Chapter 3000: Heart-to-heart talk between king and minister
Human nature is always full of contradictions. For example, I can give you some things, but you can't take them away. This is especially true for the emperor.
I willingly handed over the throne to the King of Jin, but the King of Jin made friends with his followers and rejected dissenters to seize the throne. This is absolutely not the same.
Therefore, His Majesty Li Er attaches great importance to the sudden impeachment trend against King Wei...
The first priority is to understand the thoughts of all the forces in North Korea and China.
Although Xiao Yu laughed angrily, His Majesty Li Er did not have an attack. Instead, he stood up from behind the desk, walked to Xiao Yu, took his hand, and together they knelt in front of the mat by the window and sat on the mat.
, ordered someone to make a pot of tea, and brought in a few dishes of refreshments. The monarch and his ministers sat across from each other and had a long conversation.
Xiao Yu poured tea for His Majesty Li Er, who got straight to the point and asked directly: "What does Song Guogong think of Yi Chu? Once Yi Chu is released, which prince does Song Guogong think is qualified?"
Xiao Yu put down the teapot and paused.
There is a small trap in His Majesty's question. He first asked what he thought of Yi Chu, and then directly asked who do you think would be a suitable successor if the Crown Prince was deposed... Of course, at their level, such traps are not worth mentioning.
, obviously His Majesty is not using this to test anything, it is completely the true expression of His Majesty’s intention - I want Yi Chu, do you agree or disagree?
Xiao Yu quickly expressed his position: "The Yi Chu is a state matter, but it is also a family matter of His Majesty. His Majesty has been a wise man for thousands of years. Naturally, he has thought deeply about the ownership of the throne. The veteran does not dare to comment."
I have no objection, but I have reservations...
Then he said: "However, there is a lot of slander against the King of Wei among the government and the public at present, some of which may be true or false, some may or may not be true, but the people's opinions are more important than those of Sichuan. Once public opinion arises, it is difficult to eliminate it. There should be more efforts in this regard.
Notice."
I have no objection, but Your Majesty, you have to take public opinion into account, right? When public opinion is raging in both the government and the public, and they all resist the appointment of King Wei as the crown prince, you should still compromise...
His Majesty Li Er drooped his eyelids, sipped his tea, and remained silent.
Xiao Yu kept saying that he was not against Yi Chu, and he did not explicitly say which prince he supported, but his tendency was already very obvious.
But he was not sure whether this wave of public opinion was instigated by Xiao Yu and was specifically aimed at King Wei...
Putting down the tea cup, His Majesty Li Er sighed, rubbed his brows, and said slightly tiredly: "Since returning from the Eastern Expedition, I have often felt tired. I don't know if it is a problem of injury or age. I am quite lacking in energy. You are the founder of Jianguo
Heroes, veterans of the two dynasties, should shoulder the responsibility of the government and help share my worries. Now that the imperial court is in disarray, Guanlong is in decline, and powerful families from Shandong and Jiangnan have entered the dynasty in large numbers, how to deal with the relationship between each other and balance the interests of all parties, you
You have to take good care of me."
Xiao Yucheng was frightened: "Your Majesty was at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, which was the time when you created great achievements. This Eastern Expedition was a great success. Goguryeo was overthrown in one fell swoop. Your Majesty's heroic name will be recorded in the annals of history, so that he can be respected by future generations and be famous for generations to come. Veteran minister
It’s vulgar and can only be used to check and fill in the gaps, but it will never be worthy of His Majesty’s trust.”
When your boss tells you something like "taking on heavy responsibilities", although it is an expression of trust, you must not agree with your chest, or even say something stupid like "Don't worry, leave everything to me." Instead, you must
Respectfully express that you are willing to do your best and obey orders.
He has been in official circles all his life and has been in high and low officialdom for decades. How could he make such a mistake?
His Majesty Li Er shook his head and said dissatisfied: "There are only you and me, the monarch and my ministers here, why are you so cautious and trembling? You know how a certain person is, and you have always been impatient of such tricks of manipulating people's hearts. You insist on being straightforward in everything, and you never care.
What is the difference between king and minister?"
Xiao Yu nodded: "Your Majesty has an eternal mind and a spirit as strong as a mountain, which is far superior to that of the ancient emperors."
This is not a compliment. When His Majesty Li Er went against the odds and conquered the world, apart from his great talents and strategies, he was an outstanding figure in his generation. He also relied on Zhenguan's ministers to abandon their families and careers and follow him to the death. He even conquered the world.
, Ninety-Five Supreme, His Majesty Li Er was very kind to those old brothers in the past. Not only did he give generous rewards and promotions, but he also often had banquets together and rejoiced together. It was even more common for him to sing and dance regardless of the emperor's majesty.
.
Just this approachable manner has made kings throughout the ages bow down to him.
The magnificence of the spirit is unique...
His Majesty Li Er said slowly: "What are the emperors who are far superior to the ancients? You ministers are just using it to coax me. If nothing else, who can compare with the achievements of Emperor Qin and Han Wu Zhenshuo through the ages? Even if I have been working hard and sleeping for twenty years
, work diligently on government affairs and dare not slack off at all, and in the end it will be difficult to match them."
In fact, as long as they can command their troops to overthrow Goguryeo, bring thousands of miles of fertile land in the northeast into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and in the prosperous age of Zhenguan, annihilate countless Hu tribes in the surrounding areas, they can barely compete with those two emperors with great ambitions.
After all, although the Han Dynasty attacked the Xiongnu from far away, it never occupied its territory. The four counties in Liaodong were only nominally subordinate to the Han Dynasty and were actually autonomous.
