The night falls, the cool breeze blows, the scorching heat that lasted for a day gradually disappears, and Guanzhong begins to become cooler.
A stove was lit in the reception hall of Prince Wei's Mansion, the hearth was burning red, and the pottery pot on the stove was gurgling and puffing out white steam. Yang Ji stood up, took down the copper pot, and washed the cups, tea, brewed tea, and divided the tea in a flowing motion. A strong air of elegance hit his face when he moved his hands and feet, making him look more elegant than a well-educated Confucian scholar. How does he look like a god of death who is capable of fighting and victorious in every battle?
Li Yuan, who was sitting opposite him, was amazed: "Your Majesty has mastered the essence of tea ceremony, I admire you."
"Tang Gong is overly praised. It's just arty." Yang Ji raised his hand to indicate that the tea was ready for drinking. He had already seen Li Yuan's intention to recommend Li Xiaogong, but since the relationship between the two families was only at the stage of "familiarity over unfamiliarity", Li Yuan was too embarrassed to speak. But for him, it was something he could only hope for.
Of course, Yang Ji did not cherish Li Xiaogong's talents, but he and Yang Guang were working hard to create a situation in which the Dugu and Dou factions betrayed the Yuan faction in order to divide and alienate the three major factions of Guanlong nobles; and Li Yuan was The head of the Li family is also the nephew of the Dugu family and the son-in-law of the Dou family. If Yang Ji hires the nephew who was sent to the door by Li Yuan on his own initiative, it will definitely further deepen the suspicion of the Yuan family.
He picked up the teacup and took a sip, then put it down. Seeing that Li's uncle and nephew were acting in their own way, Li Xiaogong looked at Li Yuan in a funny way and said, "Master Li, I also heard that you are highly skilled in martial arts. He is affectionate and righteous, proficient in all things literary, Taoist and military. He is an outstanding hero with unlimited future."
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty." Li Xiaogong was only a few years younger than Yang Ji. However, Yang Ji was the Prince of the Sui Dynasty, the Minister of Order, and the God of War with great military exploits, while he was just a small brigade commander. The gap in status and achievements made him naturally ignore the age gap. At this time, hearing Yang Ji give him such a high evaluation made him feel honored and excited.
In order to move on to the next topic, Yang Ji casually asked Li Yuan: "Does Mr. Tang know why the saint divided his troops into three groups? Why did he appoint me as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army?"
Although Li Yuan knew about military affairs and core secrets, many things had long been open secrets, and the young eunuch he served as was a close official of the emperor. If he said he didn't know, Li Xiaogong around him would think it was fake, and at this moment, he was also a young eunuch. If you have something to ask for, you can't pretend to be deaf and dumb. In order to show his sincerity, he bowed to Yang Ji and said simply: "It is said that Gao Yuan ordered a large number of soldiers to turn into bandits and bandits, constantly harassing our Mozhou County and Liaodong County in the Sui Dynasty, and Mozhou Yu Wenshu, the protector of the capital, and Yan Xun, the prefect of Liaodong, had only a few soldiers and were restrained by the main force of hundreds of thousands of enemy troops, so they were unable to wipe out the so-called bandits."
He glanced at Yang Ji and made a conclusion in a deep voice: "If my prediction is correct, the saint's division of troops and appointment of the king as the commander-in-chief of the East Central Army are all related to the situation in Liaodong."
"That's right!" Yang Ji turned to look at Li Xiaogong and said slowly: "A man is born between heaven and earth and should fight on the battlefield and protect his family and country. Now the barbarians are raging in Liaodong and harming our Sui soldiers and people; you are not only He is a descendant of a famous general and has also learned a lot of civil and martial arts. It would be a pity if he could just sit in the 'Three Guards and Five Houses' doing nothing and wasting his years."
After hearing the sonorous and powerful words, Li Xiaogong felt his heart agitated, and he quickly raised his hands and explained: "Your Majesty, it's not that you are despicable and greedy for life, fearing death, and wasting your time; it's that you are despicable and want to serve the country, but you have no way to do so."
