Chương 710: Colonialism, the "Emperor on which the Sun Never Sets" Celestial Empire

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Liu Chen stepped forward, bowed deeply, his expression solemn, and bent his waist very low.

"Your subjects obey the decree!" Xun Yu and the other two stepped forward to acknowledge the order.

"The army will be personally commanded by me, with generals from all directions accompanying me." Liu Ce glanced at the ranks of military officers, "Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Xu Da, Xue Rengui, Li Jing, Yue Fei, Su Lie... and others will accompany me on this expedition."

"Your Majesty, we obey!" the generals responded in unison, their voices shaking the roof tiles.

"The navy will be commanded by Qi Jiguang, with Zhou Yu assisting." Liu Ce looked at Qi Jiguang.

"All three naval forces were mobilized to the west to control the Indian Ocean shipping lanes, seize key ports, and transport food and troops to the army."

"Your Majesty, I obey! I will not disappoint you!" Qi Jiguang stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and his brows were full of sharpness.

After training his navy for so many years, he can finally take it out for a spin, and it'll be a transoceanic expedition. Just thinking about it is exciting.

After arranging the military affairs, Guan Ning, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and asked:

"Your Majesty, this western expedition... must have a just cause to be righteous. We are the Celestial Empire, we cannot just start a war whenever we want. There must be a reason, so that we can announce it to the world and send out proclamations to all directions."

To put it bluntly, we just need to find an excuse to make it seem like we are a righteous army, not an invading force.

Liu Ce thought for a moment and then laughed, "Isn't it easy to find a reason? Just think of a few."

First, if we dislike them and they refuse to submit to the king's rule, we should go and educate them.

Secondly, we suspect that they possess weapons of mass destruction, such as poison arrows, war elephants, etc., which threaten the security of the Western Regions.

Thirdly, our maritime trade caravans have been treated unfairly there, subjected to heavy taxes and robbed. We will go and seek justice.

Fourthly, their internal strife is endless, and the people are living in misery. Let's go and liberate them, and give them a better life.

Are these reasons enough? If not, we can add more.

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter, bending over with mirth.

"Enough, enough!" Guan Ning laughed, stroking his beard.

"Your Majesty's points are all reasonable and sufficient to be proclaimed to the whole country."

Zhang Fei laughed so hard he slapped his thigh: "If you ask me, why bother with all that trouble! Just attack directly, and if they're not convinced, beat them into submission!"

"You brute," Guan Yu muttered under his breath, but with a hint of a smile.

In fact, everyone understands that the so-called reasons are just a way to save face.

If you have enough strength, the reason is just a formality; if you lack strength, even the most righteous reason is useless.

The Han Dynasty now has the strength to conquer the land. Even if we say "your emperor's hat is askew," we can still win.

After laughing, Xun Yu stepped forward and asked the most crucial question:

"Your Majesty, I have a question. After we have defeated three empires, what should we do with this vast territory?"

Should they be forced to cede territory, pay reparations, and submit to the emperor, or should they be annexed directly and established as prefectures and counties? After all, it's thousands of miles away; appointing officials to govern and stationing troops there are major challenges, so advance planning is essential.

That's a very good question.

Taking it is easy, holding it is difficult.

In a territory thousands of miles away, where the language and customs are different, sending too few officials would be ineffective, while sending too many would be too costly and could lead to annual rebellions, thus becoming a burden.

In the past, dynasties often lost the Western Regions and Annam that they had conquered because the cost of governing them was too high and the losses outweighed the gains.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ce did not answer directly, but instead asked the crowd:

"What are your thoughts, gentlemen? Speak up."

Everyone started to speak.

Zhang Fei was the first to shout, "Of course! We'll take them all, turn them into our provinces and counties, and send officials over to collect taxes. Wouldn't that be great!"

"That's not appropriate." Fang Xuanling shook his head.

"It's too far away. Government orders won't be effective, and officials only get a rotation every few years. In the long run, they'll become too powerful to control. I think we should just have them become our subjects and pay tribute every year. We can just collect some local specialties. There's no need to go through all that trouble."

"Tribute?" Shen Wansan frowned.

"That's too much of a loss! They send us spices and ivory, and we have to reciprocate with ten times that amount of silk and porcelain. It's a pure loss-making business. I think we should let them open trading ports so our merchants can go there to do business, collect low tariffs, and make money. That's the real way."

Zhuge Liang, waving his feather fan, slowly said, "I believe we should establish a Protectorate General's Office, station troops there to deter them, support a pro-Han king, let them govern themselves, let them listen to our foreign and military affairs, and let them manage their own domestic affairs. This way, we can save ourselves trouble and keep them under control."

"Kongming's plan is feasible." Jia Xu nodded.

"Divide and rule, prevent them from unifying, make them check and balance each other, and we will act as the middleman to maintain balance. This is the most efficient way."

Everyone chimed in with their own arguments, creating quite a lively debate.

Liu Ce listened for a while, smiled, and without saying who was right or wrong, simply instructed the eunuch: "Bring the map up."

Several eunuchs carried in a huge world map, which they hung on the palace wall with a "whoosh," taking up almost half of the wall.

This map clearly marks mountains, rivers, countries, and cities, from the Americas to Europe, from Southeast Asia to North Africa.

Some people were seeing such a large world map for the first time, and they couldn't help but move closer, their eyes wide with amazement.

Wow, the world is so big! The Han Dynasty is in the east, which is already big enough, but compared to the whole world, it only occupies a small part.

There are so many countries and such a vast territory to the west; it's truly exhilarating.

Liu Ce got up and walked to the map. He traced the Pamir Mountains, Parthia, and Rome with his fingertip, all the way to the Atlantic coast before stopping.

He turned around and said to the crowd, "What you all say makes sense, but it's all too much trouble. The territory of our Great Han now includes the Western Regions, Annam, the grasslands, and some islands in the South Seas... These are the core territories of China in the future. We must hold these places firmly in our hands, establish provinces and counties, and assimilate and relocate people to them, making them exactly the same as the mainland."

However, if we extend further west and include Parthia and Rome as core territories, the administrative costs would be too high. These areas are thousands of miles apart, and it would take six months to relay government orders; it would be impossible to manage them all, and the losses would outweigh the gains.

He paused, then said, word by word, "Therefore, our primary strategy for dealing with areas outside the core territory of China should be colonization."

What is colonization? It's not just about occupying land and that's it. It's about using force, immigration, economic control, and cultural infiltration to occupy and rule overseas territories for a long time, and continuously transporting their resources and wealth to our Han Dynasty so that our people can live a better life.

Our great Han Dynasty must become a true "Emperor on which the sun never sets." Not the kind of losing tributary system that accepts meager tributes and reciprocates with ten times the amount, but one that genuinely conducts business all over the world, with money flowing into the national treasury.

"The sun never sets..." the crowd murmured to themselves, savoring these three words, feeling a sense of grandeur and their hearts burning with emotion.

Where the sun rises, there is the territory of the Han Dynasty; where the sun sets, there is also the territory of the Han Dynasty. The sun shines eternally on the land of the Han Dynasty—what a magnificent spirit!

"For those small countries, not large empires, fighting is a foolish method, costing both money and manpower," Liu Ce chuckled.

"Today I'll break it down for you in detail: how to use the least amount of money to occupy the largest territory and earn the most money. There are five methods in total, and each one will work. Listen carefully."

Everyone pricked up their ears, even the most composed Xun Yu leaned forward slightly.

They knew that His Majesty was about to pull out something real again.