Li Zicheng stood with his head held high and his chest raised. When he cupped his hands, he looked directly at Zhao Han. Unfortunately, he stood too far away to see clearly.
But Niu Jinxing immediately knelt down, prostrated and worshiped: "Common citizen Niu Jinxing, long live our emperor!"
"No courtesy." Zhao Han said.
Niu Jinxing slowly got up, but saw that Li Zicheng was still looking directly at the emperor, and his heart suddenly pounded, fearing that this rude move would implicate him.
Zhao Han said, "Everyone come closer and offer a seat."
Li Zicheng strode forward, Niu Jinxing walked quickly, and sat down ten feet away from the emperor.
The palace guards on both sides pressed the handle of the hammer one after another. If something unexpected happened, they would rush forward and beat Li Zicheng to death.
As he got closer, Li Zicheng finally saw Zhao Han's appearance clearly, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. This Emperor Zhao was a little different from what he imagined. He was more like a scholar full of knowledge, and not like the founding monarch who recklessly launched an army to conquer the world.
She is quite good-looking, just like a pretty girl.
The beard is not very impressive, there is only a slender mustache between the lips and nose, and the beard on the chin is only four or five inches.
But there was one thing that Li Zicheng admired quite a lot, that was Emperor Zhao's magnanimity. He did not force him to kneel down, nor did he get angry because of his rude behavior, otherwise it would be really embarrassing for him to kneel down.
Zhao Han was also looking at Li Zicheng. He had dark and rough skin, deep-set eye sockets, high cheekbones, forward nostrils, and a big beard under his chin. The most eye-catching thing was Li Zicheng's bright eyes.
And sharp, looking directly at the emperor at this moment, vividly interpreting what "the eagle looks at the wolf" means.
Zhao Han couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Why is King Chuang staring at me? It seems that he has sworn hatred."
Niu Jinxing quickly smoothed things over: "Your Majesty, I don't know that Mr. Li always looks at things like this. He didn't mean to glare at Your Majesty."
Li Zicheng also did not want to offend the emperor, and knew how to give up when he was satisfied. His eyes softened a little, and he cupped his hands and said, "Emperor, please forgive me!"
"It doesn't matter," Zhao Han assessed Li Zicheng's merits and demerits face to face. "The reason King Chuang raised his army was because the government forced the people to rebel. You and I are both in the same camp. It's a pity that the killing was too much and it was not a benevolent act. I was lucky enough to win the world. At the same time,
Recapturing the Hetao will be of great benefit to China, and the merits and demerits are offset by the merits. Does King Chuang think it is okay?"
"Listen to the emperor," Li Zicheng said, "Your Majesty, don't call me King Chuang anymore. It's all in the past, and it's boring to mention it now."
Zhao Han smiled and said: "It's just a nickname, don't worry about it. King Chuang doesn't want to return to his hometown and settle down?"
Li Zicheng said: "As long as you don't return to Mizhi, you can go anywhere."
Zhao Han said: "Then settle down in Hebei. Hebei is vast and sparsely populated, so it's easy to divide the land when you settle down."
"Thank you, Emperor, for your understanding!" Li Zicheng said.
Zhao Han looked at Niu Jinxing again: "What about you? I heard that you want to be an official."
Niu Jinxing quickly replied: "The common people are guilty and do not dare to have any extravagant expectations. It is entirely up to your majesty to arrange their fortunes." Then he added, "The common people are ashamed. They also had great achievements in the previous dynasty. If they had not been framed by the officials and gentry, they would not have done it.
Go Luocao and become a bandit. The grassroots people read the "Datong Collection" repeatedly and know the good governance of the new dynasty. If they can really be an official, they must strictly follow the "Datong Collection" to benefit the people."
This guy really wants to be an official!
Zhao Han shook his head: "You are quite old, and you served as prime minister with King Chuang. I gave you a small official, but you were not convinced. I gave you a high official, and the civil and military officials in the court were not convinced. Why don't you teach, and just focus on it?"
I asked a fellow student from the University of Education, I think you must have something to say in your lectures."
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Niu Jinxing was so disappointed with this that he finally gave up on becoming an official. At the same time, he secretly said that it was a lucky thing that Zhao Han allowed him to teach, so he would not have to settle old scores again in the future.
Zhao Han looked at Li Zicheng again, only to see him staring at his table. What he saw was the globe on the table.
"King Chuang likes this?" Zhao Han asked.
Li Zicheng said: "I don't know what it is, but it is so eye-catching there that I couldn't help but take a few more glances."
Zhao Han said to the attendant maid: "Bring him over."
Li Zicheng was educated, but his literacy was not high and he had not yet reached the level of a child.
Holding the globe, he saw the big word "Nanjing" at a glance, and knew that this was a strange map. He could see Yulin and Hetao all the way up, and Shanhaiguan and Liaoning to the east.
Looking further down, we see North Korea and Japan.
To the east of North Korea and Japan is the sea. If you continue to turn the globe, you will see the Americas, Europe, Africa, and India that you have never heard of before... and then you will see China again.
Li Zicheng's eyes widened, and his hometown dialect came out: "Um, is there a ball at your feet?"
Zhao Han nodded: "Earth."
Li Zicheng knew that Zhang Xianzhong was abandoned in Taiwan, so he searched for it for a while and finally found the words "Taiwan House".
This guy seemed to have encountered a novel toy. He pulled the globe and looked at it horizontally and vertically. The more he looked at it, the more he was shocked by the vastness of the earth. He felt that he was just playing in the Hetao.
