Late Tang

Until the evening, Li Jing seemed to have not recovered from the excitement of the day. Let Zhao Jiang pass it directly to the South Study Room. After a simple dinner, Li Jing asked Zhao Jiang to find a map of the southeast towns, and carefully began to study the feasibility of the navy's proposal.

In addition to the four seas familiar to the Tang people, many businessmen who run sea trade have long known that there is a huge island in the South China Sea called Borneo, also known as Boni, which is bigger than Hainan Island and Ryukyu Island. many times the size of the island.Just to the east of this big island in the South China Sea, that boundless ocean is called the Eastern Ocean Sea, where it is regarded as a no-man's land where the sun rises.In the north of Borneo is the South China Sea, and in the west is the Tianzhu Sea.Between the Tianzhu Sea and the Dashi, there is the East Dashi Sea, and to the west of the Dashi, that piece of ocean is called the West Dashi Sea.On the other side of the Great Western Food Sea, there are countless countries that exist. Those countries are called among the Taixi, and the farther west of Taixi is regarded as the place where the sun sets.

In fact, the names of these oceans are replaced by today's names. The East Ocean Sea is the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea is the South China Sea, the Tianzhu Sea is the Indian Ocean, the East Great Sea is the Arabian Sea, and the West Great Sea is the Atlantic Ocean.It can be seen from this that these merchant sailors who sailed around more than half of the earth actually have enough knowledge of ocean geography.

In the entire Asian region, although the Tang Dynasty has weakened, relying on the unique terrain and the closed terrain of the Middle-earth world, the Central Plains will not be invaded by foreign forces, even if the battle of Tocharo in the Western Regions failed in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Afterwards, the Arab Empire failed to cross the vast Western Regions and reach the traditional locality of the Central Plains.

Although the rise of Tubo in the mid-Tang Dynasty caused heavy damage to the Tang Empire, the prosperity of the plateau tribes made it difficult for them to adapt to the climate of the Central Plains.Although it once controlled the Hexi area and invaded Guanlong, it was unable to go deeper into the Central Plains.Subsequently, Tubo weakened faster than the Tang Dynasty.The Uighur Empire of the Grasslands perished earlier than the Tang Dynasty, and there were no superpowers on the grasslands.Although many tribes in Northeast Asia have risen to replace the weakened Silla and Balhae, the emerging Khitan and Mohe people have encountered Li Jing who would never have appeared in history.

The tribes in the northeast were surrendered, the grasslands were still divided, and the tribes in the northeast, northwest, and southwest were all weakened.

Even the Nanzhao Kingdom, which had fought against the Tang Dynasty for more than a hundred years with a corner of the southwest, finally completely fell silent after the death of the former king, Chief Dragon.Years of war, eight national wars in 18 years, and finally these ferocious southern barbarians were dragged to death by the Tang Dynasty.

Looking around, although the Tang Dynasty at this time was extremely weak, it fell into a chaotic world of separatist regimes and mutual attacks.However, the surrounding situation of the Central Plains Dynasty is unprecedentedly good. Not only the tribes in the northeast, northwest, and southwest are all extremely weak, but even the Sasanian Dynasty, the once powerful Persian Empire, fought undefeated with the Roman Empire for hundreds of years. The Arab Empire falls.However, the Eastern Roman Empire blocked the repeated large-scale attacks of the Arab Empire. In the end, although the Arab Empire entered the Western Regions, after the expansion period of the four major caliphates, this land spanned the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. After the Persian Achaemenid Empire After , the Alexander Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire, another super empire that spanned Asia, Europe, and Africa began to fall into a period of decline.

The Arab Empire, which is called the Dashi Dynasty by the Chinese and the Saracens Empire by the West, basically fell into a period of decline at about the same time as the Tang Dynasty.

In the ninth century, all major dynasties in the world basically fell into a period of decline at about the same time.

The Tang Empire has even lost Chang'an several times, and the Tubo people who beat the Tang Dynasty all over their heads can no longer be strong. The imperial Uighurs on the grasslands first suffered civil strife, and then were wiped out by a small tribe.The Bohai Sea, a prosperous country in the east of the sea in the northeast, is extremely weak, and the unified Silla on the Sanhan Peninsula has also begun to suffer from civil strife.

During this period, the Eastern Roman Empire was invaded by barbarians and retreated steadily.

