During the entire New Year period, apart from normal entertainment, I spent most of my time thinking about future wars. Although I have absolute confidence in firearms, after all, the current guns are just the most primitive matchlock guns. With this, I can really defeat the Mongols. Iron cavalry? Whether the muskets and artillery can be further improved is still unknown. Even the second generation Yun's muskets have not changed in essence.
Maybe this is human nature. When things are approaching, you feel extremely eager, but you also start to feel uneasy.
The New Year's holiday has passed in the blink of an eye.
On the first day of the court meeting, I announced the decision to abolish the Zhongshu Province.
"Dear dear friends, I have decided to merge the Zhongshu Province into the Government Affairs Council. It will become an affiliated department of the Government Affairs Council. The level is the same as the director level. Its responsibility is to be in charge of the court's clerical and archival work. The former Zhongshu Ling Weng Yinglong and Weng Aiqing will serve as academicians of the Government Affairs Council. New The Zhongshu Ling is held by the veteran Chang Ting. Wen Aiqing, Weng Aiqing and Chang Aiqing are jointly responsible for this work. It needs to be completed within one month."
"Yes. I obey your order."
Chang Ting, in his early 60s, served as the Supervisory Censor and Storyteller of the Chongzheng Palace. Taichang Shaoqing, Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. After I took office, I originally planned to promote him to Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Because he insisted on the reason for the recommendation. Ye Mengding took up the post, and he was willing to resign himself to the position of minister. He always acted upright and did not attach himself to power when he was an official. He has always been praised by people. History said that he "does not serve as a memorial." He is even better than Yuan Gao. It contains maxims and rules. It is not for the sake of being flattered, but it discusses every issue that is relevant to the current situation, and it is also for the commentators to listen to and change."
Weng Yinglong's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at Jia Sidao, who had an indifferent expression, and said to himself, "It's finally here."
Regarding the abolition of the Central Secretariat, all the ministers in the DPRK and the Central Government are well aware of it. Weng Yinglong is even more aware that it is only a matter of time. Although he is still an academician of the Government Affairs Council, everyone understands that this is a typical rise and fall. In this regard, Weng Yinglong I also feel helpless. There is no way around it. As the power of the prime minister weakens, Weng Yinglong, who is the core figure of the prime minister's party, naturally knows that he can only learn from Jia Sidao and keep a low profile.
I continued: "In addition, I will add a new position of assistant to the minister in the court. Allocate assistants to the senior ministers in various ministries to reduce everyone's daily workload. Liu Chenweng, Xie Fangde, Xie Yixiu."
"I'm here."
"The three of you will report to the Ministry of Personnel after the court meeting. The Ministry of Personnel will arrange your new positions."
"Yes. I obey your order."
These three people are all in their early thirties and came from Jinshi. Among them, Xie Yixiu is Xie Daoqing's nephew. He is also the only one in the Xie family who has achieved fame based on his ability.
"Announce Zhao Huai's entry into the palace."
Under the leadership of the eunuch on duty, Zhao Huai, who was waiting outside the door, entered the palace and said: "Zhao Huai, a common man, comes to see the emperor. Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor."
"No gift."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
I looked at the majestic Zhao Huai, and thought of Zhao Kui again: "Zhao Huai, you are a general in the army. According to the last wish of the old lady, I appointed you as the counselor of the Royal Forest Army. You will be temporarily given the rank of fourth grade. You will take office today. .”
"I, Zhao Huai, would like to thank the Emperor for your kindness."
Although the Yulin Army mainly uses firearms, its techniques and tactics are different from those of ordinary armies. However, the main generals such as Xie Daolin, Wen Zhang, Zhang Shijie and others are not people who are proficient in military affairs. I asked the experienced Zhao Huai to serve as the counselor of the Yulin Army. It is to make up for the shortcomings in this aspect.
"Ma Aiqing of the Ministry of Rites. Now the ancestral temple of the late emperor has been completed. According to the meaning of Aiqing's memorial, I will present a book of treasures to the southern suburbs tomorrow. The posthumous title is "Building Roads, Preparing Virtue, Revival, Lie Wen, Ren Wu, Sheng Ming An Xiao Emperor. The temple name is Lizong."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I obey your order."
