Chapter 274 The fifteen provinces of the two capitals of the Tang Dynasty are on my shoulders!

Logically speaking, the Crown Prince, like the Crown Prince, is a monarch and does not hold other official positions concurrently.

But there are exceptions to everything, just like the crown prince of the Song Dynasty often served as the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Li Xiang had thought that Li Shimin would let him go to the north, but he did not expect that he would be given the title of Grand Marshal of the Army and even given two Grand Chancellors.

The so-called Daxingtai was an agency dispatched by the Shangshu Province in major regions, which exercised the powers of the Shangshu Province and was called the Daxingtai of a certain route according to the name of the region under its jurisdiction.

For example, Li Shimin was the Grand Chancellor of the East Shaanxi Province.

At the same time, Daxingtai is also the official name of the head of the agency.

The official title of the head of an organization is the same as the organization, which is a relatively abstract thing in any era.

After the meeting, Li Shimin kept Li Chengqian and his two brothers, as well as Li Xiang.

After all the ministers had left, Li Chengqian and Li Tai looked at each other and walked towards Li Xiang with vicious eyes.

"Aye, second uncle." Li Xiang greeted them both with his teeth bared, looking very cute.

"Oh my, we two don't dare to be your grandfather and uncle." Li Chengqian rubbed his fists and walked forward with a grim smile: "What did you say about the two of us just now? Qingque, do you remember?"

Li Tai also came forward and laughed, "Yes, you said that the two of us were mean people. The Tang Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, we absolutely cannot do that. Tsk tsk tsk tsk, big brother, you have a good son!"

"Ahem, Aye, Second Uncle, I was just talking a lot and ended up saying this." Li Xiang quickly explained, "If you don't believe me, just listen to my excuses...listen to my explanation!"

"Explain?!" Li Chengqian snorted, "What else is there to explain? My son actually said in front of so many ministers in Liangyi Palace that his father, the crown prince, was a villain? He also cursed his second uncle! You have to explain what's going on."

Li Xiang turned around and tried to find Li Shimin for help, but found that Old Li had left at some point.

Aung, you are really unreliable...

But he actually wronged Li Shimin. Li Shimin actually went to the toilet because he had to go to the toilet urgently.

"Uncle." Li Xiang looked at Li Zhi for help: "Talk to my father and uncle, it was really a misunderstanding just now. I swear on the lamp..."

As a result, a gust of wind blew through the hall, and the candle that Li Xiang was pointing at was extinguished with a snap.

Li Xiang swallowed his saliva. He really didn't expect that there would be such a coincidence in the world.

"I said this is a coincidence, do you believe it?" Li Xiang said with a dry laugh.

"Heh." Li Chengqian clenched his fist with one hand and pounded the palm of his other hand: "As the saying goes, a good son is born under the stick. Today, I must join hands with your second uncle to help you relive your childhood..."

"Don't--" Li Xiang suddenly roared, scaring Li Chengqian.

"You never hit me when we were kids. You were thinking about that little boy—"

The little boy girl that Li Xiang was referring to was naturally Chengxin.

Ever since he fell in love with the boy, Li Chengqian devoted all his attention to Chengxin, and even stopped caring about the affairs of the Eastern Palace. Even when Crown Princess Su Yi gave birth to a son, Li Jue, Li Chengqian only said a few words symbolically and then returned to Mingde Hall to be affectionate with Chengxin.

Let alone Li Xiang. Not to mention the cane of father's love in childhood memories, even saying two words was a rare thing.

It would have been fine if Chengxin didn't mention it, but as soon as Li Chengqian was mentioned, she got angry.

Damn it, you are really talking about things that are not related to the topic!

"Qingque, Zhinu!" Li Chengqian snorted, "Go! Catch this kid for me!"

While Li Zhi was still hesitating, Li Tai had already walked up to him with a grim smile.

"What are you going to do?" Li Xiang stepped back: "Aye, stop making trouble. I have important things waiting for me to do..."

"The most important thing for you today is to take this beating from me!" Li Chengqian rolled up his sleeves and walked forward.

Li Xiang wanted to run, but Li Tai was a nimble fat man who stuck closely behind him.

Just as he passed by Li Zhi and was about to run away, he was unexpectedly caught by Li Zhi.

"Uncle Yao! How dare you trick me!" Li Xiang's voice sounded somewhat sad and angry.

He never expected, or rather he had forgotten the fact that Uncle Yao was an old silver coin.

Li Zhi smiled shyly, but did not loosen his grip.

