Xue Ping and Han Qi, the two bigwigs in the east and the west, are naturally treated differently. Of course, this is also because of their own unique identity, so it is also appropriate to receive some special preferential treatment, and the two were personally greeted to the Prime Minister's Mansion by Chen Wenliang, the secretary and supervisor, that night.

The feudal officials who returned to Chang'an naturally wanted to report to Li Ze, but this time, it was Zhang Hui and Gongsun Changming who accompanied them.

"You're so polite!" Li Ze personally greeted him out of the public hall, but he walked back with the hands of the two of them: "The gift is too precious, but I like it very much, and I like it too." ”

Of these two people, one gave the best jade from Hotan, and the other gave two ginseng sticks that were at least hundreds of years old, no matter which one they were, they were rare treasures.

"Li Xiang, this is not our personal gift to you, this is the gratitude of millions of people in the Western Regions and the Northeast to Li Xiang." Xue Ping said with a smile.

"So, it's really unbearable, two, please sit, please sit!" welcomed the two into the public hall, and returned to Zhang, and Gongsun Changming greeted them one by one, and then sat down separately.

Even though there is an endless exchange of messengers between the two places, due to the long distance and traffic restrictions, the news received by Chang'an will always be delayed for a long time, sometimes even for several months. Just like some of the situations that Xue Ping talked about when he was reporting on his work now, for the Western Regions locals, it was already two months ago.

"According to the meaning of the imperial court, we have now stopped advancing, and the countries of Central Asia, after seeing the powerful force of our Tang Dynasty, are also trembling, but in those places, the power of the great cannibals is deep-rooted, and it is not possible to shake their rule in a short time. Personally, I think it would be better to use water to grind your kung fu. The other party ensured the smooth flow of business and ensured that the personal safety of my Datang businessman was not threatened, and I think it would be good to stop here. At this point, I feel that we have reached the limit of what we can achieve by force. Trying to move forward, or winning a battle or two, but not being able to establish effective rule on the ground, will not be worth the loss in the long run. ”

"Do you think the influence of the big cannibals in the local area can last for a long time?" Zhang Hui asked.

Xue Ping pondered for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. Although the Great Cannibals also used force to deter them, it was religion that really established them in the local area. The local power of religion, to be honest, scares me a little. The first thing we want to do is to compete with the local religious forces for the most basic people's hearts and minds. ”

Li Ze nodded: "This is a big topic, and there is no decades of hard work, but I am afraid that I will not see the effect at all." After all, the big cannibal has been in business for many years, and we are only entering now, and it is inevitable that we are at a disadvantage. But as long as things start, then we will win after all. Because I have never doubted that what we represent is more advanced and more in line with the laws of the development of this world. ”

"Ours, of course, is the best." Xue Ping felt the same way, "It's just that it will take time for people in those places to accept our things." Now, our merchants have entered in large numbers, and many of them have settled down in some important commercial areas, and in the local area, there are the settlements of our Tang people, and the schools we have opened, and the competition is slowly started from these little things. ”

Xue Ping paused and said with a smile: "The matter of the concession mentioned by Li Xiang made me pause. And they are happy to accept such negotiations with the other side. In their eyes, we spent a lot of money and only got a piece of poor land from them, and they really took advantage of it. ”

Everyone in the room laughed.

When Li Ze proposed this idea, Zhang Hui and Gongsun Changming were all shocked.

Spend a sum of money to rent a piece of land, in this place called the concession by Li Ze, the law of Datang is applied, there is no jurisdiction in the local area, and within the concession, Datang can even send a small force to protect the security in the concession.

In the eyes of those countries concerned, such a small piece of land is still surrounded by them, and it is impossible to pose a threat to national security, so why not make a lot of money for this? Moreover, for such a small matter, it is not worth offending the Tang Dynasty, which is now famous in martial arts.

So these things are quite pleasant to talk about. The countries concerned happily collected the money, and the Datang people happily began to build this area that belonged to them.

