Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Duan Jianwei had already lost all hope. From the moment he was caught, he did not expect to survive. He could only wait to be executed.
He had worked so hard to plan, but he had not been able to let the Nanzhao Kingdom obtain Xi Cuan. He had even caused the Nanzhao Kingdom to suffer heavy losses. This was the greatest regret of Duan Jianwei's life, and also his humiliation. Although Pi Luo Ge had spared him, he was unwilling to forgive himself, and was even more unwilling to give up Xi Cuan.
In order to prevent the Tang Dynasty from gaining a foothold in Xicuan, he chose to plot with Cuan Shouyu and her son to kill the officials sent by the Tang Dynasty and put pressure on the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty. However, the result was a complete failure. All the anti-Tang elements in Xicuan were annihilated. He also felt that it was impossible to make the Tang Dynasty leave Xicuan.
Seeing Ang Lee enter the prison, Duan Jianwei's expression was very calm. He did not answer Ang Lee. Instead, he quietly looked at Ang Lee.
At this moment, Duan Jianwei was already a prisoner. He could calm down and carefully observe Ang Lee.
He had to admit that Li An, this Young Master who was much younger than him, had indeed surpassed him in many aspects. Moreover, he had surpassed him by more than a little. He had thought that his strategy was outstanding, but in the end, it was Li An who had made a wedding dress for him. This made him angry and angry.
"Mr. Duan, Cuan Shouyu and her son have already committed suicide. Don't you have anything to say?"
Ang Lee asked again.
Hearing this, Duan Jianwei's expression changed slightly. He looked at Ang Lee and said, "General Li, you're really a young hero. I'm far from being your match. If I had known that the Tang dynasty had such a talented person, I wouldn't have come to Cuandi to work. You reap what you sow."
Duan Jianwei really regretted it at this moment. He really did not expect that the Tang dynasty would be so determined to protect Cuandi. He also did not expect that there would be such a powerful person like Ang Lee in the Tang dynasty.
Ang Lee smiled disdainfully and said softly, "It should be because Mr. Duan didn't learn enough lesson when he left Kun Province last time, so he didn't give up. This time, he came to Nanzhao again. In his heart, Mr. Duan might want to work hard for Nanzhao again. But he definitely didn't expect that not only did he fail to save anything for Nanzhao, but he also made Dongcuan stand against Nanzhao, haha."
"Dongcuan, what's wrong with Dongcuan?"
Duan Jianwei was greatly surprised. This matter had nothing to do with Dongcuan. Why did Ang Lee suddenly mention Dongcuan?
Ang Lee was not in a hurry. He said seriously, "Mr. Duan should know that Cuan Shouyu is the grandson of the Dongcuan Great Chief. His mother, Ah Kuang, is the Great Chief's biological daughter. Now they are both dead, and they were killed by Mr. Duan. Behind Mr. Duan is Nanzhao. Therefore, the Great Chief of Dongcuan Wu Man will naturally put the blame on Nanzhao."
Duan Jianwei was furious. "You were the one who forced Cuan Shouyu and his mother to their deaths. This has nothing to do with me. Don't even think about falsely accusing me, let alone linking me to Nanzhao."
Obviously, Duan Jianwei went crazy at the thought of his impulsiveness bringing great losses to Nanzhao. If Ang Lee falsely blamed the deaths of Cuan Shouyu and his mother on himself, it would inevitably cause the Great Chief of Wutan to be prejudiced against Nanzhao. This would obviously be very disadvantageous to Nanzhao.
Li An smiled. He smiled very happily. This was the joy of success. This was the pleasure of shifting the blame to others and benefiting himself.
"Mr. Duan, Cuan Shouyu and his mother have already committed suicide. All the rebels involved have also been arrested. Even Mr. Duan will not be able to escape the punishment of the Tang dynasty's laws. As for how to explain to the Great Chief of Wutan, isn't it all up to me? As long as what I say is reasonable, I think the Great Chief will believe me."
Duan Jianwei was very anxious. He angrily glared at Ang Lee but could not say a word for a long time.
He knew very well that as long as Ang Lee's words were reasonable, the Great Chief of Wutan would definitely believe him. In this way, Dongcuan and Nanzhao would have a feud. And all of this was caused by his recklessness. How could he not be angry? However, he had already been arrested and could only helplessly do nothing about it. How could he not be sullen?
