Apos was the founder of Arabia and a very capable sovereign. Under his leadership, the Khorasan people had staged a large-scale uprising, overthrowing the corrupt Umayyad dynasty and establishing a new order.
This capable sovereign naturally had his own way of governing and employing people. He was very friendly to those who were loyal to him, but if his subordinates betrayed him, they would receive the cruelest treatment. He would use the cruelest punishments to tell all his subjects what the consequences of betraying him were.
Therefore, when Apos looked at these officials with suspicion, they immediately trembled in fear. They instinctively took a step back and knelt down to explain their innocence.
"Your Majesty, we are absolutely loyal and devoted to you. Even if the Tang dynasty wants to kill us, we will never betray Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, the heavens can bear witness to our loyalty to Your Majesty. We just feel that the Tang dynasty's Assistant Minister Li's words are very reasonable. We truly should cooperate with the Tang dynasty. This will benefit both of us."
"Your Majesty, the Tang dynasty's railroad has already reached Anxi, and the strength of the Tang Army has already extended to the west. We must accept this fact."
The subjects began to explain.
"How do you know that our Arab warriors can't defeat the Tang Army? And what if the other countries don't pay tribute in the future? This is a very large sum of money! How can we so easily give it up? "
Apos was furious. He had always been invincible in the west and had never met a worthy opponent. As long as a hostile force dared to disrespect him, he would immediately lead his army to eliminate the opponent and occupy the enemy's land and cities to expand his own power.
Once one got used to this feeling of looking down on the world, it was very difficult to change it. Everyone wanted to suppress others, and being suppressed was extremely painful. This was especially true for someone as ambitious and ruthless as Apos, who was even more unwilling to endure it.
"Your Majesty, Assistant Minister Li of the Tang dynasty has promised that the railway will be connected to Khorasan in the future. In this way, our goods can be transported to the east more quickly. In this way, we will become richer and richer. It doesn't matter even if we lose the tribute from the countries in the river."
"Your Majesty, the businessmen all support the cooperation with the Tang dynasty. It's better for us to follow their wishes. As long as these businessmen are rich, we can get more taxes. In this way, we won't lose anything."
"Your Majesty, this is already the best choice. We have no other way out. We can only win if we work together. "
Several ministers tried to persuade him.
"Win-win cooperation? What does that mean? Why haven't I heard of it before? "
Apos frowned as he looked at the ministers.
Of course, this was a term from later generations, so it was normal for Apos not to have heard of it. However, after the ministers' explanation, he immediately understood the meaning of the term and felt that the idea of a win-win cooperation was indeed very good.
But when he thought of losing the tributes from the countries in the river, he felt a little distressed. It would be a pity if so many tributes were gone just like that.
"The loss is too great, too great. If we lose the tributes from the countries in the east, our loss will be too great."
Apos shook his head repeatedly, looking very distressed.
Although the prospect of a win-win cooperation was very good, the premise was that they would lose a lot of vested interests. No one would feel good about it. No one was willing to lose the huge benefits they had already gained. Who would be willing to spit out the things they had already eaten? How painful this feeling was!
Seeing that Apos was unwilling, the ministers tried their best to persuade him to understand the benefits of doing so and the price he had to pay to fight against the Tang dynasty.
Apos was not a fool. He was quite clear about the strength of the Tang Dynasty. He did not have the confidence to defeat the Tang Dynasty, but if he followed the will of the Tang Dynasty, he would feel a little humiliated and lose too much benefits. The reason why the countries in later generations tried their best to encircle the rising Hua Xia was that the resources in the whole world were limited. Once the Hua Xia rose, it was bound to have these resources. In this way, the countries that originally occupied a lot of resources would suffer losses, which was obviously what they did not want to see. And now, Apos was in such a state of mind.
Once the power of the Tang Dynasty entered the west, he would lose too much benefits. Although the Tang Dynasty could promote the commercial prosperity of Dashi Country and make Dashi Country richer, the Tang Dynasty would gain more benefits. In other words, the Tang Empire would get a big piece of fat meat, while Dashi Country would only get a bowl of soup. As a result, Apos must feel very uncomfortable.
As a minister, he did not feel uncomfortable crawling at the feet of others. But as a king, he had always been high and mighty. The feeling of being suppressed by others was not very comfortable.
At this moment, Apos was very conflicted. He wanted to maintain the vested interests of the countries in the river, but at the same time, he wanted to develop his own power with the help of the Tang Dynasty, which was obviously impossible.
"By the way, I heard that wherever the railway of the Tang Dynasty leads to, the land on both sides of the railway belongs to them. Our land was exchanged with the blood of our soldiers. How can we give it to others casually? This is unacceptable."
Apos stroked his beard as he sternly stared at his ministers.
It was clear that he would not compromise on the issue of territory. This was his bottom line, the bottom line shared by all ambitious sovereigns.
"Your Majesty, you're worrying too much. On the way back, Assistant Minister Li of the Tang Dynasty already said that our Arabia is a large country. If the railway passes through our Arabia, the territory will still belong to us, and we'll even get thirty percent of the profits from the railway. In addition, our people will be hired to work for the railway."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Assistant Minister Li is clearly a sincere person. He wouldn't deceive us, and we won't lose any land."
"Your Majesty, as long as the railway passes through Arabia, our merchants will be able to quickly sell their goods to the east, and we'll grow richer and richer. This is an extremely rare opportunity that we can't miss. Assistant Minister Li's proposal of a win-win cooperation is the most suitable for us."
The ministers had been brainwashed by Ang Lee long ago, so they naturally believed whatever Ang Lee said. As someone from the future, the picture of the future of Arabia that Ang Lee had painted was far too beautiful. Anyone who heard it would be tempted.
