Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 461: The Proposal to Attack Fusang (Special thanks to the book friend Seventeen Years Old Bookworm for his two monthly tickets!)

Kou Zhun refused many times, but Rick refused, so he could only smile and say:
“Since your country’s monarch and ministers value me so much, I will do my best.

I wonder what your emperor told you when Duke Rick set out from Constantinople this time?
Knowing your emperor's bottom line, I can choose my words carefully and try my best to persuade the emperor of the Great Zhou to agree."

Rick's heart moved, and he realized that Kou Zhun seemed to want to find out the lowest acceptable bottom line of his country's mission.

However, considering that the Great Zhou Empire is now a powerful country and the most powerful country in the world, if the Great Zhou Emperor Chai Zongxun does not agree to return one state of land in the northwest of Khwarezm, Rome will be helpless.

Therefore, Rick had no choice but to reveal some of his cards to Kou Zhun.

Rick said:
"Sir Kou, when our emperor was about to go on a diplomatic mission, he sternly told me that I must beg your emperor to hand over the five states of Dunkwo to our country.

Our country is willing to send 800,000 troops to help the Great Zhou Empire conquer the Black Caliphate or even the Green Caliphate. If your emperor does not agree, the life of this duke will be in danger!
Only Lord Kou can come to the rescue!"

Kou Zhun thanked him hurriedly, took the lucky bag that Rick forced upon him, and left.

The next day, on the morning of September 23, the 33rd year of Kaixi, Kou Zhun came out of the court and reported to Emperor Chai Zongxun in detail about his conversation with Duke Rick, the envoy of the Eastern Roman Empire, the day before.

After hearing this, the king and his ministers began to discuss it.

Grand Tutor Zhang Qixian came out and said:

“Your Majesty, the exiled prince Ali of Karakhan invented the “Huihui Cannon” and used it to instigate the King of the Samanid Dynasty, Mansur, to form an alliance of the Star Religious nations, with a force of three million, which was quite impressive.

At that time, His Majesty ordered Minister Kou to travel thousands of miles to the Eastern Roman Empire to sign an alliance with it to fight against the Star Religion world.

Basil II kept his promise and dispatched an army of 600,000 the following year to attack the Black Caliphate and Khwarezm, taking away 700,000 to 800,000 enemy troops for the Great Zhou.

Over the years, our Great Zhou has won victory after victory, and has successively destroyed the three major Star Religious powers of the Ghaznavid Empire, the Samanid Empire, and the Khwarezmian Empire. It is about to conquer the entire Star Religion, and has fully avenged the "Battle of Talas" during the Tang Dynasty, and greatly enhanced the prestige of our Great Zhou in the world!

Today, our Great Zhou has expanded its territory to over 100 million hectares (tens of millions of square kilometers) in the territory of the Star Sect. The lands of several states are not important. If you want to consolidate Your Majesty's rule in the newly acquired lands, it will take more than ten years.

Therefore, I think it would be better to agree to the request of the Eastern Roman Empire and return the five states of Donkovo ​​to it as appropriate.

Although our Great Zhou is much more powerful than the Eastern Roman Empire, we can still treat the Eastern Roman Empire with sincerity, and we will surely be grateful to its rulers and subjects! In the next few decades, we will not have to worry about war in Central Asia, and we can focus on domestic economic development. "

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

“The Grand Master’s opinion makes sense!
Under the current circumstances, the first policy goal is to consolidate the rule of the new Xingxing Sect and vigorously develop the local people's livelihood and economy.

The Eastern Roman Empire has also made considerable contributions in this war. It is the best policy for our Great Zhou Empire to maintain a friendly alliance with it, and it will not lose the demeanor of the Celestial Empire. "

Most ministers agreed with Emperor Chai Zongxun's opinion.

Minister of Rites Guo Wuwei came out and said:

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, Lord Kou must have concealed something when he relayed the bottom line of the Eastern Roman envoy.

Moreover, in the current war in West Asia, there is only one major country, the Black Caliphate, and the rest are all small countries, and are no match for our Great Zhou. The Eastern Roman Empire sent 800,000 troops to help, but it has no practical use.

