Li Xiaogong left Haichi and Tai Chi Palace with his head in confusion.
About an hour after he left, Su Dingfang arrived.
His body was filled with joy.
It seems that I have made money, and I have made a lot of money, and I am in a very good mood.
"The joy on Su Qing's face can't be concealed. It seems that something great has happened to her."
Li Yuanji sat on the deck of the dragon boat without moving. Facing the beaming Su Dingfang, he said something lukewarm.
When Su Dingfang heard this, the joy on his face disappeared instantly, and his heart began to pound.
He was a smart man, and he immediately guessed why Li Yuanji said that. He immediately ran to Li Yuanji, bowed respectfully, and asked straight to the point: "Is Your Highness dissatisfied with everything I did at sea?"
?”
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes and said angrily: "No dissatisfaction, even if you rob all the unidentified people on the sea, and even rob all the envoys who came to see you, I will not
Any dissatisfaction."
Su Dingfang hesitated and said: "Then Your Highness..."
Why do you talk like this?
Li Yuanji glared at Su Dingfang and said: "I let you and Samurai Yi take charge of water transportation and sea transportation. In addition to letting you serve the country and make money for yourself, the more important thing is to let you communicate the goods between the north and the south, and exchange the goods between the north and the south.
Let the warehouses at the docks be full, and let Luoyang be filled with grain and grass.
But what have you done?
In addition to robbing families and homes at sea, they also kept transporting linen and pottery to Jiaozhou, and then transported all kinds of gold, silver and jewelry back from Jiaozhou.
What do I need so much gold, silver and jewels for? Can I eat it or drink it?"
Su Dingfang was stunned for a moment and said in astonishment: "With a lot of gold, silver and jewelry, isn't it possible to buy whatever you want?"
Li Yuanji glared at Su Dingfang again and said fiercely: "It depends on whether there is so much food to sell in various places in the Tang Dynasty, and whether the wealthy families are willing to buy it.
If people are unwilling to sell, and there is not so much food to sell everywhere, we will only raise the price of food by spreading a lot of gold and silver.
It will only make poor people unable to buy food.
By then, you will be rich, and the grain merchants will also be rich, but the people will be so poor that they cannot afford to eat.
If they can't afford to eat, they will pick up a hoe and wield a sickle to kill our heads!"
Su Dingfang's expression suddenly changed.
Because what Li Yuanji said was very serious.
Li Yuanji didn't need to explain too much about the specific weight, he knew it very well.
He immediately bent down and said sincerely: "I was negligent..."
Li Yuanji hated the iron and said: "You are not negligent, you are blinded by money and confused by money, and you can't see anything clearly."
Su Dingfang did not refute, but nodded his head yes.
Li Yuanji then let go of Su Dingfang and said seriously: "You are now considered an important minister of our Datang Dynasty, and every move you make will have a huge impact on our Datang Dynasty, so you can't just focus on money, you also
Have to look at the others.
If you can transport food while also carrying some gold and silver, some jade, some ivory and other precious things, and then use the money from selling these things to build more ships and bigger ships, then next time you
There are a lot of things that can be transported, right?
If you can double your fleet while transporting food, will you be able to transport twice as much in the future?
If things go on like this, when your fleet reaches a certain scale, what do you want to transport but cannot transport?
Even if you wipe Jiaozhou to the ground, it is still possible for the whole class to come back."
Su Dingfang was stunned, a trace of shame appeared on his face.
According to what Li Yuanji said, he was indeed a petty person and was blinded by money.
Li Yuanji continued: "Not only that, you can also expand the scale of your plunder and plunder the ships of Goguryeo, Japan, and Linyi farther out on the sea, and even plunder their own lands.
As long as your fleet is large enough and adapted to sail anywhere on the sea, you can't go anywhere you want?
By then, won’t the wealth on the sea and even the small countries near the sea be at your disposal?”
Su Dingfang bent down deeply and said with a look of shame: "I have learned a lesson..."
Li Yuanji did not want to criticize his trusted generals too much, so he immediately said in a softer tone: "Remember to tell the people under my command later to ensure that every time they go back and forth, 90% of the goods are loaded, and 10% of the goods are loaded.
money.
We can no longer be greedy for money and fill up the cabin.
We also need to find suitable places in Dizhou, Yangzhou and Jiaozhou to establish shipbuilding workshops and build ships that can sail on the sea.
This will ensure that you will not suffer too much loss during the round trip.
You have been in charge of water transportation for a long time, and you should also know that the ships that can move smoothly on water transportation cannot withstand the wind and waves at all on the sea, and they are not even as useful as the small boats of fishermen.
So you have to pay attention to this matter and build a large ship that can pass the sea as soon as possible.
In this regard, you can send people to study the Japanese and Goguryeo ships."
