The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 388: A country that suffers from an invincible foreign country will always perish!

"…We haven't seen each other for ten years."

In the Wanhe Hall of the Taiyi Palace, Emperor Yonglong sat behind his desk, looking at the Colonel Zhaoxin in front of him, who saluted him respectfully. After a long pause, he said leisurely, "Are you all right?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty." Li Yanliang replied softly, "Your Majesty, everything has been fine in the past ten years."

"Does the Military Privy Council have any plans for you?"

"Your Majesty, I reported to the Military Privy Council ten days ago. Your Excellency understands that I have served overseas for many years and have no new appointment arrangements. I will take a month off."

"Well, that's fine." Emperor Yonglong nodded. "After serving overseas for ten years, it's time for you to spend more time with your wife and children. If a month is not enough, I'll go talk to Chief Liao and get you more vacation time."

"Thank you for your care, Your Majesty. I don't deserve it." Li Yanliang bowed slightly and said, "If the empire calls for it, I will go through fire and water to fight for it."

"Captain Li is so courageous and loyal to his country. He is truly a blessing to the empire!"

"I, your humble servant, am ashamed to accept this."

"..."Emperor Yonglong smiled slightly, stood up, walked around the table, slowly walked in front of Li Yanliang, and looked him up and down carefully.

Li Yanliang bowed slightly, held his breath, and waited for the Emperor to continue questioning.

"Yanliang, after so many years, are we a little estranged?"

"…Your Majesty, there is a code of conduct between the ruler and his subjects. I…I dare not be presumptuous."

"Haha..." Emperor Yonglong smiled, stretched out his right hand and gently patted Li Yanliang's shoulder, "I still like to see you like you were ten years ago, straightforward, bold, and warm and caring. Do you still remember? More than ten years ago, I brought Princess Xianning to meet you in a teahouse in Daxing. I still remember your confident and arrogant look."

"..." Li Yanliang was stunned. "I was somewhat confident at that time, but I shouldn't have been arrogant."

"However, Princess Xianning deeply hated your bold comments on Emperor Taizu afterwards, and thought you were disrespectful to Emperor Taizu and insulted the royal family of Great Qi." Emperor Yonglong said with a smile: "Don't forget, just because of your few words, Princess Xianning almost searched through the Wenjin Pavilion of Taichu Palace and consulted countless national history books, vowing to find relevant evidence to refute and deny your bold remarks."

"Well, it's a pity that I have never had the opportunity to apologize to Princess Xianning." Li Yanliang also showed a bitter smile on his face, "Stories in the market and operas are exaggerated and exaggerated. It was I who was too fussy and serious at that time."

"As a soldier, you should be more careful and serious." Emperor Yonglong waved his hand and said, "You have done a good job in Yinzhou over the years. You have established the military system of Xuanzhou almost single-handedly. Not only did you not spend too much military funds, but you also continuously expanded the territory for the empire, and your influence reached Fujiang (now the Missouri River)."

"This military duty is within my responsibility."

"However, many officials in overseas colonial territories messed up their respective duties, and even sat in office without doing anything, only caring about their own interests."

"..." Li Yanliang's face froze.

It seemed that he had made a lot of money in Yinzhou, with nearly 30,000 yuan in "extra income".

"I know that working in overseas colonial territories requires leaving home and country, being in a wild area, and being without family, which is very hard." Emperor Yonglong paced in the palace and said, "So, some colonial officials want to take more and occupy more, and the mainland will turn a blind eye. As long as they don't cause trouble, they won't pursue it too much. This is also the main reason why overseas colonial territories have not set up a supervisory council for decades. However, colonial officials can't make a lot of money while not being loyal to the country and serving the country, otherwise they will let down the mainland's painstaking efforts."

"Your Majesty means..."

"That's right. Since they are so ignorant of restraint and wantonly pursue personal interests, which has caused dissatisfaction among the people in the overseas territories and even fostered the idea of ​​separation and independence, it's no wonder that the mainland puts a 'tight ring' on them and beats them up at the right time. ... Yanliang, you did a good job in reporting all the things in Yinzhou to me in detail, so that I won't be deceived by these pests."

"Your Majesty...I am ashamed..." Li Yanliang felt a little embarrassed.

During his eight years in office in Yinzhou, he sent a letter to Emperor Yonglong almost every month, reporting on local people's livelihood, local governance, military reorganization, colonial expansion and many other matters. Occasionally, he would also attach his own thoughts to the letters, discussing and commenting with Emperor Yonglong on the development of colonial territories and even the entire empire.

At first, Emperor Yonglong often wrote back to him, and they privately discussed and deliberated on domestic affairs and foreign policies, and commented on each other's gains and losses and lessons.

