When they heard about looting southward, everyone present subconsciously showed greedy eyes. Over the years, they had harassed the border and robbed a lot of good things. How could they not be excited when thinking of the more prosperous south.

Three days later, they discussed the arrangements for sending troops, and Yelu Abaoji sent them out of the city.

After returning to the royal city, Shuliduo came forward and handed over the tea. “Qiusilizhi, you haven’t slept much in the past two days. Take a rest first.”

Yelu Abaoji took the tea and drank it all, not showing any sign of fatigue. “I plan to let Tuyu and Yaogu come back.”

Yelu Abaoji’s eldest son was Yelu Bei, also known as Yelu Tuyu, and his second son was Yelu Deguang. Deguang was his Chinese name and his Khitan name was Yaogu. At the same time, Yelu Honggu’s Khitan name was Yelu Lihu.

Shuliduo was startled and asked, “Yelü Bei is in charge of Dongdan. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate to ask him to come back at this time?”

“I will personally lead the expedition to the Central Plains this time, and the power of Dongdan Kingdom is indispensable. Withdrawing Dongdan’s forces this time can also prevent them from causing chaos in the rear. I plan to let Tuyu lead this group of people. Yaogu is good at fighting, so he must go too.” After saying that, Yelu Abaoji glanced at Shulido again.

“Li Hu is getting old, right? I’ll let him stay with me this time and train him well. What’s the point of him hunting and fooling around all day?”

When talking about the youngest son, Shuliduo frowned, “With Tuyu and Yaogu here, what’s the point of Li Hu going there again? It’s better to let him help me collect food and prepare equipment for the army.”

Yelu Abaoji was just thinking about it and his attitude was not firm. When he heard Shuliduo say this, he nodded and agreed.

Little did he know that his idea saved the direct descendants of the Yelu family from being wiped out.

Chapter 290 Old Li is promoted

Seeing Yelu Abaoji nod, Shuliduo finally let go of the worry in her heart. She really loved Yelu Lihu and didn’t want him to go to the battlefield. If Su Ming had not sent her that letter, she might have agreed.

But with that letter, Shuliduo’s heart was shaken. She didn’t dare to gamble, nor was she willing to gamble.

If possible, she would rather Yelu Abaoji not go south this time, but she knew that she could not stop him. Once he made a decision, no one could stop him.

If she were in his shoes, she would be able to lead troops as well. It had nothing to do with her identity, it only had to do with her position. She couldn’t stop Yelu Abaoji, so she could only give in and save her young son.

Being alive is more important than anything else.

At the same time, she did not tell Yelu Abaoji about the message Su Ming had sent her. At this juncture, she did not want to distract him, nor did she want him to become suspicious.

This is just a little selfish of hers.

……

In Luoyang, the base of the Bad People, Yuan Tiangang was suddenly inspired. He walked into the yard and looked at the sky above his head. He saw light clouds and bright sunshine, but no wind.

However, the next moment, three green leaves fell from the tree in the yard.

Yuan Tiangang stretched out his hand, and three fallen leaves slowly fell on his palm. “Leaves falling without wind, very interesting.”

This scene reminded him of the time three hundred years ago when he and Li Chunfeng calculated that the Tang Dynasty would perish. At that time, the leaves fell without wind. But now, the plum blossoms have bloomed, and the Tang Dynasty has finally made a comeback.

He stared at the three green leaves in his palm, and many memories came to his mind. “Man proposes, God disposes. The hexagram is the way of heaven, but I have already proved that man can conquer nature. There is no need to calculate this hexagram again!”

As soon as he finished speaking, his palm shook, and the three green leaves turned into powder and disappeared.

How could Yuan Tiangang, who was well versed in hexagrams, not realize that the destiny had been confused, and the Tui Bei Tu that they had worked together to create was no longer accurate? What was the use of fortune-telling?

He, Yuan Tiangang, was going to be a chess piece himself, so it didn’t matter whether he could tell fortunes or not.

This battle between the Tang Dynasty and the Khitan was a battle of national destiny that determined the direction of the next few hundred years. It was even better than the Weishui Alliance signed by Emperor Taizong.

……

As the Khitan and Tang dynasties simultaneously prepared for war, the first to feel the tense situation were not the common people, but the group of merchants who traveled far and wide and were very sensitive to the current situation.

The most obvious manifestation of the clash between countries is the comparison of resources. Whoever has more resources has a greater chance of winning. There are only so many resources in the world, and their competition will naturally cause prices to change.

