Li Shimin no longer leaned back, but sat up straight, Li Chengqian also turned over a piece of paper, took a deep breath, picked up the pen and got ready, this is no longer idle chat, but played correctly.

Xia Hongsheng also sat up straight and said: "The method that Weichen said is actually to occupy, but it is not as simple as sending a force to settle a capital protectorate, but completely occupying it, not only to occupy their land and population, but also their economy, culture, thoughts, ways of thinking and even every habit of life, all of which are completely branded with the Tang Dynasty, so that the grassland has become an ordinary way in the Tang Dynasty, so that the Turks or other people also think that they are a Tang people." It's a very long process that takes one or even several generations to complete, but it's also a one-size-fits-all solution, and it's not a pipe dream. Although, it is true that it can be protracted, assimilating a people is never easy. ”

Xia Hongsheng didn't say much, he stopped here, he wanted to see Li Shimin's reaction, and then decided whether to continue. Xia Hongsheng believed that it could also be seen from the stunned expressions of Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, who had never had such thoughts and had never heard of such remarks. may have thought that one day the Turks would surrender and become a member of the Tang Dynasty, but it was only to the point of the collapse of the Turks.

Li Shimin's expression was dazed at first, and then turned into a thoughtful look, a little confused and a little excited, as if a new door appeared in front of him, but he didn't know how to open this door.

After a long time, Li Shimin raised his head, looked at Xia Hongsheng, and saw that his eyes lit up, as if he had found the direction, his eyes widened, and he said in a deep voice: "Go on!" ”

Xia Hongsheng bowed forward: "Your Majesty, there are many forms of war, but there is always only one purpose, that is, national interests. The lives of the people, the territory of the country, the strength of the economy, the stability of the political power, and the control of the outside world...... All of this is in the interests of the state, and in order to protect the interests of the country, we go to war. There are many forms of war, and so are the forms of protecting national interests, and there are many other ways of fighting war besides soldiers' conquest. Military warfare is always the last resort, and before that, there can be diplomatic, economic, and cultural warfare...... Many. The complete occupation from the inside to the outside that Wei Chen just mentioned must comprehensively use these various methods of warfare. If we want to attack the Turks, we must attach to morality in diplomacy, the so-called division is famous, this Weichen does not need to say much, the agreement between countries is also diplomacy, His Majesty is well versed in this way, and Weichen does not need to say much. Fighting on the battlefield, His Majesty is also much better at than Weichen, and there are so many famous generals in our dynasty, not to mention Weichen's mouth. What Wechen wants to say is how to use the economy and culture to completely control the Turks after defeating them. ”

Li Shimin's eyes became brighter and brighter, and he stared at Xia Hongsheng with burning eyes: "Aiqing, please speak!" ”

"Minister......" As soon as Xia Hongsheng opened his mouth, he heard a sound of "......" coming from the middle pavilion, because Li Lao Er and Li Chengqian were quietly waiting for Xia Hongsheng to speak, so this sound was extremely clear.

Li Shimin was full of expectations, but when he waited for such a sound, his face suddenly had a black line, and Li Chengqian was also about to put down his pen with a shake of his hand, but there was a little more ink on the paper.

"Well, Weichen got up late in the morning, so what, he came over without eating...... Your Majesty forgives your sins, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince forgives sins......" Xia Hongsheng scratched his head and hurriedly smiled.

Li Lao Er shook his head amusedly, looked up at the outside of the pavilion, and it was noon, so he turned back to Wang De, who was standing next to him, and said, "Go and pass the meal, I will eat here with Cheng Qian and Xia Qing today." ”

Wang De bowed and saluted, and then went out of the pavilion to greet the Yellow Gate outside.

"Hey, hey, Xie!" Xia Hongsheng saluted Li Lao Er, and then said: "This economic warfare, but it is not the meaning of the time to help the world, to put it bluntly, it is a business struggle between the two hostile sides in order to seize strategic advantages and win the war. Your Majesty, my Datang is rich in products, and there are some things that these countries cannot produce, but they are essential, such as silk, tea, etc., and these neighboring countries basically have to rely on trade with Datang merchants to obtain. That's where we come in. With the rich products and money of the Tang Dynasty, so that the businessmen go deep into the surrounding countries to do business, there is no salt, we sell to him, no silk, we sell to him, there is no grain, we sell to him more preferentially, we can even guide their ecology through guò trade, for example, good, if you want to sell my grain, tea and silk, then I don't want money, I just need cattle, horses and sheep to exchange, and give him preferential treatment, he can grow a thousand catties of grain a year, that's good, the hundreds of cattle, horses and sheep and the like come to exchange, I'll give you two thousand pounds! If you were to do this business, would you choose to grow your own grain, or would you choose to exchange it with a cow or a horse? ”

"The grassland is not suitable for growing crops, but the horses, cattle and sheep are the most suitable. In this way, I chose to exchange cattle, horses and sheep with you. Li Lao Er thought about it for a while, and then he had the answer.

