Chapter 4978: Royal Power Crisis

Chapter 4978: Royal Power Crisis
The world is too big, and in the era when steam engines could not be put on ships, occupying land everywhere was not very beneficial. Although it seemed that wealth was plundered all over the world, in fact, most of this wealth had to be spent on long routes, and only a few of them were transported back to the country and truly used for national construction.

What good is there in mobilizing countless armies and making the whole world a mess for such a small amount of wealth?

The most important thing is that war will accelerate the awakening of people's wisdom and catalyze the progress of civilization. The Tang Dynasty is already at the top of world civilization, and it is difficult to go further. However, those barbarians who are still in the stage of slash-and-burn agriculture and eating raw meat and drinking blood may complete their evolution in the war.

Once these civilizations entered the feudal era from the slave era, it meant an increase in productivity, which posed a huge obstacle to the Tang Dynasty's hegemony.

Therefore, in Fang Jun's conception, there is no need to ignite wars all over the world. As long as the Tang Dynasty's caravans travel freely around the world and transport the world's wealth back to the Tang Dynasty through the ocean in a silent manner through trade, the Tang Dynasty's infrastructure construction and primitive capital accumulation can be completed, and the barbarians of the whole world can be indulged in the gentle tameness of Chinese culture. This is the most correct way to conquer.

It would be great if the Tang Dynasty could complete another cultural evolution during this period.

There is no doubt that when wealth accumulates to a certain level, civilization will evolve.

……

"But the navy can't just sit there and do nothing. While ensuring its rule in the various leased territories, it must also instigate and promote the division of local forces, support the weak, and attack the strong, so that they are in a state of long-term internal confrontation and have to rely on the support of the Tang Dynasty to survive."

What Fang Jun said were all methods of rule that had been used by many colonists in later generations and had proven to be effective.

Wu Meiniang thought for a moment and said, "Like the Tang Dynasty in Japan?"

Although Japan is just an overseas island country, it has its own hereditary heritage and the foundation for unification. It seemed to be a loose sand before, but one day a wise and powerful monarch may appear and unify the islands and completely transform.

But what about now?

The long line of royal heirs was completely cut off, and there were wars everywhere on the islands. Not only did the Ainu occupy most of the land from north to south, but even the Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla people who were defeated by the Tang Dynasty fled there by boat, burning, killing, looting, or occupying land. Several islands were in ruins and desolate.

The "Yamato tribe" is afraid that they will never have the chance to unify the islands again.

Although the Tang Dynasty did not directly participate in the war, all parties relied on the Tang Dynasty and sold out the mining interests of the islands in order to seek the support of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty had the best of both worlds and took all the benefits. It even sold porcelain, silk, bamboo paper and other goods to Japan, looting all the wealth accumulated by the Japanese for generations.

Fang Jun nodded and said, "The Tang Dynasty can instigate wars, but it should try not to participate in them. Fighting head-on with the Arabs in the Persian Sea like Yang Zhou did was a last resort. After this battle, the navy will most likely not fight another such war, because we will support other forces within it to challenge the rule of the Caliph. The Arabs will be overwhelmed and unable to take care of themselves. Not only will they not fight back against the navy, they will even have to take the initiative to negotiate with the navy to seek a ceasefire and promote trade between the two sides. Otherwise, once the Tang Dynasty intervenes, the Caliph's rule will be in danger of collapse."

Hussein is still wandering among the mountains of Oman. He has signed a series of unequal "traitorous treaties" with the Tang Dynasty in exchange for Tang Dynasty's funding. He only needs to wait for the funding to arrive, and more than tens of thousands of soldiers under his command will complete their equipment change, and then they will rush out of the mountains, cross the vast Rub' al Khali Desert, cross the Mesopotamian Basin, and head straight for Damascus.

Wu Meiniang's beautiful eyes sparkled, she pursed her lips, and couldn't help but close her legs.

This feeling of sitting high up in the clouds and overlooking all living things, with the whole country in my hands and the world in my hands, made her body tremble, and the blood in her body flowed faster, like the ebb and flow of the tide...

In comparison, the struggle for power within the palace is really boring.

*****
At dawn, dark clouds gathered and the wind was cold. The clear weather was brewing a heavy snow again. The lanterns on the Chunming Gate tower swayed in the cold wind, illuminating the official road below the city. The city gate had been opened, and the people entering and leaving the city lined up to be checked by the soldiers guarding the city, and slowly entered the city gate.

Although the imperial court had never disclosed any information about the royal family's mutiny, and the city of Chang'an had not suffered any military disaster, the royal family's mutiny was no longer a secret. After all, its impact was too wide and its influence was too great, and it had already spread throughout the city.

However, perhaps because there have been successive mutinies since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the people have become accustomed to it and are not surprised by it; or perhaps because the mutiny was limited to the palace and did not spill over to affect the rest of the city, the officials, people, and merchants quickly calmed down and did what they had to do, and the mutiny was quickly put to rest.

Even the students of the Imperial College, who always closely followed current affairs and were passionate and enthusiastic, did not take to the streets to protest and criticize officials...

The sound of hurried horse hooves came from afar and gradually approached. The people queuing to enter the city looked back in surprise and saw three horses galloping towards them. The riders were carrying small flags on their backs. Both the horses and the riders were covered in a layer of frost and they were heading straight to Chunming's gate.

