Chapter 303: Destroy the Vietnamese Li Dynasty

In Fan Tower, Zhao Jun was enjoying his meal.

Fan Zhongyan didn't know the taste of the food - it was spicy and numb.

The two of you have been working together to improve the new policies to be issued this year.

Historically, the Qingli New Deal was issued once and lasted only for a short period of less than two years.

But today's new policies are released slowly, with only a part being released at a time. After this part is changed, other policies will be changed.

The reason is that Song Dynasty has been ill for too long and has stubborn diseases in his body. It is difficult to eradicate them all at once.

So you need to take it step by step, just like a patient who is full of bad diseases. What you need to do is the first step, to stabilize and eliminate the diseases that can be fatal.

Then we will treat other serious diseases that are not fatal but may develop into fatal, and then we can take care of those chronic diseases and minor illnesses.

Moreover, treatment is only the beginning. After the disease is cured, a long period of rest is required to allow the patient to gradually recover.

After recovery, we can talk about development and how to continue to maintain long-term physical and mental health.

The current situation is that after several rounds of reforms, Zhao Jun has just eliminated the fatal disease, but there is still a small part that has not been completely cured.

Therefore, he must take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of these serious and stubborn diseases before starting to plan for long-term development in the future.

Once the country is stable and all symptoms are cured, there will be a rest period of about several years.

Basically, when things like rubber and cinchona took root in the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty would usher in rapid development.

The issue of land annexation is one of the serious diseases.

Zhao Jun's policy of completely banning land sales was still too radical, and Fan Zhongyan expressed strong opposition.

However, he did not quarrel with Fan Zhongyan, because even he himself felt it was very radical, so he was able to calmly discuss solutions with Lao Fan.

In addition to raiding the tenant farmers of wealthy landowners so that no one could cultivate their fields, Zhao Jun thought there were other ways.

"We can officially start raising taxes on wealthy landowners."

Zhao Jun wiped his mouth with a towel. There were only leftovers on the table, as if they were a certain group in the country.

But they are not ordinary people, but a group of vampires who eat people without spitting out bones and are entrenched on the heads of the people at the bottom.

"Well, when it comes to taxes, since land sales can't be banned, why not collect land transaction taxes? If they do this to the left and try to raise land prices, won't they lose money?"

Fan Zhongyan suddenly thought of something.

"Yo."

Zhao Jun's eyes lit up and he said: "We two cobblers are indeed as good as Zhuge Liang. Sometimes we have to use our brains and brainstorm. It's really not enough for me to do it alone."

As he said this, he hesitated for a moment, considering whether to call his two younger brothers, Li Di and Xia Song, to discuss the matter together. Their minds were also flexible.

But think about it and forget it.

The reason why it was hidden from the Constitutional Yuan is because although everyone has the same political goals, their interests are not consistent, and it is easy for disagreements to arise.

A large part of these people come from the landlord class. If you let them attack themselves, wouldn't it be a joke?

The reason for talking with Lao Fan is because Lao Fan has the same interests as him.

Lao Fan was born in a small bureaucratic family, but his family was in a poor situation. When he was young, he had to eat porridge without eating, and his life was no better than that of ordinary people.

Therefore, after taking power, they all want to crack down on corrupt officials, crack down on military corruption, crack down on landlords and powerful landlords, and safeguard the interests of ordinary people without causing discord due to inconsistent interests.

Therefore, for at least the next few decades, he and Lao Fan will have a long period of cooperation to go. The two of them discuss these things together, so there will be less worries and quarrels.

"In addition to changes in taxes, there should be other changes. Now is the retreat period of the Little Ice Age. The world is warming up and the ecology is gradually recovering."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "Not only Guangdong, but Jiangsu and Zhejiang will also have more sunshine. I think cotton, a cash crop, can be promoted in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It will be included in the tax system and widely planted across the country."

Fan Zhongyan worriedly said: "You said before that cotton was promoted nationwide during the Yuan Dynasty, but it was not forcefully promoted until the Zhu Yuanzhang period. Does this mean that the real Little Glacier will end in the early Ming Dynasty? If we promote it now, will there be any consequences? question?"

"Well"

Zhao Jun muttered: "Let's try it first. It's not easy to end the Little Ice Age in a day or two, but the current cotton production is still too small to keep out the cold. If we want to open up the Northeast in the future, cotton will be indispensable."

"I see."

"By the way, don't we have a good relationship with Qingtang? After the American cotton production we brought back from North America was raised, we had people send it to the Western Regions for planting."

