A man, a sword and a horse left Jinling City that night.
Hong Xiuzhao's brand new pleasure boat turned off its lights again and moored at the shore, where it stayed for a very long time.
…
"Your Majesty, this is the latest intelligence from Xixia and the Ministry of National Defense. Please review it!"
Liu Jin handed over two pieces of information, and Fu Xiaoguan sat in Taoranting and looked at them carefully.
"The Liao Dynasty stationed 300,000 troops outside Maoshan Pass, while the combined forces of Western Xia and Great Xia, totaling 300,000, faced them across the Maoshan Pass."
"On April 20th, the Western Xia Governor Tuoba Wang arrived in Xingqing Prefecture and announced that Western Xia would become a Daxia autonomous region. This received a huge response from Western Xia."
"The morale of the Western Xia army is unstable. Tuoba Wang has set out to personally visit the front lines, while Tuoba Yu is currently comforting the people."
"The Western Xia battlefield now needs a commander to lead the coalition forces, so that there can be a unified battle deployment and goal. According to the order of the Ministry of National Defense, Guan Xiaoxi and Tuoba Feng's troops are stationed on the first line of defense, waiting for His Majesty to send a commander."
"The Liao army hasn't moved, but the transportation of food and fodder is extremely frequent. The reason is that Yelu Dan has returned to persuade the Liao emperor, Yelu Qing, to do so. However, it is said that the Liao crown prince is very likely to personally visit the Maoshan Pass battlefield to supervise the troops."
Fu Xiaoguan put down the information, thought for a moment, and then instructed Liu Jin, "Draft an imperial edict."
"I obey your command."
"Inform the Ministry of National Defense and inform Guan Xiaoxi, Tuoba Feng, and Tuoba Wang. I have appointed Yu Wentian as the Grand General of the Expeditionary Force, commanding the war against Liao in the north."
"Before Yu Wentian arrives, if the Liao army attacks, Guan Xiaoxi will temporarily take over Yu Wentian's duties as the Grand General."
Liu Jin copied the imperial edict again, and Fu Xiaoguan used his personal seal. "Send it out, as quickly as possible."
Liu Jin took his leave and picked up the second piece of information, which came from the Ministry of National Defense.
The second to fifth armies have arrived in western Hebei, and the four armies have been assembled.
Twenty thousand Mauser rifles and four hundred thousand rounds of ammunition were on their way to the embassy and were expected to arrive by the end of May.
The 20,000 marines under He Sandao have become familiar with the Mauser rifles, and the ships are ready. They can set off once the weapons and ammunition are delivered.
Minister Zhuo and Marshal Bai Yulian jointly decided to transfer Pan Shuyang's Seventh Army to the Liluo Plateau for training, and also to take on the responsibility of guarding Guanyun City.
The Sixth Army under Huo Huaijin was transferred to Shilechuan for training on the Helan Mountain front.
Separately, Su Changsheng sent a declaration of war, threatening to engage the Great Xia army head-on at the foot of the Great Xianbei Mountains on July 15th. We fear this is a ruse, but the intelligence from the Tianji Pavilion states that the 450,000-strong army in the Great Xianbei Mountains remains unchanged.
We, the ministers, do not understand what Su Changsheng is up to. The Battle of Daxianbei Mountain is scheduled to begin on the fifth day of June.
Fu Xiaoguan frowned and thought for a moment. He didn't know what Su Changsheng was talking about.
Of course, the initiative of this war cannot be in Su Changsheng's hands, so on the fifth day of June, we will march into the Daxianbei Mountains and destroy the 450,000-strong army, and see how Su Changsheng will react.
He picked up his pen and wrote another imperial edict: "Immediately send the First Navy Army via the sea route, land at Jingu, and cut off Su Changsheng's troops' retreat!"
…
…
May is early summer, but the sunshine in Jinling is not too strong.
Fu Xiaoguan and his party came to Tengxi Mountain outside Jinling City today. There were three old men in the group - Jia Nanxing, Qin Bingzhong and Yan Beixi.
Fu Xiaoguan pushed Jia Nanxing, with Qin Bingzhong and Yan Beixi on his left and right. They walked slowly on the mountain road, which was winding and beautiful with all kinds of wild flowers blooming on both sides.
"There are many gardens in the palace, and they are all very exquisite. I think wild flowers like this, growing freely, are the most beautiful and natural scenery."
Qin Bingzhong stroked his beard and smiled, "In the palace, that's called rules. What flowers should be planted, what shapes those flowers should grow into, all of these are within the rules. It's not like out in the wild where you can do whatever you want."
"So I don't think too many rules are a good thing either."
Yan Beixi disagreed with Fu Xiaoguan's view: "Without rules, there is no order. I think that whether it is flowers or people, they all need the constraints of rules."
This is certainly true, but the starting point is different.
"Laws are rules that constrain people's behavior. I hope that within the framework of the law, people can be free. Therefore, freedom is relative. Just like the flowers in the palace, as long as they don't grow outside the garden, they can grow however they want. There is no need to make every flower look the same."
"We use Neo-Confucianism to educate students and the people, but in my opinion, this is wrong. What we should teach students and the people is the law, so that everyone knows what is allowed and what is absolutely forbidden. As for the rest, it is better to let go. Only then can the people's thoughts bloom brilliantly."
These words were a bit confusing and Jia Nanxing didn't understand them, but Qin Bingzhong and Yan Beixi did.
Your Majesty wants to free up the people's minds!
There were laws before this as well, but it was morality that bound the people more.
Morality is a social ideology, a code of conduct and norms in people's lives. It stems from a consensus gradually formed over millennia, and is distinct from law.
The law has specific clauses and detailed punishment measures. Once the law is violated, one will be judged by the law.
"Law and morality complement each other. A healthy society requires its people to have extremely high moral standards and also requires them to understand the limits of the law."
"What I mean by freedom is the freedom of thought of the people. For example, they can criticize the imperfections of the law, or they can put forward new moral views. It's not like now, where people think whatever the government says is right."
"Only free thought can produce more dazzling sparks. Human civilization must ultimately progress. If a country restricts the thoughts of its people, even if it has a splendid collection of flowers, it will be hidden deep within the palace, with only a few able to appreciate it."
Yan Beixi and Qin Bingzhong frowned. They didn't say anything else, but thought carefully about what Fu Xiaoguan said.
Is this possible?
Today, Daxia's textbooks are being improved imperceptibly. For example, the school system has been changed to primary school, middle school and university, and mathematics has been added from primary school - something that is a little more profound than the previous arithmetic.
For example, physics and chemistry have been added to junior high schools... These are brand new subjects. The textbooks are jointly developed by His Majesty and the Academy of Sciences and have been promoted to some schools across the country. However, they have not yet been included in the scientific examinations and seem to be something like extracurricular reading materials.
What Your Majesty seems to be doing is to free up the people's minds.
But neither Yan Beixi nor Qin Bingzhong could see the reason behind this.
The group arrived at the top of Tengxi Mountain.
My vision suddenly became clear, and I felt the vastness of the world.
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