Chapter 951 Penglai Dao Grand Secretariat
The fourth year of Tiansheng.
Xue Rengui, the commander-in-chief of the Qi army, and Luo Junjun, the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong army, who should have returned victoriously, unexpectedly stayed on Penglai Island and presented a very intriguing memorial to the court.
"The three islands of Penglai have many inhabitants. There are no less than 400,000 households on Penglai alone. Our Tang Dynasty Heavenly Army has defeated many of the islanders. However, when the army advances, the inhabitants flee to the mountains and wilderness. When the army retreats, the inhabitants rebel. The army cannot bear the disturbance.
Even on Fangzhang Island, there have been many twists and turns. The reason is that the nobles of Qi State were destroyed and the Han people are rare. When the previous emperor was alive, he said that 600,000 Han households would be relocated to the three islands of Penglai, but this has not been done yet. I and the Duke of Liao have reported this to you.
The difficulty of the three Penglai Islands now lies not in the military strength, as the Heavenly Army will win a great victory if it advances, but in public security and winning the hearts of the people. If the people are not convinced, it will be difficult to conquer Penglai, and eventually they will have to withdraw from Penglai.
Pray to the Emperor and the Empress to send a prince to guard the city, send capable ministers and clerks here, and send Han people to fill Penglai. Every city and town should be filled with Han people. Establish a prefecture and county in Penglai, grant land for cultivation, and this is the plan to ensure peace for ten thousand years."
To pacify the local people after the battle was indeed the duty of the commander-in-chief of the army, but Xue Rengui's letter was very strange. He actually dared to directly propose in his memorial that the prince of the clan be in charge. Everyone knew that the place was originally the territory of Qi. Why should the prince of the clan be in charge? Especially since he also proposed to send capable ministers and clerks to go there.
This was not an opinion that a military commander should have put forward, but a conclusion reached by the prime ministers after deliberation.
What's even more bizarre is that the Emperor and the Empress actually put Xue Rengui's memorial in the Council of State Affairs Hall for discussion. However, during the discussion, the Empress said almost nothing and just listened to the prime ministers talking. Emperor Li Zhi looked at Wu Zetian from time to time. This strange scene really made people suspicious. Did the Empress have any new tricks up her sleeve?
After several meetings with very strange atmospheres, fewer and fewer prime ministers spoke at the meetings. Things had developed to this stage and something was really wrong. Wu Zhao then spoke: "I am thinking about one thing. How critical do you think the situation of the three Penglai Islands is? Is it as described in the memorial?
The six kingdoms must not be lost.
This is the great policy that the Tang Dynasty has been implementing since the time of the previous emperor. No matter what happens, it cannot override the safety of the six kingdoms. I am thinking, if it is really as the Duke of Liao and others said, then should my court immediately relocate 200,000 Han households there, then recruit soldiers from all over the country, and then send 300,000 troops to Penglai to establish military farms?"
Are you crazy?
As soon as Wu Zhao finished her words, almost everyone looked at her in confusion, their eyes full of disbelief.
Three hundred thousand troops and two hundred thousand civilians, who could have come up with such a thing?
Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, it has never sent out so many troops. Even when attacking the Dong Turks and Liaodong Kingdom, there were only a few hundred thousand troops. If 300,000 troops crossed the sea to attack Penglai, if something happened, such as a natural disaster like this time, they would not know how they died.
Two hundred thousand households, that's even more of a joke. Two hundred thousand households means more than one million people. They have no houses, no land, no food for the winter, and no thick clothes. Just migrating them like that is not migration, but seeking death. Moreover, with more than one million people, where can we find so many ships to transport them?
"Your Majesty, absolutely not."
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
At this time, who would have the time to guess Wu Zhao's psychology and stop this matter first? Of course, Wu Zhao would not do that. She was not a fool. Seeing that all the prime ministers were stopping this matter, she gave Luo Junwei a look.
Luo Junwei understood what she meant, and brought the person outside the hall in without anyone noticing. The person was still an envoy from the army. As soon as he entered the hall, he knelt on the ground without waiting for anyone to react, and said loudly: "Penglai military information, 800 miles away, urgent report to Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen of Heaven."
When the prime ministers heard that it was military intelligence from Penglai again, they froze for a moment. Luo Junwei had already stepped forward, took over the military intelligence, and then presented it to Wu Zhao. Wu Zhao took it solemnly, slowly unfolded it and looked at it together with Li Zhi. Li Zhi's face changed again and again, and everyone immediately knew that there was bad news again.
