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

Chapter 948 A great harvest
"It is said that?"

Li Shimin shook his head, feeling that the other party was still too rash. They dared to send troops to the sea on an expedition just by hearing about it. It was really a bit ignorant and fearless, and perhaps they were just too young.

Yes, King Youxian was doing well.

Since his debut, he has hardly suffered any setbacks and easily gained the position of Lord of the Grassland. Naturally, he has high aspirations.

It is not easy to go on a sea expedition. If something goes wrong, you will lose both your money and your lives. You will know that the blame is on you.

Li Shimin thought about it and decided, "The Tang Dynasty is busy with many things and may not be able to make other plans. If the Right Wise King insists, I am willing to adopt the second method of the Right Wise King and only be responsible for the transportation of the Turkic army. As for the attack on Japan, the Tang Dynasty will not participate."

"No matter how much the Turks gain from Japan, the Tang Dynasty will not participate."

"On the other hand, even if the Turks gain nothing, they still have to pay the one million taels of silver per year for the passage."

"However, I have already said that going to sea is extremely risky. I can only guarantee that as long as there are no problems with the fleet, the Turkic army will be fine. You know, if there is a shipwreck, the Tang Dynasty will also suffer heavy losses. Each family must bear its own risks."

Li Shimin was thinking of this as a sure-win business. He knew that the Turks had gained a huge amount of wealth from their previous attacks on the Three Kingdoms of Korea and their current invasion of the Tang Dynasty. These "deposits" alone would be enough to cover the Tang Dynasty's expenses for several years.

I'm not worried that the Turks can't pay.
Li Yan thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, that's it. I wonder how long it will take for Datang to be ready?"

"My Dengzhou fleet has not yet touched upon the waters off Liaodong. We need to set up ports and replenish checkpoints along the way, and lay the lines bit by bit. It is estimated to take three months to half a year." Fang Xuanling looked up and thought for a moment before saying.

It's August now, and in three months it will be autumn and winter.

Li Yan made the decision and said, "In that case, we will wait until next year to send out troops. We should make some preparations in advance in the past six months. Especially since most Turks are not good at swimming, it may not work if we rashly cross the sea to fight."

"In the second half of the year, the Tang navy can be divided into two groups. One group will go to Yingzhou along the strait, survey the hydrology along the way and set up ports. The other group will go to the Tumen River. I will arrange for soldiers to take turns to familiarize themselves with the water and learn naval warfare with the Tang navy."

Fang Xuanling nodded: "You Xian Wang has considered it carefully, this is very good."

By the time everything was settled, it was already sunset.

Thinking of the frequent contacts between the two sides, Li Shimin called Wang Xuance to be in charge of all matters related to the trade, and Li Yan also arranged for Wu Yuanhua to be in charge of the establishment of the market office on the Turkic side.

The two sides exchanged tokens and contact information, and Li Yan stood up and said goodbye.

"Take care, Emperor of Tang!" Li Yan looked at Li Shimin and greeted him with concern.

Li Shimin also gestured with a bow, and Li Yan took Wu Yuanhua down the city wall and came to the front of the Turkic army. He commanded Gu Rentu to lead hundreds of thousands of troops to slowly withdraw.

Li Shimin, his emperor and his ministers stood on the top of the city wall, watching the Turkic army march north, and they all breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of their hearts.

Li Jing asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, why did you agree to help the Right Wise King cross the sea to the east? Isn't this helping them develop the ability to cross the sea and go on an expedition? If they also have a navy, won't they bypass Liaodong and attack the heartland of our Tang Dynasty in the future?"

Li Shimin remained silent, while Fang Xuanling explained, "Duke Wei, although the Right Wise King is a Han Chinese, the Turks as a whole are still hostile to our Tang Dynasty. In the next few years, if the Turks are idle, they will either attack the Western Regions or invade the Tang Dynasty from the south."

"Your Majesty, there is nothing you can do about this. The same is true for the Right Wise Prince."

"If we attack Japan and divert the trouble to the east, the Turks won't target us anymore."

"Besides, the Turks have a lot of money after two years of war. If we don't agree, they will still recruit those fishermen from the Tang Dynasty. If they feel it is inconvenient, they will even build warships and organize a navy."

"In that case, the Turkic navy will become stronger even faster."

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and smiled, "It is better to open up than to block. If we help them fill this gap, they will not think about developing independently, and the lifeline of the Eastern Expedition will be in the hands of our Tang Dynasty Navy. We can take this opportunity to vigorously develop the navy and familiarize ourselves with overseas situations."

"As long as our Tang navy maintains its powerful combat capability and size, we will not be afraid of the Turks."

"We cannot rely on a Right Wise King for the safety of the Tang Dynasty. There is trade in the Northern Frontier and cooperation in the East China Sea. The more they rely on us, the deeper their involvement will be. Even if the Great Khan is replaced in the future, they will have to think twice before attacking us."

"The party that benefits from these collaborations will naturally become a staunch anti-war faction, which will hinder internal efforts and make it easier for us to divide the grasslands."

Li Jing nodded slowly after hearing this: "So that's how it is, Your Majesty is wise!"

"I have promised the Right Wise King that within five years, the Tang army will not cross Yumen Pass."

