Step on...
Snow is everywhere in the sky, and horses are rushing in the hooves. On the official road about dozens of miles from the south gate of the capital, a convoy is slowly moving forward.
The soldiers were wearing armor and the carriage was luxurious. Even if they were no longer able to see, they could definitely see that the owner of this convoy was definitely of extraordinary status.
Whether it is the merchants or the people, they all retreated on both sides of the road, watching the convoy leave in awe.
"General, there is Jingmen Station ahead. Should I rest?"
A soldier rode his horse and clasped his fists at Li Dingguo.
"No need, it's still early, so I'll try to enter Beijing before dark."
Li Dingguo waved his hand, then glanced at the most luxurious carriage in the convoy: "Go and tell Eunuch Wang, we are about to arrive in the capital."
"promise!"
The soldiers took the order and rode away.
Li Dingguo looked at the direction of the capital. Although the world was covered with white and could not see clearly, at this moment, Li Dingguo's heart was inexplicably surging.
After leaving Beijing for a few years, when I look back, everything seems to be still vivid in my mind.
From refugees struggling to survive, to small soldiers in the army, His Majesty's words and deeds, and to the current Earl of Daheng, commanding a navy...
Time flies so fast...
Li Dingguo breathed a sigh of relief, gathered his mind, and silently tightened the reins and rode his horse. The thoughts in his heart seemed to have floated to the capital.
He couldn't wait, the Jiangnan waters, the South Ocean, the Western Barbarians...
He had too many things and wanted to report to His Majesty clearly that the vast ocean should also be allowed to ride the wind and waves by the Daheng warship...
Compared with Li Dingguo's turmoil, Wang Wu, who was ordered to go south in the carriage, had never looked good after getting the changes in the palace in Jiangnan.
Once he went out of the palace and went south, he tried countless efforts to offend the Jinyiwei and the Duke of Jingguo. Only then did he hold the rights in his hands and actually made wedding dresses for others!
Of course, he dared not resent the emperor, but for the Erdezi who had flattered him, he wanted to suck his bones and drink his blood!
"Dad, don't think about it. When you return to the palace, you will be able to deal with Er Dezi..."
A little eunuch whispered.
"Shut up!"
Hearing this, Wang Wu couldn't help but feel trembling and slapped him over: "Do you want me to die?"
"Dare to say anything, what do you think you are!"
"I don't know what's so-called stupid thing!"
The little eunuch covered his cheeks and looked at him at a loss when facing his angry father.
"Get out, get out!"
Wang Wu shouted angrily.
"Eunuch Wang, what happened?"
At this moment, there were cavalrymen riding their horses close outside the car and asked.
"Nothing happens!"
Wang Wu's face changed instantly, he returned to his usual appearance, and said calmly.
The soldiers outside the car responded, then rode their horses away, and the movements inside the car soon came into Li Dingguo's ears.
Li Dingguo glanced at the so-called eunuch, and couldn't help frowning. After a while, he waved his hand and signaled his general to retreat.
At this moment, Li Dingguo suddenly felt that he would be uneasy when he entered Beijing this time!
...
At this moment, in the palace, the New Year is approaching. Just like in previous years, no matter how bitter the winter is, it cannot cover up the festiveness of the New Year. Between the snow, there are busy palace maids and eunuchs, and there can be seen lights and decorations everywhere, making the New Year's festive celebration.
If in previous years, the emperor would have to take another trip to the White Dragon Fish, and take a good look at the people's sentiment.
But this year, the emperor obviously has no time.
The south of the Yangtze River has just been pacified, the southwestern border is still in turmoil, disasters in the north are repeated, and millions of disaster victims are still needed to be arranged for project relief... and the disintegration of Mongolia.
Of course, the most important thing for Daheng today is not external wars, but sorting out the internal environment.
From the early years of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty to the present, it is about to enter the fifth year of Zhaowu. In the past ten years, the turmoil in the world, the conquest of military forces, and the continuous natural disasters have almost never stopped.
If the next unity today is obviously not sustainable, the most important thing is to rest, light taxes and pay tributes, and rest with the people.
In other words, Daheng's ruling focus should be changed from fighting in all directions, suppressing dissatisfaction, and internal development.
"Education, taxation, administration, law, money and finance?"
After the desk, the emperor held the writing and stopped writing, and countless thoughts flashed in his mind, planning the development of Daheng in the next few years.
Since his determination to boost the seedlings and to force Daheng to move from a traditional central empire to a new empire in the future, the development of this country has completely turned into the unknown.
Looking at history, there is no way to follow or refer to it.
He could only follow the limited experiences and experiences in his mind, and plan little by little. As for the civil and military ministers of the court... it was obvious that they could only move forward in his plan.
