At the beginning, Li Shimin, Li Xiu, and Changsun Wuji set a three-step strategy to completely solve the threat of the northern grassland, but in fact, there were only the first two steps, and as for the last step to completely annex the grassland, there was no exact plan, because the three of them did not know how to annex the grassland at that time, so they could only take one step at a time.

However, with the passage of time, the situation between the Tang Dynasty and the grassland has also undergone tremendous changes, and the first two steps of the strategy have been completed, and the next step is to implement the strategy of completely annexing the grassland, and at this time Li Xiu finally thought of a feasible method, so he wrote his ideas into a fold during this time, named "Pingbei Policy", and today Li Xiu is to dedicate "Pingbei Policy" to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin and the eldest grandson Wuji didn't expect Li Xiu to suddenly offer the strategy of annexing the grassland, which made them all stunned, and then Li Shimin personally stepped forward to take over the fold, and then opened it and looked at it carefully, only to see him frowning for a while, happy for a while, and finally slapping the table excitedly and yelling: "Okay!" ”

Seeing the change in the expression on Li Shimin's face, the eldest grandson Wuji and Li Zhi also looked at each other at this time, and in the end, Li Zhi secretly came to Li Xiu's side and said, "Sir, what did you write on the fold?" It's the first time I've seen my father lose his temper like this. ”

"Hehe, don't be in a hurry, your father will definitely let you see it later!" Li Xiu smiled mysteriously at this time, not that he didn't want to say it, but there were too many contents on the fold, and I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to explain it clearly for a while and a half, so it was better to let Li Zhi see it himself.

Li Zhi is a young man, seeing Li Xiu not to say, it made him feel even more itchy, and finally waited for Li Shimin to finish reading, but handed it to the eldest grandson Wuji next to him, after all, Li Zhi only came to learn government affairs, such as the annexation of the grassland, he can only listen at most, and he can't participate for the time being, but at this time, Li Zhi can't hold back his curiosity, so he came to the side of the eldest grandson Wuji to watch with him.

The eldest grandson Wuji was also very curious about Li Xiu's fold, and when he saw Li Zhi coming over, he also deliberately tilted his body to facilitate him to watch, and when the two of them saw the content on the fold, they couldn't help but show a solemn look.

For the plan to annex the grassland, Li Xiu has a lot of content, but it can be summed up in just four words, that is, the combination of grace and power, of course, these four words are easy to say, but it is difficult to do.

Li Xiu first analyzed the situation between Datang and the grassland, especially mentioning that with the defeat of Xue Yantuo, the grassland will completely become a plate of scattered sand, and there will be no more forces that can threaten Datang, and now what Datang has to do is to annex the grassland step by step.

In the past, although Datang and the grassland had transactions, some commodities were strictly prohibited from flowing into the grassland, such as iron, grain and other strategic materials, which may enhance the strength of the grassland tribes, so from the time of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, these materials were strictly prohibited from flowing into the grassland.

However, now Li Xiu proposed to open up the trade of these materials, especially grain, because Datang has sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other high-yield crops, which makes Datang's grain output rise sharply, and the grain in the warehouse has been too much to eat, and some of the bad ones can only be used to feed livestock, especially in recent years, with the increase of Datang's population, more and more wasteland has been reclaimed, and grain production has been growing.

Of course, even if there is more grain in the Tang Dynasty, it cannot be traded for no reason, but Li Xiu has his own reasons, that is, to use grain as a weapon to annex the grassland, in other words, if the tribes on the grassland want to trade grain with the Tang Dynasty, they must be attached to the Tang Dynasty, this kind of attachment is not the nominal attachment of the past, but the actual annexation, and the Tang Dynasty will send officials to manage these tribes.

In addition to business, Li Xiu also mentioned another grace, that is, to bring sweet potatoes and potatoes to the grassland, and select some tribes to cultivate, although most of the land on the grassland is not suitable for growing grain, but some land can still be cultivated, such as some land next to the lake, even if these lands cannot grow wheat and other grains, but it is still no problem to grow sweet potatoes and potatoes.

The main reason why the grassland tribes are difficult to exterminate is that they live nomadically, usually do not stay in one place for too long, coupled with the vast grassland, it is difficult to find their traces, in this case, if the Central Plains is weak, they will go south, if the Central Plains is strong, they will hide in the depths of the grassland, even if the Tang Dynasty is strong, there is nothing they can do.

Li Xiu also saw the above point, so he decided to bring sweet potatoes and potatoes to the grassland, so that some tribes could settle down, and even change from nomads to farming, and as long as they got off their horses, then they would no longer be a threat to the Central Plains.

In addition to the above, there are some other strategies, mainly to strengthen the economic, agricultural, and demographic ties between the Tang Dynasty and the grassland, which are one aspect of En, and the next is Wei.

