Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

In Li Shimin's view, attacking Xueyantuo was a simple task, so he sent his generals to do it.

The difficulty of attacking Goguryeo is high, and it is necessary to personally lead the charge and unite all forces in order to win.

This year's raid, which damaged Goguryeo's food resources, is also preparation for a major war in the future.

The court meeting didn't last long, and immediately afterwards, the Crown Prince's Palace was bustling with activity.

The Crown Prince is going on a military campaign, and all the personnel and supplies he should take with him must be prepared.

Li Ke arrived at Cen Wenben's residence with a slightly disappointed feeling.

"Teacher, the Emperor ordered the Crown Prince to accompany the army on the expedition, but did not grant my request. He only sent me to harass Goguryeo."

Cen Wenben sighed, "It seems that the emperor trusts the crown prince very much, much more than the hidden crown prince."

Li Ke asked anxiously, "Teacher, do I really have absolutely no chance at all?"

Cen Wen paused for a moment, then said frankly, "If the King of Wei does not make a mistake, Your Majesty's chances are indeed slim."

Li Ke's face hardened: "If...if the Crown Prince dies on the way to the northern expedition..."

Cen Wenben was shocked: "Your Majesty, you... doing this is too risky!"

Li Ke stood up, paced around the room for a moment in thought, and then knelt down again in front of Cen Wenben: "Teacher, I was just saying. I wouldn't do it unless absolutely necessary."

Cen Wenben remained silent for a while before continuing, "Forgive my bluntness, but Your Majesty's temperament is still a bit too hasty. You should pay attention to self-cultivation in the future. I also know that Your Majesty has gathered many people from the former Sui Dynasty around you, and some of the methods they have proposed are too radical. Your Majesty should make some judgments."

Li Ke took a deep breath: "Teacher, I understand all these principles, but what should I do if Lao Si never makes a mistake? Am I just going to watch him take that position?"

Cen Wenben took a sip of tea and said, "Your Majesty, please wait a moment, allow me to think it over carefully."

Li Ke nodded.

He came here this time specifically to get advice from Cen Wenben.

Cen Wenben beckoned to someone in the corridor to bring him a chessboard and two boxes of chess pieces.

Cen Wenben placed the chessboard on the table and began to play by himself.

Li Ke knew this was his teacher's habit when he was thinking, so he held his breath and didn't disturb Cen Wenben's self-play.

About half an hour later, Cen Wenben stopped the game.

"May I ask, Your Majesty, how many elite warriors do you have at your disposal, and how many soldiers do you possess?"

Li Ke's expression changed slightly. These were all secrets he had kept hidden for a long time, but he still revealed the exact number of people to Cen Wenben.

"There are 500 assassins in Chang'an, and about 1,000 assassins in other places. As for soldiers... there are 5,000 in Lantian and 5,000 in Luoyang."

"Are the troops in Lantian and Luoyang completely under Your Majesty's command?"

"The commander of the troops in Lantian is my most trusted confidant, and the soldiers there have also received favors from me, so they are definitely safe. As for the Luoyang route... it's hard to say, but as long as Chang'an is in trouble, they will definitely respond."

"Your Majesty, please heed my advice: if we must take action, it must be after the Emperor's death. No one can match the Emperor's control over the troops in Chang'an. The best time to act is when the old Emperor is dead and the new Emperor has not yet fully grasped the situation."

"Furthermore, we cannot rule out the possibility that the new emperor will restrict Your Majesty. If high walls are erected and hundreds of people are watching you from all sides, it will be difficult for Your Majesty to even move around, let alone raise an army."

"Your Majesty might as well take this opportunity to befriend the Crown Prince and lower his guard. When the new emperor is enthroned, he won't immediately punish Your Majesty, thus leaving room for maneuver."

"Will the fourth brother punish me?"

"Your Majesty, if you were the crown prince, how would you treat your brothers after ascending the throne?"

"I... sir, please continue."

"There is one more thing Your Majesty can consider, and that is the Crown Prince's health."

"What do you mean?"

"The Crown Prince is already in poor health, and now he is burdened with many official duties. He even collapsed from exhaustion not long ago and only recovered after a long period of illness. In my opinion, even if the Crown Prince ascends the throne, his reign will not be very long, at most ten years, and perhaps even less than ten years."

"Your Majesty is in good health and will surely outlive the Crown Prince. Your Majesty might consider how many great things can be accomplished in ten years?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ke suddenly felt a stirring in his heart, and his previous anxiety vanished.

Good things can only happen if you're alive.

"What the teacher says is absolutely right. How come I didn't think of that?"

"This old minister has another question: Your Majesty, where does the money to maintain such a large army come from?"

"Teacher, please don't ask about these things. It's late, please get some rest."

……

Huinong Bank's operations were fully established, and Yin Shaokang copied down its internal operating data and promptly sent it to the mountain stronghold.

Li You was quite pleased to receive the data.

Although the branch in Chang'an encountered some setbacks, Yin Shaokang handled it very well. He not only turned enemies into friends, but also increased the copper coin reserves of the Chang'an branch by more than 100,000 strings of cash, which was much faster than painstakingly minting coins.

Speaking of coin minting, the minting speed of Tongbai Mountain Village has now stabilized, producing around 20,000 strings of copper coins per month.

To further increase production capacity, Li You sent people to copper mining areas in Hangzhou, Runzhou, Guanzhong, and other places to either directly purchase copper ingots or contract copper mines and hire people to mine copper.

The good news is that the silver mining output at Shizishan in Xuanzhou is still increasing.

Li You believed that the area near Lion Mountain must be a rich mine.

However, due to the limitations of current exploration technology, it is impossible to fully unleash the production capacity buried deep underground.

In any case, the amount of silver in Li You's hands increased day by day.

It's time to convert this enviable wealth into fighting power for Huang Chao's army.

Li You summoned Yin Hongzhi to discuss the next steps.

"Uncle, we have enough money now, so we can consider starting to expand our army and prepare for war."

"Expanding the military and preparing for war? Good!"

"Both Huang Chao's army and Bozhou's army need to be expanded. Huang Chao's army currently has three battalions of soldiers, and this time it can be expanded to ten battalions."

"Ten battalions? Do we have enough manpower?"

"The other day, Hongxin and Gao Shen wrote to me, saying that there are quite a few monks in the temples around Xuzhou in Jiangbei who have been incited. If what they say is true, then Huang Chao's army has enough manpower. What I'm worried about now is the Bozhou army. If they want to expand their army, where will they get their manpower?"

Yin Hongzhi said, "Most of the soldiers in Bozhou are from Hebei. The people of Hebei are known for their bravery and many of them practice martial arts. As long as you have money, it is not difficult to recruit soldiers."

"That's good. After Gao Shen and Zhang Lan return, let them take care of this matter. First, expand the army to 6,000 men, and once the new recruits have settled in, expand it to 10,000 men."

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

"Besides expanding the army, it is now the summer harvest season, and grain has been harvested in various places. We might as well take advantage of this time to establish private granaries throughout the country and secretly stockpile large quantities of grain and fodder. That way, when we actually raise an army, we will not have to worry about the problem of food and fodder."

Yin Hongzhi nodded: "This can also be done. Why not set up another grain merchant team and have them collect grain from various places, and then have Huitong Freight Transport handle the transportation?"

"Okay, we can do this now."

As he spoke, Li You took out a map, which marked the 360 ​​prefectures of the Tang Dynasty.