The imperial edict from Tokyo took a long time to reach Jiaozhou after many twists and turns. It was already difficult for the imperial city to transmit news to the southernmost part of the dynasty, so Feng Jiye returned to Beijing to report on his work as ordered.
Feng Jiye went to Guangzhou and asked for an audience with Cao Bin at the headquarters of the Central Army, but he was turned away and told that the commander had gone out. He left a message saying that General Feng had been ordered to report on his duties and should rush to Tokyo as soon as possible and not stay on the way without reason.
Since he left a message, we knew that Feng Jiye had returned, and he was deliberately not seeing him!
Feng Jiye was depressed. As soon as he left the city gate, he heard bursts of firearms coming from the suburbs. He immediately rode his horse to follow the sound and found a training ground.
But he saw many infantrymen training on the parade ground, with crackling sounds and heavy smoke. Feng Jiye wandered around for a while and noticed that there were many guards and flags near the houses beside the parade ground, so he thought Cao Bin might be patrolling there.
He rode over and, as expected, he could vaguely recognize Cao Bin, who was surrounded by people, from a mile away. Feng Jiye immediately went up to him shamelessly and asked to see Cao Gong.
The guards finally allowed Feng Jiye to go forward, but Cao Bin seemed to have not seen him. He was busy pointing at the parade ground and talking to his generals. Feng Jiye apologized and shouted loudly: "Feng Jiye, the vanguard of the Jiaozhou Army, greets Lord Cao!"
Everyone around looked at him sideways, and Cao Bin finally turned to look at him, his face very unhappy, with other complicated emotions, looking like someone who was quarreling and angry; there was a bit of complaint, but no resentment or hostility... Cao Bin seemed to have found a way to clean up the mess.
Feng Jiye hurriedly said, "I know I was reckless and angered Lord Cao. I am passing through Guangnan and came here to apologize."
Cao Bin frowned and said, "No need to be polite, let's go in and talk." After that, he threw the whip in his hand to the guard, got off the horse, and walked to the barracks behind. Feng Jiye hurriedly followed.
The two men went to a simple and rough house, and then Lu Duan also walked in.
Feng Jiye said calmly, "I saw that the formation of the troops on the parade ground was very sloppy. Could it be that they were newly recruited by Lord Cao?"
Cao Bin got angry without warning and said, "It's all General Feng's fault. He has caused this chaos for me! Otherwise, why would we have to go through so much trouble?"
"This..." Feng Jiye said embarrassedly.
Cao Bin took a deep breath to calm himself, and said bluntly: "Those people are criminals in the prisons and mines of various counties in Guangnan. After they are trained, they will go to Champa and Malacca with the death squads recruited by the guards."
"So that's how it is." Feng Jiye said thoughtfully.
At this time, Lü Duan finally spoke up: "General Feng rushed to Luocheng, burning, killing and looting. It seems to be a great achievement, but in fact it ruined Cao Gong's plan and failed the emperor's high hopes. Cao Gong wants to find another way to make up for his mistakes."
Cao Bin said: "The emperor mentioned a long time ago that the Malacca sea route far away in the South China Sea would be used as the boundary to delimit the maritime forces of Daxu; but it has never been implemented because the sea route is too far. Now the southern military government occupies the Jiaozhou stronghold. I have repeatedly weighed the pros and cons with you gentlemen and thought that starting from the 'Taiping Fort' and going along the coast to Champa would be as easy as taking candy from a bag; then going south to Malacca and choosing a place to build the Big and Small Liuhua Forts would help the emperor complete the general plan."
Cao Bin pondered and said, "Whether my trip southward is a merit or a fault, I think I can still strive for something."
Feng Jiye hurriedly said, "I know I was wrong! If Lord Cao can be of any use to me, I am willing to make amends!"
"General Feng went straight to Luocheng, what's wrong with that?" Cao Bin sneered.
Feng Jiye said: "I am ashamed, because I was too eager for merit..."
Cao Bin sighed, "It's not that I don't want to use you. The imperial edict summons you back to the capital. General Feng, please go back to the capital first... However, General Feng still wants someone to dare to use you in the future, so you have to change your temper. It's probably not like the chaos in the Central Plains back then. Everything must be important. Before General Feng went to the battle, did I clearly tell him the intentions and general arrangements of the court? Think about it again. What good will your actions in Jiaozhou bring to the general situation?"
After seeing Feng Jiye off, Cao Bin was busy asking Lu Duan to write a memorial, requesting permission for him to continue his advance southward.
The memorial requested the establishment of three additional provinces, namely Jiaozhi, Champa, and Malacca. Except for Jiaozhou, the strategy for other places was to build seaport fortresses, win over local leaders, and appoint Daxu as the governor of each province.
Lü Duan made many suggestions for this strategy, and Cao Bin was very impressed, so he proposed to recommend Lü Duan as a Privy Councilor in return.
At that time, the situation in Jiaozhou was out of control. The reason why Cao Bin paused was not because he was afraid of being punished, but because he had lost a great opportunity to fight for the position of Duke of the Protectorate! But now he has thought of a new way, claiming to have added three provinces and expanded the power of Daxu. It is very exciting to put this achievement on the table!
The situation of Jiaozhou cannot be determined in one fell swoop. Who will win? Cao Bin thinks he can still fight for it.
While he was making preparations, he decided to send a fast horse north to deliver the memorial.