The Arab Empire, which spanned Asia, Africa and Europe, was not much better. After the 78-year continuous expansion period of the four caliphs, the Arab Empire, which moved its capital to Baghdad, gradually weakened. In the ninth century, uprisings continued in the empire.People's uprisings spread throughout the empire, among which the Babeck uprising, black slave uprising and Kalmat uprising were the most powerful.The mass armed "Red Army" once grew to 30 people and continued to fight for 20 years.The black slave uprising lasted for 14 years.Arabia has been completely caught in the wave of popular uprisings and local divisions.

In Tianzhu, the Indian mainland was also caught in division and melee. The unified dynasty was no longer there, and northern India was still being conquered by the Arabs.In southern India, several dynasties also emerged at the same time, among which the Zhuluo Kingdom and Fandia were the most powerful.Zhuroya was also called the Kingdom of Zhunian by the people of the Tang Dynasty. It was an emerging dynasty. They not only frequently conquered the forces on the Indian mainland, but even sent expeditionary troops into the South China Sea to conquer the island countries in the South China Sea. Large-scale naval battles.

It can be said that in this era, established empires and dynasties have come to an end, and emerging forces have taken advantage of the situation.

Especially in Middle-earth, after the surrounding northeast, northwest, and southwest countries have weakened and been conquered, only the South Seas, but because of the prosperity of this maritime silk road, several emerging forces are accelerating their rise and expansion.

India's Zhuren Kingdom, Malay Sanfoqi, Indonesia's Java Kingdom, and Cambodia's Chenla Kingdom, these forces have all begun to prosper and rise.

In contrast, places such as Lingnan West, Lingnan East, Fujian, and Annan along the Nanyang coast of the Central Plains have not fully recovered after experiencing several lootings by Huang Chao.Like the Annan area, Li Jing even got information showing that the power of the local families in the Annan area has risen greatly, and the officials stationed by the imperial court have basically been emptied.According to historical development, it won't be long before the families in the Annan area will control the Jing Navy, and finally drive out the court officials, and the local regime will be separated. Then, in the continuous war in the Central Plains, the regime will be completely divided, and the Central Plains dynasty will end more than a thousand years. Annan region rule.

Even Nanzhao, which was already weakened, was able to rely on the war in the Central Plains to escape the fate of being destroyed. Instead, after recuperating, he established the Dali Kingdom and separated from the Central Plains for hundreds of years.It can even be said that if it were not for the wars in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, which greatly weakened the control of the Central Plains over the southwest region, the Central Plains Dynasty would inevitably continue to expand southward, just like the conquest of Annan and Nanzhao, and eventually stop the pace of conquest in the Indian Ocean shore.

Now there is an opportunity in front of Li Jing. Before the rise of the countries in the South China Sea, he can directly smash them down with a stick and beat them to death.Then, relying on the strong military power of the Qin Fan, it only takes a hundred years to bring this territory into the territory of the Han family of the Central Plains Dynasty.

Of course, this is not just for the sake of expanding territory.First, sea trade is extremely important to Qin Fan, and even if he wins the world in the future, he will also be inseparable from sea trade.And at that time, the sea trade will only be more prosperous. How can such an important sea trade be controlled by the countries in Southeast Asia?In addition, the Southeast Asia and southeastern countries are extremely hot compared to the severe cold in the north.But the hot places in Southeast Asia are rich in grain.This is an area that can produce three crops a year, and is even rich in resources such as fruits and fisheries.

There are too many benefits. Compared with the grasslands that cannot be cultivated and are difficult to actually control, it is much easier to control the places in Southeast Asia.Wars with the prairie people can often only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Even if the prairie people are defeated, they cannot completely control and occupy the grassland.But the land of Nanyang is different. Firstly, the people of Nanyang are not as fierce and good at fighting as the grassland people. Secondly, the Qin army can really rule these places for a long time.As long as time is given, it is completely possible to establish a stable rule and even assimilate them.

With so many benefits, how could Li Jing not be tempted.Even if the current strategy of the Qin army is to go north and then south, and then east and west.According to the strategic sequence, the strategic direction of the Qin army should be Hebei first, then Hedong, then Henan, followed by Guanzhong, Longyou, Bazhong in Hanzhong and Shu, and then down the Yangtze River, capturing Hubei, breaking Hunan, and going down to Jiangxi. Take Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and finally Lingnan and other places.

