Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 177 Military Aid and Trade, Supporting the New King
Li Yuanji was sitting at the top of the palace hall. After a while, someone walked in from outside the hall and came hurriedly to the bottom of Li Yuanji.

"Fan Tong, the envoy from Funan, pays respect to the King of Qi."

Li Yuanji smiled in his heart when he heard the name, Fan Tong, a good-for-nothing?
Li Yuanji stopped thinking about it, looked at Fan Tong, and spoke slowly.

"Get up, the envoy has come a long way and has worked hard. I wonder what you intend to do in my fiefdom?"

When Fan Tong heard this, he responded immediately.

“Reporting to the King of Qi of the Great Tang, the King of Qi is now sending troops to Linyi, and Linyi is about to be destroyed. However, our small country is being harassed by Zhenla, our former vassal state. They have occupied several cities of our small country, and they still have not withdrawn their elephants. Our king has no choice but to send foreign ministers here when he heard that the King of Qi is here.

My king said that if the king of Qi can help our small country through this hardship, our small country will definitely repay the king of Qi. Now my king has selected rare treasures and sent them to the king of Qi. I also hope that the king of Qi can send troops to rescue our small country. My king will never forget the kindness of Qi. "

Looking at Fan Tong, Li Yuanji did not respond. After a while, he started talking about other things.

"Your last name is Fan. Are you a descendant of Fan Man or Fan Xun?"

Fan Man, the former King of Funan and the general of the Fan Dynasty of Funan, was a general of Hun Panpan, the last king of Funan's Hun Dynasty. After rebelling against Hun Panpan, he became the King of Funan and the general of the Fan Dynasty. The Hun Dynasty of Funan, which was established by Hun Panpan after Hun Panpan married Queen Liu Ye, came to an end.

Fan Xun was the last king of the Fan Dynasty. He was a general of the third monarch of the Fan Dynasty. He usurped the throne and proclaimed himself king. The third king of the Fan Dynasty killed the second king, Fan Jinsheng, who was the son of Fan Man, and took the throne.

Upon hearing this, Fan Tong did not hesitate at all and said immediately: "Report to the King of Qi, this minister is the descendant of Fan Xun."

Li Yuanji smiled when he heard this, and then spoke slowly.

"So you are the descendant of Fan Xun. Your Fan family was originally the king of Funan. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Fan Zhan sent envoys to Eastern Wu. Since Fan Man, your Fan family has had many negotiations with our Central Plains Dynasty. Now that Funan and Daxia are about to fall, have you ever thought about restoring the glory of the Fan family?"

Li Yuanji just looked at Fan Tong. As the descendant of Fan Xun, he already had the title. Now he just wanted to see if Fan Tong had the intention. If so, he really didn't mind helping Fan Tong.

As for asking him to send troops to help Viravada (now the King of Funan), he had no idea at all. As for the war between their countries, he either made money or trained his own people. As for sending troops to work for others, sorry, don't even think about it.

Upon hearing this, Fan Tong glanced at Li Yuanji, then quickly lowered his head and spoke after a moment.

"I wonder if the King of Qi is willing to help Funan?"

Li Yuanji smiled even more widely when he heard this.

I will not send out troops. If you are unwilling, I can provide some weapons to you, Viravada. Since we are neighboring countries, the price of the weapons can be reduced appropriately.

If you are willing, I will give you my absolute support. You should have seen it here in the past two days. Linyi is now on the verge of destruction and will not be able to hold on for long. You should be able to defeat me.

What do you think? You are a descendant of the Fan family. Now you have the opportunity to regain everything you once had. You can also sit on the throne of the King of Funan. Do you want to do it?"

After hearing this, Fan Tong fell silent, frowning in thought, with an expression of hesitation and struggle. Li Yuanji immediately smiled and then spoke again.

"I will give you one stick of incense to think about it. You must know one thing. I can destroy Linyi and Funan as well. You have seen my big ships, the army and the equipment of the soldiers. Do you think Funan can stop my army?
But this king does not like war. This time he sent troops to destroy Linyi simply because Linyi dared to send people pretending to be pirates to plunder this king's fiefdom. Naturally, this king cannot tolerate such people.

You should be more than one of the descendants of the Fan family, right? You have to think it through. With the support of this king, you should know what kind of power you will have. "

Li Yuanji kept tempting, gave time limits, and finally threatened them. Although it was a bit cruel for Funan and Fan Tong, this was the reality and the weak could only be slaughtered by the strong.

What Li Yuanji said was not wrong. He really did not like war, but that did not mean he would not start a war, especially against the descendants of the Fan family. It did not necessarily have to be Fan Tong. Others could do the same.

