Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 250 Instead of raising children, you should conquer all the land under the sun yourself.
Red flesh, sweet juice, and a refreshing taste.

The delicious watermelon was enjoyed to the satisfaction of Li Erfeng and other military officers and soldiers.

"Sweet~Delicious."

These days, there are still watermelons available.

However, those small watermelons with whitish flesh and little sweetness were completely different from the watermelons cultivated today.

"Put away all the melon seeds."

Lin Dao instructed, "You can grow watermelons here in Jiuyuan in the future."

Stepping out of the tent, he looked at the soldiers coming and going outside, then turned back to look at Li Er and the others eating watermelon, lost in thought.

“I wasn’t like this before.”

In other timelines, he always valued soldiers more than celebrities.

The current situation is not good and needs to be changed.

Back in the modern world, Lin Dao arranges for his employees to buy watermelons.

Tens of thousands of watermelons may seem like a lot, but compared to the total yield, it's actually insignificant.

Large trucks transported watermelons into the warehouse, one load at a time; more was acceptable, but less was not.

Before going to war with the Turks, the Tang soldiers had to be fed.

Since we've taken on the logistics, we have to do it well.

Of course, not all of them are expenses.

After winning the battle, the captured cattle and horses can belong to the Tang Dynasty.

After training, the cattle can be used for work; if not, they can be slaughtered for meat.

Horses were even more important; the Tang army needed more horses to increase the size of its cavalry.

As for the mutton, the meat could be used to reward the soldiers and eaten directly.

Lin Dao took all the sheepskins.

On the grasslands, sheepskin can only be used to make a fur coat or a sheepskin raft.

After processing, they can be transported to the modern world and sold to leather merchants. They can then be branded with famous names and resold at luxury goods prices.

Sheepskin boots, sheepskin coats, and so on, often costing hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The income from winning the battle was roughly enough to cover the expenses.

The Yellow River overflows its banks at Jiuyuan, and the river is full of water.

Extending from here all the way to the foot of the Yinshan Mountains to the north, it is a wonderful place with lush vegetation.

Fortunately, the recent hot weather has allowed the ground moisture to evaporate, making it passable for bicycles.

The Tang troops who crossed the river were organized into units based on their respective military commands.

They rode their bicycles northward in a grand procession.

"The Qin Straight Road should continue to extend from this point."

Unable to bear the heat, Li Erfeng sought refuge in an off-road vehicle on the forest road, enjoying the air conditioning and drinking ice water, while also engaging in casual conversation.

"Heading north and north again."

Sipping his iced cola, Li Erfeng was in high spirits, already envisioning how he would conquer the Turks and bring this vast grassland under his control.

"A straight road definitely needs to be built."

Lin Dao, who was driving, responded, "But if you're going to repair it, the new section should be called Tang Straight Road."

“Yes, yes.” Li Erfeng nodded repeatedly. “That’s exactly right.”

“Roads need to be built, and they need to be built continuously.” Lin Dao said, “After the grasslands are pacified and the pastures are redistributed, each tribe will have to provide corvée labor every year to build roads, and the construction will continue indefinitely.”

“At key junctures, cities must be built to control the surrounding areas.”

"The grasslands are too big to occupy them all."

"We can't dominate the surface, but we must control the points."

"It's like drawing a grid, dividing the grassland into grid-like areas."

“Each grid is used to house a small tribe.”

"These grid nodes must be controlled by the Tang army."

"At the same time, we must strictly limit the tribes that remain, the first rule being that they are not allowed to migrate."

Lin Dao explained, "If they can't migrate, they can be registered as households, and they can be effectively controlled. Everything is under their watchful eyes."

Li Erfeng, who was holding the Coke bottle, nodded repeatedly as she listened.

"Zihou, what you said is excellent, please continue."

Although he has high blood pressure, he has a great love for sweets.

I especially love it after drinking iced cola.

Lin Dao drank almost all the iced cola in his car.

"The second point is to limit the population size."

"A smaller number of them not only reduces the threat, but also effectively increases their per capita wealth."

Taking a sip of cola, Li Erfeng asked, puzzled, "Why is that?"

"Who is more likely to rebel: someone who is so poor they are about to starve, or someone who has surplus grain, some assets, and a wife and children?"

"He must be someone who is about to starve to death."

Li Erfeng nodded. "We're starving, so there's nothing to worry about."

"That's what I mean." Lin Dao glanced at the Coke bottle in his hand and couldn't help but advise, "Don't drink too much of this."

Li Erfeng laughed heartily, completely unconcerned.

"Control the number of herders in each tribe."

Lin Dao continued to the main point, "Let them have a certain amount of wealth, just like raising sheep in a pen."

"Then arrange for Confucian scholars to give lectures and teach, and that should be sufficient."

"Of course, the restrictions cannot be relaxed."

"Whoever dares to leave their designated activity area, or whose population exceeds the prescribed limit."

"Then we must act decisively to eliminate the threat and create a deterrent effect."

At this point, Lin Dao turned his head and smiled, "As you know, many times good arrangements are ruined by people."

"If a tyrannical ruler or a treacherous minister emerges after you, no matter how well you plan, it will all become a joke."

Upon hearing this, the cola in Li Erfeng's mouth instantly lost its sweetness.

