"Today, the four seas are flooded with water, and we don't know where it will end. Will the master's path be safe?" [Ningdao Ji·Zhongxu Fu]
At the beginning, Emperor Guangwu relied on powerful forces to destroy Wang Mang and level up Chimei. He unified the world without much effort and conquered the world. This allowed a large number of local powerful forces to survive. Later, Emperor Guangwu wanted to control the land and restrict annexation, and used internal struggles.
If you suppress your arrogance, you will end up in a miserable state.
Learning from the past, the emperor took a very different and more difficult path than Guangwu. Looking at the thousands of years of Chinese history, every dynasty that created a prosperous age was built on the ruins of the previous dynasty without going through a lot of processes.
Complete turmoil and destruction, the successors can only bear the burden left by their predecessors. Just like after the Qing Dynasty conquered the world, they inherited all the bad governance of the Ming Dynasty. There was chaos in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Even with the British reforms, the
It did not change the administrative issues inherited from the Ming Dynasty.
The emperor dared to plan this way, and the greatest confidence was his identity and the reputation of the Han Dynasty, as well as his group of good generals and advisers, and his experience as a time traveler.
But no matter how much he wants to play it steady and slow down the pace of unification, the ministers around him, the general trend of the world, and the torrent of history will push him forward. If he doesn't go, someone else will go. This is history.
The emperor had thought about this problem and even tried to think of ways to deal with it, such as going to Yizhou first, restoring the people in Guanzhong, hoarding enough food and grass, and then fighting a stable war.
But when the historical process comes, the emperor will still choose to follow the trend instead of hindering or retreating.
The process of history was affecting the emperor's personal struggle, but now the emperor discovered through Jia Xu that there seemed to be someone behind it who was accelerating the process of unification.
Naturally, they do not have such a high level of consciousness. They may have participated in the historical process either consciously or unconsciously out of their own interests and ambitions.
"Recruit Guo Jia into the imperial court?" The emperor seriously thought about Jia Xu's suggestion. He couldn't help but shook his head and cruelly suppressed the idea of seeing the historical celebrity: "Guo Jia was recruited by Zhu Junmu's army to conscript him.
After entering the court, Zhu Jun would inevitably have other thoughts, thinking that the court was targeting him. What's more, the court had agreed to Luo Ye's request to send officials to Henan, as well as the governors of Hanoi and Runan.
Chen Guoxiang and other positions also need to be arranged... It is really not appropriate to be too busy."
"When your Majesty discussed with his ministers, Xunjun should have told the former general about his plan to go to Liangyi first and stabilize Guanzhong's three-part strategy, but I don't know why they turned a deaf ear. It's easy to say that we entered Yingchuan. The former general is from Yuzhou.
The governor is responsible for guarding the territory, but he takes Hanoi to the north and oppresses Yuan Shao; he takes Runan to the east and forces Yuan Shu..." Jia Xu glanced at the emperor secretly and said softly.
"What you mean is that if the two Yuan brothers join forces to attack Zhu Jun, Zhu Jun may not be able to defeat him." The emperor said, "In the end, the imperial court will still have to send troops to assist. But in this way, the situation will be out of control."
Jia Xu nodded and said again: "I have never taken Xunjun's three-point plan seriously, it is just for prevarication..."
The emperor waved his hand to interrupt Jia Xu's words, and suddenly said with emotion: "Let's go with the flow, let Guo Jia stay by Zhu Jun's side, and he can make the best use of him."
"Huh?" Jia Xu was startled.
"I can afford to wait, but Li Shu can't afford to wait. Xun Jun's words were just to deal with me. What he really wants to do is to stabilize the world as soon as possible." The emperor's expression changed and he looked at Jia Xu with bright eyes: "Whether it is better to conquer the world earlier, if there is a chance to conquer the world, the imperial court cannot miss it because this matter cannot be delayed."
Suppressing the powerful has always been the greatest wish of the emperor. If the powerful were not weakened by the war and unified the world, then the suppression policy would easily lead to a second rebellion. And using war to consume the strength of the powerful would naturally leave no more surplus. He had the strength to resist the emperor's policy. But now he found that he had entered a misunderstanding. He could not blindly delay the process of unification, but had to make corresponding adjustments according to changes in the situation.
