"Your Highness, since I took charge of the Ministry of Rites, I have thought that although I have no great political achievements, I have never made any big mistakes. As a minister of the Tang Dynasty, I naturally think about the Tang Dynasty, and mediate diplomatically? I think that diplomatic mediation is actually for the sake of the Tang Dynasty. The majesty and morality of our Tang Dynasty are recognized by all countries. Just like when His Majesty enthroned Zen, all countries sent envoys to accompany him, and all countries came to congratulate me. This is the majesty and morality of our Tang Dynasty. He is in charge of the Ministry of Rites." Dai Zhide looked ugly. The Ministry of Rites always pays attention to etiquette. If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, wouldn't it be extremely rude for the majestic Tang Dynasty to do so.
Li Hong shook his head silently and smiled bitterly, but the other courtiers had shocked expressions on their faces. Dai Zhide's words were really tough. Although the two of them had always been at odds, due to the limitations of the monarch and his ministers, Dai Zhide could only listen to what His Highness said. Son, no matter how dissatisfied I am, I cannot refute the prince like this in front of all the courtiers.
"Dai Zhide, if this is your purpose as the Minister of Rites, I think you can resign as the Minister of Rites, retire and return home." Li Hong squinted his eyes and stared closely at Dai Zhide's cheek.
"Hmph, I don't know what I did wrong as the Minister of Rites. If His Highness asked me to resign and live in retirement just because I contradicted you just now, as a minister of the Tang Dynasty, I have nothing to say." Dai Zhide said this. He had to carry it to the end, ignoring the pull of Li Yiyan, the Minister of Civil Affairs next to him, and continued to be tough.
Li Hong smiled disapprovingly and said slowly: "If the officials of the Tang Dynasty were like you, we would just wait to destroy the country. Why do we think about a century-old foundation? Back then, you studied under Wang Xuance and was recommended to the court by him. Now, in the position of the Ministry of Rites, can you achieve half of his achievements?"
"Your Highness, I don't understand what you are talking about? Wang Xuance, as an envoy to the Western Regions, naturally has his faults and merits. Although I am not half as good as him. But I admit that I have never introduced anyone like Luo Er Suo Po! Because of the minister’s suggestion, our country, the Tang Dynasty, is in a dilemma!”
All the courtiers in the meeting hall took a breath. Although Wang Xuance was not convicted, everyone knew that it was because of him that the late emperor captured a monk from the Western Regions, Luo Ersuopo. After taking some of his immortality pills, Died by poisoning!
Although Wang Xuance was not convicted for this incident, he did not receive any promotion since then and became a person forgotten by the court.
Although Li Zhi still used Wang Xuance as an envoy to the Western Regions after he ascended the throne, Wang Xuance at this time had already lost his demeanor of "one man destroying a country".
What's more, at that time, Xuanzang's journey to the west to learn Buddhist scriptures was far more influential than Wang Xuance's "one man destroyed a country". Naturally, all the limelight of Wang Xuance was taken away by Xuanzang, so now, Wang Xuance has been dead for several years. , people still get mixed reviews when mentioning him.
Li Hong still had a faint smile on his face, sliding a charcoal pen back and forth on the table in his hand, and still said unhurriedly: "Although you have never done anything like Wang Xuance, but now you are very For example, when Wang Xuance "destroyed a country with one man", when Wang Xuance borrowed troops from Niboluo Kingdom, he advocated lending troops to Wang Xuance's Niboluo minister. "
Seeing the confused expressions of the ministers, Li Hong took the slender wooden stick from Xiaoxue's hand, stood up from his seat, and pulled back the black cloth behind him. Suddenly, what appeared in front of everyone was a huge sand table of the Tang Empire. Including the terrain locations of other countries around Datang, they are all marked in detail.
Li Hong looked at Dai Zhide with a sneer, then glanced at the ministers again, and said: "Back then, Wang Xuance and Jiang Shiren went to Tianzhu with more than 30 people. They were robbed by Aluoshun, a small country affiliated to Tianzhu, on the way. In the end, Wang Xuance escaped alone, and then Borrowing 7,000 troops from Niboluo, Wang Xuance accomplished an extraordinary feat, that is, relying on himself and the 7,000 troops he borrowed, he destroyed the small country of Aluoshun, which killed Jiang Shiren and other 30 people on the way. . But where is Niboluo now? Dai Zhide, you studied under Wang Xuance, do you still think it is worthwhile to send reinforcements to Korea? "
After Li Hong finished speaking, he looked at the courtiers: "History is always conservative, history is always similar, and history can always give you great enlightenment in the subtleties! Dai Zhide, you strongly advocate sending troops to Goryeo. If we send troops to Goryeo again, We will be cannibalized by Tianzhu and Tibet like Nibalu. Nibalu is now half occupied by Tubo and Tianzhu. Why? Because he borrowed troops from Tang Dynasty officials to destroy Aluoshun! Aluoshun is a vassal state of Tianzhu. Why? Tubo followed the fight because Nibala destroyed the strategic balance there! The two big countries felt threatened by Nibala's actions! That's why they wanted to destroy him! Dai Zhide, do you want us to be like Nibala? ?”
Li Hong threw the slender wooden stick in his hand to Xiaoxue and sat back down angrily.
