Time Travel: I am the idle king Li Shen and Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty

Previously, Li Shen habitually referred to the Strait of Malacca as Malacca, but if it becomes the Strait of Ji Wang, he can't very well call himself Ji Wang.

Doesn't this sound a little off?

"Your Highness, there's nothing wrong with naming a strait; it won't cause any controversy."

Wang Xuance thought that Prince Ji still wanted to keep a low profile, so he advised him.

"Well, alright. Since you're all so hospitable, it would be pretentious for me to refuse. From now on, this place will be called the Jiwang Strait."

The Chamber of Commerce issued an official letter to notify all merchants.

He ordered Zhao Laosi to find a large stone, carve it, and then color it with cinnabar. Besides his name, he was also to write the Tang Dynasty calendar date on it.

If we're going to do it, let's do it to the best of our ability. The first line should say "Kiwang Strait," and the second line should say "Eternal Peace and Tranquility."

I vow, in my name, to ensure the eternal peace and security of the outer seas for future generations.

In the end, Li Shen agreed to Wang Xuance's suggestion, and the Ji Wang Strait was born. Moreover, Li Shen was determined to do his best.

He also wanted to make his name even more renowned, to forever guard peace and tranquility, and to have this stone forever suppress this place, making it clear that this place was the territory of the Great Tang Dynasty.

In the eyes of Wang Xuance and Wang Hongfu, the four characters "Yongzhen Anding" were extraordinary. Prince Ji was using his name to suppress this place; Prince Ji wanted to become the sea god.

They had all read the Journey to the West written by Prince Ji, and wasn't the golden cudgel in it the Heavenly River's Bottom-Stabilizing Divine Iron?

Its purpose is self-evident: to suppress the sea.

The two men looked at Li Shen differently now. The man wanted to become emperor, while Prince Ji wanted to become a god.

Both of them wondered if the King of Ji would build a temple for them in the future, so that the people could worship them and receive incense offerings.

Given Prince Ji's personality, it's quite possible.

"What do you think? Is what I'm doing acceptable?" Li Shen asked.

"Yes, of course, we can use Your Highness's name to forever protect peace. Your Highness has the world in your heart, and I admire you."

Wang Hongfu was the first to react.

Wang Xuanze nodded in agreement.

"This move is indeed feasible and will also make more people remember that this is the place of Prince Ji's Mansion."

"Alright, let's do it that way. When the time comes, Xuan Ce, you should inform Zhao Lao Si and tell him that I haven't forgotten him."

If he performs well, I will recommend his eldest son for a government position this spring, even if he doesn't pass the imperial examination.

I will also buy him a county magistrate position; this is a reward for his many years of loyalty to me.

Using both kindness and threats, Zhao Derong's wife and children were all at the imperial estate, which could be considered as hostages.

After all, the ocean is vast. If Zhao Laosi had ulterior motives and ran away with the fleet, where would Li Shen find him?

Li Shen invested a considerable amount of money in this fleet.

"Your Highness, rest assured, Zhao Derong has been relatively well-behaved since that incident, although he has developed some bad habits."

However, he still diligently carried out the tasks assigned to him by the Prince Ji's residence.

Wang Xuance knew what Prince Ji was worried about.

"That's good. You know how important this pirate crew is to my Prince Ji's mansion. If we find that they have any disloyal intentions, we can kill them on the spot."

I do not wish for any uncertainty, especially in matters that are of great importance to me.

Hearing Wang Xuance's words, Li Shen nodded. He didn't like killing his own people, but just in case, he still had to be fully prepared.

As Li Shen's business grew larger and larger, he truly came to understand the central theme of being an emperor: killing meritorious officials.

Sometimes it's out of necessity.

The pirate crew was never under his watchful eye; most of its members were sailors recruited from fishing villages by the sea.

They had no loyalty to the Prince Ji's mansion, so it would be easy for Zhao Derong to declare himself king.

"I understand. I have already made arrangements. The people from Number Seventy-Six will be keeping an eye on him."

Wang Xuance replied.

Hearing that the people from Number 76 were watching Zhao Derong, Li Shen felt relieved, knowing that this was the only way to ensure everything went smoothly.

The people in number 76 are all loyal to the Prince Ji's mansion, or rather, loyal to Prince Ji, Li Shen.

More importantly, none of these people knew each other. Even if one of them sided with Zhao Derong, there were others around.

"Then let's talk about the next matter. I have taken on a job from the imperial court, worth 500,000 strings of cash, plus a piece of land in Yazhou and a piece of land in Liuqiu."

Originally, I wanted to develop the entire Ryukyu region, but then I realized that Ryukyu is too big, equivalent to a superior state, and the Ji Prince's Mansion probably doesn't have that much money to develop it.

Therefore, we only need one piece of land to build our own port city.

"Five hundred thousand strings of cash and two plots of land, Your Highness, this job must be difficult."

Upon hearing Li Shen's words, Wang Xuance immediately inquired.

Li Shen nodded slightly:

"It will be a little difficult, but not too difficult. My plan is to wipe out the natives in this area, leaving only the women."

From now on, this entire area belongs to my Great Tang Dynasty.

"Your Highness, please produce the map." Wang Xuance didn't know which place Li Shen was referring to.

Li Shen waved his hand, and Shi Tou immediately took out a map. Wang Xuance and Wang Hongfu opened it, and Shi Tou drew a rough location on the South China Sea with his finger.

"This...isn't this a bit too big? There must be over a million natives on this island, right?"

Looking at the area depicted on the stone, Wang Hongfu opened his mouth in shock. Was this a plan to massacre a million people?

Wang Xuance frowned and stared at the map for a long while before looking up and saying:

"Your Highness, if the entire region were to be cleared, the population would be far more than a million. Srivijaya alone comprises fourteen provinces and hundreds of thousands of people."

There are also surrounding small countries and islands, such as Gandharva, Malyu, Langyashu, and Kalinga, with a total population of over one million.

Is it really necessary to commit such a massive massacre?

That's a population of over a million, most of whom are ordinary citizens. How do we even begin?

"Xuan Ce, they are not yet subjects of our Great Tang. You must understand that what we are doing is a sin in this generation, but a benefit for future generations."

This is also for the sake of our descendants.

Think back to the First Emperor of Qin, who built the Great Wall to subdue the Xiongnu. At the time, many people cursed him as a tyrant.

But you should also conscript troops; the Great Wall has defended us for thousands of years.

Without the Great Wall, foreign invasions would be as easy as entering an empty field.

While we cannot compare to the First Emperor, we are doing this for the sake of future generations a thousand years from now.

Seeing Wang Xuance's concerns, Li Shen sat up and explained earnestly. Wang Xuance was, after all, a civil official, and always cared about etiquette and morality.

Li Shen's actions repeatedly crossed Wang Xuance's moral bottom line.

Therefore, Li Shen needs to use psychological manipulation on Wang Xuanze from time to time to keep him on the same side.

So what if he killed someone? It's better to kill someone than to have one of his own killed in the future. Li Shen can bear the blame himself. It's just a bad reputation, Li Shen doesn't care.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. I understand now. It is all for the sake of future generations of our Great Tang Dynasty."