Thief Emperor

Chapter 1103 Words are all matters of great importance

Zhang Sui knelt on the ground, his face contorted in pain, and dared not utter a word.

Du Xiangong appeared much more nonchalant. He smiled at Li Yun and said, "Being a vice minister of the Six Ministries makes it difficult to be an envoy. It would be more appropriate to give him the position of assistant minister or minister of the Ministry of Rites and send him to Tibet."

Zhang Sui kept his head down and remained silent.

He knew that the two "adults" were joking, and at this moment, he, as a "child," had no right to interrupt.

Emperor Li squinted at Zhang Sui, who was kneeling on the ground, and lazily raised his hand.

"Get up."

Three years ago, Emperor Li might have actually sent this guy to Tibet. If he could maintain good relations with the Tibetans, that would be great. But if he couldn't, the Tibetans might have killed him.

At that time, Emperor Li could also take advantage of the situation to advance his troops into Tibet.

However, the new policies in Jiangdong are going well now. At least, all the information Li Yun has received from various sources says that the new policies in Jiangdong are going well.

Li Yun did not believe that anyone could hide such a major event happening in the vast Jiangdong region from his eyes and ears. Therefore, the new policies in Jiangdong can be considered to have been basically successful at present.

To date, the commercial prosperity of the entire Jiangnan East Circuit has surpassed that of the Old Zhou Dynasty, and even its peak period. This is because the imperial court encourages commerce, and maritime trade in Jiangdong Circuit has begun to take shape in recent years. As long as nothing unexpected happens, it will surely flourish in the future.

These figures were enough to leave the several prime ministers of the Central Secretariat speechless, and no one in the court would oppose Emperor Li's new policies.

Even if it exists.

Li Yun now has ample reason to suppress all these dissenting voices.

Therefore, the urgent task now is to gradually promote the new policy nationwide, starting with coastal areas and then expanding it across the country.

Li Yun's plan is to get this done within ten years.

His ultimate goal was to replace 30% to 50% of the land tax with commercial tax in this society dominated by small-scale farming during his lifetime.

At this critical juncture, Zhang Sui has become a very important person.

Zhang Sui stood up and bowed respectfully, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Li, who was originally sitting on the soft couch, has now stood up. He handed the drawing in his hand to Du Qian and said, "This is a border map sent by the Tibetans, as well as a geomantic map of the Western Regions drawn by Chen Da. The Ministry of War's Bureau of Military Affairs has redrawn it. Brother Shouyi, please take a look."

Du Qian reached out and took it, replying with a "Yes."

Emperor Li then turned his gaze to Zhang Sui and said, "The new policies in Jiangdong are quite good. Consider this your merits as atonement for your crimes. I will no longer pursue the Jiangdong official kidnapping case against you."

At this point, the emperor grunted, "During the reign of Emperor Zhaoding of the old Zhou Dynasty, you were by my side, accompanying me on my campaigns. How come, twenty years later, you've sided with someone else?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sui blushed and lowered his head, saying, "Your Majesty, I was confused for a moment. I didn't consider the kidnapping of officials as treason at the time. I thought..."

"I believe that Your Majesty, being a native of Jiangdong, might treat your fellow villagers well, therefore, therefore..."

Emperor Li looked at him and shook his head, saying, "You are really confused. Although Xuanzhou is relatively close to Jiangdong Circuit, it belongs to Jiangnan West Circuit."

"I am a Taoist priest from Jiangxi."

Zhang Sui lowered his head again, his face flushed.

Emperor Li started his career in Yuezhou, Jiangdong Province, and later moved to Jinling. To this day, almost everyone considers Jiangdong to be his hometown.

However, according to the administrative plan of the old Zhou Dynasty, Xuanzhou in those days, now Qingyang Prefecture, did indeed belong to Jiangnan West Circuit.

However, Qingyang Prefecture is now directly under the imperial court and no longer belongs to the local provincial-level government.

"My lord, my lord..."

He stammered and couldn't get a word out.

The emperor patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Alright, this case is over. From now on, remember to stand by your mentor."

At this point, Li Yun paused, then continued, "Next year, you will be entrusted with my imperial edict to begin your tour of all the provinces and implement new policies, starting with Huainan Province."

"You will have a year in each of the provinces."

