The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 947: Borrowing the Road to the East
Seeing Li Shimin fall silent, Li Yan shook his head depressedly. After all, he was not from a noble family, and he could not accurately grasp the strength and influence of the noble families of this era.

As an outsider, Li Yan can easily go to two extremes, either being too dismissive or too serious.

This kind of mentality makes it impossible to be the main operator in solving problems.

After all, the Li family is the core member of the aristocratic family. They themselves come from this group, and Li Shimin is a prominent figure among them. He definitely understands these people better than Li Yan, an "outsider".

Whether Li Yan's method can work or not depends on Li Shimin, the "expert".

However, for five or six years, Li Shimin did not push the reform into deep waters.

This also shows from the side how much Li Shimin fears this group, and it is probably difficult to deal with it. What Li Yan can do is to tell Li Shimin some ideas, and also help him reduce the pressure on the Turkic foreign threat.

The rest depends on Li Shimin himself.

Seeing that everything was done, Li Yan thought for a moment and brought up the last topic of this meeting: "Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, in fact, I, Turk, have another unwelcome request for this meeting. I would like to ask the Tang Dynasty for permission?"

"Oh, what's the matter? Can you tell me?"

Li Yan thought for a while and asked, "I wonder if the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty knows about the Far East?"

"Are you talking about the East China Sea or Yingzhou?"

When Li Yan drew the map of the world before, he also marked the locations of the Japanese islands and the main islands. Therefore, Li Shimin was also familiar with this place. When he saw Li Yan asking about it, he subconsciously took over the conversation.

It is recorded in historical books that the easternmost part of this continent is the sea, and overseas there is a series of archipelagos called Yingzhou.

Since the Han Dynasty, people from this area have entered the mainland. Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty saw that these people had short lives and gave them a name, calling them Wo.

After that, Japanese people appeared in the Central Plains one after another.

Li Yan knew that it was during the Zhenguan period that the Japanese began to send Tang envoys to the Central Plains. The main purpose of these envoys was to learn about the culture, system, art and technology of the Central Plains and bring them back to their homeland to promote their development and reform.

Li Yan originally didn't plan to pay any attention to these people for the time being.

After all, there are too many things in the Tang Dynasty. If I travel to the Ming Dynasty, I have to kill them first. It is still too early now. It is a bit far-fetched to try to persuade the emperor and ministers of the Tang Dynasty to cross the vast Tang Dynasty to attack a backward and primitive place.

You have to know that there are still many places in the Tang Dynasty that have not been conquered. No matter how you look at it, it is not their turn.

Later, they came to the grassland. Li Yan had millions of soldiers under his command and could make decisions with just a word. Then there were another five or six years of peace.

As for the barbarians in the west, we just need to suppress them slowly.

In order to cooperate with the subsequent trade and ease the war pressure between the two countries, the Turkic side needs to find something to do. Taking advantage of the "slack season" to go out and do some odd jobs, even if they fail, it won't be a big deal, right?
Using the Turks to deal with the Japanese is a dog-eat-dog situation, which is simply the most suitable choice.

What's more, at this time, Japan still had an important resource to be mined, which was silver.

According to historical records of later generations, Japan is one of the most important gold and silver producing areas in the world. The Iwami Silver Mine located in Ota, Shimane is the largest silver mine in Japan and even in the world, with a high silver content and a shallow reserve layer.

There is no large-scale mining at present. It is said that in some places, if you pick up a piece of silvery-white stone, it may be silver ore.

In later generations, Japan once became one of the world's few silver-producing countries, so much so that one-third of the world's silver at that time was produced here. Therefore, Japan was called the "Silver Islands" by people in the Ming Dynasty.

After entering the Song Dynasty, the imperial court began to import a large amount of gold sand from Japan. At the same time, it exported copper, tea, silk, ceramics, etc. to this place, and the trade between the two places flourished.

Iwami Ginzan is located in the eastern part of the main island of Japan, separated from the present-day Liaodong Road of the Tang Dynasty and the southeast of the former Silla by only a strait, and connected by a series of islands in the middle. It is the only channel for communication in this era.

Thinking of this, Li Yan felt a little regretful. If he had known that the Turkic Khanate would become so powerful so quickly, he should not have handed this place over to the Tang Dynasty so quickly when attacking the Three Kingdoms of Korea last year. As a result, now they have to borrow a passage to send troops to Japan.

"Your Majesty, you also know that since we have decided to temporarily abandon the Western Regions and let the Xueyantuo deal with it, we cannot use troops against the Western Regions in the next five years."

Li Yan said with a shameless face: "Your Great Tang has things to do, and my Turkic people don't need reform. So many people are idle, and if something happens, it won't be good."

"There are no enemies of any weight in the entire grassland now."

"I want to attack Yingzhou. The only way to Yingzhou is Liaodong Road. The Turks want to borrow the passage from the Tang Dynasty to cross the Yingzhou Strait. In addition, the Turks are not good at building ships and sailing, while the Central Plains had a navy before the Sui Dynasty, and there are many fishing boats along the coast."

"So, I want to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty and jointly conquer Yingzhou."

When Li Shimin heard that they wanted to borrow his territory, he instinctively wanted to refuse. However, the two parties had just had a good discussion. If he flatly refused, it might anger the other party and affect the cooperation between the two parties.

