Li Mu really didn't understand what the meaning of Li Shimin telling him these things was, in his consciousness, these were things that had nothing to do with him. And Li Shimin also said before that he didn't want him to participate in national affairs.

Li Mu's mind turned sharply, pursed his lips, and said, "Your Majesty, these ministers don't understand." If you don't have anything else to do, and the minister wants to retire, there is still something to do with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. ”

"Still pretending to be stupid?"

"Huh?" Li Mu was beating a drum in his heart, what does this mean? Could it be that the adultery was still discovered?

Li Mu swallowed and spitted, grinned and squeezed out a smile, and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty? Why are you pretending to be stupid, minister, I really don't understand. ”

Li Shimin looked ten out of ten and nine steady, and said: "Can't you see the matter of the prince of Gaochang?" You taught him all those things that the auxiliary machine said, right? The auxiliary machine has already told me frankly, do you still have to quibble? ”

Li Muchang let out a sigh and secretly said in his heart, he would be scared to death sooner or later. Quickly squeezed out a shy smile, scratched his head and said, "Alas...... Sure enough, I still can't deceive Your Majesty, okay, now that the matter has come to this, the minister can only admit it. That's right, it was my idea for Uncle Guo. But it's not because I received that money—"

"How can I not know your thoughts?" Li Shimin waved his hand to interrupt Li Mu's words and said, "I'm not blaming you, but introspecting. I thought you were still young, and your vision, knowledge, and qualifications were still shallow, and I planned to let you stay in obscurity for a few years, and I didn't want you to get involved in national affairs too early. But you ignore that you are different from ordinary people. ”

Li Shimin looked at Li Mu and said, "You have grown up very fast, exceeding my expectations. Gaochang's matter, your opinion is very unique. You are the only one who thinks about things from a business perspective. This is a place that I and the Manchu Dynasty civil and military could not imagine. After this incident, I thought about it for a long time, and felt that it was appropriate for you to participate in some things, and it should be experienced in advance. After all, you are now in a high position from the third rank, and you are only one step away from the ministers of Zaifu-"

"Oops!" Li Mu hurriedly waved his hand again and again, and said, "Your Majesty, don't!" Please take back your fate! ”

Li Shimin wondered: "I want to entrust you with a heavy responsibility, you should be happy, why do you still react like this?" ”

Li Mu said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, the minister is already tired to death. Can't you change someone? The minister knows that the minister is a talent, but you can't expect the minister to do everything. It's like picking wool, you stare at a sheep's wool, and you won't be able to pick up much until you die. ”

"What's that called?" Li Shimin said unhappily: "The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, if you are a stupid person, will the ministers consult with you?" The Lu of the Eater, the ...... of the Loyal Monarch"

Li Shimin suddenly got stuck, he suddenly realized a problem, Li Mu didn't seem to eat his food, but gave him a lot, and he was a little embarrassed for a while.

Li Mu is a little confused, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, how come it seems that he has heard this sentence somewhere? Ah, by the way, the famous sentence in "Spider-Man", how would Li Shimin know, is he also a time-traveler?

The monarchs and ministers looked at each other, each with their own thoughts, and was awkwardly silent.

"Don't worry, I won't be giving you any more errands. I came to you this time just to ask for your opinion. Li Shimin pointed to a place on the map and said, "This is Yiwu, there are some Western Turkic excluded tribes who have migrated from the west and have come into contact with the border of the Tang Dynasty. ”

"Look here." Li Shimin pointed to a certain place above the map, drew a circle with his finger, and said: "This is Xue Yantuo, when the Eastern Turks were still there, they were oppressed by the Eastern Turks, in order to deal with the Eastern Turks, I sent people to contact their leaders, gave them food, equipment, and armor, and let them survive." With the fall of the Eastern Turks, they took over most of the Eastern Turkic homeland. And many of the original Eastern Turkic tribes went to take refuge in them, and now their power has grown. ”

"Although Xue Yantuo is now superficially subservient to me, it is a hidden danger after all. I want to attack it, but I can't help it, first, the division is unknown, and today's Xue Yantuo is no longer what it used to be, if it is a battle, although it can be won, the cost is very large, far more than the conquest of Gaochang several times. My original plan was to support the Turks and take over part of the old Eastern Turkic lands as a barrier between the Tang Dynasty and Xue Yantuo. But now that he is dead, his son is still very young, and he has two brothers eyeing him. As a result, the tribes of Tuli were no longer available. ”

