Wentang

Chapter 780
The two were chatting when a sergeant came in and reported something:
"Governor, one of our teams was attacked by natives in Luzon."

Cai Yang was not surprised at all, and asked, "How was the result?"

The sergeant said: "Our army counterattacked and killed the natives, but seven soldiers were killed."

Hearing that someone was dead, Cai Yang's face suddenly darkened: "Go and investigate, send troops to encircle and suppress."

"Here." The sergeant immediately took the order and left.

"Hey." Cai Yang sighed, and said to Li Xiaoyi: "Mr. Liang now understands why I said that it is not so easy for you to establish a feudal state."

Li Xiaoyi asked suspiciously: "These local people are very hostile to Datang?"

Cai Yang nodded and shook his head again: "They don't hate Datang, what they hate is Datang's army."

Some people may wonder, what kind of nonsense is this, isn't hating Datang's army the same as hating Datang?Li Xiaoyi knew the difference, and said:
"Why is this so? Could it be that the soldiers of Datang slaughtered them before?"

Cai Yang didn't shy away either, and said bluntly: "A small number of killings are inevitable, but this is not the main reason why they hate the Tang army, but someone is instigating them behind the scenes."

"Who?" Li Xiaoyi asked.

"The maritime merchants and aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty are powerful." Cai Yang gave an answer that made Li Xiaoyi unbelievable.

"Why would they do this?"

Cai Yangdao: "It's very simple, benefit. The Tang Dynasty's rule over Nanyang was very weak before, and it was more in name. In fact, this is a blank area of ​​power."

"Those maritime merchants and tyrants took advantage of this gap, managed their own forces on the island one step ahead, and colluded with the local natives."

"Many people who thought it was too hard to go to sea simply started trading without money, and pirates were rampant throughout Nanyang."

"Later, the imperial court established the Guangdong Navy and the Nanyang Navy. After several years of settlement, we finally wiped out the problem of pirates."

"Then we set up naval offices in key places to count all the powerful maritime merchants entrenched on the island and collect taxes from them."

"This action angered these lawless people, and they began to use their influence on the island to sow discord between the local people and the Datang Navy."

"In the past, they didn't dare to go too far. Since the imperial court decided to divide the feudal states in Nanyang last year, they have gone crazy."

"It's not just to provoke the relationship between the local people and us, even these attacks on the Datang Navy are behind their shadows."

"As far as I know, they also told the natives that the imperial court was going to send people to seize their land, their women and their wealth."

"That's why I said, I'm afraid it won't be that easy for you to establish a feudal state here."

What Li Xiaoyi heard was shock and anger: "How dare they, aren't they afraid of the thunderous wrath of my Great Tang Heavenly Army?"

Then he asked again: "As the commander-in-chief of the Nanyang Navy, did the governor just sit back and watch this happen?"

Cai Yang was not angry, but said: "What can I do? There are people behind these forces occupying the island. If there is no solid evidence, if I dare to attack them, I will be impeached and lose my head."

Li Xiaoyi did not agree with his explanation, and said: "Then why didn't you tell the court about this?"

Cai Yang asked back, "How do you know I didn't tell you?"

Li Xiaoyi frowned and said, "Then how did the court reply?"

Cai Yang said flatly: "The imperial court has not responded."

Li Xiaoyi said in disbelief: "How is it possible, how could the court ignore such a big matter?"

Cai Yang said: "You should ask the princes of the court about this."

Li Xiaoyi gradually calmed down, and said: "Is it okay to let them do evil like this?"

Cai Yang spread his hands and said, "I'm just a rough person who only knows how to fight and kill, but I can't do things with my brain. Anyway, I just listen to what my superiors say, and if my superiors tell me to beat me, I will beat them. If they don't, I will pretend not to see it." .”

Li Xiaoyi was still a little angry at first, feeling that this person's name was not worthy of his name, and even a little suspicious of how such a person who pushed the boat when things happened, won such a great victory in the Treasure Island naval battle.

But thinking carefully about his last few words, his heart moved: "If the imperial court orders you to put down the rebellion, can you do it?"

Cai Yang patted his chest and said: "That's right, as long as the court orders, our Nanyang Navy's [-] soldiers will be able to push these rebels and local people down."

Li Xiaoyi took a deep look at Cai Yang, how dare he treat him as a rude person, he is clearly an old fox.

He didn't get a response to his letter, so he encouraged himself to go back and join the princes and kings to play together, and let the court order the massacre.

To put it bluntly, he wants to use himself to fight against the people behind the scenes of the big and small forces entrenched on the island.

