Chapter 2556 Conquer, Plunder, and Shock

Jiang Fan was still a little hesitant: "But if there is Chu State..."

The empress said calmly: "To transform into a dragon, there will always be some disasters, let him deal with them by himself."

Jiang Fan had no choice but to agree, but he was a little confused: "Wuming will become stronger and stronger, are you really willing to see him transform into a dragon?"

The empress raised her head and looked at the sky with a distant look: "He should have become a dragon. We can't have no alternative..."

Alternative? These two words suddenly made Jiang Fan's heart tremble.

But the empress did not continue this topic, "It is not easy to achieve a good situation now, so you and I will act separately."

Jiang Fan calmed down and knew that this was the most important thing.

"I personally supervise Lishan to rush the work on all fronts and at the same time comprehensively increase the scale of transactions. We... must prepare all the forces we should have and search for all available wealth."

The empress looked at him: "Yes, this will be your most critical task in the next two years. And I..."

Her voice became harsh: "Fight to feed war!"

Jiang Fan was slightly shocked: "You still want to fight?"

The empress' eyes were sharp: "If we want to fight, I said that the second five-year plan will probably be carried out during the war. Now that the imperial court is independent and the structure is reorganized, it is the most favorable time for us. But fighting cannot cause consumption. Therefore, I want to sweep the border and fight some marginal battles. The first is to familiarize the army with and adapt to the new tactics, and to restore the army's strongest fighting spirit. "

The first purpose was completely understandable to Jiang Fan. The Qin Dynasty had been recuperating for many years, and the morale of the army was not yet strong enough, and the fighting spirit was not strong enough. Moreover, the new tactics and new equipment did need to be adjusted proficiently.

But for the latter, conquer, plunder, and intimidate, the empress used three words in succession, which made Jiang Fan's heart churn.

The empress seemed to want to explain to him: "The conquerors are small border countries and independent forces."

Jiang Fan understood immediately.

In fact, there are never just five major princes and kings in the world. There are many large and small independent forces between them, on the borders and even within the country. This is caused by historical reasons.

Since the beginning of the Great Zhou Enfeoffment, there were 300 powerful princes in the world, but there were also countless large and small forces. Later, with the evolution of history, when the Five Kingdoms later competed for hegemony, there were still many small forces in many places. Living in the cracks and border areas of the five countries, there are dozens of small princes and hundreds of independent forces. There are quite a few like Yuzhou, but Yuzhou is larger and ownerless.

And obviously, the empress now wants to completely clean up the area around Da Qin.

This is very necessary. Before the war of unification begins, eliminating these small countries is actually like eliminating hidden dangers, because you can never be sure whether they will be won over by other opponents.

In history, there are many people who suffered war defeats and even the destruction of their country due to this kind of backstabbing by small countries.

There are eighteen bordering countries in the four borders of the Qin State. They are known as the eighteen border countries. There are nearly a hundred independent forces. Among them are those who are dissatisfied with the Qin State. There are also those who pay tribute every year to support the Qin State. There are also those who are independent and indifferent to the Qin State. But seeing what the Empress meant, no matter what the situation was, they were not prepared to keep them. They had only one choice, surrender or perish.

Jiang Fan thought for a moment: "Is this why you formed a mission to visit various princes and forces?"

The empress smiled faintly: "At this time, we must always be polite before fighting and surrender directly. This can save a lot of trouble."

Jiang Fan knew yesterday that the Empress had formed this group called the Recruitment Mission, which included Yang Dan, the crown prince of Baiqu who was defeated by Ying Wuming a few years ago. Now, the former prince was sadly seduced by Gou Dao to work as a eunuch and a handyman in Da Qin. As a member of the mission, his purpose is obviously to intimidate and show his attitude. Therefore, there is not one person like him here, there are at least nine, all of whom were destroyed by the Qin State, such as Ding Lang, the elder brother of Nanchen Prince Ding Shaoan. , naturally included in it.

Therefore, if they go, it means that you need to understand what is going on, otherwise the consequences will be clear to the nine princes who have perished. Only then did Jiang Fan understand why the empress kept people like Yang Dan around.

However, this move is not just a threat and deterrence. More importantly, Qin needs an excuse to send troops. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that a big country will cause trouble and disrupt the situation that was finally established.

There is also a desire to plunder, which is also obvious at this time. The empress is by no means a merciful person. On the contrary, she understands the principles of sharp knife and chaos best, and kills more decisively than anyone else. Conquering the land, plundering resources, and strengthening the Qin State, the empress made no secret of it.

As for deterrence, it is obviously to deter the major princes, kings and even the Holy Land, and provide Qin with more time to prepare for war.

"No wonder, Marshal Gao hasn't started yet. The first step is to go to the east." Jiang Fan reacted and said.

The empress nodded: "Excluding Yuzhou, there are only two small vassal states in the Eastern Territory, plus a few independent forces. It is the easiest to clean up. However, the Eastern Territory is the primary direction in the future and must be stabilized first."

Jiang Fan let out a long sigh. Those two small countries, four or five independent forces, did not have tens of thousands of troops in total. It would be like a comet hitting an egg if Gao Gao and his army attacked them. But I think Gao Gao will hold back a little. , seize the opportunity to train troops.

"The entire eastern border war will be concentrated at the southern end of the eastern front, so once we capture this place, we will directly move our troops southward and sweep along the southern border."

The south is relatively not so easy. The southern border of Qin State is half mountainous and half plateau. The terrain is difficult and there are dozens of countries, large and small. There are nine countries bordering Qin State alone, six of which were not even part of the Zhou Dynasty. .

The goal of the empress is obviously to completely deal with these twelve bordering countries, but the geographical and cultural conditions of the twelve countries are very different, so it is quite difficult to fight.

"One year, I will give Gao Qi one year, and appoint the General Zhennan to cooperate with us. We will wipe them out within one year."

"What about the western border?" Jiang Fan did not ask about the north, mainly because there was really nothing in the north except the barbarians, and what existed before was already razed by Meng Wu and his son.

"Leave it to General Mengge, the Western Region is not the main battlefield in the future, and the army should not be transferred far to the west."

"Mengge is enough. The environment in the west is bad. There are not many countries directly bordering Qin, and there are even fewer that can quickly affect Qin. The most are horse bandits and the like."

The empress nodded: "The Western Region is a matter of the more distant future. Even if the five countries fight, it will not have much impact. Therefore, I am very generous and give him a year. If he can't give me a clean Western region, Mengge can go home and hug his children."

Jiang Fan knew that she was not joking, although Mengge's twelfth concubine did have a big fat boy.

"Your associations and alliances are also in motion. They have been formed and must be used. The more these forces are used, the more convenient they will be, and the more loyal they will be." The empress warned.