Datang all-rounder

Chapter 39

Walking out of the imperial study, Wang Ke grabbed Wang Si and said in a low voice, "Father, please invite some generals to our house for a talk, my son wants to talk to them."

Wang Si looked at Wang Ke, understood his thoughts, and said in a deliberative tone: "Why don't you invite all the adults, it doesn't matter if you have something to say in front of everyone."

Wang Ke thinks about it, it's not a big deal, maybe these civil servants can help him talk.Besides, it wouldn't do me any harm to get closer to these people, so I nodded in agreement.

Wang Si hurriedly took two steps, stepped forward and extended invitations to all the ministers one by one, not to mention, they all gave face.

A group of people went out of the palace gate, Wang Si asked his followers to ride his own horse back to the mansion to report the letter, and then he got into Wang Ke's car and walked with the ministers.Everyone also sent their entourages back to their homes to inform them, those who sat in sedan chairs, and those who rode horses followed Wang Ke's car to Wang Si's mansion.

As soon as he entered the house, Cheng Zhijie called out: "Boy of the Wang family (he is no longer called Wang Xian nephew), what do you mean, what is your idea of ​​taking away all the soldiers from every family?"

After all, Li Ji is much older, and he is quite calm. He grabbed Cheng Laosha, who was about to jump towards Wang Ke, and said, "You old killer, just say what you have. Why are you excited? Nephew Wang Xian is like this There must be his reason for doing it, let's sit down first and listen to Nephew Wang Xian's explanation."

Seeing that all the generals were more or less angry, Wang Ke knew that what he said at this moment would have no effect, so he turned to Wang Si and said, "Father, please sit down and drink tea with all the uncles first, and my son will cook by himself." Go and make some side dishes for the uncles, and come back later to explain clearly to the uncles."

Of course, Wang Si also saw the current situation, understood Wang Ke's current situation, and hurriedly said: "Go, cook some more good dishes for your uncles to taste."

He turned his head to greet everyone and said: "Come, come, sit down and taste the tea made by my family, Ke'er, many adults haven't tasted it yet."

He asked everyone to sit down, and the servant who had waited outside the door for a while also walked in at this time with interest, and put tea in front of the ministers.

When Wang Ke walked into the kitchen, she saw Mrs. Wang, her two aunts, and Dongyue standing nervously in the kitchen.Seeing Wang Ke coming in, Mrs. Wang hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Ke'er, what happened? Why are so many grown-ups coming to our house today? And why was Old General Cheng shouting just now?"

Wang Ke knew that his father didn't have much contact with these people on weekdays, but suddenly all the important officials from the court came today, and the Cheng Laosha who entered the door had a loud voice, which really scared the women's army at home.He hurriedly comforted: "It's okay, mother. I just said something in front of the emperor today. After I came out, I asked my father to invite these adults to sit at home and talk to them about my thoughts. It's nothing. Don't worry, mother. "

Mrs. Wang saw that Wang Ke spoke very easily, and asked again half-believingly: "Is it really all right? Ke'er, don't hide it from your mother."

"It's really nothing, mother just relax." Wang Ke said with a smile: "My child has to make a few side dishes quickly, otherwise the adults have waited for a long time, but something will really happen." There is a joke in mind, and my heart is relieved.Together with the two aunts and Dongyue, they helped Wang Ke fight from the sidelines.

The dishes were served on the table one after another. After washing his hands, Wang Ke came to the front hall, cupped his hands to a room full of high-ranking officials of the Tang Dynasty, and said, "I kept you uncles waiting for a long time. Please take a seat now. Let's chat while eating. , which uncle has any ideas, just say it."

Everyone had stayed in the palace for a day, and they were indeed hungry. This was called a seat, and they all walked over directly.

Good guy, including Wang Si and his son, there are fifteen people.Fortunately, the servants in the mansion were clever, seeing that there were a lot of people, they moved a table from another place a long time ago, and when these two tables were combined, everyone just sat down.

Wang Ke beckoned, and two servants came up with wine, filling the glasses in front of everyone.Wang Ke raised his wine glass and said, "The uncles have been delayed because of my nephew's affairs today. My nephew is here to accompany the crime." After speaking, he poured a glass of wine into his mouth.

Wang Si knew that he would have to talk later, so he hurriedly said, "Ke'er brewed this wine himself, and it's stronger than what we usually drink. How about a taste first, my lords."

