Tibet

Back in the palace, Li Ye had just sat down and hadn't even had a sip of tea when Wei Gao reported at the door: "Your Highness, the Privy Councilor wants to see you!"

Li Ye wanted to take a short nap, so he had no choice but to nod, "Summon him to see you!"

Crown Prince Li Tan, who was sitting next to him, wanted to get up and leave. Li Ye smiled and waved his hand, "My son, just sit next to you and listen!"

Crown Prince Li Tan sat down silently again.

Not long after, Duan Xueshi came in excitedly. Li Ye saw that he was very interested and knew that he came for the steam engine.

"Your Majesty, I am here to see you!"

"Your Highness, please sit down, Envoy Duan, please don't be polite!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Duan Xueshi then noticed the crown prince next to him and quickly stood up and saluted again. Li Ye smiled and asked him to sit down again.

Duan Xueshi sat down and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, assign the Bureau of Organs and the Bureau of Firearms and Gunpowder to the Privy Council!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Don't be anxious, Envoy Duan, have a cup of tea first!"

Wei Gao brought in tea, Li Ye drank a sip of tea, and then said slowly: "In fact, I am considering merging these two bureaus as well as the Alum Refining Bureau, Iron Smelting Bureau, and Materials Bureau to form a Firearms Bureau. They are indeed very special and have great potential for development. They are different from traditional military weapons."

Duan Xueshi bowed and said: "If you want to establish a Firearms Bureau, I am willing to be the first supervisor!"

Li Ye laughed, "Envoy Duan is the assistant prime minister. , the Minister of State Affairs, but he was appointed as the fourth-rank supervisor. This is a demotion! "

Duan Xueshi shook his head, "Your Majesty, why did Guo Ziyi refuse to serve as the assistant prime minister and the minister, but wanted to lead troops to fight? He wanted to realize his ambitions, and so did I.

Your Majesty, when I was young, I passed the Mingjing exam, but I gave up literature and followed the military. At the age of 20, I went to Anxi to guard the border. In a blink of an eye, I stayed there for more than 20 years. I planned to stay in Anxi for the rest of my life and guard the border for the country, but I never thought that one day I would be able to enter the cabinet.

But this was not my ambition. In the past few years as a privy envoy, I was confused until When I saw the iron fire bomb, the explosive arrow and the arrow bomb, I felt as if I had found my life. To be honest, Your Majesty, I stayed in the firearms department after the court session every day and did not return home until the evening. I could even make explosives and participate in the improvement of arrow bombs. It was my idea to install wooden handles on arrow bombs and turn them into hand-thrown bombs. "

Li Ye laughed in silence, "So the hand-thrown bomb was the idea of ​​Envoy Duan!"

"That's right!"

Duan Xueshi said again: "Today I saw the steam engine. Others may not understand it, but I can understand what the steam engine means to Anxi and what it means to the overseas expansion of the Tang Dynasty. What? It makes me excited. I even want to become a technical official to study new steam locomotives. Your Majesty, please help me! My mind is no longer in the Privy Council. "

Li Ye looked at him for a long time, and seeing his eyes full of expectations, he nodded, "I will give you a month to consider. If you still have the same intention after a month, I will appoint you to set up the Firearms Supervision. Your official rank and title will remain unchanged, and you will also serve as the director of the New Military Equipment Academy. "

Duan Xueshi was overjoyed and bowed, "Thank you for your help, Your Majesty!"

Li Ye waved his hand and asked Duan Xueshi to sit down again.

He pondered for a moment and said, "I am fully committed to developing steam engines. You understand my intention. Just like you said, what does the steam engine mean to Anxi? What does it mean to opening up overseas territories?

But you don't understand what firearms mean? This time I want to implement education reforms to make every child in the Tang Dynasty able to read and write. The biggest problem is finance.

In order to increase the population, I completely abolished the household tax, and the biggest impact was also on finance.

The army needs to be equipped with firearms and be well-equipped, and the biggest pressure is still on finance.

So finance will put huge pressure on the court for a long time. In order to solve the financial problem, I can only do the most Large fiscal expenditures, cut military spending, the best way is to reduce the number of troops, maintain 500,000 troops.

But how to fight after the army is reduced? Then take the road of elite troops. An army of 3,000 people can defeat an enemy army of 30,000. What do they rely on? They rely on firearms, cavalry and heavy armored swords. A hundred steps away, the enemy's bows and arrows can't penetrate our soldiers' armor, but our arrows and thunders can explode a large area. When the enemy cavalry charges, we have 1,000 sword soldiers among our 3,000 people to fight. The enemy army flees, and our 1,000 cavalry chases and kills them. "

Duan Xueshi finally understood, "I understand, Your Majesty developed firearms for the purpose of elite troops. soldiers, and ultimately fall on finances. "

Li Ye nodded, "This attack on Nanzhao is a test for me. Li Sheng only brought 50,000 troops, but he has 10,000 firearms troops, carrying gunpowder arrows, iron fire bombs, explosive arrows, arrow bombs and grenades, as well as fierce fire oil. The Nanzhao army has more than 200,000 troops, and Tubo also has more than 50,000 troops stationed in the north of Nanzhao. The total strength of the two sides is five times that of the Tang army. I want to see if I can destroy a medium-sized country with 50,000 elite soldiers carrying the most advanced firearms. "

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that the advanced technology will be leaked and soon learned by the enemy. I have a suggestion. Can we set up a Specialized offices for protecting secrets, all kinds of secrets are reviewed by it to prevent leakage! "

Li Ye smiled and said: "There is a confidentiality office under the Internal Security Bureau, which has been doing confidentiality for a long time, and it is generally good. I suggest you don't mention confidentiality now. When you really take over the Firearms Bureau, you can go deeper and see if there are any loopholes. "

"I understand!"