"Yes, your majesty, grain can be exchanged in this way, salt can be used, silk can also be used, and even those cattle, horses and sheep, we can resell them after processing. The way of life of the steppe people is extensive, but the life of the people of the Central Plains is meticulous, we can leave the horses, make beef into jerky, weave wool into cloth, and then turn it around and sell it to them. The so-called from thrift to luxury, from luxury to thrift, when they wear silk, can no longer wear animal skins, when they are used to eating millet and well-cooked meat in their mouths, and then they are not used to eating directly boiled and sprinkled with salt, when they are used to eating refined salt, can no longer eat bitter brine salt, and when they are used to drinking tea, can no longer drink goat's milk, and these things, but they can not get without trading with the Tang Dynasty, in this way, we gradually control the trade of these countries, when the time comes, they need a qiē, They can only be purchased from the Datang shops there, and the Datang merchants can completely gain a foothold there, and their entire country's shops and materials are in the hands of our Datang! At that time, they can only let us control it. Defy? Want to start a war? Well, it only takes a decree from His Majesty to cut off economic exchanges, and merchants are closed to the market, and business travel is stagnant. The grain, the salt, their clothing, the tea leaves of the nobles, everything they had in their lives, were all gone, except for a meadow, and some cattle and sheep, and they were accustomed to eating the beef and mutton that we had carefully cooked. They have nothing left, and the people are accustomed to this life, and the people who start the war will only be complained by the people that he has put an end to their good and prosperous life. Your Majesty, is such a Turk still a threat to us? ”

Li Lao Er has already widened his eyes and opened his mouth wide, with his eloquence, it is completely conceivable that a Turk who relies on the goods of the merchants of the Tang Dynasty to survive will no longer be able to make any waves.

Li Chengqian, on the other hand, frowned and pondered, as if he didn't quite understand. So Xia Hongsheng decided to say it more plainly: "To use the simplest analogy, Zhang San and Wang Wu's family are neighbors, Zhang San can only herd sheep, and he can't do anything next to him, he makes cloth for clothes, food for food, salt in meals, and daily necessities, all need and can only buy sheep from Wang Wu's family." Then one day, Zhang San was dissatisfied with Wang Wu, saying that your family occupied my land, and I would beat you up. Wang Wu said Okay, you come and fight, I will never sell you anything again, you will have no salt, no food, no clothes, nothing more. At this time, can Zhang San still move? ”

Li Chengqian's face was suddenly stunned, but his brows suddenly tightened again, and he asked again: "Although Zhang San stopped fighting this time, the hatred in his heart has not been eliminated, and he will have the opportunity to break away from Wang Wu in the future, wouldn't he want to intensify his efforts and vent all his previous hatred?!" ”

Hearing Li Chengqian's words, Li Shimin couldn't help but nod and looked at Xia Hongsheng.

"This requires another form, which is what Wechen calls cultural warfare." Xia Hongsheng smiled and said: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince, when Qin unified the six countries, and then ordered the cars to be on the same track, the books to be the same, and the lines to be the same, why is this?" ”

"Naturally, in order to consolidate the unification of the world, at that time, the six countries were in their own countries, and the words used were also different, and the first emperor in order to facilitate the control of the people of the six countries, he issued an edict with the same text, and these instructions were all in order to maintain his control over the people of the six countries." Li Lao Er seems to have learned history very well, so he came as soon as he opened his mouth.

Xia Hongsheng nodded: "Yes, that's right, in fact, this is the embodiment of a cultural war." A man in the Far West once said that in order to destroy a nation, it must first disintegrate its culture. When we have defeated the Turks and occupied their lands and populations, we should not leave after they have surrendered. We should hold on to that land, leave the soldiers, the merchants, and the culture. We are going to open a school there, and all the young people must learn our language, learn our culture, the way of Confucius and Mencius, and the words of a gentleman, all of which must be taught to them, and it is forbidden to have Turkic dialects sounded in that land, even if the Turks talk to each other, they must use the official dialect of the Tang Dynasty. All the Turkic descendants have to be educated by us since they were young, they have spoken the official dialect of the Tang Dynasty since they were young, they have learned the words of Confucius and Mencius, and they have been educated that they are also members of the Tang Dynasty. In this way, after a few generations, there will be only the Tang Dynasty in that land, and there will be no Turks, no more Turkic speakers, no more Turkic scripts, and no one will ever distinguish between the Tang and the Turks. The Han people are Tang people, and the Turkic people are also Tang people, and it is this concept that they have accepted since childhood, and they no longer know what the Turks are! ”

Li Shimin and Li Chengqian were both stunned, and they couldn't speak for a long time.

Xia Hongsheng didn't expect them to understand now, but now he planted such a seed in their hearts. Once the seed is planted, sooner or later it will sprout.

And how difficult this process is, just look at the situation in the west in the later world, and understand that this process will definitely not be so simple!