The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 578 Conversation between Father and Son in Chengqing Palace (Part )
Li Shimin's face was serious, his brows were furrowed. In fact, he knew all these things. When he was leading troops outside, he had also traded with the enemy. Who would be willing to stay in the cold and bitter borderland without any benefits?

This was almost an unspoken secret among everyone in the army. The Turks and the Tang Dynasty were thousands of miles apart, making it difficult to defend against them. Just as Jie Li had repeatedly issued strict orders prohibiting the sale of good horses from the grasslands to the Central Plains, batches of horse teams could still be seen in the West Market of the Tang Dynasty.

This is because the more strictly something is prohibited, the more urgently the other party needs it. Prohibition can only make the goods more scarce and the profits even greater.

Since the war between the Turks and the Tang Dynasty in the ninth year of Wude, trade had been banned and exchanges had been cut off. However, the Tang Dynasty's materials and the Turks' war horses still flooded the official roads in the north. In order to obtain excellent war horses, Li Shimin had no choice but to turn a blind eye.

Seeing that Li Shimin had fallen into silence, Li Yan worked hard: "Father, think about it, if we don't do this business, it will only benefit those merchants and dignitaries in Chang'an."

"Let's talk about other things, let's just talk about my seventh uncle, Prince Lu Li Yuanchang. He has several caravans under his command. One of them goes to the grassland every month to sell salt, tea, and cloth from the Tang Dynasty to the Turks, and then buys back war horses, furs, herbs and other scarce materials in the Central Plains. The profit from each trip is more than ten thousand strings of cash."

"Father, I want to do this for three reasons."

Seeing that Li Shimin was lost in thought, Li Yan said, "First, we can send these caravans to the grasslands and place our spies among them. The caravans can travel between the tribes on the grasslands with a legitimate reason, and before we know it, we can get a clear picture of the situation of these tribes."

"Secondly, the caravans are very profitable, and we can use the money we earn to cover the expenses of this department. We don't need the court to pay special salaries, and we can also give some money back to the court. The court needs to accumulate money, food, armor, weapons, horses, etc., which also requires a huge amount of funds."

"Third, instead of letting these caravans corrupt the army privately, it is better to control this path in our own hands. In this way, we will know clearly which generals have received money, how much they have received, and how many things they have done that violated the laws of the court."

After hearing this, Li Shimin could no longer sit still. He stood up and walked around in the imperial study. What Li Yan said made him somewhat tempted, but he was also worried that this would indirectly help the Turks. After all, if the exchanges were only small, Li Yan would not have to ask for his permission specifically.

I specifically need your consent, because the scale of the caravans traveling between the two sides will not be small!

It is inevitable that it will indirectly support the Turks, making them even more powerful, which will then make it more difficult to conquer them.

So Li Shimin expressed his concerns. When Li Yan heard it, he shook his head secretly. People in that era still had narrow-minded thinking and did not understand the importance of economic exchanges at all. It can be said that the Turks' repeated border violations, in addition to their own aggressiveness, were also greatly related to the lack of necessary survival materials.

Li Yan cheered up and popularized the importance of commercial exchanges to Li Shimin: "Father, in fact, from a macro perspective, the grassland and the Central Plains are two huge economies that rely on each other."

"Relatively speaking, the differences between the north, south, east and west in our Central Plains are greater, and we can communicate and interact through internal adjustments."

"But the grasslands are not good. The environment there is harsh. Nomadic people live by following the water and grass. Their lives are relatively simple and primitive. They lack a stable supply of food, salt, tea, cloth and other materials, which are very abundant in our Central Plains. However, there is no trade, and the sporadic smuggling across the border cannot meet the large demand. That is why they invade the border on a large scale every year."

Seeing that Li Shimin was a little confused, Li Yan thought for a moment, and then changed his way of asking: "Father, can you imagine that the South and our Tang Dynasty are not the same country, and the South prohibits the sale of grain and cloth to the North, Father, what do you think we will do?"

"hiss"

Li Shimin understood now and took a deep breath. The north had been at war for years and had a large population. The grain produced in the north alone could not feed so many people. That was why Yang Guang built the Grand Canal during the Sui Dynasty to facilitate transportation and transport grain from the south to the north.

If the South really does not send money and grain to the North, it can be said that the Northern regime will not be able to survive for even half a year and there will be chaos in the country.

Could it be that this is the reason why the Turks have been invading the border year after year?

Li Shimin immediately asked solemnly: "Cheng Qian, are you saying that the Turkic invasion every year is because we prohibit the trade of goods between each other, and the Turkic lacks the necessary resources for survival, so they invade the Central Plains?"

“That’s partly the reason.”

