Of course, Ang Lee was ambitious. Otherwise, he would not have led the Tang Dynasty fleet to establish the Maritime Silk Road. The establishment of the Maritime Silk Road would allow the Tang Empire to control the entire world. Although it was only a loose political control, it was still very powerful.
The reason why a certain country in the future had always been leading the world was that it used bases all over the world and a wide range of allies to establish a whole chain of interests. In the whole system, everyone had to conform to the interests of the country. If anyone dared to disobey, they would definitely be severely punished. As for countries that did not belong to this system, they would have to carry out very strict restrictions and suppression to prevent the rise of this country and challenge their global hegemony, which would then threaten their own vested interests.
When Ang Lee helped the Tang Dynasty establish order overseas, the countries along the way must abide by this order. If anyone dared to disobey this order, they would be severely punished. It might even lead to the collapse of the country's finances and the replacement of the regime.
Of course, the prerequisite for Ang Lee's plan to be realized was that there must be a powerful army. The Tang Dynasty's army, which had been modernized by Ang Lee, completely met this condition. It was fully capable of fulfilling the task of controlling all the key points of the world. Thus, the economic lifeline of the world would be controlled by the Tang Empire.
Li Xiaolu was a little surprised by Ang Lee's ambition, but she was not unhappy. After all, her hometown had long been occupied by the Arabs. Ang Lee wanted to take back Gibraltar from these bandits and make it his own. For Li Xiaolu, this was not a loss of profit. At the same time, there was no emotional loss because these places did not belong to her hometown.
Ang Lee also said that he would take the original residents back and resettle them. This made Li Xiaolu very happy. The people in her hometown had long gone their separate ways. If there were still people who could come back, Li Xiaolu might know them.
"Assistant Minister Li, if all the land in the world belongs to the Tang dynasty, will there be no more robbers driving people away in the future? Will all the people be able to live their lives peacefully? "
Li Xiaolu asked.
This question was a bit too big. At first, Ang Lee didn't know how to answer. He fell into deep thought.
Since ancient times, there had always been an obsession in the Hua Xia Empire, and this obsession was to unify the world. Unification was the common goal of all ambitious monarchs. No matter what kind of chaotic era it was, there would always be a monarch that would eventually lead to unification.
The obsession to unify became a cultural phenomenon unique to the Hua Xia Empire. It was something that no other place in the world possessed, and at the same time, it was a very outstanding ideology.
This was because the ancestors of the Hua Xia Empire had long realized that only by unifying the world could they stop the endless wars and let the people live a peaceful life. If the world fell apart, the world would inevitably be in endless chaos.
Before the unification of the Hua Xia Empire, it was called the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The meaning of the Warring States Period was very easy to understand. It meant that all the countries had been fighting with each other, so it was called the Warring States Period. The Spring and Autumn Period was quite gentle and seemed to be poetic. However, the meaning of the two words Spring and Autumn Period was also inseparable from war.
The reason why it was called this was because in that historical period, major events mainly happened in the Spring and Autumn Period. Spring was the season of sowing and sacrifice, while autumn was the season of harvest and war. There was an old saying that the whole year's plan was in spring, and in autumn, when the various vassal states had food, they began to fight for territory. Ancient soldiers had to wear thick armor. It was too hot to wear in summer, and they couldn't move in winter. Therefore, autumn was the most suitable. Moreover, at this time, the autumn harvest had just begun, and the country had sufficient food supplies. They could also plunder other people's food through war. Therefore, in these two seasons, the historians were particularly busy. During the spring, they recorded the major events of sacrifice, and in the autumn, they recorded the events of war. Because almost all the major events happened in these two seasons, this period was called the Spring and Autumn Period.
During the Spring and Autumn Period of Hua Xia, wars were very frequent. The reason for the frequency of wars was naturally because there were too many countries and it was too chaotic. Between the various vassal states, for their own interests, they would choose to plunder other countries' resources for their own use through war, thus allowing themselves to obtain the greatest benefits.
However, if every vassal state thought this way, then a large-scale war would not be far away. Therefore, in the entire Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, wars were extremely frequent and tragic. The lives of the common people of every country were very miserable. The men were either working hard to farm or being conscripted to fight. Many people joined the army before they reached adulthood, and even when their hair turned white, they still did not leave the military camp.
This kind of life of being a soldier and fighting was obviously meaningless. However, in the Spring and Autumn Period, it was like this. In that era of many small countries, for their own interests and survival needs, the various countries had to engage in extremely tragic wars, thus making it difficult for all the common people in the world to live a peaceful life.
Since the world was unified, this kind of war situation had been greatly reduced. Although there were still wars and rebellions, the population affected was relatively small, and not too many people would suffer because of war.
This was the benefit of unification, and at the same time, it was also the reason why many people with ambition were determined to unify the world. The first person to unify the world was Qin Shi Huang, and in the dynasties after that, there were a large number of unified dynasties, and all the unified dynasties were relatively stable, showing signs of prosperity and prosperity. In the years of war, there was no prosperity at all, because the various countries were always at war, and there was no time and resources to develop the economy and technology, so there was no need to talk about a country's prosperity. After all, the standard of a prosperous country was a large population and sufficient resources, and the people's lives were prosperous and stable. Only when these conditions were met could it be called a prosperous country, and this kind of situation was possible only after unification.
