typeface
large
in
Small
Turn off the lights
Previous bookshelf directory Bookmark Next

Chapter 642 Feeding the wolf with one’s body

night.

The city gates have been closed for a long time, but the walls have been gradually demolished in the city, and now there is no longer a night ban.

Pingkangfang and several other places even have lively night markets that last all night long.

Li Shimin put on his casual clothes and took a carriage out of the palace.

The eunuch Zhang Anan is dressed in the attire of an aristocratic steward, which is very ordinary. However, the prince's concubine Ma Zhou, who is responsible for the affairs of the censor and admonishes the officials, is no longer wearing a purple robe and jade belt today.

Scholars from poor families who serve as curtain clerks are very similar.

The emperor also wears white robes,

But his demeanor is still extraordinary, and he is lucky to be sitting in the car.

"Chang'an is getting more and more lively,"

Li Shimin opened a corner of the curtain and looked at Chang'an City at night. Unlike Chang'an City in the past few years, which was quiet and lonely after dark, today's Chang'an night is full of lights and people everywhere, which adds a lot of human fireworks.

"This wall is demolished correctly,"

The emperor said to Ma Zhou, "When Wu Huaiyu wanted to demolish the walls and build shops along the street, how many people opposed it, but now, in just two years, the changes have been so drastic."

Ma Zhou smiled.

Demolishing the walls and setting up street shops not only brought convenience to the people, but also made Chang'an lively. It even gave many ordinary people more opportunities to make money and make a living.

Even after the curfew ceased, Chang'an also became lively.

"Many of Wu Huaiyu's ideas are very advanced," the emperor expressed his praise in front of Ma Zhou.

Their trip was to the Wu family,

During the day, the ministers argued endlessly, and Li Shimin had a headache. Among the five opinions, Wen Yanbo and Wei Zheng were the most extreme. One was to be fully inclusive, and they also talked about the relationship between the Han and the Southern Xiongnu. The Southern Xiongnu had attached themselves to the Han for more than a hundred years and had always been the Han Dynasty.

Protect the northern frontier.

Wei Zheng, on the other hand, did not trust the Turks at all and drove them as far away as possible, but he used the painful lesson of the Five Husbands to Disrupt China.

To be honest, Li Shimin felt that what both of them said was reasonable, but military and state affairs were not just about reasoning, they also had to be implemented and based on reality.

Although Jieli has been captured, Tuli, Yusheshe, Shabolushe, Zhiwiseli, etc. have all surrendered, except for Jieli's headquarters and Yugushe who have been defeated, the rest of the tribes are still roughly intact.

It's just that the Turks have suffered many disasters in recent years, were repeatedly defeated in the war with Xue Yantuo, and were suppressed by the Tang Dynasty, so all tribes are relatively weak.

But if they can unite, they will still be a powerful force.

What's more, there is Xue Yantuo in Mobei,

Li Shimin must consider everything comprehensively, otherwise if he blindly regards the Turks as his enemies and pursues them fiercely, then those Turkic tribes may rise up to resist.

This great victory in the Northern Expedition, which took three years of hard work, was in itself a matter of taking advantage of the situation, using surprise attacks and beheading tactics.

It is not that it has been completely able to crush the Turks.

Using Wei Zheng's idea of ​​driving the Turks directly to Mobei would definitely not work. Either the Turks refused to leave and rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, or they went to Mobei and were annexed by Xue Yantuo, strengthening the Yinan power in vain and rebelling against the Tang Dynasty.

became a threat to the Tang Dynasty.

Wen Daya's acceptance of the proposal was helpful to appease the Turkic tribes, especially those small khans and Shes who still commanded tens of thousands of tents, including Tuo She who fled to the Western Regions and Yu Gu She's appeasement.

Moving inland or directly stationing at the frontier, based on the current actual situation, is indeed more sudden and more advantageous at the moment, but in the long run, it does have hidden dangers.

Li Jing didn't say a word in the palace, and Li Shimin was a little disappointed.

But I had expected this result.

The upset emperor had two fresh dishes for dinner.

One is braised bamboo shoots in oil and the other is pickled fresh. These are bamboo shoots sent by the Wu family. They are made using the Wu family’s recipes. The fresh bamboo shoots are paired with ham from Longyou Yanjing Village and fresh pork. They are stewed slowly in a clay pot over medium heat.

Yu Chu's skills are very good, and the Wu family's food comes with recipes. Yu Chu's perfect reproduction, the taste is salty and fresh, the soup is thick and white, the meat is crispy and fat, and the bamboo shoots are fragrant, crisp and tender, and have a strong umami flavor.

Another dish of braised bamboo shoots is also very good.

