Tibet.

Chapter 1359 Nanzhao Solution
Two days later, Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li asked to see Li Ye again. Wei Jiansu handed Li Ye a final negotiation document and said, "Your Majesty, the four major principles have been determined, but Nanzhao is very worried about some aspects."

Li Ye flipped through the documents and asked, "What are you worried about?"

"The biggest worry for Nanzhao is that they have no army. Once the other five Zhaos rebel, they will not be able to suppress them. The Nanzhao Kingdom will fall apart and return to the status quo of the previous six Zhaos."

Li Ye smiled faintly and said, "In other words, Nanzhao is actually unstable internally?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "I specifically asked Zheng Hui, and Zheng Hui said that it had been less than 30 years since the previous king of Nanzhao, Piloge, unified the six states, and the other five states still maintained strong independence. Each Qingping official in the court represented a state, which led to Nanzhao's disastrous defeat, causing heavy losses to the young and strong men of the other five states. The other five states were extremely dissatisfied and demanded the restoration of the original political system."

"What was the original form of government?"

"It is a nominal unification, and the descendants of Geluofeng are honored as the rulers of Nanzhao, but they have no real power. In reality, the six Zhaos are still autonomous."

"Will Ge Luo Feng agree?"

"It's not up to him. Pi Luoge didn't want to be a nominal king, so he sent troops to destroy the Five Zhaos one by one and established the real Nanzhao Kingdom. Unless Ge Luofeng has troops to suppress them, the other Five Zhaos will definitely break away from Nanzhao and become autonomous. Otherwise, he can only accept being the nominal king and actually being the Six Zhaos autonomous!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "But this has nothing to do with us, right?"

"Your Majesty, he hopes that when the situation becomes critical, the Tang army can send troops to suppress it for him."

Li Ye said calmly: "Sending troops must be approved by the Jiannan Governor's Office. Sending more than a thousand troops also requires my approval. Can they wait?"

Zhang Li said quickly: "We also mentioned this issue and told them clearly that the imperial army would not participate in the internal disputes of the Six Zhaos. We hope that they can sit down and negotiate to solve the problem instead of resorting to force. This goes back to the previous problem. Geluofeng said that if Nanzhao did not use force to control other tribes, it would most likely fall apart."

Li Ye snorted coldly, "Guluofeng said this just to make us keep some troops for Nanzhao, but you must tell him clearly that it is impossible to keep the troops. If he refuses to sign, then I will meet with six Qingping officials instead of him!"

Li Ye's words were very serious. If Nanzhao did not accept the reality, then the Nanzhao Kingdom would no longer exist and would return to the Six Zhao era. His meeting with the six Qingping officials was equivalent to meeting with representatives of the Six Zhao.

Geluofeng and his entourage stayed in the VIP guesthouse of the Honglu Temple. Geluofeng came to Chang'an this time with a glimmer of hope that the emperor would allow Nanzhao to have a very small number of self-defense troops, even if it was only 5,000 troops.

But the court finally only allowed 300 palace guards, and no other troops were allowed. In particular, the words of Emperor Li Ye, "If he refuses to sign, the emperor is ready to meet with Liu Zhao to lead troops", completely shattered all his hopes.

A thick stack of documents was placed in front of him, "Tang Zhao's Agreement on Solving the Remaining Issues between the Two Countries". This was an agreement that made Geluofeng completely despair. Once it was signed, Nanzhao's century-old dream would be completely shattered and it would never be able to recover.

But could he not sign it?

But what worries Geluofeng the most is that Nanzhao is unable to suppress the other five Zhaos, Mengxi Zhao, Yuexi Zhao, Langqiong Zhao, Bizhen Zhao, and Shilang Zhao. These five Zhaos still have their own leaders and elders. Nanzhao suppressed them by force. Now Nanzhao suddenly lost its military power, and the Nanzhao Kingdom established by his father is likely to completely collapse.

Just when Geluofeng was in despair and at a loss, the Qingping official Zheng Hui said to him: "Things are not at the end of the road yet, Your Majesty, don't be too desperate."

"Do I have any hope?"

Zheng Hui nodded, "There is actually a loophole here, but the king just didn't notice it."

Ge Luofeng was startled, "What loophole?"

"Your Majesty is always worried about the other Five Zhaos rebelling, but the question is, what can they use to rebel? Do they have an army?"

"They can organize the people temporarily, and every household has weapons. Isn't that an army?"

Zheng Hui smiled slightly and said, "The question is, why didn't the Tang Dynasty restrict them? Why didn't they ask all the people to hand over their weapons?"

Ge Luofeng was confused, and after a while he said, "I don't understand what the Qingping official meant?"

"The answer lies in the details. The Tang Dynasty only did not allow the Nanzhao Kingdom to have an army, but did not say that the Six Zhaos were not allowed to have an army. Since the other five Zhaos were able to gather soldiers, why couldn't the Mengshe Zhao?"

Mengshe Zhao was the main body of Nanzhao and the most powerful of the Six Zhaos. It unified the other five Zhaos and named the country Nanzhao.

Zheng Hui's reminder made Geluofeng wake up from his dream. Yes! He could form the Mengshe Army. It was not the army of the Nanzhao Kingdom, but...
Ge Luofeng was a little confused. "Such a big loophole, why can't the Tang Dynasty see it?"