Ang Lee did not want to continue provoking him. He paused and said seriously, "In a month or so, I will return to the capital. At that time, I will bring Mr. Duan with me. I heard that Mr. Duan has never been to Chang 'an. This time, take a good look and let Mr. Duan see the prosperity of Chang' an in his lifetime. This is the only thing I can do for Mr. Duan."
With that, he turned and left the prison, returning to his residence.
Looking at Ang Lee's back, Duan Jianwei let out a long sigh. He had completely understood the situation. His cultivation was still far from that of Ang Lee's. However, he had overestimated himself and tried in vain to seize Xicuan for Nanzhao. Now, not only had he failed, but he had also caused Dongcuan and Nanzhao to become hostile. It could be said that the gains did not make up for the losses. He had no way to remedy it and could only resign himself to fate.
As soon as Ang Lee returned to his residence, he immediately wrote a sincere letter to the Great Chief of Wutan in Dongcuan. Of course, Ang Lee would never tell anyone that he had forced Cuan Shouyu and his mother to die, nor would he send their bodies to him.
In order to cause animosity between the Great Chief of Wutan and Nanzhao and prevent them from joining forces in the future to harm the Tang Empire, Ang Lee put all kinds of crimes on Duan Jianwei and tried his best to make the matter as perfect as possible so that the Great Chief of Wutan would believe him and achieve his goal.
After a short effort, he had dealt with more than a thousand rebels in Xicuan. Ang Lee felt much more relaxed. Although there might still be hidden rebels in Xicuan, there would not be many of them. Moreover, the army was not stationed in Xicuan for fun. Once they found any rebels, they would find a way to eliminate them.
There were many cities in Xicuan, but Ang Lee had arranged officials in many of the more remote cities. Of the more than 50 officials sent by the imperial court, 20 would stay in Nanning Province and 15 would go to Kun Province. These two cities were heavily guarded by the army, so there was no need to worry about their safety.
As for the remaining fifteen, they were spread out in a few cities that were not too far away. With the protection of the local soldiers that were temporarily recruited, the problem would not be too big. Moreover, the army would regularly send troops to the various cities to patrol. If they found any criminals, they would arrest them as soon as possible. The safety of these officials was also guaranteed.
In the next few days, Ang Lee basically had nothing important to do. He just urged Nan Jiyun to deploy the officials of the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible and asked the army to ensure the safety of these officials. Nan Jiyun naturally did as he was told.
However, through the rebellion in Xicuan, Ang Lee also found some problems. The people in Xicuan were all barbarians, and the barbarians were not the same race as the main ethnic group of the Tang Dynasty. They also looked slightly different. Therefore, there would always be some barbarians who were dissatisfied with being ruled by the Tang Dynasty and rebelled. In order to solve this problem, Ang Lee also thought for a long time and felt that immigration was a good way.
Of course, there would not be much resistance to letting the barbarians live in the rich provinces and counties of the Tang Dynasty. However, if the normal people of the Tang Dynasty moved to Xicuan, the people of the Tang Dynasty would definitely be very unhappy. Therefore, he had to find a way.
Exile was a good way. There were five kinds of punishments in the Tang Dynasty, and exile was one of them. The meaning of exile was to let the people who originally lived in the Central Plains go to the remote areas of the Tang Dynasty to suffer as punishment.
Of course, those who were exiled were those who had committed crimes or were implicated because of the crimes of their relatives or friends. Many of those who were exiled were very good people. After these exiled people went to the remote areas, they would bring the advanced productivity of the Central Plains to the remote areas, thus promoting the economic development of the border areas of the Tang Dynasty.
Ang Lee felt that now that Xicuan had become an official province of the Tang Dynasty, those who had committed crimes in recent years could be exiled to Xicuan first, thus diluting the barbarian population here. Through cultural education step by step, the barbarians in Xicuan would be assimilated into the Chinese, gradually letting them abandon their own cultural traditions and join the splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty, thus making this place more stable.
Once Xicuan was stable, the excellent culture of the Tang Dynasty could be used to continue to spread to the south, influencing more barbarians to yearn for the life of the Tang Dynasty, and even taking the initiative to ask to join the Tang Dynasty.