However, if we don't make arrangements as soon as possible now, I'm afraid that when the Qin army seizes the world in the future, such as the Zhuan Kingdom, Sanfoqi, and Java will also have full wings.

Early the next morning, Li Jing summoned Li Rang first.

If you want to make a layout in Nanyang, you must first look at your own family background.If the family's wealth is insufficient, Li Jing has no choice but to postpone this plan, if the family's wealth is rich, then he has to make arrangements as soon as possible.Even, Li Jing had to make different plans according to the wealth of his family.

If you have money, go big, if you don't have money, go small first.

Hearing that Li Jing asked for money as soon as he came, even Li Qilang, the chief steward of Qin Fan who was called the God of Wealth by Li Jing, couldn't help but look at Li Jing with some surprise.If you are not in charge, you don't know how expensive the money is. Although it is said that Li Rang relied on the financial management methods he accumulated when he was the richest man in Bianzhou in his early years, and he also obtained many secrets from his master Li Jing, it is still very hard to manage the finances of such a huge feudal town.

What Li Rang is most afraid of is fighting. If any battle is fought, he will lose a lot of hair.Up to now, he is young, but his hair is half gray.

Qin Fan actually still has a sum of money now, and it's not a lot.This is also thanks to the million-dollar disarmament order issued by Li Jing, which saved a lot of military expenses alone.Moreover, many military industrial enterprises have also begun to switch production. Many self-use ordnance factories have begun to switch out of sales-oriented munitions workshops, and some have even directly converted from military industries to civilian use.During this in and out period, the investment has been reduced, and a lot of income has also been increased.In addition, the top ten military horse farms in the country have also reduced their scale and sold a large number of inferior war horses, which is another large sum of money.You know, raising a war horse is much more expensive than raising a warrior.

Coupled with the sale of a large number of old-fashioned ordnance to the alliance towns of the Qin Fan, and a new order just issued by Li Jing not long ago, allowing the people of the Qin Fan to register and license the notice to purchase ordnance, this has caused a large number of immigrants from the Northeast, and the long border The common people all over the world bought the old-style ordnance that had been eliminated from the arsenal one after another, making another big profit.

Also, Qin Fan's central bank just issued a bond, and all 3000 million bonds were sold.In addition, the large-scale project jointly presided over by the Qin Fan Household Department, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance, etc., is to rebuild and expand Xuzhou City. This project is completely based on the original Yanjing routine. Land, etc., made a lot of money early on.In addition, many lands on Ryukyu Island and other islands were leased to various big families who went to develop and earned a lot of rent...

In general, Li Rang actually still has a whole [-] million yuan worth of gold, silver, copper coins and banknotes stored in the treasury of the Ministry of Finance.Of course, he didn't say it, because although the money seemed to be a lot, in fact, it had already been spent on Li Rang's budget statement.

The largest budgetary expenditure is the military expenditure for the upcoming Battle of Hebei this year, as well as the salary expenditure budget for a large number of officials and soldiers.In addition, there are several big heads, the vertical line plan that keeps swallowing money like a black hole, and plans to invest 3000 million in this year, and continue to repair this big hole that I don’t know how much it will cost to fill.In addition, education expenditure is also a large amount, the immigration plan is still in progress, and there is still a large gap in follow-up funds. In addition, the military defense plan in the Northeast requires a lot of money, and the development of the Northeast by farmers and soldiers is also waiting for the rice to be cooked.

One hundred million seems like a lot, but if you can't save a little, it's much worse.

Now, King Qin suddenly asked him how much money he had, and Li Rang was really surprised.

"There's no money!" Li Rang gritted his teeth and replied with a stiff neck.All the money has already been budgeted, and it is impossible to give it to Li Jing.

Li Jing was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect to get such a result.

"Is there really no money?"

"It's gone."

"How about issuing some more bonds?" Li Jing tried to ask, Li Rang is the God of Wealth, since he said he has no money, it means that there is indeed no surplus money.

"We have just issued 3000 million bonds, and it is not appropriate to issue them again. There are too many bonds issued, and the interest we have to bear every year will increase a lot. This burden is very heavy." Li Rang rejected Li Jing's proposal without hesitation.

Li Jing thought for a while, "Why don't we go to the towns in the southeast?"

Unexpectedly, when Li Rang heard this, he immediately said: "Your Majesty said this, and I was about to report it to you. Dong Chang in eastern Zhejiang has not given this month's offering."