The so-called Wei is not to oppress the tribes on the grassland, but to strengthen the rule of the Tang Dynasty over the grassland, so as to actually control the grassland, instead of implementing the strategy of restraint as before, and if you want to completely control the grassland, the first step is to station officials on the grassland, so that those tribes can take over the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, those tribes on the grassland are used to freedom, and they will definitely not easily accept the rule of the Tang Dynasty at the beginning, even if they have the above "grace" side as a lure, it is difficult for them to honestly be the obedient people of the Tang Dynasty, so in addition to stationing officials, the other is to garrison the army, all the tribes that dare to resist or make trouble will be wiped out by the army, and the grassland will also implement strict criminal law, after all, the troubled times use heavy codes, and the grassland has always been a piece of land outside the law without any royal law, and if you want to govern, you must use heavy codes.

Of course, the above is just a general idea of Li Xiu's fold, and there are many detailed rules for the specific implementation, such as first near and then far, slowly going north, in addition to road construction, city building, and the future rule of the grassland people, etc., all of which are explained in detail.

It is worth mentioning that there is also a very terrifying method mentioned on the fold, that is, to use religion to control the population of the grassland, Li Xiu proposed to suppress Buddhism and Taoism, many of them were opposed, and as a result, they were exiled to the grassland by the imperial court, and this policy has not stopped, as long as the local Buddhism is too strong, the number of monks exceeds the preset of the imperial court, the imperial court will send people to exile these monks to the grassland.

These monks are not only proficient in Buddhism, but also many are proficient in medical skills, coupled with the natural disasters and man-made disasters on the grassland, the grassland people are very ignorant, as a result, in just ten years, Buddhism is everywhere on the grassland, many large tribes will be the Tang Dynasty exiled monks as guests, take the initiative to pay for them to build temples, many grassland people also devote themselves to the temple to serve the Buddha, which also makes the grassland Buddhism more prosperous.

The reason why Li Xiu originally suggested suppressing religion, in addition to the threat of religion to the Tang Dynasty, also did have the intention of bringing disaster to the east, and now Buddhism is flourishing on the grassland, which is also in line with his mind, so he suggested on the fold to encourage the grassland people to become monks, and each family is only allowed to leave one male, which is almost a copy of the later Manchu Qing Dynasty's methods to deal with the Mongols, and the effect is remarkable, the Mongols from three million in the early Qing Dynasty, but by the end of the Qing Dynasty, it has been sharply reduced to less than one million.

The method of controlling the grassland population by religion is recorded at the very end of the song, and it is marked as a "hidden strategy", that is, a method that cannot be seen, this method can be done, but it must not be recognized, and in addition to religion, Li Xiu also has other methods, such as forcing the attached grassland people to change their surnames to Chinese, speak Chinese, wear Hanfu, etc., and do not distinguish between them and the Han people in terms of household registration, and also encourage the Han people to migrate to the north to settle, as long as they are willing to move, they will be rewarded with fields, pastures, and so on.

After the eldest grandson Wuji and Li Zhi finished reading Li Xiu's recital, both of them couldn't help but sigh, especially Li Zhi looked at Li Xiu with a strange gaze at this time, and after a while, he seemed to want to ask something, but he was embarrassed to speak.

Li Xiu also noticed Li Zhi's strangeness at this time, and after a little thought, he understood, so he smiled and said, "Prince, do you think these strategies of mine are too cruel?" ”

"This ......" Li Zhi hesitated for a moment when he heard Li Xiu's words, and then finally plucked up the courage to say, "Sir, for the sake of my Tang Dynasty's Jiangshan Sheji, it is also necessary to annex the grassland, but those who control the population of the grassland with Buddhism in the back are indeed a little cruel in the eyes of the students. ”

"Hehe, pheasant slave, you have to remember that as an emperor, your kindness can only be to the people of the Tang Dynasty, those grassland people are not the people of the Tang Dynasty for the time being, there is no need to be merciful to them, only after a few decades, after they truly integrate into the Tang Dynasty, it is not too late to be merciful to them!" didn't wait for Li Xiu to speak, but saw Li Shimin speak first at this time.

"What Your Majesty said is extremely true, our Datang wants to annex the grassland, it is definitely not possible to shed blood, instead of shedding the blood of our Tang people, it is better to shed the blood of those grassland alien races, as the so-called non-my race, their hearts must be different, the fewer those grassland people, the easier it will be to integrate into the Tang Dynasty in the future!" The eldest grandson Wuji also smiled at this time and said, in his opinion, Li Zhi is still too tender, and there is some woman's kindness in his character, which is not a good thing for an emperor.

Hearing the words of his father and uncle, Li Zhi also seemed to understand a little, and nodded yes at the moment, and then apologized to Li Xiu, but Li Xiu waved his hand indifferently, and then took out something from his sleeve and said: "In addition to Pingbeice, the minister also has something to offer!" ”