Some people might think that if all the countries took care of their own land and did not invade others, then wouldn't it be fine?
This kind of thinking was too naive, because as long as there were benefits, there would be competition. Any country would have all kinds of internal problems. When there were insufficient resources for development, they would naturally think of invasion. When they saw that the other party was relatively weak, they would also think of invading others, so as to gradually expand their own power, or make a big fuss over some small conflicts. In short, as long as there were many small countries in the world, there would be a lot of wars. After the world was unified, this kind of situation would be greatly reduced, which would be beneficial for the people to live and work in peace and contentment.
Li Xiaolu's question made Ang Lee think for a long time. It was not that this question was difficult to answer, but to answer such a question, one had to consider it very carefully.
This was because the Huaxia Empire had unified the world. This so-called world referred to the nine states of the Huaxia Empire and some peripheral lands. It didn't include other ethnic groups located far away. If these were included, it would have already surpassed the Huaxia Empire's so-called world.
This was not only because of the larger territory, but also because of the difference in culture and sense of identity. The world of Huaxia had been unified many times, and a consensus had long been formed. No matter what, the world must be unified. That was what all the ambitious people thought.
In other parts of the world, this was not necessarily the case. Many ethnic groups did not have such qualities. They had no concept of the world at all and only knew how to protect their own private interests. Therefore, they would never be able to achieve true unification.
For example, there were many countries in Europe, but no one could unify all these countries to form a larger country. There were several large countries on the Mediterranean coast, but because the structure was relatively loose, there was an essential difference from the unification of Hua Xia. They were not on the same level at all. This was because their political power was too loose. Once there was a conflict of interests, the country would fall apart.
Therefore, the world of Europe was the smallest and most fragmented country in the future. Countries in other parts of the world, on the whole, were always larger than them. The Huaxia Empire, in particular, was very large, and the reason for this was the ideology of great unification.
In Europe, not only were the countries very fragmented, but after the formal unification, some countries wanted to break away from the formal unification for their own interests, causing great trouble in this region.
In short, because the people in that place preferred to be independent and did not want to form a unification, no matter how much integration was done, the countries in this region could not complete the formal unification.
Because of the different regions, people's way of thinking was different. It was precisely because of this that when Li Xiaolu asked whether there would be no wars and bandits after the Tang dynasty unified the world, Ang Lee really did not know how to answer.
If he told her that the Tang dynasty did not have such great ability, it would damage the prestige of the Tang Empire. If he told her that there would be no wars after the Tang dynasty unified the world, it would seem too fake. After all, if the Tang Empire forcibly unified the whole world, it would inevitably be resisted by a large number of ethnic groups, and wars might be more frequent. Only good cooperation was the best way.
"The situation of the countries is complicated, and it is not so easy to unify. However, as long as the Tang dynasty occupies the key points and controls the countries in the world, it can effectively alleviate the wars and bandits."
Ang Lee thought for a long time, and this was the only answer he could give.
Li Xiaolu nodded and said, "I understand. Just like this time, Assistant Minister Li adjusted the relationship between Osman and Rahman so that they would not attack each other. In this way, wars can be reduced. This is the significance of the Tang Empire's existence overseas, isn't it?"
After saying that, she looked at Ang Lee seriously.
Ang Lee looked at Li Xiaolu in surprise, nodded, and replied with great appreciation, "You're right. This is the significance of the Tang dynasty's existence. In the future, when the Tang Empire occupies Gibraltar, it can separate Spain from Osman's Egypt. In the future, wars between the two countries will be less likely, and there will not be many people displaced because of wars. Situations like your family's will be greatly reduced."
These were Ang Lee's heartfelt words. As long as the Tang dynasty occupied Gibraltar, an important hub, it could control the Gibraltar Strait very well, thus separating Spain and Egypt. In this way, if the two countries were to have a conflict again, it would inevitably destroy the interests of the Tang Empire in Gibraltar. In this way, it would be strongly opposed by the Tang Empire, and it was very likely that the war would not be fought.
The Tang Empire was sandwiched between the two countries. As long as it intervened in the way of military deterrence, the two countries could not continue to be hostile. The Tang dynasty's reason was also very good, which was to protect the interests of businessmen from being infringed.
Of course, these excuses were relatively secondary. The main reason was that the Tang Empire's military power was relatively strong, which was the backing to solve all the problems. Without an extremely strong military power, any excuse would be in vain and useless.
In any era, military power was always the core issue that must be paid attention to. Only with strong military power could a country's words be obeyed. Without military power as a backing, a country would be trampled on no matter how reasonable it was.
There was a saying in the Hua Xia Empire since ancient times, "Military power is the most important thing in a country. It is the land of life and death, and the road to survival. It must be paid attention to." In other words, the military was an extremely important part of a regime. Without the support of the military, no regime could exist stably.
Therefore, the ruling class of any regime would take military power as the core work. Any ruler would firmly hold on to military power and not let go. Only in this way could the absolute security of their regime be ensured.
Since ancient times, almost all the emperors who handed over military power to their ministers had a tragic end. This was because after the ministers had military power, they would not be willing to just be ministers. They would want to replace the emperor and usurp the throne to be the emperor themselves.
A rich country must have military power that matched its status. Otherwise, this rich country would become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered and bullied.
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