This holiday is very short, because Han Yi is back, it does not mean that the whole thing is over, the ministers of the DPRK and China are still relatively unfamiliar with the Taiyuan plan, you must know that this Taiyuan plan is a prelude to the first and then the prelude, and it was not mentioned in the DPRK in advance, it was when Han Yi was in Weizhou that he gave Li Zhi a chapter and explained all this to Li Zhi, of course Li Zhi also approved, but it was only for disaster relief.

Therefore, Han Yi rested at home for two days, and Li Zhi hurriedly summoned him and Li Ji to the Liangyi Palace.

"Regarding this Taiyuan plan, you won't just think of it in Weizhou."

As soon as Han Yi sat down, Li Zhi got straight to the point.

Li Ji, who has always liked to doze off, also looked at Han Yi.

Of course they know that this is what Han Yi came up with, and Wu Meiniang didn't deny it, and she can't deny it, because this is Han Yi's routine, but for Wu Meiniang, her duty is also to adopt suggestions, and it is her credit to adopt the right suggestions.

Han Yi said: "Back to Your Majesty, in fact, at the beginning of the outbreak of the disaster, Weichen was trying to think about countermeasures, and at that time he had already thought of using the opening of Taiyuan to save the disaster area, but at that time this idea was not very mature, but the minister was still ready to tell Your Majesty." ”

Li Zhi said with a look of contempt: "Then why didn't you say it at that time?" ”

Han Yi sneered: "Minister... At that time, the minister didn't know how serious the disaster was, and he was not very sure about it, so he didn't dare to say anything about the situation at that time. ”

"I know so."

Li Zhi snorted.

Han Yi said with a guilty face: "The minister is ashamed of His Majesty's trust in the minister. ”

Li Zhi glanced at him obliquely, and after a while, he said, "Okay, I am not an unreasonable person, and I can understand your concerns at that time." This is actually one of the reasons why I agreed to the queen's visit, if the queen did not stand up at that time, you ministers would not dare to speak out. However, you still have to explain this Taiyuan plan to me. ”

"Yes."

Han Yi said: "In fact, the initial inspiration of the Taiyuan plan mainly came from Liangzhou, to work for relief, the use of the development of trade in the surrounding areas, to bring more business opportunities to Taiyuan and Henan, as long as there are business opportunities, then there will be an influx of funds, and after the influx of funds, it must be construction, construction requires labor, and the people can get a livelihood from it." But not only that, the success of Liangzhou linked the northwest region with the Central Plains and strengthened the imperial court's control over the northwest. However, we have little contact with Tiele in the north and the tribes on the grassland, and the Khitan and Yan in the east, and the Taiyuan plan is actually to increase the contact between the imperial court and these areas, so that the imperial court can better control these areas, otherwise, we know very little about these areas, judging from the information of the household department, the economic situation in the northwest, the household department is already very clear, and can know the specific situation in all aspects of the northwest from the economic situation. ”

Li Zhi nodded and said, "You have already explained this point in the chapter, and I agree very much, but this requires a lot of money, will this make the finances feel tight?" ”

Han Yi said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the minister has already thought that the currency that will be issued next year can be invested in the Taiyuan plan." ”

Li Zhi frowned, and said: "This year's currency has been fully invested in the construction of the city and the popularization of education, there is not much left in the treasury, if the currency issued next year is all invested in the Taiyuan plan, then the treasury has always been very empty, if there is any accident, what will the country do?" You can't always rely on businessmen to help emergencies, this is not a long-term solution! ”

Li Ji also nodded slightly.

In fact, the Tang Dynasty was not bad, because Li Shimin learned the lessons of the Sui Dynasty and decided to hide the wealth from the people, but if the treasury has been in a state of emptiness, no one will be at peace in their hearts, since the crisis, in fact, the treasury has been very empty, and it has not become solid, but the country has developed very well in the past two years, and the people have completely come out of the crisis, because the treasury has taken out a lot of wealth to engage in construction, and Li Zhi is not a very money-loving person, but he needs a balance.

