Regarding the food envoy, the prime ministers had very different opinions.
A group of prime ministers, including Li Mi, believed that the Anshi Rebellion had just been put down and that the Tang Dynasty needed to recuperate and that it should maintain its relationship with the Black Shirts and leave the Western Regions as a buffer area.
In fact, Li Bi was also vaguely worried whether the prince would become like his grandfather, wasting the country's power by enjoying great achievements, and putting the Tang Dynasty into trouble.
The other group, led by Cui Guangyuan, believes that the Tang Dynasty should actively expand outward, and they have ideas about adjusting the current tribute system.
After listening to his son-in-law Wang Chengwei talk about the Longyou Railway, Cui Guangyuan had a new view on the boundaries of the imperial territory.
In the past, even if the Tang Dynasty conquered remote areas, it could not form effective rule.
But now that the clippers appear on the sea, it only takes one day to reach the Silla Peninsula from the Jiaodong Peninsula.
The increasingly faster Longyou Railway allowed soldiers to go from Shazhou to the Tuyuhun Plateau in one day.
Such a magical weapon greatly reduces the cost of border garrisoning.
For example, Hu Yu, the envoy of Nanzhao's Xuanwei, wrote to the court to build a railway in the central Shu plain, which can completely suppress the rebellion in Nanzhao. Whenever there is a rebellion, the railway will be used to transport troops there. It does not take many soldiers to put down Nanzhao.
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The tariffs of the Yangzhou Shipping Department plus the income from questioning the qualifications of selling maritime merchants are almost the same as the salt tax received by the Jiangnan Salt Institute!
Cui Guangyuan was so ambitious that he secretly submitted a plan to turn Silla into counties, and funded overseas students from Silla to return to China to set up academies. This was also under Cui Guangyuan's instructions.
Because he accompanied the black-clad food envoy into Chang'an, everyone's eyes turned to Gao Shi.
Li Mi's face darkened, and Gao Shi continued: "But I don't think the battle will be in the Western Region."
You must know that Wuqi's salt reform in Jiangnan was an important pillar in supporting the Tang Dynasty to win the Anshi Rebellion. When the harvest in Guanzhong was almost extinct, it relied on the salt tax levied to provide blood transfusions to the Tang Dynasty.
Everyone lowered their heads and began to think about this problem.
According to Gao Shi's plan, Datang needed to build sea ships and explore routes, which would take several years anyway.
"Starting from Black Clothes Dashi, we passed through Tianzhu, Lion Kingdom, Siam Kingdom, Bi Kingdom, and Zhenla Kingdom along the way. These small countries are all prosperous by trade and have many seaport cities."
After leaving Fusang, Li Daoyuan did not return to Datang, but continued south to search Southeast Asia.
Gao Shi saw the changes in everyone's expressions and knew that his explosive remarks had convinced some of his colleagues. He continued:
An article written by an anonymous author began to be serialized in "Chang'an Daily". The name of this article was "Pictures of the Sea Country".
In the vast plains of North China, a railway can be built directly from Jixian to Luoyang. If this railway is built, the imperial court will have greater influence on Hedong, and rebellions like An Lushan and Shi Siming will never happen again.
Moreover, the cost of fighting for hegemony at sea seems to be lower than that of land attack, and it can also avoid the hardship of long-distance marches.
"And this route is very safe and does not even require ocean-going ships. For example, when the Lion Kingdom requested the Buddha's Tooth Relic from Tianzhu, they used small boats like canoes to travel back and forth."
Although the income of the Municipal Shipping Department must be shared with the local government offices, and in order to mobilize local enthusiasm, the majority of the revenue is shared by the local government offices.
"But the Eastern Route is also a golden route. When the Black Era defeats Byzantium at sea, it will inevitably expand eastward."
The Tang Dynasty wanted to control those small countries in the Indochina Peninsula no matter what. This was also the common thought of everyone in the court.
"Now the Tang Dynasty's shipyard in Yangzhou can build warships with a capacity of 100 people. In the future, it will be no problem to build warships with 1,000 people. At that time, using these small Southeast Asian countries as a springboard, we can directly invade Tianzhu. At that time
There will definitely be a battle with the black-clad Dashi on the sea."
Gao Shi expressed his opinion: "I think the battle between Datang and the Black-clad Dashi will take place at sea."
"Haiguo Tuzhi" starts from Silla and Fusang, which are most familiar to the Tang Dynasty, and tells their history, geography and products. Now that the Fusang chapter has been completed, the latest article begins to introduce the Chenla Kingdom in Indochina.
Li Bi asked Gao Shi to write a memorial to express that the other prime ministers in the political hall agreed with his plan, or at least did not oppose his plan.
Li Mi thought for a while and asked: "What does Prime Minister Gao mean, that we can maintain peace with the black-clad Dashi for the time being, and then we can compete with them after accumulating strength at sea?"
This is also a step-by-step plan. After thinking of this, Li Mi nodded and said: "This is a plan for the country, Prime Minister Gao. Please write it into a memorial and send it to Taiji Palace."
Gao Shi was overjoyed. A prime minister could not submit a memorial to the emperor alone without the consent of other prime ministers.
The prime ministers nodded one after another. No empire would give up the fat on its lips, let alone an empire like Black Clothes Dashi, which has the instinct to expand in its bones.
What worries the Ministry of Household Affairs even more is the income of the Shipping Department.
He objected to declaring war with Black Clothes Dashi, not because he was afraid of war, but because he was afraid that the prince would be too happy with his achievements and waste the country's power too much.
Su Xing's annexation activities in North Silla opened a new market for Datang with a population of several million, and the huge copper mine discovered in North Silla made the Ministry of Household officials even more delighted. This copper mine is located in Ya
On the riverside, mining is not difficult and the reserves are considerable.
By then, the Tang Dynasty should be able to take a breath of relief from the damage caused by the Anshi Rebellion.
Everyone looked at Gao Shi, was this new prime minister stupid? Isn't it the Western Region that Tang Dynasty and Black Clothes Dashi jointly influenced? What the two countries competed for on land was the Western Region. If it wasn't the Western Region, where would it be?
The same is true on the Hedong side. Compared with the rugged mountain roads in central Sichuan, the Hedong plain is more suitable for railway construction.
maritime?
"I learned from the envoy of Nasama that the Black Emperor also attaches great importance to navigation. Now that the Caliph has established a maritime fleet, he is just competing with Byzantium for control of the western seas."
All the prime ministers were silent. The increasingly developed maritime trade in the southeastern region had made everyone in the Tang Dynasty realize the importance of the sea.
Now the Ministry of Revenue plans to build a mint directly in Dahang City, which may solve the problem of copper shortage in the north.
Secret memorials would destroy the trust between the monarch and his ministers. Li Tan hated secret room politics. This was the rule he made clear to the court ministers after he took over the country.
Gao Shi nodded, and Li Mi also started thinking.
Gao Shi continued: "I talked with the Sama envoy along the way. He arrived in Datang from the sea."
However, the income of shipping companies in several coastal cities still shocked the Ministry of Revenue.
Nowadays, even the Huangkou children in Chang'an know that rice in Zhenla can be harvested four times a year, and sugar in Zhenla is very cheap, because they grow extremely sweet sugar cane.
Gao Shi swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "I think Datang and Black Clothes Dashi will eventually have a battle."
This is a contribution to national policy!
As soon as Gao Shi entered the Political Affairs Hall, he was able to prepare the national policies of the Tang Dynasty for the next five or even ten years!
Make policies for the country! Write down the yin and yang! This is the true prime minister!
Gao Shi finally felt the authority of being prime minister!