Duan Xueshi immediately stood up and said goodbye. Li Ye smiled at his son and said: "Tell me, what do you feel?"

Although Li Tan is young, he is not an ordinary child. He has received a strict education and has already had some knowledge.

He bowed and said: "Reporting to the Emperor Father, my first impression is that Duan Shijun is a kind-hearted person who pursues his own ideals and does not love power, which is admirable!"

Li Ye nodded, "This is the true backbone of the Tang Dynasty and a true minister. For such an outstanding minister, we cannot just say "admiration" and that's it. We must respect him through actions and retain his official position and title. But this is not enough. Once he becomes the Firearms Supervisor, I will also give him the honor and status of Kaifu Yitong Third Division and Prince Shaobao, so that all officials can see that I will never treat him poorly if he really does his job. "

"My father's teachings will be remembered by my sons and ministers!"

"Then, what else do you feel?"

Li Tan added: "Furthermore, the ultimate goal of my father's elite soldiers is for finance, so that my sons and ministers will have a feeling of enlightenment."

Li Ye laughed and said, "Silly boy, you don't understand this. If you read more history, you will slowly understand."

Li Tan blushed and said, "Father, can you tell me something?"

Li Ye asked calmly: "Have you ever fought with other children?"

Li Tan thought for a while and said, "I only fought once with Brother Nan."

Brother Nan is Li Nan, the son of Li Ye's eldest brother Li Huai. He has been raised by his father Li Dai. He is twelve years old and was named King of Huai by Li Ye.

Li Ye said: "Who will take action first?"

"Brother Nan, hit me first."

"Then what? Did you return it?"

Li Tan nodded, "My son also fought back, and then my grandfather saw us. He made us kneel down for an hour and apologized to each other. We never fought again."

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Why would my father ask you this question? In fact, it is the same thing between countries. We raise an army not just to defend our country. If we are invaded by the prairie cavalry, we will drive them away." Forget it? Who will bear our losses?

Our army must not only defend our homeland, but also fight back and give back to the opponent twice as much, killing their young men and taking away their treasury wealth. This is what Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said: Those who attack our Han Dynasty will be killed no matter how far away they are. punish!

But why do this? Is it inconsistent with the Confucian way of governing the country? To be magnanimous and to convince others with virtue, the person who says this must not be a ruler.

The ruler will never consider morality, he will only consider finances. We do not invade others, but we can create conditions for others to attack us first, so that we will be famous. Remember, the fastest way to improve finances is war. , plundering the wealth of the enemy country can not only weaken the enemy country, but also enrich the finances, and win the support of the people of the country, killing three birds with one stone. "

"But what if the enemy is afraid of us and refuses to invade us? Do we have to take the initiative?"

Li Ye shook his head, "You must remember that any war must be launched with a good reputation, because the foundation of our country is kingship, not hegemony. The kingship must be with a reputation. My father will give you a recent example, Bohai Kingdom, such as My father decided to attack Japan and seize Japan’s wealth, so where is our reputation?”

"Bohai Country!" Li Tan blurted out.

"Yes! It's the Bohai Kingdom. The Bohai Kingdom is our vassal state. It was destroyed by Japan and brutally killed all the royal officials and people in the capital. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed. As the suzerain state, we have the right to send troops to punish Japan. , demanding compensation from Japan, this is a good example.

However, the Bohai Kingdom will not be rebuilt. The land of the Bohai Kingdom will become Datang Prefecture and County, and the people will become subjects. We can reduce taxes for them to buy their hearts, but the wealth obtained from Japan is enough to compensate for a little tax loss. This is national policy.

If you want to clean up country A, then first become the suzerain of its small neighbor country B, and then encourage country B to seek death to anger country A, so that country A can't help but invade country B. Once the king of country B asks for help, you You can send troops in the name of protecting the vassal country. It is best to wait for country A to destroy country B before sending troops. This will not only give country A a hard lesson, obtain a large amount of war compensation, and even seize the wealth of its treasury, but also country B’s The wealth and land will finally belong to you. You are still bright and majestic and have a good reputation. This is the kingly way. "

"But...but that's not very benevolent!" Li Tan murmured.

Li Ye shook his head, "That's why I said you are still too young to understand that there is no morality or morality between countries, only interests. But we will not rob openly like bandits, we will use strategies to rob, let people The other side must make a mistake first, so that we can make a name for ourselves. This is the difference between being kingly and overbearing. One is a brutal and unreasonable grab, and the other is a fight for fame. Otherwise, what are you doing raising an army?"

Li Tan asked in confusion: "Aren't we raising an army to protect our family and country?"

Li Ye glared fiercely, "Then Li Nan punched you, why did you hit him back?"