The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 143 The Complex Li Linfu
The "teachings of His Highness" that An Lushan mentioned was the last time Li Heng "advised him" to guard the border wholeheartedly and govern the people well.

Li Ying said, "It's rare that General An still remembers this."

"Your Highness's teachings will definitely be remembered in my heart," An Lushan said respectfully.

After hearing this, Li Linfu looked at An Lushan meaningfully, then turned to Li Heng and said, "Your Highness, could you please move to the Political Affairs Hall and discuss with me the specific matters of expanding the army and increasing the number of officials in Anxi?"

"of course."

Li Heng did not refuse and went to the Council Hall with Li Linfu, leaving An Lushan alone in a mess.

When they arrived at the Council of State, they sat opposite each other.

Li Linfu got straight to the point and asked, "Your Highness, how many troops do you think Suiye City needs?"

Li Heng said: "Suiye City needs to have a large number of troops to defend against the Western Regions, as well as the Turks, Huihe, etc., plus beacon garrisons and farming, I'm afraid we will need to expand the army by more than 10,000."

Li Linfu didn't want to give Li Heng so many people, but he didn't speak out against it, because as the right prime minister, he had many ways to object.

Li Linfu was silent for a while, then said, "It is difficult to recruit 10,000 soldiers at once, and the imperial court cannot prepare their food, wages, resettlement expenses, military supplies and equipment, so I think they should be delivered in batches."

Li Heng asked, "How does the court plan to recruit soldiers?"

Li Linfu said: "I have two plans. One is to recruit people formally, and those who are willing can go. The other is that the court took some escaped households last year, but they have not been settled yet, so it is just right to send them to Anxi."

Regarding the matter of escaped households, in the 24th year of Kaiyuan, the year when Li Heng left Chang'an, Li Longji issued an edict asking them to return home.

Not only that, in the 25th year of Kaiyuan, Li Linfu also led the court ministers to revise and promulgate the Equal Field Order, and at the same time carried out fiscal reforms to increase the proportion of household taxes and land taxes in government fiscal revenue.

It has to be said that Li Linfu did do a lot.

However, the collapse of the equal-field system could not be saved by mere repairs. The efforts of Li Linfu and the court did not alleviate the decline much, and today there are still countless households that have escaped.

Li Heng thought for a moment and said, "After conquering Suiye City, there are many surrendered generals and soldiers from the Turks, among whom there are useful people. Together with some other people who surrendered, Suiye City can recruit 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers on its own. Most of these surrendered generals and soldiers and people who surrendered have families in Anxi, so we can save a lot of money on settling down. The food and wages can be supported for a while by the captured materials and Suiye City itself."

Li Heng's words shattered half of Li Linfu's plan to control Li Heng by dividing him into several groups.

But Li Linfu was not angry when he heard this. Instead, he smiled and said, "Your Highness has already planned these things. Your Highness asked for more troops and more officials. Is it just because you want an excuse?"

"Right Prime Minister, this is wrong." Li Heng denied, "Anxi is the Anxi of the Tang Dynasty. All political orders and military affairs of Anxi must be in accordance with the imperial court's orders and systems. Anxi will do whatever the imperial court requires. If the Right Prime Minister thinks my proposal is not acceptable, you can reject it."

Li Linfu looked at Li Heng when he heard this.

If we do not follow Li Heng's proposal, what should we do with those surrendered generals, soldiers and people who surrendered?

If he was killed, Li Heng would say that it would affect Li Longji's reputation, and that the Tang Dynasty was in Suiye City to operate, not plunder, and killing indiscriminately would only affect the Tang Dynasty's strategic layout.

If he let them go, the vagrant soldiers would be like thieves, and if anything went wrong in Suiye City, Li Heng would definitely put the blame on Li Linfu.

Li Linfu was a shrewd man who was very clear about Li Heng's strategies and methods. In addition, he believed that his main opponent now was not Li Heng, and he was not willing to spend much time fighting Li Heng.

So Li Linfu smiled and said, "Your Highness, this is a public and loyal act for the country. How can I disagree? I will follow your wishes and trouble you to give me the specific situation of Suiye City, and I will fill in the gaps."

Li Heng said, "Thank you very much, Right Prime Minister."

"It is my duty, Your Highness. Please be polite," Li Linfu replied.

After the two men finished their conversation, Li Linfu escorted Li Heng out of the Council of State Affairs Hall.

When they reached the door, Li Linfu said, "Your Highness, if you have the chance, please pay your respects to Concubine Wu Hui on my behalf."

Li Heng was startled when he heard this and looked at Li Linfu.

Li Linfu's face showed sincerity and a hint of sadness.

For a moment, Li Heng couldn't figure out whether Li Linfu was pretending, but no matter what, Li Linfu finally expressed his gratitude to Concubine Wu Huifei.

Li Heng nodded and said, "I will. Please take care of yourself, Right Prime Minister."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Li Linfu bowed to Li Ying. Li Ying returned the greeting and the two said goodbye.

……

……

……

Li Linfu's residence.

Moon Hall.

"Right Prime Minister, 40% of people recommended Prince Zhong to take over the Eastern Palace, but only 30% followed our recommendation."

Ji Wen was indignant and a little worried at the same time.

Li Linfu said: "Among the 40% who recommended Prince Zhong, 30% recommended him according to the legal principle of seniority, and only 10% were loyal supporters of Prince Zhong."

Ji Wen said: "According to the order of seniority, Prince Qing should be recommended."

Upon hearing this, Li Linfu just smiled and said nothing.

The system of primogeniture is the consensus of most people.

Many people also agree that Li Cong was disfigured and unfit to be an emperor.

But when these two consensuses collided, a conflict arose.

Li Linfu seized upon this contradiction and "firmly" stood on the side of the primogeniture system.

As for Li Cong's disfigurement, he could also explain it.

Because the system of primogeniture is not about "selecting the virtuous". If they don't select the virtuous, why do they still have to select the appearance?

Therefore, Li Linfu's recommendation of Li Cong was well-purposed.

Li Linfu was silent for a while, then asked, "Who are the people who recommended Prince Zhong? Have you found out?"

Ji Wen said: "There are Zhang Quyi, Wei Jian, Pei Kuan, Pei Dunfu, Wang Ju, Yang Shenjin, Li Shizhi..."

After listening to this, Li Linfu said, "There is also Wang Zhongsi."

"Yes." Ji Wen agreed, "Wang Zhongsi first refused to cooperate with General Dong in attacking Shibao City, and now he is recommending Prince Zhong. Right Prime Minister, should we do something to him..."

"Not yet." Li Linfu interrupted Ji Wen, "Wang Zhongsi is very friendly to the saint. Now is not the time to touch him. Wait a little longer."

"Yes." Ji Wen responded, and asked, "What about the others?"

Li Linfu thought for a while and said, "If they can repent, I am willing to give them a chance. If they are determined to make things difficult for me, don't blame me for being rude."

Ji Wen said: "We need to wait and see for a while."

Li Linfu nodded and said, "My discussion with Prince Shou today has given me new insights."

"Please give me some advice, Right Prime Minister." Ji Wen said.

Li Linfu said: "Prince Shou is ill, and coughing is one of the symptoms. Now his cough can be suppressed with medicine, but the disease has not been cured. This shows that treating the root cause is the top priority."

"How to cure the root cause?" Ji Wen asked.

Li Linfu said: "Most of those who oppose me are scholars of literature, so I think that preventing scholars from being promoted through military exploits is the only way to cure the root of the problem."

After hearing this, Ji Wen exclaimed in admiration, "Right Prime Minister, this is a brilliant idea!"

(End of this chapter)