"Maybe just a few days late."

"It's been half a month, and it will never be slow." Dong Chang is the Jiedu envoy of the Yisheng Army in Eastern Zhejiang. Under the threat of the Qin Army's navy anytime and anywhere, so as early as a few years ago, after defeating Liu Hanhong and winning East Zhejiang, Dong Chang expressed his loyalty to Li Jing with a sense of current affairs.

Not only did he express his loyalty to Li Jing, but he also made offerings to Li Jing every month, and the number of offerings was quite large.

Every ten days, Dong Chang sent people to pay tribute to Yanjing.Each gang has 1 taels of gold, 5 taels of silver, and 20 bolts of silk.This is a rich offering, one gold is five silver, and eight coppers are discounted.These tributes were converted into Qin Fan's flying tiger copper coins, which were worth exactly 60 guan.Three key points a month, Dong Chang is equivalent to paying 720 guan to Li Jing, and Dong Chang will give [-] million guan to Li Jing in December of a year, not counting other things such as Li Jing’s birthday, Li’s mother’s birthday, Chinese New Year and holidays, etc. As a gift, Dong Chang will give Li Jing tens of millions of money in just one year.

If it hadn't been for Dong Chang relying on maritime trade for the past few years, gaining a lot of fame and earning a lot of money, ordinary people would simply not be able to afford such a large sum of money.

If it weren't for this, Li Jing wouldn't be the envoy of the righteous victorious army for Dong Chang, and let the navy escort him, and he took a large share of the sea trade every year, and even Qin Fan pulled out every year. Give Dong Chang a large amount of low-priced high-quality salt.

No wonder Li Rang cares so much about Dong Chang's tribute, which is 20 for one outline and 60 for one month.This is a lot of money. I usually don't feel it when I send it every month, but I feel it when it is suddenly cut off.If Dong Chang knew how Li Rang felt about giving him gifts, he might have stopped paying tribute long ago.

"Each time Dong Chang sends five hundred soldiers to escort the tribute, if they delay the time, they will all be executed. Therefore, Dong Chang's tribute outline is very accurate every time, no more, no less, and every outline is ten days apart. But this It’s been half a month, and I still haven’t seen his Gong Gang.”

Dong Chang was originally a rich man in Lin'an, Hangzhou. He didn't have much ability, but he did have some vision.In the past few years, he has paid tribute to Li Jing desperately, and he has lived well in eastern Zhejiang.In order to strike a balance between the two Zhejiang provinces, Li Jing didn't care about Qian Liu's desire to replace Dong Chang. He just pretended not to know, and kept Dong Chang's seat secure.Dong Chang is also smart, and he paid the most tribute to Li Jing among all the vassals.

Now that Dong Chang suddenly stopped paying tribute, Li Jing couldn't help but think a little more.Could it be that Dong Chang felt that his wings were hardened, so he didn't want to spend this money to keep him safe?

Thinking of something in history, Li Jing's face darkened involuntarily.

He had someone call Gongsun Lan.

"Send someone to Yuezhou immediately to find out what's unusual in Zhedong Town recently, and then to Dong Chang."

Gongsun Lan nodded and wrote down, the nine birds on her head swayed and swayed towards the phoenix in golden steps, just like a hundred birds facing the phoenix, competing to fly. "Your Highness suspects that Dong Chang has ambiguity?"

"It's not impossible. Dong Chang has only been in Zhedong for several years. Maybe he feels that he is already strong, or he is reluctant to give us such a large sum of money, or he thinks the current situation is profitable. ?” Li Rang said on the side.

Li Jing waved his hand: "Find it out before we talk about it. Before the matter is clear, don't startle the snake for the time being."

At any rate, Dong Chang was the envoy of the Yisheng Army, and his subordinates controlled the territory of Bazhou in Zhedong Town. Li Jing didn't want to cause too much trouble.I hope it's just that the soldiers escorting Gong Gang were delayed on the way, otherwise the meaning behind this matter is not small.

After Gongsun Lan went back, she immediately arranged the matter. As a result, three days later, Gongsun Lan received an urgent letter from Feige from the southeast.As soon as she opened it, Gongsun Lan's expression changed, and she hurried into the palace immediately.

"King Qin, urgent report from the southeast, Dong Chang is about to proclaim himself emperor!" (To be continued.)