Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 116: An Important Opportunity in Lingnan

Li Yuanji had wanted to expand the army for a long time, but he had no way to do so. The actual conditions did not allow him to do so. He did not have that many young and strong people under him, and there was not enough food, not to mention the insufficient military equipment.

Now the population under his rule is increasing rapidly, and there is a lot of grain stored, which can be purchased continuously through trade in the future. In addition, the arable land that has been reclaimed is gradually increasing. By next year, the situation will be better and food will be more sufficient.

As for military equipment, the extra iron now can be used to make military equipment. With the craftsmen he brought with him, the craftsmanship can keep up.

Although expanding the number too much would still be unaffordable, expanding by 15,000 people would be no problem at all.

Xie Shufang listened to Li Yuanji's words and responded solemnly. In his opinion, the expansion of the army was inevitable.

"Yes, my king, I will go down and start working on this matter later. The current population is enough to expand by 15,000 people, but there will be 10,000 people behind Yang Shu. Is this a bit too many?

I think it is enough to keep 5,000 people in Yangshu. When Yangshu grows up, we can gradually increase the burden. Now there are too many people at once, and he may not be able to train well. "

Li Yuanji fell into deep thought after hearing this. He asked Yang Shu to lead the team because Yang Shu was also a Liaoren, so he could integrate Liaoren into the team more quickly. Moreover, Yang Shu already led 5,000 people and had a certain foundation.

But what Xie Shufang said was also true. Yang Shu was already exhausted with 5,000 soldiers. If he were to lead another 5,000, he would probably not be able to lead an army of 10,000 people.

Then Li Yuanji looked at Xie Shufang.

"You have thought well about this matter. Let's do as you say. You will be in charge of all the new troops. But you must pay attention. No matter whether they are Liao people or Han people, they must be treated fairly. Now that these Liao people have been registered, they are all my people and cannot be treated differently.

You need to do a good job of ideological work among the soldiers in the army on this matter, so that they can't discriminate in any way, and everyone is the same!"

This is what Li Yuanji is worried about. Except for 3,000 people recruited on the road, the rest of his army were brought from Chang'an. It is really possible that these natives will look down on them. Li Yuanji must nip these things in the bud.

He doesn't want to be internally unstable before he has developed. This is something he absolutely cannot tolerate.

After hearing this, Xie Shufang also agreed.

"Don't worry, my king. We have been together for such a long time now, and the situation you mentioned will not happen. I will also pay attention to this matter and will never let it happen!"

Afterwards, Uncle Xie went downstairs to start arranging these things, and Li Yuanji finally looked at Ning Chun.

"Dahe, you just heard it. Have people speed up the production of weapons and reduce other things. Weapons should be prioritized. The army is related to whether we can develop stably. This is the most important thing."

Ning Chun smiled and said, "I know. Even if the king didn't say it, I would have arranged it this way. Just as the king said, the army is the foundation for our stable development."

Li Yuanji also laughed immediately.

"It seems that I have been overly worried about this matter. Let's leave it at that. I have something else to tell you. You should also understand what Xuan Yan said. The Tang Dynasty is now suffering from famines. It will be even more difficult starting next year, especially for food. This means that the number of refugees in the Tang Dynasty will only increase. You should immediately send a message to all states and ask them to absorb more refugees in the Tang Dynasty. After absorbing them, if the number is too large to be accepted, properly organize personnel to escort these refugees to Leizhou.

There are few people in Lingnan, so this is an opportunity for us. We are also rescuing the people and preventing too many of them from dying in these disasters. This is for the people as well as for ourselves. So you have to do this well. It would be best if you send some people out to supervise the progress of this matter.

At the same time, you should select some people from among the people to publicize our policies here and tell the people of the Tang Dynasty that they will be protected when they come to Lingnan, so that more people can come in.

Don't worry that too many people will flock to Lingnan and exceed our capacity to accommodate them. There are a lot of wastelands in Lingnan now. When people come, we can organize large-scale reclamation. In just one or two years, the influx of people will become the cornerstone of Lingnan's development and growth.

As for Feng Ang, I told him personally to take care of the affairs of other states and to proceed with this matter as soon as possible. We should start making arrangements now and not wait."

This time, Li Yuanji made up his mind to start recruiting people from the Tang Dynasty. Although with more people, food would become a problem again, but as long as the trade could keep up, purchases from overseas and from the Tang Dynasty would be enough to support it.

As long as someone comes in and gets through the difficult period, Lingnan's development will be smooth sailing.

Ning Chun looked worried after hearing this, and spoke slowly after a moment.

"Your Majesty, there is no problem with these. However, Your Majesty, I have a question. I wonder if Your Majesty has ever thought about this. If we absorb a large number of refugees from the Tang Dynasty, will the saints have any objections after knowing this? Will this be disadvantageous to Your Majesty?"

This is what Ning Chun was worried about. Li Yuanji recruited so many people to Lingnan. What was he trying to do? If Li Yuan thought that Li Yuanji was recruiting people to Lingnan in order to commit treason, Li Yuanji would be in big trouble.

Li Yuanji just laughed.

"Dahe, your worries are unnecessary, don't worry, I am doing this for the sake of Datang and Lingnan, why not?

If I don't take care of it, will the court have the money and food to take care of it?

I have rescued many Tang Dynasty people. This is a contribution made to the Tang Dynasty. I have solved a great difficulty for the court. The Tang Dynasty can reduce many losses without spending any money or grain. Those people should thank me.

If they dare to raise this issue, they should make up for the money and food lost in resettling the people before raising this issue again. Otherwise, I will investigate their intentions.

As for the saints, don't worry about it. Just do your best and don't worry about anything else. If you take in too few refugees, I will cause trouble for you. If you take in a lot, I will give you a great credit!"

Li Yuanji never thought that Li Yuan would be worried. Li Yuan delegated a lot of power to his own son, and he was just absorbing some refugees. Who would make things difficult for him?
He is already in Lingnan, and if they force him again, he will be forced to fight to the death. Although he is not as powerful as Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, if he fights to the death, even Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin will not be able to withstand it easily.

Now that such an opportunity is in front of him, he will definitely not miss it. Even if Li Yuan eventually sends an imperial edict, whether to obey it or not depends on his mood.

(End of this chapter)