"Your Majesty, in my opinion, it is better to discuss this matter with the civil and military officials. I have nothing to do. If you want to read the complete version for free, please search it on Baidu."
"It's stuffy in this palace, you two come with me for a walk."
"It's Your Majesty."
"Yes, Father."
"I don't believe that Liu Jieyuan, who can defeat the Turks with just one word, will be helpless. Your plan to extend the grace order made many ministers marvel. You solved the matter for me. I specially invited you to become an official in the Ministry of Household Affairs.
"
"Official?" Young Master Liu's eyes lit up, and he became a little embarrassed again: "Your Majesty, I have an idea that I don't know how to do. I'm afraid that all the civil and military officials will not agree with it."
"Let's talk about it first. If it's really a clever plan, I will naturally do my best to overcome all opinions and appease the officials."
"Your Majesty, Sun Tzu's "Art of War" chapter says that the first step is to attack the enemy, the second step is to attack the enemy, the second step is to attack the city, and the third step is to attack the city. I believe that peace with the Turks is the most important thing now, and to accumulate troops, as long as 10% of the sea ships are needed,
As soon as the tax money comes in, your majesty can immediately form a powerful new army. When the time comes, combined with the six guards and horses, the Turks will definitely be defeated. The Turks and the Kingdom of Jin are all younger brothers. The only plan for now is peace."
"Liu Aiqing, what is your plan?"
"Dig deep holes, accumulate grain widely, and develop Dalong's strength to the greatest extent. As the saying goes, shopping malls are like battlefields. Use commercial warfare to gradually suppress the Turks' strength. As long as the Turks' strength is weakened, one will decline and the other will grow. When the time comes,
, we can capture the Turks effortlessly and avenge our previous humiliation.”
Several thick black lines appeared on Li Zheng's forehead and he looked at Young Master Liu: "Speak humanly."
"Master Liu, you haven't said yet how to deal with the Turks' imminent invasion of the border!" The prince promptly reminded Mr. Liu not to digress.
"Your Majesty, I suggest that we use business to deal with the natural disasters of the Turks first. If commercial warfare is used well, its power can be as powerful as a hundred thousand elite soldiers."
Li Zheng frowned slightly: "Go sit in the pavilion in front and tell me what your business war is all about."
Liu Mingzhi pondered for a while and sorted out his thoughts: "Your Majesty, there are actually many existing ways of war, and sword fighting is only one of them. There are many other forms of war that Dalong does not have now.
But in the end, these wars have only one purpose, which is the interests of Dalong, the people of Dalong, and the territory of Dalong, and the control and threat to foreign countries. The premise of all these things is to ensure the interests of Dalong."
"Master Liu, could you please put it in simpler terms? I'm a bit unclear."
"Your Highness, the fundamental reason for the so-called war is to protect the Great Dragon from being invaded by the Turkic Jin Kingdom. It is precisely because of this that the monarchs of all dynasties launched wars to expand and plunder. In the face of national interests, nothing can
To stop a striving nation from advancing is war."
Li Zheng frowned. Some of the words Young Master Liu said were understandable to him, but others were not: "Tell me the key points."
"Your Majesty, don't be anxious. I will tell you slowly. I just said that there are many forms of war. Most of the existing forms of war in our dragon are based on sending troops to conquer. However, in my opinion, if a country's
When the military reserve is not very sufficient, it is best not to implement this method, which is why I do not recommend a military encounter with the Turks, but choose a commercial war."
"I understand the current situation of the treasury, so I will follow your strategy and tell you how to deal with it."
"Your Majesty is wise, this war not only includes military war, but also diplomatic, economic, cultural and other forms of war. In my opinion, military war is only used as a last resort. It is also what I said, the first is to attack with troops and the second is to attack diplomatic relations.
.”
Liu Mingzhi looked at Li Zheng, who was listening quietly, and thought as he spoke: "If the Turks and the Turks fight like in previous years, attacking and defending will make it difficult for both sides to live in peace, and it will also give the Jin Kingdom an opportunity to take advantage of it."
Longyan has just begun to recuperate, the national treasury is difficult to support, and the rear is unstable. It is true that it is not appropriate to use weapons rashly, otherwise your majesty's efforts over the years will be in vain, so I will talk about commercial war."
"Prince, get a pen and paper and write down what Liu Aiqing said one by one." Li Zheng asked the prince to record the conversation between the two.
"Your Majesty, the so-called commercial war is a war of a commercial nature. Your Majesty also knows that the most important thing when marching and fighting is food and grass. This is why the three armies go first before using food and grass. In order to win the war, they often destroy the enemy's food and grass.
These strategic materials are a type of economic warfare, either buying the enemy's food and grass, or burning their food and grass."
"Yes, once the enemy loses food and grass, his military morale will be shaken. If his military morale is shaken, he will often lose the battle."
"Our Dalong territory is vast, and it is no better than the Turks. They are covered with grasslands and cannot grow crops. They all rely on grazing to make a living. However, many of our Dalong things are indispensable to them. They cannot produce them, but they have to pass them through.
Dalong’s caravan buys from me, Dalong.”
