The rise of the prince

Chapter 878
"There are some things that don't need to be paid tribute. It's too easy to cheat when buying and paying tribute." Li Xingzhou sat casually on the steps of the Yangju Hall and said to Fang.

Qifang was dressed in purple and gold clothes, and she disguised herself as a man, sitting quietly and listening to him. Now she is a member of the third rank in the imperial court, Du Zhi Si Du Zhi envoy.

After several years of purges in the court, the personnel affairs in the court have undergone major changes.

The first is Meng Zhiye and Cheng Jin from the Ministry of Rites. Li Xingzhou found various reasons to cut off his official position in the Ministry of Rites, and then sent him to the Imperial College to teach.

Afterwards, Lu Ming, who was not very capable, led the Ministry of Rites and asked Qifang to take charge of the branch office.

"Then what should be broken? Why do you suddenly think so." Qifang spoke a lot softer now, not as always contradicting him as before, probably because of having a child.

Qifang doesn't want the position of concubine, she doesn't even want to enter the palace, and even the child needs her surname, everyone in the world knows who her child is, but the current emperor Li Xingzhou destroys the Liao Kingdom, swallows the Jin Kingdom, destroys the Xia Kingdom, and defeats the Western Regions The Uyghur coalition forces are all over the world, and they come from all directions.

Coupled with the internal promotion of distributing households to the mu, suppressing the wealthy, and distributing benefits to the common people, the country is prosperous and the prestige is at the height of the sky, and no one dares to say anything more.

The emperor's right to speak is actually a political game, and the most direct source of this right to speak is the victory of the war.

"In fact, ordinary tribute is enough for the basic necessities of the palace. Now the land and water roads are smooth, and there are many business trips. Many things can be bought in the capital, and there is no need to send them thousands of miles away." Li Xingzhou said: "Now the world is settled, and the future prince The grandson of the emperor may not be able to leave the capital a few times in his life, he is not familiar with world affairs, he is easily deceived by others, even if he loses the country, let them lose more slowly."

Qifang looked stunned, that emperor didn't expect eternal life, how could he say that about his descendants.

Li Xingzhou stretched out his hand, asked Qifang to sit over, and hugged her.

He has a completely different view of history from today's people, or in other words, he has a completely different view of the world and history. He does not want his descendants to last forever, in order to use force to gain prestige, and then leave some precious things for future generations. heritage.

The world cannot remain the same forever. The rapid changes in the situation and the rapid changes in people's hearts are always unpredictable.

"We always have to plan for the worst. We can't expect everyone to be as wise and powerful as me." Li Xingzhou laughed.

Qifang snorted, but did not refute. In his heart, Li Xingzhou can indeed bear the words "wise, wise and martial".

"Like seafood and fine wine from Zhejiang and Zhejiang provinces; olive seeds, lactose, and white sugar from Hunan; Baidu pears and mung bean powder from Hedong; musk, antelope horns, bear bile, and bear white from Huazhou; grapes and pears from Jiangzhou. "Li Xingzhou babbled a lot, Qifang listened carefully, and took notes on the desk.

"Any one of these things is the reason for the local officials to squeeze the people's fat. The sky is high and the emperor is far away, and the people don't know how much the emperor wants. In the end, those officials withheld most of the things for themselves. I took the blame." Li Xingzhou shook his head.

If she told Gillian, she would probably say, "It's so unbearable, no matter how bold the officials are, they wouldn't dare to deceive the emperor like this."

Ke Qifang is a person who has been in the officialdom for a long time, and has a lot of knowledge and understanding.

So he nodded: "That's free."

The next day, the weather was gloomy and cold. Li Xingzhou went to the Three Princesses' Palace after the morning court. He Qian and Yelu Yali were also there, and the three were having a lively fight against the landlord.

Li Xingzhou didn't have much control over the palace and allowed them to come and go freely.

The three like to ride horses and have lively personalities, so they can naturally get together.

The third princess came to him because Temujin sent her a family letter, hoping to conclude an alliance with Jingguo and profess his vassal to Jingguo.

Li Xingzhou was very surprised. He never thought that Temujin would make such a request. After all, although the two countries are trading partners, it is an indisputable fact that there are constant small frictions in private.

The two countries also have conflicts of interest in the matter of the Kingdom of Jin. After several years of encroachment, almost all the land and cities in the east of the Kingdom of Jin have been occupied by the Kingdom of Jin. Only Beijing and its surrounding areas in the west, because of the protection of the Kingdom of Jing, Mongolia has never been able to succeed.