However, what he used was an upright conspiracy, so he still had to do it.

Because he is just the naval commander of the Tang Dynasty, as long as the shipping route is protected and Nanyang is not allowed to escape the control of the Tang Dynasty.

These princes and kings want to take root and live here, and these rebels must be destroyed.Otherwise, someone might cut off his head while he was sleeping one day.

So no matter how he looked at it, he had to continue with this conspiracy, to confront those who were behind the scenes.

However, he did not easily believe Cai Yang's words, some things had to be seen with his own eyes.

Besides, even if everything is true, I can't convince those people if I go back with empty words like this, I must have evidence.

It is best to investigate all the forces entrenched in Nanyang and get more accurate data.

Obviously, these people brought by him cannot do this, and they must rely on the strength of the Nanyang Navy.

……

Chang'an, the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty.

Yue Shan was walking on the wooden bridge in the garden pond, holding a small ceramic pot in one hand, and with the other hand, squeezed a little fish food from it and threw it into the water, attracting dozens of koi of various colors to chase after it.

Liu Rengui followed him quietly, watching this scene with envy: "Teacher's leisurely life is really enviable."

Yue Shan smiled and said, "Hehe, is that right? You definitely don't want to let you live this kind of life."

Liu Rengui smiled wryly: "Students are just ordinary people, and they can't do nothing like a teacher."

Yue Shan said: "Everyone has their own way of life, don't be envious of others, don't you know that you are the object of envy of countless people."

Liu Ren track: "The teacher taught me that."

Yue Shan glanced back at him, then shook his head helplessly, this apprentice was older than himself, it was really awkward to hear him yelling at each other master by mouth.

But he couldn't stop him from barking, so he had to change the subject and said: "Should Li Xiaoyi go to Nanyang?"

Liu Rengui replied: "According to calculations, the day should be here."

Yue Shan smiled and said, "I don't know what expression he will have if he knows the real situation in Nanyang."

Liu Rengui jokingly followed his tone: "It must be very exciting, I wonder if Cai Yang can seize this opportunity and get what he wants."

Yue Shan went to the Huxin Pavilion and sat down, put the fish food can on the table, patted the residue on his hands and said:
"Hehe... Cai Yang has been disgusted by those bandits who have entrenched overseas these years, and he will definitely not let it go when he finally has a chance."

Liu Rengui asked for advice: "Why did the sage keep pressing this matter for so many years without dealing with it?"

Yue Shan asked back: "What do you think?"

Liu Rengui thought for a while and replied: "Is it because too many people are involved behind these people, and the sage doesn't want to cause instability in the court because of them?"

Yue Shan shook his head and said, "You still don't know our sage well enough, even the aristocratic family that has been passed down for thousands of years has been persuaded, so how can you care about these new tyrants?"

Liu Rengui asked puzzled, "Why?"

Yue Shan didn't answer directly, but said, "Do you know how to raise pigs?"

Liu Rengui was puzzled at first, and after thinking about it for a while, he suddenly realized: "You mean...to kill after fattening up?"

Yue Shan nodded and said: "We came into contact with Nanyang too late, only in the past ten or twenty years, and there is no basis for ruling there."

"If the imperial court takes the lead in developing it, it will cost a huge price, and if something goes wrong, it will cause turmoil in the ruling and opposition parties."

"Letting go of the rampant behavior of these desperate and powerful maritime merchants in Nanyang is to use them to explore the way. The imperial court completed the exploration of Nanyang without spending a penny."

"Through them, let the natives on the Nanyang islands know that there is a central empire in the world, the Great Tang, and let them know that the place where they live is the territory of the Great Tang..."

"With this foundation in place, the follow-up methods of the Tang Dynasty's rule over there will be more changeable. Whether to suppress or appease, to kill or to stay can be decided according to the camera."

"And these powerful maritime merchants must have accumulated a lot of wealth over the years, and when the time is right, they will be arrested and slaughtered... It won't be long before Zhang Shangshu, the head of household, will wake up laughing from his dream."

Liu Rengui said in admiration: "The sage has far-reaching plans, we can only admire him."

Yue Shan didn't brag with him, but said: "Now is the time to kill pigs, whether Cai Yang can seize this opportunity or not, the sage will find an opportunity to do it."

"The difference is that if he can take the initiative to seize the opportunity, the saint will be very happy, and it will be of great benefit to his official career. If he can't grasp it, he will lose a lot of points."

Liu Rengui: "I believe in Cai Yang's ability, and he will definitely seize this opportunity."

Yue Shan smiled and said: "I also think he can seize this opportunity, but instead of paying attention to him, you should think more about yourself."