Even if Your Majesty does not agree to return a state to the Eastern Roman Empire, I believe Basil II would not dare to provoke a war against our Great Zhou." The Prime Minister Li Hang came out and said:
"Your Majesty, the Star Sect wants to promote Chinese civilization to the mainstream for religious reasons. I'm afraid there will be a lot of civil rebellions that need to be quelled.

While our country vigorously promotes Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism in the local area and assimilates the local people, we might as well agree to allow Nestorian (Christian) missionaries from the Eastern Roman Empire to enter our Central and Asian territories to preach.

First, it will make the Eastern Roman subjects, who are all devout Nestorian Christians, feel deeply grateful to Your Majesty and be filled with joy.

Secondly, the power of Nestorianism can be used to weaken the power and influence of the Star Religion in Central and West Asia.

If Your Majesty can allow the Nestorians of the Eastern Roman Empire to come to our country to preach in the Central and Western Asia, I believe it will reduce Basil II's territorial claims on the five states of Dunkervo."

Chai Zongxun muttered:

"What a good plan, Prime Minister Li!
Religion needs to be broken by religion. The missionary ability of the Nestorian Church is probably not much inferior to that of the Star Church!

However, with more than 20 million Chinese immigrants in Central and West Asia, within a few years, Chinese civilization will surely become the mainstream there.

The national policy towards the Eastern Roman Empire has been decided. As for handing over several states to it, I will wait until I meet Duke Rick and seize the opportunity."

Chai Zongxun picked up the tea bowl and took a few sips, then continued:

“After we destroy the Black Caliphate and conquer the remaining twenty or so small countries of the Star Religion, we will make consolidating local rule and developing the people’s livelihood economy our national policy.

However, Jingqiong, the former Uighur Khan of Ganzhou, has led the remnants of his tribe in exile in Fuso, and is a famous figure in the place.

Although I had already sent Longxiangwei pacification envoy Dai Qi to Fuso to suppress Jing Qiong, I was unable to wipe him out.

Moreover, Fuso was a country of snobbish people. When the Tang Dynasty was strong, it was servile and often sent "envoys to the Tang Dynasty" to learn.

After the outbreak of the "Anshi Rebellion", Fuso saw that the Tang Dynasty was in decline and no longer had the strength to attack its country, so it no longer feared the Tang Dynasty and stopped paying tribute to our Chinese dynasty. This was bullying our Great Zhou!

I intend to wait until the ten Dragon-Xiang Army regiments that went on the Western Expedition return to Beijing for rest and recuperation, and the military expenditure will be greatly reduced. Then I will send two fleets of the Royal Navy and 200,000 people to the Eastern Expedition to Fuso, first destroy the Three-surnamed Domestic Slave Jingqiong, and then destroy Fuso!"

Since Dai Qi, the pacification envoy of Longxiong Guard, actually controlled most of Kyushu in Fuso and became the most powerful force in the area, he followed the imperial decree of Emperor Shiba Zongxun and agreed to the marriage with the daughter of the Fujiwara family granted by the Japanese Emperor En'yuin.

Although the expansion of Jingqiong's forces that were trying to seize the territory of the Mori family was suppressed in Fuso, Daichi only had a thousand elite Ryujo Guards under his command, and the remaining tens of thousands of soldiers were all Kyushu soldiers with low combat effectiveness. Therefore, after several battles, he was unable to damage Jingqiong's foundation.

All Chinese dynasties before the Tang Dynasty accepted Fuso as a vassal state, but never sent troops to conquer it because of the long distance at sea and the limited navigation and warship technology.

After defeating Japan in the Battle of Baekgang, the Tang Dynasty accepted it as a vassal state and made it pay tribute continuously, and never thought of raising an army to conquer it again.

Now that the Great Zhou is under the rule of Chai Zongxun, the economy is prosperous, the national strength is strong, and the technology is advanced. The sea distance is no longer a problem, so naturally conquering Fuso has been put on the national policy agenda.

Minister of War Li Fang came out and said:
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!
Jing Qiong is a fish that has escaped the net of our Great Zhou, and we have to get rid of him.

Since Goryeo was incorporated into the country, the local prefecture in the neighboring sea has often reported: Many fishermen from our Great Zhou who went out to sea were robbed and killed by Fuso pirates at sea!
Your Majesty, it is appropriate to attack them!"

(End of this chapter)