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Li Shimin suddenly stood up, bowed his hands to Li Yuan, and then said: "Father, I think the refugees should be evacuated in time, and they must not be forcibly driven back to their hometowns, otherwise the refugees may become bandits and become an even greater disaster!"
Li Yuan nodded and asked: "Shimin, in your opinion, what should be done with these refugees? As far as I know, the reason why counties are actively petitioning for deportation is because they are worried about forcibly placing the refugees in each county, so they are divided
I’m afraid the counties are not right either.”
Li Shimin was obviously well prepared and immediately said: "Instead of dividing the distribution among the counties, we will send them to the northernmost county, where there are a lot of deserted fertile fields. Give them a certain amount of food and let them become military residents and establish an army."
The village is self-sufficient."
As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, everyone started talking. The northern county Li Shimin mentioned was originally a county in Taiyuan County. But last year, the Turks went south and directly destroyed that county. The original people died, but they could not escape.
The county has now become a deserted land.
Li Yuan frowned slightly. He did not rush to comment on the second son's unexpected opinion. Instead, he glanced around the faces of the staff and officials, and asked with a smile: "What do you think the world's names say?"
Is it feasible?"
"I think that what the prince said needs to be scrutinized!" As soon as Li Yuan finished speaking, a middle-aged scribe in his forties who was close to Li Yuan took the lead and said, "The Turks are eyeing the outside of the Great Wall, and Hosana Khan has evil intentions.
, sending these refugees to farm will only attract the Turks to rob them again."
The speaker was Ma Yuangui, a subordinate officer under Li Yuan. He was once one of the most valued staff around Li Yuan, and he had always admired the prince Li Jiancheng.
As soon as Ma Yuangui finished speaking, Changsun Wuji, who was near the door, stood up, bowed respectfully to Li Yuan, and then said: "My lord, I think what the second master said is feasible, because this move has three major benefits."
"First of all, we can solve the problem of resettlement of refugees. As long as we give them food rations and help them build strongholds, there will be no backlash and they will not become rogue bandits."
"Secondly, Taiyuan County faces the Turks directly. Regardless of whether there are people farming in the North County, if the Turks are short of food and want to go south, they will never decide whether to go south because of whether there is food in the North County. It is better to let these refugees become military camps and then generalize them.
The village army has built a military stronghold, which will become the first line of defense in the north of Taiyuan City once the Turks move south."
"Third, from my humble opinion, Taiyuan's military strength is too thin now. These refugees have experienced catastrophes, and those who can survive are people with strong character. If they are trained well, they can become a strong army.
"
"The three points Mr. Changsun said are just speculations. Whether they can be accomplished is a matter of two opinions. Now that we have just arrived in Taiyuan, our foundation is shallow. If we attract Turkic cavalry, these refugees will suffer first, let alone train them into a strong army."
Another middle-aged staff member of Li Yuan said with a rather serious tone.
You're welcome.
What Changsun Wuji said was reasonable. In fact, this was something he and Li Shimin had discussed. However, some old people present who had been with Li Yuan for many years frowned and were secretly dissatisfied. In their opinion, or according to the rules,
, forget about Li Shimin, although he is young, he is the second son of Tang Gong after all, but it is inappropriate for a young man like Changsun Wuji to refute these old people so unceremoniously.
Moreover, when they thought about it, this young man named Changsun Wuji relied on the fact that he was the nephew of Changsun Shunde and his sister was married to Li Shimin, so he acted so unscrupulously.
In fact, to be fair, these old people in the Duke of Tang's mansion felt that what Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji said might not be unreasonable. But for the long-term considerations of the Li mansion, in their opinion, the prestige of Prince Jiancheng must be maintained.
Because Li Yuan did not stop the argument between Changsun Wuji and others, the atmosphere in the hall became a little lively for a while. Officials and staff participated with various mentality, and the noise was endless.
Most people supported Li Jiancheng's strategy and would rather drive the refugees back to their hometowns than take the risk of attracting the Turks, even though the logic itself was bizarre.
A small number of people supported Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji and believed that whether the Turks went south had nothing to do with whether these refugees were settled in Beixian to farm.
There are also some people who carefully choose not to support any party. In their eyes, the crown prince Li Jiancheng is not very responsible and if they help him, if something goes wrong, they will inevitably end up in the wrong.
Li Yuan listened with great interest for a moment. He liked this lively atmosphere. Only by listening to both sides can a politician make the right decision. He hoped that through his own actions, he could teach his two sons a lesson. Of course, his focus was always on
On the eldest son Li Jiancheng.