"Ouch—ouch—"

Li Chengqian and Li Tai stepped forward, grabbed Li Xiang's thick buttocks, and beat him violently with the soles of their shoes.

When Li Shimin came back, he found that his three good sons were enforcing the family rules on his eldest grandson.

He asked in astonishment: "What are you three doing?"

"We are helping Xiang'er recall his childhood." Li Chengqian stood up and dusted his sleeves.

"Nonsense! Xiang'er just said that when he was little, you were obsessed with your little boy and didn't care about your son at all." Li Tai immediately tried to undermine Li Chengqian.

Even though they cooperated well just now, Li Tai never shows mercy when it comes to sabotage.

"Don't force me to beat you when I'm happiest." Li Chengqian turned around and gave Li Tai a death stare.

Li Tai turned his head away and didn't look at Li Chengqian.

"So, we should help Xiang'er complete his childhood," Li Zhi added.

At this time, Li Xiang stood up, rubbing his buttocks, and looked at Li Shimin with reproach.

"Aunt is taking so long to come back..."

"I just had some inconvenience and went to the toilet." Li Shimin could only say this. "Okay," Li Shimin, sitting at the head, interrupted what Li Xiang was about to say, "I kept you guys here because I have something important to discuss with you."

"Aye (Aung), just say it." The four said in unison.

"First, you, Xiang'er." Li Shimin looked at Li Xiang. "This time, I chose you to lead the expedition, not because I want you to go to the battlefield in person, but because I value your ability to coordinate the Andong Grand Protectorate and the Dengzhou Grand Military Governor's Office."

"I understand." Li Xiang nodded.

"Li Shiji and Li Daozong are enough to deal with Xueyantuo." Li Shimin said again: "What you need to do is to appease the emotions of Andong Grand Protectorate and let them cooperate with Li Shiji to fight Xueyantuo first; in addition, Dengzhou Grand Military Governor's Office has a heavy burden on its shoulders, but as the saying goes, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. Dengzhou is now a land of fish and rice, so naturally it will also have to bear more responsibilities."

"Grandson understands." Li Xiang nodded and said, "During the construction period, the Tang Dynasty used the whole country's strength to build Dengzhou. Now it is time for Dengzhou to give back."

While speaking, Li Xiang was still complaining in his heart.

Add more burden? Can his burden in Dengzhou be as heavy as mine?
How did that sentence come about? The two capitals and fifteen provinces of the Tang Dynasty are on my shoulders...

"I am confident in your ability to handle affairs." Li Shimin nodded and said, "Also, you should also remind Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui that Silla must not suffer any loss."

"For this expedition, you just need to be in Youzhou to make the direct dispatches. As for the expedition itself, let Li Shiji and Li Daozon go," Li Shimin added.

"Yes, old man." Li Xiang nodded in response.

"Go ahead. Prepare in Chang'an for a few days and then go to Youzhou in two days." Li Shimin said, "I will talk to your father and your second uncle and youngest uncle first."

"Okay, old man." Li Xiang responded and jumped out of the Wude Hall.

"This kid..." Li Chengqian looked at Li Xiang's back and couldn't help laughing: "He's almost going to be a father, but he still doesn't look steady, like a little kid."

"Xiang'er said something very good, which really struck a chord with me." Li Shimin said with a smile: "A man remains young until he dies."

You know what, that's quite true.

"The reason I kept you here is to discuss with you the matter of the Turkic submission." Li Shimin glanced at Li Tai, then at Li Chengqian: "Since both of you support Li Simo's request, do you have any specific rules for the matter of the Turkic submission?"

"My dear father, I do have some superficial opinions." Li Chengqian said immediately.

"Well, you say." Li Shimin said.

"Xiang'er had people settle the Qibi tribe in various places in Guannei Road, all around Chang'an City." Li Chengqian paused for a moment and continued, "As far as I know, the Qibi people have integrated well into the Tang Dynasty. If we can follow suit, disperse these Turks and settle them in various places across the country, it would be a good thing."

"Well, that's a good suggestion." Li Shimin nodded and said, "After years of assimilation, there will be no more Turks in a few generations... But the problem is that there is not so much land to grant them in Guannei Road."

"Not only can they be placed in Guannei Road, but also in Jiangnan Road, Hedong Road or Henan Road." Li Tai said with a smile: "We can even arrange officials at the township and county level to supervise these Turks. Anyway, there is only one goal, which is to disperse the Turks and assimilate them completely into the Tang Dynasty."

In fact, the Tang Dynasty used this method when it dealt with Goguryeo.

