People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1777: Attacking Silla as Prime Minister (1/2)

In Chang'an City, twilight paved the road.

A fast horse suddenly rushed in from the Jinguan Gate and headed straight for the Suzaku Gate.

The dusty Qianniu Guards on horseback were running wildly while shouting loudly: "Great victory, great victory, the Yinshan battle, the Duke of Taiyuan led an army of 100,000 and beheaded 30,000 Turkic cavalry, beheaded the Turkic Khan Ashina Gudulu and his brother Ashina Mochuo, great victory, great victory..."

The crazy roar suddenly rang out throughout the entire Chang'an City. The people of Chang'an who heard the sound were startled at first, and then started shouting wildly.

They didn't even know that a great battle had taken place on the grassland.

One hundred thousand troops, one hundred thousand troops!

At what point, the mobilization of 100,000 troops was announced, and there was no news of it in Chang'an City.

Not to mention, their emperor has just returned to Beijing!
A look of shock, awe, and great wonder then turned towards the direction of the Tai Chi Palace.

In the Taiji Hall, the prime ministers, the six ministers, the ministers of various temples, and all the officials above the fifth rank in Chang'an City were waiting in a solemn manner.

The exhausted Qianniu Guards rushed into the hall, knelt on the ground, held up the victory report, and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, the left Qianniu Guards Captain Fan Tu has been ordered to report the victory. The marching commander of the Southern Desert Road, the Duke of Taiyuan, Wang Fangyi, killed Ashina Mochuo, the brother of Ashina Gudulu, the Khan of the Central Turkic Khanate, in the early morning of today... After half a month of fighting, we captured Yinshan Mountain and beheaded 30,000 people. The Central Turkic Khanate was completely wiped out. The heads of Ashina Gudulu and Ashina Mochuo will be sent back to Chang'an soon... The military intelligence has been reported, and I wish our emperor a long life."

The ministers around him all bowed their hands at the same time, and shouted excitedly, "The military has achieved victory. Long live the emperor!"

In a great battle at Yinshan, 30,000 Turkic cavalry were completely strangled.

Ashina Gudulu and Ashina Mochuo were beheaded, and within a few days, the heads of the two brothers would be sent to Chang'an and presented to Li Xuan.

Victory in this battle meant that the initiative of the war in the central Turkic steppes and even the northern steppes was completely in the hands of the Tang Dynasty.

It also means that from this moment on, Li Xuan can devote all his energy to preparing to annihilate Silla.

Taking a deep breath, Li Xuan raised his hand and said, "Pass the decree. The Left Thousand Bull Guard Captain Fan Tu reported the victory and was promoted to the Left Thousand Bull Guard Captain. At the same time, the Ministry of War sent personnel to verify the military merits, the Ministry of Revenue sent people to prepare rewards, and also sent people to survey the Yinshan Mountains and look carefully to see if there is a gold mine there."

Li Zhu and Pei Judao stood up at the same time and saluted, saying, "I accept your order!"

All the ministers in the hall became excited at the same time. In this battle, annihilating the Central Turks and obtaining a large number of war horses and Turkish wealth were only secondary. The real wealth of the Tang Dynasty was to obtain a gold mine.

The foolish Turks actually thought that they could completely mine out a gold mine in just two months at all costs.

How could they know the richness of the gold reserves, the complexity of the reservoir structure, and the difficulty of mining.

Even if they were really given two months, the most they could do was collect some fur.

More gold ore will still fall into the hands of the Tang Dynasty and become the foundation for the Tang Dynasty to create a new era of prosperity.

Li Xuan nodded slightly and said, "Send a message to the Duke of Taiyuan. The day he returns with his army will be the day he offers sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"Yes!" Lu Yuanfang immediately stood up and bowed.

"Okay, let's adjourn." Li Xuan waved his hand slightly and said with a smile: "Don't leave, my lords. I will have someone prepare a banquet in Liangyi Hall to entertain you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." All the ministers bowed.

……

In Ganlu Palace, Li Xuan was flipping through the memorial in his hand, which turned out to be the secret book hidden in the previous victory report.

Lu Yuanfang, Wang Jishan, Li Zhu, Qu Chongyu, Feng Yuanchang and others were all on the list.

"The Huihe people." Li Xuan handed the memorial to Lu Yuanfang and said with emotion: "Just one step away, just one step away, Ashina Mochuo can escape deep into the grasslands, and then with the help of the Huihe people, he can rise again in a few years and become a powerful enemy in the north of our Tang Dynasty again."

"Fortunately, the Huihe people did not go any further." Lu Yuanfang could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. While handing the memorial to Wang Dezhen, he bowed to Li Xuan and said, "Your Majesty, from this it seems that the Huihe people are very ambitious. Now that Ashina Gudulu and Ashina Mochuo are dead, they may directly invade the Turkic territory and pastures."

