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

Chapter 1838: Martial Arts Examination, Selecting the Vanguard

In the Changzhou Governor's Mansion, Li Xuan sat in the main seat, Li Zhizhao and Li Chengqi sat on the left, Dou Lu Qinwang, Su Baotong, Cui Ding and others sat on the right.

The freshest lamb is being steamed in the hot pot, and the aroma has spread throughout the lobby.

Li Xuan turned sideways to look at Dou Lu Qin Wang and said seriously, "Dou Lu, I asked the prince today what the world is. The prince said that the world is the peace of the people. What do you think?"

"That's a very good thing to say." Dou Lu Qinwang looked at Li Zhizhao in surprise, then looked at Li Xuan, and said with a cupped hand: "Anti-China is the most important thing in the world, the prince is right."

Li Xuan smiled, turned sideways to look at Li Zhizhao, and asked, "Prince, did you hear that? Dou Lu Weng said it very clearly. The first priority in the world is to keep the people safe, but that's the only priority."

"May I ask, father, is there anything else besides this?" Li Zhizhao looked at Li Xuan carefully.

"Peace the people, protect the people, educate the people, enrich the people, and strengthen the people." Li Xuan swallowed the last sentence a little, and then said: "Peace the people first, so that the people can have enough food and warm clothes, do not have to worry about being oppressed by the wealthy, humiliated by the government, and can sleep peacefully at night, this is peace of mind."

After a short pause, Li Xuan looked at Li Zhizhao and asked, "Your father has been in power for many years, and we have achieved some results. Last year's floods and this year's droughts have been properly managed. Except for a few places that were too remote to be rescued in time and resulted in deaths, the rest of the people have good laws and even have food stored at home. Can this be called peace for the people?"

"Okay!" Li Zhizhao nodded directly.

Li Xuan smiled, turned around and looked at Dou Lu Qinwang, and asked, "Dou Lu, tell the truth."

Dou Lu Qinwang hesitated for a moment, then shook his head gently and said, "No."

"That's right, it's not possible." Li Xuan turned to look at Li Zhizhao and said, "Back then, because I had a very strict supervision over the country, I sent important officials to inspect the local areas every spring and autumn. This prevented many means of oppressing the people from being carried out... Once these supervisions are gone, the order of my country will immediately collapse."

"Ah!" Li Zhizhao looked at Li Xuan in surprise.

"Autumn harvest, the key lies in autumn harvest." Li Xuan looked up and said, "When my father first entered the officialdom, the first problem he encountered was that the people were most likely to run out of food at home before autumn harvest at the end of June or the beginning of July. It was very strange that no matter how good the harvest was the previous year, they would run out of food at the end of June or the beginning of July of the following year."

Dou Lu Qinwang lowered his head slightly. He did not expect that Li Xuan would tell the prince one of the biggest secrets in the world at this moment.

Also sitting next to him was Prince of Xiang Li Chengqi.

"After the food supply is cut off, the people will need to borrow money. Who will they borrow from? The wealthy and powerful. What will they use as collateral? Land."

Li Xuan looked ahead and said, "How much can they pay back? Very little. What if they can't pay back? All the land will go to the aristocratic families."

The entire lobby fell completely silent.

"What will happen if the noble families own more and more land? The court will collect less taxes. The more land the noble families own, the less taxes the court will pay. In the end, the noble families will become stronger and stronger, and the court will become weaker and weaker. In the end, the world will be turned upside down." Li Xuan looked at Li Zhizhao and asked coldly, "Do you understand?"

"I understand, son." Li Zhizhao nodded heavily.

Li Xuan looked at Li Chengqi again and asked, "Prince Xiang, do you understand?"

"I understand." Li Chengqi nodded seriously.

"Therefore, the power of the emperor lies in ensuring how much land in the world belongs to the people, how much belongs to the aristocratic families, and how much belongs to the royal family and relatives. This is what you must know. Only when the people of the world have more and more land and the court collects more and more taxes, the world will be more stable." Li Xuan said firmly.

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao and Li Chengqi nodded at the same time, but they both felt the heaviness in their hearts.

"The relatives of the royal family, the children of the poor, and the children of the aristocratic families who have little interest in land, or in other words, have little interest in it, can all be used. They are the emperor's best helpers." Li Xuan pointed out, and then said: "However, the children of the aristocratic families must also be used, and sometimes they are even important.

In addition to stabilizing the aristocratic families, you must also learn to use the aristocratic families to check and balance the aristocratic families. After all, sometimes there are conflicts between aristocratic families, and the ones who can hurt the aristocratic families the most are also aristocratic families. "

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao's expression finally relaxed a lot.

Li Xuan nodded and continued, "With this as the basis, you have to protect the people. However, in addition to being oppressed by the aristocratic families and exploited by the government, the people are also threatened by foreign races, such as the Arabs further west."

"Darth?" Dou Lu Qinwang seemed to understand what Li Xuan was going to say.

"At the beginning of the Zhenguan period, Persia was destroyed by the Arabs. Over a period of sixty years, the Arabs have gradually begun to look eastward. Especially in the early years, I had a battle with them. With my ability, I mobilized the army, but still allowed three thousand of their five thousand Arab cavalry to escape. In the future, there will be a battle between the Arabs and the Tang Dynasty." Li Xuan's expression became solemn.

