"You don't have garlic!" Li Shimin glanced at Li Mu and said, "You asked Gao to inquire about it, and you forgot it so quickly?" ”

Li Mu showed a frustrated look, glanced at Gonggong Gao, and muttered: "Just like that, I have to report to Your Majesty, and my mouth is too loose." ”

Grandpa Gao smiled and said: "Master Hou, our family has long said that our family's loyalty is towards Your Majesty." ”

"Don't sing and harmonize here." Li Shimin interrupted the performance of the two and said, "I didn't talk about this to clean them up. In fact, some of them secretly communicated with Goguryeo, which was exactly my arrangement. ”

"Your Majesty's arrangement?" Li Mu was surprised, there are still people in this world who pit themselves?

Li Shimin nodded and said, "To be precise, this is your father's plan with me. ”

Li Mu was a little confused, he pointed at himself and said, "Whose father?" Minister? ”

Li Shimin looked at him unhappily, and Gonggong Gao reminded him in time: "Master Hou, you have promised to become the heir of Prince Yin, and your father is naturally Prince Yin. He has been posthumously crowned by His Majesty as the King of Xi, and you will be the prince of the king in the future. ”

"Ah," Li Mu nodded stunned and said, "Understood, clear." ”

Li Shimin cleared his throat and continued: "This is the second year of Wude, when the Tang Dynasty was first established, and the Quartet had not yet been pacified. The Central Plains is in danger, Goguryeo has been watching the Central Plains for a long time, always thinking about conspiring with the anti-kings of the secession side, so as to occupy a place in the Central Plains. These things are very secretive, and it is very difficult to find out. So the imperial brother proposed, since this matter cannot be avoided, it is better for us to take the initiative to contact it, so that the conspiracy becomes a conspiracy, saving you from guessing and guessing, and you can still communicate with each other. ”

Li Mu was stunned for a moment and said, "But how does this matter work?" Your Majesty can't control who the Goguryeo people cooperate with, what if they don't want to cooperate with the people Your Majesty has prepared? ”

"Oh, why don't you understand!" Li Shimin hurriedly said: "Gao Gan, you tell him!" ”

Li Mu looked at Gonggong Gao, who took over and said, "In this matter, the idea was made by King Xi, and the plan was made by His Majesty, and our family is responsible for contacting, so I know a lot." For example, if the Goguryeo wanted to smuggle furs for profit, they had to find a channel that was willing to help sell them. The Wang family gave Liuguan a skin, and our people gave Liuguan five dollars to let them earn more. And what the Goguryeo people want, let's sell it to them cheaper. In business, if you don't make a mistake, you will never reveal the slightest bit of news, so that the nobles of Goryeo will get benefits, and the network will naturally be built. ”

"I see." Li Mu had a look of sudden realization, and then sent a sycophant to him, and said: "Your Majesty is far-sighted, and the minister is really beyond his reach." This matter is easy to say, and it must be not easy to implement, and it must be absolutely reliable people. ”

"That's nature." Gao Gonggong continued to explain: "The names of the five surnames and seven sects are too loud, the goal is too big, and the degree of control over them by the imperial court is not enough, so they cannot take on the big responsibility. Therefore, it can only be found from a middle-class gate valve family, and the Lanling Xiao family is His Majesty's aunt and cousin, and he can be trusted. There are also Dugu valves, who are also related to the royal family, and they are the two main ones who currently trade with Goguryeo. ”

Li Mu wondered: "I know the Xiao family, when did this Dugu valve get involved with the royal family?" ”

"Emperor Taishang is the nephew of the former Queen Dugu of Sui, if you want to say that you are close, Dugu is better than Xiao."

Dare to love are all relatives of the emperor.

Li Mu sighed, Li Shimin looked at his appearance, and said: "The Xiao family came to report, Goguryeo's envoy, the prince Gaobin, Starry Night went to the Xiao family to conspire, and wanted to get the secret method of building the Wanshi ship, and I have already made them agree." ”

"Your Majesty, are you really going to let Goguryeo know?"

Li Shimin didn't answer the rhetorical question, and said, "Can you really build a 10,000-stone ship?" ”

Li Mu said speechlessly: "The minister thinks that there is no need to doubt this, what the minister said, when will it not be done!" The minister said that ten thousand stones, it must be ten thousand stones, only more, not less. If Your Majesty really agrees, if you can't keep the important weapons of this country, you will learn from Goguryeo. ”

"You don't have a defense?"

"There is a way."