"That's right." Li Xuan nodded, then looked at Wang Dezhen and said, "Right Prime Minister, when you discuss military merit rewards with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, you can convert a large amount of military merit into grasslands in Central Turkic, giving priority to the Left Guard Turkic Cavalry, the Right Guard Tuyuhun Cavalry, and the Left and Right Guard Tubo Cavalry, and at the same time relocate their families..."

If they were granted one family after another and one large grassland after another, these people would become the most natural fortress on the border of the Tang Dynasty.

"Your Majesty." Feng Yuanchang stepped forward and saluted, saying, "I wonder if the soldiers of the Great Tang Dynasty can be rewarded with grassland instead?"

"Forget it." Li Xuan thought for a moment and shook his head. "It is difficult for ordinary soldiers to afford the cost of their families moving to grasslands. Even if middle-level generals get a lot of grassland, they may not regard it as their own land. They will mostly hire local people. And when the locals find that the land does not belong to them, once foreign tribes invade, they will immediately abandon the land and leave!"

"Your Majesty, there are always people who are willing to truly inherit the grassland as their ancestral land. Your Majesty should give this opportunity." Lu Yuanfang stood up and bowed to ask for permission.

Li Xuan fell silent, his eyes fixed in thought.

There were some things that Li Xuan did not say completely. In fact, the only people he did not trust were the aristocratic families.

When aristocratic families occupy land, they will not only not spend a lot of money to manage it, but once they encounter an invasion by foreign tribes, they will choose to abandon the land and leave.

And if they give too much, then those places will become important locations for the noble families to store military supplies.

In the future, those aristocratic families will most likely gather a large number of soldiers from the grasslands and counterattack Chang'an.

After thinking for a long time, Li Xuan said, "Since the Left Prime Minister has asked, I can't just refuse. How about this, Right Prime Minister, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty can also be granted land and exempted from taxes for three years, but only soldiers who have made meritorious contributions can enjoy this treatment. Once the land is transferred, the treatment will be cancelled. At the same time, the pastures granted to the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty can be gathered in one place, away from the border."

"Yes!" Wang Dezhen bowed solemnly. Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, and there seemed to be more words on his lips, but he kept them all.

"In addition, we will build the Yinshan Protectorate on the north side of Yinshan Mountain to manage all the grasslands of the Central Turks and guard against the Huihe attack on the Tang Dynasty." Li Xuan looked at Lu Yuanfang and said, "The Ministry of Personnel will select the governor of Yinshan Protectorate and all other officials."

"I obey your order!" Lu Yuanfang immediately bowed.

Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "Finally, send an order to the Uighur Khan, ordering him to come to Chang'an to pay homage at the end of the year. If he does not come..."

The officials subconsciously raised their heads and heard Li Xuan say coldly: "Then from Anxi to Yinshan, to Shanyu Protectorate, to Youzhou and Yingzhou, completely cut off all caravans heading to Huihe. No ironware, tea, salt, or porcelain is allowed to be transported to Huihe."

"Here!" The officials held their hands in awe.

……

In the main hall, Li Xuan, wearing a bright yellow lining, sat on a long couch, handed the memorial in his hand to Liu Jinyu, and said, "I understand what Prime Minister Lu means. He wants to use the noble families to transfer all the landless people in the Tang Dynasty. In this way, the Tang Dynasty will be much more stable."

"This is not a good thing." Liu Jinyu walked to the side of Li Xuan, took the memorial and said, "Over the years, the amount of land granted to the people in the Tang Dynasty has been less than 50 mu. If this continues, I'm afraid that in less than a hundred years, there will be less than 20 mu. The only way is to go out, and the grassland seems to be the best way now."

"I am worried that these people will become private slaves of the aristocratic families, just like during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, when the aristocratic families accumulated wealth in the fortresses, and then when the critical moment came, they directly rebelled against the Tang Dynasty." A trace of worry flashed in Li Xuan's eyes.

"Let's rebel. This way, we can use up the extra manpower. Then, we can exterminate the noble families and gain wealth." Liu Jinyu returned the memorial to Li Xuan and said, "My husband asked these people to live together because as long as they gather together, we can attack and destroy them easily, right?"

"That's exactly what I think." Li Xuan looked at Liu Jinyu and said, "In addition, the large amount of ironware from Youzhou and Yongzhou that fell into the grassland also needs to be monitored. At the same time, we need to place trusted families of you and me, especially the Liu family, and trusted generals in the army in these places to separate the aristocratic families and monitor them at the same time."

Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan in surprise and said, "My husband, isn't this a good idea?"

"But this is only a temporary solution." Li Xuan exhaled lightly and said, "If we want to completely control the grassland, the Tang Dynasty needs to be more powerful, Chang'an needs to be more prosperous and more attractive, so that the rich people in the world are willing to bring their wealth to Chang'an to spend, and eventually all of it will fall into my hands."

"Your Majesty, are you worried about future generations?" Liu Jinyu was Li Xuan's bedmate, and Li Xuan understood his concerns when he let out a hint.

"Crown Prince." Li Xuan turned around and looked at Liu Jinyu and said, "Zhao'er is still young. Although he has plenty of time to grow, his knowledge and skills are not the most important. The most important thing is that he can see clearly how the world works. If he can do so, I will give him an important task. But if he still can't see through it when he reaches middle age..."

"Then your majesty, please consider it tomorrow." Liu Jinyu gently held Li Xuan's hand, then looked at her belly and said, "The baby in my belly may also be a son."

Liu Jinyu became pregnant in March, and now it is September and she is six months pregnant.

But after all, she is the mother of three children, so her pregnancy is not very obvious.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "When Ming'er turns 23, I will send him to Changzhou to try to gain experience. If he can understand people's hearts, he can be considered as a candidate for the crown prince. But if not, I will only consider the one in your belly. So, whether it's Zhao'er or Ming'er, you really have to pay attention to their teachings."

Liu Jinyu nodded seriously. She knew that Li Xuan did not say anything unpleasant. If Zhao'er and Ming'er did not have the qualifications to be wise rulers, then Li Xuan might not choose them as his successors.

This puts pressure on Liu Jinyu. How to educate her son will probably become the most important thing for her in the future.

"Let's talk about something lighthearted." Liu Jinyu changed the subject and looked at Li Xuan and said, "I heard that the King of Silla presented thirteen beauties to Your Majesty."

"Yes, that's what happened." Li Xuan nodded and said, "But I don't trust the Silla people, so I'll give them to Xu Lu to train. After they're trained, I'll send them here and raise them in a courtyard. If I destroy Silla one day, I'll take the Silla princess back and raise her in the deep palace, and then see what she'll be like in the Tang Dynasty."

"I heard that the First Emperor and the subsequent Han emperors also had Silla princesses and concubines in their palaces, but they had no children." After a short pause, Liu Jinyu said, "Didn't they ever think of sending their own children to Silla to be kings and then steal the lifeline of Silla?"

"The Silla people are not that stupid." Li Xuan sighed and said, "If the Silla people were really stupid, then Emperor Gaozong would not have been able to take advantage of the situation after he destroyed Baekje and Goguryeo."

"After Silla, there is Japan. Will the people of Silla collude with Japan? After all, the lips and teeth are interdependent." Liu Jinyu suddenly thought of something and looked at Li Xuan worriedly.

Li Xuan shook his head and said, "I have no interest in Japan. Silla is far away. Even if the Tang Dynasty ruled Silla, it still had to worry about the Silla people constantly restoring their country, not to mention Japan. So, I can write this into the imperial edict. As long as I am alive, I will never send troops to invade Japan... Of course, the premise is that Japan does not invade the Tang Dynasty."

Although Li Xuan is arrogant, he is not so arrogant that he thinks he has the power to rule the family.

Japan does have a lot of wealth, but that wealth can be plundered from trade without having to directly invade.

Moreover, he didn't want to see the Japanese become people of the Tang Dynasty.

He could accept Silla people becoming citizens of the Tang Dynasty, but he could not accept Japanese people becoming citizens of the Tang Dynasty. If possible, Japan would become a place of exile for criminals of the Tang Dynasty in the future.

……

In the Taiji Hall, Wang Fangyi, who had just returned from offering sacrifices at the Taimiao, knelt on the ground.

Li Xuan sat on the imperial couch, while Ouyang Tong stood at the side of the steps and said loudly: "…Promote Wang Fangyi, Duke of Taiyuan County, to Duke of Jin, grant him the title of Special Advancement, and grant him the title of Grand Master of the Three Departments…grant Shi Liang, Duke of Xue the title of Special Advancement, and grant him the title of Grand Master of the Three Departments…"

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace. Long live Your Majesty!"

……

In Ganlu Palace, Li Xuan looked at Wang Fangyi and said seriously: "In the next few years, I don't want my uncle to leave the position of the Ministry of War. I need my uncle to start preparing for the attack on Silla. If it is replaced by someone else, I don't trust him."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I can take care of it." Wang Fangyi bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "When uncle is ready to attack Silla, I will grant uncle the third rank of Tongzhongshu Menxia and attack Silla as prime minister."

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)