Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 99 The Ambitious People Ready to Make a Move

Li Shimin was stunned at first, then he burst into laughter:

"You really led me into a ditch!
"I wanted to test you in the Western Regions, but you found a way to lure you back to Liaodong.

"Why, do you still want to eat your father's blood-stained buns?"

Through Li Ming's example, Li Shimin understood the general meaning of the human blood steamed bun without any instruction.

Li Ming smiled wickedly:

“This topic originally arose because of my Liaodong.

"Making Yingzhou a state directly under the Tang Dynasty will bring more benefits than disadvantages, Your Majesty."

Li Shimin shook his head and smiled bitterly:

"Okay, okay, it's all up to you.

"If you have the ability to make the natives of Yingzhou pay taxes to you and obey your rule, you can make it the capital of your kingdom."

"It's not a closed country, it's a military town."

"Ah, yes, yes."

After the administrative staffing was resolved, the greedy Li Ming put forward a new request:

“Since Yingzhou has become the undisputed territory of our Tang Dynasty, the people on this land are naturally our compatriots.

"Every time I think of the people of the Tang Dynasty who can only fish, hunt and pick fruits to fill their stomachs, I feel so uncomfortable that I can't eat meat..."

Li Shimin was helpless:
"Tell me, what do you want?"

Li Ming spread his hands:
"Not much, just 100,000 dan of grain, 1,000 piglets, and more..."

"How many people are there in Yingzhou? Can they eat so much?" Li Shimin was shocked.

Li Ming asked back: "How many people are there in total?"

"That..." Li Shimin was speechless for a moment:
"That place has always been a vassal state, and the household registration is unclear."

Li Ming's face suddenly became serious:

"Father, Yingzhou is the front line against the Goguryeo Buyeo barbarians.

"I will build it into the strongest fortress, clear out the barbaric land, and forever protect the peace and stability of the northeast of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin looked at his son's serious eyes and suddenly smiled:

"It's good that you have the heart to expand the territory."

Li Ming: "Well, that would give me 200,000 stones..."

Boom!
After being slapped in the face, Li Ming didn't dare to raise the price.

"You can directly manage Yingzhou if you want. The taxation and household registration of the two states will be handed over to you. Let's see how you can manage it."

Li Shimin said quickly:

"If you want to take Wei Daijia away, you can take him away. The population of those two states is not large, so it won't be a big problem for him to serve as the governor of both places at the same time."

Li Ming nodded and asked eagerly:
"And the power to appoint and dismiss all officials..."

"You should go back to sleep first. I have a lot to do. I need to focus on reviewing the memorials."

Li Shimin coaxed and beat Li Ming out of the study.

Then he returned to his seat and continued to flip through the bundles of memorials in his hands, but his mind began to wander.

"Oh, what rubbish you wrote!"

He found that he couldn't concentrate, so he threw the letter aside angrily and stood up in a depressed mood.

If you're tired, take a rest.

As soon as I walked out of the study, I found Li Zhi standing in the corridor, dozing off.

"Cough, cough!" Li Shimin gave a dry cough.

Li Zhi woke up suddenly and straightened his hat in a panic.

"Do you have something to talk to me about?" Li Shimin asked in a low voice.

Li Zhi did not dare to look directly at his majestic father and whispered:
"I love the parrot that my father gave me as a present and regard it as a treasure.

"Today, the parrot laid two eggs, and I am reporting this to my father."

Li Shimin frowned slightly.

Why on earth was Li Zhi waiting for him until now regarding the bird eggs?
He raised the corners of his mouth without any smile:

"Since I have given you this bird, it is up to you to take care of it. You don't have to report everything to me."

"Yes, I know."

Li Zhi responded timidly, took a deep breath, and said:

"If that's the case, then since Father has given Pingzhou and Yingzhou to you, why do you still cling to the power over the personnel of these two states?"

Li Shimin's face changed when he heard this:

"Are you admonishing me?!"

Li Zhi immediately knelt down on the ground.

Hiss~ Li Shimin took deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

Yes.

In terms of understanding his father's mentality, Li Zhi was better than Li Ming.

This legitimate son of Li Shimin, who was raised by Li Ming himself since childhood, saw through the real reason why Li Shimin was reluctant to hand over the power to appoint officials to Li Ming.

It’s not because of doubting Li Ming’s ability, or some nonsense like “this is a very important matter for the officials”.

But because he couldn't bear to do so.

Governing a country depends on people, and personnel power is a crucial power.

Although he had given all the power to Pingzhou and Yingzhou, he turned them into independent kingdoms.

But as long as the local officials are appointed by the imperial court, Liaodong will never be out of the control of the central government.

However, once the "Liaodong Jiedushi" gained control of all power, including personnel...

"Do you know that your brother Ming wants to occupy Liaodong and become king?" Li Shimin asked coldly.

Li Zhi blinked his clear eyes:

"But we princes are all kings, but he is just a military governor or something..."

"It's not a crowned king! But... Oh, forget it!" Li Shimin flicked his sleeves, not wanting to explain too much to the simple Li Zhi.

Yes, Li Shimin saw through Li Ming's little tricks at a glance:
Isn't it just to secede from Liaodong, hide far away on the edge of the map, and wait for something to happen in the Central Plains?

For example, when Li Shimin passed away, would he immediately divide the land and declare himself king, using the natural advantages of Yanshan to resist the reckoning of the new emperor?
There is no essential difference between this and the "demotion to common people" that has been mentioned before.

Isn't it equivalent to Li Ming splitting the Liaodong Peninsula from the Tang Dynasty in order to save his own life?