Of course, he could not ensure that his thoughts and even his plans were correct, and he could only try and make mistakes little by little.
Just like the education system piloted by Shuntian Prefecture, from the beginning to now, it has been adjusted no less than ten times. The tax system to be launched is also destined to be piloted in Shuntian Prefecture, with little trial and error adjustments until the end, there is nothing to change, and it will be implemented.
It took a long time for the emperor to come back to his senses from his endless thoughts. Looking at the dense plans on the paper, the emperor couldn't help but rub his forehead. There were too many things to do.
Moreover, many things need to be forced to be implemented with authoritarianism, which means that he must keep an eye on them all the time to avoid the backlash caused by authoritarianism.
And this is only in China. How can Daheng be limited to traditional Han areas?
The emperor stood up, and the map of Daheng Qiankun in the hall had already added a lot of new areas.
Centered on the traditional Han area, Northern Mongolia, Northwest Western Regions, Southwest Myanmar and Siam countries, Japan, which is adjacent to North Korea, and the vast sea boundaries of Jiangnan, Taiwan, Ryukyu, Malacca, Temasek, Luzon, Java, India...
If you want to form unshakable hegemony on the ocean, that vast sea area, the many national islands that form a natural ring around the Daheng Sea Frontier, should be taken down and make this vast sea area the inland sea!
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! To form hegemony on land, of course, even if it does not achieve land hegemony, it is necessary to pacify Mongolia just for the stability of the northern border.
And this kind of pacification is obviously not just about defeating Lin Dankhan. After all, defeating Lin Dankhan is obviously not a difficult task for a unified Central Plains dynasty.
In all dynasties, except for a few cartilage dynasties, most of the rest pressed Mongolia to the ground and rubbed it against the ground when it was strong.
Of course, this kind of battle against Mongolia is mostly just one cycle after another.
There is only one reason, that is, the special terrain of Mongolia, which caused the Central Plains dynasty, which was mainly composed of farming ethnic groups, to be unable to effectively rule Mongolia.
This point is obviously deeply understood by all dynasties. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, the central dynasty's strategy towards Mongolia was to cut off the Mongolian retreat, and to completely defeat the nations on the Mongolian grasslands in one or several battles!
To cut off the Mongolian retreat, we can clearly see from this map that the northwards of the Mongolian grasslands, the colder they are. In the era of advanced technology in later generations, Siberia was sparsely populated, let alone in these eras from ancient times to the present.
In other words, the only areas where Mongolia can survive is Siberia, to the northern border of the Han area.
The Xinjiang region, or the Western Regions in the traditional sense, is this oval zone, the only way out.
That is, if the central dynasty attacks northward, the Mongolian grassland peoples can escape only in the traditional Western Regions.
Therefore, to completely pacify Mongolia, it is essential to operate the Western Regions and cut off the escape route for the grassland people.
Once the central dynasty has substantial control over the Western Regions, the decline of the Mongolian grassland nation is undoubtedly inevitable!
For example, during the Han Dynasty, the famous Zhang Qian went to the frontier in history. The fundamental purpose was to contact the Great Yuezhi in the Western Regions, unite with the Great Yuezhi, cut off the Xiongnu's retreat, attack on both sides, completely defeat them, and even annihilate the Xiongnu.
But in the end, he was very helpless. The Great Yuezhi was unwilling to unite with the Great Han Dynasty, so from then on, the Han Dynasty was launched and its unremitting pursuit of the Western Regions!
During the Western Han Dynasty, the Western Regions Protectorate and the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Regions Chiefs of the Eastern Han Dynasty created the great reputation of being the Five Barbarians. Therefore, the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Grassland Barbarians were not important threats to the Han Dynasty.
Even if the Han Dynasty fell, the grassland barbarians in the Three Kingdoms period were unable to pose too much threat to the Han area.
Until the Jin Dynasty, the results of the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties against the grasslands were not maintained later and were eventually consumed. In addition, the decline of Jin Dynasty led to the subsequent Five Barbarians' Invasion of China.
The chaos continued until the early Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin was naturally talented and magnificent. After hundreds of years, the Han and Tu Iron Cavalry stepped onto the Western Regions and established the Anxi Protectorate. During the Wu Zetian period, the Beiting Protectorate was established, one in the south and one in the north, and the entire Western Regions were controlled. In the Tang Dynasty, he also collected taxes in the Western Regions historically to maintain the expenses of the two major Protectorate, that is, the two major construction corpses.
However, after the Anshi Rebellion, the Hexi Corridor was cut off, and the Tang army in the Western Regions remained alone outside the territory and still struggled to defend for more than 40 years!