"And none of the other Turkic leaders can take on this role. I don't care about the current situation. I am afraid that these tribes will all be annexed by Xue Yantuo, so that the north will be a big disaster. And the Western Turks can also use the royal court tent to be occupied by Xue Yantuo and advance eastward, when the time comes, the Tang Dynasty will be west and north, two strong rivals. If you choose one of them to attack, Datang will win, but if you fight on both sides - I asked Li Jing, and he thought he couldn't deal with it. ”

Li Mu furrowed his brows and said, "The minister understands, now it is a person who is enough to replace the Turks, unite the tribes of the Turkic tribes to the Tang Dynasty, and serve as a barrier to the Tang Dynasty, is this probably what it means?" ”

"That's right."

Li Mu thought for a while and said, "Isn't it okay to send a big general over?" ”

"Nope." Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Those who are not of my race will have different hearts, and the same is true for the Turks. They will not allow a general of the Great Tang Dynasty to be their leader, this is an impossible thing. ”

"Then ......" Li Mu thought for a while and said, "If you send someone to assist Tuli's son and make him the leader, just like Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms, coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, what does Your Majesty think?" ”

Li Shimin pondered for a while, and said, "This is a feasible solution, but what about Tuli's two younger brothers?" Moreover, if this is done, even if the Turki tribe can be pacified, the other tribes may not agree, and there will always be objections. What to do with these people? ”

"Hmm......" Li Mu thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you move them to the Central Plains?" ”

"Moved to the Central Plains?" Li Shimin frowned and said, "Moving to the Central Plains, to put it lightly? That's not 1,800 people, it's tens of thousands. With so many Turks, how can they resist if they make a rebellion? Besides, how to place them? There are no grasslands in the Central Plains for them to hunt! ”

"The minister means to let them go to the Central Plains to work as workers."

"Workers? Work? Li Shimin showed a puzzled look, and Li Mu explained: "Your Majesty, worker is a title recently invented by the minister. Like a servant, a craftsman, a poet, and so on, all of them can be as the name suggests. The same is true of the worker, who is the worker, the one who works in the factory. Now under the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are many workshops near Chang'an, and the Kouma Shops in the West Market can no longer buy slaves, and they are all bought out. The displaced people on both sides of the Yellow River cannot quench their thirst from far away. Moreover, the road will be built in the spring, and these displaced people may not be enough. What is most lacking today is labor. ”

"The Turks are a race that grew up eating meat, and they are generally more powerful than the Central Plains. They come to work, and they may not be able to do the work that requires skill, but the work that requires strength must be fine, but it is just a little food. ”

Li Shimin was a little moved, but he still hesitated and said, "This is not a little food...... Tens of thousands, can you afford it? ”

Li Mu smiled and said, "It's not a burden on the court, why is Your Majesty in a hurry?" ”

"Huh?"

"Didn't Chen Gang say that there are workshops everywhere near Chang'an City. The workshop needs workers, and it is naturally the owner of the workshop to feed it. Do you want the court to provide grain for them to feed the workers? ”

"But can they need so many people?"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the current situation, as long as it is labor, tens of thousands of people are not a problem."

"I'm still a little worried...... Li Shimin thought for a while and said, "Otherwise, you go and count it first to see how many people can be placed." It's better to prepare first and do what you can. The stakes are high, and we have to be cautious. ”

"Good!" Li Mu happily agreed, and said, "The minister will first do an investigation for His Majesty, and within three days, the minister will give His Majesty an accurate message." ”

"Thank you for your hard work." Li Shimin nodded, as if he suddenly remembered something, and asked again: "Li Mu, I almost forgot to ask you, yesterday you were in heaven and earth, were you selling official beards?" What seventy and hundred, am I too indulgent to you, I didn't punish you last time, and you have intensified again! ”

Li Mu suddenly had a hurt expression and said, "It's so sad, can't Your Majesty trust the minister?" It's only tens of thousands of dollars when it's full, is the minister short of this money? The ministers collect their money in order to—hey, to put it simply, to use their money to do their business. Your Majesty, you wait and see, you are sure that everyone will be happy, and there will definitely be no more impeachment of the ministers. The minister is now smart, and he doesn't give those dog Yushi a chance to find a loophole. ”

"It's also a sale...... Li Shimin laughed, and he didn't mind, and said, "I'll wait and see." ”

Li Mu stood up and saluted: "Thank you, Your Majesty, the minister has retired." ”

Li Shimin waved his hand, and he continued to study the map. Li Mu's suggestion can only be used as a reference, in his heart, he still wants to install Du Ruhui's original plan. After all, it is Du Ruhui's last policy, and the monarch and ministers have been with him for many years, and Li Shimin also wants to try his best to make Du Ruhui's hard work not in vain.