However, as Emperor Yonglong gradually gained more and more control over government affairs, the frequency of communication between him and Li Yanliang gradually decreased. Sometimes, after receiving letters from Yinzhou for several consecutive months, Emperor Yonglong would only respond briefly, and the content of the letters became shorter and shorter.

In recent years, Emperor Yonglong only replied to two or three letters, and no longer communicated or discussed domestic affairs with him, and the topics became empty.

The emperor's reply could be as perfunctory as possible, but as a subject, he could not be so lazy. Li Yanliang still insisted on sending a letter to Emperor Yonglong every month, reporting on the affairs of Yinzhou and the many tasks he had done.

Although he tried his best to regard this behavior as mutual exchange and communication "between friends", subconsciously, he had a utilitarian purpose, which was to rely on Emperor Yonglong as his greatest backer.

As long as he can hold on tightly to the emperor's "clothes" and maintain the sincere "friendship" they have established, his political future will become extremely smooth and he will eventually reach the pinnacle of his career.

Although he had caused such a big incident in Yokoseki (now Shimonoseki), Japan, the cabinet and the military, for the sake of the emperor, only gave him a warning in the military, which was considered a light punishment, and then transferred him to Xuanzhou to serve as the temporary commander of the security force.

After arriving in Yinzhou, in less than six years, his military rank was promoted twice, and he was promoted to Zhaoxin Cavalry Captain at the age of just over 30.

If he could gain some more experience and military achievements over a few more years, he might become one of the youngest generals in the empire.

This time, he left Xuanzhou and returned to Hanzhou to report on his work. Although the military privy council officials did not assign him any duties, they also gave him a month's vacation, showing great care for him, because they understood that his next transfer would most likely require the personal attention of His Majesty the Emperor before it could be finalized. Yesterday, after receiving the summons from the Taiyi Palace, Li Yanliang immediately felt inexplicably excited and... uneasy.

I wonder how much personal affection still exists between me and Your Majesty after not seeing each other for ten years.

Fortunately, the two talked for a while, and after breaking the last trace of alienation and strangeness between them, they seemed to have returned to the warmth and closeness they had when His Majesty was still the emperor's grandson.

"By the way, Yanliang, do you think it is necessary for the royal family to enfeoff a few more vassal lords in Yinzhou to garrison the local area?" Emperor Yonglong asked casually.

"Your Majesty is wise and wise, and you should make the final decision."

"I heard that Yi Fan has developed very fast in the past decade, both in terms of population size and territory area, and has increased significantly compared to before." Emperor Yonglong said: "If this situation is allowed to develop, I am afraid that the two governor-general districts of Xuanzhou and Pengzhou (now the Vancouver area of ​​Canada and Washington State of the United States) will not be able to control it. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, you can set up another vassal state to the east of Yi vassal state to keep it under control." Under the gaze of Emperor Yonglong, Li Yanliang could only bite the bullet and make the suggestion.

"Well, you and I are thinking the same thing." Emperor Yonglong nodded. "Yinzhou is vast, rich in resources, and so far away from Hanzhou. We cannot allow any one force to dominate."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

"Do you think that if Great Qi expands its sphere of influence to Fujiang River and even Han River (today's Mississippi River) despite France's strong opposition, will it lead to a war between Qi and France?"

"Your Majesty, do you really want to go to war with France?"

"We in Qi must have an enemy, right? Otherwise, your military will just put their weapons into storage, let their horses go to the mountains, and wait for death!" Emperor Yonglong said jokingly.

"Uh... Your Majesty, the Imperial Army has always been invincible since the founding of the country. I believe that during this period, the Imperial Army will still be the sharpest sword in your Majesty's hands. Wherever you point, it will be invincible and defeat the enemy."

"That may not be the case." Emperor Yonglong looked at him deeply, shook his head and said, "I don't know if you have heard of this rumor. Every year when officers and soldiers are assigned to garrisons, some people in the army will give heavy bribes in the hope of being assigned to the Indian garrison."

"Your Majesty..., Your Majesty has heard something..."

"Why do you say that?"

"..." Li Yanliang suddenly felt an invisible pressure coming from the emperor.

"India is a good place!" Emperor Yonglong said with a smile, "Some people say that as long as Da Qi keeps India firmly under control, the empire will enjoy at least a hundred years of prosperity. Although no one has carefully calculated the wealth that the empire obtains from India every year, the government alone can obtain between 1200 million and 1500 million in various tax revenues from India. If the profits obtained from dumping goods in India through the empire's industrial advantages are added, it will be a very considerable figure. Well, India is indeed a hen that lays golden eggs!"

