The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 912: Settlement of Accounts
Li Yan said shamelessly at this time: "These are the things that Jie Li and Datang agreed to buy food for the winter. Later, Datang took the money and never mentioned the food again. Does Datang want to swallow up the money like this?"

"This is too shameless. Jie Li is dead, but the Turks are still here. The agreement is written in black and white. How dare the Tang Dynasty disobey it?"

After saying that, Li Yan took out from his arms the grain purchase agreement signed by Jie Li and Zhangsun Wuji when they confronted each other on the Liao River last year.

"Come here, General Hou, let me do the math for you."

"Since the fourth year of Zhenguan, a dou of rice in Chang'an has basically only cost five wen. Last year, there was a war in Liaodong, so it's normal for the price of rice to increase. At most, it's ten wen for a dou of rice. But you sold it to Jie Li at thirty wen a dou, which is three times more expensive, to three hundred wen a dan."

"This is almost the highest rice price in Chang'an before the war in the third year of Zhenguan."

Before Hou Junji could argue, Li Yan waved his hand and said, "I know that large-scale grain transactions affect the national economy and people's livelihood, so the price will naturally rise, otherwise the Tang Dynasty would rather not sell it. In addition, there is the war in Liaodong, and the Turks also want to befriend the Tang Dynasty, so this price is the reason."

"Even if we follow the agreement and pay 3.33 wen per dan, and the Turks gave 666 taels of gold, then according to the official price, taels of gold equals million guan. One guan equals dan of grain, so million guan equals million dan of grain."

"According to the actual market value, this amount should be tripled or quadrupled."

"Of the grain transported a thousand miles, only one out of ten survives."

"Except for the transportation costs, you should also pay at least two million shi. This is the winter rations that Jie used to appease the young and strong people who migrated from the Three Han regions. But you, the Great Tang, didn't even send a single shi of grain?"

“That’s too much.”

Hou Junji looked at the agreement on the table in front of him, then looked at Li Yan, who had the face of a creditor, and spread his hands and said innocently: "This is none of my business. Zhang Sun Wuji has always been in charge of this matter."

"I am a general. I was recalled to Chang'an by the emperor a month ago because of your matter. This is the first time I have seen this agreement."

"Well, let me tell you something you know."

Li Yan snorted coldly: "This time the Tang Emperor asked you to come and fix it, but you came empty-handed. How can you fix it just by talking?"

"The Yi man even knew to bring a gift. There were six large boxes of gold, silver and jewelry, and three boxes of gold ingots alone. You saw it with your own eyes. And you, on the other hand, talked a lot of nonsense, about official titles, bestowing titles, marriages, and various rewards. In fact, they were all empty promises. "

"You came all the way here, and you don't even have a gift for us?"

"To put it mildly, it's stingy. To put it more seriously, the rulers and ministers of the Tang Dynasty don't take the Turks seriously at all, and they look down on me, the Right Wise King. You are looking down on us and making fun of us. What? Do you think we dare not go south?"

Li Yan glanced at Hou Junji angrily and said, "If I were not the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, if I were anyone else, your corpse would have been cold for a long time by now, right?"

"As the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, I may not care, but as the actual ruler of the Turkic Khanate and the Right Wise King, I cannot swallow this anger. I am sending troops south, firstly to vent my anger, and secondly to settle the account with the Tang Dynasty for last year."

"When you return, explain my intentions to the Emperor of Tang. I will give you the three conditions, including the principal and interest. If Tang does not agree, I will lead a million troops to break through the Yellow River defense line, enter the capital, and take it myself."

At the end, seeing Hou Junji's gloomy face, Li Yan also breathed a sigh of relief and said earnestly: "Father-in-law, in fact, these conditions of mine are not only aimed at the emperor, but also have good intentions to help the emperor break the impasse."

"The aristocratic families in the country are intertwined with the royal family and have long formed an integrated whole. In the past few years, when my father was carrying out internal reforms, these people competed with the emperor and had a lot of fun. My father couldn't do anything about them."

"The Five Surnames and Seven Families, the Shandong wealthy families, the Jiangnan Chinese, they are all as rich as a country, sucking the wealth of the people. Usually, the emperor can't do anything to them. This time, the foreign enemy is pressing in, so-called suppression, how can they be safe?"

"This country doesn't just belong to the Li family and the people. We can't just pay for this wealth with the Li family. They should also pay a little."

Seeing Hou Junji's expression soften, Li Yan explained: "My conditions and marriage will have no effect on my father. The Tang Dynasty has enjoyed good weather and good harvests in recent years. A mere one million dan of grain and grass is nothing more than a piece of cake for the Tang Dynasty."

"And the millions of rolls of cloth, which the grassland people use are all coarse linen clothes, can also stimulate consumption and prosper the Tang Dynasty's economy."

"The most important thing is to open up the trade and get these one million taels of gold!"