This was like the green card of a country in the future, which was very coveted. It seemed that with the green card of that country, one would be superior. This was the charm of prosperity and wealth. People all yearned for a rich life. If the region or country they lived in could not satisfy them, and they had the ability to go to a richer region or country, it was very likely that they would leave their homeland and go to a region or country that could satisfy their material needs.
People were so realistic that they yearned for a rich life. This was human nature, which was determined from the moment they were born. Unless they were brainwashed, it was unlikely to change.
As long as the Tang Dynasty became more prosperous, it would inevitably attract a large number of people from all ethnic groups. With a large population, the country would become stronger. This was inevitable. Therefore, what Ang Lee wanted to do was to make the Tang Dynasty more prosperous, and developing Xicuan was a very good idea.
Xicuan was the territory of the White Barbarians. Compared to the territory, there were still too few people here. There were too many wild places waiting for people to develop.
Ang Lee believed that even if the imperial court exiled hundreds of thousands of people who had committed crimes, Xicuan would definitely be able to accommodate them. There were many mountains and rivers here, and as long as there was land and water, it was easy to cultivate fertile land. As long as there was land and water, there would be a harvest.
More importantly, there were many mineral resources here, such as copper, gold, and silver. The thick wood in the mountains was an excellent material for building. It could also be used to make tables, chairs, beds, and other daily necessities.
In short, Xicuan could not just be taken over. It had to be developed and made many times more prosperous than before. This way, the people of the White Barbarians would recognize the Tang Dynasty and feel that they would have a better life if they followed the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty.
After careful analysis, they found that there were five benefits to having the imperial court exiling the people to Xicuan.
First, the people of Xicuan were all barbarians. It was inevitable that they would have ethnic prejudice against the Tang Dynasty. Exiling the people to Xicuan could dilute the population and prevent rebellions.
Second, Xicuan was preparing for large-scale development, and development required manpower. Exiling a large number of people to Xicuan could provide a steady stream of manpower for the development. This was very important.
Third, the people of Xicuan were ignorant. The local productivity was too low, while the people of the Central Plains had more advanced productivity. If they entered Xicuan, they could speed up the development.
Fourth, promote ethnic integration. Let the White Barbarians in Xicuan integrate into the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible. Although they could also directly let the teachers teach the advanced culture of the Tang Dynasty to the people of Xicuan, the effect would not be very good. After all, the people of Xicuan who could learn the culture of the Tang Dynasty were few and far between. Most of the barbarians could only work hard for their whole lives. Letting them mix with the ordinary people of the Tang Dynasty could help them understand the culture of the Tang Dynasty faster and promote ethnic integration.
Fifth, provide enough reserve troops. Although there were elite soldiers in Xicuan, the number was still too small. They could only be stationed in the core areas of Nanning Province and Kun Province. If the enemy had too many soldiers and horses, and if they attacked from multiple directions, torturing the people of Xicuan, the army might not be able to protect them well. More manpower meant more militia. In the cities where the army could not protect them, they could immediately organize young and strong men to temporarily join the troops guarding the city. Moreover, the current soldiers would grow old one day. Their successors should be the local people of Xicuan. They could not go to Luzhou to recruit soldiers. Only the local elite soldiers would have a stronger sense of responsibility to guard the land. Moreover, they would be close to home and could take good care of their families.
After thinking carefully, Ang Lee immediately wrote a memorial to the imperial court, explaining the situation in Xicuan and his own ideas. He asked the imperial court to exile the people who had committed crimes to Xicuan as much as possible in the next few years to realize Ang Lee's great plan.
After writing the memorial and giving it to his confidant, Ang Lee breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes to rest.
"Big Brother, about the gold mine, the imperial court has responded."
Li Feiyu quietly walked into the room and did not notice that Ang Lee was resting.
Ang Lee gently opened his eyes and asked, "What did the imperial court say? Did they agree to my request?"
"Big Brother, the imperial court only gave us a deadline of three years. After three years, all the gold mine's harvest will belong to the imperial court."
Li Feiyu answered seriously.
Ang Lee was overjoyed. "If that's the case, all the gold mine's production in Gourd Cave can be used to build Xicuan in the next three years."
"Yes, Big Brother. That's the imperial court's intention."
Ang Lee clapped his hands and said happily, "Good, that's great. Let Nan Jiyun and a few officials from the imperial court come over. I have a big plan that I must let them know. After all, we will be leaving here soon. Before we leave, we must tell them everything."
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