But he only dared to say a few words in his heart. On the surface, apart from repeatedly saying that he did not dare to default on his debts. Even the smile he originally wore has not diminished by half. For fear of offending the owner, not only would the balance of the payment not be waived, but instead he would speak eloquently and speak like a lion again. In fact, it was not Duan Suping who really wanted to let go of this debt. They were not willing to use copper to cast Buddhas, nor were they willing to provide it to Da Qi. Because the whole country serves Buddha with great piety, the Buddha statues cast in Dali have always been exquisite.
The Tibetan people, who have served Buddha sincerely over the years, have always had a huge demand for Buddha statues from Dali. And not only Buddha statues, but also other copper ritual instruments are in great demand. Every year, Tibetan merchants who travel to both sides of the Snowy Mountains come to Dali to purchase large quantities of goods. And what does Tubo have? Although there is nothing that Dali needs in the snow-covered plateau, the Tubo people do have gold and various kinds of jade. With the coming and going of the snow-covered plateau every year, there is always a lot of profit to be made in Dali Kingdom.
Duan Suping has not forgotten that he still owes his father-in-law a large amount of foreign debt that he has not been able to pay off yet. Although his father-in-law did not urge him to repay the debt, in Duan Suping's view, the more he did not urge him, the more worried he would be. Because the Bai family's power has continued to expand in recent years. Because of my debts, I have been tolerant of some unethical behavior and took advantage of the general trend to expand the power of the Bai family. Most of the gold, cattle and sheep earned from Tubo were used to pay off foreign debts.
I just hope to pay off the foreign debt as soon as possible so that I can be tougher with the Bai family. But Dali's annual copper output is still quite limited. In order to feel proud as soon as possible, he thought of ways to waive the final compensation. It's just that he doesn't know that Daqi is not short of money now, but it is short of copper. Cannons and coins are minted every year. Whether it is provided by Dali or copper obtained from outside the region, even a stock of 100,000 kilograms of pure copper cannot be guaranteed. Especially the cast cannons had to be sold to the merchant fleets going to sea, so the demand for copper was even greater.
If the real gold and silver exchanged were put into circulation on the market, they would at least partially replace the copper coins, and the quantity would be far from sufficient. Because silver, a precious metal whose value far exceeds that of copper, is not only used for circulation. I'm afraid many people will hoard large quantities as a reserve of wealth. For example, if 10,000 taels of silver are put into the market and only 2,000 taels are actually circulated, it will bring face to the court. The amount of silver stored in the national treasury in recent years seems to be quite good, but if it is used as a substitute for making money, it is just drizzle.
So in recent years, real money has been flowing in from outside the region. Now they are temporarily stored in the treasury of Daqi Hubu. According to Huang Qiong's request, silver coins are being tried to be minted. How could Huang Qiong, who was now extremely short of copper, give up a source of fine copper because of his little thoughts? He is not someone who is flattered by a few nice words. He has an affair with Bai Feng, and several of his beloved concubines are from the Dali royal family. Now he is related to the Dali royal family. But when it comes to national events, one code is the same.
Huang Qiong didn't want to get too entangled with this guy because of the big deal in Huang Qiong's eyes. But he talked to him again about the recovery situation of Dali Kingdom in recent years. In fact, there was no need for him to report at all. Huang Qiong knew the situation of Dali, which had been ravaged by the Qi army for most of its territory, very well in recent years. Talking to this guy is just a matter of feeling this guy to see if he will tell the truth on certain things. However, Duan Suping is also a human being. Even if there was no trace of Huang Qiong's presence, he still felt something was wrong.
Then he answered Huang Qiong's question honestly. Including the current Dali Kingdom, there are constant conflicts with Nanzhang and Annan. In particular, he has been spying on Jinglong Mansion of Dali Kingdom, secretly planning or instigating some small tribes in Jinglong Mansion to leave Dali Kingdom and join his own Nanzhang Kingdom as a fellow clan member. Since Dali and Daqi were involved in the conflict, several important families were directly cut off by the Qi army, and the original military strength was almost completely destroyed. Nanzhang Kingdom thought that an opportunity had come, and kept making small moves on the border.