Historically, when Li Shimin personally led the expedition against Goguryeo, he completely relocated the Goguryeo people captured in the captured cities to the interior. This was a beginning; and after Li Zhi destroyed Goguryeo, he continued Li Shimin's policy, continuously relocating the Goguryeo people to the interior, and finally completed assimilation.

You are like Gao Xianzhi, a descendant of Goguryeo. He traveled across the Western Regions and Central Asia, destroyed Lesser Bolor, Shi Kingdom, Jieshi Kingdom, and Turgesh, captured the khans of various countries, the Tibetan princess, defeated the nine Hu kingdoms, and made his mark in the western frontier.

After the efforts of the Tang Dynasty, the Goguryeo people no longer identified themselves as Goguryeo people, but were completely assimilated into the Tang Dynasty.

This is the path that the Tang Dynasty must take now. Facts have proved that the previous method of dealing with the Turks is not suitable for continuous use.

After all, a dynasty cannot remain strong forever, and a situation like the Han Dynasty where there were seven consecutive generations of gods is extremely rare in world history. Li Xiang does not expect this to happen.

The principle of the grassland people is that they will submit to the Central Plains dynasty when it is strong, but once the Central Plains dynasty declines, they will bare their fangs and start to devour their master.

Therefore, we can only choose a permanent solution, and the solution proposed by Li Tai seems to be very good, at least that's what Lao Li thinks.

"Actually." Li Zhi suddenly said, "Sister Gao Yang once told me that her factory needs people, and mining is also extremely in need of labor. If the grassland people can't farm, they can actually be sent to the mine to work as miners."

Of course, in today's Tang Dynasty, there is not much difference between miners and farmers.

Even those Goguryeo prisoners of war could earn work points by mining, and when they accumulated enough, they could exchange them for some Kaiyuan Tongbao coins.

What's more, it is impossible for those free men to exploit the fish in a sustainable way.

Li Shu offered ordinary miners a salary of up to fifty cents a day, which was considered a high-paying job in Chang'an.

"This is a good idea." Li Shimin nodded. He had heard about the treatment of the miners.

"Besides miners, there are other jobs suitable for them." Li Tai was inspired and said with a smile: "There must be some skilled ones among them, let them work in factories; if there are those who are willing to work hard, let them work in mines; or if they like water, let them work as sailors at sea. There are all kinds of jobs, and they can try them out."

"Okay, if that's the case, then it's settled." Li Shimin nodded and said, "After we destroy the Xueyantuo, we can put this matter on the agenda together with the Xueyantuo people."

Although Lao Li said that one should not take advantage of others' misfortune, he was actually very concerned about making these Turks submit to the country.

Contrary to the stereotype in textbooks, Li Shimin was not a united person in some sense. Although politicians are pragmatists, the concept of "universal empire" could not conceal the simple racial consciousness of the ancients.

"The barbarians have human faces but beast hearts. If they are not satisfied, they will surely retaliate and cause harm.", "If the barbarians do not obey the king's rule, they can be killed.", "Those barbarians are inferior races. They all have human faces but beast hearts. When they are strong, they invade and when they are weak, they are submissive. They do not obey kindness and righteousness, and can only be conquered by force.", "Since ancient times, wise kings have transformed China with trust and controlled the barbarians with power.", "The Chinese people are the root of the world, while the barbarians are just branches and leaves. It has never happened that disturbing the root to make the branches thicker in order to seek long-term peace.", "The barbarians and the Chinese should not mix, which has been a warning since ancient times. The barbarians are untrustworthy and easily agitated and difficult to settle, so they are exiled to the frontier and not moved to China."

All of the above words were said by Lao Li in the past.

These words cannot unite people. In Lao Li's eyes, no matter what, the Han people are the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. It is impossible to lose sight of the root and pursue the trivial, or abandon the trunk and focus on the branches.

But for the sake of unity, the textbooks choose the passage "I love them all equally".

However, in reality, these words are just polite remarks, just like Zhu Yuanzhang's claim that he is "happy to live in the Yuan Dynasty", just to fool the poor Mongolian brothers.

But then again, Li Shimin absolutely loved those who were absolutely loyal to him and capable.

Li Shimin was afraid that the Turks would corrupt the Han people, so he did not approve Wei Zheng's suggestion. But now it is different. After all, there is the Qibi tribe experiment as a pioneer, and Li Xiang, the crown prince, also supports this approach, so Li Shimin's ideas are slowly changing.

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(End of this chapter)