When everyone heard that Wang Ke brewed it himself, they were very curious and picked up the wine one after another.Wang Ke knew that only Cheng Laosha had drunk this wine, because last time he sent ten altars to Li Ke and Cheng Huailiang, but no one came to ask for them to be delivered.There were too many things, and Wang Ke didn't bother to ask about it.

The civil servants are relatively polite when drinking, and they all taste it in small sips. This group of veteran killers is different, and they all take a sip.After drinking, no one spoke, just stood there in a daze.

Wang Ke didn't know what was going on, so he hurriedly asked, "Why, isn't this wine good?"

Hearing Wang Ke's question, everyone came to their senses. Li Jing said: "Nephew Wang, how did you make this wine? It's much better than what we usually drink. This old man has a thick face. When I go back later, my nephew How about sending two altars to this old man?"

When Wang Ke saw that Li Jing said this, there was no reason not to agree, so he quickly replied: "Don't say you want two jars, uncle, it doesn't matter if you want more jars."

Before the words were finished, other people also called out, asking Wang Ke to send them some altars as well.

At this time, the civil servants were more gentle, and their voices were as high as those gangsters.

Cheng Zhijie yelled the loudest among these people. While asking for wine, he kept scolding Cheng Huailiang: "This brat, who hangs around with the Wang family boy all day, doesn't know that the Wang family boy has made such a good wine. He really deserves to be shot!" ! Let me taste it today."

Ok?Wang Ke was surprised, didn't he ask someone to deliver the ten altars last time?Could it be that Cheng Huailiang didn't let this old killer know that he hid it privately?Don't say it now, or Cheng Huailiang will have a hard time!When I have time, I will ask Cheng Huailiang what is going on.Seeing the people shouting non-stop, Wang Ke stood there not daring to say anything, he didn't have the guts to tell these people to shut up.Nephew Xian and his group are in high spirits, if I make a noise, if these people get annoyed and greet me, I will be out of luck.

After everyone's voices gradually died down, Wang Ke said: "Don't worry, uncles, my nephew has not finished what I said just now. What my nephew means is, tell people to see how much wine there is now, and bring them here. After a while, all the uncles will take them away when they go back. My nephew will just let the workshop brew it."

After speaking, call a servant to come in and ask him to tell the housekeeper to move out all the wine in the mansion, and if there is not enough, go to the manor to bring it together.

Li Ji hurriedly stopped him and said, "Don't be so troublesome, just take as much as you have in the mansion, and don't take the ones in the village. Just send it to us tomorrow during the day."

Wang Ke was quite happy to hear the first sentence, but when he said the second sentence, Wang Ke cursed in his heart: "It's really not a thing, I thought I didn't want it, but it turned out that I not only wanted it, but I had to send it home. Drink to death These old killers!"

I was angry in my heart, but didn't show it on my face, and said with a smile: "That's fine, my nephew will arrange for someone to deliver the wine to the uncles' house tomorrow. Now uncles should try the dishes made by my nephew first." , but also to my appetite."

Everyone picked up the chopsticks, put the food in their mouths, and of course there was another burst of praise.

Wang Ke was complacent when he saw Li Jing put down his chopsticks, looked at the crowd and said, "Nephew Wang, what you said today, the old man thought it was very good. It's just the last suggestion. I don't know what my nephew intends. Can you explain it to us?" One or two?"

Cheng Zhijie heard Li Jing's words, and immediately said angrily: "That's right, what does the Wang family boy mean? If you don't explain clearly today, don't blame the old man for not recognizing people!"

Wang Ke saw that Li Jing was asking questions, and the purpose of inviting them here today was also to explain clearly to them, so he said calmly: "Uncles, please take it easy, just listen to my nephew. In the past, I asked my uncles not to get angry."

As he spoke, he raised his wine glass as a gesture, and after taking a small sip, he said, "My nephew knows that all the uncles are meritorious ministers of our Tang Dynasty, and they are also loyal to the emperor and many courts. But, in the past dynasties, no emperor can guarantee that his ministers have no evil intentions, and he is always on guard?"

As soon as he said this, Wang Ke saw the corner of Yuchi Jingde's mouth twitching, wanting to say something.He hurriedly said to him: "Uncle, don't worry, wait for my nephew to finish."

