Li Siye looked at the emperor from the side. His face looked well maintained, but his skin had become saggy, especially the wrinkles on his forehead that were as complex as an old tree. It would be difficult for an old man like him to concentrate for a few hours.
, so now while he is still excited, he should tell the specific things, so that he can accept it faster.
"Your Majesty, the nine countries in the river and even the Tochar territory cover an area of thousands of miles. Since they are adjacent to the Great Food, heavy troops are needed to defend it. According to your Majesty's instructions, I temporarily ordered Bi Sixhen to lead 4,000 soldiers to stay in Kangju, and recruit a mixed army of local tribesmen.
Among them, today I specifically asked His Majesty and colleagues: "What should be done with the area in the river? Should it be set aside as a separate military town and given the authority of the Jiedushi, or should only one army be left there and be managed by the Anxi Protectorate?"
Li Longji waved his hand and said: "I have discussed this matter with the left prime minister Xi Lie, the right prime minister Lin Fu, and the imperial censor Yang Guozhong. We should set up two armies in the middle of the river and Tocharo, because the safe residence in the middle of the river is Gao Zongyong.
During the Hui period, the Kangju Governor's Office was established. Now that it is to be restored, the army set up in the river can be called the Yonghui Army. All the sixteen states in Tochar are to be resettled. They were originally attached to Longshuo, Emperor Gaozong.
In the first year, the first army established was Long Shuo's army."
"As for who should be appointed as the chief generals of these two armies, and how many members of the army should be appointed, please come up with two quotas. You have fought against the Dashi Army many times, and you can also tell us. Yonghui Army and Long Shuo should be sent to the army.
How many men should the army have to be able to defend against the food army from entering the river and Tochara?"
Li Siye secretly muttered, if he was asked, there must be 50,000, but this is not realistic. The four towns in Anxi only have a capacity of 24,000. But looking at this, the emperor is not prepared to have more.
If you place a military governor in a border town and have both armies under your control, this is a good opportunity to expand your strength. You should open your mouth to ask for people.
"The ministers suggested that the Yonghui Army should be stationed in Kangju with 11,000 men, and the Longshuo Army should be stationed in Ashu City with 10,000 men. The officials of the Yonghui Army suggested that Bi Sishen should serve as the military envoy, and the Longshuo Army should be appointed by Bai Xiaode.
"
As soon as Li Siye finished speaking, the officials sitting below the banquet all looked at him in surprise, questioning in their hearts why he could open such a large mouth. It would take more than 200,000 dendrobiums of grain to feed 20,000 people every year.
A large amount of autumn and winter clothing, including armor and weapons, would be a huge expense. He suddenly expanded the number of troops under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate by 21,000, turning it into a military town of more than 45,000 people. Where did the four towns in Anxi come from?
With so much money and food, if the court was required to allocate money and food supplies, how could the court agree? Even if the saint was really crazy, he would not agree to such a large expansion of the army.
"You actually need more than 20,000 people?" The emperor rubbed his loose forehead.
Li Siye explained: "Dashi's national strength, army numbers and combat effectiveness are slightly better than those of Tubo. The 20,000 people I told your majesty are based on the fact that if there is an attack by Dashi's army, they can defend the stronghold in the river, and
Being able to persist for one to two years will give the court time to make a decision, and it can also persist until reinforcements arrive."
Li Longji understood now that the deployment of 20,000 people in a thousand miles is not too much. Compared with the density of 74,000 deployed in the four counties of Hexi and nearly 80,000 deployed in Fan Yang, as well as the strength of the enemies they faced.
Look, this ratio is still the lowest. These two places will become two countries in the future, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
It’s just that the emperor paid homage to the ancestral temple, comforted his ancestors, and sent hundreds of officials to greet him outside the city gate. This war was just because this war satisfied some of his vanity of expanding territory and conquering great powers. It was not
He attached great importance to Hezhong and Tochara. In fact, he did not attach much importance to these two places, so the 20,000 people mentioned by Li Siye happened to be on the edge of his acceptance range.
This is essentially the same as bargaining for buying and selling goods.
