The ace special forces of the Sui Dynasty

Li Yuan said unceremoniously: "I am bound to get this wealth, and I don't worry about handing it over to your elder brother."

In the past, even when Yang Guang deliberately suppressed him, Li Yuan never worried about money.After all, he is a relative of the emperor, has the title of duke, and holds an important position in the court, so his annual salary is a very considerable amount.With money, he can raise dead soldiers and recruit talented people, so that he has the capital to take advantage of the troubled times to fight for the world.

Now, he was moved to Longxi County, where a large piece of land was owned by the Li family in Longxi, there was no room for him to develop, and he was worried about arousing Liu Ziqiu's suspicion, so he had to curl up in a corner.The money, which he once regarded as dung, now actually binds his hands and feet.Therefore, after seeing the large amount of wealth listed in the edict, Li Yuan, who had always been calm and good at disguising, was finally moved, even regardless of Li Shimin's feelings.

Li Shimin was silent for a long time, then suddenly said: "Father, if the child ruins the marriage with the eldest grandson's family, I'm afraid the gain will outweigh the loss!"

Li Yuan frowned and said, "How do you say that?"

Li Shimin obviously thought carefully, bowed again, and said: "Changsun Wuji has hope to enter the cabinet, which means that Liu Ziqiu no longer pursues his past, but cares about the old friendship. Changsun Wuji is talented, Liu Ziqiu misses the past, and Changsun Wuji It is not impossible to be promoted to a bachelor. And Changsun Wuji is still very young. Once he becomes a bachelor, it is not a delusion to be the chief assistant in time. Haier and Changsun Wuji have a relationship by marriage. Wouldn't it be more beneficial for the great cause!"

That large amount of wealth represents the immediate interests, while the position of the head and assistant of the cabinet represents the long-term interests, which is more important, Li Yuan is still difficult to choose for a while.

Li Shimin persuaded again: "In the past two years, Liu Ziqiu has rested and recuperated, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the world has been prosperous. Even if Wang Shichong got this money, I'm afraid it will be difficult to cause any big waves. If the world is not chaotic, if you want to rely on force to complete the cause, my son I thought it was difficult! Why not find another way!"

Li Yuan pondered: "You mean, try every means to let our children enter the court as officials and control all aspects of the court?"

In recent years, except for military power, Liu Ziqiu has adopted a strategy of gradually decentralizing other powers.Not only did many decision-making powers of the central court be handed over to the cabinet, but the local governments also had a lot of autonomy. In terms of taxation, the imperial court and local governments also implemented a policy of dividing the revenue between June and 360th, which greatly guaranteed the interests of the localities.On the other hand, Liu Ziqiu has completely abolished the nine-rank Zhongzheng system. Except for a very small number of people who have made great contributions, positions above the county magistrate must be selected through the imperial examination.The [-] ​​candidates who passed the first imperial examination will soon be sent to various counties or yamen under the cabinet.If a family can have enough children to enter the court as officials through the imperial examination, it can indeed achieve the purpose of controlling power.

Li Shimin heard that his words had worked, and couldn't help laughing: "My lord, how many children can our Li family have? Even if they all pass the imperial examination, it won't help. The boy thinks that he can contact the major families, support each other, and strive to be in the second session next year. Take more places in the imperial examination."

Li Yuan nodded and said: "Forget it, you will set off for Luoyang today, try to make friends with the children of the major families, and as a father, I will also find a way to communicate with them."

There are some things that don't need to be said too clearly. Based on the sources of information that Li Yuan has, he is naturally aware of the conflict between the five top aristocratic families and Liu Ziqiu, and this conflict is exactly where he can make use of it.

Although the five top aristocratic families boycotted the first imperial examination, it is impossible for their children to enter the court as officials in the next four years.However, the foundations of these five great families still exist. As long as they come to their senses, they will definitely participate in the second imperial examination and achieve good results.Once a large number of children from the five major families pass the imperial examination and enter the court as officials, they will form a very powerful force.Li Yuan didn't realize this at first, but after Li Shimin pointed it out, he naturally understood what to do.

This subtle method of capturing Liu Ziqiu is very clever, but it takes a long time.For Li Yuan, he is older than Liu Ziqiu, but Li Shimin can wait.

……

For half a year, the Han Dynasty was peaceful, only Luoyang became more and more lively.The capital, which was already very prosperous, has recently gathered countless young people.Most of these young people are well-educated in poetry and books, some are from aristocratic families, and some are poor students.Many people came for the matter of Jiangdu Princess recruiting a husband-in-law, and many people came to prepare for the imperial examination next summer.The inns in Luoyang City were full, and the restaurants and brothels were full of guests.The bustling scene has also attracted merchants from all directions. Any place where a large number of people gather must contain endless business opportunities. Merchants with keen senses will not miss this opportunity.