History is always surprisingly similar. The example he just gave is not a realistic situation a few years later, when the Tang Dynasty was too busy to take care of itself, just like the situation of Nibolu!
It's just that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and the weakened Tang Dynasty cannot be shaken by those small countries. However, Anxi and Anton, which were gained with hard work and blood, eventually fell due to lack of troops and inability to maintain them. Forced to give up!
Dai Zhide looked at the sand table behind him. He did not expect that His Highness the Prince would use counter-evidence to prove that it was wrong for him to strongly advocate sending troops. This made him speechless in the face of conclusive evidence, not knowing how to refute.
Liu Rengui also quietly stared at the sand table behind Li Hong. His keen sense as a general was unmatched by others. He took a deep breath and said: "Your Highness, the Niboluo you mentioned is just a vassal state, but The Tang Dynasty is now the object of admiration from all the countries in the world. We now have strong troops and famous generals. It is unlikely that we can be defeated by a small country like Goryeo. Even if Anxi is unstable now, I think that for a while, the Tang Dynasty will not be defeated. The situation you mentioned will occur.”
"How long is your time? One year? Two years? Ten years? Or eight years?" Li Hong wanted to slap him!
How many people have this so-called mentality of going to the country? What will happen in the end? Look at the Japanese country, which learned so much culture from the Tang Dynasty. More than a thousand years later, it has left so many helpless, heart-rending shouts and cries to this land!
Pei Yan and Cen Changqian, who were members of Zhongshu and his subordinates, nodded involuntarily after hearing Liu Rengui's words. In their hearts, as ministers of the Shangguo, especially in today's confident Tang Dynasty, no one would believe that there would be a crisis in the Tang Dynasty, which is now in its prosperous age.
"Your Highness, I think what Liu Shangshu said is very true. Why don't we send less troops to reinforce Liu Renyuan and Sun Renshi? This way we can not lose the dignity of the Tang Dynasty and can also show the majesty of the Tang Dynasty." Zhang Wenguan is the right minister of Shangshu. Pu She, it also happened at this moment.
Li Hong looked at everyone and just shook his head speechlessly. If it was true as Zhang Wenguan said, it would be the same as turning back. In history, wasn't it the case that Qibi Heli was sent first, and then Li Ji was sent after him
If Zhang Wenguan really followed what he said, wouldn't all his talk be in vain
"Jinghui, tell them the situation of Goryeo's grain and grass, especially the harvests of Goryeo in the past two years, and the number of military households in our Tang Dynasty." Li Hong rubbed his temples with a headache and said respectfully to his subordinate, the Minister of Household Affairs. Hui said.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"After more than a year of investigations by the Ministry of Household Affairs on soldiers from all over the country, as well as an investigation of grain and grass in Liaodong..." Jinghui crackled like beans from a bamboo tube, telling all the big shots in the court one by one. , and he also sent the forms in his hand to the courtiers.
After Jinghui sat down, Li Hong took the data that Yang Jiong handed over again. After taking a look at it, he did not let Yang Jiong, who was not at a high level here, go out. Instead, he said lightly: "Inform them."
"Yes, Mr. Your Highness." Yang Jiong was nervous when facing the sitting court officials. He didn't know how to address Li Hong, so he awkwardly called out to Mr. Your Highness.
Li Hong waved his hand nonchalantly and said: "This is the newly introduced academic discipline of Chongwen Hall, calculating the future. In other words, using the paper and pen in our hands, using the knowledge we have learned, and using calculation methods to calculate How long can our Tang Dynasty's imperial soldiers cope with two wars at the same time? This includes the number of households in our Tang Dynasty's imperial army, the number of soldiers of various ages, and the average number of casualties in a war, thus inferring that we have The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty can survive the decisions of you courtiers for how many years they will die!"
Seeing Liu Rengui's dazed look in the court, Li Hong continued to say calmly: "Benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom and trust, the morality and majesty you want, if there is no support from the strong soldiers and horses of the Tang Dynasty, your morality, your majesty, will not be the same." It's all nonsense in the eyes of others! Dai Zhide, let me tell you something that the Ministry of Rites should hang on the wall: a weak country has no diplomacy! If you still don't understand, you can really resign and go home. You are no longer fit to sit in the position of Minister of Rites."
Seeing each courtier holding the data in his hands and studying it carefully, and occasionally whispering to each other, Li Hong believed that perhaps these advanced calculation methods could wake up these courtiers who were lying on the halo of the kingdom. Some.
Liu Rengui looked at the data in his hand with a very focused expression. According to the easy-to-understand figures above, it would be extremely difficult for the Tang Dynasty to continue to use troops in Liaodong and Anxi at the same time within three to five years.
Especially with the decrease in the number of households with soldiers and the death of a large number of young and strong soldiers, the soldiers over forty years old gradually became the main force. At that time...
Liu Rengui couldn't imagine it anymore. If these numbers were true... No, these numbers were indeed true. He knew better than anyone how many people died in Liaodong in a year.
In addition, Goryeo has had good harvests in the remote mountains and remote areas in recent years. However, when the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty used troops in Liaodong, the Tang Dynasty always provided food and grass themselves!
(End of chapter)