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

Chapter 251: The Tang Dynasty's Journey to India, Another Game
Li Er felt heavy-hearted. He suddenly realized that the gap between him and Li Yuanji was not just in business, but also in the most important military equipment, where he was lagging far behind.

In Li Er's eyes, other aspects were fine, but the backwardness of the military equipment and the overall inferiority of the army were what he could not tolerate.

Because once Li Yuanji sends troops against him, what will he use to resist?

The only thing that could make Li Er feel relieved was probably the combat effectiveness of Li Yuanji's army. Even with such armor and weapons, the combat effectiveness they showed was relatively poor.

But Li Er knew very well that once the combat effectiveness of Li Yuanji's army increased and the combat capabilities of those generals improved, the gap between him and Li Yuanji would become even bigger.

In addition, there is the navy, which is also a pain in Li Er's heart. The Tang Dynasty's navy was originally nothing, but compared with Li Yuanji, the gap is too big.

The war against Japan was entirely due to Li Ji's superb military strategy, otherwise his navy would not be able to provide any help to the Japanese battlefield. The entire sea surface was directly blocked by Li Yuanji's navy.

Thinking of this, Li Er looked at Fang Xuanling again.

"Xuan Ling, find a way to free up some money to buy the King of Qi's sailboats. At the same time, gather talents within the Tang Dynasty to build similar sailboats as soon as possible.

Isn’t the King of Qi recruiting craftsmen from all over the country now?

We must guard against them strictly and not let them go to Lingnan. We must stop them at all costs and give them better treatment. I will give them what the King of Qi can give them!"

Li Er originally did not value these professional talents. Not only Li Er, but no one in the court, including civil and military officials, paid so much attention to them.

But now it is no longer possible to ignore it. Li Yuanji used facts to tell all of them that the importance of these people is no less than those so-called prime ministers.

Without these people, they would lag behind Li Yuanji in all aspects, especially the role of the sailboat, which was fully demonstrated.

How was this boat made?
Isn't it made by professionals? Can a prime minister like Fang Xuanling make such a sailboat?
Although Li Er hated Li Yuanji and wanted to get rid of him, he could not deny that Li Yuanji had taught him a severe lesson. Those people whom he usually ignored actually had such great potential and ability.

It's not that Li Er doesn't value those people. Past dynasties have shown that those people are equally indispensable, but the degree of importance he attaches to them is far less than that of Li Yuanji.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will proceed with the implementation of this matter later."

Fang Xuanling responded, hesitated for a moment, and spoke again.

"Your Majesty, another point mentioned in this urgent report is that the leader of the Qi King's caravan, Yang Cheng, has provided Su Dingfang with a lot of intelligence on many occasions.

According to previous information, Yang Cheng was mainly responsible for the King of Qi's foreign trade and had been active between Japan, Baekje, Silla, and even had vague contacts with Goguryeo.

Baekje invaded Silla repeatedly. Silla was originally weak and unable to fight back against Baekje, but a few months ago, Silla stopped its decline and was able to launch a counterattack against Baekje.

It is said that Silla purchased weapons and armor from Yang Cheng in order to launch a counterattack against Baekje. Although this news has not been verified, I believe it is very likely to be true.

This was the case with Japan before. The King of Qi sent Yang Cheng and Wei Ting to first sell weapons and armor to various forces in Japan, and then began to enter the market for integration.

Now that Wa has been occupied by the King of Qi, the next target of the King of Qi must be Baekje and Silla.

According to the news now, the King of Qi is very likely to choose to support Silla in order to occupy the land of Baekje.

And Silla will become a small country like Tangming and Funan, and can only be slaughtered by the King of Qi.

I think this matter also needs attention.”

After Fang Xuanling finished speaking, Li Er felt even more heavy-hearted. He immediately asked someone to bring a map and began to study it.

After seeing this, Du Ruhui, who was standing by, looked even more anxious.

"Your Majesty, no matter what, you must not allow the King of Qi to attack Baekje and Silla again, especially not to allow the King of Qi to occupy either of them.

Your Majesty, you see, in the waters of our Tang Dynasty, Dengzhou is the only outlet to the sea because it is adjacent to Baekje and is not covered by the sphere of influence of the King of Qi.

The rest of the coastal areas, including Ryukyu and other places, were all under the military attack of the King of Qi because Wa was occupied by the King of Qi.

If the King of Qi were to occupy either Baekje or Silla, especially Baekje, our navy would be completely dominated by the King of Qi."

When Du Ruhui said this, he suddenly placed his finger on Tubo again.

