Tokyo was covered with fog in the morning, and the sky was gray. In summer, the days are long, and if the sun is still not visible at this time, the clouds are very thick.
Guo Shao, wearing a purple official uniform and a black gauze hat, came to the Council Hall, facing the same twenty or so familiar faces. After the worship, everyone had a brief silence to see if the emperor had anything to say first.
As expected, Guo Shao asked directly: What is the Great Yue Kingdom in Jiaozhi
The civil officials looked at each other, and then focused their eyes on Wang Pu's face, because everyone knew that Wang Pu was well-informed and loved to collect all kinds of information. Wang Pu clasped his fists and said: After the establishment of the Great Xu Kingdom, it was busy unifying the various countries. At that time, Jiaozhi County was also in the midst of a war between the twelve warlords. Recently, one of the warlords, named Ding Buling, conquered the various tribes, unified Jiaozhi, and established the country of Da Co Viet.
Guo Shao nodded thoughtfully and asked: I heard that the Wu family had claimed to be the king in Jiaozhi before. I would like to hear the details of the matter.
Wang Pu stroked his goatee and said thoughtfully: Jiaozhi is far away from the Central Plains and the situation is chaotic. No one cares about it except the former Southern Han. I can't explain it clearly at the moment. Your Majesty, why don't you wait for me to sort it out and write it into a file for your memorial.
Guo Shao thought this was correct, but unexpectedly, another voice said: Jiaozhi was originally the territory of the Southern Han Kingdom, and the Jinghai Jiedushi was established.
The person who spoke was Zan Jurun. Guo Shao immediately turned to look at Zan Jurun and saw that he was calm and composed. After a moment, he subconsciously guessed that Wang Pu might be unhappy, so he glanced slightly and saw that Wang Pu looked unhappy.
Zan Jurun said: Jinghai Town was then captured by Yang Tingyi, and the Southern Han Kingdom was forced to recognize Yang Tingyi as the governor of Jinghai Army; at this time, Jiaozhi was almost out of the control of the Southern Han Kingdom.
Soon, General Jiao Gongxian killed Yang Tingyi and asked for help from the Southern Han Kingdom. Before the reinforcements arrived, Jiao Gongxian was killed by Yang Tingyi's general Wu Quan. This Wu Quan is the person Your Majesty is asking about.
Wu Quan defeated the reinforcements from Southern Han, proclaimed himself king, conferred titles on officials, and established a system of ceremonies, thus establishing his own country.
Zan Jurun talked about it: After the Wu family, the foreign relatives' rebellion occurred, and the prestige and power declined. Then the twelve governors fought each other. In recent years, Ding Buling attacked and destroyed the twelve governors, established a country, and named it Dai Co Viet.
Zan Jurun paused and said: Jiaozhi County has gone through a process over the past few decades. From a town in the Southern Han Kingdom, to a king with officials, and then to the establishment of a country. This is the situation of gradually separating from the Central Plains and becoming a country in its own right.
When Guo Shao heard this, he praised: Minister Zan’s analysis is very clear.
Guo Shao was very interested, but the other ministers did not know much about Jiaozhi at that time, so Guo Shao and Zan Jurun had a very heated conversation. Guo Shao asked again: What kind of person is Ding Buling
Zan Jurun said: This man is a native of Jiaozhi. He originally had very little power, but later he became an adopted son of a childless warlord. After inheriting his power, his strength increased greatly. He is also quite capable in fighting and is known as the King of Ten Thousand Victories. It is said that he never lost a single battle when attacking various tribes.
When Guo Shao heard this, he felt that there was a subtle similarity in the situation in the world. The Central Plains was moving from war to unification during this period, and so was Jiaozhi; and Ding Buling, the victorious king who unified all the tribes of Jiaozhi, was very similar to himself. If Guo Shao had not been victorious on the battlefield, he would not have been able to achieve the current situation so quickly.
At this time, Zan Jurun mentioned Gao Shouzhen's astronomical instrument and suggested that if they wanted to attack Jiaozhi, they could imitate Dongdao's strategy and attack from the sea.
Today, Zan Jurun was in the limelight, and Guo Shao also objectively appreciated him. But Guo Shao was unwilling to continue the discussion. This matter was only supported by Zan Jurun, and it could not support the overall plan. Guo Shao planned to wait for a while, and when the ministers were ready, they would naturally express their own opinions one after another.
We will discuss this another day. If there is nothing else, we will disperse first. Guo Shao issued an order.
Everyone then stood up and politely left.
When a group of people came out of the Council Hall and walked into the corridor, Wang Pu bluntly said to the people around him: When you are in a high position in the government, you should not just try to please your superiors, the most important thing is to consider the overall situation of the country.
Zan Jurun was right behind, and when he heard this he looked very embarrassed and could only pretend that he didn't understand.
This magnificent building is the center of hundreds of states in the world. People here are very cautious in their words and deeds. Wang Pu can speak like this. It is nothing for a person of high status to say a few harsh words in front of everyone. But Zan Jurun did not dare to openly argue with Wang Pu because Wang Pu was not wrong. Zan Jurun did want to please the emperor and stand out from the beginning.
Wang Pu was not a humble and smooth person. He did not intend to stop there. He continued: The Chanyuan Alliance was the first time that the emperor invited the four states and tribes to gather together. Only the people of Jiaozhi County ignored him and did not even show any superficial respect. The emperor was inevitably very dissatisfied with Ding Buling of Jiaozhi County. Some people have ordinary talents, but they are very unique in guessing. He thought of things that no one else thought of. Huh, huh.