Although Jia Xu did not understand the change in the emperor's attitude, he still bowed his head and replied: "I sincerely promise you."
Xun You and his group of Yingchuan scholars wanted to rely on Zhu Jun to develop their political power and enter the court early after settling the world. This would be a force that would replace Huang Wan and other Kansai scholars, and even the Yang family in the future. As Xun You's rival, where will Jia Xu put his power?
The emperor looked at Jia Xu and poured a bowl of tea for Jia Xu himself: "The counties in Yongzhou are full of powerful people. Even if the court sends officials, they have to obey the orders of the local surnames. For example, the Yan family in Wuwei, the He family in Zhangye, the Huang family in Jiuquan, and the Xiping family The Qu family and the Guo family each had private armies and thousands of slaves, and it was difficult for the court to control them for a while. In order to temporarily appease Yongliang, they had to break the restrictions of the Three Mutual Laws and let locals like Cheng Gongying serve as county guards."
"Wei." Jia Xu consciously changed the topic and said: "Yongliang is by no means an isolated case. Hedong and Bingzhou are still vivid in my mind. The local tyrants are powerful and the government cannot manage the people well and cannot collect taxes. In the end, it will still happen. It weakens the imperial court and harms the common people."
How could the emperor not know this? He nodded and said, "Pingzhun's manpower in Yongliang should be better arranged. Don't touch him now. It will be of great use in the future. Although it is important for Jia Gong to return to his hometown to observe filial piety, it is still important." Please come back soon, I can't live without Master Jia."
"The length of the mourning can be three years, and the shortness can be a hundred days. I also want to come back as soon as possible to plan for His Majesty." Jia Xu said.
The emperor suddenly said: "I still keep the Pingzhun order for Mr. Jia, but when Mr. Jia returns to his hometown to observe his filial piety, the Pingzhun prison must be handed over to one person. Does Mr. Jia have any good candidates?"
Jia Xu thought for a while and said without hesitation: "Ping Zhuncheng Baochu, a man of integrity, pure filial piety, and a man of integrity. He personally went to Hedong at the beginning of the year to plan spying and other major events. He can be used for it."
The emperor heard about Bao's filial act of killing thieves and saving his mother. He was both a prisoner and a candidate recommended by Jia Xu, so he naturally nodded in agreement. However, he also felt that Jia Xu had too many 'secrets', so trusting him was already lenient. If Dian Houen continues to use the people he recommended, it will inevitably develop Pingzhun Prison into Jia Xu's own power. The emperor could not help but have other plans in mind: "Bao Chu is a bit younger after all, and he is not qualified to go in and out of Weiyang." Palace, it is inconvenient to convey the discussion. I asked Mu Shun to help him and let Mu Shun be the middleman."
As the spies recruited by Pingzhun Prison spread all over Guanzhong, even touching Bingzhou, Yongliang, and even Yizhou and Guandong, the growth of power will inevitably arouse the emperor's fear. Jia Xu was already prepared, so he asked the emperor for advice. At that time, he only symbolically raised the idea of provoking the emperor's decentralization of power, so as to be prepared: "I sincerely promise you."
At this time, Mu Shun of Xiaohuangmen just walked in from outside the palace. The emperor saw it and immediately called him in: "Mu Shun! When Jia Gong is not here, you will temporarily lead Ping Zhunjian and do your job well. Come here.
Meet your commander."
Mu Shun was surprised at first, and then he was delighted. Ever since the emperor came to power, the emperor had never made any move to reuse eunuchs, even with Mu Shun's side effects. He thought that he would never have another chance to serve.
, I didn’t expect the opportunity to come suddenly.
"My slave, Mu Shun, thanks your Majesty!" Mu Shun first bowed to the emperor, then turned to Jia Xu and lowered his head: "I have met Mr. Jia."
Jia Xu narrowed his eyes and looked at Mu Shun. If Bao Chu, who was in his twenties, was still young, then Mu Shun, who was seventeen or eighteen years old, was even less mature.
It was just an excuse from the emperor. Jia Xu didn't care and just nodded slightly.
Mu Shun came in to remind the emperor to eat, and the emperor smiled and said: "Jia Gong, don't be in a hurry to leave the palace, just eat before leaving!"