What Ang Lee envisioned was completely possible. In the future, when the Tang Dynasty had more and more machines and used them in the field of national defense, the grassland tribes in the north would no longer have the ability to go south. Moreover, as the railway line was spread to the grassland, the whole grassland would be under the control of the Tang Dynasty. The political power in the grassland in the north would either obediently rely on the Tang Dynasty or be completely eliminated.
Wang Zhongsi had personally experienced the armored command vehicle. At the same time, he had also commanded a large-scale cavalry battle. He could imagine the scene when a torrent of steel attacked. It would definitely be more shocking and destructive than a large-scale cavalry attack.
"Industrialization, armored vehicles, yes. When the Tang Dynasty's army is equipped with armored vehicles, the cavalry of Huihe will not be a threat."
Wang Zhongsi affirmed Ang Lee's point of view. At the same time, he appreciated Ang Lee more. These powerful machines were invented by Ang Lee. Without Ang Lee, these powerful machines would not exist. When the Tang Dynasty was faced with the threat of the nomads in the north, it would be much more passive.
Guo Ziyi also agreed. He was very much looking forward to the day when all the troops of the Tang Dynasty could be equipped with mechanized weapons.
"Assistant Minister Li, it's a good idea to do more trade. This can promote the understanding between the two sides. Now that the Central Surrendered City has a railway, it's a very good place for mutual trade. What the grassland people need, they can trade with the people of the Central Plains. In this way, it will definitely reduce their pillaging in the south."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "General Guo's idea coincides with mine. The Central Surrendered City is indeed a very good place for mutual trade. The railway line is laid there not only to facilitate the transportation of troops in an emergency, but also to promote the trade between the Central Plains and the grassland. With faster speed and lower transportation costs, many businesses that could not be done before can now be done. In this way, not only can it improve the quality of life of the people on both sides, but it can also promote the communication and understanding between the people on both sides. Let them understand each other and develop feelings for each other step by step, conflicts and misunderstandings will be reduced a lot. Of course, the most important thing is that the Tang Dynasty has enough strength to deter its opponents. This is the premise of everything."
In fact, in any era, commerce and trade were very important to an empire. It was the best way for a country to stimulate the growth of wealth. Many small countries in the Western Regions were very rich because they were in the trade channel between the Tang Dynasty and the Western countries. By reselling goods from both sides, they could earn a lot of money, so that their people could be rich together.
Hua Xia, on the other hand, had emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce since ancient times because of its large population and extremely low agricultural productivity. Floods, droughts, snowstorms, and locusts were continuous. Therefore, the food produced was often not enough to meet the needs of all the people. There was even a very serious famine, which caused the entire imperial court to be in turmoil. Under such circumstances, the ruler naturally had to let most of the population engage in agricultural production to meet the needs of all the people.
In the current Tang Dynasty, due to Ang Lee's vigorous promotion of the industrialization process, more and more agricultural machinery was used in production, which greatly improved agricultural productivity. In this way, not too many people were needed to grow a sufficient amount of food. The surplus labor force could naturally enter industry and commerce, thus gradually promoting the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty chose to trade with the grassland tribes in the north, so they could obtain the grassland tribes' cattle, sheep, horses, animal skins, and other products. The grassland tribes could also obtain various rich and colorful goods from the Central Plains. In order to live a better life and obtain enough products from the Central Plains, the grassland tribes would not hesitate to sell their best horses. The nobles of the Central Plains would also not be stingy with money. In this way, the quality of the grassland cavalry would definitely decline, while the cavalry of the Central Plains would greatly improve.
More importantly, after a large number of goods from the Central Plains flowed into the grassland, it would gradually change the grassland tribes' living habits, making their valiant habits weaker and weaker. Naturally, they would no longer be a threat to the Central Plains. Just like the army of the Braid Dynasty in the future, in the beginning, they could be called a ferocious army, but after enjoying the goods from the Central Plains, they became weaker and weaker. In the end, they were reduced to fighting birds in cages and were bullied by other powers.