Subsequently, as the national strength of the Tang Dynasty weakened, the Tang Dynasty's management of the Western Regions collapsed. By the late Tang Dynasty, the influence of the Tang Dynasty on the Western Regions was entirely dependent on the Jiedushi, so naturally there was no longer any control.
Subsequently, it was not until Yelu Dashi established the Western Regions that the Western Regions revitalized Chinese culture. However, with the Mongolian destroying the Western Regions, the Western Regions were completely irreversible and comprehensively "green". That is, the influence of the Central Plains dynasty on the Western Regions was completely exhausted, and it had completely become completely different from the external regions, cultures, and customs.
After that, it was the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, when the Ming Dynasty's national strength was at its peak, the economic center, cultural center, and even the political and military center of the Ming Dynasty were all in Jiangnan!
In this way, it is inevitable that the focus of the rule will inevitably be in the south of the Yangtze River, and the cultivation of the north will slow down. What this brings is the Ming Dynasty's development of the south, that is, the operation of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.
That is, it completely incorporated Yunnan and Guizhou provinces into the core of the Central Plains dynasty.
For the Northern Xinjiang, it was mainly aimed at the Northern Yuan Dynasty. After all, it was too far away to go from the Jiangnan to the Northern Xinjiang!
Although the Ming Dynasty's political and military center was transferred to Beijing after the Jingnan Campaign, it is undeniable that it was the power of Jiangnan to support the political and military center of the north.
No matter how powerful and powerful Emperor Yongle was, he could only do the five battles of the northern desert and manage the Western Regions... except for the existence of Hamiwei, which has become less powerful, there is nothing else.
With the death of Emperor Yongle, the so-called Renxuan rule emerged, and the Ming Dynasty, the rhythm of civil servants governing the country was completely opened.
Later, the Tumubao Incident completely broke the backbone of the Ming Dynasty. From then on, the Ming Dynasty also irreversibly entered a period of decline and irreversibly fell into the cycle of civil servants governing the country.
The internal struggle between the imperial power ministers and the power of the Ming Dynasty was the main theme, and the external strategy was irreversible strategic contraction, let alone the management of the Western Regions.
It was not until before entering the pass that the Qing Dynasty ruled the grasslands. After the wars against the northwest of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, it was not until it was restored to its influence and control over the Western Regions.
It is obvious that looking at history, ancient and modern times, except for the Han and Tang Dynasties, there is no orthodox Central Plains dynasty, and there is no control over the Western Regions.
However, any central dynasty that had controlled the Western Regions, such as the Han and Tang dynasties, and the grassland barbarians, would not cause too much harm to that dynasty.
Of course, the fundamental reason why the Han and Tang dynasties persevered in the Western Regions was also due to the times.
After all, before the Southern Song Dynasty's operation of Jiangnan, the political, economic and military centers of the Central Plains were all in the north, in Guanzhong, and in Heluo.
In this way, there is a necessity to control the Western Regions.
After controlling the Western Regions, there is a natural strategic barrier, and it also provides sufficient strategic depth to the heartland of the Central Plains dynasty!
Moreover, it can also provide an excellent strategic environment for the Central Plains dynasty to attack the grasslands.
The central dynasties after that did not have much enterprising spirit for the Western Regions, and this reason also occupied a lot of factors.
But now...
Daheng…
The emperor's eyes flashed, and he seemed to have made a decision in his heart.
Daheng also has a necessity for the Western Regions!
Solving the troubles of the grassland is only an inevitable goal.
Ensuring the stability of the northern border and reducing the pressure on the northern border defense is also an inevitable goal.
Although there is no need for the current Daheng region, the terrain of the Western Regions is too special!
Not in his hands...
Who dares to imagine what kind of scene would be like in the era of technological development in later generations, if the vast highlands at thousands of meters above sea level were not under control?
There will be no peace in the Han territory!
Whether for the present or for the future, Daheng has unquestionable necessity for the Western Regions!
By controlling the Western Regions, we can ensure the peace of the Han territory now and even in the future, and open up the traditional Silk Road, which will also be of considerable benefit to the northern economy.
Controlling the Western Regions is also of great help to pacify the grasslands. The pressure on the northern borders has weakened. Next, Daheng's ruling focus can be moved to Jiangnan with peace of mind, develop naval forces, and push Daheng into the era of great navigation.
Then, let the wealth of the Age of Discovery feed back to Daheng’s local area and promote Daheng’s rapid development.
The stronger the national strength of Daheng, the stronger the control of the Western Regions of the grassland will inevitably be.
As long as he waits, the new flower of learning that he has worked hard to cultivate will bloom slightly.
Many of the issues he is considering now may not be the problem anymore...
Chapter completed!