Liu Che had been waiting for Su Ren to enter the palace. He believed that Su Ren would come sooner or later, so he did not send anyone to urge him. However, Liu Che was very disappointed. After Su Ren came back, he lived in Louguan all the time and did not even give a shit about his imperial edict.
One, it seems that this has never happened. Liu Che originally planned to go to Louguan to find Su Ren in person, but was stopped by Queen Wei Zifu, saying that Su Ren was a minister, and the king of a country would not resist even if he was thirsty for talents.
The imperial minister did this, so Su Ren was tied into a rice dumpling and taken to Chang'an.
Su Ren glared at Liu Jiqing. Liu Jiqing looked indifferent. It seemed that he was not the one who went to Su Ren's house to arrest people. Liu Che happened to see Su Ren's murderous eyes and smiled: "Why are you so stingy? I haven't punished you for resisting the decree.
But you want to deal with the people around me?"
Su Ren shook his head: "How dare I! Zhongshu Ling is a person sent by His Majesty, and I would not dare to have such an idea even if I were killed. It's just that I think Zhongshu is a good person, and I hope that Zhongshu Ling will not be able to do anything for me in the future."
When Your Majesty is in service, I will take Zhongshu Ling to my home. Nothing will happen to me while he is at my home, and I can feel at ease outside and share your Majesty's worries."
"You still said you didn't pay attention to me? Tell me, I asked you if you have any strategy for conquering the Xiongnu?"
Su Ren shook his head: "No!"
"No? Then why did you see so many merchants? You told them to purchase grain, grass and weapons and sell them all to the imperial court. Does the imperial court need the support of merchants to defeat the Huns?"
Su Ren quickly put down the pastry in his hand and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty is gifted with talents. The Huns can no longer pose any threat to our great Han Dynasty. As soon as your Majesty's army arrives, the Huns will definitely flee. I sincerely wish your Majesty a victory and create a great Han Dynasty."
Great work for the ages!”
"Hmph, why does it sound like you are mocking me?"
"I don't dare!"
"Stop talking nonsense and get up!" Liu Che stood up and sat back in his seat, handing a letter on the desk to Su Ren: "Look, your friend Yu Shan sent someone to send this. It said,
If you hadn't gone to discuss with him in person and never stepped into the trap of a big man like me, I wouldn't be able to understand. Everyone can clearly see that the current situation in the Xiongnu is controlled by you. Why does Yu Shan still believe in you so much?
"
Su Ren also stood up and sat down: "Your Majesty may have misunderstood. Yu Shan does not trust the humble minister, but wants to put him to death!"
"Oh? Why didn't I see that even the Prime Minister, Sima, and the Censor felt that you should go there to show how much I, the great man, attaches great importance to Yu Shan? How did you know that Yu Shan wanted to kill you?"
Su Rendao: "If I make the Han Dynasty the same as the Xiongnu now, what will your Majesty do?"
"Uh..., hahaha..., you are the only one who is smart! Tell me, what should I do?"
"Simple, send a large army to Yumen Pass. As long as Yu Shan does not surrender, we will attack immediately. He must not be allowed to join forces with Yi Zhixie. In addition, send two more armies, all the way to the north, straight to the Yinshan Mountains, all the way to Jincheng, and cut off the point.
The Xiongnu's flight to the west completely trapped the Huns in the desert. Unless they continued to flee north, there was no other way."
Liu Che thought for a while: "Is this your strategy against the Xiongnu?"
Su Ren nodded slightly: "Not only that, this time the cavalry will be the main force. There is no need to fight for one city or one place. The spearheads of the three armies are all aimed at Lang Juxu, occupying the ancestral court of the Huns and breaking the backbone of the Huns.
, and then slowly clean up the remnants of the Xiongnu who are entrenched in the grasslands and deserts. The Xiongnu can be defeated within three years, and the thousands of miles of pasture outside the Great Wall will be the best horse herding land for us Han people!"
Liu Che was a little excited by what Su Ren said, and his breathing became heavy. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Han Dynasty has adopted a friendly and gentle policy towards the Huns. No emperor has ever dared to send troops into the Huns' territory. If it is true as Su Ren said
, the Xiongnu were defeated in three or two years. No matter what happened to Liu Che, he would be remembered in the history books.
"Ahem..." Liu Jiqing coughed twice, interrupting Liu Che's wild thoughts.
Su Ren glanced at Liu Jiqing: "You're coughing, what does such a big thing have to do with you? Serving His Majesty well is a great achievement. As for how to kill the Huns, it depends on us generals!"
Liu Che chuckled and said: "According to Su Qing's wishes, how many soldiers and horses should I recruit this time? Also, how many grains, grass and civilians should I recruit?"
Su Ren shook his head: "I don't know. It depends on the length and intensity of the battle. If the Huns dare to fight head-on, the outcome can be decided in two battles. Then the number of soldiers and horses needed will not be too many. Natural food and grass will be needed."
It won’t be too many. If the Huns break into pieces and lurk in the grassland, looking for opportunities to harass our army, this battle will be protracted, maybe three years, maybe five years, so it’s hard to calculate the soldiers and food and grass needed.”