There was even a small-scale conflict between the armies of the two sides on the banks of the Liaohe River. The Mongolian army suffered a lot from Yang Hongzhao’s new army with guns and cannons. They did not hurt the new army. More than 30 people were killed by themselves. Fortunately, both sides restrained rationally. , was suppressed at this time.

In this case, the Mongols said that they would reconcile and surrender, which he found unbelievable.

However, after reading Temujin's handwriting, he immediately understood what was going on. Although his Chinese proficiency was limited, the handwriting was pretty good, and he should have hired someone to write it.

It turned out that there was a reason for this. Temujin sent a caravan to the west three years ago to do business with the distant western country Khwarazmo as a show of friendship. As a result, Khwarazmo people were greedy for money, slandered them as Mongolian spies, and killed the merchants. Team hundreds of people.

Temujin was furious when he heard this, but at that time the Mongols were focusing their efforts on attacking the Kingdom of Jin and plundering the land of the Kingdom of Jin except Shangjing, so they could not do anything, so they only sent envoys to negotiate.

As a result, the king of Khwarazmo killed the envoy, shaved the beards of the two deputy envoys (they were prostitutes) and put them back.

Temujin was furious and prepared to march west regardless of everyone's opposition. He wanted Mu Huali to continue to be in charge of the offensive against the Eastern Kingdom of Jin, and he personally led all the troops to march west.

And the reason why he wanted Menghao to become a minister was nothing more than worrying that after his westward expedition, the safety of the rear would not be guaranteed.

The nomads are different from the farming peoples in the Central Plains. It is very easy to attack the Central Plains. The people are all farming, and they have fixed gathering areas, and the fields will not run away. Just go to one place.

But it is difficult to fight nomads. The vast Gobi, grasslands, and deserts, most of the tribal gathering areas are scattered and changing, and there are many horses. Let alone fighting, it is very difficult to find people.

Therefore, most of the confrontation between farming civilization and nomadic civilization is naturally in a strategic passive position. Even if large-scale strikes are organized, the power is often strong enough that nomadic civilization dare not head-on, but it just punches cotton and cannot be found. It doesn't hurt.

From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the Qin State, those who were able to defeat nomadic peoples, such as Li Mu of Zhao State, and Meng Tian of Qin State, etc., were strategically passive defensive.

It was Wei Qing and Huo Qubing who really pioneered a new style of play and completely terrified nomadic civilization. Therefore, Wei Huo is an epoch-making figure in the military history of farming civilization in the Central Plains.

But Jingguo didn't have Weihuo, and Temujin didn't worry that Jingguo would dare to attack strategically like Weihuo from the very beginning, using cavalry and mobile units to raid their gathering areas from a long distance and a long distance.

That's why they didn't take Jing Guo seriously until Jing Guo attacked and destroyed the Liao Kingdom they once attached to, swallowed the Jin Kingdom they once feared, and quickly destroyed the Xia Kingdom that was against them.

So far, the Mongolian Kingdom and the Jing Kingdom are no longer separated by the Xia Kingdom or the Jin Kingdom, and border on the north and south of the Yin Mountain.

This change in situation made Temuzhen really feel threatened and scared. He also felt more and more that Jingguo already had the ability of the Han Dynasty and was able to send troops to the Mobei Grassland. refused.

So before the Western Expedition, he was worried and wanted to surrender to Jing Guo in exchange for a stable peace in the rear.

Li Xingzhou naturally agreed, Genghis Khan's Jianguo three princesses are now by his side, but Xia Guo who harassed them was destroyed by Jing Guo, Jin Guo was maimed by Jing Guo, and was violently beaten by Mongol, so now he is powerless to harass.

In a sense, he used another method to stabilize the rear.

As for whether to send troops to Mongolia, Li Xingzhou was not prepared to do so. Even if the Central Plains Dynasty defeated the nomads, their way of life was destined to be unable to control the grassland.

If people are forced to control it, they will either be assimilated or eaten away. The only way to control the Mongolian grassland is cultural identity.

It was in the Qing Dynasty that Mongolia was finally fully incorporated into the territory of China. At that time, the Mongols had two choices, one was to surrender to the powerful Tsarist Russia to the north, and the other was to surrender to the Qing Dynasty to the south.

