amaotonovel Chapter 836 I can do it too!
Chapter 836 I can do it too!
The boomerang of rehiring finally struck Yang Shaofeng.
Li Shanchang has gone completely mad and doesn't care whether he lives to see Yang Shaofeng rehired.
Anyway, I, Li, can't let my hair turn white.
You, Yang the Madman, shouldn't even think about escaping unscathed.
Li Shanchang deliberately lowered his voice and said through gritted teeth, "Your Highness might as well think about it carefully. In a few decades, Ningyang County will produce more than just a few dozen students like Zhou Jingxin and Li Mingchen, and Ningyang Farm will produce more than just six hundred top-quality cattle and horses."
"If we don't rehire the Prince Consort, with thousands upon thousands of Zhou Jingxins and thousands upon thousands of farm cattle and horses crowding the court, will Your Highness ever have a day of peace?"
"Just think about those memorials Zhou Jingxin wrote, that sarcastic and unsettling style of his."
"Tsk."
As soon as Li Shanchang finished speaking, Zhu Biao immediately shivered.
Tens of thousands of Zhou Jingxins?
Thousands upon thousands of farm cattle and horses?
My dearest mother and great-uncle!
Right now, there's just my brother-in-law, plus Zhou Jingxin, and over forty county magistrates from Ningyang County. My father is so worried that he sighs every day.
If all these guys crowded into the court, wouldn't I be driven crazy by them?
Zhu Biao quickly shook his head, trying to banish the terrifying scene from his mind.
"Then it's settled."
"Of the six hundred men from Ningyang County, how many does Han Guogong plan to use?"
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Since we can mobilize the manpower from Ningyang Farm, things will be much easier."
"One Liu Lian."
“A section of paint.”
"Plus the two Chang brothers."
"These four people are enough."
Zhu Biao nodded without hesitation: "Alright, these four people it is. Once they are transferred back to the capital, I will arrange for them to serve under Prime Minister Li."
As for what Liu Bowen would think if Liu Lian were transferred, or whether Hu Weiyong would curse if Tu Jie were transferred, Zhu Biao didn't care at all at the moment.
Anyway, if anyone's going to criticize someone, it'll be the Duke of Han, what does it have to do with me?
Even if we take a step back and assume the worst, the one who should be scolding the brother-in-law is the one who should be scolding the one who is scolding me.
Zhu Biao glanced at Yang Shaofeng quietly, then whispered to Li Shanchang, "Prime Minister Li, there is actually another person we can use."
Li Shanchang was slightly taken aback and asked, "Who?"
Zhu Biao chuckled twice and said, "Krupp."
"This is a ruthless man who can sweep across most of the grasslands without relying on anyone else, just with eight hundred cavalrymen."
"When it comes to decisiveness in killing, Krupp is not necessarily much less capable than Uncle Chang."
Since Li Shanchang intends to instigate several major cases in Jiangnan to purge the gentry, he must have a powerful figure capable of suppressing the situation.
but!
Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Tang He, Fu Youde, Li Wenzhong and other nobles were certainly enough to suppress the situation, but these people were all well-known. With them in charge of Jiangnan, the gentry of Jiangnan probably wouldn't dare to jump out and seek death.
As for my brother-in-law?
My brother-in-law is quite a formidable character, but the problem is that his reputation has long been tarnished throughout Jiangnan, even more so than that of Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.
With him in Jiangnan, the ironware case and the child case might repeat themselves. No matter how much trouble he causes in Jiangnan, the local gentry will grit their teeth and bear it, even if they know that they will most likely die if they endure it. No one will jump out to rebel.
But Krupp's Li Mingchen was different.
In terms of reputation, Li Mingchen's reputation is not particularly prominent.
Many gentry and scholars even believed that Li Mingchen's ability to be ennobled as a count was not due to his own abilities, but rather to Yang Shaofeng's influence.
Yes, with such a great teacher and the emperor and crown prince's protection, if I were to lead people to the grasslands, I could also achieve such outstanding results.
In short, I could do it myself.
Li Shanchang's eyes lit up, and he immediately bowed to Zhu Biao, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness."
