Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

"The words may be rough, but the principle is sound!"

"Old Han's words are spot on!" Zhou Guangming, commander of the Daqian Zhenguo Navy, immediately chimed in, "He hit the nail on the head in one sentence!"

“Think about it, everyone—we’re doing this out of goodwill to bring those Westerners in; it’s not difficult.”

"Our navy can send tens or hundreds of thousands of transport ships to pick up people here at any time without any problem."

"But that's not the problem!"

The problem is—we meant well and thought we had done a really touching and charitable thing.

"Now these people are definitely feeling grateful and will shower us with all sorts of nice things."

"However, once things are settled in Xiluo, and time goes on, these people will realize that Qianzhou is much better than Xiluo!"

"Then let's just settle down and establish a country in Qianzhou!"

"Just like Lao Han said—with our Great Qian Zhenguo Army here, these guys definitely won't dare to act recklessly."

"But it's certain that they'll do something disgusting and troublesome to us behind our backs."

"It's certain that the imperial court will get into a lot of trouble because of this."

"Since we've already anticipated the consequences of this matter, why should we create unnecessary trouble for ourselves?"

"right?"

"Therefore, I wholeheartedly agree with Commander Han's point of view."

"Old Zhou, you were the one who brought up this point first—shouldn't I be the one who strongly agrees with you?"

Han Yunsheng, commander of the Daqian Air Force, joked, "I'm not going to fight you for the order of things..."

"Our Navy Commander and Air Force Commander have made their attitude and views on this matter very clear."

Shen Moshen smiled, then turned his gaze to He Hongyi, the commander of the Daqian Zhenguo Army: "Commander He, what is your army's view?"

"You, the Army Commander, should give us an answer. Of the three military commanders, you're the only one who hasn't made a clear statement yet."

"Chief, I don't think there's anything to consider about this at all."

He Hongyi said solemnly, "My point of view is that we cannot accept refugees from Xiluo."

"We must also intensify our efforts to strictly guard against and thoroughly investigate those smugglers who have crossed the border from Xiluo to Qianzhou through various irregular channels."

"Investigate as many as you can, then gather them all together and send them all back."

"Anyway, there are no outsiders here. I, He Hongyi, have always been a straightforward person who likes to say whatever comes to mind."

"I won't bother with all that fancy stuff."

"I think the current state of the fighting in Xiluo is a pleasant surprise for our Great Qian Dynasty, isn't it?"

"The Chief's future plan is to achieve true unification, so that all the world within reach belongs to the Great Qian and is its territory!"

"Therefore, we will eventually have to take over that territory of Xiluo."

He Hongyi paused, then said bluntly, "To put it bluntly—the more intense and fierce the fighting is on the Western Front right now, the more severe the casualties are..."

"Wouldn't that save the imperial court a lot of trouble?"

"Aren't those remnants of barbarian tribes a living example?"

"How much effort and how much time did we expend to completely eliminate those remnants of the barbarian tribes?"

"Everyone has seen it for themselves, right?"

As the saying goes, "Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts."

"Besides, they're not all the same color. Even if we take care of Xiluo, aren't these natives just... you know...?"

"Instead of going through all the trouble of reducing and controlling their numbers later, it's better to let them digest it themselves now."

"right!"

"Let them fight to the death if they want!"

Why are we worrying about this?

"And what about accepting the Western refugees in the spirit of humanitarianism?"

"Isn't that unnecessary?"

He Hongyi said with certainty, "Moreover, we have already made our stance clear—the Great Qian will absolutely not interfere in the affairs of Xiluo in any way."

"We have to accept that!"

"Some people might say—why did we make that statement? Don't you, as the Army Commander, have any idea?"

"Of course I know!"

He Hongyi looked at everyone present with a serious expression, his gaze lingering on the few who had previously supported taking in the Xiluo refugees: "So you all said that."

"They should also know that the imperial court's ultimate plan is to wait for the right opportunity to strike against Xiluo!"

"This was a plan personally decided by the Chief of Staff; it can't be changed, can it?"

"Now you're taking them in under the guise of humanitarianism, or because you feel you can't bear to do it."

"Have you considered what these people will think when we send troops to Xiluo?"

"Who among you can guarantee that these people will behave themselves and not cause any trouble?"

"If these people cause trouble in Qianzhou, won't it be up to our Great Qian Zhenguo Army to step up and quell it?"

"It's not that we're afraid of trouble or complaining, but it would be really unreasonable if this delayed our advance into Western Rome."

"Therefore, I firmly agree with Commander Zhou and Commander Han's views!"

He Hongyi said firmly, "I think the military should be in agreement on this issue."

"After all, we are looking at this issue from a holistic strategic perspective."

"Unlike some self-proclaimed saints who sit in offices pedantically, always making sweeping generalizations..."

"Old He, that's enough. You can't let your bluntness affect internal unity." Zhou Guangming stopped He Hongyi from continuing.

"We're all doing this for the imperial court, we're just standing at different angles."

"There's really no need for us to keep arguing about this."

"The Chief of Staff encouraged everyone to express their opinions freely, and everyone was able to speak their minds and express different viewpoints."

"We express our views and opinions, but the final decision rests with the Chief of Staff."

"However, I think what Lao He just added was absolutely brilliant!"

After playing the "nice guy" role, Zhou Guangming immediately changed his tone: "I wholeheartedly agree!"

"We must guard against this at all costs. We can't let Qianzhou become a paradise for illegal immigrants, can we?"

“If these illegal immigrants go into hiding, it can trigger a series of social problems.”

"The most direct point is public security!"