His brow furrowed slightly. "Emperor Wen of the former Sui Dynasty was a man of exceptional talent in both literature and military strategy, and the country was incredibly powerful."

"But his son~~~"

"It perished after only two generations!"

We don't need any distant examples; Li Erfeng's relatives are the best example.

"I must strengthen Chengqian's education." Sure enough, he went down the same old path again, relentlessly putting pressure on Li Chengqian until he collapsed.

Receiving no response from Lin Dao, Li Erfeng simply asked, "Brother Zihou, what do you think?"

"not so good."

Lin Dao shook his head. "Human nature is the most complex thing. Some people are simple and honest and never harm others."

"But some people are greedy by nature. They open shops and hire people to work, but they don't pay them wages."

"How could there be such a shameless person?" Li Erfeng was furious. "Is he from the East Market or the West Market? I'm going to take over his shop!"

"Haha~~~"

Lin Dao smiled and changed the subject.

"Have you ever thought that instead of placing your hopes on raising your child, you should take care of everything yourself?"

Upon hearing this, Li Erfeng blinked and asked, "Zihou, what do you mean by this?"

"You've seen the map." Lin Dao gestured to the world map that Li Erfeng carried with her. "Actually, World Island isn't as big as you might think."

"Especially that large area in the north, and that large area in Africa, there's no need to pay attention to them."

"If you conquer all the land under the sun in your lifetime, keep the crown prince by your side to inherit the central land, and distribute the distant lands to your other sons."

"No matter how your sons fight, the Tang Dynasty will still be victorious in the end, and it will be your legacy."

"And the one who ultimately wins the competition will inevitably be the most outstanding one."

"Survival of the fittest is far superior to cramming education."

Li Erfeng was stunned and sat there speechless for a long time.

He genuinely hadn't thought about it.

Is competition stronger than inheritance?

Those who inherit it may be fools.

Only the strongest will emerge from the competition.

The SUV lurched, and Li Erfeng spilled the cola in her hand, wetting her clothes.

He snapped out of his daze and forced a laugh, "Let me think about this."

"Not in a hurry."

Lin Dao laughed and said, "You're so young, you can be emperor for decades, no need to rush."

There's definitely no rush.

Sweeping through the World Island isn't so easy either.

The sheer distance alone is enough to drive anyone crazy.

In his lifetime, Li Er's limit was if he could sweep through India and reach Baghdad.

Looking further ahead, the only hope is that this policy of continuous expansion will continue.

Things that are far away are best left as thoughts.

The most important thing right now is the decisive battle with the Turks.

At the foot of Yinshan Mountain, felt tents stretch out in a continuous line.

At this time, Jieli Khan, who still held an unparalleled position on the grasslands, summoned almost all of his vassal tribes.

The Tiele, Uyghur, Bayegu, Khitan, Mohe, Xi and many other tribes almost covered the grasslands below the Yinshan Mountains.

This has been the case on the grasslands since the time of the Xiongnu.

The weak submit to the strong, and the strong submit to the even stronger.

In this way, the grassland empire was built up layer by layer.

Whether it was the Xiongnu, the Rouran, or the Turks.

When they were powerful, these vassal tribes were all weak, cowardly, and docile lambs who could be humiliated however they pleased.

But once they are weak, the lambs will turn into ravenous wolves, tearing them to pieces and swallowing them whole.

At this time, the Turks were at their peak.

Faced with the Khan's orders, the tribes dared not disobey and all rushed to obey.

There were too many people, the vast majority of whom were illiterate Turks, to count.

It can only be roughly estimated that there were approximately 100,000 archers.

This scale is only comparable to that in East Asia.

In any other region of the world, it would undoubtedly be a complete sweep.

Even with so many people, the Khan Jieli, who could subdue a bull with one hand in the folk songs, was still uneasy.

Although his abilities are not great, his intuition is very strong.

I experience heart palpitations and wake up startled while sleeping.

All of this was a reminder to him that this great battle was not so simple.

"Khan~~~"

Those qualified to appear in the Golden Tent of Khagan Jieli were all leaders of large tribes.

Together they advised Khan Jieli, "We can't wait any longer. If we keep wasting time like this, we'll miss the season to fatten up the cattle and sheep."

Life on the grasslands isn't as good as I imagined.

The herders don't eat meat every day.

In fact, their staple food is dairy products, and they only eat meat after the livestock have died.

It's already close to autumn.

If the delay continues, taking into account the time it takes to return to their respective pastures, they may miss the autumn fattening period, leading to a large number of livestock deaths when the winter disaster arrives.

For their own benefit, the tribal nobles united to express their stance.

Either fight now, or just break up.

We can't destroy our own tribe just to fight a war.

Jieli Khan's gaze swept over the crowd before him.

"If that's the case, then let's fight the Tang army."

His gaze fell upon Tuli Khan. "Tuli, go and test the Tang army's fighting strength first."

Without a doubt, Tuli, the lesser Khan of the Turks, was the biggest threat to Jieli Khan's position.

Sending him into battle at this time would be a clear waste of his strength.

However, the grasslands revere force, so one cannot be weak in spirit during battles, otherwise everyone will despise them and leave.

Tuli had no other choice.

He stepped forward to pay his respects.

"If that's the case, then let me go and crush the Tang army!"

(End of this chapter)