"Can the Anxi Protectorate's Mansion be able to bear the food, drink, food, wages, armor, clothing, and equipment of these twenty thousand people?" the emperor asked him sincerely.
"Your Majesty, although the Hezhong and Tocharian territories are poor compared to the Central Plains, they are fertile enough compared to most places in Anxi to support millions of Sogdians and Tocharian people.
The commercial tax and land tax are collected in the form of sixty-one tax to support them, which is enough to support the entire Yonghui Army and Longshuo Army."
Li Longji shook his head and expressed incomprehension: "Isn't this changing from Jisi autonomy to imperial governance? Then I have to send a lot of people to serve as officials to collect taxes. This seems to have become complicated."
"Your Majesty, we can continue to ask them to annex, the king Sima of each small country and state is hereditary, and they appoint officials to govern themselves. We only need to ask for a part of their tax revenue to support Yonghui and Longshuo's army."
Li Longji understood and felt that something was wrong. Yang Zhao and the ministers below had experience in market life and understood better. Isn't this just collecting protection money? How could he be such a rogue?
Li Longji raised a question: "Will this arouse the resentment of the nine river kingdoms and Tocharian states? Will it make them lose their heart to submit to the king? Will it make them think that the cannibals are better than us?"
"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry at all. When the cannibals occupied Kangju City, they deployed 50,000 to 60,000 troops in the river area. Every grain of food consumed by these troops was forcibly collected from local officials and people. Comparing the two
Well, we are much gentler than them."
Questions and answers were exchanged between the monarch and his ministers, and there was no room for others to interrupt. Yang Guozhong sat aside and did not realize that Li Siye was strengthening the strength of Anxi Bian Town in disguise, and also strengthening his own strength. He also felt that Li Siye's method looked like a rogue.
, actually brilliant.
Li Siye crossed his hands and continued: "Your Majesty, although we have saved the money, food and clothing to support the Yonghui Army and the Longshuo Army, we still need to prepare the money to build the army's armor and armament resources ourselves."
Li Longji nodded, and finally made the decision: "Yes, Chen Xilie."
Left Prime Minister Chen Xilie stood up from his seat and walked out, crossing his hands and saying: "I am here."
"Immediately after going down, an edict was issued, instructing the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate money from the treasury and hand it over to the Ministry of War and the Shaofu Supervisor to recruit good family members in Guanzhong, the Central Plains, Jianghuai, and deliver armor and weapons to Hezhong and Tochara to form Longshuo.
Hui Erjun."
"Here."
After repeated drinking and mental exertion, Emperor Li Longji's face was still rosy, but he looked a little tired. He raised his hand and said: "This matter has been agreed. Today was to celebrate the victory of Siye's expedition."
, I raised a glass with you and drank together, but I didn’t expect that we still talked about the government affairs for half a day. I am too drunk, so I will go back to the back hall to rest first. Yang Zhao, Chen Xilie, you two have to entertain Heiye well for me. If he can’t enjoy himself today, I will
I'll give you a question tomorrow."
Li Siye and everyone else bowed down at the same time: "I will respectfully send you off to Your Majesty."
The emperor stood up shakily, holding the hem of his robe, raised his arms and waved to everyone with his back, and walked towards the inner hall with the support of Gao Lishi.
As soon as Li Longji left, the ministers immediately relaxed a lot and spoke louder. The banquet hall in the building became Yang Zhao's home court. He took the lead to come to Li Siye with a wine cup and said loudly through the wine.
: "Since the reform of Yuan Tianbao, many famous generals have appeared in our Tang Dynasty, such as Gao Xianzhi, An Sishun, Ge Shuhan, and your Majesty's favorite Jiedushi of the Three Towns, An Lushan. These people have indeed made outstanding achievements. They can be compared with Li Siye, Doctor Li
In comparison, are their achievements worthy of the favor His Majesty bestows on them? Do they deserve it? To be honest, do you think they can deserve it?"
Li Siye suddenly felt speechless. Some things that everyone knows can be kept secret. Why expose them in public? Isn't this tantamount to openly provoking a war? If I didn't know something about your character, I would still