In the small room behind the study in Jinxiang Palace, Guo Shao was flipping through the documents on the wooden shelf. The eunuch Cao Tai's shrill voice came from behind: "Your Majesty, what files are you looking for? I will serve you at your request."
Guo Shao did not respond. He finally found a stack of files, took them to the table, sat down and looked through them for a while. His eyes lit up and he stretched out his finger and pressed a name: Feng Jiye.
Guo Shao slapped his forehead and finally remembered the name. This was exactly the person he was looking for.
Who is Feng Jiye? He was originally the governor of Shuofang in Lingzhou. He was brutal and warlike by nature. When he was in office in Lingzhou, he often attacked and killed various tribes, and had very bad relations with the northwestern tribes. He was later dismissed by Guo Shao.
In order to launch a northern expedition to Youzhou and stabilize the northwest rear, Guo Shao compromised with the Dangxiang people through marriage. One of the conditions discussed was to kill Feng Jiye. It can be seen that this man was hated by the Dangxiang people. Guo Shao did not kill that guy, but dismissed him and replaced him with Zhe Dejian.
Guo Shao asked where Feng Jiye was now.
Cao Tai looked confused. After thinking for a while, he said hurriedly: I will go to the Ministry of Personnel immediately and ask the officials of the Ministry of Personnel to report to Your Majesty.
Soon, Cao Tai brought Feng Jiye's situation. Officials of Feng Jiye's level would be noticed by the court regardless of whether they were in office or not. After being dismissed and returning to their hometowns, local officials would usually take on this responsibility.
Cao Taidao: Feng Jiye returned to his hometown. According to the news at the end of last year, he bought a lot of land and raised sheep.
Tell him to stop herding sheep. Guo Shao went straight to the point and asked Wang Pu to order Feng Jiye to be appointed as the Lingzhou Defense Envoy, commanding the Lingzhou garrison troops, and to transfer cavalry from the northwestern garrisons to him.
Cao Tai hurriedly said: I obey your order.
Guo Shao said in a deep voice: Secretly order Feng Jiye to punish those who have committed unforgivable crimes.
After he finished speaking, he seemed to smell a scent of blood from the vibration of the sound. A word sometimes means rivers of blood.
Realizing the consequences, Guo Shao suddenly thought: How much benevolence and how much cruelty do I have deep in my heart? But what he can be sure of is that he is definitely not as benevolent as he appears to be, even though he once used Xuanren as his reign title.
He was very tolerant and kind to the people around him, but that was just a wise move. Guo Shao believed in one thing: if you go against the interests of the majority and everyone is dissatisfied with you, no matter how powerful you are, you will definitely be doomed.
A few days later, at the grand court in Jinxiang Hall, under the watchful eyes of hundreds of civil and military officials, Li Chuyun was given the military power of the Western Expedition commander, and was personally granted the seal, royal orders, military tokens and other items by the emperor.
Li Chuyun, Shi Yanchao and other military generals will be in charge of the army, but they will need the assistance of at least four central government offices. At the same time, the Hexi Qianying Military Office will be established, with Wei Renpu, the deputy privy envoy, as the chief of the military office, and Li Gu, the prime minister, as the transport envoy, responsible for the dispatch of military supplies and baggage, and Zan Jurun, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, as the military supervisor.
The Hexi Legion is expected to be composed of 50,000 infantry and cavalry, with the imperial guards from the Central Plains and guards from the northwestern states gathering. It is estimated that it will take about a month to organize the army.
The military government first established the Qianying Military Government Office in the parade ground military camp northwest of Anyuan Gate. Only after the organization was formed could it arrange all matters according to the rules.
In the rough military camp lobby, Li Chuyun, wearing military uniform and armor, walked into the military mansion with his sword in hand and his head held high. A large group of people in the room looked at him sideways, some saluted with fists and some bowed with their hands clasped.
Li Chuyun strode to the upper seat, looked around, raised his hands, and dozens of people gradually quieted down.
He first placed the seal on the desk, then took out the imperial edict and asked his followers to take it down and show it to everyone.
Li Chuyun cleared his throat and said loudly: In compliance with the decree of Emperor Daxu, I will serve as the commander-in-chief of the Hexi Army. From now on, I will have the power to command, mobilize, deploy and deal with the following armies on the battlefield.
He recited it very solemnly. Although the house was so rough and old, and the place was not big, this ceremonial scene made Li Chuyun very excited. God bless our emperor, and may he live forever.
All the civil and military officials immediately joined in the shouting, acknowledging that Li Chuyun's military power came from the emperor.
Li Chuyun stood there, watching the dust flying in the sunlight outside the gate, hearing the familiar sound of horse hooves, his face flushed. He looked around and said: The majesty of Daxu will surely be spread to all directions along with the emperor's cavalry.
The war machine in Tokyo Daliang was running well. The news of the war was not surprising to the officials and people of Xu State. People had long been accustomed to it because there seemed to be no year without war in recent years.
No one can explain why the court can go to war so smoothly. The common people do not hate Xu Jun's war, because in recent years, the wars are always in distant places and have no impact on the lives of the people. Military generals will not refuse wars. They need military merits. Military merits bring honor to their ancestors and bring a lot of income. The silver coins from Japan continuously stimulate the desires of the soldiers.
