"I understand my father's worries."

Li Mu, a cautious person like Li Ji, could talk to him about this kind of topic so openly and honestly, Li Mu was already very moved in his heart, and at the same time, he could also hear the meaning of Li Ji's words, he was using Li Xiaogong's matter to warn Li Mu not to be too showy. Because of Li Shimin's character, part of it is to be competitive. What he wants to do is to be an emperor through the ages and a model for future emperors. Such a person will not allow any courtier to cover his light.

And Li Mu, relying on the ability to come from nowhere, is invincible in doing anything. His every move attracts people's attention, and he is the one who is the most showy in everything he does.

Li Ji was worried that if one day, Li Shimin felt the threat from Li Mu, then his good days would probably come to an end.

“…… But I think so, if Your Majesty wants to be a Ming Jun, you must have the measure of a Ming Jun. What I do is not for personal gain, if His Majesty targets me because of this little thing, His Majesty will target me, and he will not be able to become a Ming Jun. As for the matter of the king of Hejian, my father-in-law, I think so. The king of Hejian treats me well, and I treat him well. If I scruple and alienate him because of his identity, then I, Li Mu, am not a gentleman. ”

"The sage said, the gentleman is frank. When I have relationships with people, I don't want to think about this person's status or status, nor do I want to think about whether this person has money or not. If you are like-minded, you are friends. Maybe my stepfather was right, but I didn't want to be so tired. ”

Mu Li sighed and said, "Father-in-law, you know me. came to Chang'an alone, and now everything is loved by God. Even if one day, I lose it all, I don't feel any pity. I only hope that the people around me are still there, and this is my greatest satisfaction. ”

"Siwen has a saying that is right, a man is born between heaven and earth, and he should make meritorious contributions." He looked at Li Ji and said seriously: "Siwen has the path he wants to take, and I also have the path I want to take." I want to do my best to make Datang better, and live up to what I have experienced in this world. I'll do my best, but it's up to me to see how far I can go. If there is really a day when my father-in-law is worried, I will resign and go into hiding, and go back to Dingxiang to farm. I thought, Your Majesty's heart is also fleshy, and he will not be ruthless, and when I give up everything, can he still not let me go? ”

Li Ji smiled bitterly in his heart, he still felt that Li Mu was too naïve.

It is true that the human heart is made of flesh. But is the emperor's heart really fleshy? The ruthlessness of the emperor is beyond the reach of ordinary people, nor is it something that ordinary people can imagine. If Li Shimin is ruthless, can he kill his brother and kill his brother?

Although Li Ji did not participate in the affairs of Xuanwumen back then, as the general of the garrison at that time, he had heavy troops in his hands, and this incident almost happened under his nose. In terms of force, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji are tied together, and they are not Li Shimin's opponents. In terms of strategy, they gave it for nothing, not counting the strategists of the Qin Palace. It can be said that after Li Shimin dodged the cup of poisonous wine, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji had no chance. And the moment Li Shimin decided to do it, the matter had already come to an end.

He has the ability to penetrate Yang in a hundred steps, if he doesn't want to kill Li Jiancheng, Li Jiancheng will not die. If he didn't want to kill Li Yuanji, Li Yuanji, who was already injured, would not die. He could have emulated the previous dynasty and imprisoned his brother, but he didn't, but chose to come simply to prevent future troubles.

Such a person's heart is made of flesh?

Li Ji doesn't think so.

Although there was a reason for the incident, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji also wanted to put Li Shimin to death, and Li Shimin had murderous intentions, which is understandable. But the good and evil of people are often within a year. Good is greater than evil, repay grievances with virtue, evil is greater than good, repay grievances with straightforwardness. It can't be said that Li Shimin is wrong, but it can also be seen that he is not a person with good thoughts, and his measurement is not as big as he appears.

Li Ji's reminder today has another wish, that is, he knows about Wang Ou.

Li Ji also heard about Wang Ou and Li Shimin. Li Ji didn't know how much Li Shimin loved Wang Ou, but what he knew was that no man wanted to see his woman being touched by others.

Li Muzhi is a nephew and a courtier to Li Shimin, how much measurement does he have to give Li Shimin this green hat to accept?