Li Zicheng suddenly pointed to the west of Yinchuan: "The emperor allows me to say one more thing, there are still tribes in Achatu (Alxa) who are dissatisfied. The next time we send out troops, we should go to fight against Achatu. Da Zhamusu's fellow, he was in Achatu before. Tu herded sheep, and later moved to Hetao with his tribe. When we send out troops, take Dazha Musu and others with you, and we will definitely be able to defeat them in two or three months."
Zhao Han said: "The Mongols of Achatu have surrendered and have been placed under the jurisdiction of the Anbei Protectorate."
But Li Zicheng said: "Submission is a lie. They still surrender to me. If there is not enough food in any year, they will definitely come to Hetao to plunder. The emperor has no shortage of troops anyway, so he will kill some first. First, he can capture the people there. To conquer the Mongolian Tatars, the second is to take the opportunity to kill more people, so that the Tatars will not be short of food if there are fewer people."
"Whenever they come to the Hetao to plunder, I will fight them that year. There is a Gobi desert everywhere. Killing more people will help grow more grass, so as to prevent the desert from getting bigger." Zhao Han said.
The northwest territory of Datong China extends as far as Jiayuguan, Yumen, Guazhou, Dunhuang, Hami... These places are all in the hands of the Yarkand Khanate.
As for the Alxa area, which is to the north of the Hexi Corridor, the remnants of the Ordos Mongols live. It is surrounded by deserts and Gobi, and the living environment is extremely harsh. The remnants of the Mongols cannot grow at all. Since the other party has surrendered, there is no need to fight, wait and see It’s not too late to deal with it if God is disobedient.
The Western Regions, Qinghai and Tibet will definitely be recovered in the future.
The main reason why it is inconvenient to send troops at present is that the population in the Hexi Corridor is too small. When the population of Shaanxi increases, especially the population of the Hexi Corridor, the time will be ripe to regain the Western Region. Otherwise, the logistics will be very difficult to fight a war.
Some of the civil servants in the Ministry of War may not know the military, but they must be familiar with history books.
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty first conquered the Western Regions, he also took detours. In the end, he had to move steadily and immigrate crazily to the Hexi Corridor to enrich the population in the border areas, and finally stabilize the Western Regions.
Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had already tried and made mistakes, there is no need for the Datong New Dynasty to make mistakes again.
However, I guess I can't wait that long.
Gushi Khan, who is entrenched in Qinghai and Tibet, is already very old and has been bedridden all year round. All his nine sons are ready to move. Once Gushi Khan dies, Qinghai and Tibet will inevitably be in chaos, and it will be an excellent opportunity to send troops.
In the direction of Xinjiang, religious conflicts within the Yarkand Khanate are becoming increasingly fierce, and King Abdullah Khan can no longer suppress it. Muhammetisha Hezhuo, who rules Hami, occupies the trade route to Jiayuguan and uses the
This crazy collection of heavy taxes has become a target of public criticism in the Yarkand Khanate.
But Muhammetisha Hezhuo was the teacher of King Yarkand, and the king was always unwilling to take action against his teacher.
Within the Khanate, there was growing dissatisfaction with the king, who also protected a tax-collecting road tyrant. The more prosperous the northwest trade route was, the more likely it was that civil war would break out in the Yarkand Kingdom, and the time would come for the Datong Army to conquer the Western Regions!
At the same time, the Heshuote Mongolia, entrenched to the north of the Tianshan Mountains, was also eyeing Hami. A large number of Mongolians who believed in Buddhism were driven away by Muhammetisha and Zhuo. They fled to the Heshuote Mongolia, always waiting for the opportunity to fight back.
.
Li Zicheng held the globe and looked at the Western Regions, Mobei, and then the vast overseas.
He felt proud, but quickly became discouraged.
Li Zicheng is still not old, but he has suffered from old injuries from years of fighting and has been repeatedly tortured by rheumatism. From now on, he can only become a rich man and has no hope of expanding his territory.
"In addition to attacking the north, did the emperor use troops overseas?" Li Zicheng asked curiously.
Zhao Han said: "The Ryukyu Kingdom refused to accept the king's rule and has been destroyed. The two counties of Ryukyu and Fangzhang have been placed under the jurisdiction of the Taiwanese government."
Li Zicheng checked carefully and finally found Ryukyu County and Fangzhang County, which were almost reaching Japan.
Zhao Han added: "There are two governor's offices overseas, one is the governor of Luzon and the other is the governor of Palembang, which govern the surrounding areas respectively."
Due to the continuous expansion of the imperial court, there was no time to update the private map, but Zhao Han's globe is continuing to be updated. When news from Nanyang comes back early next year, Mindoro Island, Batavia and other places will be added.
Li Zicheng finally understood. The actual controlled territory of Datong China was all framed with thick lines. The vassal states of Datong New Dynasty were circled with dotted lines.
If you include the vassal states, it’s really a huge territory!
Not to mention the pile of vassal states in Southeast Asia, even Japan, Korea, Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang are all vassal states.
On the way out of the Forbidden City, Li Zicheng said to Niu Jinxing: "Do you know there is America?"
Niu Jinxing was confused: "Where is America?"
Li Zicheng said: "Going all the way across the sea to the east, it's such a huge territory."
Niu Jinxing didn't know how to answer the call at all.
Li Zicheng said with emotion: "We have been stuck in the Hetao for several years, but we didn't expect that the world has changed. The earth is a ball, and there are so many places overseas. There are also coal-burning machines, and spinning is scary fast. Such a bizarre scene,
I can't understand anymore, it's like...like..."
"It feels like a lifetime ago," Niu Jinxing said.
"The enemy is just like reincarnation." Li Zicheng sighed more and more.
Niu Jinxing also had the same feeling. All the way from Hetao to Nanjing, what he saw and heard was like a world away. It was not the Chinese land he was familiar with at all.