Han Yi said with a smile: "Your Majesty, even if there is no Taiyuan plan, the minister plans to use the money, instead of storing it in the treasury, the treasury only needs to ensure a certain amount of grain storage, because the gameplay is different now." ”

"How do you play differently?" Li Zhi wondered, "What does this mean?" ”

Han Yi said: "Because we have a national debt. ”

"National debt?" Li Zhi was stunned, he had no idea of issuing treasury bonds again, he felt that there would never be a crisis of forcing the imperial court to issue treasury bonds.

"Yes." Han Yi said: "If a war breaks out suddenly, you can directly issue treasury bonds. ”

Li Jidao: "This is not appropriate, the issuance of treasury bonds, someone must also buy it, if no one buys it, do you know the consequences?" ”

Han Yi said with a smile: "If the imperial court uses all the money for construction, and the country is built very well, someone will definitely buy the national debt." The reason is very simple, when the imperial court invests in large-scale construction and the people live richly, then the richer the people, the more unwilling the war to burn to the Central Plains, and they also understand that the war is only a matter of a moment, and it cannot be fought forever, as long as they help the imperial court to pass this hurdle, the imperial court will soon be able to return the money to them, because the imperial court has taxes and controls the copper mines, but if they lose, then don't talk about anything, the money in their hands is also prepared for the enemy, and even bankrupt.

However, it is precisely because of this that treasury bonds cannot be easily issued, and they must be used at critical moments to ensure the credibility of treasury bonds. But not only war, very serious natural disasters can also be used, as long as the court ensures good operation, so that the people are full of confidence in the court, that is to say, the people's life is getting better and better, then their confidence in the court will be more sufficient, we spend money, but what we get back is confidence, which is actually an investment. Moreover, the minister said before that the past two or three years are the golden period of the development of my Tang Dynasty, and the imperial court should dare to invest and not let this opportunity slip away from us. ”

Li Zhi nodded slightly, and said: "Aiqing is reasonable, in fact, the last crisis also illustrated this, if it were not for the issuance of treasury bonds, then the imperial court might collapse, at that critical moment, the people are still willing to trust the imperial court, and it is also my Datang policy to hide wealth from the people." ”

The emergence of this national debt, so that the feudal society to play more high, this national debt is actually the court to borrow money from the people, in the past when the country needs money, it is constantly taxed, or indiscriminately issued currency, looting the people, no business ideas of the country, can only do this, but in a commercial country, obviously do not need to do this, as long as you do not die, even if you borrow another 10 million, you can definitely afford it, the country has so many taxes every year, and has copper mines in hand, it is impossible to pay back, of course, Many of the ruling class are reluctant to pay back the people.

One of the main differences between the Ming monarch and the faint monarch is the trust between the monarch and the people, which is vividly reflected in the currency, but where it is under the governance of the Ming monarch, the currency must be very honest, for example, the currency of the early Tang Dynasty, the weight of the money must be a penny weight, and there will never be a shortage of catties or two, but under the governance of the faint monarch, the currency must be a shortage of catties and two, which is the case in the middle and late Tang periods, and they are robbing the people by doing so.

Li Ji nodded, and said, "But what if we want to wage war against the outside world?" ”

Han Yi said: "First of all, of course, the imperial court must ensure a certain amount of storage, and grain and copper must be reserved, so as to ensure that only when it is really critical will the treasury bonds be taken out." Second, if we have national bonds when we fight Goguryeo, then we will directly issue special treasury bonds, let merchants buy treasury bonds, prepare military funds, and wait until we take Goguryeo, we can use Goguryeo's land to pay off debts, the reason is the same, but it is simpler.

And it is also possible to calculate the cost and profit of our foreign war. Merchants are not stupid, they will first calculate how much they can value if they get those land and resources, of course, they only look at the benefits, but the court has more concerns, subtracting the two, is the cost of the court to invest. Moreover, when the imperial court fights, it also has to be consumed, and merchants also make money, and those previous dynasties are directly strong, our Tang Empire, not only borrows, but also gives interest, what reason do they have not to support the imperial court to issue treasury bonds. According to our gold bank statistics, treasury bonds are currently the hottest commodity in the market, which means that the trading volume is the highest. ”

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment and said, "Is this true?" ”

Han Yi nodded and said: "It's true, because of the Yuanzhou incident, many people who have treasury bonds sell treasury bonds to the outside world because they want to use the money immediately, but those businessmen who are more conservative, or those who have a lot of spare money, they start to buy treasury bonds, because the interest on treasury bonds is very attractive to them." ”

When Li Ji heard this, he nodded convincingly, and today he understood that the national debt could be played like this.

