In the middle of December, the right servant shot Du Ruyan and became obsessed with work, and suddenly fell ill.

After he fell ill, he wrote to the emperor, stating that at this time the country was at a critical juncture, and he could not let a sick person occupy the position of prime minister, and asked the emperor to remove him from the post of prime minister and choose another meritocrat, the emperor.

At this time, the Northern Expedition was still in a state of stalemate, and there was no hope of victory, and Du Ruhui was too sick to go to court, Li Shimin's mood became more and more bad, and he lost his temper almost every day.

Any minister who has the slightest mistake is entangled by him, he will spray wildly, and all the ministers will treat official affairs with 120,000 spirits, and they dare not slack off, for fear of being grabbed by the emperor and clicked with a knife.

After the time entered December, Li Shimin did not re-enter the harem for more than ten days, and he was in a very bad mood now, for fear that he would enter the harem and lose his temper.

His wife was pregnant not long ago, and the birth of the little princess made his wife feel uncomfortable, and if she lost her temper for no reason, the relationship between husband and wife was afraid that it would really stiffen.

"Xuan Ling, why do you say that this Turkic bone is so difficult to gnaw, and why is this battle so difficult to fight?" On the third day after Du Ruhui fell ill and resigned from his position as a servant, Li Shimin finished the matter at hand and went to Shangshu Province to walk around, and when he saw Fang Xuanling, who was busy with his head down, he walked up to him and sat down, and sighed with a sad face.

As the weather became colder and the war stalemate, the pressure on his heart became heavier and heavier, the northern border was very cold, and the Turks had been living in that environment for a long time, and they had long been accustomed to it.

And the Tang army passed suddenly, naturally it was not easy to adapt, that is to say, as soon as the winter came, the balance of the war in the north would naturally fall to the Turks, the colder the day, the more unfavorable the war would be for the Tang army, as soon as he thought of these, Li Shimin's heart was like frying.

"Your Majesty, it has never been easy for anyone to achieve great things since ancient times, I believe that as long as we persevere, victory will definitely belong to us." Fang Xuanling lifted up from the mountain of official duties and smiled at the emperor.

"You're right, as long as you persist, victory will definitely belong to our Datang, but I'm too impatient." Li Shimin looked at Fang Xuanling's eyes that had become darker and darker because he had stayed up too late in the past month or two, and suddenly felt a sense of guilt in his heart.

"The minister understands His Majesty's mood, it's almost the New Year's Festival, Your Majesty is busy and can't leave, so I won't say much, and when the New Year is over, Your Majesty can go to Yuhua Mountain to go around, soak in the hot springs or something, and relax."

"There is Li Jing in the north, even if there is no good news for the time being, there will be no major trouble."

"No matter what you say, so far in this battle, our Datang has gained a lot, not to mention anything else, those border villages and towns that bordered the Turks before have been recovered."

"According to the side report that came back two days ago, the minister estimates that there should be a lot of Han people who have been taken captive by the Turks in the near future, and some residents of small tribes will be attached to our Datang." Fang Xuanling said.

He actually understands Li Shimin's mood very well, the Northern Expedition can be said to have exhausted the national strength of the entire Tang Dynasty, and at the same time poured all his efforts, it is impossible for anyone who sits in his position not to be nervous.

"Really? I don't know about this yet, but now the population of our Datang is very short, if there are really so many people joining in, it will be a great thing. When Li Shimin heard this, he was immediately overjoyed.

He knew that many villages and towns on the border with the Turks had been recovered, but he did not know about the problem of so many people belonging to the Tang Dynasty, and the front line had not yet reported that it had returned.

"We can't be too happy, although it is a happy event for some people, but our Datang has consumed a lot of money in recent years, and the grain harvest was not bad last year and this year, but this year's big war has caused a lot of food consumption."

"If the population is not too large, it will be fine, if the population is too large, our food will be insufficient, and it will be a big problem to not do well in the resettlement area." Fang Xuanling was not as optimistic as Li Shimin, he glanced at Li Shimin and said.

As the chief of the Tang Dynasty, he naturally can't just report good news and not bad news, although he still doesn't know how many people have returned, but he needs to take into account a series of possible troubles and problems first.

"What you say is not unreasonable, but no matter how difficult it is, there can be no sloppiness in the reception of the population, and tomorrow I will convene the household department to check the surplus grain in the treasury to see how much can be drawn out in addition to the military rations."

"It's really insufficient, and then some will be requisitioned from the big families and big businessmen, and I'll go to Yuhua Mountain after the New Year, just go to the auxiliary machine to have a look, and see how much food is available in our Datang." Li Shimin nodded.

Yuhua Mountain is only about 100 miles away from Beijing, that place is a natural training ground, and the grain and grass camp of the Northern Expedition is set up in a place that is only more than 20 places away from Yuhua Mountain.

"This, this is from the hands of the big families and big merchants, who does Your Majesty want to ask to collect it?" Fang Xuanling was stunned at first when he heard this, and then blurted out a question, as the prime minister, although he was not in charge of the household department, he still knew how much food was still in the treasury.

"What, looking at Xuan Ling like this, you are very clear about the situation of the national grain stockpile, and you know that if there are too many people attached this time, the food will not be available at all, right?" Li Shimin's eyes narrowed when he heard this, and he looked at him.

"Your Majesty, in the battle of the Northern Expedition, countless manpower and material resources have been consumed, and our grain stocks are indeed not much, without external consumption, it is not a big problem to supply another half a year of war, but if the population returned this time exceeds 500,000, our food will be very tight." Fang Xuanling was silent for a while before speaking.

"I know, tomorrow I will let people investigate the situation in the hands of the big families in Guanzhong, and I will requisition food from them in the near future, as for who to send, let Hou Junji go, during the Northern Expedition, he was injured and could not go to the battlefield."

"I've been able to get out of bed and walk around recently, and this requisition of food is not like a war, it doesn't take too much physical strength, with his means, I believe that I will not be unable to collect food." Li Shimin said.

"Your Majesty, let General Hou go, this ......" Fang Xuanling was taken aback when he heard this.

"I know you're worried that his methods are too rigid and easy to cause everyone's rebellion, I'm not ready to let him be the chief officer, let Wen? ┎┪?soles? Sorrow??? ǎ?? ┎┤ Eclipse Ren Rongwu? Injure? Mischia penalty? Knowing caries?? Toad!

"I am not an unreasonable person, I will send people to touch everyone's bottom first, and only requisition the excess food in their hands, and will not touch their own rations."

"These people are rich and prosperous, and if they do not even help this country in times of difficulty...... Then it's no wonder that I'm ruthless and unsympathetic. When Li Shimin said the last sentence, he vividly revealed the means and heart of an iron-blooded emperor.