"Naturally, countless people flock to such a rich place. It is said that an ordinary tax collector in India can accumulate thousands or even tens of thousands of gold yuan in five years. An ordinary soldier can also return home with 500-800 gold yuan after four years of service, build a beautiful big house, have a bunch of children, rent hundreds or thousands of acres of pasture, and live a leisurely and comfortable life of wealth."

"As for when attacking the Mughal Empire, the Maratha Empire, or other princely states in India, the Indian garrison troops did not seem to need to face the enemy directly, but instead drove a large number of Qi-Indian vassal cannon fodder troops to launch wave after wave of charges. They only needed to review the fruits of victory after the battle. ... Yanliang, do you think such troops can still fight tough battles?"

"Your Majesty, things are not that bad..."

"Yes, things are not that bad." Emperor Yonglong said, "Because there is still a huge military gap between the imperial army and the local Indian army. We can suppress the Indian resistance with advanced weapons and superior firepower. But if our imperial army encounters an opponent of equal strength, how should we respond? Are we still sure of defeating the enemy?"

"His Majesty……"

"Yanliang, how many years have passed since the Imperial Army fought against an opponent of similar strength? Apart from a few battles with European countries such as England, Russia, and Spain, the Imperial Army has basically fought against backward countries such as Japan, Brunei, Annan, Myanmar, India, and Afghanistan. Not only is there a huge gap in strength, but there is also a huge military generation gap. It can be said that the victory was unfair."

"..." Li Yanliang vaguely grasped the key point of a certain theme from Emperor Yonglong's words, but it was stuck in his mouth and he couldn't say it out.

"Yanliang, have you read the History of Jin?" Emperor Yonglong did not wait for Li Yanliang to answer and continued, "When the Jurchens rose to power, they armed themselves with ironware produced by themselves and collected through trade. By the ninth year of Emperor Muzong's reign, the Jurchens had gathered more than a thousand cavalrymen. By the fourth year of Emperor Tianqing's reign, when Wanyan Aguda rebelled against the Liao, they already had more than two thousand cavalrymen, which was enough to fight against the Liao. Well, once military technology is equalized, then the battle mechanism and morale determine the outcome."

"Afterwards, the Jurchens continued to defeat the Liao army, and wiped out 70 Liao troops in one fell swoop at Hubudagang (claimed to be 70, but actually only 10). The Jin army grew stronger from then on, destroying the Liao in ten years and the Song in two years. They also inflicted the most humiliating Jingkang Shame on the Han people, and their fighting power was unstoppable. However, such a powerful army quickly became corrupt and degenerate after entering the north."

"According to the History of Jin, less than ten years after the Jin army captured Dongjing and destroyed the Song Dynasty, their fighting power was no longer as strong as before. They could not gain any advantage over Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, and were almost defeated by the Song army. You see, it only takes ten years for a powerful army to go from its peak to the beginning of corruption and degeneration."

"When Wanyan Liang led an army of hundreds of thousands to invade the south again, he was completely defeated by the Song army. The successor Emperor Shizong Wanyan Yong tried to restore the warriors of the Jurchens and let them practice archery and horseback riding like their ancestors, and sleep in the snow and taste ice, but the whole clan opposed it. Oh, they felt that they didn't have enough beautiful wives and concubines at home, so who would be willing to suffer like this?"

"We all know the final outcome of the Jin Dynasty. It was destroyed by the more hardworking Mongols. The last emperor, Emperor Ai, hanged himself in the Youlan Pavilion, a side hall, and was lost in the long river of history. What do you think, will the Great Qi Dynasty repeat the same mistakes in the future? After decades of dominating the world, will it also fall rapidly? When the time comes, should I hang myself in a side hall, or jump into Liuyun Lake to avoid the humiliation of losing my country?"

"His Majesty……"

"As the ancients said, if there is no enemy and foreign troubles, the country will always perish!" Emperor Yonglong smiled and patted Li Yanliang on the shoulder, "So, we have to find a strong enemy from time to time to give your soldiers practice. Otherwise, the soldiers of the empire will yearn for a good life of leisure, luxury and debauchery. Living in a luxurious house, wearing silk robes, with beautiful wives and concubines lying on their legs, honey wine in bowls, singing and dancing, it is an endless land of tenderness. Tell me, under such circumstances, who is willing to drive a boat, carry a gun, and fight with the poor people of other countries?"

"Your Majesty, if you have any order, I will go through fire and water without hesitation!" Li Yanliang bowed deeply in front of Emperor Yonglong.

"Very good!" Emperor Yonglong looked at Li Yanliang with satisfaction, and said loudly: "No matter what the rest of the empire will become, we, the emperor and his subjects, must always be vigilant and keep our Great Qi and our imperial army in a spirit of striving for progress, so as to create an unprecedented imperial hegemony!"

(End of this chapter)