Chapter V: The Interests of War

Although there is a slight gap in the meaning of the poem, the poem is still a poem after all, and it can still describe the cruelty of the war, and the people are miserable.

His Majesty Li Er looked at Li Shen in slight surprise and said, "I really don't see that Wu'er's knowledge is getting better and better. ”

"Let my father and emperor laugh, the son is unwilling to see the scene of the people being separated from their wives and the people living in poverty. At home, parents, wives and children are just looking forward to their return day and night. Li Shen said with a slight embarrassment, after all, he was still a little uncomfortable after stealing other people's achievements.

Then he said, "Father, what do you think about the war?" ”

"What do you mean?"

"What you think about war?"

"It's hard to say, depending on what kind of situation it is."

"What do you think of the war in Goryeo?" Li Shen asked.

His Majesty Li Er glanced at Li Shen twice, and said lightly: "First, for the face of the Tang Dynasty, and secondly, for the sons and daughters of the Han family who buried their bones back then, to give an explanation to their parents, brothers and sisters, and children." ”

"Just for one point, Father, do you know how much manpower and material resources it will cost me Datang? Even if we win the war, what can we gain? ”

His Majesty Li Er stretched out his hand and shook it, "There are some things that cannot be measured by human and material resources. ”

"Father, in fact, the way we have chosen for war since ancient times is wrong in the eyes of our sons."

"What do you mean?"

"What is the war for? It is nothing more than power and wealth, and conquest without interests is useless in the eyes of the sons. ”

"Go on."

"According to the overthrow of the Yang family by our Li family, we are not for the world, but for the country, but for the Li family to be able to rule the world, this is for the power, so our Li family will do it, if there is no benefit, our Li family is still willing to pull up this banner and do this thankless thing?" Li Shen said lightly.

Li Shen also wanted to explain the premise of doing anything from the side, there must be benefits, and things without interests must not be done, and then said: "Take these soldiers who have followed you for many years by your father's side, they forced their father to ...... For what? It's not for power, if your father can't give it to them, does your father feel that they can assist you wholeheartedly? So this is the interest, there are interests they are willing to work for you, if there is no interest, it is better to find a place to plant three acres of thin land to live a stable life, why bother to lick blood on the knife edge to live. ”

"Go on." His Majesty Li Er said with a frown.

"Just like those scholars who want to get an official position, they are the same, in order to be able to be an official, to be an official, to be an official, to have power in their hands, and to be able to loot the people's fat and people's ointment, there is a saying that says, I don't know if my father has heard of it, ten years of Qing prefect's mansion of 100,000 white silver, this is the benefit."

"But my father's expedition to Goryeo this time, the sons and daughters didn't see any real benefits from the Tang Dynasty, and it was just those inconsequential reputations."

Looking at His Majesty Li Er's frowning, Li Shen knew that he really had to be explained by his simple words, and sometimes some truths were like this, all the truths were clear, but he hadn't thought about it before.

"Tell me what you think."

"Since my father has decided to send troops, and the soldiers from all over the country are already on the way to Goryeo, it is impossible to take back the fate, but in the eyes of the sons, there is no benefit to the matter, we can't do it."

"Do you have a plan?" His Majesty Li Er looked at Li Shen and asked.

"I can't talk about the plan, it's just a little bit of a plan, I just don't know if my father can pull down this face." Li Shen looked at His Majesty Li Er with a smile and said.

If there is no benefit at all, this war will be launched in vain, at least the loss of this war must be made up, so that it can also be worthy of the hard-working people of Datang. Just like the modern United States, fighting Afghanistan and these countries for what, or not for oil resources, otherwise why would he invest so much money into it.

"Tell me about it."

"Our Datang is the suzerainty of all Fanbangs, they pay tribute to us every year, that is to seek the protection of Datang, it should be strong in Datang, so they pay tribute, if Datang is not strong, do they pay tribute? It's obviously impossible, if you don't get it right, when you are in civil strife in China, you will run up and bite you, this kind of thing has been a common thing for thousands of years. ”

Seeing that His Majesty Li Er nodded, Li Shen reached out and picked up the teapot on the table, poured a cup, took a sip and said: "Now that I think about it, I feel that what we did in the past was a little ridiculous, and we were treated as fools, so we coaxed a few words casually, showing the majesty of the Lord's country, and giving them a lot of rewards, it was simply what I wanted to give anything, now think about it, how did I feel so stupid at that time?" ”

Li Shen peeked at His Majesty Li Er, his face was a little dark, he secretly smiled for a moment in his heart, and then said: "Originally, they paid tribute to us because we were strong, and they sought our refuge, so why should they reward them?" ”

"Since Baekje asked me Datang to get justice for them this time, should they bear the cost of this expedition, the world can't let them take advantage of all the benefits, but I, Datang, will bear the losses that should not be borne."

"You said I would ask them for the cost of this expedition?" His Majesty Li Er said with a frown.

Li Shen nodded and said, "Of course, it has to be much more, at least including the rewards of the soldiers." ”

"Do you think they'll be able to handle it?"

"It's not a question of whether you can take it or not, do you want the people of Datang to bear the cost of this war? Why? We're not doing anything, so why should we give? It's easy to do without money, pay off the debts with work, anyway, there are various natural disasters in Datang every year, and these things can be done by repairing water conservancy, let's provide a simple meal, so that the people can also get real benefits. If it doesn't work, the women there seem to be pretty good-looking, how can our women in the Tang Dynasty do that kind of lowly profession, they can be allowed to do it, so that the court can also have an extra income. Although this income is a bit unspeakable, it can be completely turned into a charity to help our orphans and widows in Datang and provide them with help in life. ”