Li Zhi was also very happy, the national debt made people believe in it so much, it can be seen that the people trust the court very much, trust him, and laughed when he heard it: "I have Han Yi, it is really like Qi Huan Gong has to manage Zhong!" ”

Han Yi wondered, "Your Majesty, why do you also compare Guan Zhong with your ministers." ”

Recently, he suddenly discovered that many people began to compare him with Guan Zhong.

Li Zhi smiled: "This is the queen's compliment to you." ”

Han Yi smiled and said: "As far as the matter is concerned, the minister has also read some books and materials of Guan Zhong recently, in the minister's opinion, in fact, Guan Zhong is much stronger than the minister, but our Tang Dynasty is much stronger than Qi Guo, and they can't be compared together, this is because Your Majesty, you are much stronger than Qi Huan, so Your Majesty and the ministers are still stronger than Qi Huan and Guan Zhong." ”

When Li Ji and Li Zhi heard this, they looked at each other, and immediately they both laughed.

Han Yi immediately said: "Your Majesty, Sikong, don't laugh, I'm seriously analyzing." ”

"Alright, alright, you're blushing." Li Zhi waved his hand.

Li Ji also shook his head with a smile, and suddenly said: "However, the old minister has some concerns about opening Taiyuan. ”

Li Zhi asked, "What are Sikong's concerns?" ”

Li Ji said suddenly: "At present, the imperial court has very little control over Tiele, Khitan, and Jin, and Taiyuan has always been an important military town in the Central Plains. ”

Han Yi said: "It is precisely because of this that the imperial court must strengthen its control over those areas, and now those areas are still the same as the Western Turks back then, just superficially subjugating to our Tang Dynasty, since Liangzhou has been successful, why doesn't the imperial court continue to try?" ”

Li Zhi nodded slightly, and looked at Li Ji again.

Li Ji pondered for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister doesn't think that Taiyuan can't be opened, but it can't be opened rashly, so as not to give people a chance." Therefore, the old minister believed that if the imperial court wanted to open Taiyuan, first of all, a general should be sent from the previous court to guard Taiyuan. ”

Li Zhidao: "I don't know if there is a suitable candidate? ”

Li Jidao: "Lao Chen thinks that Gao Kan is the most suitable. Because according to Shangshu Ling, after opening Taiyuan, it will become more prosperous, which will involve a lot of money, and if the army is involved, it will disrupt military discipline. And Gao Kan has always been strict in governing the army, experienced in a hundred battles, enough to be in charge of one side, and has always been thrifty, for money, he has always not taken it very seriously, and the old minister thinks that he is the most suitable candidate. ”

Li Zhi nodded slightly, and said: "Gao Kan is indeed very suitable, okay, I will send Gao Kan over to guard Taiyuan." However, in terms of troops, I feel that there are enough men and horses for the time being, and if the imperial court rushes to increase troops, the surrounding areas may panic, and even cause unnecessary misunderstandings. ”

Li Ji immediately said: "Your Majesty Shengming." ”

Of course, he knew that Li Zhi was afraid of the situation of supporting the army and respecting himself.

Although in the first battle of Goguryeo, Li Zhi made several mistakes in a row, but this cannot negate his strategic thinking, and he is very firm in his strategic thinking, that is, the front is light and the rear is heavy, and the heavy troops must be stationed in Guanzhong, directly led by the central government, even if it is a border town, it cannot exceed 50,000 garrisons, in fact, the most garrisoned troops is Tuyuhun, but it is only 40,000, you must know that the opposite Tubo often mobilizes two or three hundred thousand troops.

However, the Tang army was 40,000, but Shanzhou and Liangzhou were garrisoned, and they continued until Chang'an, and once the war started, they could immediately go to support.

