"Let's get down to business. The imperial court has given us all the power this time. When negotiating with Tuyuhun, we must carefully consider all the conditions. We must not fight a battle without confidence, nor let Tuyuhun take advantage. Although we didn't destroy them this time, we must ensure the security of the border area for a few years."
When General Qin Qiong said this, everyone else sat down properly. After all, this concerned the situation in the border area. The people who were cheerful just now began to talk and offer suggestions.
The most important thing is the construction of a new city. Although the geographical location of Liangzhou City is dangerous, it is too far away from the core area of Tuyuhun, and our army cannot be stationed on the grassland. If we are stationed on the grassland, we may be flattened by them at any time, so we must have a city.
Although the imperial treasury is empty now, Li Shimin's imperial edict has arrived. By then, even if we have to sell everything we have, we must build the new city. According to the plan of the officials of the Ministry of Works, the construction of the new city will be divided into three years. The first year will require about 1.1 million strings of cash. We definitely cannot come up with this amount of money, so we must ask the Tuyuhun people to pay for it.
The second issue is about the trade routes. Tuyuhun controlled the trade routes between the three countries and made a lot of money in recent years, but it also made the two countries on both ends suffer. We don’t care about their relationship with Tubo, but the Tang Dynasty is not allowed to collect heavy taxes, and all Tang Dynasty goods should be tax-free.
In the past, our officials had negotiated with them countless times, but because the two countries had an equal relationship at that time, the Tuyuhun officials directly refused. They could earn one million strings of cash every year just from this, so why should they cut off this part themselves? Now that Tuyuhun has been defeated, it is a perfect opportunity.
The third point is naturally the issue of ceding land. Originally, the border between the two countries was fifty miles outside Liangzhou City, but because the people of the Tang Dynasty were unwilling to leave the city, Tuyuhun expanded the border to outside Liangzhou City. This time, the border will be expanded to more than three hundred miles outside Liangzhou City, one hundred miles more than originally stated. This also leaves the new city with a strategic depth of one hundred miles.
The fourth is the issue of reparations. After the war, each country will have a huge financial hole. The victorious country must ask the defeated country to compensate for this hole. If the defeated country is unwilling, then we can only continue to fight. In short, we cannot pay this money ourselves.
After discussing these main issues, Li Xiang also raised another question. If we can take over the grasslands within a few hundred miles outside Liangzhou City, we must set up a management agency. If we only own it in name, it will soon be eaten back by them.
After all, Tuyuhun is a nomadic people who live on this grassland. In contrast, we are an agricultural people. Common people can do business on the grassland, but they will never settle down here. Our soldiers risked their lives to get back this land. If we don’t manage it, it is very likely that it will be lost in a few years. We will be sorry for those soldiers who died in battle.
"That's easy for you to say. Can you really watch the grassland outside every day? Our people don't go out to graze at all. Even if there are a few, they don't need such a large grassland."
Li Zhi had been holding it in for a long time. From the beginning until now, no one had asked for his opinion, so he could only stay where he was honestly. Now, after hearing what Li Xiang said, he finally found an opportunity to show his presence.
Although Li Zhi's words were unpleasant to the ear, everyone present nodded. They all knew how the fifty miles of grassland outside the city were lost. It was because our people rarely left the city. The Tuyuhun people tried to test the waters at first, but later found that no one was in charge when they grazed on this land. Over time, this place became their own grassland.
"I have a bold idea..."
Li Xiang knew very well that this old management method must be changed. If we continue to use the previous method, no matter how much grassland we can take back at the negotiation table, it will eventually be taken back by the Tuyuhun people. So Li Xiang had already thought of a solution, which was to support Zatlk.
When Li Xiang said this, the expressions on everyone's faces were very interesting. Some people felt that Zatlk was not trustworthy, some people felt that Li Xiang was a bit whimsical, in short, few people agreed.
When Li Xiang brought Zatlk to them, they thought that Li Xiang just needed some news from the grassland. In fact, Li Xiang had already thought about it. In addition to the news from the grassland, he also had to support an agent. This guy had fallen out with his father because of the issue of the crown prince, and had extreme resentment towards the senior officials of Tuyuhun. We let him be the administrative official outside Liangzhou City to compete with his father. This can not only keep our territory, but also keep Tuyuhun busy.
"Isn't this a bit too risky? You have to know that he is a Tuyuhun after all. He is not of our race and his heart must be different. Isn't that what you said?"
Cheng Yaojin said with some concern, "There have been many feudal dynasties in history that have employed Hu people, but what was the final result? Those Hu people have betrayed the Central Plains dynasty one after another. If we do this now, we are likely to raise a tiger to cause trouble."
"General Cheng is right, but I have a comprehensive plan. He only controls the civilian officials, and all the armed forces are in our hands. We must equip this vast grassland with a dedicated army."
Everyone understood what Li Xiang said. After all, this piece of grassland was taken back. If there were no troops stationed there, this piece of grassland would easily become the property of Tuyuhun. However, the imperial court was short of finances at the moment. If more money was spent on stationing troops, the imperial court would probably not be able to make ends meet.
"You know our financial situation. How many troops should we keep stationed outside? If it's only three or five thousand, it probably won't be of much use. But if it's twenty or thirty thousand, how much will it cost per year?"
Qin Qiong said with some concern. He didn't want to return the land he had taken back to Tuyuhun, but the current situation of the court was that there was a shortage of money everywhere. Although we are on the front line, the emperor is not going to spend too much money here. General Qin Qiong knew this idea very well.
Li Zhi's cold laughter came again...