"With our current strength and the importance we attach to the concession, within a few years, the concession will become the most economically developed area and the most affluent area for the people." Xue Ping said with a smile: "And those local residents within the concession will become the first supporters of our Datang." They have enjoyed the benefits of my Datang, are governed by the laws of our Datang, and have experienced the true joy of being a human being, and the dark rule of their own country will make them feel breathless. With the concession as the center, we will slowly extend our influence outward, and we will let everyone in the country concerned know that the concession of the Tang Dynasty is a paradise-like existence. ”

"Help a group of locals, first rise above business, and then slowly stretch out their tentacles to the political circles, little by little to cultivate the class close to our Datang, and strive to make them become a new group of ruling classes in the country concerned, so that without using swords and soldiers, without spending a lot of money, we can harvest a firm ally after many years."

"It's a long-term process, but the future is very clear and clear. This is also in line with Li Xiang's foreign strategy of surrendering without a fight. To tell the truth, in our opinion, the rule of these countries over the common people is quite cruel and dark, and they also have laws, but their laws only apply to the nobility, the elite, and the common people, for the people in power in these countries, they are just a tool that can create wealth. Anyone who has entered these countries is a Datang person, and after they come back, they are all glad that they are Datang people. ”

"So, Li Xiang, I think the imperial court should set aside a sum of money to specialize in this matter. The strength we have there alone is really not enough, and it will greatly slow down the process of developing our influence on the ground. In my opinion, this matter should be elevated to a national-level strategy, and should not be undertaken by our Western Regions Protectorate. ”

Xue Ping ended his speech.

Gongsun Changming's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Is there such a good prospect in this concession?" ”

Xue Ping nodded: "Although we have only been doing this for more than half a year, the effect has been clearly shown." The rapid development of the first concession greatly surprised us, and now the price of land in our first concession has risen more than tenfold compared to the beginning. You know, the land we got at the beginning was a famous slum in the area, where we built houses, opened workshops, built shops, and hired a large number of locals, but all the people living in our concession area were only subject to the jurisdiction of our Tang Dynasty law, and in a short period of time, it has become the most desirable place for the ordinary people of the country concerned. ”

Gongsun Changming turned his head to look at Li Ze: "Li Xiang, I think this matter can be handed over to the internal guards." They have a lot of experience in doing these things. This can be done not only in Central Asia, but also in places like Europa, which I think is very applicable. ”

Li Zexiao asked: "In this way, the concession may also become a paradise for the other party's criminals to avoid crimes, in this matter, has there been no conflict between the concession and the local area?" ”

"It's already happened!" Xue Ping said with a smile: "But in this matter, we have no way to retreat, in the concession, we have armed forces, first rejected the country's request to enter the concession to arrest people, when the other party threatened to use force, our army on the border was immediately mobilized, and finally the other party instigated." This matter is not over. In our opinion, if it is an ordinary vicious case, such as a criminal who kills people and sells goods, we can arrest and hand it over to the other party, such a person, we are not welcome, and at the same time we can ease the relationship between the two sides, but if it is because of political matters, as long as he escapes into the concession, we have to protect. ”

"Such people, we can even help them escape into the concession!" Gongsun Changming smiled and said, "These people are of great value to us. ”

Xue Ping nodded again and again: "We have opened a school in the concession, our school is free, as long as the children in the concession area, they can enter the school to study, and those children from local poor families are our first batch of training objects." ”

"Since it is so effective, it is natural to generalize!" Li Zedao: "I also agree with what Xue Ping said about elevating it to a national-level strategy. As for how to do it, go back and let the relevant departments think about it together and come up with a specific solution. Mr. Gongsun, it is impossible for the internal guard to swallow this piece of cake alone, think about it, this involves foreign affairs, commerce, armed forces, etc., who do you think will let go of this piece of fat? ”

Gongsun Changming coughed dryly, smiled, but stopped insisting.

"The military threat on the border has now largely calmed down, and the other side has not seen the long-term significance of these policies for a while. In the next few years, we will turn more energy to the construction of people's livelihood in the country, vigorously develop the economy, and improve the gross national product. Xue Ping made a concluding speech.