Li Ji thought with his toes, and he could guess what kind of dragon face Li Shimin would be angry when he learned about the affair one day! At that time, Li Mu's thousands of good things can't withstand this one bad, and under the anger, it is impossible to rob the family and ask for beheading. Even if Li Shimin calms down and regrets it, what's the use? The grass on the grave is two feet high, where is there such a person as Li Mu in the world?

Woe to you, woman!

Li Ji couldn't pick out this matter, so he borrowed Li Xiaogong's matter and wanted to say a few words about Li Mu. Li Mu really understood, but his response made Li Ji's heart cold.

This kid is confused! For the sake of a woman, he gave up everything. How can it be so easy to get out of the whole body, since ancient times, the favored ministers are either extremely human ministers, or they are dead, how can there be a compromise result!

It's too young!

Li Ji sighed, and said the rest of the words. Li Mu diverted the topic at the right time and talked about helping the Turks.

"Father-in-law, when do you plan to return to the state?"

"Your Majesty means to let me go with General Simo, it's up to you." Li Ji said with a smile: "He said that he couldn't find your figure, and he also entrusted me with my favor, and wanted me to talk to you, take time out early, and do his business." ”

"This can't be rushed." Li Mu became serious and said, "Father-in-law, General Qin, I have some questions I want to ask about the Turks. ”

"You say."

Li Mu said solemnly: "Father-in-law, General Qin, you have all fought head-on with the Turks. Do you think that the Turks are strong in terms of combat power? ”

"This ......" Li Ji and Qin Qiong glanced at each other, and Qin Qiong spoke first: "We have defeated the Turks, doesn't this already give the answer?" ”

Li Mu shook his head and said, "General Qin, I was captured by the Turkic cavalry as a villager transporting grain. I have a direct feeling about the fighting power of the Turks. The Turks who captured me at that time were actually just a Turkic herdsman. Among the Turkic tribes, as long as a man is an adult and healthy, horsemanship and archery skills are very good. And our cavalry, it takes many years of training to reach their level. ”

Li Ji took over and said, "Li Mu is right, the Turks, the Hu people, the Uighurs and other tribes, they are the people of the horse. Born to be good at riding and shooting, but this is not an absolute talent, the main reason, in my opinion, is because we have few horses. Turks were born, whether poor or poor, and had horses to ride. In the Central Plains, horses are only available to wealthy families, and ordinary people cannot afford to buy horses. ”

Cheng Yanjin's eldest son, Cheng Chumo, is an example, his equestrian and archery skills are not weaker than those of Turkic youths of the same age. This can show that my Tang boy is not lagging behind in terms of talent, but he just lacks basic conditions. ”

Li Mu nodded and said, "Then what does my father-in-law think is the biggest reliance on us to defeat the Turks?" ”

Li Ji frowned slightly, thought for a while, and said: "If you want to win a war, the right time, place and people are indispensable. In last year's battle, the Turks were hit by heavy snowfall, the weather was cold, and countless cattle and sheep froze to death, which was the weakest time for the Turkic tribes. The geographical advantage lies in the fact that Jieli chose the palace in Dingxiang. Dingxiang was only a few dozen miles away from Mayi, which provided convenience for a swift attack. Speaking of harmony, this is due to Jieli's greed for enjoyment in the past few years, and he is extremely extravagant, not only robbing the border city of the Tang Dynasty, but also oppressing the people of his own clan, resulting in complaints......"

Li Ji analyzed it well, but Li Mu interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "Father-in-law, you are right, but my perspective on this matter is a little different. ”

"Our Datang lacks horses, cavalry is few, and when the two armies fight, the role of cavalry is greater than that of foot soldiers, which is obviously not good for our Datang. But why did Datang win in the end? I think I still won on the foot soldiers. ”

"When I was in the Turkic camp, I was bent on escaping, and I watched for a long time. I found that although the Turkic cavalry was strong on horseback, when they dismounted, their combat power would be greatly reduced. Their foot soldiers are far from being the opponents of the Tang Dynasty foot soldiers. This is also very obvious when fighting wars. Our Modao team, as long as they have resisted the enemy's arrows, will not be afraid of their cavalry at all. The Mo knife formation is lined up, or slashing people, or slashing horses, it is invincible. ”

