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

Wang Xuance stood up and bowed to Li Shenshen. He sincerely admired what Prince Ji had said. How many people would be willing to bear eternal infamy for the sake of future generations?

"Alright, it's good that you understand. This matter should still be left to Zhao Laosi to handle."

Li Shen waved his hand.

"Your Highness, our pirate crew only numbers around ten thousand. How could we possibly deal with the million-strong force on these islands?"

Wang Xuance reminded him.

“We don’t have to kill them all. These people are Kunlun slaves. We can start by cleaning up the smaller islands.”

If we arrest these people and sell them to coastal areas, wouldn't we also need a lot of miners to dig coal underground?

Underground coal mining is too dangerous; it's better to let them do it than to use our Tang Dynasty people.

The iron mines in Liaodong also require a large workforce, as does the situation in Japan.

The rest can be sold to other coastal cities, such as India, which would be a good option. We only need the land, so we can sell the land to these natives.

There are many ways anyway; those who resist can try to reclaim land from the sea.

“Even so, it probably won’t be able to be cleaned up in a short time,” Wang Xuance said after hearing Li Shen’s suggestion.

That's a million people; even a million pigs wouldn't be caught in such a short time.

"Didn't I say that the women can stay? In the future, the court will send some criminals here, and we can also relocate some people to have offspring with the local women."

In any case, I only care about the result; I don't care about the process.

By the way, tell Zhao Laosi to refrain from killing and to keep his actions a secret from others.

Furthermore, donate some money for incense oil to all the temples in Chang'an, so that they can perform a ritual to pray for the souls of the deceased every day, starting from this day forward.

Let's also donate some money to all the Taoist temples so they can join in.

Let's do it for a year first and then talk about it.

Li Shen didn't believe in ghosts and gods before, but now that time travel has happened, it's inevitable that there are ghosts and gods involved. As the saying goes, "There are gods watching over you."

Maybe I was sent here by some powerful figure to play around. It's a common scene in novels where several powerful figures use an ordinary person as a pawn for a bet.

Maybe I'm like that too.

"Your Highness, we need Manager Wang's cooperation in selling the Kunlun slaves," Wang Xuance requested after hearing the plan.

"Okay, Lao Wang, just cooperate, but don't do it in the name of the Prince Ji's Mansion, understand?"

How could a compassionate king do such a despicable thing? Try to sell the Kunlun slaves to the people of the Western Regions, and then let them sell them themselves.

But there's one thing you need to be careful about: control the number of Kunlun slaves entering the Tang Dynasty. These wild people are not of pure breed, so we can't let them grow into a large force.

It would be best if they sold it to the West and other countries; we'd just have to deal with the absenteeism.

Li Shen was not a nationalist, but he was a racist who disliked all ethnic groups that were not from the Tang Dynasty.

These natives were not yet qualified to be considered a nation of the Tang Dynasty.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will certainly handle the matter well." Wang Hongfu accepted the order.

"Oh, right, this area should also be cleaned up." Li Shen suddenly remembered Liuqiu and quickly got up to point it out to the two of them.

"Your Highness, there are hundreds of thousands of people on Ryukyu Island, and the same on the islands below. Such a large-scale operation..."

"If we only let Zhao Derong's pirate crew do it, it will probably take two days," Wang Xuance reminded him.

"Two years? That's too long. I'd prefer a few more months." Li Shen frowned immediately upon hearing the two-year timeframe.

Two years is too long.

"Your Highness, the main problem is that we lack sufficient troops. I wonder if the imperial court can send troops to assist us?" Wang Xuance asked.

“If the imperial court could send troops, where would the 500,000 strings of cash and those two plots of land come from?” Li Shen rolled his eyes and said irritably.

Wang Xuance agreed, thinking that if the imperial court could send troops, they wouldn't need to do anything.

Li Shen paced back and forth, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"In this way, we can acquire foreign merchants and also capture those merchants from the Western Regions. The countries across the strait should also be interested."

"But wouldn't that alert them? Srivijaya and Kalinga both have hundreds of thousands of people."

If they become alert and take precautions, our plans will likely become much more difficult.

Wang Xuance immediately retorted.

"It doesn't matter. They'll get alert sooner or later anyway. We can organize people from other islands to arrest their own people. As long as the benefits are enough, they'll definitely do it."

In their view, it's not like they're arresting people from their own country.

In a country of several hundred thousand people, there are only two or three hundred thousand men, and the military force is no more than one hundred thousand, with only tens of thousands distributed across various regions.

With the strength and equipment of the pirate crew, even 10,000 or 20,000 people would not be a match for them.

"Destroy their grain supplies first, and I refuse to believe I can't deal with them. I will accomplish this within a year."

With a population of one million, women must make up at least 40%, plus the elderly and children; there aren't that many men.

"That's a good idea. First, destroy their supplies and starve them for a while, then organize a rebellion."

"When people are starving, they're capable of anything. It will be much easier for us to take advantage of their weakness then."

Wang Xuance, as expected of a military general, immediately found a perfect plan in Li Shen's scheme.

Since food supplies are limited on the island, while pirate crews cannot conquer cities and territories, they can destroy their food supplies.

This is what Zhao Derong and his gang are best at: grabbing something and running away.

When the people are starving, they will surely rise up in rebellion, as has been the case throughout history.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. We'll start from the outside and slowly erode it. Srivijaya is the toughest nut to crack, and we can tackle that last."

When they are isolated and helpless, that will be our time to succeed.

Li Shen nodded.

This is not an easy task. If it were on land, it would be very difficult for ten thousand or eight thousand people to deal with a million.

But this is possible on the island. First of all, in terms of weaponry, the pirate crew is better equipped, with strong ships and powerful cannons, and they are no match for them.

They could launch a surprise attack, and once they succeeded, they would immediately flee far away, making it impossible for the enemy to catch them. Secondly, islands were convenient for ambushes.

"Your Highness is truly talented. With this approach, our great undertaking is assured," Wang Hongfu flattered.

"Your Highness, if there is nothing else, then I will go and deliver a letter to Zhao Derong. Preparations for this matter should be made as soon as possible."

Wang Xuance got up to take his leave.

"Wait, I haven't finished speaking yet." Li Shen waved his hand, gesturing for Wang Xuance to sit down.

"Is there anything else, Your Highness?"

Wang Xuance asked, thinking to himself, "What exactly did Prince Ji go to the palace to do today? Why are there so many things going on?"

Is the Prince Ji's residence also preparing to get involved in politics?

“This matter is very important.” Li Shen said as he walked to the desk. Chunxiang immediately began to grind the ink. Li Shen picked up the brush, took a deep breath, and wrote several large characters on the paper.

Wang Xuance and his companion quickly got up and went to see.

"Dakang... country."

Wang Hongfu read aloud.

(Born with a cursed fate, destined to be alone until old age. No friend-zoned treatment.)