"Opening up the trade will affect the interests of the aristocratic caravans. Since my father can't push it, I will help him. As for gold, why do I want gold instead of other things? It's because gold is a rare resource that only aristocratic families have."

"During the hundreds of years of war between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, all the gold was collected by them. This sword of mine is actually aimed at them."

At the end, Li Yan smiled and said, "Take some from my father and the aristocratic families, transfer them to the small treasury of my East Palace, and then return father's money to him through trade, and keep the aristocratic families' money for themselves, isn't that good?" Hou Junji's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Yes, my brain is really stupid. I only think that the wealth of the Central Plains is flowing to the grassland. But how could His Royal Highness the Crown Prince distribute these treasures to foreign races? In fact, it is equivalent to cutting meat from the emperor and the aristocratic families to supplement his own family.

Thinking of this, Hou Junji immediately changed his position. He had never encountered such an opportunity to seize those noble families in such a fair and open manner.

So he said excitedly: "Your Highness, if that's the case, then a million taels of gold is not much. You don't know that those wealthy and powerful families have made Your Majesty very angry. A million taels of gold is really cheap for them."

“I think they can afford it even if it’s several times more.”

Seeing that Hou Junji was also obsessed with money, Li Yan smiled bitterly and said, "Father-in-law, I have calculated that one million taels is just within their affordability. It is not too painful for each family to pay a little. If it is more, I am afraid they would rather fight a war with the Turks."

"You have to know that they have to pay for the gold themselves. If there is a war, the court will pay for it, and those who go to the battlefield are ordinary people. They hide in the rear, so no matter what happens, they will not be harmed."

"So be it!"

"You can't cut the leeks at the roots all at once. There's a long way to go. If my father-in-law doesn't like them, just let them grow slowly. It will be in time to cut them next year."

"Even so, we still need to combine it with some public opinion offensive, otherwise, these noble families will not easily compromise."

Hou Junji asked in confusion: "What kind of public opinion offensive?"

Li Yan lowered his voice and whispered something in Hou Junji's ear. Hou Junji was stunned and asked in surprise, "Do you really want to do this? Aren't you afraid that it will backfire and force them to unite and resist you?"

Li Yan smiled disdainfully: "Father-in-law overestimates them. They are not as strong-willed as you think. They may seem strong, but they are weak inside. They are good at forming cliques and playing tricks."

"But facing a prairie brute like me who only knows how to use violence, they can only bow their heads."

"Plus, you have created a lot of public opinion in the court and expressed my true attitude towards them. I believe that under this kind of pressure, they will not be willing to try my anger. What's more, I have subsequent military actions to cooperate, so I am not afraid that they will not submit."

Hou Junji was stunned by Li Yan's interlocking calculations, and finally laughed heartily: "Hahaha, good, that's it, we will unite with the emperor, work together from the inside and the outside, and we are afraid that we can't kill them."

After figuring out the details here, Hou Junji suddenly felt that Li Yan didn't ask for much.

You must know that before the fourth year of Zhenguan, the damage caused to the Tang Dynasty by the Turkic invasions every year was enormous. They broke into cities, burned houses, killed civilians, destroyed grain fields, and plundered the population. In addition, the Tang Dynasty had to train troops, build weapons, raise food and fodder, and spend military expenses to resist the Turks.

Not to mention that once the war starts, the cost of war will flow out like water.

Human lives on the grassland are worthless, and the cost of war for nomadic peoples is shockingly low. When a war breaks out between the two sides, the Central Plains side suffers the greatest losses.

If the war really continued, the people of the grassland could maintain it year after year, as the vast grassland would be an inexhaustible granary; but for the Central Plains dynasty, no matter how powerful its national strength was, the savings from ten years of good weather and harvest would only be enough to sustain one war.

If the war lasts for three to five years, the country will be dragged down.

If we really do the math, every penny the Turks stole would cause the Tang Dynasty to lose ten pennies, nine of which were not received by anyone but were consumed in the war.

To resolve these conflicts peacefully, the Tang Dynasty only had to pay three cents.

The ancients were backward, but not stupid. The peaceful way only lost face, but actually saved a lot of money. Fighting to the death seemed to maintain the integrity, but in fact it overdrew the vitality of the country and it would take several generations to make up.

Therefore, all dynasties were willing to give some benefits to powerful enemies to get rid of these plague gods. Even so, it could only prevent large-scale invasions. For example, the harassment of some small tribes on the border could not be controlled even if money was given.

They live by the mountains and by the water, and by the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, those small tribes would be reluctant to give up the opportunity to cut this piece of fat meat.

Of course, the Tang Dynasty will continue to fight these small-scale harassments, and they will not affect the overall peace in the Central Plains and the grasslands.

According to historical records, the two ethnic groups lived in peace without any large-scale war, but border conflicts never stopped for a moment.

(End of this chapter)