Just as even five fingers can be of different lengths, there are naturally varying degrees of closeness and distance between people.
No matter how close Yang Shaofeng was to Liu Lian, Li Qi, and the Chang brothers, could it possibly be as close as his relationship with Li Mingchen?
Those were students he personally mentored!
The relationship between teachers and students is similar to that between fathers and sons.
With Li Mingchen in charge of Jiangnan, it can basically be seen as Yang Dianfeng being in charge of Jiangnan.
Anyway, Yang the Madman would never stand by and watch Li Mingchen suffer.
But then Li Shanchang couldn't help but feel a headache coming on: "Krupp is useful, but he is currently leading his troops to Beihai. I don't know when he will be able to return to the capital?"
Zhu Biao chuckled, winked at Yang Shaofeng, and whispered, "Krupp should be back soon."
Li Shanchang was stunned again, and looked at Zhu Biao, asking, "Is it related to the Imperial Son-in-Law?"
Zhu Biao nodded and whispered, "Prime Minister Li must have heard that, right? My brother-in-law wants to raise the purchase price of warhorses?"
Li Shanchang nodded, and Zhu Biao continued, "Then Prime Minister Li probably didn't hear it. Brother-in-law asked Chang Xiaojiu to send someone to call Kikuchi Takemitsu."
"Oh, Kikuchi Takemitsu is the envoy sent by those short and ugly men to the Dengzhou border market."
"What my brother-in-law means is that shorty is a terrible person, and he would be perfect as a vassal army."
Li Shanchang nodded unconsciously, then suddenly gasped in surprise, staring at Zhu Biao and saying, "Short fellow? A retainer? Warhorses?"
Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Li Xiang guessed correctly; that's exactly what he planned."
After a slight pause, Zhu Biao added, "Of course, my brother-in-law's main focus when using short, stocky things is definitely not the grasslands, but Europe."
"But before sending the shorty to Europe, I can find a way to squeeze some of them out from under him and send them to the grasslands."
As soon as Zhu Biao finished speaking, Li Shanchang gasped in shock.
Let the shorty form a mercenary army, and then send them to the grasslands?
Good guy!
Given how ruthless those short, ugly men are at cooking people alive, what kind of terrible things could they possibly do if sent to the grasslands?
Your Highness is aiming to completely wipe out the grassland tribes!
Li Shanchang shook his head and said, "Your Highness, even if we don't transfer Krupp back, we absolutely cannot let those shorty bastards go to the grasslands."
Zhu Biao was slightly taken aback and asked, "Why?"
Li Shanchang sighed slightly, not directly answering Zhu Biao's question, but instead asking somewhat inexplicably, "May I ask Your Highness, why is it that since ancient times, it has always been the various tribes of the grasslands that have raided southwards, but we have never heard of the Central Plains dynasties actively sending troops to raid the grasslands?"
Before Zhu Biao could answer, Li Shanchang continued, "Because the grasslands are poor."
"A broken iron pot, placed on the grassland, is a family heirloom."
"It's the norm on the grasslands to not know where the next meal will come from."
"The stories describe the herdsmen on the grasslands as burly and vicious, but Your Highness has seen the real herdsmen with his own eyes, and how many of them can be described as burly?"
Zhu Biao shook his head directly.
There are indeed burly men on the grasslands, but those who can be described as burly are almost all tribal leaders or Nayan (military nobles).
Most ordinary grassland herders are thin and sallow-faced, a far cry from the stereotype of being burly and robust.
Li Shanchang continued, “The people in the Central Plains are extremely poor. If they can eat their fill and stay warm, they won’t think about rebelling. The same is true for ordinary herders on the grasslands.”
"Right now, our Great Ming Dynasty is in dire need of manpower, both men and women are extremely scarce."
"If the grassland herders could be naturalized, the situation could be alleviated somewhat."
"But if we let those short and ugly people go to the grasslands, they will basically bring no benefits other than forcing the grassland herders to fight the Ming Dynasty to the death."
After a slight pause, Li Shanchang added, "Hasn't Your Highness noticed that the Prince Consort has never killed any of the grassland herders?"
Zhu Biao exclaimed in surprise, "Is that really how it is?"