“Your Majesty, please look, we are now competing with the King of Qi for the situation in the west, and the southwest has completely become the fiefdom of the King of Qi. If Tubo and Yangtong fight, we will fall into disadvantage again and be conquered by the King of Qi. At that time, only the Dangxiang, the Eastern Women’s Kingdom, the Luo Women’s Barbarians and the Bailangyi will be left.

How can these small countries resist the army of King Qi then?

Your Majesty, please look at Baekje and Silla. Once the King of Qi occupies the land of Baekje and is adjacent to Goguryeo, the three external directions of the Tang Dynasty, east, west and south, will be blocked by the King of Qi. This will be extremely disadvantageous for the Tang Dynasty.

In the north, there are only the Eastern Turks and Tuyuhun. These two countries frequently invade the Tang Dynasty. How can we form an alliance with them? We can only defeat them.

However, by that time, the King of Qi could collude with the Turks in the east and unite with Tuyuhun in the west. At that time, the Tang Dynasty would be in a real dangerous situation!
I suggest that we must support Baekje to prevent the King of Qi from expanding eastward.

At the same time in the west, we should vigorously support the Dangxiang, the Eastern Women's Kingdom, and even the Luonu Man and Bailang Yi, and support for Yang Tong should also be increased again.

The most important thing is that we must select envoys to go to India and contact India.

Western India is powerful. If they unite, they can effectively curb the expansion of King Qi.

We must restore the people's livelihood in the shortest possible time, destroy the Eastern Turks and Tuyuhun as soon as possible, release our army, speed up expansion, and push the King of Qi back, so that we can compete with the King of Qi on an equal footing!"

Li Er's eyes kept scanning in the east and west directions. What Du Ruhui said seemed like a heavy hammer, hammering at his heart.

Especially if Yangtong and Baekje were lost at the same time, the Tang Dynasty would really be surrounded by Li Yuanji's fiefdom.

Li Er felt very uncomfortable looking at the current situation. If the Tang Dynasty was richer now, he would not be in such a predicament. Now his army is almost concentrated in the north because of the Eastern Turks and Tuyuhun.

If the Tang Dynasty was wealthy, he would not have to endure it now and would have directly sent troops to destroy the Eastern Turks and overthrow Tuyuhun.

Li Er felt extremely uncomfortable watching Li Yuanji's power continue to expand. Even though Li Yuanji made so much money through trade, he did not feel so uncomfortable.

After a moment's silence, Li Er suddenly looked at several people.

"What do you think? If I issue an edict to stop everyone in the Tang Dynasty from cutting off trade with Lingnan, will it be able to stop the expansion of the King of Qi?"

After Li Er finished speaking, Fang Xuanling and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. In the end, it was still Changsun Wuji who stood up. "Your Majesty, if you want to stop all the noble families and merchants from going to Lingnan to do business, it will be difficult.

Trade with Lingnan brings huge profits. Those people earn a lot through trade. If it is stopped, no one will be willing to do so, and I am afraid that everyone will be dissatisfied.

Unless Your Majesty sends troops directly to the King of Qi and promises to distribute the benefits of Lingnan, those people will probably support Your Majesty then.

If the war goes badly, I am afraid that many people will defect to the King of Qi, just like the Yang and Wei families did. "

Li Er suddenly felt hatred in his heart. He was really annoyed by these aristocratic families, but the reality was that he had to use them, because if he didn't use them, there would not be so many people.

Just relying on his humble background, he could not compete with the aristocratic families in terms of size. If he did not use the people from the aristocratic families, the operation of the court would be in trouble.

In addition to hating these aristocratic families, he hated Li Yuanji even more.

Only because of Li Yuanji's sudden rise, all these aristocratic families had another choice instead of having to choose only him.

These aristocratic families are very good at playing both sides and gaining benefits. They will not easily make the final choice until the last step.

Li Er now regrets it very much. When Li Yuanji wanted to go to Lingnan, he should have opposed it and let Li Yuanji stay in Chang'an and never let Li Yuanji go out.

Looking at the things Li Yuanji has exposed now, which one makes him feel good? It would be better to let Li Yuanji stay in Chang'an.

Li Er had no choice but to compromise. There was no other way out. His foundation was not that stable now, and the Tang Dynasty was facing internal and external troubles. He was really tired.

Now that he has become the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he finds that everything he does is restricted. Li Er feels really tired.

"Let's follow what Ke Ming said and increase our support for Yang Tong and Baekje.

The most important thing now is still to restore people's livelihood, and then use military force against foreign countries after the people's livelihood is restored as soon as possible.

