Faced with the question posed by Li Qin, Gu Deyuan was the first to stand up and say:
"Your Majesty, we have just conquered Jiangnan, and Lingnan and Yunnan and Guizhou have also submitted to the court."
The Prince of Pingxi in the Northwest also expressed his willingness to follow the lead of the imperial court.
We have just experienced a major battle in Jiangnan, and the area we need to completely control and take over is too large. The vassal kings have already submitted to Your Majesty and are now Your Majesty's subjects. It is not advisable for us to wage war against them again.
We should adopt appeasement measures, such as those used in Shandong.
After Gu Deyuan finished speaking, the civil officials present nodded repeatedly.
Because they knew that the current imperial court had just gone through a major battle with the Jiangnan court, and the consumption of hundreds of thousands of troops had almost depleted the imperial reserves.
In addition, they also need to take over the affairs of Lingnan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and thoroughly stabilize the Huaihe River region, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, and Shandong, which they have just taken over.
At the same time, it also had to support the logistical expenses of Hong Chengchou, who was fighting in Fujian.
There were even issues with the Grand Canal connecting Jiangnan to the capital, as well as banditry in various regions.
The people in their military equipment room are already overwhelmed by the various work pressures.
If they were to continue fighting the vassal kings at this point, all the current contradictions within their court would likely erupt at once.
In short, his meaning was very clear: this time, we have swallowed up too much territory in our southward expansion.
Previously, we only controlled Shanxi, Hebei, Hubei and Hunan, plus some other regions.
During this southward campaign, we officially took over Qin Chenyao's Shandong, Huaihe River region, Jiangnan region, Zhejiang, Lingnan region, Yunnan and Guizhou, and some generals in the Northwest also directly expressed their loyalty to their court.
By taking over these regions, their controlled territory doubled in size.
They are already expending a lot of energy just digesting the territory they have just acquired.
There's no need to start a war now. Since those vassal kings have already submitted, we can proceed slowly and methodically.
Li Qin nodded in agreement with what he said.
Indeed, he strongly agreed with what Gu Deyuan said.
He believed that what they should do now was to deal with those vassal kings slowly.
Instead of directly turning against them, if only we could directly turn against them.
I took action back in Jiangnan.
Why let them return to their own territory?
Therefore, after Gu Deyuan said what he said, Li Qin immediately expressed his agreement.
At the same time, the proposal by Dugu Yu and others to quickly destroy these vassal kings by force was suppressed.
Li Qin then gestured to Gu Deyuan, signaling him to continue.
"Your Majesty, those vassal kings may seem powerful, but in reality they are divided among themselves, and we maintain a high degree of suppression over any one of them."
Economically, none of them are as wealthy as we are; politically, they are vassal states of our dynasty.
The potential for advancement for those vassal states is far less than that for officials in our imperial court.
At the same time, militarily, we maintain an absolute advantage over any of the feudal lords.
Therefore, I suggest that we can completely achieve this by continuously infiltrating and winning over the subordinates of the various vassal kings.
The power of these vassal kings was gradually dismantled and weakened.
In the end, we can certainly resolve the problem of these vassal kings in the same way we resolved the Shandong issue.
After hearing Gu Deyuan's words, Li Qin nodded and said:
"Let's do as you say. Later, we'll discuss how to win over and infiltrate those vassal kings, as well as a series of subsequent measures."
You all need to come up with a detailed contingency plan and schedule for me to review.
After Li Qin finished speaking, the people below immediately bowed and agreed.
Li Qin then waved for them to leave.
Then Li Qin slowly got up.
He stood outside the palace, dressed in a dragon robe, looking at the palace with its yellow tiles and red walls.
He could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
All the immediate threats have been eliminated; what remains are long-term goals.
Whether it's the vassal kings who intend to rely on their size advantage to gradually achieve their goals.
They were still preparing to expand the fleet and continue preparations for future maritime expansion.
These are not things that can be achieved overnight.
It can take years, or even decades, to see results.
Especially the Age of Exploration; once it begins, the expansion will not stop even after one's death.
However, I am now facing a long period of relative calm with no major battles.
Since he started his rebellion in Liaodong, he has gone from one major battle to another.
From outside the pass to inside the pass, from Hebei to Shanxi, from the north to the south.
He fought his way from the Liao River to the Yangtze River, and finally ruled over the Pearl River in Lingnan.
After relaxing for a while, Li Qin returned to his palace.
A localized war is currently underway in the south, specifically in Fujian.
In the north, he never forgot one enemy.
That's that damned Zhao Shuai Town in the Taihang Mountains.
While traveling south to Jiangnan, Zhao Shuaizhen was not idle at all in the north.
Taking advantage of the gap while he was away with his army, they expanded their territory extensively around the Taihang Mountains.
And he repeatedly ventured out of the Taihang Mountains to harass his Hebei region.
I didn't have the energy to deal with him back then when I was in the south, but now I'm back with a large army.
At the same time, there is no major war to prepare for.
That way, I can free up my hands to deal with them.
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