A long time ago, the imperial court implemented a prohibition on alcohol. Later, as this thing continued to be banned, the court gradually relaxed the control.

It was not until Su Ming ascended the throne that the prohibition on alcohol was re-implemented. It is better to loosen up than to block. Compared with brewing wine with grains, Su Ming promoted brewing wine with miscellaneous grains and fruits, which put some pressure on the wine.

The war is about to start, and food prices soar in an instant, and various military resources also rise at the same time.

However, not long after the grain prices started to rise, Su Ming had people transport grain from Bashu to stabilize the prices. At the same time, he implemented wartime management and restricted the grain purchase of each household.

As the prices of military resources were rising, Su Ming was too lazy to control it, nor could he control it. These people had sharp vision, and it was nothing for them to make some war money. It was their ability to make money within a reasonable range.

After the news of the three kingdoms’ submission to the imperial court leaked, Su Ming closed the trade channels and strictly investigated the smuggling of ironware and grain at the border.

Su Ming can ignore other things, but food, salt and iron are strategic materials and must be controlled.

In just two or three months, the border areas had been slaughtered in large numbers, but every month there were still many desperate businessmen who wanted to make a fortune, many of whom were white gloves of the feudal lords.

However, the Bad People don’t care about the white gloves, they only follow the orders of the Bad Leader.

Su Ming was not afraid of offending these guys, nor would he spend a lot of money to win them over. At this time, the border vassal states that had not surrendered to the court and could not see the situation clearly were either greedy or stupid.

Su Ming didn’t move them before because he didn’t want to border Khitan and increase the pressure on border defense. With these people, there was at least some buffer space.

After the Khitan army prepared for war, Su Ming got the news immediately and then notified the border vassal states.

Among them, only half surrendered to the court, and the rest were still waiting and watching, waiting for the right price.

Su Ming was too lazy to care about these people and would settle the score after this war!

……

Half a year later, the situation between Khitan and Tang Dynasty was almost tense. Even the common people knew that the Khitan were coming.

However, for ordinary people, it has little to do with them.

The southern vassal states heaved a sigh of relief when they heard the news. They thought that the imperial court was preparing for war in order to deal with them, which frightened them to the point of living in fear all day long.

But after they came to their senses, they were filled with deep regret. If they had known the news earlier, they could have taken the opportunity to bite off a piece of meat from the imperial court and get a share of the pie. They couldn’t let the Khitans take all the advantage.

In their eyes, the imperial court was bound to lose this battle.

The Khitans were powerful and had strong military forces, while the imperial court had only been established for five years. What could they use to fight them?

Li Cunxu has a group of brave generals who have fought in many battles under his command. What does the imperial court have?

Back then, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin signed the Weishui Alliance. They didn’t think Su Ming could do better than Li Shimin. The facts were before them, and they had to believe it.

It is possible that after this battle, His Majesty the Emperor will flee to Shu again.

Luoyang Imperial City, Taiji Hall.

Su Ming was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe and sitting on the dragon throne, looking down at his ministers.

As he reigned for longer and longer, his imperial majesty became more and more intense; even if he just sat there quietly without saying a word, the aura he exuded was enough to scare people into trembling.

He didn’t say a word, and the whole hall was eerily quiet.

However, after looking at the ministers, Su Ming only said one sentence, “The Khitans are coming, you should get ready as soon as possible.”

It turned out to be true!

The ministers were shocked, and many people who had been hoping for a lucky break no longer did so and began to face this reality.

Before the court officials could speak, Su Ming continued, “The court must fight this battle. I don’t want to sign another Weishui Alliance with them like Emperor Taizong did. If this gets out, the whole world will laugh at us.”

“I have been on the throne for several years and have worked hard to govern the country. It has been a long time since I came to this day, but the Khitans are trying to interrupt the revival of the court. This is a battle for the fate of the country and a life-and-death war.”

“Don’t even think about trying to persuade them. The Khitans won’t give you this opportunity. The Turks of the past have already disappeared on the grasslands. They won’t make the same mistake again.”

After these words were spoken, some ministers who wanted to negotiate immediately stopped. Things had come to this point, and any further intervention would only spoil the mood and add to the joke.

“Your Majesty, I wonder how the imperial guards are doing now?” said the Minister of the Central Secretariat Li Cunli.

That’s right, Lao Li has been promoted!

