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

Chapter 289: The Deepest Hidden Li Yuan, the Embarrassment of Insufficient Budget
Li Yuanji really didn't expect this. How long has Li Er been in power?
It has been more than a year, which is quite a long time. He really couldn't have imagined that Li Yuan would choose to forgive Li Er so quickly.

At the same time, he was angry with himself. Why didn't he set up defenses against Li Yuan in the first place? Why didn't he be on guard against those people sent by Li Yuan?

This time, it can be said that it is the first time since entering Lingnan that I have suffered such a big loss. It is a huge loss.

After being angry for a while, Li Yuanji had to calm down. Now that a month had passed, what else could he do? It was too late to block the area.

One month has passed since the discovery, but if we count from the time the technology was leaked, it has been more than two months. Those people have already entered the Tang Dynasty.

After calming down, he looked at Cen Wenben.

"Where are Zhen Tang, Liu Xu, Ye Ping, Zhang Zhaonan, and Wang Dashu?"

Among these four people, Zhen Tang is the head of the Firearms Bureau, Liu Xu is the third in command of the Iron Bureau, Ye Ping is the second in command of the Ship Bureau, Zhang Zhaonan is the second in command of the team that overcame the problems of the steam engine after he exchanged for steam technology, and Wang Dashu is the caretaker of hybrid rice and corn.

He really didn't expect these people to come. They were all arranged by Li Yuan.

Thinking about it now, Li Yuanji wanted to slap himself a few times. No wonder Li Yuan was so happy when he gave things to others. He thought that Li Yuan couldn't bear to see him suffer.

Now, he did not expect that even though he came to Lingnan, Li Yuan had already taken precautions against him and had planted hidden agents among these people, and he had never discovered it.

Li Yuanji was confused. He had come to Lingnan, but Li Yuan was still guarding against him like a thief. What was he trying to do? How could he compare with Li Jiancheng and Li Er at that time? Was it necessary for Li Yuan to be so concerned?
These people are only a part of them. This time, because of the leakage of these technical processes, almost all the people planted by Li Yuan were exposed. They all wanted to get these things to the Tang Dynasty.

There were a total of 37 people, almost all of whom were craftsmen. Some of them were originally in the army. Especially the large army brought by Wu Shigui, there were eight people involved. Li Yuanji didn't even dare to think about it. If Li Yuan wanted to attack him, it would be very easy.

There were no leaks in his Prince Qi's Mansion, and everything that needed to be cleaned had been cleaned up. However, among this huge team of craftsmen, there were so many people, and the 5,000 troops brought by Wu Shigui were now scattered, making it difficult to investigate.

Now, he has exchanged it with a large number of contribution points and sent soldiers to guard it. It can be said that he is guarding it strictly. Even in this situation, it is still a good deal for Li Er.

Smelting technology, firearms technology, shipbuilding technology, hybrid rice and corn, Li Er now has them all.

The only fortunate thing was that at least he did not raise these people in vain. As Li Yuan's secret agents, they were grateful to him. In addition to these technologies, the technologies of those industries and various commodities were not leaked.

The most important thing is that the coin minting process has not been leaked. If it is leaked, it will be a big deal.

Hearing Li Yuanji's question, Cen Wenben responded immediately.

"Your Majesty, they are now imprisoned in a cell and are guarded day and night."

"Bring Zhen Tang here."

Li Yuanji didn't want to ask too many questions now. He had already interrogated Cen Benwen and others, and everything was written in the memorial.

The only thing that made him unhappy was that Zhen Tang, the head of the Firearms Bureau that he had appointed, was actually Li Yuan's man? Li Yuanji couldn't calm down.

After a while, Zhen Tang was brought up.

"The sinner Zhen Tang pays homage to His Majesty."

Li Yuanji looked at Zhen Tang below, was silent for a long time, and finally spoke slowly.

"Have you always been his?"

After Zhen Tang arrived, Li Yuanji suddenly realized that there seemed to be nothing to ask. The other person was Li Yuan's man, and it could not be considered a betrayal to him. It was just that he did not discover it in time.

Li Yuanji felt a little bitter for a moment, and at this moment, he suddenly lost the idea of ​​continuing to ask.

“Yes, when I was in Chang’an, I was the emperor’s man. Later, when the king needed craftsmen, the emperor arranged for me to come here.

At that time, the retired emperor once told me that when I came to the king's place, as long as the retired emperor had no contact with me, I would be the king's subject and should consider the king wholeheartedly and not care about anything else.