"How could the Tang Dynasty not see this? It was only after Wei Jiansu hinted at it that I realized that Mengshe Zhao could also form an army. But here comes the problem. The Six Zhaos have all formed their own armies, so Nanzhao is only in name only, with only a nominal king left at most."

Geluofeng's eyes were dim. What was the difference between this and the demise of Nanzhao?

"Your Majesty, compared to Khitan and Bohai, Nanzhao is lucky. At least it still exists. Then the six states can sit down and discuss a proper way to maintain Nanzhao. For example, Mengshe State can control the military power, and the other five states can take turns to control the power of the prime minister. Moreover, it is not easy to build an army. It requires a lot of financial and material resources, as well as pig iron. Once the Tang Dynasty controls the import of pig iron into Nanzhao, I think it will be meaningless to build an army. At most, it will only have a few thousand people."

Ge Luofeng nodded, "You are right, let's survive first and then talk about other things."

He sat down, picked up a pen, signed his name on the two contracts, and stamped them with the seal of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Geluofeng handed the contract to Zheng Hui, "Let all the Qingping officials sign it!"

The letter from the Nanzhao Kingdom not only had to be signed and sealed by the king, but also had to be signed by all the Qingping officials to be effective. Therefore, all six Qingping officials came to Chang'an this time.

That afternoon, Li Ye signed two copies of "Tang Edict on the Agreement on Solving the Remaining Issues between the Two Countries" and stamped them with the imperial seal. The Council of State Affairs also stamped them with the seal of the Secretariat, and the agreement between the two countries officially came into effect.

The next morning, Li Ye met with Nanzhao King Geluofeng and his wife and his ministers in Hanyuan Hall.

After a brief meeting, a state banquet was held to entertain the Nanzhao monarch and his ministers, which was considered to be giving enough face.

Three days later, the Nanzhao monarch and his ministers left Chang'an and returned to Nanzhao under the escort of 3,000 Tang cavalry.

At the same time, Li Ye issued an edict to commend the soldiers who fought in the battle between Nanzhao and Jianchuan, with a reward of 500,000 strings of money and 200,000 pieces of silk.

Li Sheng was given the title of General of the Auxiliary State, promoted to the rank of Duke of Long, and given the additional title of Grand Commander of Jiannan.

The current Jiannan Governor, Qu Huan, was promoted to the title of Champion General, promoted to the rank of Duke of Xincheng County, and appointed as the Governor of Liangzhou.

Zhou Bin was rewarded with the title of General Yunhui for his contribution in defeating Tubo in Jianchuan, and was promoted to the title of Duke of Xicheng County. He was appointed as the Deputy Governor of Jiannan and the Military Commander of Yunnan, and led an army of 10,000 to station in Nanzhao.

Other meritorious soldiers were all rewarded.

The battle of Nanzhao came to an end.

In the afternoon, Dugu Lie hurried to the imperial study and bowed, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

Li Ye waved his hand and said to his father-in-law with a smile: "Minister Dugu, please take a seat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Dugu Lie sat down and a palace maid came in to serve tea.

Li Ye smiled and said, "Last time Jinyang went overseas, and after he came back, I didn't hear any news. Did the Dugu family stop?"

"no!"

Dugu Lie hurriedly shook his head, "We are still actively preparing for it, and my second brother Dugu Jun is in charge in Quanzhou!"

Li Ye took a stack of memorials and said, "I have received more than a dozen applications to purchase islands, all from Guanlong nobles. I have approved them all. Minister Dugu will take them back and let them go directly to the Ministry of Revenue to go through the island purchase procedures with their applications and return the land in exchange for overseas land."

"Wei Chen understands!"

Li Ye laughed again and asked, "How many former servants would be willing to follow the Dugu family to go overseas?"

"About 70%!"

"Not bad, but asking them to reclaim the deserted island may be a bit difficult. Minister Dugu, do you still remember the 70,000 Indian prisoners of war?"

"Of course I remember!"

"They are indeed quite capable. They are building the first overseas city of the Tang Dynasty on Changjian Island. They have also been to Jinyang, which is almost completed. Then these 70,000 people will be transferred to Lugong Island, but 70,000 people are a bit too many. I am considering giving you 20,000 people. Go back and discuss how to distribute them!"

Changjian Island is today's Palawan Island. Merchants called it Bangchui Island. It is long and narrow in shape and is a must-pass place for merchant ships. Merchant ships from the Tang Dynasty would dock here to rest.

Therefore, the first overseas military city of the Tang Dynasty was built here, with plans to garrison a thousand troops.

Dugu Lie was overjoyed. Their progress was not very smooth because they were short of manpower!
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!"

Li Ye smiled again and said, "However, the Tang Dynasty has abolished slavery, and we must treat everyone equally. Therefore, they are not slaves, but prisoners of war. After the five years of labor, they will be sent back to India. Not only must you provide them with food and accommodation, but you must also pay them ten cents a day. The specific method of delivery should be discussed with the Ministry of Revenue."

"I will keep this in mind!"

Li Ye thought for a moment and smiled again, "Yunnan can provide some elephants at a favorable price. If you are interested, you can discuss it with the Ministry of Revenue. There is nothing else. I hope to hear good news about your going out to sea soon!"

(End of this chapter)