"All of you are my ministers, so why do you trust a foreign minister? Is this Assistant Minister Li so trustworthy?"
Apos frowned in confusion.
"Your Majesty, it's because Assistant Minister Li is speaking too sincerely that we have to believe him. Moreover, this truly is beneficial to the Tang Dynasty. He wouldn't deceive us."
"Your Majesty, our best option is to cooperate. If we choose to resist, given the strength of the Tang Dynasty, the railway will be built sooner or later. At that time, we will find it very difficult to fight them, and the country will be in danger of being destroyed."
Apos felt very uncomfortable and angrily retorted, "Allah's power is mighty. How can our country be destroyed? With Allah's protection, we are invincible."
This sort of nonsense could only deceive three-year-old children, but faith truly was a miraculous thing. It could make people obsessed and crazy, but in the end, it was just a way to control people's thoughts.
Of course, faith was also divided into good and bad. If faith was used to control people's thoughts and make them do good things, which was conducive to the unity of society, then this kind of faith was naturally worth advocating, which was a very good faith. However, if faith was used to seek huge private benefits for oneself, or even to take advantage of the believers' obsession and trust to do bad things such as rebellion, then it was very undesirable, which was also a very terrible thing.
There were also some kinds of faith that were double-edged swords, which had both advantages and disadvantages. For example, personal worship could make an empire extremely united. All the people would unite around the monarch and follow the monarch to go on expeditions, thus bursting out a terrifying power that could even conquer the whole world. However, this would also make the people very ignorant and generally lack calm thinking.
A casual sentence from the monarch was the eternal truth, and any direction he pointed out was right. The people regarded the monarch as an omnipotent immortal. They believed that as long as the monarch was alive, the empire would always prosper. They even worried about what the country would do once the monarch was gone.
In short, the reason why faith was born in this world was entirely to control the thoughts of the people, so as to facilitate effective governance of the people and reduce the cost of management.
The blind following of the people would further stimulate the ambitions of the ruling class, which would make a country with strong faith belligerent and willing to expand outward.
At present, Apos was such a person. He was blinded by faith and the worship of his people. Moreover, the empire he had built had been in a state of expansion for so many years, which further fueled his ambition and confidence, making him feel that it was possible to defeat the Tang dynasty.
Of course, the advancement and prestige of the Tang dynasty also made him a little afraid, but for so many years, his elite troops had never fought against the troops of the Tang dynasty, so he had no idea what would happen if they really fought.
Under such circumstances, Apos urgently needed a battle, a battle with the troops of the Tang dynasty, to find out how strong the military strength of the Tang Dynasty was, so that he could make the wisest choice.
If the Tang Dynasty army was really as strong as the rumors said, he would change his attitude and choose to cooperate with the Tang dynasty, sacrificing part of his interests. If the Tang Dynasty army could be defeated, he would not be so polite.
However, the scale of the battle could not be very large, otherwise, it would be very difficult to end it. A frictional battle of thousands of people was the most suitable. This kind of small-scale battle could also be a good way to test the combat strength of a country's army. There was a saying, "Seeing a leopard through a tube". This was what it meant.
After careful consideration, Apos decided to have some small frictions at the border of the Stone Kingdom. Based on his understanding of the Stone Kingdom, the troops of the Stone Kingdom would definitely not be able to resist. Even if he only sent a thousand troops, he could successfully take down a small city. It would be as easy as taking something out of his pocket.
Apos had sent a capable general to lead his personal guards. This was a mixed army of elites with a wide variety of soldiers. Whether it was attacking a city or defending a city, they were competent in all aspects.
It was most suitable to use such an elite army to test the strength of the Tang Dynasty army. In addition, he also hoped that this army could teach the Tang Dynasty army a good lesson. Even if they were defeated, he wanted to let the Tang Dynasty army see the strength of the Dashi Dynasty, so that they would not dare to look down on the Dashi Dynasty. This would be a bargaining chip for him in future negotiations.
Apos's elite guards moved quickly. In a few days, they arrived at the border city of the Stone Kingdom. They asked to enter the city to search for a missing soldier.
"This is an excuse. It's completely their excuse. They are clearly going to invade. This is an insult to us."
The general of the Stone Kingdom guarding the city was so angry that his beard was crooked.
"The general is right. I feel it too. However, they look very strong. We can't hold the city. For the sake of the lives of the people, it seems that we can only abandon the city."
His subordinate was also a bearded man. He didn't have much hope for the thousand soldiers guarding the city. He knew that resistance was futile, and these soldiers were only there for show. Normally, they were enough to catch bandits and maintain order in the city. However, against the elite soldiers of a large country, they were completely inadequate.
The entire Stone Kingdom's troops were so weak in combat and were not well-equipped. That was why they spent money on both sides. Anyway, the Stone Kingdom, which was good at doing business, was relatively wealthy. They could still afford the protection fee.
"Well, I think what you said makes sense. We will leave here for the time being and give the city to them. However, we will definitely come back. Okay! We will retreat now. "
The general, who had been furious just a moment ago, immediately cowered. He didn't want to be killed by Apos's troops. Besides, he was worried that resisting would completely enrage these beasts and bring a terrible disaster to the people in the city.
After all, the troops under Apos's command had massacred cities before. In the eyes of the Stone Kingdom's people, nothing was more important than their lives. Losing the city was not a big deal, but causing a large number of people to die was an unforgivable sin.
The general of the Stone Kingdom took the main troops under his command and fled the city with a clear conscience. He left the undamaged city to Apos's elite troops.
Just like that, Apos's thousand elite troops easily took over the city. Then, they took over a few smaller cities.
What was surprising was that the defending troops of all the cities did not resist. The people were not hostile to the occupying troops. As long as the occupying troops did not harm them, they did not think it was a big problem. They even prepared necessities for the occupying troops for free.
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