Chapter 409 Building a new county
Luo Wuji presented the geomancy map of the Western Regions, which in turn triggered changes in Emperor Liu Che's plans for the war against the Huns. The emperor, who had always been a little impatient, decided for the first time to spend several years preparing for a war.
This was not a war of annihilation against the Huns, but its significance was no less than that of a war of annihilation, because by cutting off the Western Regions, the Huns' war potential was cut off and even the upper limit of their power was locked.
Because the Huns were like the Indians, they did not have their own core iron smelting technology. Once they could not obtain technology and weapons from Central Asia, they would soon be left behind and crushed by the Han people who possessed core technology and a complete industrial chain.
Liu Che stared closely at the geomancy map of the Western Regions, which marked in detail the terrain and general situation of the Western Regions. This was the main reason why he made this plan.
After taking another look, Liu Che said, "Marquis Wushuang, although your father has never served in the Han Dynasty, he has made great contributions by drawing this geomancy map.
He was a great contributor to the expansion of Chinese territory.
I have learned a truth from reading: when an official has made contributions, he should be rewarded and praised. If someone has made great contributions but does not receive any rewards, who would still believe the emperor's promise?
If the Han Dynasty can really conquer the Western Regions in the future, I will set up an institution there to manage the Western Regions.
King Su said that the most important things for a country are war and sacrifice. As the emperor of the Xia Dynasty, I will build a temple there to sacrifice to the soldiers who conquered the Western Regions.
Whether they are the people of the Han Dynasty, the people of Zhaogong Kingdom, Lingnan Kingdom, or the vassal states in the future, as long as they can make contributions to the Chinese people, I will love them equally and will never be partial to the Han Dynasty and look down on the vassal states.
I promise to place your father's tablet in it, so that all the people of the Xia Dynasty who go to the Western Regions can worship him. This is what I can do."
Upon hearing this, Luo Wu Ji looked at Liu Che with burning eyes and developed a liking for the emperor in front of him.
Starting from Emperor Xiaohui, every monarch has a dual identity. Liu Che now identifies himself with the Emperor of Zhuxia even more than the Emperor of Han, because what he wants to do now is to promote the advanced civilization headed by the belief in the Suwang to the grasslands, the Western Regions, Lingnan, and to places that have never been reached before.
In this process, the Han Dynasty will become extremely powerful, and the reputation of the Han emperor will naturally resound throughout the world.
Luo Wuji bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, you will be a great monarch."
As they were talking, Imperial Censor Gongsun Hong walked in from outside the hall.
Ever since Jia Yi stopped serving as prime minister, the position of prime minister has become the focus of contention among various forces. Not only the dignitaries in the court, but also the powerful factions in various places are secretly working hard to make the leader of their faction the prime minister.
After all, the prime minister’s power is too great. He is truly second only to the emperor and above everyone else. Even the general, the top military official, does not have a higher status than the prime minister.
In this atmosphere, the three prime ministers appointed by Liu Che were caught by someone and driven out of office before they could even get to sit down. This made Liu Che a little angry, and then he chose a Confucian scholar with no background from Shandong to serve as the Chief Censor to perform the duties of the prime minister, which temporarily suppressed this trend.
After Gongsun Hong entered the hall and saluted, he saw everyone in the hall, and then he was startled, knowing that it was not a trivial matter. As expected, as soon as he sat down, he heard the emperor say: "Sir, since the general and the Marquis of Champion and the Marquis of Peerless swept across Henan, I believe that the court and the people are very excited, but just being excited is not enough.
The land in the world is limited. If you don't occupy it, someone else will. Just like Henan, if the Chinese retreat an inch, the Hu people will occupy an inch. I think the way to keep Henan forever is to build cities and counties in Henan, and then migrate people there. I want to build three counties in Henan and Moxi, each with a population of 200,000. I think this will completely stop the Xiongnu from moving south."
Build a county in Henan!
Of course, everyone knew why Liu Che did this. Once a county was established in Henan and the population could be migrated there, the most obvious change would be the border line. The security of Chang'an would be greatly improved. The Huns would have to cross two lines of defense to reach the city of Chang'an, which was crucial to the security of an empire.
The location of a capital usually takes two issues into consideration: the first is security, and the second is the radiation of the sphere of influence.
Guanzhong perfectly meets the security requirement, but it is a little too west, so Luoyang is needed as an aid. The dynasty that established its capital in Chang'an must improve the status of Luoyang.
Luoyang is located in the center of the world, but its disadvantage is that the plain area around Luoyang is smaller than that of Guanzhong.
Guanzhong is a land with many barriers on all sides. For the Central Plains, there are countless dangerous passes and strategic points to attack Guanzhong. The natural mountains and rivers make this place impregnable. The Qin and Han dynasties twice went east from here to destroy the princes of Shandong.
However, after the nomads rose to become an empire, the security of Guanzhong became a problem, because the nomads could directly kill their way to Guanzhong from the north. It could not be said to be a smooth journey, but compared with the princes of Shandong, it was not difficult.