The people of Chang'an were well-informed and knew that this was a messenger from outside the province delivering urgent war reports to the capital, and that military affairs could not be delayed in the slightest, so they all gave way and allowed the messenger to enter the city.

The three messengers clasped their fists and saluted to express their gratitude while riding on horseback, then rode towards the city gate.

A curious person then asked loudly: "May I ask the messenger, where is the battle report from? Is it a victory or a defeat?"

Upon hearing this, one of the messengers turned around and shouted, "The navy defeated the Arab navy in the Persian Sea, sank hundreds of warships, killed thousands of enemy soldiers, and forced the governor of the Arab port of Shirov to sign an agreement. A great victory!"

"The navy is mighty!"

"The Tang Dynasty is victorious!"

Upon hearing the "great victory", the people in front of the city gate raised their arms and shouted a few times, but the emotions were not very enthusiastic. It was more like they were shouting slogans and pretending to be polite. After all, the army was everyone's "sons and daughters", and they had to give them some face in order to win the victory after fighting hard.

As for "hundreds of warships sunk" and "thousands of enemy soldiers killed", it is difficult to get excited about the people of the Tang Dynasty who have long been accustomed to expanding territory by thousands of miles and killing tens of thousands of enemies. It is not the destruction of the country or the capture of the city, so what is there to be surprised about a victory of this scale?
What's more, what is the "Persian Sea" and "Port of Shiraf"...where are they?

Never heard of it.

The three messengers were speechless, but at this time there were already thousands of soldiers guarding the city checking badges and documents, and they had no time to explain to the people how the navy defeated the main force of the Arab navy in a battle thousands of miles away. They immediately entered the city gate and rode their horses quickly along Chunmingmen Street.

……

Li Chengqian got up before dawn, took a bath and changed his clothes, and without waiting for breakfast, he sat in the imperial study and began to deal with official documents.

Because of the rebellion of the rebels these days, not only have many more affairs been added, but the usual government affairs have also been squeezed out. Thick documents and memorials are piled up on the imperial desk like a mountain. The eunuch Wang De, who is standing by, serves tea and water and helps to collect the memorials that His Majesty has reviewed.

Li Chengqian raised his head while reviewing memorials, looked at the documents which had not decreased at all, and sighed slightly.

To be a wise ruler, it is not enough to have determination and ability, but more importantly, it is about having abundant energy.

The enemy country is so huge, with a territory spanning thousands of miles, and governs hundreds of millions of people. It has the largest number of bureaucratic institutions among all the countries in the world, and there are countless government affairs every day. Such a large number of government affairs tests the energy of the king. Once the energy is insufficient and it is difficult to take care of everything, mistakes are bound to occur, and even power will fall into the hands of others. However, if you do everything yourself and meticulously, it will really consume your energy and be unsustainable...

There were footsteps outside, and a eunuch hurried in and reported: "Your Majesty, a naval messenger has arrived outside Chengtian Gate with a battle report."

Then he took two steps forward and held up the battle report with both hands.

Wang De quickly took it and presented it on the imperial desk.

Li Chengqian was a little nervous. He took the battle report and unfolded it. He read it quickly, but his eyes were a little confused...

"Shiloh Harbor?"

After searching his mind, he found that he had no memory of this place, so he got up and went to the side room. There were several maps hanging on the wall of the side room. He found one of them and found the location of the Persian Sea. Then he followed the index recorded in the battle report and finally found the port of Shiloh.

Then I converted it according to the scale...for a moment I couldn't figure out how far the Shiluofu Port was from Chang'an.

The numbers are a bit big...

Before returning to the imperial desk with his hands behind his back, he took a sip of tea, pursed his lips and read the battle report again, snorted angrily, and threw the battle report on the desk.

What he was concerned about was naturally not how far the port of Shilafu was from Chang'an, but he was furious that the navy had arbitrarily launched a war against the "second most powerful country in the world", the Arab Empire, without even asking the central government for permission beforehand, and only sent back the battle report with the contract with the Arab Empire after the war was over.

The war was a great victory, the Tang Dynasty gained great power in foreign lands, and the spoils of war were extremely rich...but this was not important.

What’s important is that the army can choose to go to war on its own, and it is not a small-scale battle, but a head-on naval battle with the main navy of another huge country.

Of course, Li Chengqian also understood that the Persian Sea was too far away from the Tang Dynasty. If any action had to be approved by the imperial edict in Chang'an before it could be implemented, it would inevitably miss the opportunity to fight. The generals at the front should have the power to make decisions on the spot... But no matter how sufficient the reasons were, they could not erase the contempt for the imperial power.

The two countries went to war, and it was the Tang Dynasty that took the initiative to attack, but they could ignore the king and do as they pleased, and only perfunctorily informed with a battle report after the war. How humiliating!

If this continues, how much military power will he, the emperor, still have? !
Will he end up being confined in the Imperial Palace as a mascot?!

Wang De bowed and stood solemnly by the side, looking at His Majesty's sullen face, feeling anxious and trembling in fear.

After a long while, I heard His Majesty's gloomy voice: "Summon Liu Li and Ma Zhou to see you immediately!"

"Here."