"The Turks also had an important problem, and that was their lack of iron tools. The terrible thing about the Turkic cavalry is that they are extremely accurate in archery, but the quality of their arrows is not as good as ours. Our arrows, arrows are iron, and barbs can cause greater damage, while the arrows of the Turks are mostly bone spurs and wolf teeth, and they cannot break through armor at a distance. ”

Li Mu looked at Li Siwen and said, "When I first met Siwen, Siwen joined the army as a recorder in the army, and I read the battle damage booklet he wrote and found something worth noting. That is, many of the killings inflicted on us by the Turks came after we had fired a few rounds of salvos, when they picked up our bows and arrows, and when they came back to attack us, our iron arrows pierced our leather armor and caused fatal wounds. ”

"Going back to what I just said about Modao, my father-in-law, General Qin, connecting these two things, I found a common denominator. That is, war, the first to fight is people! Our Datang cavalry is not enough, foot soldiers come to make up, although they do not have an advantage, but they have good tactics and good generals, find a suitable time, we can still win the war. The second is to compare materials. Our soldiers are fighting outside, and the rear is supplied with grain and grass by the strength of the whole country. And when the Turks died of cattle and sheep, they had no place to go, their stomachs could not be filled, where did they still have the heart to fight? ”

"They have less iron, we have more, and we have the advantage. Mo knives are now in the army, and they are also a rare thing, if we have enough iron to build countless Mo knives, everyone has one, will it be easier to fight again? ”

"Your Majesty and some people in the court have been worried about whether they will betray the Tang Dynasty if the Ministry of Internal Affairs helps the Turkic tribes and make them rich. His Majesty gave me a problem, he wanted the Turks to become a barrier to the Tang Dynasty to resist the rising Xue Yantuo, but he also didn't want the Turks to become a climate and threaten the security of the Tang Dynasty. Li Mu sighed and said, "These are two contradictory things, when His Majesty asked me what I had in mind, I only said that I would do my best, and I didn't dare to give a positive answer." But after all this time, I already have the answer in my heart. ”

"First of all, if we want to suppress the Turkic threat to the Tang Dynasty, we need to take away their war resources. Leather, iron, and horses were all very important resources for warfare. I've already made arrangements for the horses. There is a horse dealer in the West Market called Aniro. A few months ago he came to me and promised to sell horses from the Turkic tribes for me. This person has some background, he is the maternal uncle of Jieli's son Dieluozhi. Although Jieli is already a prisoner of the ranks, after all, he has the golden blood of the Turks, and his influence in the Turkic tribe is still very great. Dieluozhi is the only living son of Jieli, and it can be regarded as a golden bloodline, and it is far better to have him come forward than if I sent a Han over there. ”

"I will support Dierochi and Aniro to build a large caravan. Doing some shady business, which requires the cooperation of the father-in-law, turning a blind eye, and when necessary, helping them to hide from General Simo. ”

Li Ji frowned, thought for a while, and said, "I understand what you mean, but have you discussed this matter with Your Majesty?" ”

Li Mu said with a smile: "My father-in-law is too cautious, and this matter is not harmful to my Tang Dynasty." The horses I smuggled over were also for His Majesty's 10,000 cavalry, and His Majesty would not be allowed to do so. ”

Li Ji bowed slightly, and said, "You just have to be measured." ”

Li Mu continued: "Regarding leather, I have already arranged it. I would find a lot of businessmen and ask them to auction pre-orders for leather from Turkic tribes in their own name. But in reality, these orders were paid for by the profits made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs from the business of the Turkic tribes. Most of this leather will be made into leather armor, which will also be given priority to the soldiers of the border towns. ”

Li Ji understood what Li Mu meant, he wanted to use the money he earned from doing business with the Turkic tribes to make equipment for the Tang border army. And there is only so much leather, after he bought the leather from the Turks, the Turks themselves will not have it, and the gap in defense will become wider and wider.

"This third point is about iron." Li Mu bent down to pick up a branch and drew a simple map on the ground, marking several main locations. To the north of the Hetao, in the pre-Sui period, in the area where the Turkic king's tent was located, Li Mu drew a circle.

Li Ji recognized it and said, "Li Mu, what do you mean by painting this place?" This is where the Turkic tent is! ”

"There's iron ore here!"