A thousand Han soldiers can defeat tens of thousands of Hu soldiers.
In front of the Xiande Hall, Li Shimin specially summoned a group of Forbidden Army officers from the Beimen Camp who were about to go to Yanzhou for garrison today.
The emperor took out ten sets of Mingguang armor made by Shang Fang, ten pieces of brocade war robes, ten black lacquer-wrapped iron horse spears, ten refined Mo knives, ten imperial war bows and ten royal horses as rewards.
The officers competed in riding and shooting, and tested the art of war.
Facing these exquisite armors, weapons and fine horses, a group of officers worked extremely hard to be able to make a name for themselves in front of the king.
A hundred steps can pierce the poplar trees, and the arrows will not miss the mark.
The knight even flew up and down on the galloping horse, showing off his superb riding skills.
The Imperial Guard officers are carefully selected, and those who went to Yanzhou this time were selected again.
What Li Shimin saw was that he was stroking his beard and laughing, very satisfied.
"I think back then, when I led the soldiers, they were invincible and defeated every enemy. One was worth ten. There is no other, but the armor is strong and the soldiers are powerful."
If you are well equipped and have brave soldiers, you will be invincible.
Although the Turks were born as slaves, their military equipment was still far behind that of the Tang Dynasty.
"How many armors has the Ministry of War allocated to you in Yanzhou?" the emperor asked.
Huaiyu answered truthfully from the side, "Your Majesty, I have one thousand soldiers in Yanzhou town, one thousand state soldiers, and another two thousand general soldiers, for a total of four thousand soldiers and horses. This time, the Ministry of War, Weiwei Temple, and the Ordnance Supervisor
Give us 1,040 collars for iron armor, 1,360 collars for leather armor, a total of 2,400 collars, and 1,600 robes."
Li Shimin frowned after hearing this, "It's missing."
The emperor called over Du Ruhui, Minister of War, Yang Shidao, Superintendent of Military Weapons, and Li Shenfu, Wei Weiqing, "Wu Huaiyu went to Yanzhou to undertake important military tasks. The two thousand state soldiers were the main force, and the two thousand unified soldiers were also responsible for the attack.
, the armors you allocate to assist in the defense mission are too few.
"The two thousand state soldiers must have four points for iron armor, six points for leather armor, and ten points for battle robes.
Two thousand united troops, two points for iron armor, four points for leather armor, and six points for battle robes.
We should allocate 12 points to them for swords and spears, 12 points for bows, and 4 points for crossbows...an extra portion should be allocated to them as preparation for war."
Originally, a total of 1,040 sets of iron armor were given, but now the emperor has said that the Guangzhou town soldiers will allocate 800 pieces of iron armor and 1,200 pieces of leather armor.
The united soldiers also need to wear 800 pieces of iron armor and 1,600 pieces of leather armor.
There were 560 more sets of iron armor and 1,440 more sets of leather armor.
When the emperor opened his mouth, Du Ruhui and others responded immediately. One thousand and eight hundred sets of armor was nothing to the imperial court. The number they dialed before was just a matter of convention.
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty had strong horses and strong horses, but they could not achieve 100% iron armor. If they could achieve an iron armor rate of about 40% to 60%, they were already very powerful.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Huaiyu knew that this was a special gift from the emperor.
Although it is only a few hundred sets of armor, for so many thousands of people, the extra few hundred armored warriors are definitely a force that cannot be ignored.
"These two thousand generals are all camp military attachés and guardsmen. With these two thousand elites, we will then select four thousand local young and strong rural soldiers as supplements. It will be enough to restore Yanzhou."
After the review, Li Shimin summoned Huaiyu, Du Ruhui and others into the palace.
"The memorial that Huaiyu wrote before was called the Kaizhong Salt Method, right? I read it and thought it was very good. There is salt but no grain in the salt summer, so it is not easy to transport grain. However, the salt in Wubai Salt Pond is very rich, so merchants can transport salt
Go to Shuofang or even Lianglan Qinwei Border Gate to exchange for grain transportation vouchers, then go to Qinwei and Yanxia Governor's Mansion to exchange for salt, then go to the salt field to collect salt and transport it, and transport it on behalf of the Shang Dynasty. It is very interesting."
The emperor asked Wu Huaiyu what conditions were needed to implement this plan.
"Your Majesty, if this plan is to succeed, first of all, the salt from Hedong Jiechi cannot enter Guanlong again. The Guanlong area is divided into a separate salt area, and salt from outside is prohibited from entering and selling.
Only in this way can we ensure that salt merchants are willing to transport grain to the border, and then exchange salt and lead them to the salt field to get salt."
