But Prime Minister Yang Guan is disdainful of this, he does not want to pay attention to other people's opinions, only follow the justice of the heart, as an old minister of the two dynasties, he has experienced the entire process of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline, and knows that there is an infinite killing machine hidden behind the prosperity and splendor, so he has a stronger sense of crisis than others, so when he saw the emperor and the ministers because the Tang Dynasty just appeared a little improvement and relished, he was not worried about the danger of the world, because of this situation, he remembered the changes in the Tang Dynasty, from the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty to the Tianbao Rebellion

"Quiet, you are all the ministers of the humerus of the Tang Dynasty, the court is wanton and noisy, what kind of system is this", when everyone was talking, the emperor's majestic voice sounded in the hall, and the uproar stopped abruptly, and the ministers felt the emperor's anger, and lowered their heads one by one, not daring to look directly at the emperor

The third division watched coldly, wanting to see how the emperor responded to the matter of Prime Minister Yang Pavilion, the latter still had a serious expression, he did not bow his head and remain silent like other courtiers, but raised his head and looked directly into the emperor's eyes

The emperor glanced at the ministers, randomly turned his gaze to the third division, and after a while, he retracted his gaze, and said in a deep voice to His Royal Highness's ministers, "I don't care about other things first, let's talk about etiquette first, my Tang Dynasty is the state of etiquette, the etiquette, the order of heaven and earth, and all things are turned into the same, and the great gift is the same as heaven and earth."

The ministers lowered their heads, their faces solemn, they knew that the emperor was not just here to tell the way of etiquette, but also pointed to some ministers behind the full stomach

Sure enough, after the emperor swept the ministers with cold eyes, he continued to speak, "I want to ask some important members of the imperial court standing here, you are high and powerful, and you are responsible for reviving the Tang Dynasty, but you don't even understand the minimum etiquette" The emperor said sharply and in a deep voice, and when he spoke, he clearly looked at the Taishi and the others

The three masters were stunned at first when they heard this, the three of them looked at each other, and after a moment of silence, they understood what the emperor meant, the three of them lowered their heads, and a little panic flashed in their eyes, but fortunately, the emperor did not get too entangled in the three of them

Instead, he turned his gaze to the ministers again, he sighed and looked at the ministers and slowly said, "My Datang is a state of etiquette, and you are all the ministers of my Datang, so I hope you will treat people with courtesy in the future, especially to respect the old ministers"... The emperor paused slightly at this point, he glanced at Prime Minister Yang Guan, and then looked at the ministers at random and continued, "Prime Minister Yang Pavilion is the head of a hundred officials, a veteran of the two dynasties, and he is also my teacher, in terms of time in the dynasty and experience in governing the country, I think you all have to call him a senior, so I don't want to see anyone disrespectful to the prime minister in the future."

The emperor's voice was tepid, much more gentle than before, but those ministers who liked to disagree with Yang Pavilion on weekdays still felt palpitations when they heard it, especially the third division, and their expressions were also difficult to see after hearing the emperor's words, because they knew that the emperor's words were not directed at someone else, but themselves, after all, the three of them were still trying to embarrass Yang Pavilion just now

Yang Pavilion gave his hand to the emperor, "Thank you Your Majesty for your love, and the ministers are afraid"

The emperor snorted lightly, looked at Yang Pavilion and said kindly, "The prime minister doesn't need to be polite, although I am not an emperor through the ages, but I can also distinguish between loyalty, treachery, good and evil, I will never do anything that makes Zhongliang feel cold."

Yang Pavilion was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and randomly said respectfully to the emperor, "Your Majesty Shengming" The ministers also responded in unison, but for some reason, after the emperor finished saying that, Yang Guan's eyes flashed a trace of imperceptible gloom, and he didn't know if he thought of something that he didn't want to recall

Just as Yang Pavilion was pondering, the emperor's voice sounded in his ears again, "Lord Yang, now Tubo and Xirong are showing goodwill to my Tang Dynasty, the border passes are peaceful, plus this year's wind and rain are smooth, and there is a good harvest of grain, but I also know

The crisis of the Tang Dynasty is far from being resolved, especially those who have divided one side of the Jiedu envoys, which have now become our biggest threat, my idea is to take advantage of the peace at the border now, we will concentrate on dealing with those Jiedu envoys who support the army and respect themselves, plus this year is another bumper harvest year, we can supplement a large amount of food and salaries, levy soldiers, in order to change the status quo of weak guards and empty troops in the Tang Dynasty, and then look for opportunities to break the feudal towns one by one, I don't know if the prime minister and your Aiqing have any good suggestions" The emperor looked at the ministers and asked

"What Your Majesty said is extremely true, my Tang Dynasty has been fighting for many years, the loss of soldiers is serious, and the guards in various parts of the territory are empty, especially the Beijing Division Chang'an is only 30,000 Imperial Forest Army garrisoned, we should take advantage of the harvest of grain to recruit troops and horses to expand the army" A minister seconded, and his words were also the meaning of most of His Highness's officials

Hearing this, the emperor nodded, and randomly looked at Prime Minister Yang Guan, "Lord Yang, what do you mean, is it appropriate for us to do this?"

As soon as the emperor's voice fell, many ministers, including the third division, looked at Yang Guan, waiting for his answer, the prime minister's face was heavy, he thought for a moment and sighed, looked at the emperor and shook his head slowly, "Your Majesty, with all due respect, this move is inappropriate."