So Li Shimin was hesitant to make up his mind.

No matter which wise ruler in history came to power, it would be difficult to make such a decision.

"Why are you speaking for him?" Li Shimin asked Li Zhi in a low voice:
"Because he saved your life?"

Li Zhi buried his head even lower.

"Humph! These naughty kids are so troublesome!"

Li Shimin left angrily, leaving Li Zhi kneeling alone on the corridor.

After a while, the young eunuch dared to come over to help him:

"Your Highness Prince Jin, how about I help you back to your room first?"

Li Zhi slowly stood up with the help of the eunuchs, but his expression was extremely calm.

Brother Li Ming is a huge threat to all the legitimate sons of the royal family.

Not only Li Chengqian, but even Li Zhi, the youngest son who had nothing to do with the throne, clearly felt the huge siphon effect of that guy on the "Emperor's Grace" -

Ever since Li Ming came to Lizheng Hall, the emperor's father has shown less and less care for Li Zhi.

It would be good if such an unstable factor could exile itself to Liaodong.

Avoid quarrels among brothers and still maintain superficial friendly relations.

"Xiao Ming, you should leave. I really don't want to be your enemy."

There was a flicker of fire in Li Zhi's eyes, no longer showing the innocent look he had just now.

…………

At the grand court meeting the next day, Li Shimin wanted to spit on the faces of his ministers.

Control, control, I was almost killed by these ungrateful barbarians, and you are still obsessed with the control policy?

Why, because bondage is so beautiful?

This issue was directly raised to a level that concerns the safety of the emperor, and no one dared to answer it.

In this way, Li Shimin used Li Mingzhi's tactics to paint a picture of commercial taxes and "attracting investment" for his ministers, while at the same time exerting pressure on them with the grief after the Jiucheng Palace Incident.

By using both carrots and sticks, he finally succeeded in convincing the ministers and smoothly changed Xizhou - along with Yingzhou of a certain Liaodong governor - into a direct state of the Tang Dynasty.

Prior to this, Li Shimin had analyzed the special geographical advantages of Gaochang State, and based on what Li Ming said, he secretly noted down the ministers who changed their positions in the first wave.

These are all loyal ministers who put aside their personal interests and can truly think about issues from the perspective of national strategy.

The number was not small, which made Li Shimin feel slightly relieved.

With this, the solution for Gaochang State and other subsequent countries in the Western Regions is set in stone.

The new Xizhou was established in the old Gaochang area and became a direct territory of the Tang Dynasty. It adopted the same ruling system as other prefectures and counties in the Han area, and uniformly implemented the township system, rent and labor system, and military system.

At the same time, the Anxi Protectorate was established in Jiaohe City of the former Gaochang Kingdom to deter and monitor the Western Turks and the countries in the Western Regions.

In addition, the Turks who remained in the Central Plains were relocated to the desert north of the Great Wall, with the former Eastern Turkic noble Ashina Simo as Khan. A military camp was established in Dingxiang City to guard the north of the Central Plains and form a balance of power with the Xueyantuo.

The script of Ashina Jiesheru "returning to the grassland to become the Khan" was picked up by Ashina Simo.

"call……"

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief silently.

The issue of dealing with Gaochang State, which had been delayed for more than half a year, was solved so smoothly.

I just chatted with that kid for a whole night...

"Just like that, swallow up the entire Western Region." He secretly made up his mind.

At this time, Wei Zheng said:

"Your Majesty, regarding the incident at Jiucheng Palace, I have something to report."

Li Shimin nodded slightly:

"Go ahead."

"The incident at Jiucheng Palace was truly unfortunate."

Wei Zheng said in a sonorous tone:
“However, I believe that even though the world is peaceful today, there are still people who dare to plot against the royal family because of another incident.

"The atmosphere in the palace made the ministers realize that although the incident happened many years ago, it was clearly with everyone again, making all kinds of ambitious people eager to follow suit."

After hearing Wei Zheng's words, Changsun Wuji's face changed suddenly.

Even Fang Xuanling couldn't help but open his eyes wide and turned his head slightly to look at this fearless minister.

Li Shimin's face turned pale.

He already knew what Wei Zheng was going to say.

"If we want to prevent desperate behavior from happening again in the future, we must correct the problem at its source."

Wei Zheng's words echoed in the quiet Taiji Hall:
"Your Majesty, please put a true end to the Xuanwu Gate Incident."

…………

into the night.

A bright candle was lit beside the table, and a man was writing something at the desk.

It was a letter, written on sturdy parchment.

It is written in Turkic.

Roughly means:

"The Khan of the Xueyantuo Khanate, the co-leader of the Tiele Xue and Yantuo tribes, His Excellency Zhenzhu Khan Yinan:

Although I encountered unexpected setbacks, the development of things did not go beyond my previous expectations -

His Majesty the Emperor of Tang is rapidly tightening his control over all directions.

An example is the establishment of Gaochang in the northwest and Yingzhou in the northeast as directly affiliated prefectures and counties.

If nothing unexpected happens, under the leadership of your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty will gradually encroach on all territories within its reach and drive your people to a desolate and dangerous place where ordinary people cannot survive.

For the sake of your survival and that of your people, and for the sake of our common cause, please reconsider my suggestion."

After the man finished writing the letter, he carefully put the parchment away and tucked it into the book.

After confirming that everything was correct, he wiped the sweat off his face heavily, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:
"Li Ming, Li Ming, you really make people love and hate you.

"Your presence is already a bit of a hindrance, it would be best if you could move..."

(End of this chapter)