Thief Emperor

Chapter 1034 Breaking into the Golden Age
Since the mid-Wu Zhou period, access to the Western Regions has been restricted, and this has been more than a hundred years now.

As a brand new dynasty, the youth within it, and the overall character of the nation, naturally dictate an expansionist policy.

Emperor Li was no exception.

If he were to take over Wu Zhou's territory and occupy Youyan, he would become complacent and stop making any moves, resting on his past achievements and remaining the supreme ruler.

So there's naturally no problem with his account of the Wu Dynasty. But what future generations will write about Li Yun's dynasty is hard to say.

Most likely, it will sound terrible.

In fact, Emperor Li had many things he wanted to do, and he had been quietly building up national strength for these purposes.

One of these was to open up the Western Regions.

Besides opening up the Western Regions, his other tasks were to conquer the peninsula, recover Nanyue, then conquer Tibet as much as possible, and finally launch the great sea voyage of the new dynasty.

Leaving aside distant places, at least Southeast Asia and Japan should be turned into cheap raw material markets and dumping grounds for high-value-added goods for the Li Tang dynasty.

In this way, his prosperous reign could potentially be achieved in twenty or thirty years.

Otherwise, according to the laws of dynastic development, his generation could only be considered as restoring vitality and reviving all industries, then winning a few more battles, and finally laying a good foundation for future generations.

Typically, a dynasty reaches its peak roughly 50 to 80 years after its founding, by which time the foundation has been laid, allowing future generations to fully implement its policies.

They were probably Li Yun's grandson or great-grandson generation.

This is a historical trend, and it is difficult for anyone to achieve success overnight. The only way to develop at the fastest speed is to expand outwards and guide the land of China from a land-based civilization to a comprehensive land-sea civilization.

These are all just Li Yun's ideas. He can only do his best to accomplish them in his lifetime. If he can succeed, that would be great; if not...

There's nothing we can do about it.

We can only rely on the wisdom of future generations.

The good news is that from the first year of Zhangwu to the present ninth year, apart from the war between Youyan and some small-scale rebellions, even the belligerent Emperor Li has not fought any large-scale battles.

The nation's strength has been accumulating for nearly ten years.

In the Battle of Youyan, Li Yun only used the troops from Hebei Province and the Taiyuan Army, plus the 5,000 Imperial Guards brought by Su Zhan.

The Imperial Guards near Jingzhao Prefecture still retain almost their full combat capability.

Emperor Li looked at Liu Bo, then reached out and said, "Bring me the detailed intelligence on the Nine Departments."

Liu Bo responded, took out a thick stack of documents from his robes, and handed them to Emperor Li's desk. Then, looking at Li Yun, he sighed softly, "With the court's current military strength, I don't think there will be any major problems in opening up the Western Regions. However, the problem is that the Northwest is still too far from the court. If it were the Western Regions..."

“The grain supply routes alone will be a major problem.”

Emperor Li looked up at Liu Bo, then continued to look down at the documents, saying as he read, "What if we send a force to cultivate the land in the Western Regions?"

"There shouldn't be any major problems in the short term, but problems will arise over time."

Liu Bo said quietly, "Who would leave their homeland thousands of miles away and guard the Western Regions alone?"

"It's very likely that they'll stay for ten years."

Liu Bo said with a wry smile, "This round trip will probably take a year."

"It's beyond our reach, that's the point."

The Duke of England glanced at Li Yun and said in a low voice, "Therefore, throughout history, no dynasty has lasted long in the Western Regions. They mostly just defended the borders and repelled invading enemies."

Emperor Li finally looked away from the documents.

Every word Liu Bo said was true.

When a nation is strong, opening up the Western Regions is not a major problem; the real difficulty lies in maintaining this connection over a long period.

Where did you get tens of thousands of troops to guard that place for you for so long?
The transportation capabilities of this era are truly terrible.

Let alone the exchange of grain, even a single letter would take several months to travel back and forth. Such delays in communication made it difficult to maintain a loose system of control, let alone establish a direct administration.

Li Yun pondered for a moment, then said quietly, "I understand the matter. I will take care of it from now on. The Ninth Division will send more people to these two places. Report any news to me immediately."

Liu Bo responded and bowed to the emperor, saying, "Second brother, please rest early. I'll head back now."

