I, the military god of the Tang Dynasty, have risen since I destroyed the Turks

Chapter 643 Target Western Region
After Li Zheng put on a good show for the envoy from John's country, life returned to normal.

He did not care too much about John's declaration of war. He expected that no matter how powerful the governor of the Delhi Sultanate was, launching a foreign war against a huge empire still required the Queen of John to have the power to thank her.

John's country is isolated overseas, and it takes time to go back and forth. It will probably take a month or two before a war is launched.

Now that the Tang Dynasty is developing steadily, and after the conversation at the Ministry of Revenue that day, the development of the Air Force has also been put on the right track.

In time, the enemies of the Tang Dynasty will pay a heavy price.

Thinking of this, Li Zheng called out to Wang De beside him, "Let Kaiji come to see me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A moment later, Kaiji walked into the hall.

"emperor."

"Well, Lord Kai, you also know about the visit of the envoys from John a few days ago. John has declared war on our Tang Dynasty."

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, this country of John is just an ant trying to shake a tree."

"That being said, we in the Tang Dynasty cannot help but be on guard. A cornered dog will jump over the wall." Li Zheng looked at Kaiji and continued, "Kaiqing, how is the development of steam locomotives now?"

"Your Majesty, now there are trains connecting the capitals of various prefectures in the Great Tang. The Shi Khanate in the north and the Funan Kingdom in the south are also connected."

"Kai Qing, the more trains we have, the better. Not only the capital cities, but also some important resource points and strategic points need to be connected as soon as possible. Only in this way can our Tang Dynasty be well connected and have a harmonious government and people."

“By the way, we need to repair the train in Myanmar as soon as possible. This is very important for us to completely control Myanmar and fight against John later.

"Your Majesty, I obey your order. The Ministry of Industry will speed up the construction of the railway in Burma."

"By the way, Your Majesty, the improvement work on the hot air balloon is almost complete. It will be put into mass production in a few days."

Li Zheng was also very excited to hear the news.

"By the way, Lord Kai, this hot air balloon has been put into mass production, but it still requires specialized soldiers to fly it."

"When you're done, take charge of Zheng Xuan's mission and train some soldiers who can fly hot air balloons."

The soldiers of the Air Force also need to undergo strict screening. The most basic requirement is that the selected soldiers cannot be afraid of heights.

"It's the Emperor."

"Kai Qing, the Tang Dynasty has the world's first air force, which will go down in history." Li Zheng said to Kaiji with a smile.

Kaiji was also excited when he heard this.

No matter how the army develops in later generations, history books will always remember that Kaiji, the Minister of Works of the Tang Dynasty, established the first air force in history.

"I dare not take credit for it. This is all due to your Majesty's great talent and strategy."

Xiao Han smiled and waved his hand without saying anything when he heard this.

Kaiji bowed and retreated upon seeing this.

After dealing with the affairs of the Ministry of Works, Li Zheng thought for a moment and turned his attention to the Western Regions.

At this time, the two relatively large countries, the Arab Empire and the Kushan Empire, occupied the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty.

It became a stumbling block for the Tang Dynasty to reach the West.

While thinking about the information about the Arab Empire and the Kushan Empire in his mind, Li Zheng heard a series of noisy sounds in his ears.

"Eunuch Wang, what's going on?"

"Your Majesty, it's the Crown Prince who is asking for an audience outside the palace." It turned out that Li Xian was asking Li Zheng to accompany him for a hot air balloon ride.

As the New Year approaches, the imperial palace in Peking is decorated with lights and colors everywhere.

Thanks to Li Zheng's company during this period, the father and son have become more familiar with each other. Li Xian is now more mature, but he is still a child after all and needs his father's company.

Li Zheng thought about it after hearing this and did not refuse. He then put the matters of the countries in the Western Regions behind his mind.

Time passed, and soon it was the beginning of the ninth year of Jianwu. The rest and holiday system in the Tang Dynasty was still the old system during the reign of Li Shimin, which had not lasted too long. In addition, the Tang Empire was now vast, and the government affairs that needed to be handled every day could not be delayed. Therefore, just after the Spring Festival, the various government offices had already returned to normal.

That day, Li Zheng came to the Taiji Hall, and Li Chengqian was busy dealing with memorials from various departments.

Li Zheng bowed and Li Chengqian nodded, but he didn't bother to talk in detail and buried his head in handling government affairs again.

"Eunuch Wang, summon Zheng Xuan and Zhu Jun to the palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang De turned around and went to convey the order.

As Zhu Jun and Zheng Xuan came over, Li Zheng asked Zhu Jun, "Mr. Zhu, is there any news from the Western Regions?"

"Your Majesty, with the fall of the Turkic royal court, the former Turkic tribes that were entrenched near the Western Regions have been cleared out by our dynasty. Now to the west are the Arab Empire and the Kushan Empire."

Zheng Xuan glanced at Li Zheng and then reported: "Your Majesty, these two countries have the same roots and have been entrenched in the Western Regions for many years. They have not submitted to our dynasty, and the Kushan Empire has had many disputes with our dynasty."

Li Zheng was not surprised to hear this. It was within Li Zheng's expectation that the Kushans, believing that they were far away and had a geographical advantage, would not take the Tang Dynasty seriously.

"You kid, it looks like you're going to be restless again?"

At this time, Li Chengqian, who was sitting behind the desk, also understood that Li Zheng was going to take action against these two countries.

"Although John's country has declared war on our country, the war will not start for a while. We have to find something to do." Li Zheng said with a smile.

"Mr. Zheng, have you found out the details of these two countries?"

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has already made some investigations and preparations. The military strength of the two countries is almost the same, probably more than 200,000 each, and the combined population is more than 10 million."

"Well, this country's strength is neither too big nor too small, just right for testing the improved Shenwu cannon and various weapons of our Tang Dynasty."

"This time, we will focus on training our troops, but we must also be careful not to sacrifice our soldiers in vain."

"Your Majesty is wise. Now that our Tang Dynasty is strong and powerful, it can be said that it is easy to deal with these two countries."

Zheng Xuan, the Minister of War, definitely has the say on how powerful the Tang Dynasty's military is today.

Li Zheng nodded in satisfaction, and then after thinking for a long time, he said to the two: "For this battle, our Tang Dynasty has made two preparations. On the one hand, the Ministry of Rites will send an imperial edict to persuade them to surrender, and on the other hand, we will mobilize troops and station them on the border, always ready for war."

"The Emperor's Holy Might."

"Mr. Zhu, the Ministry of Rites will immediately draft a letter and send envoys to solicit surrender."

"If they submit to the Tang Dynasty, I can guarantee them a lifetime of wealth and honor. Otherwise, the Tang Dynasty's heavenly soldiers will come."

Zhu Jun immediately received the order and went down to prepare the imperial edict.

"Mr. Zheng, for this expedition to the Western Regions, have Li Ji lead 300,000 troops from Guanzhong, with Zhang Liang and Duan Zixuan as his assistants. We will set out soon."

"I will issue an imperial decree later. All the important military towns and steam trains in Jesselai Pass must obey the orders of the army first."

As orders were issued one after another, Li Zheng's mind about this expedition became clearer and clearer.

This surrender was just an excuse for the Tang Dynasty to use courtesy before force. Perhaps the Kushans had disputes with the Tang Dynasty for a long time. Although no major war broke out, there was no possibility of a handshake and peace.

(End of this chapter)