When the argument became louder and louder, and gradually developed into a direct attack on the other party's character, Li Yuan waved his hand, interrupted everyone, and said: "Okay, let's just discuss the matter and don't make excuses. Our Li family is not interested in this.
This matter will be discussed later.”
…
…
After the meeting, the seventeen-year-old Li Shimin returned to his house with Changsun Wuji with a gloomy look, and immediately ordered his general Liu Hongji and the warrior Xun to be summoned. For now, Li Shimin only had these three young confidants.
Compared to his brother Li Jiancheng, who was surrounded by a bunch of civil and military talents, his subordinates were very weak.
After Liu Hongji and Samurai Tong arrived, before they could salute, Li Shimin took a few steps ahead, held his arms one by one, and apologized repeatedly: "Brothers, please don't go out, and don't salute me when you see me in the future. And
Shimin behaved in such a rude manner, I am really sorry for calling my two brothers here at this time."
"Second Young Master, you're welcome, we still have to abide by this courtesy..." Liu Hongji shook his head with a smile, his elbows still sinking. He always acted cautiously, knowing that this was just a way for the young master from a distinguished family to win over people's hearts.
If you really don’t bow to the second young master when you see him from now on, then that’s
It's called stupidity. However, the warrior Yu was moved by Li Shimin's courtesy to the corporal, and was inexplicably excited. He wished he could die for Li Shimin right away.
Saying polite words, the four of them entered the central living room and lobby without realizing it.
At Li Shimin's age, he was born in troubled times, so he was martial by nature. Therefore, even in the lobby dedicated to entertaining guests and meeting with subordinates, the decorations used were weapons.
The largest and most eye-catching piece of furniture in the room is a weapon rack made of pear wood, with various long soldiers horizontally placed on it. Opposite the rack diagonally above is a row of wall hooks, with more than a dozen horizontal knives of different widths hanging on it.
.
"These are the weapons that I have used since I was a child and in college. I couldn't bear to give them to Yuan Ji, so I put them all here!" Li Shimin asked the three of them to sit down and introduced them while pointing to the weapons that occupied half of the room.
After the four of them exchanged polite greetings, they sat down in different positions, and then Li Shimin asked Changsun Wuji to tell him what happened during the discussion.
Liu Hongji was thoughtful, thinking of the three thousand elite soldiers he had brought from Guanzhong on behalf of the Second Young Master, and said: "The Second Young Master wants to select people from these refugees to form a second elite army."
"Brother Hongji's eyes are as bright as fire, and that's exactly what I mean." Li Shimin's eyes flashed. He knew very well that in today's troubled times, only the army in hand has the right to speak. Even the same is true between the brothers of the Duke of Tang Dynasty. He believed
When he has a certain amount of power in his hands, even his father has to delegate some important things to him.
"Please give me your instructions, Master!" The warriors Xun and Liu Hongji stood up quickly and held their hands at the same time.
Li Shimin took a piece of paper from his arms and said: "I have long expected that settling the refugees in Beixian County, establishing a military camp, and becoming military residents would not be approved, so after discussing the matter, I went to find my father, and I had already asked him to
Agree to form another 3,000 elite soldiers. As Brother Hongji said, I am going to recruit the strongest among the refugees as soldiers. You two, Brother Hongji will be the leader and Brother Shitun will be the deputy. You will choose one from the 3,000 elite soldiers brought from Guanzhong.
Hundreds of backbones will be trained in a three-month period to train the second elite army."
"I humbly obey my orders." Liu Hongji and the warrior Xun stood up quickly and bowed to accept the order. At the same time, they took the official document. The specific meaning was just as Li Shimin said. The official seal of Tang Gong was stamped on the lower left.
…
…
After personally sending Liu Hongji and the warrior Xun out of the house, Changsun Wuji whispered to Li Shimin: "There is news from Fanyang County that King Qin An has transferred his third brother Xuan Ba back from the southern kingdom of Goguryeo."
When Li Shimin heard this, he was shocked, his eyes flashed, and he said: "How many people does Xuanba have in any position under Wang Junlin now?"
Of course Changsun Wuji knew what Li Shimin was thinking, and said with a smile: "Xuanba alone controls the Bao Xiong camp, and has 20,000 cavalry, and they are all elite soldiers who have fought in many battles."
Li Shimin was immediately overjoyed and said: "I will write a letter immediately and send my confidants to Fanyang County. We must contact Xuanba as soon as possible."