The Liaodong region that had never been truly conquered in history was captured by him. This was a great feat that the talented and strategic Emperor Yang of Sui could not complete in his lifetime, even at the cost of the collapse of the entire empire!
However, although Goguryeo was destroyed now, he missed a move and did not send his troops to level the city. The final blow was completed by the navy after he withdrew his troops...
Gu Yu/spanXiao Yu silently.
As an imperial minister and at the center of power, he naturally knew that His Majesty Li Er wanted to create a grand hegemony unprecedented in history and achieve the reputation of "one emperor through the ages". However, the battle of Liaodong was not completed, and it was considered to be given to him.
His Majesty Li Er struck a heavy blow.
After all, the credit for the fall of Goguryeo cannot be attributed to him as the emperor. Even if the navy had not violated military orders and attacked Pingrang City, this Eastern Expedition, which was carried out with the full strength of the country, would have ended in failure...
Without such unparalleled military achievements, how easy would it be to become "one emperor through the ages" and surpass the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty?
His Majesty Li Er suddenly straightened his back and said excitedly: "But now, there is a shortcut to the south in front of us. As long as we keep walking and stick to it for twenty years, we can create an unprecedented prosperous age. The achievements of the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty will be achieved."
It also pales in comparison!"
Xiao Yu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, 'Haste makes waste', our Tang Dynasty has a good foundation. As long as we take it step by step, we will eventually achieve what we want. But soldiers are the way of life and death, the way of survival. Although the country is big, it is better to
War will lead to death! We have just devoted the whole country to the eastward expedition. If we want to conquer foreign countries again, we should accumulate national strength and plan for it slowly. We must not be happy with the success and underestimate the enemy and advance rashly!"
What else is the "shortcut to the south" that can surpass the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty? In his opinion, the only way is to continue to use troops abroad. Goguryeo has been destroyed, Xue Yantuo has disappeared, Tuyuhun has been cut off, and the Turks have fled to the desert... The surrounding countries seem to be tyrannical.
For a while, it was actually strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Some were destroyed, some fled, and the only thing left was Tubo, which was entrenched on the plateau.
But is Tubo comparable to Goguryeo and Xue Yantuo and his like?
Their people live in the snow-capped mountains of the plateau, with a tough life and tough temperament. The population has surged in recent years, and there are no fewer than hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers in the country. Songtsen Gampo was a talented man with great strategy, and Ludongtsen was an outstanding person of his generation. They made Tubo prosperous and powerful, and the country was powerful.
Nowadays, the Gar family of Ludongzan is jealous of Songtsen Gampo. The monarch and his ministers are alienated and the internal and external imbalances are imbalanced. All we need to do is support Ludongzan to occupy the land of Qinghai Lake and sit back and watch the domestic political struggle. The internal strife will continue.
When the situation is depleted, it can be decided in one go to send out troops for conquest.
But if troops are sent out hastily at this time, the country's power will not decline, but it will encourage the country to abandon its past grudges and unite in the face of powerful enemies...
Although he was fighting for power and gain, he was still a minister of the Tang Dynasty first and foremost. He could not sit back and watch His Majesty Li Er take advantage of power and make mistakes.
This is the principle.
His Majesty Li Er was stunned for a moment, and then he understood the reason why Xiao Yu reacted so violently, and then explained with a smile: "Where did the Duke of Song think? Even if I am confused, I will not conquer Tubo within ten years. This is
Please don’t worry about it.”
A mere Goguryeo made his army of millions exhausted and almost failed. The difficulty of conquering Tibet was bound to be more than ten times higher. If there was no appropriate opportunity, how could he dare to launch troops rashly?
Even if he wanted to surpass Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, he would never make fun of Guo Zuo...
Xiao Yu asked curiously: "Then what exactly is the 'Zhongnan shortcut' that His Majesty mentioned?"
After a pause, he said horrifiedly: "Is it possible that Your Majesty wants to go on an expedition to conquer Dashi?"
Now that the Anxi Protectorate has firmly controlled the Western Region and has brought the Ili Valley under its jurisdiction, the army can go straight out of the Western Region and march to Suiye City, and then head west from Suiye City to attack Damascus along the path that the Dashi army took before entering. In theory,
is allowed.
If you are more ambitious, you can even go south from Suiye City and bypass the plateau mountains to send troops to Tianzhu...
Regardless of Dashi or Tianzhu, if you choose one of them, your achievements will be enough to surpass the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty, and it can be said to be unprecedented.
His Majesty Li Er looked speechless and said angrily: "Am I crazy? The Great Shi Country is far away in the horizon. Even if Tiger Tiger of the Tang Dynasty can conquer the city and overthrow his country, how many troops will be needed to occupy the distant and huge territory?
?I’m talking about the countries in the East and Southeast!”
"Well……"
Xiao Yu was also a little embarrassed and breathed a sigh of relief. He was still puzzled: "The countries in the East and South Ocean are all on the vast sea. They are generally small in size, sparsely populated and dotted around. It is not easy to attack them on a large scale. Moreover, now that the navy spans the seven seas, those small countries
They are all dormant under the threat of the navy, and they will destroy whoever they want. The most important thing is the natives of those small countries, who have never been regarded by orthodoxy. They have all turned into barbarians, so what is the use of them?"
Those small overseas countries have never threatened the Central Plains Dynasty in history. They are either vassals or barbarians. Who will take them seriously?
Even if such a small country could be conquered, what would be the use?
The achievements may not be great, but they need to be appeased by rewards of money and food, or even emigration and dispatch of officials. The trouble far outweighs the benefits, so no emperor from ancient times to the present has bothered to take it...