"The security situation in each protectorate will plummet, wouldn't that be a losing proposition?"

"Therefore, we must take this matter seriously and absolutely cannot be careless in the slightest."

"We have finally achieved such good results in various protectorates. If the people question the ability of the relevant departments of the court to protect their lives and property because of security issues, then we should let them down."

"That would be a huge loss of face!"

"By the way, if we run out of transport ships for repatriation, just let us know!"

"Our navy will absolutely support them to the very end!"

-------------------------------------

"Alright, I think I've understood everyone's opinions and viewpoints on this matter."

Shen Moshen waved his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down.

If this continues, the scene of freely expressing opinions will likely turn into a heated debate competition...

There are currently only two viewpoints regarding whether or not to accept the refugees from Xiluo.

One group consisted of staunch opponents, represented by the military; the other group comprised some civil officials who supported the government by portraying it as a benevolent and virtuous figure.

Those in favor believe this is a golden opportunity for the Great Qian Dynasty to demonstrate its benevolence to the world.

They can use this opportunity to create a wave of public opinion to completely change the image of the Great Qian Dynasty that had been smeared by the Western Luo Kingdoms...

Of course, Shen Moshen also knew in his heart that whether they were in the opposition or the support, everyone was considering the interests of the court.

It's just that the two factions consider things from different angles and directions...

"Old Ge, the attitudes of the three military commanders on this matter are very clear."

"As the head of the civil officials in our Great Qian Dynasty, what are your thoughts?"

"They've been discussing this so enthusiastically for ages, and you've been so patient, throwing out the question and then going silent?"

"Chief, you've really misunderstood me..."

Ge Daqiang quickly explained, "The reason I've been listening for so long without saying much is because I wanted to hear everyone's opinions carefully."

"Then we should think carefully about which viewpoint is more in line with our long-term plans and actual interests of Daqian."

"This way we can better report to the Chief of Staff..."

Shen Moshen smiled and urged Ge Daqiang to speak quickly: "So now that you've listened and thought about it, what conclusion have you come to?"

"Chief, I have just thought about the viewpoints of both sides carefully."

Ge Daqiang then went straight to the point, saying, "I think the military's viewpoint is more suitable for the court's long-term planning..."

As the head of the civil service, Ge Daqiang did not show favoritism towards the pro-CCP faction on this matter.

“A very practical point—if we really open this door, with the influx of a large number of Xiluo refugees, the security pressure faced by each protectorate will definitely face an unprecedented and enormous challenge!”

"In fact, with the influx of a large number of illegal immigrants during this period, the security environment in various protectorates has declined to varying degrees."

"In some places, underground gangs have even emerged, primarily composed of refugees from the Western Regions!"

"Recent data reported by many protectorates show that the rates of crimes such as theft, robbery, fighting, and brawling are all on the rise."

"The reason for these problems is the influx of a large number of illegal immigrants from the West."

"You can imagine what would happen if we actually opened this door."

"The imperial court can use this opportunity to promote our benevolence and establish our positive public image."

"However, the security environment in the various protectorates of Qianzhou will also face the risk of rapid deterioration."

"Moreover, this trouble could potentially spread throughout Qianzhou!"

"To build a name of benevolence on the suffering of the people of our Great Qian Dynasty is putting the cart before the horse."

Ge Daqiang said in a deep voice, "Moreover, I think..."

"The imperial court really doesn't need to deliberately cultivate these so-called benevolent images."

"There's no need for that. We can deal with these issues after we've fully completed our unification plan."

“Before the grand plan of unification is completed, the name of benevolence and virtue is not necessarily a good thing.”

"I think our Great Qian Dynasty's public image is very successful and very effective right now!"

"We'll fight at the drop of a hat! Anyone who dares to mess with us will be taught a lesson we'll teach them a lesson they won't forget!"

"Everyone knows that our Great Qian is not to be trifled with, and knows what the consequences will be if you offend our Great Qian."

"That's good..."

"Moreover, I think the military's viewpoint is more in line with the court's long-term plan."

"We will turn Xiluo into the Xiluo Protectorate sooner or later."

"What the three commanders said earlier is very practical—let them fight freely right now, and we don't need to interfere!"

"Fight however you want!"

"At worst, we can just destroy it and rebuild it when we take over..."

"If they continue playing like this, we won't even need to look for opportunities to intervene."

Ge Daqiang shrugged: "Let them fight it out. We'll just quietly be spectators—watching from the sidelines."

"We'll clean up after they're completely exhausted, which will save us a lot of trouble."

"In that case, wouldn't establishing the Xiluo Protectorate be a natural progression?"

"It's even possible to get this done without shedding a drop of blood!"

Ge Daqiang glanced at Shen Moshen and continued, "Therefore, I agree with the military's opinion and viewpoint on this issue."

"We cannot open this door."

"Furthermore, we must comprehensively strengthen the control of illegal immigration!"

"I hope the military can provide the necessary support in this regard."

"According to reports from various protectorates, the number of people illegally crossing the border into Xiluo is already quite large."

"If we rely solely on the relevant departments of the local protectorates to carry out this task, I'm afraid it won't be efficient enough..."

"Commander Ge, rest assured, just let me know if you need anything." He Hongyi, the army commander of the Daqian Zhenguo Army, immediately patted his chest and said, "There's absolutely no need to worry about manpower."

"Our army has the numbers!"

“The sea can be left to us!” Zhou Guangming, the commander of the Daqian Zhenguo Navy, immediately said: “Sea patrols and personnel repatriation are not a problem no matter how many ships are needed.”

"We have enough ships in our navy!"