Tibet.

Chapter 1362: Japanese Plan
The next morning, Prime Minister Wei Jiansu and Minister of Personnel Liu Yan hurried to see Li Ye. Li Ye asked them to sit down and said with a smile, "Before the Dugu family donated the Baoji Guifang, I promised to let Dugu Ming serve as the governor of Shangzhou, but he declined. However, the position is still reserved. The Dugu family hopes to give this position to Dugu Jun. I agreed and need to discuss it with you."

At present, as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Ye can directly appoint the chief officials of the five major prefectures, namely Jingzhao Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, Taiyuan Prefecture, Chengdu Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture. The chief officials of these five prefectures are all third-rank officials and are under the authority of the emperor. The appointment of prefecture and county officials below the five major prefectures is the authority of the prime minister and the Ministry of Personnel.

Of course, Li Ye would not agree without principles. Dugu Jun had always been a fourth-rank official. Although he had a lot of experience, he was rather mediocre as an official and had not achieved much, so the fourth rank was the highest official he could hold.

Since it was the emperor who proposed it, of course he had to give him face. Wei Jiansu thought for a moment and said, "Hebei has suffered a lot and is now gradually recovering. It doesn't need to do anything but recuperate and try not to disturb the people. I think it would be more appropriate for Dugu Jun to go to Hebei."

Li Ye looked at Liu Yan again, and Liu Yan smiled and said, "In fact, the position of Shangzhou governor is vacant, and there is no candidate yet. However, what Wei Xiangguo said makes sense. Shangzhou will soon expand the Danba Waterway. The task is arduous, and Dugu Jun may not be able to undertake it. I also recommend Hebei. The governors of Xiangzhou and Weizhou are both vacant."

Li Ye said, "Let's go to Xiangzhou! There's no need to make any trouble. Let the people have a good rest."

Wei Jiansu and Liu Yan both agreed. At this time, Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Speaking of the Dugu family, Minister Xiao came to me yesterday afternoon and said that the Dugu family and the Ministry of Revenue signed a contract to borrow 20,000 prisoners of war. The conditions were quite harsh. The Dugu family actually took the initiative to propose that each person pay a guarantee of 20 strings of cash. The Ministry of Revenue actually didn't have any conditions, but the Dugu family took the initiative to add a threshold, which confused the Ministry of Revenue, and I am also confused."

Li Ye laughed. "This is because I asked the Dugu family to treat the prisoners well. This put a lot of pressure on the Dugu family, because the prisoners were not only given to them, but also to other Guanlong nobles. They were afraid that other Guanlong nobles would abuse the prisoners, resulting in a large number of deaths, and they would not be able to explain to me. So they simply added a threshold to make other families retreat. At least they would not dare to abuse them! After all, there is a 20-string deposit in the court, and they have signed a contract with the court."

Wei Jiansu suddenly realized and said with a smile: "So that's how it is. I was wondering who would set a threshold for themselves. It turns out that they are using the court to restrain other families. This method is not bad. I think it is feasible."

Li Ye nodded, "It is better to be strict than to be lenient. These clauses should have been proposed by the Ministry of Revenue. Although the Dugu family is a foreign relative, if we break the rules for them, it will be difficult to convince the public in the future, and it will damage my reputation. Therefore, my attitude has never changed. I will treat the royal family equally, and then the various departments will be able to do their work better in the future."

"Your Majesty is right. I will have a good talk with Minister Xiao later to establish the system."

Li Ye took out another report and said with a smile: "There is one more thing I want to discuss with you, which is about the trafficked girls. This time we captured 200 missionary girls from the Saint Maiden Society. I specifically instructed the inner guards not to kill them and try to capture them alive. I hope these girls are the girls who were sold back then and were forced or brainwashed by the Saint Maiden Society.

I asked the Inner Guards to treat them well and take them back to their hometowns to look for their childhood and the graves of their parents. The effect was very good. More than 180 out of 200 people wanted to stay in the Tang Dynasty and did not want to return to Samarkand. These women were absorbed by the Inner Guards.

But next, I will take back all the trafficked girls, so that all the people of the Tang Dynasty who were forced to live in a foreign land will have the opportunity to return. I am considering using this as an opportunity to send troops westward next year!"

Wei Jiansu and Liu Yan looked at each other. The girl incident was just an excuse to send troops. The emperor might have other intentions for sending troops to the Western Regions, or even had a plan in place.

