Chapter 5187 His Majesty's Methods
Chapter 5187 His Majesty's Methods
Li Ji sneered, "So you want to push me out and use my old face and the reputation I have earned for half a lifetime to seek benefits for you?"
Although this is unpleasant to hear, it is obvious that this is what Cheng Yaojin and Liang Jianfang meant.
Moreover, these two people did not represent themselves, but represented the huge collective of Zhenguan meritorious officials. Everyone thought that Li Ji should come forward to negotiate with Fang Jun so as to participate in the navy and gain more benefits...
"Hey, you can't say that."
Cheng Yaojin shook his head and said, "Over the years, you have always been the most important minister of the Zhenguan Period. Everyone follows your lead. It is natural that you should come forward at this time. From now on, we should proceed as usual."
Most of the meritorious officials of the Zhenguan period have aged or died, and Li Xiaogong is even in semi-retirement. The only one who still has strength is Li Ji.
Moreover, although Li Ji usually did not care about state affairs and was like a clay sculpture, his transcendent status was based on the other meritorious officials of the Zhenguan period. Even if he wanted to maintain the status quo, he still needed the support of the meritorious officials of the Zhenguan period.
If you want the continued support of the Zhenguan meritorious officials, how can you do that without doing something?
He saw this clearly, and he believed that Li Ji himself understood it as well.
Therefore, Li Ji's attitude of not wanting to get involved is only directed at Zijin, or perhaps, he wants a clear statement from the meritorious officials of the Zhenguan period.
Sure enough, Li Ji was silent for a while, then said calmly: "This is a serious matter, let me think about it carefully."
Cheng Yaojin breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the matter had been settled, and whispered, "Don't worry, Lord Ying, each family has already made arrangements. From beginning to end, everyone will follow your lead and obey your orders."
Li Ji nodded slowly without saying anything.
*****
"In this case, doesn't it go against the navy's strategy?"
Inside the duty room of the Ministry of War, a group of officials surrounded Fang Jun and sat in front of the window. The coffee table in the middle was filled with tea and cakes.
When Cui Dunli heard Fang Jun say that His Majesty intended to restart the "feudal world" decree and send the princes overseas, he immediately became worried.
Although the Ministry of War is now more powerful and can even intervene in the promotion and transfer of officials above the rank of colonel in the Sixteen Guards Army, that is only in theory. The generals of the Sixteen Guards are all powerful and experienced. How can they allow the Ministry of War to act arbitrarily within the scope of their power?
Therefore, to this day, the only armies that the Ministry of War can fully control are the Anxi Army and the Royal Navy.
The navy's consistent strategy is not to occupy or to occupy less overseas land. When dealing with foreign barbarians, it does not annihilate them, but divides them up, supports one group and attacks another, uses the technique of checks and balances to control those lands and populations and gain more economic benefits.
Now that Your Majesty wants to enfeoff the kings overseas, first there must be territory belonging to the Tang Dynasty, and that requires the navy to conquer armies and destroy countries and expand territory.
The navy's strategy will be completely disrupted.
Fang Jun did not answer Cui Dunli's question, because once Li Chengqian made up his mind, the navy would not be able to disobey the imperial order.
He looked at Liu Shi and said, "Once the war starts, the consumption of arms and weapons will be an astronomical figure. Can the production capacity of the foundry keep up?"
Today, the navy is the most equipped with firearms in the Tang Dynasty's military sequence, and its tactical style is completely based on firearms. Naval guns, field artillery, muskets, thunder bombs, rockets... These weapons are powerful, but they are also an extremely severe test for logistics and supplies.
Liu Shi said: "It may be difficult and the supply will be very tight, but please rest assured, Marshal, all colleagues in the Foundry will work overtime and do their best to meet the needs of the navy!"
Fang Jun nodded and said seriously: "The navy soldiers are not afraid of death, but every soldier's sacrifice must be valuable. One more thunder bomb, one more lead bullet, may save a soldier. I hope the foundry can understand the difficulties of all the navy soldiers fighting on the front line and fighting for the country, and ensure that there is an adequate supply of firearms!"
In his eyes, the life of every Tang soldier was precious, and the lives of a hundred barbarians could not exchange for one Tang soldier.
That would require sufficient firearms to launch a saturation attack on those foreign barbarians and avoid hand-to-hand combat as much as possible.
Although this method is expensive, in addition to protecting the lives of soldiers as much as possible, it can also give the foreign barbarians an unprecedented deterrent effect, causing all resistance to collapse.
"Here!"
Liu Shi responded loudly, which was equivalent to issuing a military order.
Liu Rengui, who had been silent, suddenly said, "Your Majesty, why did you suddenly come up with the idea of ββ'feudalizing the world'? Logically speaking, even if you divide the kings, it is best to do so within the Tang mainland. After all, that will make it easier to control those feudal states. Now that they are placed overseas, the emperor is far away, and the future situation is unpredictable."
Faced with this sudden "imperial edict", he was very depressed.
I have tried my best to get back to the Ministry of War and enter the Central Government, just waiting for Cui Dunli to be promoted and take over the position of Minister of War. Now Cui Dunli has not been promoted yet, and the position of Minister of War is out of reach, and a war is about to start on the sea... Once the war starts, it means unlimited merits, so wouldn't it be a waste for me to come to the Central Government?