In the end, they chose to surrender to the south and be included in the territory of the Qing Dynasty. The main reason is that most Mongolians believe that they have "the same clothes, similar learning styles, and similar culture" with the Qing Dynasty in the south. This subtle cultural influence and identity made this land eventually Choose Nanfu.

And Li Xingzhou also understands that it is inappropriate to forcibly rely on force to garrison the grasslands. It will not work strategically, and he can only work hard on cultural identity.

He finally agreed with Temujin's proposal and guaranteed that there would be no war between the two countries, but he also asked Jing Guo to send two battalions of black cavalry to accompany his army westward.

He personally selected the soldiers from the new army, and he assured the soldiers that all the captures during the western expedition would belong to them. At the same time, he told the soldiers to record what they saw and heard, the mountains and rivers, and the geographical situation.

As for the commander-in-chief of the Western Expeditionary Army, He Xu took the initiative to assume the position. He understands the language of the Mongols and has been trading with the Mongols all year round, so he is the most suitable.

He hoped that He Xu could use Temujin's protection to learn more about the situation in the west.

Temujin's western expedition, from the Mongolian plateau to Khwarazm, ordinary people have to walk for a year or two. This distance has exceeded the expectations of the farming people. It is impossible for Li Xingzhou to organize a special army to go to Central Asia. Go to Eastern Europe to see the situation.

Temujin will definitely protect He Xu for the sake of peace in the rear lair, this is a great opportunity.

Temujin agreed to this one very happily. Jing Guo's black cavalry is famous all over the world. Although there are only 1000 men, they are not to be underestimated.

Li Xingzhou has other requirements, but that is for the Mongolian country and all the dependent countries.

In November of the fifth year of Zhangwu, Shenlin completely took over Dali Kingdom, eradicated some disobedient chieftains, and then carried out restructuring. Li Xingzhou ordered to change Dali Kingdom to Yunnan Road, and Shenlin to Yunnan Road Jiedushi. The Zhennan Army formed [-] battalions, recruited local village braves, trained by Shenlin, and the imperial court paid for the defense of Yunnan.

In the twelfth lunar month, Li Xingzhou decided to change his reign name to "Zhaode".

Changing the name of the country also means changing the national policy. On January [-], the first year of Zhaode, Li Xingzhou issued an edict to inform all countries in the world, including Mongolia, Jin, Koryo, Wa, Uyghur tribes in the Western Regions, Tibetan tribes in the plateau, Jiaozhi etc. For official documents, Hanzi must be used, Chinese characters shall be promoted, and Hebei Mandarin shall be promoted.

The children of nobles from all over the world need to send people to worship in Kaiyuan every generation (as hostages), and encourage them to study classics such as Confucius, Mencius, and Xun, or Laozi and Zhuangzi.

Mongolia was afraid of Jingguo's surprise attack during its westward expedition, so it naturally agreed.

Goryeo pursues the principle of great things. Since it was cleaned up by the Han and Tang Dynasties, whoever is bigger in the Central Plains is worshiped by it, and it hastily agreed.

Jin Guo is now completely a puppet country, a buffer zone in which Jing Guo does not want to conflict with Mongolia, and it is completely Jing Guo's graphite mine factory, so he naturally agrees.

The country of Wa is now completely controlled by Jing Guo as the lifeline of the economy, and even the current currency is the currency of Jing Guo. Naturally agree, after the Uighur tribes in the Western Regions were feared by Liu Ji, they surrendered one after another, and gradually restored the control of the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. It is estimated that in a few years or more than ten years, the Western Regions will also become Jingguo Road.

The various tribes in Tubo had serious internal strife and were unable to resist, so they all agreed.

Only Nanmianjiaozhi (Guangxi part, Vietnam part) thinks that Jingguo is far away, they are very strong, and refuse to obey orders.

Now that the name of the country has been changed to "Zhaode", Li Xingzhou's purpose is obvious. He uses Chinese characters to educate the world and show the world. Understand his determination to promote writing and language.

So in mid-February of the first year of Zhaode, Li Xingzhou appointed Di Zhi as the commander of the East China Sea Fleet, and led all five divisions of the New Army Navy to conquer Jiaozhi.

At the same time, with Shenlin as the pacification ambassador in the southwest, he commanded two divisions of the New Army Army and the [-]th Battalion of the Yunnan Army, and cooperated with Di Zhi to conquer Jiaozhi.

(End of this chapter)