Civil officials no longer stopped wars. The dividends from the banks came quickly, which was much easier than collecting land rent. Compared with deploying a large number of troops to defend the border, the officials in power felt that national defense was much easier to defend, and the land wealth they owned could also be protected. With the country's rising power and increasingly wealthy life, officials did not want to hinder the emperor's ambitions.
Just like this Western Expedition, the ministers didn't know how it happened. When the troops gathered in the northern city of Tokyo, people realized that the war was about to start again. Everything seemed like an absurd dream. The national policy of militarism was so smooth, it seemed to be gradually deviating from the teachings of ancient sages.
The Privy Councilor Wang Pu once played chess with Guo Shao in Yangde Hall and talked about these things. I couldn't tell what was wrong, but I felt uneasy occasionally. The great achievements in civil and military governance are a sign of a prosperous era, but a prosperous era should not be like this.
Guo Shao asked: What do you think should be done
Wang Pudao: During the Zhenguan period, the country was peaceful and prosperous, and he was an all-mighty ruler.
Being conservative does not necessarily lead to stability. Guo Shao placed a chess piece on the chessboard. I asked the envoy Wang why peace and prosperity can never last and will eventually lead to chaos.
Wang Pu frowned and said: Your Majesty, this question cannot be explained in just one or two sentences, it will require tens of thousands of words.
Guo Shao shook his head and said: I think the most fundamental reason is that there is not enough land and resources to support the growing population; so wars and plagues have caused the population to drop sharply and regain balance. This is true for all countries in the world, whether in the East or the West.
Wang Pu felt very curious after hearing this and stood there in a daze for a moment.
Guo Shao glanced at him: Tao Te Ching says, Heaven and Earth are not benevolent and treat all things as straw dogs. The rules of the human world are similar to those of birds, beasts, and ants. If we want to achieve the paradise of the world of great harmony that the saints talk about, I am afraid there is no way.
I am also thinking about what to do, but so far, I still think that a country with space expansion can survive better. When the population is too large, we can migrate to other places to relieve the pressure.
In the past two years, a method has been found, which is to exile all the prisoners who violated the law and those who were implicated in the rebellion to the provinces. The criminals redeemed their sins in remote places, which was also a kind of rebirth.
Wang Pu was unable to refute Guo Shao.
Guo Shao knew that Wang Pu was very intelligent, but even geniuses are limited by their knowledge. Obviously, Wang Pu could not use ancient knowledge to refute Guo Shao, and Wang Pu did not dare to argue, after all, he was facing the emperor.
But Wang Pu remained silent and did not agree with Guo Shao's statement.
Guo Shao actually understood Wang Pu's feelings a little bit
I remember hearing a sentence in my previous life. Someone said that the Chinese had no religious beliefs since ancient times, and it was hard to understand how it could last for so long. Guo Shao felt that people had another kind of belief, which was similar to what Wang Pu felt now; that kind of belief was not to believe in a specific god, but a very mysterious concept: awe.
This is true for Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. People in the world are not very pious about anything, but scholars will do things like building roads and bridges to accumulate good karma. They vaguely feel that there are gods above their heads, so they dare not do anything without restraint. Even a monk who believes in Buddhism dare not curse the gods in the City God Temple at will.
But now Guo Shao completely disregards the path of the ancient sages and does only what he believes in. No wonder people with insight are worried.
After a long time, Wang Pu said: Feng Jiye should be arriving in Lingzhou soon. What will he do there
Guo Shao and he looked at each other in bewilderment, speechless.
I only do the right thing. Guo Shao suddenly said. There was a tremor in his voice. Maybe he himself was not very clear-headed at this time, but as an emperor, he should not show lack of confidence.
No matter in his past life or this life, Guo Shao was just a young man. Until now, he couldn't even understand the Book of Changes. His understanding of the world was really limited. But he felt that he was a practitioner.
"Has Envoy Wang ever seen the world of great harmony? We don't need to imagine a dream. There is still a way, which is to go ahead and give it a try," said Guo Shao.
He stood up, took out a glass bottle from a drawer and handed it to Wang Pu.
Wang Pu took it and looked at the gray powder inside and asked: Your Majesty, what is this
Limestone and volcanic ash are mixed together, burned in a brick kiln, ground into ash, and mixed with water and sand to make clay. Guo Shao said, I spent several months trying various minerals to make a bonding soil.
Wang Pu held the bottle up to the light from the window, looked at it carefully for a while, and said in a deep voice: Your Majesty wants to use this to repair the fortress on the battlefield.
Guo Shaodao: That's right. Iwami Castle has proven the defensive power of Rokka Castle. I am trying to find a way to strengthen this fortress and build a more solid defense organization. Once it is completed, no one will be able to capture it.
His eyes sparkled, and he said excitedly: I will build fortresses wherever I can reach, and let the guards guard the vast territory.
Guo Shao could hardly suppress the idea of controlling the world. Whether it was a ship made of a simple mixture of gunpowder and wooden sails, or a fortress made of clay rammed bricks made of ash, he felt that he could rule the world with the simplest technology.
When people’s hearts become bigger, everything becomes hard to suppress.