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

Chapter 1786: Visiting Liu Rengui and asking for advice on Silla affairs
The third year of Kaiyuan, the second day of the first lunar month.

When he got up in the morning, the emperor offered sacrifices to the heaven and earth in the north and south.

The prince and all the officials are accompanying him.

Afterwards, the emperor and empress went to the Duke of Bian's Mansion together.

Dozens of officials followed him.

……

The sound of "chuckle" continued to ring out in the backyard of the Duke of Bian's Mansion.

Liu Jinyu led the servants and went to the back hall carrying sobering soup. He immediately saw his children playing happily with their cousins ​​between the pillars.

When in the palace, even the crown prince was subject to huge restrictions on his actions.

It is far from being as comfortable as it was when I was in Prince Peng’s mansion.

Liu Jinyu sighed softly. She knew that what her children wanted most was to be able to run freely in the East Market and West Market and on the crowded streets of Chang'an. But unfortunately, they no longer had this opportunity.

In the back hall, Liu Rengui was smiling cheerfully, but there was only Li Xuan in the hall, sitting at the upper left.

Several of Liu Rengui's sons were in the front, accompanying the provincial governors from various states, as well as a dozen local chief secretaries and Sima officials.

These are all Liu Rengui's old subordinates.

There were at least hundreds of provincial governors in the country who were promoted to the rank of provincial governor by him.

Among them, there are more than 30 people who are entirely from his line, and most of the others are indebted to him.

If Liu Rengui was still sitting in the position of Shangshu Zuo Pushe, even without the emperor's support, these hundreds of people would obey his orders as long as Liu Rengui wrote a piece of paper.

This is also the reason why even Empress Wu did not dare to do anything to Liu Rengui, even though Liu Rengui and Li Xuan had such a relationship.

Today, the second day of the first lunar month, Li Xuan brought Liu Jinyu, Liu Shubi, Liu Qiongyu, Princess Fuchang, the Crown Prince, Prince Qi, Prince Ying, Prince Ji and others to the Duke of Bian's Mansion.

There are also Liu Rengui’s true confidants who have been promoted by him over the years.

After Li Xuan ascended the throne, most of these people were given important positions. Even those who were not promoted temporarily could still receive secret orders from Chang'an from time to time.
So many people showed up to celebrate the New Year for Liu Rengui at the same time.

Liu Rengui was about to be happy.

Of course, Liu Rengui’s confidants are not just these now. Many of them are in Chang'an and Luoyang. However, Li Xuan did not allow any of them to come.

Those who came here today are those who have been away for many years and have not seen Liu Rengui for many years.

……

"Slow down!" Liu Jinyu reminded the person behind him, then walked into the back hall.

Liu Rengui smiled at Liu Jinyu, then looked at Li Xuan and asked, "The emperor sent a lot of Ruyi money for the third year of Kaiyuan today. It seems that he made a lot of Ruyi money last year?"

"It's more than just a lot of money." Liu Jinyu watched the maid put down the hangover soup and then asked them to leave. She sat down behind Li Xuan and looked at Liu Rengui and said, "They made ten times more. Those foreigners are still rich."

"Ten times, no wonder you want to do it again this year." Liu Rengui nodded in surprise.

"Actually!" Li Xuan leaned forward slightly, looked at Liu Rengui, and said, "Those Ruyi coins were exchanged for unrefined gold and silver from foreigners.

What we earn is the money from this craft, but this craft money is very expensive. "

Liu Rengui raised his eyes and immediately understood the essence of what Li Xuan said.

The Hu merchants from the Western Regions did not lack gold and silver. What they lacked were the means and technology to forge them.

But these things are only available in the Tang Dynasty.

The so-called Kaiyuan Ruyi coins refer to the process in which the Hu merchants brought the unrefined gold and silver from the Western Regions to the Tang Dynasty and forged them into exquisite gold coins of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, it can also be cargo.

"Gradually, Kaiyuan Ruyi coins will become popular." Liu Rengui looked at Li Xuan solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, someone will write a letter to ban this.

