The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 541 Cultural Foundation
Tian Ze glanced at the huge map on the wall: "The world is huge."

"But where there are people, there is struggle. As time goes by, the world will get smaller and smaller."

"Just like us Han people, during the Xia and Shang dynasties, we only had a territory of one state, but now, our territory has expanded more than ten times."

"Even if I don't tell you, you should know something about the situation of the three empires in the west," Tian Ze asked.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao nodded.

Since you are going out, you naturally need to know what the situation is outside in advance.

"Don't underestimate these empires. Although their foundation is far less profound than ours, their population and territory are so large that it is not easy to conquer them."

"If we leave it alone, who knows if it will become the new 'Da Qin' in the future?" Tian Ze said dimly.

"No matter how big the world is, I don't think any land is redundant. All of them should belong to the Han people."

"I don't have much time in this world, so this must be resolved as soon as possible."

From beginning to end, Tian Ze never forgot his original intention.

Gather the good fortune of humanity to ascend and find the way to immortality.

Therefore, for him, this world is not worth investing too much time in, and it should be solved as soon as possible.

"I don't care about your future development, but before I leave, you can only be princes forever." Tian Ze said in a deep voice.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao nodded slightly.

This is inevitable, even if Tian Ze doesn't say it, they have no choice but to do so.

If you go out alone without anyone's support, you will be like a rootless duckweed, unable to withstand the wind and rain.

Therefore, they had already prepared to continue operating as a vassal state of the Great Qi for decades or even hundreds of years.

Wasn't it the same in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? It was nothing more than putting a sign on the head, harmless.

When they become strong enough, they will take off the sign.

"What kind of country is Kushan?"

Tian Ze said nothing, but asked Jia Xu to take out two files.

"The population is over 10 million, and agriculture, animal husbandry and commerce are all very developed."

"There are nearly 600,000 soldiers, and most of them are cavalry."

"Centralization of power, centralization of politics and religion, absolute monarchy, assisted by a vice-king."

"A two-tier system of provinces and regions, with dependent territorial management."

……

Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you fight without danger.

Facing an empire-level opponent like the Kushan Empire, Tian Ze would naturally not fight a battle without confidence.

Jia Xu and Guo Jia had already infiltrated the matter early on, and even some aristocratic families had intervened in the matter in advance.

This was not instigated by Tian Ze, but was driven by interests.

Kushan and Sindhu are extremely rich and not far from the Central Plains. In the eyes of these aristocratic families, they are a piece of fat meat. How can they not take action?

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were focused on the war in the Central Plains in recent years and did not know much about it.

If they pay attention, they can get a general idea.

After quickly reviewing the situation of Kushan, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao frowned slightly.

"Any ideas?" Tian Ze asked.

Cao Cao frowned and said: "Not that strong, but..." "But our troops are too few. If we fight head-on, it will not be difficult to win, but I'm afraid the losses will be great." Yuan Shao added.

"And with a population of nearly ten million, if we push too hard, I'm afraid it won't be difficult to double the troops. Fighting away from home is very disadvantageous for us."

Cao Cao said: "Like the Han Dynasty, we will follow the route of strong trunk and weak branches. The central army will be more elite and there will be a lot of them."

"But unlike the Han Dynasty, the Kushan Empire's current problems are more internal. They have no shortage of money and food, and have the ability to urgently mobilize troops."

"If we want to attack, we must not only consider the Kushan's desperate counterattack, but also beware of the Parthian Empire picking peaches."

"We should also pay attention to Sindhu. It's best to take it down in advance, or at least cut it off. Otherwise, if they go south after their defeat and use Sindhu's power to counterattack, it will be troublesome."

"The internal strife among them can be used to great effect. It would be best if we could use it to divide and disintegrate their power..."

Listening to the two people's discussion, Tian Ze nodded slightly.

All his efforts were worth it. With the two of them here, he didn't have to worry too much about the battlefield on the northern front.

These two people are the best in the world in terms of diplomacy, political strategy and planning.

Yuan Shao once led the princes in the campaign against Dong Zhuo, and behind the scenes dragged the Han Dynasty into the abyss.

Cao Cao was very skilled in using the emperor to control the princes, and he knew best how to use political means.

With these two people working together, Tian Ze felt that he could observe a moment of silence for the Kushan ruler in advance.

Although they are all called the Four Great Empires, there are huge gaps between them.

According to the information Tian Ze currently has, the current Da Qi is undoubtedly the top tier. After all, with Tian Ze's cheating, it is expected that the team will be far ahead of Rome, which was originally on par with them.

The second is the Roman Empire, with a population of nearly 50 million and millions of standing troops. On paper, its combat power is not much inferior to that of the Da Qi.

Next was the Kushan Empire, and last was the Parthian Empire, which had a population of only about eight million and a standing army of 400,000.

However, the size of population and military force is not the decisive factor in strength, but only the entry threshold to the empire, a necessary but not sufficient condition.

Otherwise, Sindhu, with a population of 40 million and a million soldiers, would not have been excluded from the four great empires and crushed by the Kushans.

The Parthian Empire would not have been able to hold out for four hundred years under the attack of Rome and Kushan. The Sassanid Empire, which later overthrew and inherited the legacy of the Parthian Empire, once pressed Rome.

In Tian Ze's eyes, compared with the current Da Qi, the other three empires have huge shortcomings in their political systems and cultural heritage.

Because they do not have the so-called "orthodox" or "great unified" ideas, their ideology is relatively loose.

Its management system, to a certain extent, still remains in the Zhou Dynasty era, which was mainly based on feudal fiefdom, and its control over the people under its rule is not strong.

Even the title of the Lord of the Empire is often the so-called "King of Kings".

The subordinate vassal states can secede at will and rebel at will. They seem to be very powerful, but their foundation is not stable.

This also allowed Tian Ze to put aside his biggest concerns.

That is the problem that these empires awakened under the pressure of powerful external forces.

Just like the situation in the late Qing Dynasty.

If Western countries had directly overthrown the Qing Dynasty, it might have been a good thing for China at that time.

Once the heaviest shackles were removed, the power unleashed by this nation was extremely terrifying, as can be seen from the Boxer Rebellion alone.

It was precisely because of this realization that the foreigners always maintained a delicate relationship with the Qing court, using the Qing court's righteousness to legally invade and plunder.

China's thousands of years of cultural and ideological foundation is the key driving force behind its repeated rebirth from the ashes.

The three current empires obviously do not have such a foundation, which gives Tian Ze and others a lot of room for maneuver.

(End of this chapter)