Zan Jurun continued to pretend to be deaf and dumb.
Wei Renpu calmly asked: "Would you like to advocate the use of military force against Jiaozhi?"
Wang Pu said: This matter needs to be considered in the long run. Regardless of whether the emperor decides to use military force or not, we, the ministers, must make suggestions based on impartiality and see clearly the pros and cons for the country and the court.
Wei Renpu echoed: What Envoy Wang said is absolutely right.
At this moment, a sneer came from King Wansheng. The old man simply called himself Master Wansheng.
Everyone could tell it was Shi Yanchao's voice without even looking. They all looked at each other and didn't say a word.
After the ministers returned to their offices, the eunuch Yang Shiliang came to the Yangde Hall, bent down and whispered in Guo Shao's ear.
After hearing this, Guo Shao said: I understand.
Yang Shiliang said: "I just happened to be going out. The ministers didn't intend to hide anything from anyone when they shouted in public." Minister Zan had remained silent, and it was obvious that Wang Shijun had been right. He supported the southern expedition to Jiaozhi just to curry favor with the emperor.
Guo Shaodao: I understood it from the beginning. Zan Jurun's insight and vision are not comparable to Wang Pu and Wei Renpu. How can his views be better than theirs
Yang Shiliang bowed and said: Your Majesty is wise, how can a minister know the great strategies of civil and military affairs
Guo Shao glanced at him and said, "It's not Wang Pu's fault. In their view, except for Jiaozhi, the Tubo tribes in the southwestern mountainous area of Dali, the Hexi and Western Regions are not under the control of the court, and no place is less important than Jiaozhi; although Jiaozhi does not have exchanges with the court, it is at least not a threat. They do not advocate attacking Jiaozhi first, and there is a reason for it.
If Guo Shao had not looked at the overall situation of history from the perspective of later generations, he would probably have the same view as everyone else. Because at this time, there was no difference between Jiaozhi and many indigenous separatist regimes. Now, except for the places that established their own countries, there were even some who proclaimed themselves emperors.
However, Guo Shao understood the difference between Jiaozhi and other places. This was a critical period for the formation of an independent nation. After the founding of the country, they would gradually form customs, culture and identity. If they missed the opportunity, the Central Plains dynasty would be an invader in the hearts of the people. When they wanted to recover it in the future, it would become an imperial graveyard.
The most difficult thing to obtain in the world is people's hearts, Guo Shao pondered.
When he came to his senses, he saw Yang Shiliang looking at him with awe. Perhaps Yang Shiliang thought Guo Shao was thinking about something very profound and mysterious, something that an eunuch could not understand.
But what Guo Shao thought about was very simple, that is, the sense of identity of the local people.
He didn't want to continue talking about governing the country with a eunuch, so he got up and left Yangde Hall, went to the study and started dealing with the day's memorials.
All day long, no minister working in the imperial city wrote to the emperor to discuss the Jiaozhi issue. Guo Shao thought that they needed time to sort out their ideas, but he could predict that the ministers would not actively promote this matter.
Guo Shao thought again that once he made up his mind, there would be few people who would strongly oppose him. This was because it was not only about the persuasiveness of reason, but also about the involvement of prestige and power. Now whenever Guo Shao made a decision, he could usually convince his ministers with his prestige without the need for persuasion or bargaining.
Although he was confident that he could accomplish it, Guo Shao suddenly did not feel very happy.
Obviously, we are doing a great thing that will benefit future generations, but no one is praising it, and no one even understands its significance. This is completely different from the feeling when we fought hard to retake Youyun.
Guo Shao gradually felt a little lost.
The bell of the You hour rang, and Guo Shao noticed that the sky, which had been cloudy all day, finally began to rain. The sound of dripping raindrops slowly turned into a rustling sound.
Guo Shao walked through the corridor of the rear hall and came to the threshold to look at the rain. He saw the imperial carriage and guards waiting at the bottom of the steps, and a eunuch holding an umbrella was running up quickly.
The sky and the earth were covered by the rain curtain, and the scenery became hazy. Guo Shao hated rainy days when he was traveling, because the roads were generally bad at this time, and rainy days meant mud; but if he stayed at home, he didn't dislike rainy days. Sunny days have their advantages of being bright and refreshing, but rainy days are cool, and you can stay in the house with peace of mind, and your heart becomes leisurely, peaceful and stable.
Wang Zhong had already run up and was very happy to hold an umbrella for Guo Shao. Guo Shao noticed that everyone was waiting for him to come up and do this job, as if holding an umbrella for the emperor was a sign of closeness and favor.
Wang Zhong walked close behind, so no matter how fast or slow Guo Shao walked, he would never get wet by the rain.
"Your Majesty, where do you want to go?" Wang Zhong asked.
Guo Shao said casually: According to the rules, where should I go
Wang Zhongdao: Your Majesty, we should go to Madam Zhou today.
Guo Shao grunted and said no more.
There are rules in the harem. Although Guo Shao does not abide by them completely, in order to reduce conflicts between women, there is a rule of taking turns to sleep with the emperor. There are so many concubines in the palace, but only one emperor. Conflicts are objectively present. If it is completely arbitrary, it will become even more chaotic.
The only people who could be cared for according to the rules were the second empress, the fourth lady, and two women, Zhou Xian and Lady Huarui, who had status before entering the palace; for other female officials who had no status in the palace, according to the etiquette of the Zhou emperor, sometimes many people served the emperor together, otherwise it would be too late for everyone to take their turn.