The market in Guanlong is artificially isolated. If salt merchants want to sell salt, they can only exchange grain for salt, transport the grain to some designated border city warehouses, exchange for certificates there, and then exchange for salt to obtain salt.
In the past, merchants used money to buy salt directly, or they directly produced and sold salt in salt ponds and salt wells. Now there are many procedures and you have to exchange grain for it.
"Your Majesty, as long as you calculate the cost of good luck grain, profit from selling salt, etc., and then come up with a reasonable ratio of grain to salt, you can save costs for the court and ensure border food and grass, without harming the interests of merchants and maintaining a balance.
"
War requires food and grass, but also money and silk.
Transporting food also requires manpower and time, so fighting is no small matter.
Li Shimin would certainly be willing to use the power of businessmen to transport grain to support the imperial court, save costs and improve efficiency. As for whether the businessmen are willing, who cares about them? Besides, Wu Huaiyu also said that he would not directly rob them.
Wu Huaiyu also proposed that there is no need for civilian officials to collect salt from merchants. Both officials and citizens can collect the salt and sell it freely. However, if merchants want to buy salt, they must have a salt lead. This salt lead can only be obtained after transporting grain.
"After the merchants transport grain to the border, the government calculates the distance of the road to transport the grain, the amount of grain transported, the cost, and converts it into the amount of salt. When buying salt, the salt is bought based on the salt."
After hearing this, Li Shimin said, "It's still a little complicated."
Yang Shidao suggested that it would be better to issue an order that all salt produced by the salt fields in Guanlong, regardless of whether it was official or private, would only be sold to the government. The government would collect the salt and put it into warehouses. If the salt merchants wanted to sell salt, they had to transport grain in exchange for salt.
Du Ruhui raised objections, thinking that this method sounds good, but it is too complicated to operate. He is afraid that it will be inconvenient for a while, but will disturb people and harm business. Moreover, if it is done this way, many people will definitely find it troublesome to transport grain, and from Jianghuai,
Salt was smuggled into Guanzhong from Hedong and other places.
"Your Majesty, as long as you want to make a profit, lawless people will definitely take risks. Instead of going to the trouble of exchanging grain for salt, it is better to directly hire merchants to transport grain or attract merchants to buy grain."
The emperor nodded, indicating that he would think about it again.
"Huaiyu comes with me."
The emperor ended the discussion, but called Huaiyu alone and took him to another place.
When Huaiyu walked into this small courtyard and saw Zhang Liang, An Yuanshou and a young woman, he suddenly understood something.
This should be six doors and three heads.
But what does it mean to call yourself here?
"Your Majesty, Li Yi is going to rebel."
Zhang Liang, the founding father of Changping County and Zuowei General, reported.
The emperor did not panic at all.
"Li Yi must have just returned to Jingzhou, right?"
Li Shimin sneered, "I have already given him a chance, but he still took this step in the end. It is not a pity to die."
Li Yi came to Beijing for a gathering and attended the Zhengdan Festival, but he hurried back to Jingzhou before the Lantern Festival was over.
Before he left, the emperor specially summoned him and talked with him for a long time.
The emperor asked him for advice and expressed that he wanted to transfer him back to the imperial court as Zuowei General. After all, the Twelve Guanzhong Army had been disbanded, and Li Yi was now the king of the county. He only served as the governor of Jingzhou, which was really overqualified.
This was the last way Li Shimin could survive for Li Yi. As long as he accepted the transfer order wisely and never even left the capital, the emperor might still be able to leave him a way out in the end.
But Li Yi said that the Turks invaded last year, and now Jingzhou is in chaos. The Twelve Army has just withdrawn, and it is becoming more and more unstable. He wants to continue to guard Jingzhou for the court and the emperor, and even boldly proposed to replace Li Daozong as the governor of Lingzhou.
Isn't this seeking death?
The reason why Li Yi is seeking death is because he has been planning a rebellion for a long time, and he is not ready to come to Beijing this time.
But the rebellion is imminent and cannot be stopped.
As soon as Li Yi left Chang'an and returned to Jingzhou, he decided to launch a rebellion in advance.
"Your Majesty, Li Yi has sent people to Shuofang to contact Liang Shidu and invite troops from Yu Sheshe in Hetao to go south."
Wu Huaiyu sat there, listening to the three giants from the six gates reporting these secret messages to the emperor. He was a little confused, why did the emperor bring him to see them?
From the corner of his eye, he secretly glanced at Zhang Liang, then at An Yuanshou, and finally landed on the woman.
She is very beautiful, about thirty years old, and her face is covered with a veil, but you can still tell that she is a beauty, and her voice is also very nice.
This should be Gao Hui'an's sister, Gao Huitong, the swordsman, and her current identity should be Gao Niangzi, the fake mother of Tingyulou in Pingkangfang.
