area51novel Chapter 1963 Li Shimin's Secret Weapon
Chapter 1963 Li Shimin's Secret Weapon
“Ayemo wants to explain for big brother, big brother must have come to Ayemo to complain.
I never thought that the crown prince, the heir apparent of a country, would resort to such a clumsy trick. I really despise him."
Li Shen curled his lips with a look of contempt.
You're still the prince? You have to eat at the children's table from now on. You're not worthy of being with me.
Seeing Li Shen's contemptuous look, Li Shimin sighed in his heart. He didn't have any opinion on Li Chengqian's behavior. After all, the target was the rebellious son in front of him.
Even I have to compete with him in wits and courage, and sometimes I have to use my status as a father to suppress him, let alone Li Chengqian who is his elder brother.
If Li Chengqian wanted to suppress Li Shen, he would probably have to wait until he succeeded to the throne and became emperor.
"Alas, you can't say that about your elder brother. He has no other options, right? Now is the time to use people. You should assist him.
Besides, don’t you see what kind of person you are? How can ordinary methods deal with you?
Even the noble families had to plan for a long time to deal with them, but you still managed to fight back. Don’t you think that’s right?”
Li Shimin pretended to be helpless, shook his head and sighed, and checked Li Shen's expression out of the corner of his eye.
"Haha, I'm not that great. Thank you for the compliment. It's just an ordinary operation. Haha."
Sure enough, everyone wants to hear nice things, and Li Shen is no exception.
The person in front of me is the emperor. Even the emperor praises me for my intelligence. What an honor this is!
"So, with your talent and intelligence, you are the best choice to be in charge of the Anxi Protectorate. I will not only suppress them, but it would be best if you can subdue them after you go there.
Aren't you the best at this? Others can't do this, but you can do it, right?" Li Shimin continued to persuade.
"Haha, of course, it's a small matter." Li Shen grinned and nodded proudly.
Seeing this, Li Shimin smiled:
"In that case, you should go and take charge of the Anxi Protectorate."
"No, Ayeh has a chronic illness. He can go to Xizhou, but I'm afraid he can't be competent to stay in Anxi."
Just when Li Shimin thought that Li Shen would nod in agreement, Li Shen declined in the end and failed to achieve his goal.
"Old Ten, you are going to Xizhou as well. Do you think I want you to take charge of Xizhou and you will refuse?"
If it were someone else, Li Shimin wouldn't even need an imperial decree, just a word would be enough.
But this rebellious son in front of him is different from others. He dares to disobey the order and will find all kinds of excuses, such as a stubborn illness or a brain disease.
You don’t know what excuse he will use to come back, and you don’t know whether it’s true or not, but you can’t just let him die there, right?
Others would rush to get this opportunity, but this rebellious son is different from normal people.
Li Shimin thought Li Chengqian's idea made sense. Others went there just to suppress the people, just like Guo Xiaoke, winning over some and killing some.
Although temporary stability can be achieved, there will be endless troubles in the long run.
Li Shen has many clever ideas and is good at bewitching people. Maybe he can conquer these survivors and make them true Tang people.
"Father, there are many talented people in the court. Anyone sent there would be better than me. Why do you insist on letting me take charge of the Anxi Protectorate?
I have no experience in managing a local government, let alone the huge Anxi Protectorate."
Li Shen knew his abilities. He had no experience in local administration. The Anxi Protectorate had a vast territory and although its population was small, it was not something he could manage.
He even had difficulty managing the Prince Ji's Mansion, let alone being the chief official of a local place.
Moreover, he is required to be in charge of Anxi, which means it is not just ordinary management.
In his previous life, he had never even met the mayor, only the village chief.
“The court can send people over, but they are not good at appeasing people. Anxi is very important to the court, especially at this time, and it cannot afford to lose.
And think about it, your Ji Palace has a large number of industries in Anxi, and has invested a lot of manpower and material resources. If there is a civil strife in Anxi, your Ji Palace's industries will be the first to be destroyed.
I’m afraid you’ll suffer heavy losses then.”
Li Shimin used his last trump card. He knew Li Shen very well and knew that he would not interfere in matters that did not concern him. He was only motivated by interests.
Prince Ji's Mansion invested a lot in Xizhou. All the early preparations were transported from Chang'an City, including various workshop building materials and facilities in the workshop.
Not to mention the cost, Li Shen invested a lot of manpower and money just in transportation.
Sure enough, Li Shen's expression turned serious when he heard this, especially when he heard that he had suffered heavy losses and was being sabotaged.
A sharp light flashed in Li Shen's eyes.
Li Shen invested at least one million strings of cash in Xizhou, and built fifteen workshops, all of which were large industrial parks.
All the various cotton production machines inside were transported from Chang'an City. It took several months to go back and forth. Li Shen didn't know how many times it was transported before it was completed.
Li Shen has invested a lot of effort in Xizhou's industry. This is not only related to financial issues, but also to the warmth of all the people in the Tang Dynasty.
For this reason, Li Shen did not monopolize the market, but gave up huge profits to those noble families in order to grow more cotton.
Now, if the Ji Wang Mansion were really destroyed and occupied by those rebels, it would cause huge losses to the Ji Wang Mansion, which Li Shen could not tolerate.
"Father, I think what Father said makes sense. Anxi cannot be in chaos, otherwise it will have a great impact on the court and will also pose a great threat to the soldiers on the border.
As a prince, you should stand up at this critical moment. I am willing to go to Xizhou and take charge of Anxi Protectorate."
Li Shen stood up and spoke to Li Shimin with a serious face.
"Are you really willing? Don't force yourself." Li Shimin asked with joy in his heart.
"I won't force you. Otherwise, I will have to go to Xizhou in a while. The stability of Anxi is related to the safety of our Tang Dynasty's frontline soldiers.
As a prince, I have no choice but to serve as a soldier on the front line, guard the rear, and prevent any villains from causing trouble in Anxi."
Li Shen patted his chest and promised.
"Well, you are worthy of being a son of the Li family. I believe you can do it.
Anxi is in turmoil now and there is a shortage of troops in the territory. In order to ensure your safety, I will order the transfer of troops from five prefectures and 8,000 soldiers to assist you.
And you are appointed as the Grand Commander of the Kunqiu Road Army, acting as the commander-in-chief, guarding the Anxi Protectorate, ensuring the food and grass supply of the front army, temporarily taking over the post of the Governor of Xizhou, and pacifying the people.
I specially grant you a token, allowing you to act at your discretion. At the critical moment, you can mobilize 50,000 troops from the Qinghai Protectorate.
What do you think?" Li Shimin looked at Li Shen with a smile, his eyes seemed to be saying, how about it, that's quite nice.
Li Shen did not expect that his father was so powerful. He held an official position and military power, and he also allowed him to act in his own way and mobilize an army of 50,000.
I was deeply moved and said:
"Father, I think my elder brother is not fit to be the emperor."
(It happened to be Qingming and Guyu, and I sat there with a cup of fragrant tea.
Today is Grain Rain, I wish you all continuous wealth, just like the bamboo shoots that spring up after the rain.
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