There are 10,000 standing troops in most of the capitals, and some of the soldiers have to farm in peacetime, and there are only a few thousand real professional soldiers.

Of course, this is all dependent on the strength of the Tang Dynasty's national strength, and a very clear policy, simply put, it is a stick and red dates, first of all, I treat you well, I don't exploit you, I treat you as one, but then you still want to rebel, that is your fault. Although you may occupy most of the capital to protect the palace, but the consequences are very, very serious, the imperial court will never give up, must fight to the end, this is not a mouthful of shouting, it has always been the case, Ashina Helu rebelled, the imperial court directly sent troops to destroy it, there is no room for negotiation, although the destruction of Goguryeo dragged on for so long, but it was still destroyed, and the commander of the Tang army, the war was very ruthless, the history of the Tang army during this period of combat records, either peaceful, or annihilated, killing must be unavoidable, therefore, The main thing is to use deterrence to reduce the deployment of one's own forces.

The Tang Dynasty has not increased its own troops until now, and has always maintained the original Zhechong Mansion, but the territory has increased a lot.

Li Zhi suddenly said again: "Shang Shuling, I have also heard that in this disaster relief, you also encouraged the people of Henan to go south, to Lingnan, and even to the islands of the South China Sea?" ”

Han Yi nodded and said: "Yes, because the merchant's grain can't help the people in the entire disaster area, and there is still a year before next year's autumn harvest, and the imperial court can't afford it, but there is a lot of grain in Lingnan, but it can't be transported for a while, since the grain can't be delivered, then they can only let them go south to find food to eat, and there is a lot of wasteland over there, especially the Nanhai Islands, once we occupy those, those lands should belong to my people in the Tang Dynasty." ”

"I also think this is a very good move, there are many land resources there, but there is a lack of manpower, and the population of Henan is already oversaturated, and it is difficult to redistribute land to the people, which can also reduce the pressure on the imperial court." Li Zhi nodded again and again, and suddenly asked again: "I heard that the land on the island can really grow three seasons of grain in a year?" ”

Han Yi nodded and said, "This matter is true, because the sunshine and rain over there are very abundant, and it is not a problem to plant three crops a year." ”

Li Zhi nodded, thought for a while, and said, "If that's the case, I think that the imperial court should reconsider the South China Sea Islands. If the wind and rain are good, food will not be a problem, but once there is a natural disaster, food will become very tight, and if there is enough food, the country will be more stable. ”

Li Ji asked, "Your Majesty wants to send troops to the South China Sea?" ”

Li Zhi snorted and said: "After this locust plague, I do have this idea, although the northwest is vast, but the grain output has not been high, if there is a natural disaster there, I am afraid that the Central Plains will have to allocate a large amount of grain to relieve the disaster." If the land on the other side of the South China Sea is really so good, then why don't we occupy it, and have enough food, it will be of great help both externally and internally. ”

Li Ji asked, "I wonder what Your Majesty plans to do?" ”

Li Zhidao: "We understand this, but many ministers and people in the DPRK and China do not understand it, and this is against Confucianism after all. Therefore, it depends on what kind of benefits the battle between the merchants and the Buddha can bring to my Tang Dynasty, but first of all, we must win this battle, so I plan to let Yangzhou and Guangzhou give more help to the merchants, allocate more bows and arrows to them, and then let Dugu Wuyue lead the main force of the sailors of Lelang Prefecture to the south, so as to ensure the victory of this battle. If it can really bring enough food and resources to my Datang, the imperial court will immediately form a more powerful sailor there and incorporate more places into my Datang territory. ”

"Your Majesty."

Li Ji and Han Yi said in unison.

Li Ji said again: "Your Majesty, not only those islands, but also many places on the edge of Jiaozhi, in fact, I can occupy them in the Tang Dynasty." ”

He is a soldier, he solves the problem, there is only one way, that is, war, diplomacy is a politician's business, in his opinion, the mainland area is more worthy of occupation than the island, those places in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty, are no man's land, since it wants to expand, the entire continent will be occupied.