"Li Yi plans to lure the Turks into banditry again? Will Jie Li respond?"
"Your Majesty, Jieli has too much time to take care of himself right now. The northern part of the Great Wall has been hit by a white disaster and many livestock have perished."
Wu Huaiyu was not too concerned about Li Yi's rebellion. After all, there had been no splash in history, and these people now proved that the emperor was well prepared.
He was just curious as to why Li Shimin brought him here.
"Huaiyu, you should be familiar with them, right? Changping Gong Zhang Liang, Wuwei Boan Yuanshou, this is my swordsman Gao Huitong.
Together, they are responsible for six gates. The six gates are mainly used to eliminate the remnants of anti-king rebels in various places since the late Sui Dynasty. They also monitor some people who are plotting evil.
The Six Gates monitors the remnants of rebel thieves in various places, and also adopts many abandoned babies and orphans..."
Huaiyu pretended to be very surprised.
"I brought you here today to give you the secret duties of the Six Sects."
The six doors are actually not special, because the gates of the three provinces, six ministries and twenty-four divisions in the imperial city are six doors.
The doors of these yamen are all three-bay, with two black painted doors in each room, for a total of six doors.
In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Liumen was actually the name for Yamen.
It’s not that Li Shimin’s secret agency doesn’t have an official name.
It's just not found in the imperial establishment. It's a secret organization, codenamed Six Gates.
This was secretly established as early as when Li Shimin was the King of Qin. He was responsible for collecting intelligence, contacting heroes, and even doing some dark jobs such as surveillance and assassination.
Zhang Liang has always been doing this, and he was caught by Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji by mistake. He was tortured in various ways, but he was a very good man and did not open his mouth to reveal anything, so until now, he has been trusted and appreciated by Li Shimin.
After Li Shimin became emperor, the scale of these six gates became larger and their tasks became heavier.
They are now not only recruiting wanderers, green forest heroes, and even street scoundrels, bandits and bandits from all over the country, but they have also adopted many orphans and abandoned babies and started training them since they were young.
These people are all the emperor's eagle dogs.
Nowadays, most people are not qualified for the term "eagle dog".
The six gates are very secret, and the funds are all the emperor's internal funds.
As for the more confidential personnel, many of them have single-line contacts. Six Doors has many informants, hidden stakes, assassins, and some training camps. But the most special thing about them is that there may be an inconspicuous merchant or servant.
The secret stakes of six doors.
They develop informants like crazy.
Just like Wu Huaiyu's family has several.
"Liumen is considered the fifth division of the Ministry of Punishment,"
The Criminal Department has four divisions, the Criminal Division, the Duguan Division, the Bibu Division, and the Simen Division. The real name of the six divisions is actually the Criminal Division, but this does not exist on paper.
Whether it is the Six Gates or the Criminal Division, they are all secret.
Zhang Liang's hidden identity is that of a doctor in the Xingxian Division. An Yuanshou and Gao Huitong are both Yuanwailang. Each of the three of them has four chiefs under his command, including Ling Shi, Shu Ling Shi, Pavilion Chief, and Zhang Gu.
Waiting for subordinates.
One person, one team.
The emperor now wants to confer on Wu Huaiyu the position of Wailang, the third member of the Xingxian Department.
"You are going to Yanzhou to be responsible for establishing a secret intelligence force in Shuofang."
Wu Huaiyu was very resistant to this. Who would want to do such dirty work? These are black gloves.
The emperor not only asked Wu Huaiyu to establish the Shuofang Bureau of the Criminal Constitution Department and establish an intelligence network inside and outside the Shuofang battlefield, but also to supervise Lingzhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xiazhou and other governors and generals, and even find ways to attack Hetao
Yu Sheshe and other Turkic tribes conducted some infiltration.
It gives me a headache as soon as I hear it. This job is very difficult.
Besides, he really doesn't want to take on such an errand. Isn't it good to be the governor of Yanzhou? The owner of Chongwen Hall is so noble.
But the emperor had already told him this directly and could not tolerate his refusal.
Li Shimin took out a silver token with a human-faced tiger carved on it, but on the back were an eagle and a fine hound. It was really a proper eagle.
Then the emperor gave him a small silver seal and a silver ring with a human face and a tiger face on it.
"Your secret name, Bai Ze!"
Huaiyu had no choice but to take it, feeling it was heavy.
Zhang Liang stepped forward and said, "Zhang Liang, the doctor of the Criminal Division, is codenamed Biuan!"
An Yuanshou came up and looked at Huaiyu with some embarrassment, "Yuanwai Lang An Yuanshou, his secret name is Bi Fang!"
Finally, there is the veiled Gao Huitong, "Yuanwai Lang Nine-tailed Fox."