Li Zhi took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Xue and the Duke of Liao have submitted a petition again, requesting the court to send a prestigious and capable prince to the garrison as soon as possible to change the current situation in Penglai from war to public security. They said that there is already a lot of restlessness in the army, and the soldiers are eager to return home."
When the prime ministers heard that there was a problem with military morale, they all took a deep breath. In recent years, the Tang Dynasty had not only implemented the system of military service, but had also begun to implement the system of local military service.
This change naturally started from the Six Capitals System. As mentioned before, the Fubing System was that the Zhechoufu sent people to Chang'an for rotation, because Chang'an was the imperial capital at that time. Now the Tang Dynasty implements the Six Capitals System, which is actually decentralization.
The Central Capital Chang'an and the Divine Capital Luoyang are naturally still the true imperial capitals, but the other four capitals in the east, west, south and north also exist. The Tang Dynasty set up Zhechongfu nearby to take turns in these four capitals.
This is actually a kind of local border army, with the old folks guarding their hometown and a certain number of recruited soldiers. Recruiting soldiers has existed since ancient times, but due to cost issues, it has never been mainstream.
But one wave of Qi's army was destroyed, and the remaining troops had to defend Fangzhang Island, so the troops that went to Penglai this time were all Central Plains soldiers recruited from Luoyang in the Central Plains. Because the imperial capital was in Luoyang, the source of the soldiers had also changed a lot.
When Chang'an was the imperial capital, most of the Zhechoufu were located in Guanzhong and Hedong. These two places were closest to Chang'an, so they bore greater responsibilities.
But Luoyang is different. Chang'an is too west, while Luoyang is the real center of the Central Plains. The Zhechongfu can be evenly distributed, so the soldiers on duty now can be said to be from Guanzhong, Hedong, Hebei, Henan, and Jiangnan.
These people went to Penglai to fight, and they won victory after victory in just half a year. However, they did not expect that they would be gone for two years. Moreover, judging from the situation, they were stuck in the quagmire of security war and could not come back in a short time. They were unwilling to do this.
The soldiers in the government had two fears: one was losing the battle, as a defeat would mean bankruptcy; the other was not going home for a long time, as who knew if anything had happened at home when they were away.
They were all soldiers of the emperor, not the army of Qi, and they could not get land in Qi, so there was no benefit in staying on Penglai Island. In addition, there was no military merit to be gained from fighting a security war, not to mention that the local people of Penglai were so poor that they didn't even have pants, and they didn't know what to rob, so they naturally wanted to return to the Central Plains to ask the emperor for rewards.
The glory of the Tang Dynasty is important, but soldiers also need to eat. Now that they have helped the emperor defeat the rebellious natives, it is time for the emperor to fulfill his promise.
"Where can we find the prince to leave town all of a sudden?"
The army of the Tang Dynasty is a double-edged sword. Who dares to ignore the role of military morale, especially the palace soldiers? Who dares to ignore the voice of the palace soldiers who guard the emperor? Once a mutiny is provoked, he will be using his enemies to protect himself in the future.
Therefore, once it comes to matters involving the government soldiers, one must be extremely cautious.
All the prime ministers had worried faces. It was very difficult to find a prince who was suitable to be sent out to the town. First of all, he had to be capable. After all, being sent out to the town was not just playing house. Once the Tang Dynasty troops withdrew, the prince had to rely on his own abilities to gain a firm foothold in Penglai and also be able to expand outward.
Originally, the Qi Wang lineage had been going relatively smoothly in this matter, but a sudden natural disaster destroyed everything. Now the prince who is going to take over must have stronger skills.
The most important thing is that one cannot choose from the side branches. The six kingdoms that the previous emperor had granted were all his biological sons, and they were the three most capable sons.
Everyone knows that Penglai is a good place. Although natural disasters are frequent, many of the lands are cultivated and it has a large population. Its appearance is basically the same as that of the Central Plains, and its culture is also influenced by the Central Plains. It is the most comfortable place among the six kingdoms.
This place cannot be given to a side branch.
Now……
Do we have to ask the emperor's prince to leave the town?
When this thought arose, almost everyone was shocked. The current emperor was not like Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, who had so many sons. Gaozu and Taizong each had more than twenty sons, but the current emperor had only eight. The sons of the former crown prince Li Zhong and Concubine Xiao Shufei had already been sent out. One was the King of Chu and the other was the King of Song. Of course, they were just empty titles and had no real strength. They were really going to open up new land.
