Chapter 897 The south of Nanzhao

"Returning to Your Highness, the situation outside is even worse than what Mr. Zhang said. Because of the decrease in Nanzhao's fiscal revenue in recent years, the treatment of soldiers has continued to decline. Many people are already After leaving the army, after all, the Nanzhao Kingdom has been at peace for a long time, and the people in the army have no chance to perform. If they just take the usual salary, they can't even support a family, so the army has a serious loss of good soldiers."

Regarding the army, no matter which region it is in, it is a top priority, so when Long Wu was investigating, he sent the largest number of people to the army. The news he got now is also the most accurate. According to what some local soldiers said , the original generals were quite dignified, but now these generals are all new, some of them have never even fought a battle.

Not to mention these soldiers. The veterans have gone out to make a living, and the new recruits have not received decent training in the army. This is mainly because Nanzhao has not had a war for decades. In this case, who can think of something about the army? Woolen cloth?

"What about Annan, Pyu (Myanmar) and Siam in the south of Nanzhao? What is the situation there?"

Li Xiang thought of some countries in South Asia. They cannot be called countries now. They are just some relatively large city-states. The Tang Dynasty did not have many records about them. There were waves of envoys sent by these countries. , sometimes I go to Chang'an City to pay tribute when I remember it. If I don't remember it, it's over.

According to the thinking of the rulers of the Central Plains, these people live in a barren land anyway. In their place, it is estimated that it will not be easy for them to survive, so it doesn't matter whether they come or not, and they don't want to have anything to do with them anyway.

"There are not many border conflicts between the two sides. Even if there are, they are only on the scale of a few hundred people. The main reason is that there is no strong rule in those areas. Except for the Annan Kingdom who once occupied our country's Cochin, the others are like us. There is no connection. To put it bluntly, when we are strong, they retreat, and when we are weak, they advance."

Long Wu's summary is very accurate. The southern countries are still ambushed, and they do not have a strong organization. Some people know the culture of the Tang Dynasty, and some people do not know it at all, so these people are not to be feared now, but It is also the best time to capture them. If some powerful country is established, then we may have to start fighting again.

"However, according to our investigation, the environment in the southern countries is really extremely bad. Including some people in Nanzhao, they have no interest in those places. We..."

Long Wu said a little strangely, although the Tang Dynasty cannot be said to be rich all over the world, at least the useful places have been occupied by us. Those places are of no use if taken over. I don’t know why His Highness the Emperor Taisun continues to do so. To the south? Can those places bring us any improvement?

Li Xiang turned his head and looked at the people around him, including Zhang Jiuli. They all looked puzzled. Of course, this is normal. In this day and age, what everyone pays attention to is the Heavenly Kingdom. The main thing is the Central Plains. As for other regions, no one cares about them at all. Take the current Tuyuhun and Turks as examples, not to mention the more distant South Asian countries.

In their view, the people there cannot be called barbarians, but these Sichuan chieftains are considered barbarians.

People in various countries in South Asia can only be regarded as monkeys. In the minds of many people in the Tang Dynasty, these people still eat raw meat and live in trees every day. What is the use of taking down such a place? It is nothing more than a waste of our money and food.

"I know you have doubts in your mind, but if I tell you this, I believe your doubts will be alleviated. How mature is the food in northern my country every year?"

Li Xiang asked a very simple question, and Su Dingfang answered it very well. Take Liaodong as an example, it can only be harvested once a year at most, and the yield is not high, mainly because the weather is too cold. Although the land is now cultivated Quite a bit, but grain production still cannot increase.

"Then what about Chang'an and the Central Plains area?"

Everyone has not yet realized the significance of Li Xiang's question. Everyone answered honestly that this area can achieve three crops every two years, and the grain output is much better than that in Liaodong.

"Then what about going further south to the Jiangnan area?"

When I said this, everyone's eyes lit up. Everyone knew that Jiangnan was the richest in the world, even during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Why did Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty dig a grand canal? It is because there is not enough food in Guanzhong, so the Grand Canal is used to transport food from the south. The food here can basically be harvested twice a year, and the output is more than twice that of Liaodong. It is said that the entire The granary of the Tang Dynasty cannot be overstated.

When he heard everyone's answers, Li Xiang also nodded with satisfaction. Since Li Xiang took over these people, he has allowed them to learn the knowledge of the entire Tang Dynasty. So far, their learning is not bad. It does not mean that he has led them. The soldiers only care about the affairs of the army, and the officials only care about their own affairs, but all the people must understand.

"Perhaps you haven't heard of the following things, but maybe you have heard that further south from the Yangtze River, to the Lingnan region of our country, some places here are guaranteed to have two crops a year. If you are more diligent, It is possible to achieve three crops a year, but of course it may not be guaranteed for all, but the countries we are talking about in Annan can all achieve three crops a year."

When Li Xiang finished speaking, everyone present was really stunned. They originally thought that these areas were barren land, and they had no intention of including them, but if they had land that could be harvested three times a year, , then this is completely different, even better than the Jiangnan area.

Now it is an agricultural society. Whoever has more food can ensure a large population, and whoever has a large population can ensure social prosperity. The prosperity of the society also represents the overall national strength of the country. Why can Datang be able to make its surrounding areas more prosperous? What about countries that bow their heads? It's not just because we occupy a large number of grain producing areas that our overall national strength has increased.

"Your Highness, if what you said is true, then these countries should be extremely powerful. But why don't they even have a unified centralized power now?"

Zhang Jiuli said a little strangely.