He slowly withdrew from the Ganlu Hall. Emperor Li sat in the main seat without moving. He carefully read through the intelligence sent by the Nine Departments, and then ordered the palace servants to light a few more lamps and hang up two maps.

This is a map of the world that he ordered the Ministry of War to draw up after the founding of the country. In addition to a complete large map, there are also ten regional maps according to each region.

This map was not completed until the sixth year of the Zhangwu era, and one copy has been kept in the Ganlu Hall for His Majesty the Emperor to view at any time.

Emperor Li carried the palace lantern and looked around for a long time. It wasn't until midnight that he became tired and didn't go to the inner palace to choose a concubine. He then went to sleep in the Ganlu Palace.

The following day was the day of the grand assembly.

Emperor Li, sporting dark circles under his eyes, listlessly entered the Taiji Hall, sat in the main seat, and received the homage of civil and military officials.

There were many things to discuss at this grand court assembly, and it finally ended close to noon. Emperor Li stepped down from the imperial steps with his hands behind his back and then instructed, "General Su, Li Hu, and Chen Da."

After calling out the names, he said in a deep voice, "After the court session, come to the Ganlu Hall to see the Emperor."

Before the sixth year of Zhangwu, Chen Da had been serving as the General of Chang'an in Guanzhong. In the sixth year of Zhangwu, he resigned as the General of Chang'an and was succeeded by He Jun.

Chen Da, on the other hand, returned to Luoyang to join the Imperial Guard. He is now a general in two of the twelve Imperial Guards and has been in Luoyang for several years.

To be precise, after the establishment of the Imperial Guard, many generals who had been sent out to other places, especially Emperor Li's confidants, returned to Luoyang and joined the Imperial Guard.

After all, although the troops stationed outside were also the court's troops, they were too far away to be of any real power. The Imperial Guards, on the other hand, were the most direct manifestation of the emperor's power and will.

With these old brothers in charge of the Imperial Guard, Emperor Li had the confidence to boldly do what he wanted to do.

Upon hearing His Majesty the Emperor's "call," the Taiji Hall immediately erupted in discussion.

No one was stupid; upon hearing these names, they almost immediately guessed what was going on.

There must be fighting somewhere again.

Or perhaps His Majesty is preparing to wage war on some place.

So when these three arrived at Ganlu Hall, many officials gathered in Taiji Hall, discussing the matter. Some people surrounded the prime ministers and asked them questions. The prime ministers looked at each other, bewildered.

They didn't know either.

During the reign of Emperor Zhangwu, the power of the prime minister was strengthened to some extent. For example, the Secretariat could handle most matters directly.

However, on the other hand, it also weakened the power of the prime ministers. For example, in military affairs, the prime ministers of the Central Secretariat had almost no say.

The emperor only discussed matters with the Privy Council, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Imperial Guards, and the relevant officials involved. He did not seek out the Chancellor of the Central Secretariat to inquire about their views on military affairs.

At most, they would discuss with the prime ministers whether or not to fight.

However, the Grand Secretaries had absolutely no say in how to fight, what kind of people to send, or what kind of troops to send.

Clearly, this time His Majesty the Emperor did not need to discuss whether or not to fight, so he simply skipped the Secretariat and directly summoned several relevant military officers.

On the other side, Li Hu and Chen Da followed behind General Su and carefully made their way to Ganlu Hall. As soon as they entered Ganlu Hall, the three of them saw two maps hanging up.

The three men glanced at the map and almost understood the Emperor's thoughts, but they still stepped forward one by one and bowed to the Emperor.

Emperor Li raised his hand, signaling them to stand up. Then he pointed to the two maps and said quietly, "That's the situation. There are some problems in both places, and I'm preparing to send troops to these two locations."

He looked at the three of them, then his gaze fell on Su Sheng: "General, why don't you say something?"

Su Sheng thought for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, I would like to see the specific intelligence."

Li Yun nodded and pointed to the table next to him. Soon, the three of them took the documents from the Nine Departments and passed them around for a look.

After thinking for a moment, Su Sheng continued, "Your Majesty, the situation in Lingzhou and Shuofang is simple. Just send troops from Chang'an to quell the rebellion. General Chen can lead the troops, with He Jun as the deputy general."

As for Tibet…

He hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I believe that we should strengthen defenses in Jiannan Road and Guanzhong Road."

"There shouldn't be any major problems, therefore Tibet..."

General Su bowed his head deeply.

"It can be put on hold for now."

(End of this chapter)