While eating this dish, Li Shimin finally thought of Wu Huaiyu.

He wanted to hear what Wu Huaiyu had to propose.

Near the Duke's Mansion of Jin State,

Fang Xuanling, who had been notified, had already arrived in advance. He was dressed in a green shirt, with soft-legged futou and a mountain beard. He looked like an old official who had left the country.

The emperor got off the car and several people walked to Wu's house.

The guards dispersed quietly, protecting him secretly.

"His Majesty."

Li Shimin took Fang Xuanling's hand and actually wiped his tears, "When I saw you just now, I seemed to see Ru Hui again in a trance. Hey, if Ru Hui was still here, I wouldn't have such a headache."

Several people could not help but remain silent.

Du Ruhui had always been the emperor's confidant during his lifetime. Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Fang Mou and Du Duan were his right-hand men. They cooperated with each other tacitly and became an invincible partner.

Walking to the Duke of Jin's Mansion, Li Shimin pointed to the Wutou Gate and said, "I originally admired this boy and wanted him to succeed Ruhui, but this boy disappointed me so much."

Having said that, today the emperor still paid a private visit to the Wu family incognito.

Fang Xuanling stood at the door and felt very emotional. Wu Huaiyu made great achievements this time, but made even bigger mistakes, but the punishment he received was neither painful nor itchy.

Many ministers, such as Liu Zhenghui, Liu Shili, Changsun Shunde, Liu Hongji, Yuchigong, Chai Shao, etc., all directly reduced their positions and seized titles at that time.

Some were even sent to jail directly.

Wu Huaiyu was only relieved of his official position, honors, ranks, titles, and fiefs.

How many days have you been reflecting at home?

The emperor actually visited at night in person.

Wu Huaiyu was in Chen Runniang's courtyard, lying under the ginkgo tree in the courtyard and listening to her talking about the accounts she was managing.

Chen Runniang was Wu Huaiyuna's first concubine. Although she is still a concubine to this day, her status in the mansion is not ordinary. Now that she has given birth to two children, she still helps Fan Xuanfu manage the accounts.

In fact, although Fan Xuanfu likes to buy land, he has no patience for trivial matters such as managing accounts, so he leaves it to Runniang and Wuniang.

"Alang, I heard a rumor recently. It was said that Mr. Wen proposed to the sage to move all the Turks to the interior, teach farming and etiquette, organize the people into households, and change customs. He even said that the court would pay for the move of Alang in the north of Saibei.

Is it true that all the more than 200,000 Turkic captives who were given as slaves to the soldiers when they conquered the Turks were bought back and placed in Hebei and other places?"

"Alang also divided a lot of Turkic slaves last time, and later the eldest lady asked him to buy many more. If the court wants to redeem them, I'm afraid they won't really pay them, or they will only give them a very small amount. So what can we do?

It would be a big loss.”

Wu Huaiyu was lying there, and a maid was gently massaging him. One was tapping his shoulders and arms, and the other was kneading his legs and feet. The two maids were petite and very gentle, but they came from Haidong Silla.

These Silla maids were in their twenties and eighties and had good looks. They could even speak Tang dialect well. Therefore, they were extremely expensive. One of them cost 70,000 to 80,000 yuan, which was worth as much as several Turkic and Tibetan maids.

"Thanks to Xianggong Wen's idea, the imperial court provided money to redeem them. Two to three hundred thousand Turkic prisoners were rewarded to the soldiers as slaves. Many of them were resold and are now scattered all over the country. How can they be redeemed?

Besides, how much does it cost to redeem a Turkic Din slave? A Turkic Din slave must cost 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. Just do some calculations, and these 200,000 to 300,000 Turkic people must be worth several million yuan. Where did the imperial court get so much money?

?

Why pay all this money?

How could the soldiers be willing to hand over their slaves to the imperial court if they were not given money or were given less money?

Isn't this just looking for trouble? The rewards for the soldiers of the Northern Expedition have not yet been fulfilled, but they have such a leisurely mind."

Wu Huaiyu was very disdainful of Wen Yanbo's proposal. It was true that the southern Xiongnu attached themselves to the Han and the borderland had been stable for more than a hundred years, but some things cannot be wishful thinking.

"You don't have to worry about that. Mr. Wen can't do it, and the court can't do it either. There are Turkic slaves who can continue to buy them. Our family is in need of manpower to open up the frontier. Shuofang grows corn, Youyan grows potatoes, and Lingnan grows sugar cane.

Cotton is grown in Longyou, wheat is grown in Guannei and Henan, and rice is grown in Jianghuai.

The Wu family's Zhuangzi has a lot of land, but the labor gap has always been huge.