It would be better to stay in the navy!
Given his status as the "third man" in the navy, almost all naval battles require his participation. How many merits does that require?
Fang Jun raised his hand to drink tea.
Cui Dunli thought for a moment and guessed, "Perhaps the main purpose of your majesty's move is to restrict the navy?"
Fang Jun put down the teacup, exhaled, and nodded: "From what I see, your Majesty has this intention. But it's not your Majesty's fault. It's really that the navy is too powerful now, and as an emperor, you have to be on guard."
How powerful is the navy today?
Along the long border of the Tang Dynasty, as long as you leave the land and step into the sea, you will be under the jurisdiction of the navy. Everything must be carried out in accordance with the navy's military discipline and orders. If you say something out of turn, even an imperial edict will be useless when it is sent out to sea!
Dozens of shipping routes and thousands of warships controlled all foreign countries and ethnic minorities within tens of thousands of miles of sea borders in the East, South and West Oceans. Countless goods and wealth were exported and returned along these shipping routes. The huge profits from maritime trade had enabled the navy to control half of the annual fiscal revenue of the Tang Dynasty.
How could the emperor not be on guard against such a huge monster?
But Fang Jun's status was too special, and the court had not spent a penny on the navy since its establishment. If the court interfered, it would inevitably cause strong dissatisfaction among Fang Jun and the navy. Even the emperor did not dare to take such a risk.
"Frontiers for the world" is a relatively mild means.
Before this, the peninsula, Japan, and even the countries in Southeast Asia were all within the scope of the navy. Although there were foreign countries and Hu people in various places, the navy had the final say. After the "feudal world", these islands and countries became fiefdoms of the kings. All military and political affairs within the fiefdoms were controlled by the kings, and the navy could not intervene.
These feudal states were equivalent to being forcibly taken away from the navy, which not only fulfilled the reputation of "sharing the world with brothers", but also greatly reduced the area controlled by the navy and weakened the navy's strength...it was a two-birds-with-one-stone move.
Liu Rengui said depressedly, "There were many rumors about your majesty back then, such as your majesty's lack of ability. But now your tactics are so unfathomable, how can you say you are lacking in ability? It's not an exaggeration to say that you are very shrewd and calculating."
Fang Jun declined to comment on this.
Historically, there have been many doubts about Li Chengqian's abilities, with some people believing that he was cowardly, cruel, and incompetent. In fact, it depends on who you compare him with.
Compared with Li Zhi, Li Chengqian does have some shortcomings, but who is Li Zhi?
Just for conquering the largest territory of the Tang Dynasty, he can be called an emperor. How many emperors in ancient times could surpass Li Zhi?
Li Chengqian is worse than Li Zhi, but that doesnβt mean he is really bad.
Cui Dunli said: "If Your Majesty really wants to weaken the navy, then the only trick he has is 'feudalizing the world'."
Liu Rengui also reacted and agreed, "Everyone knows that the empire will launch a large-scale naval battle. How can those military generals and ministers sit still? They will definitely be eager to participate. Your Majesty may even provide assistance to those people... We can't stop this kind of behavior."
To deprive someone of his wealth is like killing his parents, and to hinder someoneβs future is a relentless pursuit.
The navy wants to keep all the merits and benefits in its hands, unless it makes enemies with the world.
Fang Jun said calmly: "Even if we can't stop it, we can't just give in obediently. We still have to fight for the interests we should fight for."
Liu Shi said, "I just don't know how those people will act? Negotiation? Who will talk to the Marshal?"
Fang Jun said, "It doesn't matter who it is. It won't be His Majesty who comes to talk anyway. We will just wait and see."
Everyone nodded.
This will be a huge transfer of officials, not only military generals, but may even involve many civil officials, and not everyone is qualified to talk to the navy.
Liu Rengui thought about it and asked tentatively: "If the navy is mixed with sand, it will inevitably affect the control and combat effectiveness. Do I need to go back to the navy to help Governor Su?"
Fang Jun looked at him and shook his head, saying, "That's not necessary. If you go back to the navy, it means you're taking up an extra position. How can those people agree to that? You're not a small fish or shrimp now. You don't know how many eyes are watching you. It's better to have less trouble than more."
What's more, if Liu Rengui returns to the navy, it will also cause chaos within the navy.
Liu Renyuan, Xi Junmai, Yang Zhou, Li Jinxing... Today's navy is full of talented people, and they all need to accumulate merits to make further progress.
Furthermore, although Liu Rengui has outstanding abilities, he cannot just leave the navy and go back to the navy...
Rules must be followed and cannot be applied differently to different people. Otherwise, how can you convince others?
β¦β¦
Just after coming back from the Ministry of War, Princess Gaoyang took out a name card and handed it to him. She said, "Someone from the Duke of Yingguo's mansion just now handed over a visiting card, saying that the Duke of Yingguo wants you to come to his mansion and discuss something."
Fang Jun took the business card, looked at the gold-plated font on it, and understood.
Those people actually asked Li Ji, a man indifferent to fame and fortune, to take action?
Indeed, in official circles, no matter how pure and indifferent an attitude one puts on, how many people can truly achieve tranquility, inaction, and the absence of desires and demands?
The world of fame and fortune is a big melting pot. Once you are in it, you may have no choice.