Li Yuan was so excited when he saw his nephew that he spoke without hesitation. He was afraid that Yang Ji might misunderstand him, so he quickly made up for it: "Your Majesty, Xiao Gong originally wanted to go out to join the army and fight on the battlefield, but we elders are worried. He was young and ignorant and missed the state affairs; secondly, he had just entered the imperial army as a brigade commander. If he resigned at this time, he would inevitably get a reputation of being careless and weak-minded, which would be very detrimental to his future career. A few days ago, Xiao Gong heard that Goguryeo He invaded our Sui frontier, and he became more determined to serve the country. Seeing that he had a strong ambition, was a little older, and had already served in the Xun Yifu for a year, we had no choice but to agree."
Li Yuan knew that Yang Ji must have guessed the purpose of their uncle and nephew's visit. It would be unsightly to be secretive, so he said frankly: "To be honest, our uncle and nephew came here just in the hope that he can serve the country under the king. I hope your Majesty will make it happen."
"Young Master Li has this ambition, and I have no reason not to allow it." Yang Ji nodded and said to Li Xiaogong, "If Young Master Li can endure the hardships of marching and dares to fight hard, he can go with him."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Xiaogong originally wanted to join Yang Ji to serve the country, and the head of the family planned to let him serve as a link between the two families, so he followed him. When Yang Ji agreed, he stood up and thanked him with great joy. .
Yang Ji smiled and said: "Master Li, I have a suggestion. I hope you will consider it carefully."
Li Xiaogong cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please show me!"
Seeing that Li Yuan was listening carefully, Yang Ji said, "No one can say for sure whether this trip will be a meritorious service. Therefore, I suggest that Mr. Li take leave from the Xunfu where he is, and then go out with the army as the brigade commander of Xunyifu. No need to resign."
Li Xiaogong was shocked when he heard that military positions in the Sui Dynasty were becoming more and more difficult to obtain. If he lost his military position due to resignation and could not earn military merits in the future, then he would lose both ends. He hurriedly said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kind words." Tell me, I will keep my humble position in mind."
Regarding Yang Ji's words, Li Yuan secretly nodded and agreed. However, it seemed that his sincerity was not enough. He could not continue to the next topic, nor could he rashly ask Yang Ji about the Yuan family. attitude; but fortunately, Li Xiaogong successfully entered the system headed by Yang Ji, and it would not be too late to test it through Li Xiaogong's mouth in the future.
Li Yuan's goal was half achieved, but Yang Ji's goal was all achieved. He brushed aside the matter, picked up the teapot and refilled the tea for the three of them, and when he put the teapot down, his hands paused slightly. Then he quickly put down the teapot, giving the impression that he suddenly thought of some topic. After completing this action, he immediately raised his eyes to look at Li Yuan, and said in a relaxed tone: "Goguryeo is in the imperial palace." During the reign of the Sui Dynasty, he bowed his head to the Sui Dynasty and regarded the Sui Dynasty as the master. Logically speaking, since Gao Yuan was a minister of the Sui Dynasty, he should go to Beijing for pilgrimage every year like Qimin Khan and receive the saint's awards and instructions. But instead of doing so, he He formed an alliance with the saints in Liaodong on a reciprocal basis, and at the same time deployed hundreds of thousands of troops on the border. This shows that his ambition to invade the Sui Dynasty and occupy the territory of the Central Plains has never disappeared."
Li Yuan sighed and followed Yang Ji's topic and said: "Your Majesty is right. The national and military strength of the Sui Dynasty far exceeded that of the past. Even the Eastern and Western Turks fled. Goguryeo was originally a small country. It was severely attacked by the Majesty not long ago. After one defeat, Goguryeo lost more than 100,000 troops. With its weak body today, Goguryeo was not qualified to compete with us in the Sui Dynasty. However, Gao Yuan deployed troops on the border and put on a posture of a decisive battle. So I I very much agree with the king’s statement that his ‘ambition to occupy the territory of the Central Plains has never disappeared’. I, the Sui Dynasty, must be on guard and must not be careless!”
