Chapter 284 Navy
The profits behind a key trade route on the Silk Road are undoubtedly huge, as can be seen from the wealth of Gaochang Kingdom.

But Li Jiancheng did not take this amount of profit seriously. If he wanted it, it would be the entire Western Regions, not just the commercial tax collected on a single trade route.

Moreover, the King of Yanqi was thinking too simply. He and Tong Yehu naturally did not care about having one more or one less trade route, but how could Gaochang give up?

When it comes to a country's fundamental interests, how can we avoid resorting to war?

"I will send an order to Tongyehu, but as for Gaochang Kingdom, it is not something I can control."

Although Gaochang came to pay tribute, it did not express its willingness to submit, nor did it indicate that it would obey orders, so it could not be considered a vassal state.

The King of Yanqi was somewhat unwilling. He believed that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had the absolute authority to intimidate the Gaochang Kingdom, but he could not show any more sincerity.

After he left, the emperor summoned officials from the Secretariat and the Ministry of Civil Affairs. After they gathered, he said, "The population is still too small. Local governments must encourage marriage. Widows under fifty should remarry and widowers should continue to marry. This should be a local assessment."

"promise."

"From now on, when a woman gets married, the government will give her 30 acres of land."

The officials were a little surprised when they heard this: "This..."

According to the current equal-field system, when a male reaches adulthood, he will receive 100 acres of land, of which 20 acres are permanent land that can be passed down to descendants, and 80 acres are household land that will be returned to the government after his death. Women, however, originally did not have any land.

However, after a brief debate, it was passed smoothly. The bottom line is that there are few people in the Tang Dynasty but a lot of land, especially after Your Majesty increased the number of official titles that should have occupied the most permanent land several times and conferred them in Liaodong.

The emperor spent the New Year in Chang'an. After the spring, he returned to Luoyang with his civil and military officials. He summarized the disaster relief work of the previous year and severely punished corrupt officials.

In addition, local aristocratic officials who colluded with bandits and pirates were convicted and their property was confiscated, and their clan was exiled to Liaodong and Qianzhou.

Then he encouraged agriculture and sericulture, and ordered the Langzhong of the Water Resources Department and the Du Shuijian to dig a canal in Tongzhou to bring water from the Yellow River from Longmen to irrigate the fields. It was estimated that more than 6,000 hectares of land would benefit from it.

In addition, Leitang and Gouchengtang were newly built in Jiangdu, which could divert canals to irrigate 800 hectares of farmland, and water wheels, barrel wheels, vertical well water wheels, curved plows, etc. were promoted throughout the country.

Until the beginning of summer, the emperor went on a southern tour to Jiangdu to serve the Empress Dowager.

…………

In Pyongyang, Liaodong, Luo Yi, the Protector of Andong, was waiting for news. Soon, a general walked in quickly and reported: "Several of our ships were attacked by the Japanese on the coast, and Cui Wen, the governor of Xincheng, was killed in the battle."

Luo Yi slammed the table angrily, but he couldn't help smiling. Fortunately, the person who came was his confidant, so he just lowered his head and waited for orders.

"Well, the Japanese dared to do this. If I don't fight back, how can the dignity of our dynasty be maintained?
We should destroy their country, end their lineage, annihilate their country and their ancestral temple!

Immediately send a message to the navy, I will personally lead the army across the sea to fight!"

"promise."

At this time Wei Zheng also arrived, but did not stop the general from passing on the order, and Luo Yi also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Protector General."

"Wei Gong."

Wei Zheng sat on one side and said, "This was a bit crude, and the victim was Yiwenzhide's nephew. The Protector-General is not afraid of shooting himself in the foot." Luo Yi laughed and said, "What's the big deal about a nephew? This fight will benefit all of us in Liaodong. Yiwenzhide is also hoping to make military achievements so that he can replace me."

"You want to support the enemy and protect yourself?"

Luo Yi hurriedly stood up and walked up to Wei Zheng to explain that although Wei Zheng was nominally his subordinate, he had always been the emperor's man.

"How dare I have such a disloyal heart? It's just that the soldiers saw that large tracts of land were divided up, and they felt that what they had was missing. If we want to get rewards, we can of course rely on fighting on the battlefield. Everyone is looking forward to the battle.

Duke Wei, you are a man of great talent in governing the country. You should know that Liaodong is now undercurrent, and the remnants of the Three Kingdoms are hiding, always looking for an opportunity to drive us out of Liaodong.

As more and more Han people came to Liaodong, new and old hatreds also increased. In my humble opinion, it is better to let the people of Liaodong hate the Japanese instead of letting them hate us Han people. "

"The troops stationed in various places under the Protectorate must not be mobilized."

"Of course, I would never be so ignorant of the seriousness of the matter."

Wei Zheng sighed and stood up to leave. Luo Yi knew that the matter could continue, so he quickly ordered someone to send the memorial he had already written to Luoyang.

After an emergency meeting was held in the Protectorate to discuss the counterattack against Japan, it received support from everyone as expected. Although Liaodong was very large, they were anxious as they saw that the good places were almost divided up.

This is not just a simple field, but a fiefdom where one can do whatever one wants with it.

Luo Yi immediately rushed to the mouth of the Baijiang River, with more than 10,000 elite naval forces, as well as hundreds of tower ships, warships, battleships, yachts, and sea gulls displayed on the water.

The large ships were equipped with winch crossbows, battering poles, gun carriages, and matching arrows, stones and other naval weapons.
The winch crossbow can be used to siege fortresses at a distance of 700 steps, and can fire seven arrows at the same time. The crossbow must be placed in a high place, to fight for mountains and water, guard narrow passes and block entrances, break through brave soldiers and capture valuables, and all fortresses and boats that are hit will be destroyed.

According to intelligence, Japan had a navy of about 20,000 people, but their ships were very shabby. They used iron sheets instead of iron nails for rivets, and short aquatic plants instead of hemp tendons and tung oil to fill the seams.

This will inevitably lead to leakage, cracking and breaking. The bottom of the ship is flat, which is not conducive to breaking through the waves. The sail is hung in the center of the mast, which is only suitable for tailwind. When encountering headwind, the mast needs to be lowered and the ship needs to move forward by rowing... This is the Japanese navy.

The Liaodong Navy's ships had three layers of superstructure on their decks, with battlements and shooting windows for archers. They were also equipped with large heavy weapons such as catapults.

The back of the ship is covered with raw cowhide, and there are windows for bows and crossbows on the left, right, front and back. The shape is small and flexible.

A fighting ship is a miniaturized tower ship with a three-foot-high parapet on board and a parapet inside the ship. It is a stepped duplex structure, where sailors can rely on the steps to line up to meet the enemy, while rowers hide inside the ship and row through the oar holes.

And these are all left over from the previous dynasty. It is said that the newly built ships of the imperial court are even more powerful, and the weapons they are equipped with are unprecedented. It is a pity that they have no right to use them.

However, what Luo Yi has now is more than enough to fight Japan.

Now all that was left was His Majesty's decree. Luo Yi and many Liaodong officials and generals were anxiously awaiting the verdict.

If the emperor does not agree, then everything will be in vain.

Fortunately, their wish came true. The emperor ordered them to conquer Japan as they wished. Those who made contributions would be heavily rewarded, and the morale of the navy was greatly boosted.

After offering more than twenty Japanese slaves as sacrifices, Eulji Mundeok also arrived with the navy of the three kingdoms.

.....................

(End of this chapter)