Wei Jiansu then asked Li Ye, "Didn't your majesty decide to send troops to Japan and Silla next year?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "Wa and Silla are poor and unprofitable. I attack Wa mainly to destroy their court, promote the fragmentation of Wa, and plunge them into a long civil war. Secondly, I want to occupy Maoren Island in the north of Wa, where cypress is abundant, which is the best material for shipbuilding and also a high-grade wood for building palaces.

Moreover, Japan's military strength is low. I only need to send 30,000 naval troops and 2,000 Mo Dao troops to sweep away Japan's army. It doesn't have to wait until next year. If the time is right, we can send troops now!"

“What about Silla?”

Liu Yan next to him asked again: "How does your majesty plan to deal with it?"

Li Ye took two steps with his hands behind his back and said, "Silla will first use the Nanzhao plan to restore the borders of the fourth year of Xianqing, re-establish the Xiongjin Governor's Office, and have the Tang army stationed in Silla. After the situation in Liaodong is completely stabilized, Silla will be changed into a state of the Tang Dynasty."

Wei Jiansu understood that the emperor had already had a plan to deal with Silla, and it was reasonable and legal. In the first year of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo and established nine military governorships, 42 states, and 100 counties in its territory, and established the Andong Protectorate in Pyongyang to govern it.

In the fourth year of Xianqing in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army commander Su Dingfang led an army of 130,000 to attack Baekje. In the same year, Baekje was destroyed and incorporated into the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty established five military governorates in Baekje, namely, Ungjin, Mahan, Dongmyeong, Jinlian and De'an, which were also under the jurisdiction of the Andong Protectorate.

Silla was originally just a small country in the southeast of the peninsula. It used all kinds of despicable means to constantly invade and encroach on Baekje's land. Taking advantage of the An-Shi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, it not only occupied Baekje's land, but also moved northward in large numbers, annexing large tracts of territory from the Tang Dynasty's Andong Protectorate, pushing the border all the way to the Yalu River.

Therefore, Li Ye’s first goal was to restore the borders of the fourth year of Xianqing and defeat Silla back to its original form.

It seems that the emperor is indeed far-sighted. In terms of foreign affairs, the Council of State does not know much about the situation and indeed has no say.

But Wei Jiansu and Liu Yan were both worried that attacking Silla would repeat the crisis at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Wei Jiansu advised cautiously: "I suggest that we make full preparations and carefully investigate the enemy situation to avoid repeating the tragedy of the late Sui Dynasty!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "Prime Minister, you are overthinking. The Tang army did not wage a full-scale war against Silla, but used acupuncture to directly capture its capital. We will never repeat the same mistake!"

Wei Jiansu breathed a sigh of relief. He was silent for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, using the girl incident as just a reason to send troops to the Western Regions is still a bit weak and a bit unreasonable."

Liu Yan beside him smiled and said, "Your Majesty, sending troops to the Western Regions is not just about the girl incident, but also about recovering our homeland. Your Majesty, have you forgotten? Xianhai County is the westernmost county in the Tang Dynasty. It is the county that we signed an agreement with the Khazars and truly belongs to the Tang Dynasty. There are also Juzhanti, Talas City, Julan City and Baishui City. These are the cities that were won by countless Tang soldiers who died in battle. Now they are occupied by foreign races. Isn't it the best reason to take them back now?"

Li Ye nodded, and then slowly said: "We have to speak the truth in our internal consultation. I sent troops to the Western Regions for the copper and silver mines in Tokharistan, the gold mines in Bukhara, and the silver mines in Shiguo. If there is no profit, I will not send troops and waste the national strength of the Tang Dynasty.

The Prime Minister is right. We must have a pretext for launching a war. Recovering our former lands is indeed a good reason for launching a war. But after all, they are too far away. I am afraid that they will not be able to unite the soldiers and the people of the Tang Dynasty. So after having a legal basis for launching a war, we still need a reason that can move people's hearts.

The most touching thing is to save our children, to save the Tang girls who were sold to the far west. This will touch everyone's heart and make the people of Tang support our westward expedition."

"So what is the clear target of your majesty's western expedition?"

"Recover Tokharistan and Bukhara and make them part of the Tang Dynasty. Then, send troops to destroy the Holy Maiden Society before the Arabs do, rescue the Tang girls, and win over the hearts of the Sogdians."

Wei Jiansu and Liu Yan left, and Li Ye stood in front of the map for a long time, thinking in silence.

He was reconsidering the plan for Japan. In fact, he had already formulated the plan long ago, but he had not considered the issue of stationing troops in Japan or ceding land to the Japanese archipelago.

Now he is considering taking over Kyushu Island and making it the Tang Dynasty's base for controlling the Japanese archipelago.

(End of this chapter)