save the bachelors

Chapter 4362 [Expanding Territory]

The Mekong Plain covers an area of ​​50,000 square kilometers, and the Chao Phraya Plain covers an area of ​​150,000 square kilometers.

Together with the Red River Plain that they had captured before, with these three places, the Song clan not only had a foothold, but also had the capital to expand based on them.

After occupying Southeast Asia, one can reach Malaysia and Indonesia to the south, Luzon to the east, Pagan and India to the west, and connect with the Central Plains to the north.

As long as you are strong enough, there is a lot of space to explore. Just like Spain, Portugal, England, and France colonized the world during the Age of Exploration.

This is different from the Central Plains Dynasty.

In fact, when the Central Plains Dynasty reached its peak, it extended from the northern desert to Annan in the south, from Central Asia in the west to Ryukyu in the east, which was already its limit.

If it expands further, it will be difficult to implement effective management even if it is conquered.

Because the Central Plains dynasty emphasizes a centralized system, all political orders are decided from above. Therefore, if the territory is too vast, it will take one or two years for the upper level to pass on the orders, which will be too late.

Europe, on the other hand, practiced the feudal system, in which the governors of each colony had considerable autonomy, including administrative, legislative, military, and taxation powers.

It can be said that the governors of each place are local tyrants. In order to expand their power, they are naturally keen on expanding their territory.

This kind of feudal system was actually implemented in China. The feudal states in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties were feudal systems. However, too much territory was divided into feudal territories, which easily led to the loss of royal power.

In the late Warring States period, when the Zhou emperor died, he had no money to hold a funeral and could only ask the vassal states for help. King Nan of Zhou owed a huge sum of money to a wealthy family and was unable to repay it, so he had to flee to a high platform to avoid his debts, leaving behind the idiom "debt piled high".

Therefore, when Qin Shihuang unified the world, he learned from previous experience and changed the feudal system to a county system, strengthening central power.

This is conducive to national unity, political stability, and economic development. However, the disadvantage is that power is highly concentrated, which leads to limited local autonomous development, inefficient border management, and lack of ability to respond to emergencies.

Xiang Nan hoped to implement the county system in the Southeast Asian peninsula and the feudal system in other regions. This would ensure the stability of the base and the continuous expansion of the territory.

Of course, this is a follow-up.

……

Just as Xiang Nan was leading his army to expand territory in Southeast Asia, Song Que also started negotiations with the Li clan, expressing his willingness to nominally submit to the Li clan, pay homage to them, and return the captured Li Jiancheng, but the Li clan was not allowed to attack Lingnan again from then on.

After Li Yuan learned of the great defeat in Shaoguan, he was at a loss as he was worried that Song Que would take advantage of the situation to counterattack and take back Ganzhou, Jingchu, Fujian and Zhejiang, Jiangnan, Jiangxia, and Jiangdu which he had lost before.

He was preparing to mobilize troops and defend the city, and even wanted to lead the army in person. But at this time, he received a letter of surrender from Song Que, who expressed his willingness to submit to the Li family and release his eldest son Li Jiancheng.

This made Li Yuan a little at a loss. He didn't know whether it was Song Que's delaying tactic or for some other reason. He was a little confused for a moment.

Therefore, he immediately summoned all his ministers to discuss countermeasures, but everyone was divided and thought that this matter was indeed very strange.

With the strength of the Song family, it would not be difficult to launch another northern expedition. After all, the Li family only occupied the areas south of the Yangtze River, but did not fully control them.

As long as the Song Clan's army arrives, they will turn against him in a minute. After all, he has defeated the main force of the 120,000 Li Clan, and the city is so stubborn, who dares to confront him head-on?

But why did they choose to surrender in name only when they had such a good situation but did not take advantage of it? Li Shimin understood clearly that the reason why the Song clan stopped the Northern Expedition was because they did not want to start a war again, so he was sincere in his proposal to surrender.

Just like when the Li clan's army was infected with plague, short of food and fodder, and suffered a series of defeats, they had to return to Ganzhou to rest and recuperate. It was originally a good opportunity for the Song clan to attack, but they did not beat the fallen dog, but instead just repaired the city of Shaoguan.

Therefore, he suggested that his father accept the proposal of the Song clan and continue to confer him the title of King of Zhennan, nominally unifying Lingnan. This would allow him to have spare energy to suppress other forces that were ready to make a move.

Otherwise, if they continue to fight against Lingnan, they will probably be defeated again. By then, the Li clan will have suffered two defeats in a row and their reputation will be ruined. Without enough troops to suppress the local forces, local tyrants will rise up one after another.

By then, the empire that the Li family had worked so hard to build would be lost. What's the point of all that?

Even if we take a step back, now is not the time to fight the Song clan again. The Song clan needs to rest, and so does the Li clan.

At least wait until Jizhou is pacified and other restless forces are suppressed, and then gather troops, food, wages, and armor before continuing the southern expedition. Therefore, it is better to reach a peace agreement with the Song clan first and accept their superficial submission.

Under Li Shimin's persuasion, Li Yuan finally agreed to Song Que's request.

Song Que was further conferred the title of King of Zhennan, Song Shidao was conferred the title of Prince of Nanping, Xiang Nan was conferred the title of Duke of Yue, and Song Yuzhi was conferred the title of Lady of Yue...all the family members were rewarded.

Later, Song Que also returned Li Jiancheng and thousands of captured Li Clan surrendered soldiers. Most of these surrendered soldiers were physically disabled and could not go to the battlefield if they were released.

If they stay in Lingnan, the Song clan will have to support them, so it would be better to let them go back and let the Li clan worry about how to comfort these wounded soldiers.

……

Seeing that his son was really released, Li Yuan was surprised and happy. He didn't expect Song Que to keep his promise and return his son. It was a good thing that his son could return safely.

But Li Jiancheng suffered such a great defeat and lost more than 100,000 troops. It was so shameful and disappointing. Therefore, although he was released, he was depressed and full of resentment.

At the same time, Li Shimin came to Jizhou and took over from his fourth brother Li Yuanji, and had already started a war with Liu Heita.

As a result, Li Shimin chose to start the battle on the Hutuo River and ordered his men to cut off the upper reaches of the Hutuo River in advance. When Liu Heita's cavalry waded across the river to launch an attack, his men immediately opened a gap in the upper reaches.

As a result, the raging river water flowed downstream, and Liu Heita's cavalry was unable to dodge and was immediately washed away by the river water. Li Shimin took the opportunity to launch an attack and defeated Liu Heita's cavalry in one fell swoop, causing heavy losses.

Liu Heita had no choice but to lead his army to retreat in order to rest, but Li Shimin chased him relentlessly, leaving Liu Heita no chance to rest.

When they ran back to Dingzhou, Wang Ci'en, the governor of Dingzhou, opened the city to let them in. Liu Heita was worried that it was a trick and refused to enter the city, only asking Wang Ci'en to send food and fodder out of the city so that they could rest outside the city.

The reason why he was so cautious was that after Liu Heita was defeated, all parts of Yan and Zhao that had originally surrendered to him turned against him one after another, so he was worried that Wang Ci'en would do the same and had to be on guard.

Wang Ci'en could only transport food, rice, flour, and fodder out of the city for Liu Heita's troops to rest and recuperate, but he ended up putting drugs in the food and fodder.

Liu Heita was captured as a result. Li Shimin also recovered Jizhou and conquered Qi and Lu.

(End of this chapter)