Chapter 291

In the past, Su Ming had to maintain a balance in the court, and Prince Qi, as the Minister of the Central Secretariat, had to compete with great generals like Li Siyuan. But now, Prince Qi and Prince Jin have both retired, and it is natural that Li Cunli has been promoted to the position of Minister of the Central Secretariat.

Therefore, the sixth brother has now become successful and has become the top civil servant in the court, and is highly valued by the emperor.

Su Ming did not answer, but looked at Li Wentong, “Li Wentong, you go ahead and say it.”

“Wei Chen obeys your orders.”

“The Imperial Army has been in existence for three years. The officers and men have fought hard and worked together. Countless silver has been spent. The Imperial Army now has 100,000 soldiers, and another 10,000 elite cavalry are ready to go.”

After he finished speaking, some civil servants in the court showed disappointment on their faces. With only 110,000 troops, how could they resist the Khitan army?

Only a civil servant who does not understand military affairs would think this way. When the civil servants who understand military affairs heard these words, they immediately felt relieved.

When the Central Plains dynasties fought against foreign races, they mostly relied on elite troops to win, using the few to defeat the many. If there were too many people, they would not be able to perform effectively on the battlefield, and the logistics would not be able to keep up.

On the contrary, in the internal strife in the Central Plains, the ability and speed of mobilizing troops were more powerful than each other, and they would often have hundreds of thousands of troops. Excluding the excess, there were still hundreds of thousands of troops.

What Li Wentong was talking about was the imperial guards, not including the local garrisons in Hedong and Qi State.

Then he went on to say, “The baggage and food have been prepared and shipped to Hedong. If the Khitans want to fight, the imperial army can rush to the battlefield at any time.”

What? There is such a thing?

Before the civil servants could ask, Su Ming said calmly, “I knew that the Khitans were coming, and I asked the Privy Council to prepare in advance. If you plan ahead, you will succeed; if you don’t plan ahead, you will fail. If you don’t plan ahead, you will have immediate worries. Don’t think that the court can rest easy just because it occupies the Central Plains.”

“I can see clearly how many of you are sincerely working for the court, and how many are just wasting time and gaining experience.”

“Once a war breaks out, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, the Three Departments, and the Privy Council will be busy. Will the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Justice just sit there and watch?”

“In a few days, I will promulgate the performance evaluation law. Let’s use this war as an experiment. For those who are idle and idle, lazy and negligent in their duties, the court will have justice.”

“What do you mean by not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes? Avoiding mistakes is merit. I tell you, this won’t work in the Tang Dynasty anymore. You should do your job. The government has its own rules. If an official only wants to collect money and not do his job, what use is there for him in the court?”

Suddenly, all the officials were confused again. They thought that this court session was to discuss how to deal with the Khitan, but they did not expect that His Majesty would turn the gun and point the spearhead at the administration of officials.

Looking back at the dynasties throughout history, some scholars and officials who became officials were only concerned with making money and did not care about people’s livelihood; some were only concerned with their own lives and did not do anything at all. Of course, there were also many officials who did practical work while in office.

“Your Majesty, calm down.”

After being scolded, Li Cunli, the head of the civil servants, finally stood up and accepted the punishment without saying anything back.

Su Ming nodded and put it down lightly. “The Privy Council will deal with the Khitan issue. After the performance evaluation method is released, you must take the lead in implementing it. Don’t implement it in other places. Try it out in the counties around Luoyang first.”

“Your humble servant obeys your order.” Officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Etiquette and other ministries hurriedly obeyed your order.

……

“Your Majesty, the court is currently dealing with the Khitan. Is there anything wrong with promulgating the performance evaluation law at this time?” Shi Yao asked softly while kneeling on the couch.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. The imperial court wants to deal with the Khitan, but it has nothing to do with them. After I personally lead the army, are Li Cunli and his men just going to sit there and watch? We have to find something for them to do, so they don’t cause any more trouble.”

“Some things always need to be prepared early. The performance evaluation system is just the beginning. There will be more reforms in the future.” Su Ming shook his head and expressed his thoughts.

In fact, in addition to the performance evaluation system, he also wanted to implement the single whip system, the land-based tax system, the unified tax payment system for officials and gentry, the promotion of official schools, and so on.

But then again, we have to eat one bite at a time and take one step at a time. We must first clean up the bureaucracy and then slowly train officials and clerks through the imperial examination system.

Only when this step is done can other reforms be implemented.