save the bachelors

Chapter 4361 [Colonization Overseas]

Song Que originally wanted to take advantage of the great victory in Shaoguan to regain lost territory and fight a second battle with the Li family.

However, Xiang Nan made it clear that he did not want to be emperor, and his own son Song Shidao was not suitable to be emperor.

His previous failure in the battle for the throne with Li Shimin had already made him lose the opportunity to ascend the throne.

After all, the founding emperors are both capable of civil and military achievements. Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang; Emperor Guangwu, Liu Xiu; Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao; Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan; Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu; Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian...

Song Shidao had lost half of his country, his military prowess was gone, and he had lost the confidence of his subjects. Even if he managed to ascend the throne, he would not be able to suppress his opponents.

Moreover, he has a gentle and calm personality, which makes him unsuitable to be the founding emperor. After all, the founding emperor needs to establish authority, liquidate the existing old forces, and establish his own new forces.

This process is full of blood and killing, and requires one to be ruthless, vicious and resolute.

Just like when Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, he also enfeoffed his ministers. Han Xin, Zhang Liang, Peng Yue, Ying Bu and others were even enfeoffed as kings of different surnames, but they were later eliminated one by one by Liu Bang and Lu Zhi.

Cao Cao rose to power with the support of great families such as Xun Yu, but when he wanted to become emperor, he was stopped by Xun Yu and others. Cao Cao still executed Xun Yu without hesitation.

These people had fought side by side with him in conquering the world. They were partners who grew up together and were willing to put their lives and deaths in each other's hands.

After achieving success, they still couldn't help but draw their butcher knives when faced with conflicts of interest. Moreover, they were not reluctant to behead their enemies, confiscate their property, exterminate their clans, or even bury them alive.

After Qin Shi Huang unified the country, he forcibly moved the royal families of the six kingdoms to Guanzhong and placed them under surveillance. After Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu, usurped the throne, he killed all the members of the royal family, the Sima clan.

Therefore, Song Shidao's personality was not suitable for becoming a founding emperor, and handing the country over to him would only cause chaos.

Xiang Nan also made it clear that he did not want to be emperor. So even if Song Que succeeded in the Northern Expedition, no one would be able to inherit his throne. In that case, why was he still struggling?

……

"Kou Zhong, can being a vassal state bring peace and tranquility? We have always been a thorn in the Li family's heart, and they will pull us out sooner or later." Song Que said to Xiang Nan, "When you and I are here, we can still live in peace in Lingnan. Once we are gone, and the younger generation is not as good as us, the Li family will definitely raise troops again. By then, who will protect them?"

"That's why I suggested going south." Xiang Nan sighed and said, "Dad, there is more to the world than the Central Plains. There are large tracts of land in the south, east, and west, and there are many unowned lands that are no worse than the Central Plains. We will have good development there, so why do we have to stay in the Central Plains and fight?"

The East Asian region has always been surrounded by powerful enemies and is known as the "East Asian Monster Room".

Goryeo, Japan, Annan, Turks... these forces are all very enterprising, and as long as their strength allows, they will covet Central Asia.

In comparison, Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, North and South America... have large areas of unowned land, and the competitive pressure is much smaller.

Moreover, the local indigenous forces were very weak. During the Age of Discovery, a few ships from Spain, Portugal, and England could conquer an island, a country, or even a continent.

It would not be difficult for the Song clan to colonize overseas with their strength, but they chose to fight to the death with the Li clan in the Central Plains. In the end, they are still ordinary people in the Central Plains. Why bother?

"Will you feel at ease going overseas?" Song Que still asked worriedly.

"Please rest assured, Dad. At least for the next two or three hundred years, it will be fine as long as it doesn't suck." Xiang Nan waved his hand and smiled. It is now the end of the Sui Dynasty, and there are still 800 years of history before the Age of Exploration. Before the Age of Exploration, those areas in Southeast Asia were not taken seriously.

The local development was also very backward. Even until the 20th century, there were still uncivilized cannibals on some islands in Indonesia. Therefore, the local indigenous people posed no threat to the Song Dynasty. They could not even smelt iron, so how could they compete with the Song Dynasty army with wooden weapons?

Of course, if the descendants of the Song family are too weak, it is not ruled out that they will be killed by the subordinates brought from Lingnan. But if it really comes to that, there is nothing that can be done.

After all, there is no family that can be passed down for thousands of years and remain prosperous. The grace of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations. Even the Medici family in Europe, which produced four popes and ruled Florence for more than three hundred years, eventually disappeared.

The Habsburg family ruled Europe for more than 700 years. At its most powerful time, it occupied many regions including Austria, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, Mexico, Italy, etc., but in the end it also disappeared.

Therefore, even if the Song family declines one day, it is not worth regretting.

After all, they were all dead by then, so there was no point in thinking about it. As the saying goes, children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, so don't worry about them.

Xiang Nan has lived for a thousand years and has long since let go of his children and grandchildren. Only Song Que still has this obsession, wanting to lay a thousand-year-old kingdom for his descendants, but this is doomed to be futile.

"Okay, two or three hundred years will be enough." Song Que nodded.

"Since Dad agrees, let's do it. I'll take care of it." Xiang Nan said with a smile.

……

Afterwards, Xiang Nan arranged the matters of overseas colonization.

He had already prepared the ship, and it was not difficult to recruit personnel.

Because of the continuous wars in recent years, many people from the Central Plains fled to Lingnan, at least hundreds of thousands if not millions.

Many people had no land and could only become tenants or slaves. They were eager to own their own land. When they arrived overseas, they could share the land, which naturally attracted many people to join.

Then, Xiang Nan led the fleet to depart from Guangzhou Bay, and the first stop was the Red River Plain in Annan. Jiaozhi County was established here during the Han Dynasty, Songping County was established during the Southern Song Dynasty, and Jiaozhi County was also established here during the Sui Dynasty.

The Red River Plain covers an area of ​​20,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the Chengdu Plain. The Red River Plain was formed by the impact of the Red River water. The quality of the land exceeds that of the Pearl River Delta, and the temperature is high, so three crops can be harvested a year.

Xiang Nan led his army and easily captured Jiaozhi County. He then began to register, measure the land, and divide the fields. As long as the immigrants came, they could be allocated dozens of acres of land.

The Red River Plain covers an area of ​​20,000 square kilometers, or 30 million mu of land. If a family has 10 mu of land, that would be enough to support 3 million households and more than 10 million people.

Soon after, Xiang Nan led his fleet to conquer the Mekong Plain and the Chao Phraya Plain. The Mekong Plain is located in the southern part of the Southeast Peninsula, and the Chao Phraya Plain is located in Siam.

There were two dynasties in these two places in the early years, one was the Funan Dynasty and the other was the Chenla Dynasty. In 802, there was the Angkor Dynasty.

Generally speaking, these dynasties were relatively weak and could not be compared with the Central Plains dynasties. Xiang Nan's fleet had basically not encountered much resistance and had conquered the local natives.