Ruyi money itself will not be allowed to circulate, and officials will prevent the flow of Ruyi money."

"I have no intention of letting Ruyi coins replace Kaiyuan Tongbao. If someone reports this to me, I will issue an imperial decree to prohibit anyone from using Ruyi coins to directly purchase commercial goods. However, I will not prohibit others from purchasing Ruyi coins with real money. If I have to ban it, then I will also ban jewelry, jade, antiques, calligraphy and paintings." Li Xuan's eyes showed a hint of coldness.

Liu Rengui fell silent. He looked at Li Xuan for a long time before he spoke: "So your majesty must finally let the Ruyi money circulate."

"Ruyi coins that are neither authentic nor beautiful are fake, but since it involves me, anyone who makes Ruyi coins will be charged with treason, and their property will be confiscated and their entire clan will be exterminated." Li Xuan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "I still say the same thing. I have no intention of letting Ruyi coins circulate. In other words, I will give out more in the next three to five years, and less after that."

"Silla." Liu Rengui immediately understood, but he also knew in his heart that things were not that simple.

Since Li Xuan has already planned to reduce the issuance of Kaiyuan Ruyi coins in a few years, or after conquering Silla, it means that his target is Silla. If someone really thinks that Li Xuan wants to gradually replace Kaiyuan Tongbao with Kaiyuan Ruyi coins, it would be fine if it is just a normal memorial, but if there are noble families who take the lead in causing trouble, he will kill people.

Moreover, after killing someone, he only needs to make his purpose known, and then people's hearts will calm down quickly.

And those among the aristocratic families who attempt to confront the imperial power will be exposed.

Collect money and kill enemies.

I'm afraid even Emperor Gaozong couldn't match this kind of overt conspiracy.

Liu Rengui shook his head slightly, letting the matter go, then looked at Li Xuan and said, "Your Majesty has summoned many of my old subordinates today. Is the purpose for this matter regarding Silla?"

……

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded solemnly, and then said: "I have studied the battles of Dongdao over the years and found that due to the weather and terrain, the battles of Dongdao were mostly based on quick battles and quick decisions. They quickly rushed into the capital of Goryeo or Silla and then destroyed the capital. But after that, the Silla people would retreat into the mountains and forests."

"Yes." Liu Rengui took a deep breath and said, "When we destroyed Goryeo, a large number of Goryeo survivors fled into the mountains and forests. After we killed all the Goryeo royal family members and moved them to Chang'an, those survivors gradually surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. But Silla suddenly took action at that time, gathered these Goryeo survivors, and then turned to attack the Tang Dynasty."

Lightly knocking on the table, Liu Rengui said seriously: "The problem of Goryeo and Silla is not resistance, but the fact that under the war, the East Island area cannot be self-sufficient. Relying entirely on Chang'an for blood supply may be fine for three or two years, but over time, if something unexpected happens, everything will be easily dragged down."

"So, the best way is to kill all the nobles of Silla in one go." Li Xuan nodded after thinking.

"Or, support a puppet and then absorb it step by step." Liu Rengui shook his head and said, "The terrain of Dongdao is not complicated. It is long and narrow from north to south, with many plains in the west and mountains in the east. With your majesty's martial arts, it is enough to destroy the capital of Silla, but the rest of the people will immediately run into the mountains and forests.

They have been used to this for so many times, so it is very difficult to kill all the nobles of Silla in one go."

"So my husband's plan is to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements." Liu Jinyu glanced at Li Xuan who was in deep thought and said, "Besiege the capital of Silla and let all its forces come to rescue."

"It's difficult to solve the fundamental problem." Liu Rengui still shook his head and said, "It's the same old story. They are used to it. Yang Guang conquered Goryeo three times, Emperor Taizong conquered Goryeo once, and Emperor Gaozong even directly destroyed Goryeo and Baekje. So what? So they won't go to rescue them, but hide in the mountains and forests."