"Send them to the Western Regions? Now Xixia controls a lot of areas where the Uighurs in Xizhou are. Doesn't this mean they are endorsing the enemy?"

Fan Zhongyan frowned.

During his original trip to North America, he brought back not only crops, but also a large amount of North American cotton.

Cotton is divided into Asian cotton and American cotton. The earliest cotton that Zhao Jun brought back from the Western Regions was the Asian cotton from India. The yield is relatively low. The advantage is that the growth cycle is short, and cotton can grow in about 130 days.

American cotton is also a grass cotton and has a very long growth cycle, which can take more than 200 days with sufficient light and water resources. If the growth requirements are not met, it will take a year to produce cotton.

However, the advantages of American cotton are also obvious. It has high yield and good quality. It is long-staple cotton that is different from Asian short-staple cotton. In later generations, this kind of cotton was planted on a large scale in Xinjiang region of my country.

Now that the fleet has brought them back from North America, the imperial court has ordered them to be planted in areas with sufficient sunshine and heat, such as Guangzhou, to wait for the yield to increase.

Compared with Guangzhou, the Western Region is obviously more suitable for planting. It's just that a large part of the Western Region is now controlled by Li Yuanhao. If he gets North American cotton, won't it allow him to develop more?

"You don't understand this."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "I call it good things to share with everyone. In the future, what's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine."

Fan Zhongyan understood, and suddenly realized: "Do you want to use them to help you promote this cotton in the Western Regions? When the promotion is successful and mature, you will destroy Xixia, regain the Western Regions, and take it as your own?"

"Don't speak so harshly."

Zhao Jun said sternly: "I'll reiterate it again. The Western Regions, the Northeast, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and Taiwan have been our country's indivisible territories since ancient times. What's wrong with me taking back our Han people's own land? And the descendants of the Dangxiang people are our country." I am allowing them to recognize their ancestors as members of the fifty-six Chinese family since ancient times.”

"Ah, yes, yes, there are also Khitans, Dali people, and Tubo people. In the future, will Koreans and Japanese be part of our big family since ancient times?"

Fan Zhongyan teased.

"If they want to come, I welcome them. East Asia is an integrated circle of Confucian culture. We can prosper and develop together. Under the influence of Confucian culture, we can form a big family of brothers, friends, respect, and harmony. Wouldn't it be beautiful? ?”

Zhao Jun spread his hands and spoke in a high-sounding way about annexing Japan and Korea without feeling anything wrong at all.

In fact, there is really no problem.

Because this era is not an era in which the international order has been determined for later generations. At least in this era, even if the Song Dynasty regained Zhuozhou, it was only three million square kilometers, not even one-third of the later generations.

During the heyday of the Yuan Dynasty, there were still 13 million square kilometers of land.

While the order of this period has not yet been determined, the territorial area is still in the era of who conquers and who occupies it.

It is reasonable for Zhao Jun to strike first and take advantage of the first-mover advantage accumulated by the Song Dynasty to destroy the Liao Kingdom and Xixia, seize Dali and the Western Regions, and then incorporate Northeast China, Mongolian grasslands, Korea, Japan and even Vietnam into the territory of the Song Dynasty.

The only problem is that the Song Dynasty only has the national strength to defeat the Liao State and annex Xixia, but it does not destroy the national strength of the Liao State and annex the Liao State. So it still takes a while to develop and become stronger.

"You said before that you haven't finished talking about the long-term plan yet."

Fan Zhongyan looked at the leftovers on the table and then turned to look out the window. It was still lunch break time and the weather was still cold, but the spring willows in Bianliang City were already swaying in the wind.

"Completing the land annexation is only the first step. After the mass production of steam engines in the future, rail tracks can be laid across the country and trains can be developed."

Zhao Jun said: "In addition to this, it is the basic red line to ensure agricultural land. Individuals cannot own too much land to form the landlord class. Even if they become the bourgeoisie, it will be beneficial to the country during this period. The landlord class is too It’s a cancer. India just didn’t eradicate the landlord class, which resulted in the situation in later generations.”

"Well, what then?"

"The second step is of course to wait for the arrival of rubber and cinchona, and then officially start the first industrial revolution. Rubber will be used in the mass production of steam engines, a large number of factories will be built, Lingnan, Taiwan, Hainan and other places will be developed to strengthen export trade."

"Is this such a big step?"

Fan Zhongyan said in surprise.

The first step is just to solve the problem of land annexation, but the second step is directly related to the industrial revolution?