Then he continued the topic just now: "To say something disrespectful to all uncles, all uncles have made great contributions to the founding of the country. Without the hard work of uncles, the emperor would not be where he is today. It may be that the contributions of all uncles are all great. Lord Gai! On this issue, my nephew thinks it goes without saying that my uncles are well aware of it.”

Wang Ke changed his tone and said: "For my Tang Dynasty, the most important issue for my nephew is nothing more than to develop production internally and enhance national power; externally, it is to eliminate the intrusion of the surrounding ethnic groups on our Datang. But the war is fought by what?"

Wang Ke still gave everyone a question.Everyone glanced at each other, not knowing what Wang Ke meant.

Li Jing said puzzledly: "Isn't war about the strength of the two sides? What else could it be?"

Wang Ke nodded and said: "Uncle Li is talking about part of it. To be specific, war is about economics. Why do you say that? Gathering soldiers requires money; grain and grass require money; weapons and horses require money; The pension for the dead soldiers still needs money. Everything must be implemented in a word of money!"

Hearing this, everyone nodded.It's not that I don't know, but I haven't thought about this problem before.

Seeing that Wang Ke stopped talking, Fang Xuanling urged: "Master Xiao Wang, continue to talk."

Wang Ke also said: "All the expenses of the imperial court come from taxation, but the land in the hands of soldiers does not need to be taxed on weekdays. In this way, the tax revenue of the imperial court is much reduced. But when a war takes place, the land in the hands of the soldiers will not be taxed. There is no one to manage the land, and when the battle is over, the food has not been harvested, and the soldiers have no food to live on, so the court has to pay for appeasement. This has also increased the burden on the court invisibly."

Speaking of this, the civil servants have already calculated the account, and they all feel that this matter actually exists, and they have been trying to find a way every year, but they don't know how to solve it.

The military officers began to understand the crux of the problem after being explained by the civil officer.

Seeing that they understood, Wang Ke said again: "It's better for the imperial court to manage the soldiers directly, increase the monthly salary, train on weekdays, stop farming the land, and hand over the land to the common people to work on time. Taxes. Wouldn’t this solve the double problem of taxation and soldiers? But in this way, the private soldiers under the generals will be supported by the generals themselves, but who can have the ability to support a whole army? What about a large number of soldiers? Therefore, the boy thinks that abandoning private soldiers and letting the imperial court manage soldiers uniformly is the correct way out."

Wang Ke said so much in one breath, stopped, picked up a pinch of vegetables and drank a sip of wine, and then said after eating: "There is another advantage of doing this, that is, the generals have no private soldiers under their command, and there is no need for them. I can show the emperor that I am just a minister of the Tang court, I will not support myself, I will only be loyal to the court and the emperor, and I will not have any other ideas. Isn't this a good way to reassure the emperor? "

Everyone understood what he said, but there were some who couldn't turn the corner for a while.He didn't speak, and thought carefully about what Wang Ke said.

Wang Ke sat there silently, watching everyone's expressions while drinking.Everyone's expressions are different, but Wang Ke knows that these people will figure it out, and if there is anything they can't figure out, he can explain it to them with his own foolishness.

After a long silence, finally, Li Ji broke the silence: "Then how will the soldiers be mobilized for war?"

"This is easy." Wang Ke put down the chopsticks in his hand and replied, "Didn't I say that the Tang Dynasty should be divided into several military regions? Once a war starts in the jurisdiction of a military region, the imperial court only needs to send a commander to lead the whole army." All the troops in the military area are enough. If the number is not enough, you can also send troops to the neighboring military area for support, and when the battle is over, you only need to return to the building. Isn’t this a very convenient thing?”

What Wang Ke said is the experience that later generations have accumulated and summed up after a long period of time. Of course, it is simple and effective to use.

These old killers are not fools, and they will get it right.After thinking about everything Wang Ke said, he felt relieved.

This time, my heart felt refreshed, and I felt comfortable eating and drinking happily.At this moment, a group of veteran killers shook off their cheeks and hurried up, but the civil servants discussed with Wang Ke what they thought were of interest.

Wang Ke didn't want to talk about these things, because he was not sensitive to politics, and because he was not in his position, he didn't want to do anything about it, and in order to avoid going into this messy water in the civil service circle, After all, he is now a military officer.

Wang Ke didn't say anything if he could, and if he couldn't escape, he tried to prevaricate as much as possible.In this way, I still said more or less.After drinking for more than two hours, everyone left satisfied.

(End of this chapter)