Liu Rengui's face froze, and then he smiled wryly, "Did the teacher see it?"

Yue Shan said: "You are a very busy person, and you have just been promoted to the deputy chief staff officer. If you hadn't encountered something that you can't solve, why would you come to me, an idler, to chat with me?"

Liu Rengui: "Teacher, stop teasing me. I'm worrying about it."

"Why do you think the sage suddenly transferred me to the General Staff? If I don't understand this, I'm really uneasy."

Just yesterday, without any warning, Liu Rengui was promoted to the first deputy chief of staff of the Privy Council.

Although it bears an adverb, it is the kind that is serious and powerful.

It ranks second in the General Staff and seventh in the entire Privy Council.

The first six are Privy Envoy Li Ji, Deputy Privy Envoy Liu Hongji, General Staff Li Daozong, the Commanding General in charge of the Northern and Southern Second Armies, and the Navy Commanding General.

For a rising star to reach this position is very amazing, many people were surprised by this transfer.

But no one questioned it. On the one hand, Li Shimin's prestige was too high, on the other hand, Liu Rengui was capable and accomplished, and on the other hand, it was because he was Yue Shan's apprentice.

But Liu Rengui was in a panic. There must be a reason for the emperor's inexplicable transfer of him to this position, but he didn't know what the reason was.

You can't go to the emperor and ask him why he did this?Isn't that looking for draws?

That's why he ran over to ask his teacher for advice. In his mind, his teacher should be omniscient.

Yue Shan naturally knew why Li Shimin did this, and talking about this reason also made him very embarrassed.

"The sage put you in this position for a reason."

"Ask the teacher for advice."

"The saint wants you to get out of the tedious work and make a strategic plan just for him."

Liu Rengui was surprised and said: "Strategic plan? The sage is going to make such a big move where he is going to send troops."

Yue Shan said with emphasis: "The Arab Empire."

Liu Rengui: "Didn't we plan to wait until the Sassanid Empire was at its most dangerous moment? Why did it come earlier?"

Yue Shan said: "You don't need to know the reason, you should write up the plan as soon as possible. Datang will have to collide head-on with the Arab Empire in at most one year, so you only have half a year to write this plan."

"This..." Liu Rengui frowned. As a strategist, he didn't like this kind of unplanned war very much.

Just like Li Shimin's sudden use of force against the Arab Empire this time, it will disrupt all their plans for the Western front.

Originally, they wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and give the Sassanid Empire some support to allow them to persist longer and consume more national power of the two empires.

Then Datang stepped up the development of the Western Regions, especially the work of farming in the Ningyuan area was the top priority.

As long as the work of farming here becomes normal, various supplies can be provided to the expeditionary army, so that the army of the Tang Dynasty does not have to worry about logistics issues.

When the two empires suffer losses, it will be easier for Datang, who has recharged his energy, to win.

But now, it is necessary to mobilize more resources from the mainland to the Western Regions, and it is too wasteful for people to eat horse chews all the way.

But he knew that since the teacher had said this, it was a foregone conclusion, and he had to write down the plan.

He is very good at writing this kind of plan. He took the lead in the previous plans of Southeast Second Continent, Beiju Luzhou, Tianzhu Raider, Western Region Raider, and watching the two western empires fight each other.

To do this kind of program, you must have enough understanding of the whole country and even the whole world.

Over the years, he has collected information from the entire world through the means of the imperial court, and he can be said to be one of the people who knows the world best.

He can synthesize various information to make the most reasonable plan, such as how many people to send out, how many weapons and weapons to carry, how much food and grass can be collected from where, and so on.

At the same time, it is necessary to come up with one or even two backup plans to ensure that the army has a backup plan when there is a problem with one plan.

Of course, what he did was only a strategic plan, similar to the general mobilization plan.It's not the kind of specific tactical plan, remotely guiding generals to fight or something.

This kind of battle plan is simply impossible. If you really want to do this, it will fail in all likelihood.

How to fight must be determined by the generals in front.

But don't think his strategic plan is useless, on the contrary it is very useful.Without this plan, no matter how powerful the general is, it is useless, and those who have not sent troops will starve to death.

But it is precisely because he is good at doing this kind of strategic planning that he feels even more distressed. It is too expensive to transport supplies from Datang to fight thousands of miles away.

Yue Shan also saw what he was thinking, and said: "You can rest assured about the supplies, the Royal Commercial Bank is going to reduce the price of health pills by ten times and supply them in unlimited quantities to countries in the Western Regions in exchange for various supplies needed by the army. "

(End of this chapter)