The location of Funan was equally important in Li Yuanji's eyes. It was adjacent to Yuezhou Prefecture and controlled the shipping routes to Southeast Asia. This was also the reason why he suddenly had the idea of ​​wanting to re-support a force of his own.

If he continued to send troops to attack, it would inevitably make the surrounding small countries nervous, and they might even come together to resist him in order to deal with the threat from him. This was not what Li Yuanji wanted. Supporting his own forces in Funan became the most appropriate option.

Fan Tong listened to Li Yuanji's words, and after a moment, his expression became firm.

"Your Majesty, I am Fan Tong. I am willing to listen to your arrangements. I don't know what your Majesty needs, but I am ready to do so."

When Li Yuanji heard this, his expression turned serious.

“That’s a heavy word. You can just call me the King of Qi. From now on, you will be the King of Funan. There’s no need to be like this.

I don't need you to pay anything, but I support you now, you need to compensate me later. I am now mainly developing trade, and my business fleet has been on the road for a long time and has been traveling to various countries.

So you don't have to worry at all. What we have is cooperation, not subordination.

However, although I will fully support you, you also need to prove your strength. I will prepare 5,000 sets of weapons for you, and send some more people to fight for you and help you train the army. When you become the King of Funan, you only need to give corresponding rewards.

Of course, if you have the ability to defeat Zhenla directly and seize the throne of Funan, I don't have to send anyone.

But I must first make it clear that these 5,000 sets of military equipment are not given to you as a gift. You need to pay for them. At the same time, you must have at least 5,000 troops under your command before you can proceed.

Finally, after you become the King of Funan, you must trade with me, and the trade between your fiefdom and mine must be guaranteed.

Can you accept it? "

Li Yuanji was waiting for Fan Tong's reply. He was not a pushover. He explained these issues to Fan Tong just to prevent him from becoming suspicious. As for the ordnance, his army's equipment was being replaced and he was still worried about what to do with the previous ordnance. Now, there was a ready-made person to take over. Isn't that right?

As for people, Fan Tong definitely needs them. If Fan Tong could do it himself, he would have overthrown the current King of Funan long ago. He would never swallow his anger.

The people he sent into the army, from training to fighting, as long as they showed their skills and won a few battles, wouldn't those people worship the people he sent?
Although it was a cooperation, by then the people he sent would have control of the army. What would Fan Tong dare to say?
Let Fan Tong spend his own money and Funan's money to buy weapons that he doesn't need, and use them to equip the army that he actually controls. This is how business should be done, and it will be interesting. As for trade, this is what was agreed in advance. When the time comes, he will go to Funan to rob money, no, to do business.

Fan Tong listened carefully to Li Yuanji's words and thought for a while. In his heart, he could accept what Li Yuanji said. He was very clear that he was now controlled by others, and he was even more aware of his current weakness. As long as he became the new King of Funan, he believed that his status with Li Yuanji would definitely improve, and then they would become a true cooperative relationship.

As long as Li Yuanji had no ulterior motives towards Funan and did not want to occupy Funan, he would accept it.

Fan Tong immediately agreed. Even though the deal had already been made, Fan Tong still kept a low profile.

"Your Majesty, even if I can become the King of Funan with your help in the future, I know that all this was given by you. Without you, I would be in danger of being killed by Zhenla soon. If you succeed, you will still be my king!"

Fan Tong was very clear about his situation. Now that everything depended on Li Yuanji, he did not have any capital at all. He could only wait until he became strong enough to compete with Li Yuanji in the future, and naturally he would be able to stand on equal footing with Li Yuanji.

If Li Yuanji remains strong and things here get better and better, he wouldn't mind maintaining this relationship. After all, it's better than what he has now, especially with everything he's seen here. He trusts Li Yuanji very much in his heart.

Li Yuanji smiled helplessly after hearing this, but in his heart, he was extremely pleased. It was certainly the best that Fan Tong was able to understand what was going on.

At this time, Fan Tong's voice continued to be heard.

"Your Majesty, I have some wealth in Funan. I wonder if Your Majesty could send someone there first. The situation in Funan is very bad now. Stone's health is getting worse day by day. Once Stone dies, Man will certainly send out his entire army to attack and destroy Funan.

Please start the action as soon as possible. When I return to Funan, I will definitely bring back what you need as soon as possible and will never let you down!"

After hearing this, Li Yuanji spoke after a while.

“Since the situation is tense, then as you said, you wait here for another day. I will send people to go with you. After these people go, they will be your troops in Funan Prefecture. The battles and the army will be commanded and trained by them.

It's not that I look down on Funan, but apart from the elephant soldiers, they have nothing else to show for it. And even the elephant soldiers are too weak. What use are they other than scaring others?

