After several important ministers arrived at the back hall, they heard Li Shimin sighing before they even entered the door. Everyone understood what was going on. Everyone wanted their children and grandchildren to be outstanding, but God is fair and it is impossible for your children and grandchildren to have all the advantages.
Li Tai's greatest strength was literature, and he should have developed it. However, Li Shimin had previously given him hope, allowing him to dabble in the crown prince position. So, he abandoned his strengths and instead focused on developing all aspects. But you're simply not cut out for that in some areas. Take, for example, the idea I proposed this morning. Can this be easily changed? This concerns the very foundation of the entire army.
"Please sit down, and bring tea."
Li Shimin forced himself to be spirited and asked these people to find a place to sit down. Although there was a difference between the emperor and his subjects, they had worked together for many years. As long as it was not a particularly important occasion, everyone could sit down and discuss matters.
"That's not what Qingque meant. You two still have to go to the trouble of explaining it for him."
Li Shimin felt a headache when talking about this matter. If the idea that Li Tai mentioned was spoken by an ordinary person, the officers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty might not think much about it. After all, everyone has the right to speak. But if it was spoken by a prince of the court, they would probably think that the emperor was also behind this matter and it might become a reality sooner or later, which might shake the morale of the army.
"Your Majesty, rest assured. The two of us will naturally explain the situation to the people below. As long as we don't target the soldiers on the southwest front, I believe this rumor will be self-defeating. However, I hope Your Majesty can instruct His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei to refrain from spreading such rumors in the future."
Li Xiaogong is also a member of the Li family and is currently the second-in-command of the military. It is not appropriate for Li Jing to say this, but as a member of the royal family, he can naturally say this. Criticizing Li Tai is like criticizing his own juniors.
"Forget it, let's not talk about him anymore. I'll settle accounts with him some other day. Has your Ministry of War done any simulations? If the war continues, how long will it take?"
Li Shimin quickly turned to the next topic, but everyone saw Li Shimin's attitude towards Li Tai. As long as everyone was not stupid, they could see that Li Tai was getting further and further away from that position. If he did something weird in the future, then there would be no hope at all.
These people are all practical people. It is impossible for them to be distracted by Li Tai's affairs. When they heard the second half of Li Shimin's words, they knew what Li Shimin was thinking. Li Shimin really wanted to solve the Tuyuhun problem in one fell swoop, but unfortunately the time is not ripe yet.
If we had not launched the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo a few years earlier, the Tang treasury would not have been so empty. A mere Tuyuhun would have been no problem to deal with. But now we can't even come up with next month's military expenses. If we continue to order our soldiers to attack, it would be too dangerous. It's not that we can't win, but we can't make any mistakes in the process. This is too much to ask for in a war.
"Your Majesty, I have made some estimates of the war situation. Combined with the battle reports sent back from the front, if we want to defeat Tuyuhun in one fell swoop, we will need all the officers and soldiers on the southwest front, at least 60,000 people. This battle will take three months to six months, and that's assuming everything goes smoothly."
The reason why Li Shimin let General Li Jing stay in the position of Minister of War was because he knew that there were no trivial matters in military affairs. General Li Jing never tried to guess the emperor's intentions and always did things that he said. Therefore, Li Shimin was able to fully understand the military situation in the country. If it were another person, he might have said what he said. Although he was happy at the time, it was indeed a disaster for the battle situation on the front line.
After hearing this, everyone stopped interrupting. They all knew that the emperor had a very good brain and was much better at drawing inferences than they were. Since General Li Jing had said so, there might be some differences on the front line, but the difference would not be that big.
Minister of Revenue Tang Jian originally wanted to say a few words, after all, there was no money in the government warehouse, but after listening to what General Li Jing said, he chose to remain silent. We can squeeze out one month's money, and we can stop everything else for two months, but if it takes three to six months, then let's just give up!
"It seems that you all have made up your minds. Is this the only option left to negotiate?"
Li Shimin said unwillingly that this time the war against Tuyuhun had reached its climax from the very beginning. He had wanted to solve the problem of Tuyuhun in one fell swoop, but the current expenditures were too high. The army was spending nearly 100,000 strings of cash every day on the front line, and there were still so many civilians who had not been resettled. It was indeed not suitable to continue dragging it on.
"Your Majesty is wise."
When all the people present said this collectively, Li Shimin knew that they had discussed it beforehand. Li Shimin also knew what these people meant. They were simply afraid that he would be too ambitious and insist on ordering the army in front to attack. By then, even if he defeated Tuyuhun, the entire court's finances would go bankrupt.
If Tuyuhun was a wealthy place, the various lands and money it had occupied might have allowed the imperial court to recover. However, Tuyuhun had no other gold and silver except some cattle and horses, and it was not certain that they could bring all of it back after the battle.
"Then let's negotiate and let them get the best terms for our Tang Dynasty."
There was a hint of reluctance in Li Shimin's words, but Li Shimin was a famous emperor throughout history. He would never seek fame and fortune just because of his own preferences. He would still take the actual situation into consideration in many things, so in this situation, Li Shimin chose to negotiate.
"Your Majesty, this was sent back by His Royal Highness the Grandson. Before the negotiations begin, he hopes the court will take the following actions to cooperate with the negotiations on the southwest front."
Changsun Wuji took out a letter from Li Xiang. Many of the items on it were extremely important. Changsun Wuji kept praising it as he read it. Now that the emperor has decided to negotiate, he must take out this letter and show it to the emperor. Once the emperor approves it, we can make a series of moves across the country, and then let Tuyuhun's spies get this news, which will in turn influence the negotiations between the two countries on the southwestern border and allow us to obtain the greatest benefits...