Li Zhi said: "But the malaria over there is too heavy, and our soldiers will not adapt to the soil and water when they go there." ”

Li Ji said: "Since the imperial court intends to strengthen the sailors, then we can fight all the way along the seaside, so that we can avoid the land of malaria." ”

Li Zhi was a little worried: "But how many people do you need?" ”

Li Jidao: "There are some natives over there, if there is a sailor to cooperate, the old minister thinks that two or three thousand elite soldiers are enough, and the old minister thinks that the merchant will definitely be willing to give the court support." ”

As he spoke, he looked at Han Yi.

Han Yi nodded and said, "The merchant is definitely willing to pay this money." ”

Li Zhi nodded with satisfaction and said, "If it's just a few thousand soldiers and horses, I think it's worth trying." ”

Attacking the northwest and Tubo, which endanger the Central Plains, it is reasonable to send more troops, because if you don't fight him, he will come to fight you, but against those places that are not threatening, Li Zhi is unwilling to mobilize troops, thousands of soldiers and horses, it is about the same.

But if it had been a few months ago, Li Zhi might not have agreed.

But this time the locust plague, so Li Zhi is palpitations, this natural disaster for agriculture is devastating, and natural disasters are unstoppable, the only way to resist natural disasters is to have enough food, and Li Zhi can not ignore the northwest region now, now the northwest region is no longer a fetters system, the imperial court has a heavier responsibility for them, if a disaster occurs in the northwest, food will be even more problematic, because the grain output in the northwest has not been high, this has to be prepared.

Li Zhi began to realize that those foreign places were not useless, at least they could produce a large amount of food, and if there was enough food, they would have enough confidence to resist natural disasters, but if they couldn't do it, they moved the people there to eat food, and he felt that it was necessary to take overseas expansion seriously.

Li Ji and Han Yi were originally very supportive, but now that they are also tempted to see Li Zhi, of course they are very happy.

Li Ji said suddenly: "Your Majesty, although there is something that is just a trivial matter, the old minister thinks that it should be reported to Your Majesty." ”

Li Zhi asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Li Jidao: "The hair-cutting movement set off by craftsmen has also caused a lot of controversy in the forbidden army, and some soldiers of the forbidden army believe that soldiers should follow the example of the cadets of the military academy and cut their aspirations. Of course, the old minister also understood that they were just using the topic to play, in fact, they just wanted to cut their hair short, in fact, there was often a problem of lice infection in the army. ”

Li Zhi frowned when he heard this, and said, "Shang Shuling knows about this?" ”

Han Yi said: "The minister has heard about it, but the minister doesn't know what to do about it." ”

Li Jidao: "Shang Shuling has always been resourceful, why is there no countermeasure to this matter? "In fact, there are so many people in the army who are discussing, and he brought it up at this time because he wanted Han Yi to find a way, because this matter has not been resolved.

Han Yi said: "Because there is a sense on both sides of this matter, on the one hand, the bun is a tradition, and everyone maintains their own traditions, which is understandable, but on the other hand, workers cut their hair not to be different, they have no way." ”

In fact, once the rise of industry and commerce, haircutting is an inevitable trend, but it is a matter of time and evening, because the pace of life has become faster, there is no time for you to take care of yourself slowly, and you will be fined for being late, and more importantly, today's workers are working in a collective, and we have to estimate the feelings of others, they sweat so much a day, they are already very tired, and they have to wash their hair when they go home, and they can also dry, this set of processes down, no one can insist, but if you don't wash, who can stand the stink, in life, It will also be disliked.

When it comes to craftsmen, the impression is that it stinks, and the craftsmen feel uncomfortable, now it is a market economy, and they have to deal with people every day, and the status of craftsmen is improving.

Therefore, the craftsmen are very persistent in this movement, they think that no matter what I do anyway, you will dislike us, so I might as well try to be refreshing and clean.

In addition, Chang'an has many other ethnic groups, and the social atmosphere is relatively enlightened and very inclusive. There are also some people of insight who are very considerate of the workers, and of course the scholars can take care of themselves in a good way, but the workers are already very hard at work, and they sweat every day, which is indeed understandable.

"You have a point!" Li Zhi sighed and said: "Regarding this matter, the court and the Chinese are arguing endlessly, and I don't know what to do, so let the queen preside over this matter." ”