"That's right!" Yang Ji nodded and said: "I have also discussed this matter with the sage. The sage is also deeply worried about Goguryeo. However, with the national power and combat power of the Sui Dynasty, we are not afraid of any foreign race. The only thing that makes people worry is Yes, the veteran generals of our Sui Dynasty are gradually withering away, and most of our veterans will give up on martial arts. If this continues, our generals of the Sui Dynasty will have few generals who can fight."
Li Yuan nodded silently. What Yang Ji said is actually something that is inevitable in every dynasty. During the troubled times, various princes wanted to unify the world and become the unique overlord of the world. Everyone valued generals who were good at conquering and fighting, but the world Once there is peace, the once-all-powerful generals can only stay at home with nothing to do; while the generals' subordinates can only rely on the merits of their elders to take idle positions in the court because they have no battles to fight. Later, they will also find it difficult to be promoted because they have no achievements. . By the third generation, because the world was at peace and the court had no need for generals, the generals' children simply gave up on martial arts and writing.
Even if the generals change because there is no war and it is difficult to be promoted, when others see it, they will naturally not work hard to learn martial arts and tactics. Over time, there will be a situation where there are no generals available.
Just when the military system of the Central Plains dynasty entered the predicament of sluggishness, the surrounding foreign tribes had a living environment in which the jungle prevailed and the strong were respected, which made their generals and soldiers stronger in constant battles, which ultimately resulted in a situation where the enemy was prosperous and we were weak. The situation of foreign invasion.
Yang Ji glanced at Li Yuan, who was deep in thought, and said casually: "The Li family is a family of generals. I would like to ask, how many people from the Li family are serving in the army now?"
Although Li Yuan was very powerful, he was not the Taiyuan left-behind, prime minister, or Wude Emperor in history, and he did not have the chaos of the world to transform him. When he was exaggerated by Yang Ji from beginning to end to this point, he was already He was no longer on guard. He just sorted it out and said with a wry smile: "The Li family is weak and in serious decline. There are only about ten direct descendants of the Li family who have joined the army. There are about thirty people from my late father's old age. If you count them, There are at most a hundred descendants of my grandfather's generals, and this number is only 10% of what it was during my grandfather's time."
Li Yuan was a person in the game and did not realize what secrets he had said. However, Li Xiaogong, who was in charge, was a bystander. He was horrified by Li Yuan's words: The reason why the late emperor and the saint were hostile to the Guanlong nobles was that they The reason why the great clans controlled the military power of the Sui Dynasty was because of the military talents deployed by the great clans in the dark. This was also the basis for the Guanlong nobles to settle down and make a living. However, his uncle actually revealed everything about the Li family's fortune. As the cousin and representative of the saint, Yang Ji has the same interests as the saint. If he is targeted and examined carefully, the Li family will definitely be uprooted.
Thinking of this, he immediately picked up the tea cup on the table, took a sip, and tapped it a few times, sending a signal unique to the direct lineage of the Li family to Li Yuan, hoping that he would come back. However, because of the decline of his family, Li Yuan was in a state of deep sadness and deep self-blame. In addition, he was sitting above Li Xiaogong, so he did not notice the signal from his nephew out of the corner of his eye.
He was silent for a while, and then said slowly: "The situation of large and prosperous families like the Dugu family, the Dou family, and the Yuan family is slightly better. There are about three to five direct descendants and close relatives. There are about ten people, and there should be five to six hundred generals who were born as slaves. However, they also have serious thoughts of abandoning martial arts and studying literature, so these people are basically middle and low-level generals."
After hearing these horrific data, Yang Ji secretly took a breath of air. Looking back at the old Yang family, whose population is not prosperous, it is really insignificant and the situation is not good!
Therefore, Yang Guang's seemingly bizarre idea of eugenics and helping him take concubines were not a joke, but a wise and foresighted move. Although I am a gentleman who is not lewd and hates beauty, for the long-term stability of the Sui Dynasty and for the successors of the Yang family, I can only sacrifice myself in the future.