Li Shimin's abrupt words immediately made Li Jing nervous, and he quickly advised: "Your Majesty, the Western Regions have been our territory since ancient times. If we give up now, I am afraid that our Tang Dynasty will become a historical sinner?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, how can that be possible?" Li Shimin did not wait for Fang Xuanling to finish his words, and turned around to explain: "The Right Wise King said that if the Tang Dynasty entered the Western Regions, the Turks would also be involved. At that time, the Western Regions would enter the chaotic Warring States Period, and no one would be happy."

"The power that the Tang Dynasty can use to enter the Turkic region is limited, and it is far less powerful than the Turkic region."

"Instead of doing this, we should use this as an excuse to get the Turks to not interfere in the Western Regions and let the Yi people do whatever they want."

Li Shimin told Li Yan about his plan and said, "That's a good idea. Five years later, we'll see how the Western Regions perform. If the Tang Dynasty has the strength to retake them, we'll send troops in. If not, we'll let the Turks take them down, and then we'll pay for them."

"Anyway, the Western Regions will eventually belong to the Tang Dynasty, and the Right Wise King acknowledges this."

Fang Xuanling and Li Jing breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.

If this is the case, retreating now is for a better attack in the future. Li Jing was the first to nod in agreement.

Fang Xuanling thought for a moment and added, "In that case, we can choose not to send troops. However, the Hexi Corridor is the Silk Road. We can send envoys and spies to infiltrate the caravans and contact the countries in the Western Regions to add fuel to the chaos that will follow."

"I think the Right Wise King would do the same."

"After all, Yi Nan is now doing the dirty work, so we have to send people to watch over him. There are so many forces in the Western Regions, and both sides of us have to send people to find spokespersons, add fuel to the flames, sow discord, etc., so that the situation will develop in the direction we want."

“In this way, we can better take over in the future.”

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction: "That's what I mean, too. Let's discuss it after we get back. Whether it's opening the market, conquering the Western Regions, or Japan, they are all serious matters, and we need to assign capable personnel and set up a special department to deal with them."

"Your Majesty is wise." Fang Xuanling and Li Jing responded in unison.

The Turkic issue was the top priority for the Tang Dynasty. Once this issue was resolved, the Tang Dynasty's fundamentals would be stable. Coupled with various cooperation projects, the emperor and his ministers were all very satisfied. They did not expect that this meeting would yield so many results.

The three of them stood on the top of Fengzhou City, looking at the setting sun with red clouds in the sky, and they were full of confidence in the future of the Tang Dynasty.

The Fengzhou Peace Talks laid the foundation for the future situation between the two most powerful forces in the world, the Tang Dynasty and the Turks. However, the Tang Dynasty's rulers and ministers all knew that such peace would be short-lived, more like the calm before the storm.

Sooner or later, there will be a war between the two sides to decide who will rule the world.

The later this day comes, the more violent its momentum will be. After the earth-shattering war, the winner will rule the world, and the loser will be swept into the dust of history.

Therefore, under such an urgent crisis, the Tang Dynasty began to take intensive actions, as if to clear the battlefield in advance for the future decisive battle.

In October of the 11th year of the Zhenguan reign, the Tang Dynasty opened four trading locations in the northern border, namely Fengzhou, Shengzhou, Mayi and Yingzhou. Although the aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty strongly opposed it, believing that this move would aid the enemy, they were forced to agree due to the strength of the Turks.

The people are very enthusiastic about trade between the two sides.

From the beginning of the establishment of the four markets, the trade between the two sides has exploded with great potential. By the end of the year, the monthly transaction volume has reached nearly 10 million taels, and the tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty in the four places exceeded 1 million taels. This alone increased the treasury revenue of the Tang Dynasty by nearly 30%.

In the face of such gratifying and significant results, the voices against the mutual trade in the court gradually disappeared. Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling did not expect the effect to be so good, and they were more determined to strengthen the mutual trade and temporarily cooperate with the Turks.

At the beginning of the 12th year of Zhenguan, the Turks raised an army of 50,000 and, with the help of the Tang Dynasty's Dengzhou navy, marched from Geoje in Liaodong to Japan.

This marked the beginning of the war of conquest of Japan.

At that time, Japan was in a state of primitive chaos, with no resistance to such a powerful enemy. The 50,000-strong Turkic army conquered most of the islands in Japan from south to north in just one year.

Then they sold the women as slaves to Liaodong, and concentrated the male captives in the Iwami area, where they began large-scale mining.

The Ishimi Silver Mine was not mined at this time, and its mining difficulty was easier than Li Yan imagined. By the middle of the 13th year of Zhenguan, the amount of silver ingots mined per month had reached more than 600,000 taels, totaling about 8 million taels per year.

Everyone in the Tang Dynasty was jealous of this situation and suggested to Li Shimin to ban cooperation with the Turks, cut off the Turkish passage, and bring Japan under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and Li Jing regretted very much that they had given up the cooperation with the Turks to jointly attack Japan. However, after careful discussion with other important ministers, they felt that doing so would be tantamount to a complete break with the Turks and Japan could indeed be taken over by the Tang Dynasty.

But what followed was that millions of Turks from the northern grasslands marched south to retaliate.

However, the Tang Dynasty does not have such strength at present. In addition, most of the silver obtained from the Turks was used to pay for trade between the two countries. In fact, this meant that the silver only passed through the Turks and finally flowed to the Tang Dynasty.

After comprehensive consideration, the Tang Dynasty gave up cutting off the water route and continued to cooperate with the Turks.

(End of this chapter)