Of course, Ang Lee did not mean to turn the grassland tribes into cage-fighting birds. He only wanted to gradually soften them and let them gradually turn from fierce savages into merchants and herdsmen through commerce and trade. In this way, many years later, the grassland tribes' people would find that they were no different from the people of the Central Plains. Everyone turned out to be a family. It was possible for them to sit down and talk about life and discuss the great topic of peaceful reunification.
After an in-depth discussion, Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi became more and more excited, and they strongly praised Ang Lee's plan. In fact, they were very smart people, and the depth of their view was not inferior to Ang Lee's. However, they were people of the Tang dynasty, and they had no understanding of the technology of the later generations. Their thinking was limited by the era, but Ang Lee's thinking had already transcended this era. Naturally, his view of the problem was more profound and accurate than Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi.
The three of them were very agreeable to the discussion, and they wished they could talk for three days and three nights to be satisfied. At night, they did not leave and stayed in the guest room of Ang Lee's villa. Ang Lee had originally planned to prepare a room for each of them, but Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi preferred to stay in the same room. This way, they could continue to talk about many topics that they had not finished.
Early the next morning, after Ang Lee brought Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi into the R&D Center, he found a researcher who was more eloquent and asked him to show the two of them around.
Ang Lee himself used the excuse of going to the palace to meet the Emperor and left the R&D Center. Of course, this was not an excuse. Ang Lee did go to the palace to find Li Longji and persuade him to get an artillery unit for Wang Zhongsi. At the same time, he was going to persuade the Emperor to issue an edict to expand the scale of the surrendered city and build a commercial center there, so that the goods of the Central Plains could be exchanged with the products of the grassland tribes.
In the main hall of the Daming Palace, Li Longji was standing in front of the world map that Ang Lee had given him. He carefully observed the map, and his face showed excitement and fascination.
The Tang Empire was the largest country on the map, but compared to the whole world, it was still too small. There were so many unclaimed lands standing there, which made Li Longji very envious.
Li Longji was not very interested in the ice and snow in the north, but he was full of desire for the rich land of America. He could not wait to immediately incorporate the whole of America into the territory of the Tang Empire.
Of course, the premise for him to realize this idea was that Ang Lee could build a large steam-powered seagoing ship suitable for ocean navigation as soon as possible. Only in this way could he achieve effective rule over the American continent.
"America, Australia, Africa, these are all mine."
Li Longji muttered to himself as he was intoxicated.
"Everyone, Assistant Minister Li asks to see you outside the hall."
A young eunuch hurried into the hall to report.
"Ang Lee is here. It must be about Wang Zhongsi's request for the artillery troops. Let him in."
Li Longji immediately guessed the purpose of Ang Lee's visit. After all, yesterday, Wang Zhongsi was rebuffed by him, and then went to the R&D Center. Ang Lee stayed in the R&D Center almost every day.
"Your humble subject pays his respects to Your Majesty."
"Assistant Minister Li, you must be here to persuade me, right?"
Li Longji asked with a smile.
Ang Lee also smiled. "Your Majesty is really clever. Your humble subject is indeed here to persuade me."
"Oh, so you're saying that Assistant Minister Li supports Wang Zhongsi and hopes to transfer an artillery unit from the capital to the north. But if Assistant Minister Li wants to be a lobbyist, you must understand my concerns!"
Li Longji said seriously.
"Your Majesty is worried about the provincial governors of the other towns. If the ten provincial governors of the Tang dynasty all ask for an artillery brigade, the eight artillery brigades in the capital won't be enough."
Ang Lee casually spoke of Li Longji's concerns.
"Yes, that is indeed the case. That is exactly what I am worried about. Assistant Minister Li, do you have any good solutions?"
Li Longji asked with concern.
"Your Majesty, we have already started to equip the army with better breech-loading cannons. The four hundred breech-loading cannons we created in the early stages can be used to equip the provincial governors of the various towns. Of course, we don't need to equip every town with a brigade. Pinglu and Fanyang can equip one brigade each, Shuofang and Hedong can equip one brigade each, and Hexi, Longyou, Anxi, Beiting, Jiannan, and Lingnan can equip one brigade each. In this way, the eight artillery brigades will be used up, and the four hundred breech-loading cannons will be disposed of.
Ang Lee casually replied.