Li Mu put on his boots, turned around and walked out of the hall, Gao Gonggong sent him down the steps, Li Mu handed over a 'goldfish', and Gao Gonggong accepted it with a smile. In this matter, the two have reached a tacit understanding, and there is no need to say how often to give it or how much to give it at one time.

In fact, Li Mu gave Gao Gonggong money, which was just a way to communicate. Li Mu is not short of this money, and Gao Gonggong likes this thing. But in fact, it's useless for him to ask for money, he is a eunuch, he doesn't have any relatives, and his food and drink are all from the palace, and his money has no place to spend it, but it's just saving.

……

Li Mu came out of the palace, came to the West Market with Dugu Jiu, found a soup cake shop and ate something, and returned to the Ministry of Industry. At this time, the registration was nearing the end, and the 200 places for 100 and 100 places for 200 were all full. The people who signed up didn't leave. Although Li Mu left a message, saying that he might not know when he would come back, but for these people who signed up, a hundred yuan is not a small amount of money, who can not care? Not to mention those who came late due to hesitation and spent double the money.

Seeing that Li Mu was back, everyone gathered around. No one asked, but the meaning was already very obvious: You have received all the money, what should our officials do?

Li Muneng understood the urgency of these people, and did not get angry, but came to the steps, stood on a high place, looked at everyone, and said, "I know the doubts in your hearts. I'm not going to beat around the bush with you, and I'm going to tell you bluntly that there are 300 people who have signed up, but there are only 50 places. In other words, only one of the six people will be able to stay in the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an official, and the others will be eliminated. ”

This is already an obvious thing, no one was surprised, they all stared at Li Mu, waiting for him to say how to eliminate the rules.

"Before I talk about the rules of elimination, I have one more thing to say. Many of you are the sons of the merchants I hosted yesterday. Yesterday, your father or elder also donated a lot of money. I'm going to tell you the cruel truth, all this money was donated in vain. No matter how much you donate, there is no decisive relationship between you and whether you will be admitted or not. ”

As soon as this statement came out, it exploded, and yesterday in order to ensure that their children could be selected, some people even took out 500 yuan! Such a huge investment turned out to be useless, who accepted this.

At that time, someone was clamoring, Li Mu swept over coldly, the smile on his face did not change, and said: "If anyone thinks it is unfair, you can stand up and say, I am a very good talker, as long as you speak, I can return the money to you." ”

As he spoke, Li Mu looked at a few people who were the most happy. Suddenly, all of them closed their mouths.

Although Li Mu was laughing, the meaning of his words was full of threats. Li Mu's style of acting, no one knows, pouring dung, cutting off heads, chopping up and feeding dogs...... Everyone is a low-status businessman, who can withstand it!

Li Mu lowered his face, snorted, and said, "How many coppers are there?" Do you really think of yourself as a character? What can you do with this little money? If it weren't for Ben Hou fighting for you, would you have the opportunity to be an official? People are self-aware, and Benhou gives you hope, not to make you think that you can buy an official with a few broken money! Ben Hou never said that it was sold to your officials! What Ben Hou sells to you is an opportunity to change your fate. This opportunity has now been given to you, and it is up to you whether you can grasp it or not. ”

"As for the money you donated, Ben Hou didn't touch a penny. The money will be used to build an academy that will be used to train you to become qualified personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Otherwise, do you think that you are qualified to serve in the Ministry of Internal Affairs by virtue of your current unfortunate appearance? Still an official? ”

"Phew! Shameless! ”

Li Mu scolded, pulled the words back, and said: "The money donated by the merchants is not in vain, I will carve a stone tablet for you to record your good deeds." At the same time, as long as the donation is enough 100 yuan, I will also give your children or juniors a chance to make up the exam, pass the make-up exam, although you can't be an official, but you can also be an official in the internal affairs office, and have the opportunity to fill the vacancy or be released, do you understand? ”