"If that's the case, they must have enough food, water, and weapons in the mountains and forests." Li Xuan looked up and said, "More importantly, the King of Silla and the nobles of Silla are not on the same side, so what we should do is not to besiege the capital, but to eliminate all local forces."

Seeing Li Xuan's thoughtful eyes, Liu Rengui knew that Li Xuan had already started to have a perfect plan in mind.

"The final point is that we have paid too much and earned too little. Over time, it will be easy to fall into the same mistakes of our early years. Once something goes wrong in Anxi or somewhere else, we will be in immediate danger." Liu Rengui's expression became serious.

In fact, it was not that they were unable to hold on during the Kaiyuan period, but Tibet was at war and the Turks were uneasy. After years of fighting, they consumed a lot of resources. In the end, they had to withdraw their troops after giving the Silla people a hard slap in the face, and evacuated all the way to the north of the Taedong River.

In the final analysis, it was all because the Tang Dynasty could not afford the expenses of keeping troops on Dongdao Island all year round, and the gains were very little.

"So what if we just charge in, capture the city, plunder the gold, wealth, food, and ironware, kill all the resisting soldiers, and then withdraw our troops as quickly as possible, not stay there for a long time, and reap the harvest every three to five years?" Li Xuan raised his head and stared at Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui stood up in surprise.

"Put aside all the military merits and Fengshan matters." Li Xuan raised his head slightly and said, "Fengshan is a trap anyway, so I won't do it."

……

The Mansion of the Earl of Changli.

A burst of hurried footsteps quickly walked from the front yard into the study in the backyard.

Feng Yuanchang, who was reading in the study, looked up with cold eyes and said, "Get out!"

"Brother!" Feng Yuanshu looked at Feng Yuanchang in surprise and said angrily, "It's almost life-threatening, why are you still so lazy?"

"What a life-threatening move!" Feng Yuanchang lowered his head and began to read the "Spring and Autumn Annals" in his hand again.

Feng Yuanshu looked at Feng Yuanchang and said helplessly, "Brother, don't you understand? His Majesty went to the Duke of Bian's mansion to entertain the Duke of Bian's former subordinates, but he didn't bring you. It's obvious that he is announcing to the world that he is going to take action against you."

"You are wrong, Wulang. Your Majesty did not bring any of Duke Bian's old subordinates in Chang'an. He only brought those in local areas, especially those in the navy. This means that Your Majesty wants to discuss the attack on Silla with Duke Bian. After all, when it comes to naval warfare, who in my Tang Dynasty can compare with Duke Bian." Feng Yuanchang shook his head slightly.

"What about Jizhou?" Feng Yuanshu stepped forward and looked at Feng Yuanchang and said, "Brother, are you just going to watch them come to the capital to file a complaint?"

Feng Yuanchang suddenly raised his head, stared at Feng Yuanshu, and said through gritted teeth: "I have been an official in other places for many years, and I never thought that my clansmen would bring disaster to the local area. This is my fault. I must confess my crime to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to punish me."

Feng Yuanshu looked at Feng Yuanchang in surprise. He didn't expect that the reason Feng Yuanchang didn't let him kill those who came to file a complaint was that he wanted to give up completely.

"Brother!" Feng Yuanshu shouted in disbelief.

"Even if my uncle were still alive, it would be of no use. This matter is settled." Feng Yuanchang lowered his head and looked at the "Spring and Autumn Annals" in his hand again.

Feng Yuanshu staggered towards the door. At this moment, Feng Yuanchang's voice rang out from behind him: "Remember, Jizhou Governor Xue Jichang is the nephew of Duke Dai. Duke Dai was just sent to the Lingyan Pavilion two months ago. In Jizhou, Governor Xue can know everything."

Feng Yuanshu turned around in disbelief.

“In addition, there is Di Renjie from Bingzhou. He is the governor of Hebei Province. I don’t need to tell you what he is best at.” After Feng Yuanchang finished speaking, he lowered his head slightly and looked at the "Spring and Autumn Annals·Yue Kingdom·Gou Jian" chapter in his hand.

(End of this chapter)