"It's just grand strategy."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "As for the tactical implementation level, just a land annexation, the court does not know how many policies, how much money and manpower will be needed to solve it."

"That's true."

Fan Zhongyan nodded.

"As for the first step of overall planning, I think there are three directions. One is to deal with land annexation, the other is to build large-scale national infrastructure, and the third is to prepare for the future."

Zhao Jun said: "I have told you about the first direction, and also talked about the second one. As for the third one, I will make it clear."

He looked at Lao Fan, tapped the table gently and said: "We must take down Vietnam."

"Vietnam?"

"Yes, at least we have to finish the Hanoi Plain."

"What's the reason?"

Fan Zhongyan was puzzled.

Vietnam repeatedly violated the Song Dynasty's border, but the Song Dynasty never dealt with it. It was not that it lacked national power, but that the sky was high and the emperor was far away.

There are many chieftains in Guangxi, and the Song Dynasty has always adopted the rule of restraint. The rare power structure is only in the county or state capital. For example, Yongzhou, which later became Nanning City, was the prefectural government office of the Song Dynasty.

But after leaving Yongzhou City, the orders of the magistrate will be much weaker, and they can only control the Han people around the city. The ethnic minorities in the mountains will nominally obey, but it is not certain how much they can obey.

Moreover, there are many mountains and dense forests there, so the cost of sending troops to attack Liao and Xixia is higher. Historically, Song Renzong encountered Nong Zhigao's rebellion. Before Di Qing took action, Nong Zhigao had won many battles. The Song army fought in the mountains. , logistical supplies, and tactical play are all problems.

Even if Di Qing went out, he would bring an army of 200,000 and spend millions of dollars to put this guy down. It can be seen that the southwest cannot be solved by large numbers of people and few people, but is simply caused by factors such as terrain, disease and so on.

If you want to get the southwest, the prerequisite may be cinchona. But cinchona trees need to be planted in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, which creates a paradox.

"Grain, cinchona, rubber!"

Zhao Jun said frankly: "Many diseases are spread by mosquitoes sucking blood, especially malaria. But there are too many mosquitoes in the south and we can't get rid of them at all. We can only rely on cinchona. Like rubber, it grows in tropical rainforests and needs When planting in Yunnan, Taiwan, Hainan, and Southeast Asia, we must prepare the soil in advance for them to survive. "

"But attacking the southwest is not as good as attacking Liao and Xixia. I am confident of winning against Liao and Xixia. The enemy in the southwest may not be Vietnam, but various diseases."

Fan Zhongyan frowned.

"I have also considered this. There is no need to send out a large number of troops. Let the firearms battalion have 10,000 or 20,000 people. I will push Vietnam away. As for the ordinary soldiers."

Zhao Jun narrowed his eyes, smiled slightly and said: "There are some soldiers stationed in the local area. If it doesn't work, there are also Nong Zhigao."

"Isn't Nong Zhigao a rebel traitor? If the imperial court hadn't repeatedly used troops against Xixia and Liao in recent years, I'm afraid they would have sent people to kill him long ago."

Fan Zhongyan was puzzled.

"If he wants to rebel, he will rebel again in the future. The Song Dynasty did wrong in this matter. It is because the Song Dynasty did not take into account its own territory and has been demanded and exploited by foreign countries. This is our own shame and has nothing to do with him."

"You mean we should accept him?"

"What if?"

"But now Nong Zhigao has established his own country. What if he just wants to use us to defeat Vietnam and then dominate the southwest?"

"If that's the case, then no wonder I, the Great Song Dynasty, pretended to attack Guo and was killed by him."

A trace of cruelty flashed in Zhao Jun's eyes.

Nong Zhigao can't be said to be good, but he can't be said to be very bad either.

Because essentially, he wanted to join the Song Dynasty to fight against the oppression of the Vietnamese Li Dynasty.

However, at that period in history, the Song Dynasty was at war with Xixia and was really unable to take care of the southwest, so it ignored his request.

So Nong Zhigao was angry and launched a rebellion. He rebelled and wanted to occupy Guangxi and Guangdong, but was eventually eliminated by Di Qing.

From this point of view, it is a bit similar to "The warlords in northern Myanmar lost in the battle with the Myanmar government forces and repeatedly requested our country to take them over, but our country sternly refused. So a certain warlord surnamed Nong was angry and led his army to invade Yunnan, but was eliminated by our army."

However, the difference is that the warlords in northern Myanmar are Myanmar's internal affairs and we cannot interfere.