The mainland of the Central Plains is fine, as it can hire local people from the surrounding area, and even temporarily hire some part-time workers during busy farming periods. However, in the border areas, where the area is sparsely populated, it is very difficult to rent out crops or hire workers.

Difficult, the main thing is to rely on slaveholding as the mainstay.

The border areas must adopt the production model of large estates, slaves and large livestock, otherwise they will not be able to do it.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China after the Great Chaos, the most lacking thing was population, unlike at the peak of prosperity when there was an overabundance of labor force everywhere.

Just as he was saying,

The hunchback Hou Cheng led Ma Zhou in, "Alang, Ma Lang's son-in-law is here."

Wu Huaiyu came forward in surprise, "Why is brother-in-law here now?

It was already evening, although it was still too late, but it was still strange to come here in the middle of the night. Moreover, Wu Huaiyu had just made a big mistake and was ordered to shut up and reflect on his mistakes. The Wu family also refused all visitors.

Although Ma Zhou is a brother-in-law, they both serve as ministers in the same palace. It is not easy to come to the door at this time, let alone come in the dark in the middle of the night?

Huaiyu saw that Ma Yiyi was wearing a white shirt and it became even more strange. This was obviously a deliberate disguise.

"What happened?"

"The saint came to visit in disguise. Erlang hurriedly followed me to greet him."

In the front hall, Wu Huaiyu saw Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and Zhang Anan, who was as inconspicuous as an old servant.

"The guilty minister Wu Huaiyu didn't know that the saint was coming, so he missed the opportunity to welcome him from afar..."

"Stop it," Li Shimin waved his hand, "How are you doing your reflection at home?"

"I am fully aware of the seriousness of my sin..."

"Stop talking nonsense, I came here tonight to ask you something,"

Li Shimin was not too polite and directly asked how to resettle the Turks. Fang Xuanling also briefly stated the five opinions of the court.

"It all makes sense," Wu Huaiyu said.

Li Shimin stared at him, "This is not the main hall of the court, and there are no other people there. Let's be honest."

"The minister is bold, so he should be treated differently and dealt with differently according to the actual situation. This time the imperial court defeated the Turks. In fact, it means severely damaging the Jieli headquarters and the Yugushe tribe, and several other tribes such as Tuli, Yusheshe, and Shaboluohan.

Although he has been reduced, his strength has not been lost.

However, Tuo She had already traveled far to the Western Regions and had not even surrendered to the Tang Dynasty."

"Then how do you deal with it?"

"Fight when you need to fight, pull when you need to pull back, don't be lenient just for the sake of fame, and there is no need to do things that you can't do now.

Some things should be done slowly and not in a hurry, but some things should be done and the consequences will be endless.

After a few steps, the headquarters of Jie Li and Yu Gushe and his son were basically defeated. They were even defeated by Wu Huaiyu, Li Jing and others outside the fortress. They directly rewarded the prisoners to the soldiers, and some young men were handed over to the court.

This portion was handed over to the imperial court to the tune of about 100,000 yuan.

These people were captured on the battlefield. Although many of them were captured by Wu Huaiyu and others during raids in Baidaochuan, Tieshan, Qikou and other places, since they are already prisoners, don't be polite anymore.

There is no need to fight with these people. They are just prisoners and slaves, so don't worry about them.

The 200,000 Turkic prisoners who were enslaved as a reward to the soldiers, plus the 100,000 Turkic prisoners currently in the hands of the imperial court, this is 300,000 people, which is equivalent to 50,000 tents. If the imperial court swallows it in one go, that is

It severely damaged the Turks and at the same time made the imperial court greatly replenished.

Of course, the soldiers of the Northern Expedition also gained a lot, and all of them were grateful to the imperial court.

As for the Turks who were not captured at the beginning, especially those in Dingxiang and the north and south of Yinshan Mountain, Huaiyu suggested that they should be comforted.

Take a small part of them, about 30%, and move them to the inland, disperse them a little, and resettle them into villages one by one. Try to keep these Turkic villages surrounded by Han villages.

Or we could simply move about half of the 30% to Lingnan, Bashu, and Nanzhong areas to graze and guard the border, away from the Saibei grassland.

The remaining 70% or so will continue to be placed in the same place, but the various departments will be re-adjusted. Major divisions will be split and smaller divisions will be merged. A Dudu's Mansion will be set up in the north of Yinshan Mountain, and another Dudu's Mansion will be set up in the south of Yinshan.

Under each governor's office, six to eight states were set up. Each state was a tribe. Draw the boundaries and let them swear allegiance to the Tang Dynasty under the supervision of Datou. They would protect the northern border and not cross the border or attack each other. Otherwise, the Tang Dynasty could

Call on all tribes to fight together.

