Most of the islands in the south were empty, and all the natives on them were taken away and concentrated on a few relatively large islands.

This makes it easier to manage and allows for a focus on the development of large islands.

Soon Sun Tai found that the names of these islands were very strange and inexplicably familiar, and if he thought about it carefully, it was not the name of the place in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Find Wu Yin and ask, it is true.

"Nanyu City is the name of the first city in Luzon, which was chosen by the king according to the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Later, everyone named these islands and mountains after the names in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. ”

A few days later, they arrived at a place called Li'er Island (Cebu Island), and as soon as they arrived at the temporary pier, they heard the cheers of the officers and soldiers of the sailors above.

Everyone was curious to inquire about the situation, and found out that iron ore and copper ore had been found on the island.

In particular, the copper mine is still an open-pit mine, and the reserves are immeasurable, but it is not a problem to mine for hundreds of years.

Copper is money, which means that the Tang Kingdom has obtained a steady stream of money.

Wu Yinzhi was also excited to hear the news.

I don't know why, Sun Tai felt that there was also a joy welling up in his heart, which was difficult to suppress.

……

Further south, there is actually nothing to see, either arresting people or on the way to arrest them. The development of the islands has just begun, and there is nothing to see but chaos.

So they discussed it and decided to return to Dongning Island.

When I went back, I naturally didn't forget to thank Xiao Baishan for taking care of him first, and made an appointment to meet again next time.

……

At this time, the Central Committee of the Tang Kingdom also became lively because of Chen Xiu's letter.

"Pingfu South National Policy".

A name that couldn't be simpler, but it's these five words that make everyone move.

Wen Yi did not express his opinion, but issued an order to ask the opinions of the ministers.

The first thing is to consider whether to do anything to Funanguo.

Everyone has a different way of understanding things and thinking differently.

Some steady officials believe that the naturalization work on Luzon Island has not yet been completed, and that the Unu Island side needs to involve a lot of energy, and it is really inappropriate to open up a new battlefield.

In particular, this plan also proposed the construction of Hainan Island by the way, which was too easy to be discovered by the Jin State.

Hainan Island was the main source of copper and iron in the Tang Kingdom, so it was best not to take this risk.

Chen Xiuyi refuted these views one by one, and the resistance in Luzon had collapsed, and it was a matter of time before it remained.

Unu Island is a long-term plan, and it will take ten or twenty years to conclude, and at most it will involve two percent of the energy of the Tang Kingdom.

The strategy plan of Funan is mainly based on infiltration and assimilation, and it is also a long-term plan, which will not involve much energy in the Tang Kingdom.

As for Hainan Island.

"Your thoughts are still stuck in five years ago, and the Tang Kingdom is no longer the Tang Kingdom of five years ago." Chen Xiu's speech was a little heavy:

"Now the Tang State has a million people and more than 70,000 elite soldiers, including 50,000 naval divisions and 1,000 warships, and not long ago defeated the 40,000 land and water alliance forces of Baekje at a very small cost."

"We may be less than the army, and we have no rival at sea. Hainan Island hangs alone in the sea, and the closest point to the mainland is also 40 miles. ”

"If the Jin Kingdom really dares to come, these forty miles will become their burial place."

Even if those who oppose it are very unhappy to be scolded like this, it is not good to say anything.

On the contrary, Guo Jiting, who has never expressed his position, stood up and said: "I have no objection to the strategy of Funan, but I dare not agree with the development of Hainan Island." ”

Chen Xiu was not surprised at all that this old opponent stood up against it, and said, "I would like to hear about it." ”

Those who opposed him seemed to have found the backbone and looked at him expectantly.

Guo Jiting said: "In a big way, a big factor why our caravans can travel to all countries in the world is that we do not participate in the struggle for hegemony on the mainland. ”

"Other countries need a bridge to communicate with each other, and we who are closest to neutrality and have a strong foundation have become the best choice."

"As soon as we show our ambitions for the mainland, we will lose our status as a neutral country and cause alarm among countries...... Jin Shangshu, I don't know if what I'm saying is right? ”

Jin Rushan arched his hand and said: "What Master Guo said is very true, neutrality and indisputability is indeed one of the main reasons why my country can be left and right. ”

Chen Xiu was surprised, originally thought that Guo Jiting was just habitually opposed, but he didn't expect that this time there were really different opinions, and the reasons were very sufficient.

The point is that this reason was something he had never thought of before, he only thought about the comparison of strength, and did not think about commercial trade.

This is also a characteristic of the times, and few people will really consider this matter as a decisive factor.

If I am strong, I will directly send troops to invade your land, and the other consequences will not matter.

But Tang is different, the proportion of commerce is too heavy, and there are too many benefits to be gained from it, so this must be taken into account.

Wen Yi was still silent, but he was secretly vigilant in his heart, and he floated.

In the past, he had always been low-key and immersed in development for 20 years.

It's just that in the past two years, the Tang State has become stronger and stronger, first taking Luzon, then taking Ryukyu Island, attacking Unu Island, and defeating the Baekje army......

The successive victories made his heart a little uncontrollable.

I only thought that I was strong and not afraid of the Jin Kingdom at sea, but I never thought about what kind of chain reaction it would bring after doing this.

The Tang State now does not lack land, but population and various resources. Because Hainan Island lost its status as a neutral trading country, the gains outweighed the losses.

Fortunately, I asked everyone's opinion, otherwise it would be too late to regret it when something happened.

Guo Jiting continued: "In a small way, the Jin Kingdom is our main trading country, and many scarce commodities, such as medicinal herbs, need to be purchased in large quantities from there. ”

"Especially the population, we can get tens of thousands of people from the Jin Kingdom every year...... Once you have a feud with them, it will be difficult to get supplies and population, so I suggest that the development of Hainan Island be postponed,"

"Even if it is to be developed, it is only necessary to develop a small part of the area around the Shilu Iron Mine and the south far away from the Jin Kingdom, and the population should be controlled within 100,000."

Those steady factions said one after another: "What Master Guo said is right, please think twice." ”

"If Hainan Island loses its status as a neutral country, it will affect us too much."

"The gains outweigh the losses......"

"Please think twice, the king."

Wen Yi still didn't express his position directly, but asked, "What about the Funan Raiders?" If we take Funan, it will also cause the Jin Kingdom to be unhappy, right? ”

Guo Jiting said: "No, Hainan Island is the land of the Jin Kingdom, even if they leave it alone, they will not allow others to occupy it." ”

"Funan is just a small and dispensable country in the wilderness, and they don't care about such vassal states at all, otherwise Emperor Jin will not return their tribute at will."

"There is still a Linyi country between them, no matter how big something happens in Funan, it is difficult to reach the ears of the Jin Kingdom."

"And our strategy is not to occupy directly, but to support the pro-Tang tribes to launch a coup d'état and overthrow Zhu Zhantan's rule, which is not easy to detect."

"When the coup is successful, stop paying tribute first, and at most two or three years the Jin State will forget about this vassal state, and then we can do whatever we want."