The Guangyuan Prefecture where Nong Zhigao was located was actually the territory of the Song Dynasty, and was one of the forty-four Jisi prefectures in Yongzhou of the Great Song Dynasty.

Although this kind of Jisi Prefecture was not the territory actually controlled by the Song Dynasty and was a bit like a minority autonomous prefecture, it was not a foreign state like Goryeo Ryukyu, but belonged to the Song Dynasty in name.

Therefore, this can barely be regarded as the internal affairs of the Song Dynasty, and his uprising was also characterized by the Song Dynasty court as a domestic rebellion. From the standpoint of the Song Dynasty court, it is natural not to say that Nong Zhigao is good, and the "History of the Song Dynasty" has many record his evil deeds.

It's just that as the territory of the Song Dynasty, Vietnam actually occupied it and continued to squeeze it, forcing the local people to pay high taxes. It is really unjustifiable.

According to records, in the summer of 1039 alone, Guangyuan Prefecture was forced to "donate" a piece of raw gold weighing 112 taels to Jiaozhi. Historical data said: "Jiaozhi's wealth is endless, and the people of the prefecture suffer."

Therefore, Nong Zhigao, as the leader of a local ethnic minority, raised the banner of resistance to Vietnam, which was a just thing.

On this point, Song Dynasty was very unreasonable.

Your own territory is being exploited by others, but you don't care. The local people rebelled and wrote to the court, hoping that the court would send troops to help, but the court still ignored them.

So the local people were very angry and began to attack the imperial court. The imperial court sent troops to eliminate this resistance force.

The end result is that Vietnam becomes even more unscrupulous.

So essentially, the role played by Song Dynasty is not good-looking. Even if it belongs to itself, it cannot manage its borders well. Even if it is bullied by Vietnam, it can only knock out its teeth and swallow it in its own belly.

It's just that Song Dynasty is in a bad position as a whole, but Nong Zhigao is not a good person either.

He was cruel by nature. He killed his adoptive father at the age of thirteen. After starting the army, he went around burning, killing and looting, committing all kinds of evil.

In addition, from the perspective of the Song Dynasty, Nong Zhigao founded the country and proclaimed himself emperor, which was extremely intolerable to the imperial power, so he was characterized as a rebel and traitor.

It's just that Zhao Jun, as a later generation, did not fully believe that "History of the Song Dynasty" characterized Nong Zhigao as a villain.

After all, from an objective perspective, he actually safeguarded national unity and prevented the southwest border from being invaded by foreign enemies.

So Zhao Jun planned to give Nong Zhigao a chance.

He said to Fan Zhongyan: "At the beginning of Qingli, Nong Zhigao wrote a letter hoping to surrender. He has been writing letters in the past few years. Since the court was busy dealing with Liao and Xixia, it did not make a decision for the time being. It just appeased him. Now we will deal with it. After conquering Xixia and Liao, it’s time to deal with Vietnam’s problem.”

"Vietnam has repeatedly provoked our Song Dynasty. Not only did it often send troops to conquer the southwest, but it also invaded our Song Dynasty and forced our Song people to pay high taxes. This is intolerable."

"In the past, Li Chaoyang violated the law. On the surface, he kept sending letters to the Song Dynasty to send envoys to worship, but secretly harassed the border. The Song Dynasty had to face the Liao Kingdom and Xixia, and the cost of attacking Vietnam was too high, so it was temporarily shelved, but now with firearms and equipment , they have to pay the price.”

"The Hanoi Plain is a very good place, whether it is the development of agriculture or cash crops. It also has the outlet of the Beibu Gulf. I think that after cinchona is available, sea trade will be established in Guangxi, Hanoi, and Hainan The mouth is very good.”

"Nong Zhigao sincerely submitted the letter, and we also have reasons and excuses to attack Vietnam, then we will follow the trend and destroy Vietnam. At least we must drive them south. Northern Vietnam will return to China just like the Han Dynasty. "

"If Nong Zhigao behaves honestly in the future, we can give him a military governor in the southwest and govern his own ethnic minorities first. We only seek development, and we will pursue ethnic integration in the future."

"But if Nong Zhigao is not sincere and just wants to borrow the power of the Song Dynasty to establish himself as king, then just destroy him too. What the Song Dynasty needs is a younger brother who is determined to follow the Song Dynasty. In this way, the Song Dynasty will also bring them There are benefits. But if you are half-hearted, you don’t have to keep it.”

"As for the white-eyed wolves in Vietnam."

At the end, Zhao Jun's eyes burst with murderous intent: "Destroy it!"