The Arab world is located between the continent of Europe and the continent of China.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Abbasid Caliphate was unprecedentedly powerful, with its territory spanning across Europe, Kunlun (Africa), and the Western Regions.
The Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty had interactions and wars, with each side experiencing victories and defeats.
Among them, the Battle of Talas is the one that has been most hyped up by later generations.
It ended with the defeat of the Tang Dynasty.
Although it was just a minor military skirmish, it did demonstrate that the Abbasid Caliphate had the strength to challenge the Tang Dynasty.
The glorious Tang Dynasty is no more.
But the Arab world is no longer the Arab world it used to be.
The Arab world had already disintegrated hundreds of years ago, with the original Arab world shrinking to the peninsula.
All of this can be attributed to the complex ethnic groups of Mesopotamia.
Political and racial divisions and centrifugal forces sowed the seeds of separatism in this powerful empire from its very inception.
Therefore, the Arab world today is not the same as it was in the past.
The religious, political, and ethnic relations in Mesopotamia were extremely complex, leading to widespread chaos.
However, their shipbuilding and navigation technologies are very advanced, and they are also keen on foreign trade.
At least in this era, it had not yet become conservative, and it was the most powerful political system in Mesopotamia.
But Zhao Huan was not deterred; he wanted to complete what the former Tang dynasty had failed to do.
Was Zhao Gou's statement, "I fear it might cause a war," true?
Are you kidding me!
When have I ever been afraid of war?
Moreover, the Arabs come from the sea, a long way away. Unless they're completely out of their minds, they wouldn't fight a naval war.
As for land warfare, needless to say.
The Seljuks probably already know of Yelü Dashi's existence and are racking their brains to kill him.
In short, that Ali was doomed.
The Emperor proclaimed in a loud voice: "The Jiulong River is the granary of the south of the Great Song Dynasty, Japan is the gold and silver mine of the Great Song Dynasty, Dali grows tea for us, Nanyang transports fruits for us, the warships of the Great Song Dynasty guard Lingyamen, the Jin Dynasty was destroyed by us, ceramic and silk merchants use large numbers of horse-drawn carts to transport goods to Gaochang Uyghur, and the barbarians of the grasslands tremble with fear at the mere mention of our name. My Great Song Dynasty is rich in the four seas, with a million armored soldiers guarding the four directions, and talented and ambitious people are as numerous as carp crossing the river. How dare a mere foreign merchant commit evil in my Great Song Dynasty? Even if the Abbasid Caliphate comes with all its might, I will kill him!"
"My lords, let me tell you a few bottom lines: those who divide my territory, those who harm and humiliate my people, shall not be forgiven!"
The courtiers rose and bowed deeply: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Yu Yunwen said, “Your Majesty, I believe that the opening of the Yi Road should be done in this way. This rebellion is mostly caused by foreigners, including people from the Abbasid Caliphate and Chinla. We can take this opportunity to send warships into Chinla, bring the heads of the rebels to the Chinla king, and conquer Chinla to threaten the Kingdom of Rahu (central Thailand).
"Judging from the 'Map of the World' personally drawn by His Majesty, capturing Chorian would not only allow us to attack India to the north and control Luohu to the east, but most importantly, it would make Chorian a great Song Dynasty's overseas outpost, where all great Song Dynasty merchant ships could stop."
Zhao Huan looked at his young prime minister with great admiration; Yu Yunwen's words were exactly what he wanted to hear.
To conquer ocean shipping lanes, countless outposts are necessary.
The South Seas are now under the control of the Great Song Dynasty. Going west through Lingya Gate into the vast Indian Ocean and capturing Chorian, the southernmost point of the Indian subcontinent, is undoubtedly the best option.
In the past, the ministers of the Song Dynasty would not have dared to even consider such a conquest of overseas lands, and would never have agreed to it.
Just like the officials of the Song Dynasty, who were indifferent to the territory of the Western Regions.
The reason is that, no matter how you calculate it, taking these places would be a losing proposition.
Take the Xihe border expansion during the reign of Emperor Shenzong as an example. Wang Shao recovered part of the territory in Longyou. According to the values of later generations, he was definitely a great national hero.
However, dissenting voices emerged in the court at that time, with some even wanting to give up the territory they had worked so hard to acquire.
Why?
Those who are not in a position should not concern themselves with its affairs.
Just look at the financial statements, at military spending and administrative expenses, and you'll see how enormous that expense is.
For the Song Dynasty court, which had 500,000 civil servants, that was a burden.
At least the ancients did not consider it to be Han territory, and they did not have much psychological burden.
But the situation has changed now. With the improvement of production technology, royal trading companies and private trading companies have sprung up everywhere in the Song Dynasty.
Expanding borders is done to gain more profits and open up new business routes.
This is an indisputable fact.
Song Dynasty merchant ships mostly sailed in Southeast Asia, with one or two very weak routes leading to Chorian, and then transferring to the Abbasid Caliphate.
The reason it is weak is because it is too far away and there are too many unknown factors.
In the ministers' view, Southeast Asia was already the limit of the Song Dynasty's control. At most, the Chulian and Dashi regions could only engage in some simple trade. To conquer them would be a losing proposition.
But Zhao Huan didn't think that way. As a person from a later era, he knew that there were many other countries there, and that conquering them would bring enormous wealth over the next few centuries.
Zhao Huan said, "Granted! Minister Yu, this matter is entirely entrusted to you!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Gou, standing to one side, said: "Your Majesty, I believe it is too early to attack Chorian now. In recent years, the Maritime Trade Office has mainly engaged in trade with Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea. There has been very little trade with Chorian, Arabia, and Kunlun slaves. Moreover, these places are far from China and the language differences are too great, so they are not the best choice."
Zhou Chao echoed, "Your Majesty, this is a barbarian land, barren and desolate. It would be useless to conquer it; we should not take it."
"There is no need to discuss this matter further. I entrust it to Prime Minister Yu for full handling. All of you should give your full support to Prime Minister Yu."
The ministers exchanged glances, and Zhou Chao and the others began to curse Yu Yunwen in their hearts again, calling him a treacherous minister for actually encouraging the emperor to attack such a godforsaken place.
You said you could conquer the Northwest and take over Gaochang, that would be no problem. After all, since the Han Dynasty, the ancient Yi Road has extended there, and our predecessors have proven that it can be profitable.
Now they're going across the ocean to get a license plate, who knows what's there?
outpost?
That sounds nice, but do you know how difficult it is?!
With the mindset of not interfering and letting Yu Yunwen bring about his own demise, the ministers remained silent.
If this is done well, you, Yu Yunwen, will naturally retain your position as the head of the Political Affairs Hall. But if this goes wrong, hehe, you can expect to go to Qiongzhou to drink seawater.
"As you command!" the ministers replied in unison.
Liu Yanzong stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, there is another matter that is also urgent."
"What is it?"
"As I just mentioned, in recent years, some wealthy merchants have emerged in the private sector who, relying on their accumulated wealth, have privately kept a large number of warriors. I believe that if the court does not punish them severely, it will inevitably lead to a major disaster in the next few years."
Zhao Huan frowned, for this was indeed a source of pain for him.
This is a new force that has grown rapidly under the new policies.
After growing stronger, they began to develop their own power in order to become even stronger.
Both the Yidao incident and this matter were triggered by the Guangzhou incident; this is an unavoidable issue.
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