When Su Dingfang listened to the first half, he nodded humbly. When he heard the second half, especially the last sentence, he raised his head and said, "You want me to learn from the Japanese and Goguryeo people?"
When Su Dingfang spoke, his face was in disbelief.
Then disdain and contempt flashed across his face respectively.
It's not that he looked down on the Japanese and Goguryeo people, but that everyone in the Tang Dynasty looked down on the Japanese and Goguryeo people.
In the eyes of everyone in the Tang Dynasty, whether it was Japan or Goguryeo, there was nothing worth learning from the Tang Dynasty.
In the eyes of everyone in the Tang Dynasty, whether it was Japan or Goguryeo, they could only learn from the Tang Dynasty, and they could not learn from them.
After all, you can't expect a person who is a grandfather in every aspect to learn from someone who is a grandson in every aspect.
That would be too embarrassing.
The proud Tang Dynasty could not afford to lose this man.
"Don't underestimate the Japanese and Goguryeo people. In all other aspects, we are more than a little better than them, but in terms of shipbuilding and sea navigation, we are still a little behind them.
Others have never seen the wind and waves on the sea, and do not know how difficult it is to sail a boat on the sea, so they look down on the Japanese and the Goguryeo people in this regard. I can understand.
But if you have seen the wind and waves on the sea and have sailed on the sea, you should know how many difficulties there are.
The fact that the Japanese were able to sail ships across many seas and come to pay tribute to our Tang Dynasty is enough to show that the Japanese were very accomplished in shipbuilding and sailing.
The fact that the Goguryeo people can drive sea ships and appear in Linyi from overseas, and even in various places near the sea in the Tang Dynasty, is enough to show that the Goguryeo people are quite accomplished in this regard.
】
Although the ships under your control can rush from Dizhou to Jiaozhou, they still have to stop in Yangzhou to make some supplements.
But if you are asked to go to the Japanese country, or even rush from Goguryeo to Linyi without stopping, you may not be able to do it, right?"
Su Dingfang opened his mouth, wanting to make a few excuses, but fell silent in the end.
If he didn't care about losses and casualties, then he could give it a try.
But if he was concerned about losses or casualties, then he had to admit that he had to rely on luck, and he had to be prepared for the annihilation of the entire army.
Li Yuanji said earnestly: "We can look down on the Goguryeo people, and we can also look down on the Japanese people, but when we are inferior to others in some aspects, we have to put down our arrogance, study other people's things, and then try our best to surpass other people's things.
.
In the past, when King Wuling of Zhao promoted Hufu riding and shooting, if you had the mentality of looking down on others and unwilling to learn from others, then do you think Zhao Guoguo is powerful?
Although we no longer use Hu clothes, we still use the mounted archery promoted by King Zhao Wuling. Can you just say that we learned it from the Hu people and abandon it?"
Su Dingfang was immediately speechless when asked.
If nothing else, let’s just talk about riding and shooting.
If the Tang Dynasty really gave up cavalry and archery, the combat effectiveness of the Tang Dynasty's soldiers and horses would be reduced by half, or even more.
This is a waste of martial arts, and it is impossible for the Tang Dynasty to do this.
Anyone who learned horsemanship and archery from the Hu people would be regarded as a national traitor and beaten to death on the spot.
So although Li Yuanji's words were unpleasant, Su Dingfang had to admit that they were right.
"You shouldn't have such a big psychological burden. You should think more about this kind of thing. If we don't learn what they are good at, how can we defeat them and conquer them?"
Li Yuanji was afraid that Su Dingfang would get into trouble, so he tried his best to enlighten Su Dingfang.
When Su Dingfang heard this, he suddenly became enlightened.
If the purpose of learning other people's things is to defeat others and conquer others, then you can learn it, but you must learn it.
Whether you lose face or hurt your self-esteem, don't worry about it at all.
As long as you can defeat others and conquer others, no matter how much face you lose or your self-esteem is hurt, you will never get it back.
After all, you have killed all the people who have made you lose face and hurt your self-esteem, and you have even crushed them into pieces.
Then no one will know that you have lost face and hurt your self-esteem.
Doesn’t that mean that you have never lost face or hurt your self-esteem?
"Your Highness will conquer Goguryeo, Japan, and Linyi?"
As a general, especially a famous general, his obsession with war is far beyond anything else.
Su Dingfang immediately focused on the war.
Li Yuanji glanced at Su Dingfang and said angrily: "If you don't help me train my navy and prepare my big ships, I won't be able to stretch out my hands and feet in the sea, let alone conquer Goguryeo, Japan, and Linyi."
All difficult.
I don't want to be like my cousin, who stupidly led a large army to press over from the ground, and then was defeated and returned.
If I send out troops, I will definitely attack from both the ground and the sea."