Li Yan explained: "Father, think about it. During the Renshou period and the beginning of Daye, the Turks led by Qimin Khan, who was supported by the Sui Dynasty, never had any record of large-scale and frequent invasions."

"It is true that the Turks were divided at that time and their overall strength was not strong, while the Sui Dynasty was strong, but at that time the two sides frequently traded with each other on the border. The Turks could peacefully and stably exchange grassland products such as cattle, sheep, and horses for materials from the Central Plains, so there was no objective need to invade the Central Plains." "And since the Bianqiao Alliance in the ninth year of Wude, my father has banned trade with the Turks and strengthened the investigation and punishment of border smuggling to prevent goods from flowing to the grassland. But in the first year of Zhenguan, the second year, and this year, the Turks have violated the border every year, and each time is more serious than the last."

"They attacked important border towns, massacred civilians, and looted supplies. Doesn't this show the harm of banning trade?"

"It can be said that the invasion of our Central Plains was not the ambition of Jie Li alone, but more of a rigid demand of countless Turkic people."

hiss.
Li Yan's words made Li Shimin gasp for air. His previous ideas and concepts were greatly impacted. For a moment, his mind was like a huge wave. In the past, Li Shimin and his court officials had always considered the war simply from the perspective of Jie Li's ambition and the natural aggressive wolf nature of the grassland people.

Due to the objective environment of this era that advocated agriculture-based economy and emphasized agriculture over commerce, merchants had a low status and were despised by mainstream society. People never considered the conflict between the two parties from an economic perspective.

Who can explain the relationship between the Turks and the Central Plains from an economic perspective like Li Yan? Li Shimin subconsciously wanted to refute. But he opened his mouth and hesitated for a long time. He didn't want to deceive himself, because reason told him that what Li Yan said was not unreasonable.

The people on the grassland are also human beings, and they also have survival needs. They also have an urgent need for various materials produced in the Central Plains.

When Li Shimin thought of the example Li Yan had just given, he wondered what he would do if the South banned the import of money and grain to the North?
What can I do?
They will certainly invade and plunder at all costs until the other country is destroyed and brought under their control, and they can then provide a stable supply.

Thinking about how his border ban policy not only did not help the Tang Dynasty, but instead prompted successive invasions by the Turks, Li Shimin suddenly didn't know what to do. If he opened the border, it would strengthen the Turks. If he banned trade, it would indirectly lead to Turkish border attacks.

For a moment, Li Shimin was in a dilemma.

Based on his half a lifetime of life experience, he really didn't know how to deal with this situation.

Seeing Li Yan's confident look, Li Shimin's heart moved and he asked, "Qian'er, since you can see these problems, you must have a solution. Tell me about it."

Li Yan curled his lips secretly. The control of power by the superior mainly depends on the right of distribution. It is not that you monopolize all resources and take them for yourself with your own power, but you have to distribute a large part of it and gain the support of a part of people through distribution.

Use this group of forces to manage and restrain other people, maintain the stability and balance of the overall situation, ensure that you can sit firmly in the high position, and then enjoy your share.

In fact, if the Central Plains dynasty had a good grasp, it could have divided and disintegrated the grasslands by relying solely on economic and commercial warfare, using one part to check and balance the other, buying itself time and strengthening its national strength. Then, with the support of a strong national strength, it could have ensured that the enemy would not dare to break up with it, and it could have more easily used military and economic means to manipulate the Turks.

"Father, from this we can see that the grasslands are actually very dependent on the Central Plains for supplies."

Li Yan said calmly: "Of course we can't allow full trade, which will definitely make the Turks stronger, but we can't completely ban it, otherwise it will only force the Turks to invade our border towns."

"In fact, the Turkic invasion of the border town is just another form of trade. The Turkic people used swords, guns, personnel and war horses to exchange for the supplies and people in my border town, and used the looted people to threaten my father to exchange money, food and cloth."

Well.
Li Shimin's expression froze, and he immediately thought of the fall of Suizhou city a few days ago. Jie Li's army stationed in Suizhou demanded from the court 300,000 shi of grain and 100,000 pieces of cloth in exchange with 30,000 soldiers and civilians. After all, it was all for food and clothing.

"But in the form of war, both sides consumed a lot of costs. The Turks attacked Suizhou and many people died. We suffered heavy losses. The cost was more than ten times higher than that of the Turks. Not only was the city destroyed, but the soldiers defending the city were seriously killed and injured. We also had to pay a lot of money, food and cloth to buy back the population."

"The 30,000 Suizhou elders who were rescued have lost their homes. This winter, our Tang Dynasty will have to spend a lot of supplies and money to help them survive the winter. This will greatly consume the resources we are about to use for the Northern Expedition."

"Father, you can't just watch these tens of thousands of elders starve to death right now for the sake of the future Northern Expedition, right?"

(End of this chapter)