The revitalization of the Tang Dynasty began with the Ganlu Incident.

Most people in the hall, such as Linghu Chu and Wang Ya, already knew the contents of the memorial. So, in reality, the memorial was meant for Li Deyu, Zheng Tan, and others.

As this was the first memorial presented, it did not actually propose any particularly specific strategies; the focus was on stating the necessity of investigating military records.

Therefore, after reading it, Li Deyu spoke first.

"Minister Linghu, in this memorial you proposed to investigate the military register, but I wonder how you plan to do it?"

The Yeonyeong Conference was intended for discussing political affairs, so the order of speaking was not strictly enforced.

Linghu Chu was clearly prepared for this question, saying, "Currently, there are only a few issues related to military registration in the Shence Army."

"Firstly, some military officers concealed the number of deserters and fraudulently claimed salaries; secondly, some wealthy families in the capital held nominal military positions; and thirdly, some officers in the military, either under orders from their superiors or through bribery, left the camp to engage in business activities and neglect their training."

"Especially the last point, Lord Li should have a deep understanding of this from his recent investigation into private loans within the military..."

These words clearly show that Linghu Chu had put in a lot of effort.

Although Li Deyu knew the other party had ill intentions, he felt there was no need to argue about such a specific issue.

Besides receiving salaries without working and impersonating military officers, another serious problem with the Shence Army was engaging in business.

Private lending is only part of it. In fact, many generals in the Shence Army nowadays embezzle official funds and send them out to engage in trade.

With the Shence Army as their guarantee, the Jingzhao Prefecture has no way to deal with them, whether they bully others or default on their debts.

In the end, part of the money earned went into the pockets of these military officers, while the other part was used as rewards to win over the officers and soldiers under their command.

This practice not only severely disrupted the normal trade order in Chang'an, but also gradually fostered a profit-driven mentality within the army.

Even worse, because this so-called trade had become an important source of rewards for the army, many officials and soldiers had begun to show signs of becoming private armies.

Li Deyu was naturally aware of these issues.

Originally, he planned to proceed step by step, first implementing the Shence reforms, and then investigating the issue once the court had a certain degree of control over the Shence Army.

Unexpectedly, Linghu Chu and others brought it up first...

"Different problems should be addressed with different strategies. Among these problems, the simplest one is actually the issue of receiving a salary without working."

"As long as the court is determined and the two governors cooperate, the Ministry of War and the Censorate can be ordered to jointly count the soldiers in the camp according to the roster. Anyone who dares to conceal, impersonate, or substitute will be severely punished."

"Within a few months, the roster will be updated, eliminating the problem of salaries being paid without actual work."

As he said this, Linghu Chu subconsciously glanced at Liu Hongyi and the other person beside him, but the two of them did not react at all, just sitting quietly in place, as if this matter had nothing to do with them.

"As for the matter of wealthy households impersonating others, it is not difficult to investigate in detail, but it requires the cooperation of the Prefectural Governor of the Capital. The Prefectural Governor of the Capital can summon the village heads and neighborhood heads to investigate in detail. First, conduct a rough screening to find out who walks around in the neighborhood in the name of the Shence Army. Then, the Ministry of Revenue can send personnel to retrieve the household registers and cross-check them with the Shence Army's registered roster."

"After obtaining the names, officials will be dispatched to verify the group's appearance. This will also take only a few months to thoroughly investigate the matter."

"As for these imposters, whether they should be fined silver, sentenced to corvée labor, or exiled to the army, these are matters that the Secretariat and the Shence Military Governor's Office can discuss further afterward."

Perhaps seeing that Liu Hongyi and the others had not reacted, Linghu Chu deliberately left an opening at the end of his speech.

As expected, upon hearing this, a ripple appeared on their faces, and they began to whisper to each other.

Seeing this, Linghu Chu continued, "However, the biggest difficulty in this matter is not how to investigate or how to punish after the investigation, but that these gentry and wealthy households have been in the capital for many years and have intricate relationships. Most of them are connected with powerful figures in the capital. Therefore, if we want to investigate them, we will inevitably encounter great resistance."

"Therefore, my opinion is that, just like the Shence reforms this time, a prime minister should be appointed by the Central Secretariat to personally oversee the reforms, with the assistance of the Jingzhao Prefecture, the Censorate, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War."

Upon hearing this, Li Deyu narrowed his eyes and couldn't help but glance at Wang Ya beside him out of the corner of his eye.

Clearly, the person Linghu Chu was referring to as the so-called host was not him.

Not to mention that Li Deyu is currently in charge of the Shence reform and simply cannot spare the time to investigate the military register.

Even if he could free himself, he had only recently returned to the capital and needed to familiarize himself with the situation of various factions in the city.

Therefore, the most suitable candidate is Wang Ya, who has extensive experience and has been in the capital for many years.

But for Li Deyu, now is clearly not the time to discuss candidates.

So he quickly asked, "What about the matter of military trade? How should that be resolved?"

His original intention was to find some loopholes in Linghu Chu's measures, so as to at least delay the inevitable.

But to his surprise, Linghu Chu laughed instead of responding to his question.

"This will require Mr. Li's cooperation..."

As soon as he uttered those words, all eyes turned to Li Deyu, who involuntarily frowned.

What do you mean by that?

Linghu Chu said, "As I just mentioned, a very important entry point for military trade is private lending within the military. These days, the Jingzhao Prefecture is investigating private lending cases, which should also involve military trade. By merging and organizing these cases, arresting some and replacing others, we can curb these unhealthy practices in the military."

His words were sincere and carried a clear intention to curry favor.

But in Li Deyu's mind, alarm bells immediately went off.

He absolutely refused to believe that Linghu Chu would seek reconciliation with him for no reason.

Even if it's for political reasons, given the nature of the Niu faction, they would never truly want to work together.

If he really agrees, not to mention whether the other party will take the opportunity to set a trap for him in the future, just for now, it will not be so easy for him to oppose the investigation of military personnel.

Therefore, after a moment's thought, Li Deyu quickly shook his head.

"I'm afraid this matter is not that simple. As Minister Linghu just said, I have some understanding of military trade because of the investigation into private loans. The current situation in the military is not as simple as the generals being insatiable and profiting for themselves."

"This has been the case in the army for years, so that officers of all ranks rely on these ill-gotten gains as rewards. This kind of atmosphere cannot be stopped by one person alone."

"Even if we follow what Minister Linghu said and replace a group of new generals, it would probably only be a temporary solution."

"Moreover, we are currently undergoing reforms at Shence Army. Such a large-scale operation could cause chaos and harm the nation. I think we should discuss this further..."