One son has passed away, and the remaining one has no ability. The remaining fourth son Li Dan is still young. There are only Crown Prince Li Xian and third son Li Zhe. Who should go? Theoretically it should be Li Zhe, but everyone in the court and the public knows Li Zhe, and to say that he is not capable is perhaps overestimating him.
He was not as smart as his sister Princess Taiping, who was much younger than him. He was also easily influenced by rumors, acted childishly and loved pleasure. Among Li Zhi's sons, only Li Hong and Li Xian were relatively smart. Li Zhe was not as good as his younger brother Li Dan. Although Li Dan was not very capable, he had a kind personality and at least would not mess around.
After eliminating all impossible answers, the only answer left is to get Crown Prince Li Xian over there.
"Your Majesty, among all the princes, only the Crown Prince is suitable, but the Crown Prince is the foundation of the country and cannot be moved lightly. Even if Penglai's twenty years of achievements are destroyed in one day, the Crown Prince cannot be allowed to leave Penglai."
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly fell silent and no one dared to speak at this time.
A wise man once said that people always like to compromise. They are reluctant to open a window, but as long as they are told to demolish the house, they will be willing to open the window.
If Wu Zetian directly asked the prince to go out of town, it would naturally not work. The court would be filled with opposing opinions, and even Wu Zetian would not be able to find a reason to let the prince go out of town.
If they used a case of treason to target the crown prince, it would be too serious. The mother-daughter relationship would not reach that point. Luo Junwei advised her, "No matter what, your majesty is the crown prince's mother. If mother and son kill each other, it will always be bad for your reputation thousands of years later. The crown prince is rude now and has failed your family affection. If your majesty can forgive him, the history books will naturally praise your majesty more.
Moreover, the more rumors there are, the more you should use practical actions to let the prince feel that he is your biological son. Has your majesty never thought that one day the prince will come to his senses in front of you and apologize and cry?"
Every word that Luo Junwei said touched Wu Zhao's heart, so she listened to Luo Junwei's advice. Whoever controls the king's heart holds the real power. Now Luo Junwei has some of this feeling. Her influence on Wu Zhao is too great, greater than that of the nine million households in the world combined, and greater than that of the entire Luo family combined.
"Although the Crown Prince is important, he is not as important as the empire. At this moment, whether Penglai can be transformed into the empire has reached a critical moment. The morale of the imperial soldiers has also reached a critical moment. Since only the Crown Prince is suitable, he should be sent out. Your Majesty is still in the prime of his life. After the Crown Prince escapes from Penglai, you can return to Luoyang."
Luo Junwei walked into the hall and expressed her opinions to the ministers, but all the prime ministers in the hall knew that there was not much truth in her words. Simply speaking of age, Li Zhi was indeed not particularly old, but Li Zhi's body might collapse one day.
To put it bluntly, the reason why Li Zhi can still hold on and live so long is because Wu Zetian is handling government affairs and he doesn't have to worry about anything, otherwise he would have died long ago.
As for the fact that the prince could come back after leaving the town, that was even more ridiculous. Everyone knew that once Li Xian left, he could forget about returning to Luoyang and would stay in Penglai for the rest of his life.
Liu Rengui wanted to say something, but Wu Zhao and Li Zhi looked at each other, and Li Zhi sighed slightly, "Let's follow what the Minister of Personnel said. I have decided to let the prince go to Penglai and establish the Penglai Road Grand Office. He will serve as the Minister of the Penglai Road Grand Office and the Chief of the Penglai Road Army, in charge of the various princely states and counties on the three Penglai Islands, and be responsible for all military and state affairs."
When several prime ministers heard Li Zhi speak, despair immediately appeared on their faces. Emperor Li Zhi was the strongest backer of the crown prince. In the Tang Dynasty, if one wanted to refute the Empress Dowager's opinion, the emperor had to speak up to have a chance of success. But as long as the emperor and the Empress Dowager stood together, everything would be irreversible.
Many people turned their eyes to Wu Zhao who was sitting at the top. Could it be that the Queen Mother had already anticipated this matter?
They have to think so.
The conflict between the Queen Mother and the Prince was obvious to all, and now, the Queen Mother had driven the Prince out of Luoyang without bloodshed, and sent him directly to Penglai across the sea, from which he would almost never be able to return for the rest of his life.
It's really scary.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