"So." Li Xuan took a deep breath and said, "We need to strengthen the road connection with the Western Regions, especially the desert areas outside of Shazhou. We need to clean them up regularly. Once something happens, the news must be transmitted to Chang'an in the shortest possible time. Then, we need to mobilize the army and launch the expedition in the shortest possible time. You need to understand."

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao nodded solemnly.

Li Xuan went on to say: "Even the emperor cannot get too deeply involved in the affairs of the people. Therefore, in many cases, the people need to have a certain degree of self-reliance. This requires educating the people, establishing local schools, and strengthening their ability to take the imperial examinations, so that more children from poor families can appear in the examination hall. This is one of the reasons."

Li Zhizhao nodded.

"Secondly, having enough food is only enough to keep the people alive. How to make the people richer is the second thing." Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said, "I am still exploring this point. I am far from that point."

"Haha!" Li Zhizhao couldn't help laughing.

"The last is to strengthen the people." Li Xuan's expression became solemn, and then he said: "Strengthen the care for filial sons, so that the people have more opportunities to join the army. At the same time, Taoist education can also assist. In this way, more channels for strengthening the people to become stronger are what I will do in the future." "Your son understands." Li Zhizhao nodded seriously.

"So the common people can become poor families, the poor families can become officials and wealthy families, the officials and wealthy families can become aristocratic families, and aristocratic families can overthrow the world and become the royal family. This is the fundamental reason why people's hearts work." Li Xuan looked at Li Zhizhao and Li Chengqi and said seriously: "Remember these two points."

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao and Li Chengqi bowed solemnly at the same time.

"Finally, you need to know how big the world is." Li Xuan sighed, waved his hand, and said, "Take your time. The distance you have traveled today is only one-tenth of the northwest, not to mention the entire world."

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao and Li Chengqi's expressions changed slightly.

"Prince Xiang, you can travel around the country more often and see more in the future. You can be the eyes of the Crown Prince and let him know the real situation of the world." Li Xuan smiled bitterly and said, "I have many capable ministers in my dynasty, but I still find it difficult to govern the country. What will you do when it comes to your hands in the future?"

"Father!" Li Zhizhao looked at Li Xuan with some concern.

"Okay, okay, you guys can leave. I have something to talk to Mr. Dou Lu." Li Xuan waved his hand slightly.

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao and Li Chengqi looked at Dou Luqinwang with some surprise, and then retreated with Su Baotong, Cui Ding and others.

……

"Whenever Silla goes to war, I will transfer Heichi Changzhi back to Chang'an to take charge." Li Xuan turned sideways and looked at Dou Lu Qinwang.

"Your Majesty, what does I need you to do?" Doulu Qinwang's expression became serious. The emperor continued to teach the prince today and said a lot of obscure words, but only Doulu Qinwang could understand.

"You are the Deputy Envoy of the Luoshui Road. While you are stationed in Changzhou, you also inspect Fanzhou every year." After a short pause, Li Xuan said, "In a few years, the Prince of Xiang will get married. After the Prince of Xiang gets married, how can we make him stay safely in the local area? How can we make me believe that he can stay safely in the local area? Lord Dou Lu, this is your responsibility."

Heichi Changzhi will eventually be transferred back to Chang'an Road and Fanzhou, and he will also be handed over to Dou Lu Qinwang and Li Chengqi.

Not only that, Li Xuan also needs them to intervene in the Silk Road, just like the Anxi Protectorate and the Western Regions Protectorate, to resist the Arabs.

This requires Dou Lu Qinwang to work hard and seriously.

"Yes!" Dou Lu Qinwang nodded seriously.

"There is nothing else to do." Li Xuan raised his head and looked upwards, saying, "After returning to Chang'an, I will issue an edict to the whole country to prepare for the military examination next year. I want to select the best talents in the world to join the army. At the same time, I also need to select a group of people who can serve in the front line of the army and conquer Silla next year."

Forward, what Li Xuan has to choose now is to lead the army.

Li Duozuo's appointment as the chief military commander of the expedition against Silla was something that had been decided long ago, and even Li Xuan, the chief military commander of various routes, had already made a lot of preparations.

However, he also needed someone who could lead 5,000 cavalry without hesitation, fight from north to south throughout Silla, and then board the ship from the sea.

Such a person, in addition to having considerable wisdom and strategy, must also have considerable courage.

Only such a person could undertake the heavy task of killing his way through Silla from Andong.

It’s hard to find!

A burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside the palace. Cui Ding walked in quickly, looked at Li Xuan and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Chang'an that Concubine Changsun has given birth to a son. Your Majesty, please return quickly."

"Oh!" Li Xuan's face was full of surprise. He stood up and looked at Dou Lu and said, "My dear Dou Lu, I will go back to Chang'an first. You have to pay more attention to the fur and other things."

"Yes!" Dou Luqinwang bowed solemnly, then watched Li Xuan leave like that, he couldn't help but sigh.

The emperor already has eleven sons, and there will be even more in the future. If he divides the world into fiefdoms in the future, who can shake his throne?

Maybe there is, and that is his own offspring.

However, Dou Lu Qinwang shook his head slightly.

Looking at the emperor's teachings to the prince today, he knew that the emperor was intentionally turning the prince's attention to the entire world.

In this way, everyone would worry that the world would be unstable if something happened to the emperor.

After all, the hidden dangers in the world are too great.

So there will be no action.

Dou Lu Qinwang can foresee that there will be no trouble in the world in the next thirty years.

As for thirty years later, who knows?
(End of this chapter)