"After taking a round trip along the coastal routes."

His Majesty the Emperor said calmly, "You should return to Luoyang and serve under your teacher."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sui was overjoyed. He knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said, "Your subject kowtows to thank Your Majesty for your grace."

Li Yun raised his hand, gesturing for him to rise. At this moment, Minister Du had finished examining the two maps Li Yun had handed him. He placed the maps on Emperor Li's desk and asked, "Your Majesty, have the Tibetans agreed to cede Jinchuan Prefecture to us?"

“There’s nothing we can do even if they disagree; Yu Ye has been stationed there for several years.”

The emperor laughed and said, "If you still disagree, then we'll fight. I heard that the Tibetan king is about to die."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "Yu Ye submitted a memorial saying that he wants to take this opportunity to visit the capital of Tibet. What do you think, Brother Shouyi?"

After a moment of silence, Prime Minister Du shook his head slightly: "Our soldiers will probably suffer from acclimatization problems when they arrive in Tibet, and their logistics will also be inadequate."

"There's nothing wrong with adapting to the new environment."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "Tibet is located on high ground, while our land is low. The air there is thin, which is why our soldiers had difficulty breathing after crossing over."

“I asked Yu Ye to recruit a group of young soldiers from the southwestern plateau. They can go to the Tibetan plateau without any problem.”

"However, logistical support is indeed a problem."

Emperor Li glanced at the catalogue, waved his hand, and said, "Let the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talk to them first, and we can study it slowly later. As for the Western Regions..."

Li Yun said, "In the past few years, Chen Da has conquered several countries. The Longyou Circuit has already taken shape. In my opinion, the Ministry of Personnel can start looking for officials for the Longyou Circuit."

Du Qian nodded first, then said, "There is still a problem. Longyou Road is too far away from us. At present, the Tang army is at its peak and can drive straight in to pacify the Western Regions. However, if the royal army is stationed there, the food and supplies will be insufficient."

"If the royal army returns, the kingdoms of the Western Regions will surely rise from the ashes."

Li Yun hummed in agreement and nodded silently.

"So, I haven't let Chen Da come back these past few years."

Transportation capacity and information communication capacity are decisive factors in determining a country's territory, and their influence is, to some extent, even greater than military capacity.

In the era of transportation by carriage and human power, the area actually controlled by ancient dynasties was basically the limit of their territory.

For places further away, the only option is to use methods of control and restraint.

The so-called "controlling" means using one's military capabilities and influence to choose one of the local powers and make it their vassal.

In this way, without stationing troops, one can nominally control the region and occasionally receive tribute from these areas.

The methods used by the police in another world to control other countries are very similar to the system of tributary relations, except that they use more modern methods.

Now, Li Yun is also facing this problem of territorial limits.

Controlling the Western Regions now seems to only involve having the army settle and cultivate the land locally, or using a system of appanage to support one or more local powers.

However, both of these methods will face the issue of loyalty.

If Li Yun wanted to restore the Longyou Road, he needed to send out a person who was in actual control of the army and had absolute loyalty to him. Therefore, Chen Dacai stayed in the Western Regions and did not return.

He looked at Du Qian and asked, "How about we enfeoff the fourth prince in Su and make him the Prince of Su to pacify the Northwest?"

The fourth prince was Li Yun's first son after he entered the Central Plains. Although the country had not yet been founded, the trend of unifying the world was already very clear. This fourth prince was named Li Tong by Li Yun.

She's already sixteen years old this year.

After careful consideration, Prime Minister Du shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty, these matters require careful consideration. For the court, the Longyou region..."

"It may not be worth spending so much time and money."

"The Northwest is harsh, and there is no need to place the imperial heirs there."

Emperor Li shook his head: "Right now, Longyou Road is indeed worthless, but once the new policies are implemented nationwide, Longyou Road will become valuable."

"and."

Li Yun said solemnly, "When the Western Regions are pacified and the Longyou Road trade route is opened, Suzhou may not be as difficult as it is now. It may even become the Jiangnan of the Northwest."

The two talked back and forth, while Zhang Sui listened with trepidation.

The two people were talking quite casually, but listen carefully to what they were saying!

Almost, almost to say...

A major national policy has been announced!
(End of this chapter)