn't it inconsistent with Confucianism? The one who said that we should be magnanimous and win people over with virtue is definitely not a ruler.

A ruler will never consider morality, he will only consider finance. We don't invade others, but we can create conditions for others to attack us first, so that we have a legitimate reason to attack. Remember, the fastest way to improve finances is war. Plundering the enemy's wealth can not only weaken the enemy, but also enrich the finances and win the support of the people of our country. It kills three birds with one stone."

"But what if the enemy is afraid of us and refuses to invade us? Do we have to take the initiative to attack as well?"

Li Ye shook his head. "You must remember that any war must be launched with a pretext, because the foundation of our country is the kingly way, not the hegemonic way. The kingly way requires a pretext. Father will give you a recent example, the Bohai Kingdom. For example, Father decided to attack Japan and seize Japan's wealth. Then where is our pretext?"

"Bohai Kingdom!" Li Tan blurted out.

"Yes! It is Bohai State. Bohai State was our vassal state. It was destroyed by Japan. All the royal officials and the people of the capital were brutally killed. More than 100,000 people were killed. As the suzerain state, we have the right to send troops to punish Japan and demand compensation from Japan. This is a legitimate reason for the war.

However, the Bohai Kingdom will not be rebuilt. The land of the Bohai Kingdom will become a prefecture of the Tang Dynasty, and the people will become subjects. We can reduce their taxes to win their hearts, but the wealth we get from Japan is enough to compensate for a little bit of tax loss. This is the national policy.

If you want to take down Country A, you should first become the suzerain of its small neighbor Country B, and then encourage Country B to provoke Country A by looking for death, so that Country A can't help but invade Country B. Once the king of Country B asks for help, you can send troops in the name of protecting your vassal state. It is best to wait until Country A destroys Country B before sending troops. In this way, you can not only teach Country A a lesson, obtain a large amount of war compensation, and even seize the wealth of its treasury, but also the wealth and land of Country B will belong to you in the end, and you will be righteous and have a legitimate reason for your expedition. This is the kingly way."

"But...but this is not very kind!" Li Tan murmured.

Li Ye shook his head. "That's why I said you are too young to understand. There is no morality between countries. There is only interest. But we will not rob like robbers. We will use strategy to make the other party make a mistake first. Only then can we have a legitimate reason to fight. This is the difference between the kingly way and the hegemonic way. One is rude and unreasonable robbery, and the other is a legitimate struggle. Otherwise, why do you raise an army?"

Li Tan was puzzled and asked, "Aren't we raising an army to defend our country?"

Li Ye glared at him fiercely, "Why did you hit back when Li Nan punched you?"

(End of this chapter)