…
It is getting colder in Tokyo now, and it looks like the first snow of the year is not far away. Winter is the last season, and the year passes in the blink of an eye.
The Yangde Hall in the imperial city was still warm, and the evergreen plants growing in pots made the place less bleak in autumn and winter, and it looked full of vitality. Guo Shao knew clearly which plant had a withered branch, and watering them from time to time had become one of Guo Shao's interests.
Amid the greenery, the walls and desks are covered with maps, as well as files and memorials that were temporarily moved in.
Guo Shao stood by the wall, looking at the rough and inaccurate lines at the bottom of the map. He suspected that the shapes of the islands were also drawn incorrectly, but there was no other way now. It was already good to have some understanding of the distant places.
Now he can only rely on these drawings and texts to control his territory.
It is like this with big things. One person cannot grasp every place in reality and can only rely on others and these pictures and texts. The only things that can be truly grasped are small things, such as the growth of flowers and plants in the palace, which can be seen and touched.
There was an open memorial on the table, which described the Jiaozhou Province, Champa Province, and Mabao Province. However, Guo Shao could only look at the extremely abstract and simple lines on the map and try hard to use his imagination to figure out what those places were.
Champa should be located in the southern part of "Vietnam". Champa rice is very famous. The entire Vietnam region has sufficient sunlight and water resources and high grain production. From the perspective of resources, occupying this area has real benefits.
Yesterday, Guo Shao asked the Ministry of Rites that the ruler of Champa had sent people to pay tribute during the (later) Zhou Dynasty. When Daxu replaced the Zhou Dynasty and established a kingdom, there was no large-scale civil war during the change of dynasties. Even today, a large number of officials in the court are still officials of the Zhou Dynasty, so the damage was minimal. Daxu was established not long ago, so the records of the ruler of Champa paying tribute are very clear.
Even the performances packed in boxes made of precious wood and some gifts in bottles were still in the government warehouse.
The civilization and technology of the Champa people were definitely not as developed as those of the Central Plains. If they could reach the Central Plains, then Guo Shao could conclude that the Jiaolong Army warships had better sea vessels and technology, and could definitely reach Champa easily.
Marburg is just an imaginary fortress with only a name. Based on Cao Bin's description and the crude map he obtained, Guo Shao guessed that the location was not the Strait of Malacca he mentioned a few years ago, but in the Singapore Strait.
This place is a bit far. The last time the Daxu Jiaolong Army sent a fleet through here to reach the Indian region, most of the warships and men were lost. Guo Shao had to consider the experience, technology and cost of achieving the goal.
At this moment, Guo Shao heard someone behind him. He turned around from the direction facing the wall and saw the eunuch Cao Tai holding a pottery jar. Cao Tai saw Guo Shao turn around and bowed and said, "Liu Renzhan, the governor of Pingzhou, gave the Queen a human-shaped ginseng last time. The Queen personally cooked some in chicken soup and asked the servant to bring it to the emperor."
"Oh? Then I have to try it." Guo Shao said happily. It's not that he thinks the human-shaped ginseng is rare, but because he heard that Fu Jinzhan cooked it herself.
Cao Tai also smiled happily and said, "Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I haven't brought the bowl and spoon yet."
Guo Shao sat down on the chair, picked up the brush on the inkstone, and wrote a few paragraphs on a piece of white paper. He ordered Yang Ye and Cao Bin to estimate the annual expenditure required from the treasury in the northwest and south. He ordered the Political Affairs Hall to estimate the various taxes, silver production and coinage income of the Japanese provinces, and the expenditure of the court in the next three years.
Approve Cao Bin to set up Champa Province; whether to advance to Mabao will be answered in the spring of next year... Guo Shao must first calculate whether the income and expenditure can support these measures.
Last month, a local official wrote a memorial to the emperor praising Guo Shao and saying that he was unprecedented and unrivaled in wisdom and virtuousness, and asked the emperor to offer sacrifices to the gods at Mount Tai and inform the heavens of Guo Shao's great achievements. Guo Shao simply threw the memorial into the trash can.
When Cao Tai came back with the bowls, plates and spoon, he scooped a little into the plate, drank it first, and then poured the soup into the bowl.
Guo Shao finished the whole can of chicken soup, took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and then pointed at the paper on the table and said, "Take it to the study and give it to the cabinet to assist in the administration."
Cao Tai hurriedly said, "I obey your order."
Guo Shao suddenly thought of something and said, "Call Yang Shiliang over."
He turned his head and glanced at the maps he faced every day, thinking to himself that it was too unsafe to go on a secret visit, and it would be too costly and laborious to tour the south and the north with a grand team. However, if he left the imperial city, he would only stay in Tokyo, so there would be no problems... Tokyo was the capital of Daxu and the foot of the emperor, so the security was good.
Not long after Cao Tai left, Yang Shiliang came into the hall to pay his respects.
Guo Shao glanced at the tall eunuch and said, "Talk to Jing Niang and ask them to send people from the Imperial City Department to clean up my old house. I want to stay there for a few days."
"As you command." Yang Shiliang responded, and then said, "I will first check the population of every household on the street, set up secret sentries in nearby places, and then arrange for the inner palace guards in the courtyard opposite the mansion. When I think of other things, I will make other arrangements."
In the blink of an eye, the eunuch had a plan. Guo Shao was very satisfied with him and nodded in praise, saying, "You have always done a good job."
Yang Shiliang bowed and said, "I will take my leave. I will tell Eunuch Cao about this later."