The year before last, when the Dali Kingdom quelled the Jinglong Prefecture, several small tribes launched a rebellion, and they fought against the Nanzhang Kingdom's army. Although it took more than seven months to finally suppress several rebel tribes, the reorganized elites of the Dali Kingdom also suffered heavy losses. Nowadays, the thirty-seven tribes in the eastern part of Dali Kingdom are also in constant rebellion. Those mountain tribes who lost the threat of the Gao family have made an alliance and can be said to be advancing and retreating together. Because of the heavy losses in military strength during the counter-insurgency campaign the year before, we were really unable to carry out another counter-insurgency campaign.
Now the Dali Kingdom has lost control of most of the thirty-seven black tribes in the east. Moreover, the barbarians in the south also took advantage of the general trend to expand their power. Especially for the two great families, Bai and Dao. Although due to marriage, even the queen of the current dynasty is a villain of the Bai family, although they don't make any big moves openly, they are often constrained secretly. When quelling the rebellion in Jinglong Mansion, although the two major families also sent troops to cooperate, they were somewhat ineffective. Even sometimes, they are stumbling in disguise.
Until the person who led the army of the Bai family, who had been sitting on the sidelines and went hunting when he was free, was also the eldest son-in-law of the Bai family. He was successfully attacked by a group of rebels and was shot into a hornet's nest by blow darts. The irritated Bai family really gave up some of their strength. It was originally in Yangjume City, but was looted by the Qi army. Duan Suping could barely survive thanks to the large amount of money and food loaned by the Bai and Dao families. The current situation now feels somewhat like internal and external troubles. He did not expect that the thirty-seven tribes in the east were so unruly.
However, after visiting a small Gao family, I couldn't suppress the feeling of Cuandong's thirty-seven movies. Originally, Duan Suping only felt threatened by the increasingly mature Gao family. Not only him, but also his brother Duan Sulian, who made many ridiculous actions during his reign, but never dared to take the Gao family lightly. But now, with the help of Da Qi, the Gao family has been completely wiped out from Dali Kingdom. For those who were previously under the jurisdiction of the Gao family, they were still submissive, but now they are increasingly disobedient to the Dali royal family.
Even the marriage did not have much effect. Although there is no big rebellion yet, small rebellions are continuing. From there, both recruiting troops and collecting food became increasingly difficult. There are tens of thousands of powerful black troops, and the thirty-seven troops are stationed in the eastern mountains. The geographical advantage makes Duan Suping feel like a thorn in his back. Originally, when the Gao family was here, they only listened to the announcement, but they still barely listened to the tune. But now that the Gao family has gone, most of the tribes will neither listen to the announcement nor obey the orders.
One of the very important purposes of his coming to Daqi this time was to join forces with Daqi and attack troops from the east and west simultaneously to annihilate the uncooperative tribes. In his opinion, comforting someone ten times is not as useful as raising a knife once. From the thirty-seven tribes, select a few tribes to kill chickens and scare monkeys in order to subdue those unruly tribes that disobey the central government of Dali and establish themselves as kings in the mountains. Otherwise, those thirty-seven departments will sooner or later become a serious problem for Dali Kingdom. Especially now, Annan and Nanzhang are eyeing Dali.
In order to deal with foreign affairs, we must first settle the internal affairs. If we do not solve the internal problems, how can we do our best to deal with the external world? However, Huang Qiong shook his head at his thoughts. This guy is shrewd and his abilities seem to be good, but he is still a bit immature. No wonder he lost to that idiot Duan Sulian in the battle for the throne. Borrowing troops from a foreign country to suppress the enemy is the stupidest thing to do. Kong married some of the largest tribes, but he didn't know how to make good use of them. For those rebellious tribes, the best strategy is to suppress, appease, and divide and disintegrate them.
