"You've done well in the south, opening up vast territories for the Tang Dynasty. However, I've heard that some local people are unruly. I've read the proposal you sent me. While a strong and iron-fisted policy is certainly a good one, won't it provoke even greater unrest?"
Li Shimin was an outstanding politician and military strategist. Although he had not been in Qianxian for a single day, he could already tell something was wrong just from the number of casualties among the soldiers. The resistance in the south was indeed fierce, even more intense than that in Fuso.
If he were ten years younger, Li Shimin would have the same idea as Li Xiang when dealing with such a place. For anyone who dares to resist, we have only one answer, and that is to kill him with a knife. As for whether he can bear it, that is purely his own business. If he can't bear it, then don't rebel, but be an obedient citizen of the Tang Dynasty.
But Li Shimin is old now, and some red scenes always appear in his mind, just like the mistakes he made in his youth. Now he has figured it out and always thinks not to have too many murderous thoughts, otherwise if he really goes to that society, someone might come to settle the score with him.
"Grandfather, please rest assured. The land area of Indochina is not very large, and the population is not large. If the population density were the same as that of our Tang Dynasty, then adopting this policy might have many side effects. But there is no need to worry about that now. If anyone disobeys, we will kill them and send their families to Goguryeo to farm. Within three to five years, this matter will definitely be completely resolved. I am doing this to avoid repeating the same mistakes..."
Li Xiang talked about Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Yang of Sui. They had also sent troops to Nanyue in those days, and the Nanyue court expressed submission and even established counties there. But what good was that now? Weren't they still plotting rebellion?
What Li Shimin valued most was his own reputation, and he had to surpass the emperors of the previous dynasties. Emperor Yang of Sui was a tyrant who ruined the entire dynasty. Li Shimin naturally did not want to compete with him, but Li Shimin always compared himself to the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor, and even said that he was more powerful than these two people.
So when Li Xiang brought these people out, Li Shimin immediately had nothing to say, and even hoped that Li Xiang could be more drastic and never let these people come to settle the score. By the time we relax for a while, this place might no longer be the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
"Everything you have decided to do over the years has been correct. What are your plans for returning to Chang'an this time?"
Although Li Shimin was old, the questions he asked were all to the point. Li Xiang had not been away from Chang'an for long, and he certainly would not stay in Chang'an for long this time. According to Li Xiang, there was still a powerful enemy in the Western Regions.
Although we have won the victory in the Governor's Mansion of Anton, we must always be prepared. If we do not inflict a serious blow to the Arab Empire, it will always be a threat to us. Instead of waiting for them to come every day, it is better for us to take the initiative and take away a piece of their land to deepen our strategic depth.
"Grandfather, I originally wanted to end the war in the south by attacking India, but the current situation isn't right, so it's better to resolve the trouble in the western regions first. After the Arab Empire's last defeat, it seems they've found a powerful enemy to their west. These people are simply making enemies everywhere, so under these circumstances, I think now is the best time to launch an expedition to the Arab Empire."
Li Xiang has already summarized all the intelligence. According to Li Xiang's idea, the Arab Empire's enemy in the West should be the Frankish Kingdom.
According to the original historical trend, they should not be strong enough now and it is impossible for them to confront the Arab Empire. However, according to the information obtained from the gaps within the Arab Empire, they did encounter a powerful enemy in Jixi. Li Xiang could not think of any other enemy besides the Frankish Kingdom that could tie with the Arab Empire.
"Just how big is this world? I thought the Western Regions had already reached their limit, but I didn't expect there was so much further west. This world is truly amazing. I originally thought that our Tang Dynasty had the largest territory, but now it seems there are still many more places to conquer."
There was also fanaticism in Li Shimin's eyes. For a monarch with a strong open mind, the end of the world is what he needs to pursue. If he is limited to himself, he could have lived in peace for a thousand years.
"Grandfather is right. Although the Tang Dynasty has a large territory, much of it is of little use. We must find a large amount of fertile land. Only with more fertile land can we support more citizens and increase our tax revenue."
Li Xiang must get the support of people within the court. You know, many people now say that Li Xiang is a warmonger. It is obvious that there are not so many troubles in the border areas, but instead he mobilizes a large number of soldiers to attack other countries. Expanding territory is important, but the entire dynasty cannot be in war all the time.
The meaning of Li Xiang's words was very clear. He wanted Li Shimin to know that our wars were not only for the purpose of expanding territory, but also for achieving great progress in taxation. When Li Xiang was just reborn, the tax revenue of the entire Tang Dynasty was only 12 million strings of cash.
But how much tax revenue did the Tang Dynasty collect now? It had increased more than fourfold. This was only the tax revenue collected publicly. A large portion of it had been secretly embezzled by Li Xiang. So if all the revenue was brought to the table, it would have increased tenfold.
Can you say there is a problem with war? If you say there is a problem with the plundering of war, then you are really lying with your eyes open. Although military expenditures are also increasing, after deducting expenses from the harvest, the court's income is still more than doubled than before. Otherwise, how could Li Shimin afford to build a palace?
Think about when he just ascended the throne. Let alone building a palace, even if he just arranged some cheap things, I'm afraid there would be many people in the court who would oppose it.
Now that Li Shimin had built a palace, was there anyone in the court who objected? No one objected at all. The Tang court had so much revenue, even if Li Shimin had built a new city, I'm afraid no one would have said anything...