My family members were not killed and are all in Chang'an. The Supreme Emperor once promised to let my son enter the official career and to take good care of my family.

Since I came to Lingnan, no one has contacted me, especially now that Your Majesty has ascended the throne. I thought I was relieved and have been hesitating whether to tell the king and ask the king to bring my family here.

I did not expect that the emperor would contact me suddenly. I had no choice but to do as he asked, as my family members are all in Chang'an.

Your Majesty has been very kind to me, and I know it in my heart. I am too ashamed to face you, so I ask you to grant me death."

Listening to these words, Li Yuanji felt very calm, extremely calm. He had known this for a long time, so what was there to be surprised about hearing it again?

Li Yuanji waved his hand and quickly took Zhen Tang away. There was nothing he wanted to know anymore.

"My king, how should this matter be handled?"

Listening to Cen Wenben's words, Li Yuanji immediately looked over.

"How should we deal with this? Do we need to ask this king about this?
We must deal with them as we should, without showing any favoritism. If we don’t deal with these people, what will happen if everyone follows suit in the future?”

No matter what these people's reasons were, or how helpless they were, Li Yuanji had no intention of forgiving them. He was not a saint, and it was unforgivable for them to leak so many of his secrets, no matter what the reason was.

After saying this, Li Yuanji continued.

"Now that the purchase of grain from the Tang Dynasty has begun, don't hold back. Send more people and invest more money to buy up all the grain in the Tang Dynasty.

If three million strings of coins are not enough, then we can invest five million strings of coins or eight million strings of coins and carry out a comprehensive acquisition.

At the same time, all our grain is not allowed to be sold, and private grain is limited in quantity and can only be sold after the identity is verified. "

Originally, he wanted to give Li Er some dignity. After all, doing so would cause greater harm to the people. But now, he couldn't care less.

Not only would he have to ask Li Er for the interest on this debt, but he would also have to make Li Er pay for all other aspects.

As for Li Yuan?

Now he really had no way to deal with Li Yuan, but he was completely disappointed with Li Yuan in his heart.

Now he finally understood that Emperor Li Yuan had been very strict in keeping a close eye on his sons when he was in power. Even he, the least valued person, could make Li Yuan spend so much time and effort on him. He didn't know whether he should be proud or sad.

It's also that he has no feelings for Li Yuan. Although he is angry, that's all. He wouldn't have any more emotions.

As for the fact that Li Er has obtained so many technologies and hybrid rice and corn, he has no worries at all. If Li Er wants to popularize hybrid rice and corn in the Tang Dynasty, he can forget about it without the first ten years.

As for other technologies, these are what he already has, and it’s hard to say what they will be like in a few years. His development will not stagnate because of this incident.

This is why he was angry about this incident, but it was just because of what he thought was a betrayal and because Li Er got such a big advantage. He invested a lot of contribution points to get these, and now Li Er got them without any effort, which made him very unhappy.

After Cen Wenben and the others agreed, they gradually withdrew. This was the only major thing that happened during Li Yuanji's trip, and they didn't want to talk about other things at this time.

"Why are you leaving? We haven't finished talking yet."

Li Yuanji immediately stopped a few people and said that now that things had already happened, it was useless to think more, but they had to go on with their lives.

We can't just end our life because of this incident.

"Jingren, go down and get ready. Baekje and Silla have been conquered, and I have established Andong Prefecture.

In addition, Yang Cheng had already sent troops to the Ezo in the north of Dongzhou Prefecture, which would later be renamed Dongyi Prefecture.

King Yang Cheng has other important people to use. You should send new people to govern the three prefectures of Dongzhou, Andong and Dongyi, especially Dongzhou, and govern it according to Yang Cheng's handover.

Now that Xi Junmai has returned, let him be in charge of the military affairs of Dongzhou Prefecture and Dongyi Prefecture."

Cen Benwen and the others had no objection to Li Yuanji's arrangement. They already knew about the affairs of Andong Mansion. After all, it was such a big fuss. But now they were a little unhappy.

"Yes, my king, I will start making arrangements as soon as I get down."

Li Yuanji nodded and continued speaking.

"There is one more thing. Prepare money and food. Let the Iron Bureau start making weapons and the Ship Bureau start making warships. The navy will be expanded and 200,000 people will be planned.

These 200,000 people will be divided into three fleets to deal with the subsequent situation.

