Ultimately, it was all due to lack of money. Modern people may not understand why the Tang Dynasty, with its powerful national strength, wanted to marry a princess. Only after entering this era did Li Xiang see it clearly.
The annual tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty adds up to about 12 million strings of cash, which sounds like a lot, but when you divide it up, there may only be a few hundred thousand strings of cash left each year. If you want to send troops to Tuyuhun now, the initial expenses alone will be more than 1.5 million strings of cash. If the entire war is won, it may even cost millions of strings of cash.
"Your Majesty, I believe that this Tuyuhun invasion is different from the past. If we adopt the marriage alliance, it will affect the prestige of our Tang Dynasty..."
After hesitating for a long time, Li Jing finally stood up. Since the end of the Turkic War, Li Jing rarely spoke in the court, mainly because he was afraid that others would say that he was usurping power. Once the war broke out, Li Jing's power might increase, and at that time he might become too powerful to be tolerated by the emperor.
But now, this matter is different from before. If you can arrange a marriage at any other time, but now that the enemy's army is at the door, if you arrange a marriage, you will be ridiculed by the world, and everyone will think that you are forced to do so.
"Li Xiang, what do you think?"
Li Shimin was originally waiting for Li Xiang to come out by himself, but this kid just stood there obediently, with no intention of speaking out, so Li Shimin could only call out his name. This little rascal was getting more and more cunning.
"In reply to your Majesty, my meaning is very clear. When friends come, we offer fine wine. But if those jackals, tigers and leopards come, the Tang Dynasty will annihilate their entire family."
Li Xiang used a phrase familiar to modern people and won the applause of the generals.
"Well said, this is a good man of our Tang Dynasty."
"Your Highness, these words are truly inspiring. Who the hell do you think Tuyuhun is? How dare they lead their troops to threaten us?"
Looking at these howling generals, Li Shimin was speechless. If I had money, I would send you all to the battlefield and let you perform to your best. But a good cook cannot cook without rice. Now there are only two million strings of cash left in the national treasury.
"This is pure grandstanding. Besides shouting slogans, do you have any other abilities? Do you know how much money is left in the treasury? If we resort to force, do you know how much it will cost?"
What Li Tai hated most was Li Xiang stealing the show, so this guy immediately stood up and jumped up and down, shouting, without any of the demeanor of a prince.
"I don't know how much it will cost, but my family has already loaded the truck. The other day the emperor fined my father one million strings of cash. I just made some money and have already loaded the truck. I'm just waiting for the emperor to say something and it will be delivered to the treasury at any time."
Li Xiang said lazily, but his words were extremely lethal. Li Tai, hanging in the air, suddenly felt that he was being reckless again. Didn't he just say it silently? This kid should think about it in his mind before speaking, and then come out to refute him. But Li Xiang's face just now made Li Tai hate him so much that he jumped out directly. He didn't expect to be humiliated by him again.
After hearing what Li Xiang said, everyone started whispering again. The emperor was really cruel to the prince. He fined him two million strings of cash. Could it be that your son and grandson are not your biological children?
Of course, some people think this way. They all think that His Royal Highness Changsun makes a lot of money, and it turns out that the largest part of the money is earned by the emperor. This shows that this business belongs to the emperor. If you are jealous in the future, you have to see if your neck is strong enough. Do you dare to think about the emperor's wallet and don't want to live?
"Your Majesty, we are rich now, right? What are we waiting for? Can we let these clowns ride on our necks and shit? Just based on the small number of Tuyuhun people, they are not even enough to support several of our counties! We must take him down!"
"Old Cheng is right. It's already a different era, and Tuyuhun dares to threaten us? The emperor has appointed me as the commander-in-chief and Old Cheng as the deputy commander. The two of us brothers are setting off now. Can't we defeat him?"
Yuchi Jingde also stood up immediately. As long as they had money, this war would be inevitable. They could no longer stay in the capital. However, they also knew a real situation, that is, there were too many generals and it might not be their turn to go to the war.
"Old Yuchi is right, but no, why the hell should I be a deputy general? How am I worse than you? If you don't agree, go out and play."
Cheng Yaojin almost fell into a trap. Li Xiang did not expect that these generals could still hide themselves in normal times, but if they really encountered the opportunity to fight in the battlefield, no one would give in. No wonder the military power during Li Shimin's period was so strong. With such generals, how could the soldiers under them be bad?
Ahem…
Li Shimin coughed speechlessly, and the people below hurried back to their original positions. If Li Shimin had not said anything, several people would have competed, especially Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde.
"Xuanling..."
Fang Xuanling stood there without saying anything, and Li Shimin began to call out names.
"Even with His Royal Highness Changsun's one million yuan, I still think it's not appropriate to start a war."
Fang Xuanling didn't say much, but he also put the final nail in the coffin of the matter. One million strings of cash sounds like a lot, but you have to see what it's for. If you want to go to war with Tuyuhun, this amount of money is really not enough.
"Did you hear that, kid?"
Li Shimin had the same idea. If he had followed his own temperament, he would have destroyed Tuyuhun long ago. But now he had no money and could not fight a war even if he wanted to.
"I'm calling you."
Li Tai added something in a sarcastic tone, but when he saw Li Shimin's eyes, he shrank back in fear.
"Your Majesty, I believe this one million strings of cash is sufficient. The Tuyuhun army's combat effectiveness is far inferior to ours. The Tang Dynasty has many capable men in the border regions, and we can easily recruit them locally. Once we invade Tuyuhun territory, will we still need to spend money? We might even make money. Did the court lose money when General Li Jing went on the expedition to the Turks?"
When Li Xiang said this, everyone present suddenly realized that war is not a money-losing thing, but a money-making thing!
Fang Xuanling and Zhangsun Wuji also looked at each other. Now that there was more peace, they actually forgot about some wars. When General Li Jing went north to fight against the Turks, he brought back countless cattle, sheep, horses, and treasures from the Turkic royal court. Not only did he not spend a penny, he also made a lot of money. Tuyuhun controlled the trade route between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. How could it be poor?