Liu Che frowned and nodded slightly: "What you said makes sense, and the Prime Minister also said the same. The Han Dynasty can't stand too much trouble. It can't waste the Han treasury just to attack the Xiongnu, so I have been hesitating.
"
Seeing the unwillingness on Liu Che's face, Su Ren's mood finally improved. It was uncomfortable to sit on the ground, so he simply crossed his legs and sat down. He held the pastry in one hand and the teapot in the other. He took a sip of pastry and a sip of tea, eating comfortably.
He was not allowed to tell a few jokes to the maid next to him. The maid did not dare to laugh and tried her best to hold it in, and her whole face turned red.
Liu Che was only depressed for a short while, and suddenly he sat up straight and stared at Su Ren for a while: "Are you trying to scare me again? Why are you looking for so many merchants? Also, someone came to report yesterday.
It was said that some people from the Sichuan Chamber of Commerce are planning to donate half of their family property to the court, I was still wondering, but today I finally understand, this is all your arrangement, right?"
Su Ren smiled with a smile on his face: "I don't dare to take such credit. Those are all of their own free will. Although the money is not much, it should still be of some use. As for other merchants, I can tell you the truth, it is of great use!"
"Not much money? The Prime Minister's Office has verified that the money donated by those merchants is no less than one million gold, which is half of the national treasury. It is precisely because of this money that I feel that it is not impossible to send troops on three sides. I just haven't thought about it yet.
I understand why you want to hand over the supply of the army to merchants, isn't it possible that my court can't do these things?"
Su Ren waved his hand: "I don't mean that. If your Majesty's words are known to the Prime Minister, I will definitely be beaten. It's just that I feel that some things should be left to specialized people. For example, merchants have their own responsibility for transporting supplies."
The efficiency and cost are higher than those of the imperial court. Why is Your Majesty willing to spend a lot of money to let the imperial court take care of it? Is the gain not worth the loss? As long as the fairness of the sale of goods is controlled, merchants are willing to cooperate with the imperial court."
"What do the merchants want?"
"It's nothing more than money!" Su Ren glanced at Liu Che: "There is also the profit after the army goes out. As long as the court can save the cost of food and grass, this profit can be ignored!"
"real?"
"Really! I can guarantee this!" Su Ren said with full confidence, but Liu Che looked suspicious. Su Ren continued to explain: "From ancient times to the present, everyone regards war as a matter that consumes national power and harms others and does not benefit oneself.
But who knows how much is wasted? I have heard the saying that when a cannon goes off, gold is ten thousand taels, which means that war makes money!"
"Cannon? What is a cannon?"
Su Ren rolled his eyes: "A cannon is a weapon that uses gunpowder made by me to shoot stone eggs. Your Majesty has never seen it before! War is a kind of plunder, wealth, land, population, resources, whatever the enemy has
It's all ours, and it's all money. As long as Your Majesty is willing, those merchants will give more supplies in exchange, and Your Majesty won't have to pay a penny."
"In other words, with these merchants, no matter where my army goes, we won't have to worry about food and grass problems?"
Su Ren smiled slightly: "That's what it means in theory, but in reality it depends on the situation. Some things are too far away and the cost of shipping them back is too high, so no one will want them. This is the same as doing business."
Liu Che fell into deep thought and did not speak or move for a long time. He needed to think carefully about Su Ren's words. There were some things that he could not understand. Although what Su Ren said was fantastic, it should be quite difficult to implement it. He, Liu Che, was
He is the emperor of the empire, and if he says anything, millions of people will risk their lives, so the emperor should be even more cautious.
Su Ren ate a lot of pastries and drank some hot tea, but did not eat a decent meal. Seeing that it was already past noon, his stomach began to feel awkward. He winked at Liu Jiqing several times, but Liu Jiqing remained standing.
Behind Liu Che, there was no movement. Liu Jian did not know where he went today, and the other chamberlains and maids lowered their heads, not daring to look.
Seeing that Liu Che was still deep in thought, Su Ren slowly stood up, moved his numb legs and feet, and began to spin around in the announcement room. In the Han Dynasty, he was the only one who dared to do this. Others would not have to give Liu Che's orders and would wait at his side.
The warriors outside the palace could come in and chop people into pieces, including Prime Minister Dou Ying.
Seeing that Liu Jiqing was not looking here, Su Ren raised his legs and wanted to go out, but was blocked by the guards outside the door. Su Ren returned in frustration and sat down listlessly again. Liu Che had already recovered from his contemplation.
: "Are you saying that there might still be money to be made from this battle?"
Su Ren nodded: "Not only is there a profit, it should be a big profit, it depends on how you operate it."
Liu Che nodded and said to Liu Jiqing: "Go and call the prime minister, the prefect, the imperial censor and all the generals. Today I want to have a serious discussion about the conquest of the Xiongnu!"
"Slow down!" Su Ren quickly stopped Liu Jiqing, turned to Liu Che and said, "We need to find one more person."
"who?"
"Sang Hongyang, the current manager of Dahan Bank, and Meng Fangtian, the leader of the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce that I just established."
Liu Che laughed, pointed at Su Ren and said: "So you planted this seed for me early in the morning. Anyway, with Sang Hongyang in charge, he is much better than a lazy person like you! And that merchant, we really need to let him know
, as long as they do things for me, I will never treat them badly!" (To be continued)