However, Li Shimin was experienced in life and well versed in the ways of the world. After a little thought, he smiled and said, "I don't really understand this matter. If the Right Wise King is willing, I will call the Left Pushe and the Duke of Wei to discuss it together." "As long as they agree, I have no objection."

Seeing that Li Yan agreed, Li Shimin called Fang Xuanling and Li Jing and told them Li Yan's request. As soon as he finished speaking, Li Jing stared at Li Yan with a vigilant look and said flatly: "No, I think it is absolutely not possible."

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, there is only one way to get to Yingzhou, which is to cross the entire Liaodong Road and take a boat from Geoje, the southernmost point. The entire journey is nearly 400 miles, deep into the sea, with high water and rough waves, and the situation is complicated."

“There is no other way.”

"But now Liaodong is the homeland of our Tang Dynasty. We must not allow the troops of other countries to enter. If the Turkic army cannot be controlled, the entire Liaodong Peninsula will be completely out of control."

Li Shimin's expression remained unchanged, and he smiled slightly in his heart. This is the wisdom of the superior. If something is unpleasant to the ear, let others say it. He is superior to them and does not need to offend anyone.

If the ministers had known this earlier, they would not have agreed to it.

After listening to Li Jing's words with satisfaction, Li Shimin apologized to Li Yan and was about to draw a conclusion.

Fang Xuanling asked, "I wonder how the Right Wise King will cooperate?"

what?
Li Shimin and Li Jing looked at Fang Xuanling in surprise. What was going on? Of course, they would decisively refuse such a thing. Why did they ask? Judging from Fang Xuanling's expression, it seemed that they could still discuss it, if it wasn't in front of Li Yan at this time.

I'm afraid Li Shimin will criticize Fang Xuanling harshly right away, but even so, Li Shimin's face darkened.

Li Yan smiled slightly when he saw this, and said calmly: "There are two ways to cooperate. One is that the Turks buy ships, craftsmen, sailors and other related necessities for crossing the sea from the Tang Dynasty, and form a joint fleet. The two countries will send troops together, and all the profits will be divided equally between the two countries."

"The second is that the Tang Dynasty only needs to borrow the passage and provide ships and sailors. The army will be provided by us Turks alone, and the profits will naturally belong to the Turks. However, the ships and sailors will be regarded as being leased by the Turks from the Tang Dynasty, and the actual expenses will be borne by us."

"In addition, the cost of borrowing the road is one million taels of silver per year."

'hiss'

Li Shimin and Li Jing were excited when they heard this. This was a long-term deal. They didn't have to do anything but borrow the passage and could earn one million taels of silver for free in a year. It was very cost-effective.

In this era, going on a sea expedition is not an easy task. If the Turks could conquer Yingzhou for ten or eight years, the gains would be huge.

However, thinking about the risks involved, Li Shimin and Li Qing still wanted to refuse with reluctance.

Unexpectedly, Fang Xuanling smiled and said to Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, I think the proposal of the Right Wise King can be considered?"

"What, Prime Minister Fang..." Li Jing's face turned anxious and he was about to question.

Li Shimin waved his hand. Li Jing's attitude was clear and there was nothing new about it. However, Fang Xuanling was an experienced man who was good at planning for the country, so he must have some reasons.

"In fact, this detour does not necessarily have to pass through the heart of Liaodong."

Fang Xuanling said confidently: "After the Liaodong Peninsula belongs to the Tang Dynasty, the entire Bohai Sea and the East China Sea have become the inland seas of the Tang Dynasty. The Dengzhou navy's cruising range has already touched the Danluo Island area, and we have a preliminary understanding of the water conditions at sea."

"Under this circumstance, our Tang navy can completely follow the outer side of Liaodong, go north along the coast, and reach the mouth of the Tumen River in the Turkic Limo."

"The Turkic expeditionary force can board the ship here, and then the fleet will sail along the coastline to Geoje, the southernmost tip of the peninsula, and then head to Yingzhou. Although it is nearly 400 miles, it is not entirely sea. There are several islands in the middle that can be docked."

“The safety of the entire trip can be basically guaranteed.”

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin looked at Li Jing for advice. Li Jing frowned, but nodded slowly, indicating that what Fang Xuanling said was true.

If this is the case, the Turkic army will be on the sea the entire time and will not have to come into contact with the inland of Liaodong, so there will be no risk.

Moreover, the fleet is still under the control of the Tang Dynasty, so there is no need to worry at all.

Li Yan immediately said: "Prime Minister Fang is indeed very talented. Your Majesty can rest assured. The Turks intend to capture Yingzhou and have no ill will towards the Tang Dynasty. According to the route described by Prime Minister Fang, we Turks can accept it. However, since we are on the Tang Dynasty ship, the Tang Dynasty must ensure our safety."

After saying that, several people looked at Li Shimin.

Since cooperation is feasible, the method will depend on the emperor's intention.

Li Shimin thought for a moment and asked, "If we attack Yingzhou, what can we gain?"

"Land, population, gold, silver and other valuables are not much different from attacking other forces. I heard that this place produces silver. If we can get some gains, it won't be a loss?" Li Yan smiled and said truthfully.

(End of this chapter)