The north and south of Yinshan Mountain used to be the base of Jieli. They have suffered the most damage this time, so they have to be harsher and split up more thoroughly. The stronger tribes have to move some people inland to Hebei and Hedong, or even to Bashu in Lingnan.

Waiting for a place to go,

Don't let any tribe become the dominant one.

"What about Yu Sheshe in Hetao and Shaboluohan in the northwest of Hetao?"

"The land of Hetao belongs to the Tang Dynasty, and has been the land of the Central Plains since the Qin and Han Dynasties. The imperial court can restore Fengzhou and Shengzhou, restore governance, and station troops and immigrants to guard it.

Let Yu Sheshe retreat to the north of the ancient Great Wall of Hetao to graze herds, and set up a governor's office in that place. The nine tribes under his command, each of them being the governor of a state, were divided into nine states.

Shaboluohan in the north of Hexi also did the same. He established the governor's office in Beining to command his land and the people of various tribes."

Li Shimin listened very carefully.

Compared with the five opinions of the ministers in the court, the biggest difference between Wu Huaiyu's plan is that it does not treat all the Eastern Turks as a whole, but treats them differently.

The sudden and powerful Bei'an Governor's Mansion will not move for now.

The key point is to break up the people and territory of Jieli and Yugushe. Li Simo and Zhihuansili divide the two governorates of Dingxiang and Sangqian in the north and south of Yinshan, and they also need to remove the stronger ones from the remaining tribes.

About 30% of the population was moved inland to weaken them, and some weak tribes were integrated into a group to form a Jizhou state.

As for Yu Sheshe of Hetao, he took back the Hetao grassland and asked Yu Sheshe to take his men and horses to the north of the mountain to graze. He was given a Yunzhong Governor's Palace and divided into nine states.

As for the 50,000 troops lost by Shaboluohan Suni in the west of Hetao and north of Hexi, we can also ignore him for now, set up the Beining Governor's Palace, and divide it into several more states. Specifically, we should not interfere too much. Anyway, as long as

Just don’t enter Hetao and Hexi.

The meal must be eaten in one mouthful, but the purpose must be clear and cannot be confused by the professing Turks.

Fang Xuanling said, "Yu She set up 50,000 tents, and Sha Boluohan set up 50,000 tents. These add up to 100,000 tents. Even if the strength has been damaged in the past few years, if they are ignored, it will ultimately be a disaster."

"Prime Minister Fang, now the imperial court is unable to control the truth. As Prime Minister Wei said, drive them to Mobei? Or as Prime Minister Wen said, move them to Longyou, Hebei?"

Do you think Mo Mo and Suni would be willing to hold on to so many people by mistake?"

"Step by step, don't be impatient. As long as the imperial court can chew up Jie Li and Yu Gushe's relationship first, it will be a disaster. Don't forget, there is also Xue Yantuo in Mobei who is rising with great momentum. Let's

You can't make a wedding dress for Yi Nan,

From now on, we must focus on guarding against Xue Yantuo in Mobei, and we must win over and appease the eastern Turkic tribes so that they can support Xue Yantuo for the court and cannot allow Xue Yantuo to cross the desert and go south."

"Then, as Erlang said, if Yu Sheshe refuses to hand over the Hetao and go to the north of the mountain to graze, what about becoming the governor of Yunzhong and the king of Huai'an County?"

"Although Momo was very rebellious towards Jieli, he was only twenty-three years old. As soon as Jieli was defeated, he immediately asked the King of Jiangxia to surrender. He didn't dare not hand over Fengzhou, Hetao."

"What if we don't move north?"

"Then we can unite with other Turkic tribes and send troops to attack. Then we can defeat Yu Sheshe and divide the 50,000 people and livestock. It will not be a loss. We will return the troops and make a name for ourselves." Huaiyu said with a smile. As long as we He promised that after killing Yu Sheshe, he would give Suni lost, Zhi lost Si Li, Tu Li, Simo and others some people and livestock, and they would respond positively.

When Li Shimin heard this, he couldn't help but nod. Wu Huaiyu's suggestion indeed drew on the five opinions from the court and was more practical.

Bei'an, Sangqian, Dingxiang, Yunzhong, Beining, the five major governor's offices are lined up from east to west.

If the Ashina community can be established and attached to the Tang Dynasty, then a new Beiting Governor's Palace can be built directly to the north of Gaochang.

When the time comes, you can even appoint a few more Turkic blue wolves in Mobei to serve as governors, drive away tigers and devour wolves, and use the Eastern Turks to deal with the Tiele people in Mobei. How great.


This chapter has been completed!
Previous Bookshelf directory Bookmark Next