"Pinglu and Fanyang are under the command of An Lushan alone, while Shuofang and Hedong are under the command of Wang Zhongsi alone. There is nothing wrong with this arrangement. However, these two people will definitely be unhappy. Wang Zhongsi has really lost a lot by using you as a lobbyist, haha!"
Li Longji looked at Ang Lee with a smile and asked, "Assistant Minister Li, when will the new cannons be completed?"
"Your Majesty, the cannon workshop is speeding up the production, and it will be completed in three months. The breech-loading cannons will be eliminated step by step, and the cannons will be transferred to the various towns to increase the military strength of the various towns."
Ang Lee immediately replied.
Li Longji nodded and said, "Right now, only two brigades have been equipped with the new cannons. The two brigades that have been eliminated will be given to Shuofang and Fanyang first!"
It was clear that Li Longji felt that this arrangement of eight brigades was unfair to Wang Zhongsi and An Lushan. Thus, he used the method of giving them the cannons first to comfort them.
"Your Majesty is wise. This afternoon, this lowly subject will transfer a group of men from the 1st Artillery Brigade to form the Shuofang Artillery Brigade, and a group from the 2nd Artillery Brigade to form the Fanyang Artillery Brigade. After the new recruits are replenished, this lowly subject will have them move to Shuofang and Fanyang as soon as possible."
Ang Lee loudly announced his plan.
It was clear that artillery talents were very precious. Thus, when forming the local artillery units, Ang Lee only took a small portion of these experienced artillery talents. He only needed to ensure that there was one experienced artillery soldier for each cannon. In the future, they could continue to train until they were proficient.
"Well, Assistant Minister Li's arrangement is very good. Let's do it!"
Li Longji agreed with Ang Lee's plan. After a pause, he frowned and said, "Assistant Minister Li, now that the Huihe in the north and the Xi and Khitan in the northeast have all expressed goodwill to the Tang Dynasty. If I send the artillery units in these two directions, will it irritate them and make them want to rebel against the Tang Dynasty?"
Obviously, Li Longji felt that deploying the artillery units in the north seemed to be a very unfriendly move. If it irritated the neighboring countries and made them feel that the Tang Dynasty was not friendly, it seemed to cause unnecessary trouble.
"Your Majesty, you worry too much. If we send the artillery units in the north, it will indeed make the Huihe, Xi, and Khitan very nervous. However, the more pressure they feel, the more it will promote peace on the northern border. These people on horseback have always worshipped strength. Only when our Tang Dynasty shows enough strength to defeat them can they honestly get along with the Tang Dynasty."
Ang Lee said seriously.
Ang Lee knew the barbarian people on horseback best. This kind of people generally worshipped strength. If you could defeat them, they would honestly talk about life with you. If you were weak and couldn't defeat them, they would bully you at will and treat you like a lamb to be slaughtered.
Therefore, for such a people, it was necessary to fully show strength in front of them. There must not be the slightest weakness or concession. Otherwise, not only would they not be able to exchange for peace, but they would also be regarded as weak and easily bullied.
Li Longji nodded and agreed with Ang Lee's view. He made up his mind to deploy the artillery units in the border area.
Later, Li Longji asked about the progress of the development of the steam-powered ships. The reason why he was so concerned about the steam-powered ships was that he was eager to see all kinds of magical crops in America, especially sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, peppers, and other crops that could produce thousands of catties per mu without any nutrients.
In addition, Li Longji also planned to build cities in the distant America and send officials of the Tang Dynasty to rule there. He also planned to collect all kinds of magical products in America and transport them back to the capital on large steam-powered ships.
Ang Lee introduced the research progress of the large steam-powered ships in detail and made it clear that he would do his best to conduct in-depth research. He also told Li Longji that his idea could be realized. In a few years, the Tang Dynasty could build several cities in America as strongholds in America.
In order to obtain more products in America, they could even send unemployed people to farm and mine. They could also build railways in America to facilitate the transportation of all kinds of materials and further develop the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
After walking out of the Daming Palace, Ang Lee took a deep breath. He had talked too much just now. For more than two hours, he talked about developing the territory of America. The more excited Li Longji was, the more questions he asked. As a minister, he had to answer seriously and satisfy Li Longji.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