"Isn't that the end of it?" Li Shimin said angrily: "Naturally, I can't give them the real secret method, what I want is to let you mislead them." Can you understand the words "labor and money"? Let Goguryeo spend a lot of money to build a 10,000-stone ship and give them hope, but they have to control that they can't succeed, and over time, it will cause internal strife. As long as Goguryeo is in chaos, it will be an opportunity for the Tang Dynasty to take advantage of. ”

Insidious!

Li Mu secretly admired, he really couldn't underestimate the ancients. What is the difference between Li Shimin's strategic thinking and the 'Cold War' of later generations? During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the two sides set up a 'war situation'; today I threw out a space shuttle, tomorrow I will land on the moon, today I will have medium-range missiles, and tomorrow I will go on an intercontinental cruise. Some laser guns, electromagnetic cannons and the like were still theories until Li Mu crossed, but at that time, they all spent a lot of money to study.

In the end, the Soviet Union could not bear the collapse first, and the dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union came to an end.

Li Shimin's meaning is the same, he actually doesn't care, whether the Wanshi boat can be built or not. In his thinking, he probably didn't think about amphibious warfare, he wanted to mislead Goguryeo into building a Wanshi ship, so that they could spend money and manpower on this matter, and prepare for the future war.

"The minister understands, he must think of a good way to consume Goguryeo." Li Mu swore that Li Shimin knew about Li Mu's yin damage, and was not worried that he would not be able to complete the task, and heard that he had just been confident about the Wanshi ship, so he asked two more questions, and said: "If you can really build a Wanshi ship, I am a little interested, what does your original intention of building this ship mean?" What do you want to do with it? If you really need more than 100,000 guan, in my opinion, it is better to use it to build cavalry. ”

Cavalry, know cavalry! Li Mu's belly slandered, and he couldn't wait to give Li Shimin a big eye. But he couldn't help it, there is a way to grow wisdom after eating a trench, and if you don't grow after suffering a loss, won't you become a fool?

"Your Majesty, the minister's shipbuilding is not only for military purposes, but also for the sake of the society and the people's livelihood."

At the mention of the word 'Sheji', Li Shimin's eyes lit up and said, "Tell me." ”

"Your Majesty has ever thought of going to sea?"

"Hmm-" Li Shimin hesitated, in fact, he really never thought about it, although he was no stranger to going to sea. But that's mainly because of a lot of small countries in the South China Sea, Kunlun slaves, trade, and so on. As for the ambition on the sea, Li Shimin does not have it, in his heart, the sea is a land of projectiles, and there is nothing to be desired. Besides, the Central Plains is the upper kingdom of the Celestial Empire, which has been since ancient times, and the surrounding areas such as Turkic, Goguryeo, and Tubo are all called barbarians.

Li Mu said bewildermently: "Does Your Majesty want gold?" ”

"What does it have to do with gold!"

"Does Your Majesty want silver?"

Li Shimin frowned and said, "What does it have to do with silver!" ”

"Your Majesty, although the Central Plains is vast and rich, the products are vast. However, gold, silver, copper, etc., which can be used as currency, are scarce. As a result, when more than half of the dynasties were hoarded, after the goods were hoarded by a small number of people, there was no money available in the market, which greatly hindered trade. However, according to the minister's investigation, on the contrary to the Central Plains, the islands on the sea have a lot of gold, silver and copper production. ”

"Silver?" Li Shimin was stunned: "Isn't silver silver?" Is it a lot? How many?! ”

Li Mu said in a deep voice: "According to the understanding of all parties, although it cannot reach the level of being able to pick up everything, only the land of the Japanese country is a small land, and the silver reserves contained under it are enough to compare with the Tang Dynasty." What's even more rare is that the silver of the Wa Kingdom is very easy to mine and does not need to be refined, does Your Majesty know what this means? ”

Meaning that tens of thousands of cavalry can be armed!

Li Shimin's eyes bloomed with silver glitter, he finally became interested in the overseas 'projectile land', he couldn't wait to send troops over now, destroy the Japanese country, see where the silver mine is, all dig it out and take it back for consumption.