This was the problem that Liu Che was worried about. The Han Dynasty was no longer facing only internal dangers, but also a more powerful enemy on the grassland.
He was thinking, what is the most important thing that should be avoided in the struggle between two huge countries?
Of course, the national center was wiped out in one fell swoop!
It sounds tough for the emperor to guard the country's borders, but it is extremely stupid strategically.
The capital is the heart of the empire, but the heart is not placed in the chest, but on the forehead, on the waving fists. This is not like an old man eating arsenic, but what is it?
Which empire can guarantee that it will always win?
Which battle can be fought without making a mistake?
Placing the capital on the border means winning every battle and requiring the enemy not to take the capital directly. This was the case with Chang'an before. Now that the Huns in Henan have been defeated, the threat to Chang'an has been temporarily lifted. Now Liu Che wants to build another Great Wall built by people in the northern border to completely isolate the Huns on the grassland and set the battlefield on the grassland.
But Gongsun Hong objected.
“Your Majesty, what you say is indeed a great cause, but I object.
Building a city or even a county on the grassland is extremely costly, probably no less than the military expenditure of fighting the Huns and building palaces. However, the results are not as good as the conquest of the Huns and the construction of magnificent palaces.
We have levied countless corvées and used many resources to accomplish this task, but if the Huns launch a large-scale attack, we may be destroyed in one day and get nothing in return. This is something I do not understand.
The most important thing is, after the city is built, where are you going to migrate so many people from?
If we relocate the people from the Central Plains there, wouldn't that be cruel and abusive to the people?
The common people are not sinners, how can you treat them so cruelly?"
Liu Che was about to get angry when he heard this, but then he thought for a moment and suppressed his anger. When he looked at Gongsun Hong's expressionless face again, his anger immediately dissipated.
Gongsun Hong was a virtuous and upright minister, as well as a talented Confucian scholar. It was impossible for him to simply oppose.
In just a few sentences, he pointed out the most critical issue. The cost of building a city on the grassland must be carefully considered. Although the country is rich, it will cost money to fight the Huns and repair the palace. It will cost money to build a county out of nothing on a blank land. It is not a fantasy or a casual talk.
The second issue is the migration of people.
Immigrants guarding the border sounds glorious and great.
But in reality, moving people there is just to use them as human sandbags, right?
Facing the extremely brutal and cruel Huns, not only the people who had just migrated there, but also their descendants would probably suffer continuous bloodshed.
In previous years, the Huns invaded Shangjun, Daijun, etc., killing thousands of people from time to time. Once a county was established in Henan, those who were killed were the newly migrated population.
Moreover, going from a rich place like the Central Plains to a bitter and cold place is like being exiled!
Not to mention ancient times, even in modern times, living conditions are very good, and frontier areas have been built into modern cities.
If you have the guts, try to migrate the people of Jiangnan Province to the Western Regions, Hetao Province or Liaodong Province. The people who made the policy will have to die all their ancestors again.
In this era, it is no exaggeration to say that it is cruel and inhumane to move people from a place where they can live comfortably to a bitter and cold place where they could die at any time.
But why wasn't Liu Che angry?
Because Gongsun Hong said that the common people are not sinners and cannot be relocated at will, but how many sinners are there in this world?
The descendants of those exiled people were the ones who opened up Lingnan. Now there is just one more place of exile. The problem now is how to find at least 200,000 people to be exiled in a short period of time.
There are not so many people in the Han prison, and this is the problem that needs to be solved.
Gongsun Hong opposed it on the surface, but in fact he was just raising a problem. As long as the problem was solved, the city could be built.
Liu Che paced a few times and said in a deep voice: "The counties must be built, and all government offices must prepare for the establishment of counties. This is a major event concerning the country. No matter what difficulties there are, I will overcome them."
Since the emperor has expressed his opinion, Gongsun Hong naturally has no objection. "As you wish, Your Majesty, do you want to issue the imperial edict now? I can bring it directly to the Prime Minister's residence."
"Dong'e Hou is here, so let him draft the decree. I will use my seal now."
Luo Jing held the pen in his hand, feeling some nostalgic emotion. When Emperor Xiaowen was in power, most of the imperial edicts of the court were drafted by him. He did not expect that after more than ten years, he would hold the pen to draft edicts again.
Thoughts were tumbling in his mind, but the pen in his hand did not stop, writing like a dancing dragon or snake, flowing like water. He did not even need to think, as he was too familiar with this.
When the last stroke was finished, Gongsun Hong bowed deeply to Luo Jing, then slowly took the imperial edict and handed it to Liu Che. Liu Che admired it and stamped it with his seal. Then Luo Jing, Luo Wuzhi and Gongsun Hong walked out of the palace together.
"Doctor Gongsun, once this imperial edict is issued, I'm afraid the entire Han Dynasty will never be at peace."
Gongsun Hong sighed slightly when he heard this: "Yes, establishing a county is more than just establishing a county."
The Han people in this world are different from those in the previous life. Establishing a county is more than just adding an official with a salary of two thousand stones!
(End of this chapter)
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