On this day, a group of Hu merchants came to Luoyang Ximen.In Luoyang, it is not uncommon to see Hu people. Many restaurants and brothels will use some orchids to attract customers, and some high-ranking officials will also keep several Hu concubines in their homes.Therefore, when this group of Hu merchants entered Luoyang City, it did not attract the attention of the common people.

However, this barbarian caravan is quite large, consisting of more than 40 carriages. In addition to gold and silver ornaments from the Western Regions, it is said that there are many beautiful women from the Byzantine Empire, which is farther away than Persia. .Of course, all the carriages are packed tightly, and no one knows what is loaded on the carriages.These news came from the officers and soldiers in charge of the search and inspection at the gate of the city.

The Han Dynasty was very lenient towards merchants, and the search and inspection of entering and leaving the city gates would not be very strict, but such a big living person sitting in a carriage couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.A while ago, Shidanai Khan of the Western Turks sent dozens of blond and blue-eyed women of different races to the palace. They entered Luoyang openly through the east gate. The appearance of an alien woman.At the moment, in the mouths of those inspecting officers and soldiers, these girls on the carriage are worse than those presented by Stanay.

Hu merchants traveled thousands of miles to bring these women into the capital, obviously not for their own enjoyment, this is a big deal.After the news spread in Luoyang City, it immediately attracted the attention of countless dignitaries.However, this Hu merchant was very low-key. After entering Luoyang, he hid in a private house in Waiguo.

……

At this time, Li Shimin also lived in Luoyang City.The Li family no longer had their own house in Luoyang, so Li Shimin rented a private house.In the past six months, besides studying and making friends, he also inquired about Jiangdu princess.It's just that Princess Jiangdu lives in the palace, so it's hard for outsiders to see her face, and they don't know much about her likes and dislikes.In fact, even if someone occasionally finds out the preferences of the Jiangdu Princess, it is impossible to disclose it to others, because the result of doing so is likely to set up one or more competitors for himself.

Of course, Li Shimin inquired about the situation of Princess Jiangdu, not for his own sake, he wanted to win a chance for his elder brother Li Jiancheng.Although he persuaded Li Yuan not to fight against the eldest grandson's family for the sake of immediate interests.But the wealth listed in the imperial edict is too attractive, he still hopes to be able to use two prongs, not only to maintain the in-laws with the eldest grandson's family, but also let his eldest brother Li Jiancheng become a county horse, and win those batches of wealth.

In fact, Li Jiancheng himself has been in Luoyang for many years, and his contacts are much wider than that of Li Shimin.How did Li Shimin know what Li Jiancheng didn't find out?However, Li Shimin still had a secret weapon. Before leaving, Li Yuan handed him a token through which Li Cheng could be commanded.It's a pity that Li Shimin wandered around the palace for several months, but he never saw Li Cheng, not even a young eunuch.And he was worried about revealing his whereabouts, and he didn't dare to have any contact with the guards guarding the palace gate.

In the past six months, Li Shimin also went to Gao Shilian's residence many times, intending to meet his eldest grandson Wugou.But Gao Shilian just laughed and didn't let him meet his eldest grandson Wugou.During the period, I ran into Changsun Wuji a few times, and Changsun Wuji's attitude towards him was not as enthusiastic as before, which made Li Shimin feel somewhat uneasy.

Of course, in the past six months, Li Shimin will not be fruitless, at least he gets along very happily with the children of the Cui family in Boling, the Cui family in Qinghe, the Lu family in Fanyang, the Li family in Zhaojun, and the Zheng family in Xingyang.These five top families have gradually declined, and some of the families that were originally ranked second and third have a faint intention of catching up.There are two reasons for this. First, they missed the first imperial examination, and their children will not enter the court as officials in the next four years.People are very realistic. Seeing that their power will be weakened, they will naturally stay away from them.Second, these five great families still hold on to traditional ideas and put their main energy on land and farming.Although they also have some caravans, the development of those caravans is too slow, and they have been far behind by other families, making them far behind in terms of wealth.

However, among the five great aristocratic families there are also shrewd people who have already seen the changes in the situation, so they sent a large number of children to participate in the second imperial examination, and they did not hesitate to make friends with the children of former officials like Li Shimin.Of course, the children of the aristocratic family have the pride of the children of the aristocratic family. They don't bother to marry a Hu man as their wife, so they will not participate in the competition for Jiangdu County horses.

Although they are dismissive of marrying a Hu man as their regular wife, it does not prevent them from finding some orchids to have fun. Therefore, the news that the Hu businessman came to Luoyang with a large number of orchids also attracted their attention, and they passed the news on to Luoyang. Tell Li Shimin.

Li Shimin has never paid much attention to merchants, and he has too many things to care about when he is studying, and he has not noticed the Hu merchant incident that caused a sensation in Luoyang City these days. He pondered: "It's finally here!"