"Li Mu, this is a big deal, are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Li Mu didn't think about it, so he sold the Japanese mission, and said: "The minister met a little monk of the Japanese mission, the little monk was young and simple-minded, and the minister's words said that there was a place called Iwami in the Japanese country, and there were often people who could dig up silver, just in the mountains. Coupled with some understanding of the minister, it can be basically determined that there is a big silver mine in the Japanese country, which should be no different. ”

"I've got to meet the Japanese Mission." Li Shimin looked at Gonggong Gao, and Gonggong Gao bowed down and said, "The old slave will arrange this." ”

Li Mu said: "Ten thousand stone ships, deep draft, conducive to long-distance navigation, as early as the Three Kingdoms of Eastern Wu, Eastern Wu in Yangzhou, Quanzhou and other places, and the South Seas countries trade. The minister studied ancient books and learned that somewhere in the South Seas, there are some islands, which are summer all year round, and the crops can be ripened three times a year, and melons and fruits are often found in four seasons. ”

"Strange things again." Li Shimin said unbelievably: "How can there be such a place, there are always four seasons, isn't it a fairyland?" ”

Li Mu didn't talk to him, but said: "Whether it's three ripe or not, whether it's common, the minister doesn't know." But what Chen can be sure of is that the rice seeds of Zhenla can indeed achieve two crops a year, and the yield is quite high. If there is a ship of ten thousand stones, the minister can bring back grain from Chenla every year. Sea transportation, do not need too many manpower, the loss on the road will be greatly reduced, as long as it is transported to Datang, it can solve the problem of eating for some of the people of Datang. ”

Li Shimin pondered for a moment, frowned, and said, "Do you have to buy it with money?" ”

Li Muxin said, is it possible that you still want to rob it?

"You don't have to buy, barter, silk, porcelain, there are too many good things in Datang, all of which they don't have. Let's take our cheap things, exchange them for expensive things, take things we don't need, exchange things for things that are necessary for us, no matter how you say it, it's a sure profit. ”

"Hmm-" Li Shimin pursed his lips and thought, he hadn't thought about going to sea at all, he didn't know anything about it, Li Mu said it very well, but the cost of building a 10,000-stone ship is not small after all, if such an effect is achieved, it will be fine, but if it can't be achieved, the loss is not small, it is better to prepare ordnance and expand the cavalry.

Although cavalry is a cliché, it is the safest choice, after all, the territory that has been attacked and conquered is continuous and can be controlled in the hands, and overseas Yang Wei, no matter how you say it, is an enclave, not so secure.

"You do this first, go to sea, wait until you build the Wanshi ship, don't talk about it, don't talk about it, it hasn't been built in the end, it's smiling and generous." Li Shimin waved his hand and asked Li Mu to get out, and Gonggong Gao sent Li Mu out of the hall with a smile, and did not stop when he arrived at the door, but followed Li Mu down the steps together.

Li Mu said strangely: "Just send it here, go back." ”

Gao Gonggong said with a smile: "Master Hou, our family is also going to pass the decree, by the way, didn't Your Majesty say that you want to see the envoy of the Japanese Kingdom." ”

"Oh." Li Muming didn't say anything more. Father-in-law Gao walked side by side with him for a while, and suddenly spoke, "Our family has been pondering and pondering, and there are some things that I still want to talk to Master Hou." ”

"Father-in-law, please speak."

"It's about the King of Breath."

"Oh," Li Mu had to be indifferent, even though he now knew that Li Jiancheng was Li Mu's father nine times out of ten, but he still felt that it had nothing to do with him, as if he was listening to other people's affairs.

Seeing him like this, Gonggong Gao couldn't help but remind: "Master Hou, since you have promised Your Majesty to become the heir of King Xi, then King Xi is your father, and you should respect it." ”

"Understand, didn't you react for a while," Li Mu laughed and cooperated: "I don't know what my father-in-law means when he mentions his father?" So, okay? ”

Grandpa Gao sighed and said, "Master Hou, you really shouldn't joke like this. Your Majesty's decision to let you be the heir of King Xi this time is definitely not a whim, but something that has been thought about for a long time before finally decided. After a pause, Gonggong Gao said again: "Do you know what happened before and after King Xi's name?" ”

"How could I possibly know that."

"In the second year of His Majesty's accession to the throne, the Ministry of Rites played a ceremony to agree on a name for the king. This is something that cannot be avoided, and His Majesty did not stop it, and let the ministers play and express their opinions. In order to cater to His Majesty's thoughts, some people speculated on the holy will, saying that they would give King Xi the nickname '戾', 戾, violent also, if this is the conclusion of the coffin, when future generations read history, they will regard King Xi as a cruel and unscrupulous person, so that the matter of Xuanwumen is reasonable. ”

Li Mu understood as soon as he heard it, this is whitewashing.

"Then why isn't it so?"

Gonggong Gao shook his head and said, "Your Majesty vetoed it, and during the court discussion, he reprimanded this minister. ”

Li Muqi said: "Why is this? ”

"Because in His Majesty's heart, although his brother is a brother, he still regards King Xi as a big brother, and he doesn't want to see his courtiers belittle him so much."