After you go down, start allocating money and food, as well as recruiting soldiers. All prefectures should participate and complete the expansion of the navy as soon as possible."

Although the navy has reserved 320,000 people, the current situation does not allow for direct expansion of this number of people. It can only be done step by step. A scale of 200,000 is enough to deal with many situations.

However, even though there were 200,000 people, Cen Wenben still frowned after hearing this.

“Your Majesty, if the navy is to be expanded to 200,000 men, then 120,000 soldiers will need to be recruited. If all of them are treated as Class A soldiers, the finances may not be able to afford it.

If too much money and grain is invested in this area, the money and grain investment of other prefectures will be reduced. Moreover, the Iron Bureau is now fully engaged in the production of cannons and muskets, and the production of military equipment will not be able to keep up.

Especially for the Shipbuilding Bureau, if it focuses on producing naval warships, the construction of large ships ordered by other merchants will be affected.

Recruiting soldiers is not a big deal. Each prefecture will share the young and strong men, and it will not have much impact on the actual labor force of each prefecture.

Please be cautious, the development of each prefecture is the top priority."

Li Yuanji was a little stunned for a moment. It had been a long time since he heard the words about insufficient finances, but now it happened again.

Moreover, it is not just the financial shortage that is causing the impact on the production of the Ironware Bureau and the Shipbuilding Bureau. These things cannot be ignored.

Li Yuanji frowned immediately. If he reduced the support to each prefecture, it would take longer for each prefecture to develop and then give back to the government, which was a situation he really didn't want to see.

Cen Wenben's words were very clear. Even if he had the support of many silver mines, he still could not afford the military expenses of 310,000 Type A army and 200,000 navy.

The only solution we can think of now is to reduce the expansion of the navy. This needs to be done gradually and cannot be completed all at once.

Li Yuanji frowned and thought. Even if the navy had to reduce its expansion, according to his next deployment, the East Sea Fleet and the West Sea Fleet were both necessary.

Then he looked at Cen Wenben.

"How much can the navy be expanded with the current financial situation? Give me the highest possible number."

Cen Wenben also frowned, constantly calculating the current fiscal revenue and expenditure in his mind. After a while, he looked up at Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, the navy can only be expanded by a maximum of 50,000 men at present, and on this basis, it will not affect the operation of other affairs.

It will only take one year, and the expansion can be continued after one year. Now the silver mine in Dongzhou Prefecture is being mined, and coupled with the development of various prefectures, the annual income is enough to support another expansion of 50,000 people.

According to the current configuration of the Navy, the Iron and Ship Bureau can also rush to manufacture warships and weapons for the Navy without affecting commercial operations. "

Li Yuanji sighed in his heart, fifty thousand people?
Adding the current 80,000 people in the navy, the number will reach 130,000 after expansion.

Although it was somewhat different from what he expected, Li Yuanji couldn't care less now.

"Then expand it to 50,000 people. You go down and coordinate with Liu Rengui on this matter. The navy will select and recruit soldiers. The recruitment must be completed within three months, and the army must begin training!"

After the matter was settled, Cen Benwen and his companions immediately went down to start handling various matters.

Li Yuanji immediately called Liu Rengui.

"See you, Your Majesty."

"No need, take a seat."

Li Yuanji looked up at Liu Rengui and said solemnly: "The expansion of the navy has been arranged, but due to many restrictions, it will be expanded by 50,000 people temporarily, and will continue to expand after a year.

After you go down, start recruiting soldiers. Remember, I have only one request, which is to give priority to establishing the East Sea and West Sea fleets.

A prototype of the South China Sea Fleet was left behind for subsequent expansion.

By then, there will be 130,000 navy troops, with 50,000 each in the East China Sea Fleet and the West China Sea Fleet.

"After the new recruits are in place, you must train them quickly. In the future, the Tang Dynasty's navy may have equipment that is almost the same as the navy's. We must be on high alert against the Tang Dynasty!"

Although there were requirements for the navy in the past, they were not that high. But the situation is different now.

Li Yuanji could already imagine that after Li Er obtained those technologies, he would definitely increase the investment in the navy. After all, in the south, especially along the coast, the navy was not good and could not compete with him.

Liu Rengui's heart sank when he heard this. Although he didn't know the reason, Li Yuanji had already made the decision and he had no choice but to obey.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will complete the recruitment as soon as possible and start reorganizing the navy as soon as possible. Within this year, we will definitely establish two fleets and strengthen our vigilance against the Tang Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)