After returning to Funan, all you have to do is take over the power of Stone. As long as you have enough manpower, money and food, you will definitely be able to sit on the throne of Funan."

After Fan Tong agreed, he withdrew after a while. Li Yuanji then fell into deep thought. He had to choose the right person to be sent to Funan this time. The situation in Funan was not good now. If one only knew how to fight, he would inevitably be tricked by others. After all, one must always be on guard against others.

After thinking for a while, Li Yuanji couldn't think of a good candidate, so he immediately called Cen Wenben.

After telling Cen Wenben what had just happened, Cen Wenben was surprised. He really didn't expect that Li Yuanji would do such a thing. He used other people's people and other people's money and food, but in the end he benefited from it.

Cen Wenben was really shocked. When he reacted, he suddenly realized that once these arrangements were successful, Funan would be a small country on the surface, but in fact, it would be a complete vassal of Li Yuanji and almost Li Yuanji's power.

It’s just that the person in charge is not Li Yuanji, and he doesn’t directly develop and govern. So what’s the difference?
After a while, Cen Wenben slowly calmed down, and looked at Li Yuanji with eyes full of enthusiasm and admiration.

"Your Majesty, you are wise. I admire you. I never thought that you could do this. I never thought that you had such a far-sighted vision. If this can be accomplished, your fiefdom will be even larger in the future. I would like to congratulate you first."

Li Yuanji smiled and waved his hands. Although he was very happy with Cen Wenben's praise, the matter was only preliminarily settled and nothing had been done yet. It was too early.

If he could really succeed, his fiefdom would indeed be greatly expanded, and he had truly achieved it. His fiefdom was gradually expanding.

How long has he been in Lingnan? Now his fiefdom has suddenly added a prefecture, Ryukyu plus Linyi, as well as the territory of Liaoren tribe. Li Yuanji couldn't help but get excited when he thought about it. If the situation continues to expand like this, Li Yuanji feels that one day in the future, his fiefdom may catch up with the Tang Dynasty.

Li Yuanji shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He felt that this idea was too crazy. If the fiefdom was larger than that of the Tang Dynasty, where would the legitimacy of the Tang Dynasty be? How far would it need to expand to match the territory of the Tang Dynasty?
Moreover, this is the territory that the Tang Dynasty has not expanded. If the Tang Dynasty expands, the speed will be faster than his current expansion speed. He can crush anyone he fights. It expands with hard power and does not need to make arrangements like him.

Li Yuanji spoke slowly.

"Jingren, stop bragging. I have something else to discuss with you. Now that this matter has been decided, who do you think I should send to handle the matter in Funan?"

Speaking of the candidate, Cen Wenben also fell into deep thought. According to the current situation, the person to be chosen must be knowledgeable in military affairs and also be able to avoid being plotted against by others. There are two types of plots: one is to prevent him from taking power, and the other is to prevent himself from being killed by the people of Funan through Zhenla in order to provoke a direct war between them and Zhenla.

The two were thinking hard. There were not many people they could consider here. The first people they thought of were Xie Shufang and Su Dingfang, but Li Yuanji directly rejected Xie Shufang. As for Su Dingfang, Li Yuanji believed in his ability to fight, but he was still a little worried about his ability to deal with the situation in Funan.

Most importantly, in Li Yuanji's eyes, it was a waste to send such a powerful man like Su Dingfang to Funan. It was like using a missile to kill an ant, which was too extravagant.

After thinking for a while, Cen Wenben immediately looked at Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, what do you think of Feng Zhidai? As the second son of Feng Ang, he has great abilities. Most importantly, he is not only proficient in military affairs, but also very wise. After so much experience here, he will only get better.

I suggest that Feng Zhi be allowed to take the post. Not only is he competent for the position, but it also shows that Your Majesty values ​​Feng Ang."

When Cen Wenben finished his last sentence, Li Yuanji no longer hesitated. He also recognized Feng Zhidai's abilities.

"Okay, let Feng Zhi take it, and give him some more people to form the team. As for the weapons, we can use the damaged ones in the warehouse first. That will be enough!"

After Li Yuanji made the decision, he immediately called Xie Shufang.

"Shufang, go and arrange the weapons and take out all the damaged ones in the warehouse."

After everything was arranged, Li Yuanji was also happy. It was good to find an agent to fight the war. He would pay less and would not have to bear any risks. It would also help him solve the problem of obsolete weapons. The key was that he could make a lot of money.

If he wins, he will make a lot of money. If he loses, it doesn’t matter. He will just spend some obsolete weapons and make a lot of money.

(End of this chapter)