What, all the ministers showed incredible expressions when they heard this, they didn't understand why the prime minister wanted to refute these policies and guidelines, you must know that what Datang lacks most now is troops

A trace of astonishment flashed on the emperor's face, he didn't expect Prime Minister Yang Pavilion to veto the plan to expand the army, he looked at the latter with some puzzlement and asked, "Lord Yang, I don't know what is wrong with this move."

Yang Guan pondered for a moment, and did not directly answer the emperor's question, but looked at the emperor and asked rhetorically, "Your Majesty, you quelled the Tianbao Rebellion ten years ago, why did you promulgate the policy of giving priority to raising the people?"

When the emperor heard this, he hesitated, and randomly looked at Yang Guan and said, "I have been fighting in the Tang Dynasty for many years, and the people are complaining, and the places where the army has passed can be said to be starving all over the wilderness, the people are not able to make a living, and the Anshi Rebellion is a ten-year catastrophe

Looking at the ministers under the stage at this moment, their faces were also full of solemnity, the prime minister was silent, and only after a long time did he look at the emperor and continued: "Your Majesty, my Tang Dynasty has been fighting for many years, and the national strength has been seriously depleted, and the local officials do not hesitate to force conscription in order to replenish the soldiers, and in order to complete the tasks assigned by the imperial court, even the elderly and children in their teens are forced to enlist in the army

In addition, these years of heavy taxes, but also let the people live in dire straits, the people have long been complaining, Your Majesty, you think, the people have worked hard for a whole year, don't you hope that after paying the rent and taxes, you can rely on that surplus grain to live a stable life, but so many years of natural disasters and man-made disasters have already made their people miserable, and now it is finally a good harvest year, the people regard this year's harvest as a life-saving straw in the next few years,

If the imperial court orders to replenish military rations and levy the army at this time, this will undoubtedly bring an extremely serious burden to the people, especially in the eyes of the peasants, there is no difference between asking for their grain and taking their lives, and then the people will feel that they could not eat enough when the harvest was not good, but now it is a bumper harvest year, and the imperial court has recklessly levied military rations, and they still have to starve, which is often more likely to arouse the dissatisfaction of the people than natural and man-made disasters, and aggravate the contradictions between the people and the imperial court

Your Majesty, this is very dangerous, the people can carry the boat or overturn the boat, a dynasty, once it loses the hearts of the people, it will really be over, so the old minister does not agree with His Majesty's approach"

Yang Guan said earnestly, the officials were silent after listening to this speech, they also understood the prime minister's good intentions, the people in the palace who are not in high positions of the country's important ministers, they know the truth of the general trend of the people's hearts, as the prime minister said, if a dynasty loses the war, there is still the possibility of rising again, but if a dynasty loses the hearts of the people, it is really not tolerated by heaven, the Tang Dynasty has experienced so many years of catastrophe and turmoil, But neither the Tianbao Rebellion nor the division of feudal towns was enough to make the Tang Dynasty doomed

However, in all dynasties and dynasties, it is absolutely impossible for a country that has lost the support of the people to exist, and it is all going to perish in the torrent of peasant uprisings

The emperor's face was heavy, and after listening to Yang Guan's words, he fell into a long contemplation, the current form is severe, and as an emperor, he is the most difficult, at this moment, His Royal Highness sounded the voice of a minister

"But the current strength can no longer meet the needs of the garrison, the guards in the Tang Dynasty are empty, the troops are seriously insufficient, and even the form of the frontier is not optimistic, the prince came to report some time ago, saying that there has been a shortage of grain and grass in the frontier, and it is also very dangerous to continue like this."

The minister analyzed, the speaker was the imperial lieutenant, the highest military officer in charge of the imperial court, his words were reasonable, aroused the resonance of many ministers, the prime minister's intention was to focus on the people's heart, and the captain's intention was to focus on national defense, the two had their own reasons but opposed each other, the ministers fell into silence, and the hall immediately quieted down

Looking at the emperor again, his face was also full of solemnity at the moment, I don't know how to choose, the people's will and national defense, both of which are the foundation of the country, but they can't be taken into account, how is this good, the emperor's face is full of embarrassment, and after a long time, he looked at the prime minister and asked, "Lord Yang, you say, how should we choose this matter?"

Prime Minister Yang Guan's brows tightened at the moment, he thought for a moment and then looked at the emperor and said slowly, "Your Majesty, we can't give up one and give up one for the other, we should take both into account."

"Oh, how to take care of both" The emperor subconsciously asked, and Taiwei also hurriedly looked at Prime Minister Yang Guan, expecting his answer

Yang Guan paused and continued, "What the old minister said just now does not agree with His Majesty's practice of wantonly levying military rations and expanding the army, but I feel that His Majesty's ideas are a little too hasty, according to the current form of my Datang, the time is not yet ripe to completely eradicate the feudal towns, what Datang needs most now is to recuperate and restore national strength, not to start the next war, but this is not in conflict with our replenishment of military rations and strengthening the garrison, and we have no problem at all in collecting grain and grass normally within the range that the people can bear. In this way, we can solve the problem of insufficient grain and grass reserves in the border areas and insufficient supply."

The emperor nodded, "What the prime minister said is extremely true, steady and moderate, and it is indeed a good way to wait for work at ease."

But...... Prime Minister, our current soldiers are seriously insufficient, the garrison is empty, and even the Jingshi Chang'an is only garrisoned by 30,000 Imperial Forest Army, if we don't expand the army, I am afraid it will be very difficult for us to recuperate" Taiwei frowned, looked at Yang Pavilion and asked

The emperor also set his eyes on Yang Pavilion again, "Lord Yang, what Taiwei said is not unreasonable, how should we solve this problem?"

……