Being tough will only waste your time and money. After thinking about it, Huang Qiong did not directly veto Duan Suping's request, which saved him some face. However, Huang Qiong only said two sentences about his request to suppress the army, move the capital, divide and disintegrate. For the entire Dali Kingdom, Yangjumei City has been the core of the political power in this area since Nanzhao. And being surrounded by snow-capped mountains is also conducive to defense. But now, the location of Yangju City is indeed a bit remote, and it is far inferior to Shanchan Mansion.
The Duan family was different from the previous dynasty in that they did not start in Yangjumei City. In fact, the Duan family really relied on the support of the thirty-seven black armies to lay the foundation of the Dali Kingdom for more than a hundred years. Duan Siping was the military governor of Tonghai at the beginning, but now Xiushan County of Dali State is its foundation. It was also at that time that Tonghai was connected to the mountains and rivers of the thirty-seven tribes, and had been married for generations. His talent has received strong support from the Thirty-Seven Department. Dali established its capital in Yangjume City, but it just followed the conventions of the previous dynasty.
Yangjumei City is indeed surrounded by mountains and lakes, and its defensive posture is quite advantageous. But by establishing its capital in Yangjumei City, it abandoned and distanced itself from its roots. When the royal family was strong, it could barely survive. Once the royal family declined slightly, it would be beyond its reach to the tribes to the east. It was precisely by suppressing the thirty-seven tribes, the one after another rebellion, and the rebellion of the descendants of the Yang family. Only then can the Gao family truly rise. He also occupied the Shanchan Mansion, the base of the royal family, and actually controlled half of the Dali Kingdom. It can be said that he has power over the whole country.
Therefore, Huang Qiong's suggestion to Duan Suping was to move the capital to Shanchan Mansion. Anyway, the palace in Shanchan Mansion is bigger than the one in Yangjume City. The former dignitaries of Dali Kingdom were now killed, and a considerable part of the rest were in Jingzhao. If he moves the capital to Shanchan Prefecture, there may not be much resistance. On the contrary, it will strengthen the control with the thirty-seven departments in the east. As for the city of Yangju, it can be reduced to a companion capital. After moving the capital to Shanchan Prefecture, what was more beneficial to Dali was that it was closer to Daqi and further away from the Tubo tribes.
If something happens to the royal family, the Qi army stationed on Guangnan West Road may not arrive at dawn or dusk, but it will be much more convenient for rescue. Although the terrain of Shanchan Mansion is not as steep as the Cangshan Erhai Lake outside Yangjumei City. But it is also surrounded by mountains, and there is also Dianchi Lake as a barrier. Moreover, the water surface of Dianchi Lake is much larger than that of Erhai Lake. The lakeside is also a place with abundant water and grass. In fact, it is more beneficial to control the east. In addition, making good use of marriages to break up the thirty-seven divisions will be more conducive to controlling the east.
Huang Qiong's words sounded extremely reasonable and practical. But in fact, it was a statement that Daqi would not send troops unless the Dali royal family was in danger. The matter of the Thirty-Seven Parts still needs to be resolved by Dali Kingdom itself. In other words, Duan Suping's request was rejected in disguise. Moving the capital back to Shanchanfu, the eastern capital, is a reasonable solution. But the problem is, his suggestion sounded in Duan Suping's ears, and he couldn't help but curse his mother in his heart.
Moving the capital to Shanchan Mansion is indeed closer to Da Qi. Once the royal family is in danger, it will be more conducive to Daqi's rescue. But moving the capital to Shanchan Prefecture is tantamount to putting the whole country of Dali under the knife of Da Qi again. Shanchan Prefecture is close to Daqi, and the road to Daqi, whether it is Central Guizhou Road or Guangnan West Road, is much better than Yangjumei City, which is crisscrossed by rivers and surrounded by mountains.