As for the matter of selecting people to go west, we should also arrange it. Buddhism is flourishing in the West, so we can choose a Buddhist to go and select a few people to accompany him. They can use the exchange of Buddhist teachings and the trip to India in the West as an excuse to contact the Western countries.

The King of Qi has destroyed many countries one after another. This matter must be publicized to let other countries know the King of Qi's evil ambitions!"

Now that he cannot eliminate Li Yuanji, all he can do is to curb Li Yuanji's development.

If the situation is allowed to continue, it would be really terrible. Li Er didn't even dare to think about the consequences.

Fang Xuanling spoke again at this moment.

"Your Majesty, who should Baekje send? And who should Yang Tong be sent?"

Li Er immediately fell into deep thought. The person who went was extremely important, as it was related to whether his plan could succeed.

After a while, Li Er opened his eyes and looked at them.

"As for Baekje, send Wang Da, Quan Wanchun, and Xue Wanshu to Baekje.

Among them, Wang Da and Quan Wanchun were responsible for trade with Baekje, the situation in Baekje, and supporting people who were inclined towards the Tang Dynasty to come to power.

Xue Wanshu was in charge of military affairs. He did not have to go to the battlefield himself. He trained the army for Baekje and provided strategies and tactics to defeat Silla.

The three of them are led by Quan Wanchun. "

Wang Da and Quan Wanchun were originally the chief priests of the East and West Pavilions in the Prince of Qin's Palace. They were old friends of Li Er and their confidants.

Wang Da was born into the Wang family of Taiyuan, while Quan Wanchun came from a poor family. To be able to reach this position from a humble background, one must have outstanding abilities.

As for Xue Wanshu, if you don’t know this person, then Xue Wanche and Xue Wanjun, are these two well-known enough?

Xue Wanshu is the elder brother of Xue Wanche and Xue Wanjun, and also a famous general, but not as famous as Xue Wanche and Xue Wanjun.

The fact that Li Er chose these three people shows how much he valued the situation in Baekje.

After deciding on Baekje, Li Er immediately said again: "As for Yangtong, let Wei Qingzhi go there. Wei Qingzhi will be in charge of all matters, and Niu Jinda will assist him."

Wei Qingzhi was born in the Jingzhao Wei family. He was from another branch of the Wei family together with Wei Ting and Wei Yunqi. When he was in the Qin Palace, he was the Sima of Li Er's Qin Palace. He had profound attainments in both civil administration and military strategy.

Li Er continued, "The King of Qi's previous plan in Japan was very good. Let them follow suit, sell Tang's weapons, let them pay money and food, train their army, resist the King of Qi, and eliminate their old enemies, but they must support those who are loyal to the Tang Dynasty to take the throne!"

Li Er now understood that if he personally went to fight Li Yuanji, he would gain nothing and would lose a large amount of money and food. That was not enough, but the casualties were also from his Tang Dynasty soldiers, which made Li Er very unhappy.

Although he wanted to curb Li Yuanji's development, Li Yuanji destroyed the countries of those people. No matter how anxious he was, he could not be more anxious than those people.

The real thing to do is to make arrangements behind the scenes and take advantage of the war among the countries to obtain money and food to compensate the Tang Dynasty.

After thinking it through, Li Er finally understood why Li Yuanji had grown so fast. He provoked wars with other countries, and created conflicts even if there was no war. Then he made a fortune in the process, used other people's money and food to strengthen himself, and finally took advantage of other countries' weakness to destroy them and make them his own fiefdom.

Li Er had to admit that Li Yuanji was a really sinister person.

He didn't have a deep understanding of Japan before and got involved directly, which made the current situation even worse. Now, he wants to change his usual behavior.

Although Li Yuanji's method was a little shady, it was practical and brought him so many benefits. He could make money without doing anything, and all the risks were borne by others. How could he not learn such a good thing?

None of Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji and others objected to what Li Er said. In their eyes, supporting others to be in the forefront was undoubtedly in the best interests of the Tang Dynasty.

This time, he personally took part in the battle and was hit hard on the head. They realized how heavy the loss would be if they took part in the battle personally. Now, no one wanted to let the Tang Dynasty take part in the battle against Li Yuanji easily.

Not only Li Er, but also Changsun Wuji and others were also full of expectations. They were defeated in Japan, and defeated completely, but the game between them and Li Yuanji was not over yet.

After finishing with Wakoku, the next ones to come are Tubo and Yangtong in the west, and Baekje and Silla in the east.

As for India, they also could not allow Li Yuanji to continue expanding.

(End of this chapter)