"Tea, silk, and fine wine, the surrounding countries can only buy them from my Dalong. Your Majesty can mobilize private caravans, or government merchants can go deep into the hinterlands of these surrounding countries to conduct caravan trade. If there is no tea and refined salt, we will sell it to them.
, We can help them without silk. Except for strategic materials, such as swords, weapons, bows, arrows, crossbows, etc., we can buy whatever they want. As long as they dare to buy, we dare to sell."
"Dalong doesn't buy these things to obtain high profits. His Majesty the private caravans don't have to worry about it, but they have to charge a certain tax, but the government merchants can't. Even if it's an equal value transaction, or you lose some money, you can sell it to them.
"
"In this case, won't the national treasury be even more insatiable than it can make ends meet? What kind of solution is this? It's just nonsense." Li Zheng looked at Young Master Liu with an unhappy expression.
"Your Majesty, let me finish. Our Dalong is rich in products. As long as we work hard, we are basically not lacking in some things. What do the Turkic tribes have? Horses, cattle and sheep. They only have a large number of horses, cattle and sheep. They want to exchange for us.
Silk and tea are fine, but if you don’t have money to pay, you can use cattle and sheep to pay off the debt. Some places in the Turks can also grow some food, but due to geographical restrictions, the output is very low."
"Then we will give them preferential grains that are higher than their production in exchange for their cattle and horses. Under the relative circumstances, the Turkic people will definitely not farm anymore, and will only herd cattle and sheep in exchange for more grains.
, Turkic people are also good at comparison. This is the nature of people to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. As long as it is better than them, they will definitely choose the better one."
Li Zheng nodded lightly: "Yes, to be fair, if I were a Turk, I would definitely choose grazing in exchange for food."
"Your Majesty, this is exactly how you can get more benefits. Everyone will seek more benefits for themselves. This is human nature. When the time comes, the horses, cattle and sheep will be easier to handle. As for the cattle, the strong ones can be kept.
When they come down to work in the fields, the thin and old cows are killed and made into dry and easy-to-store beef jerky and the like. The cowhide is made into fur. The Turkic winter is very cold, so they will need more products such as beef tendon.
The Turks would also like it very much, such as crossbows and other ornaments made from cow bones.”
"Sheep can be like cattle. Why are the Turks so strong? That's because they have eaten meat for a long time. The meat can not only be sold to the grasslands by caravans, but we can also sell it to the people in Dalong. Your Majesty should know that Dalong
It is so difficult for the people of Long to have a meal of meat, so they can achieve more with one stone, so why not do it."
"That's a good idea, let's continue. Has the prince written it all down?"
"Father, I have written everything down." Prince Li Baiyu never stopped writing for a moment.
"As for the horses, it's even better. They can all be sent into the army. The Turkic horses are much stronger than the horses in Dalong. Your Majesty should know that they are all very strong BMWs. Even old horses and the like are more powerful than cavalry.
The infantry will be much stronger. It only takes a few trades to replace the old horses with strong horses. At that time, the dragon's cavalry will be strengthened little by little, and the dragon's army will be invincible and unmatched."
"At that time, grain, silk, and refined salt will be sold to the Turks through caravans. Beef and mutton can also be sold to them again, but after processing, it will definitely be more expensive. Wool can be made into cold winter clothes for the guards.
Soldiers on the frontier wear them, and even those who are close to it can be sold to people in the grassland. Let them live the same life as the dragon in the barren land. Because of the caravans, there will be no more farmers in the grassland, only
Grazing."
"But this is still something that is in the national treasury at a loss. No matter how you think about it, it seems like you are taking advantage of the Turks." Prince Li Baiyu had to stop and interject.
"Loss? No, His Highness said that the wool comes from the sheep. Your Highness, don't forget the taxes on private caravans and the taxes on family caravans. These are enough to make up for the losses caused by official businessmen. You will make a lot of money from the treasury."
It’s uncertain, and the government and businessmen may not necessarily be losing money to the treasury. We have obtained important mobility equipment such as horses. You must know how much silver your Majesty spends on buying horses every year.”
Li Zheng seemed to have come to his senses: "But isn't collecting a large amount of tax revenue a struggle for the benefit of the people? In this way, officials like Xia Yushi will accuse me of being a coward."
"Your Majesty, you are wrong. This time, the imperial court encouraged the caravans to export supplies in large quantities, instead of them secretly selling a little bit of things. If you are not careful, you will be labeled as an enemy. This time it is
They can earn as much money as they are capable, and they can earn as much wealth as their abilities are. Moreover, the rise of private caravans will indirectly affect the interests of those people?"
"Aristocratic families control many caravans."
"Exactly, with the rise of private caravans, the people will be grateful to His Majesty for your wise act, and at the same time it will dampen the arrogance of the aristocratic families. Kill two birds with one stone, why not?"
Li Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly: "The Liu family shouldn't be watching the fire from the other side, right?"
Young Master Liu smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, whoever sells is not a seller, I have to take care of the life of the whole family, right? I have no choice but to go out to sell, and I don't want to go out to sell, but if I don't sell, who will give me money?"