Regardless of how many concubines are taken in the future, the number of children born will not be comparable to that of Zhou Wen Wang Jichang and Zhongshan Jing Wang Liu Sheng, but no matter how you say it, it will surpass Chen Xuan Emperor Chen Xu, Chen Empress, Li Yuan, and the dead second child. Just fine. Otherwise, he, Yang Ji, would be a sinner of history, a sinner of the nation, and a sinner of his family.
As soon as Li Yuan came to his senses, Yang Ji immediately calmed down and said in a serious tone: "So, our Sui Dynasty should inherit the style of emphasizing both civil and military forces and advocating martial arts. In addition, we should also learn from foreign races and fight from time to time. A few battles, otherwise, sooner or later, there will be no generals available."
"Li Yuan admires your king's foresight." When Li Yuan saw that it was getting dark outside the door, he stood up and left.
Yang Ji nodded without saying anything. After their uncle and nephew left, he walked to the back house, looked at Xiao Ying who met him, and said seriously: "Madam, I want to be the groom tonight, you can arrange whatever you want for me." several."
Xiao Ying was stunned. She suspected that she had heard wrongly, and that Yang Ji was mentally ill. Suddenly he wanted to be the groom, and he arranged a few at random?
"What's wrong?" Yang Ji glanced at her and said, "If you really can't find it, it would be better if you come!"
Xiao Ying's heart was shaken. She glanced at Yang Ji cautiously and asked worriedly: "Lang Jun, are you okay?"
"It's okay, I'm just stimulated! Let's hurry up and make a baby." With that, Yang Ji snatched the son from Xiao Ying's arms, handed it to Qiu Shui next to him, picked up Xiao Ying and walked into the house. run.
"..." When Xiao Ying came back to her senses, she was already in bed.
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"Uncle, you just said the wrong thing." Li Xiaogong couldn't wait to say to Li Yuan as soon as he got on the carriage.
Li Yuan was stunned for a moment, frowned and said, "What did I say wrong?"
"Uncle, you told us everything." Li Xiaogong recounted what happened before.
Li Yuan broke into a cold sweat and said angrily: "Then why didn't you remind me?"
Li Xiaogong was still very young, and because he was anxious and panicked, his tone of voice was inevitably a little harsh. He glanced at Li Yuan, who was sitting opposite, and said as if questioning: "You reminded you, but you turned a blind eye. Now Okay, let me see how you can remedy it?"
Li Yuan couldn't bear the rebuke, and he scolded angrily: "You know nothing about my thoughts and my wisdom."
Li Xiaogong was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise and joy, "Is it possible that uncle has other plans?"
"Of course!" Li Yuan was almost worried, but the expression on his face did not change at all.
Li Xiaogong breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked: "But I don't know what the reason is?"
Li Yuan snorted coldly and said: "This matter is confidential, no comment!"
Li Xiaogong: "..."
Returning to Tang Guogong's Mansion, Li Yuan found Dou with a puff of smoke: "Madam, that boy Xiaogong was not involved in the matter deeply. He doesn't know the sinister nature of people's hearts. Under Yang Ji's bewitchment, he said some things that he shouldn't have said. Can you see if there is anything wrong with him?" How to save it?"
Mrs. Dou quickly asked: "What did you say?"
Li Yuan told the story exactly, and finally said: "Look, look, it's better now. Our family's background has been exposed."
"Aren't there still the Dugu family, the Dou family, and the Yuan family who are taking the lead? If King Wei and Shengren really want to deal with it, it will be those three major families, followed by the Yu, Li and other families. We are just an insignificant small family, and there is still a long way to go. It's not our turn." Mrs. Dou glanced at her husband and then said, "There is an old grudge between King Wei and the Yuan family. Xiaogong unintentionally said all the things we wanted to say that were difficult for us to say, and we will be rewarded heavily."
Li Yuan was stunned for a moment and said: "Well, it's actually me, am I the one who made the fuss?"
"Otherwise?" Mrs. Dou asked back, and then said, "Then, let's light up the fire of private money and make it burn brightly."
"Here!" Li Yuan responded and hurried out again.