I looked at all the ministers in the main hall. I stood up and said, "Okay. Today is the official official official period of the third year of Xianchun. My dear sirs, please do your best so that I can rejuvenate the court and withdraw from the court as soon as possible."
The heavy snowfall in recent days has covered the northern country with a thick layer of silver. The exceptionally enchanting scenery adds a lot of New Year atmosphere.
Mongolia. Kublai Khan's Palace.
"Why can't the sun and moon shine like this? Only the north wind roars up from the sky. The snowflakes from Yanshan Mountain are as big as mats. They blow down Xuanyuan Terrace one after another." Kublai Khan looked at the falling snowflakes outside the window and recited Li Bai's "North Wind Journey" heartily.
Hao Jing said with a smile: "Although Li Taibai's poems of the Tang Dynasty are a bit exaggerated, they are also appropriate without losing their authenticity."
Kublai Khan suddenly had a thought in his mind and said: "Yes, it is very appropriate. Although Xuanyuan Terrace is the place where Emperor Xuanyuan, the ancestor of the Han people, defeated Chiyou, it was also blown down by the heavy snow in Yanshan Mountain." These two words in Li Bai's poem The sentence was originally just an exaggeration of the wind, rain and snow in the northern country. However, Kublai Khan interpreted Hao Jing's "appropriate" meaning into another meaning. Yanshan represents Mongolia, and Xuanyuan Terrace represents the Southern Dynasty. The heavy snow is falling. Even if Xuanyuan is resurrected. What can be done.
Zhenjin on the side echoed: "Father, maybe Li Taibai back then had already figured out what would happen hundreds of years later."
"Real gold. How can it be so magical?"
Hao Jing is Han after all. Although he was born in the Kingdom of Jin and now he has joined Mongolia, he said with a slight embarrassment: "Khan. The snow seems to be particularly heavy this year."
Kublai Khan seemed to have noticed Hao Jing's embarrassment. He smiled and said: "Master, what this Khan wants to accomplish is the unification of the world. Mongols and Han people are all his subjects. I also highly admire the ancestor of your Han people. Over the past thousands of years, human beings have often integrated various ethnic groups. I believe that the Zhou Dynasty that replaced the Shang Dynasty once proposed the term "Huaxia". This should be the world. The earliest symbol of great unification. This Khan obeyed the will of heaven and unified the world. It was the same as the Xia of the Shang Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty of the Zhou Dynasty."
"Yes. Great Khan Shengming."
Kublai Khan asked: "Master, have I paid out last year's taxes?"
"Back to Khan. Last year's tax collection task has been completed. The exact amount of the excess is being calculated by the Ministry of Household Affairs. It is estimated that the accurate figure will not be available until the end of this month."
Kublai Khan nodded and said: "Master, in your opinion, can I complete the armaments for the southern expedition by the end of this year?"
Hao Jing thought for a while and said: "Great Khan. This is possible. But we have to be absolutely sure. It may not be until the second half of next year."
"That means it will take at least a year and a half."
"Yes. Profuse sweat."
Kublai Khan frowned slightly and said: "At the end of last year, Yang Liazhenjia returned from the Southern Dynasties. He mentioned two major changes in the Southern Dynasties. One is that the emperor of the Southern Dynasties has completely controlled the domestic situation. The powerful minister Jia Sidao is in a state of semi-retirement. Then Zhao Yu He worked hard to govern, reform government affairs, and vigorously develop the economy. It can be seen from his quote of the famous saying of his ancestor Genghis Khan, "If you want to fight, I will fight." The ambition of the young emperor is not small. It far exceeds that of the previous emperor of the Southern Dynasty; secondly, the Southern Dynasty is also developing. Armament. Judging from the comprehensive intelligence from all aspects, the morale of the Southern Dynasty's army seems to have improved very quickly since the reform of the Forbidden Army. It also occupied the Ryukyu Islands in the east. Top-secret information obtained from other channels. The Southern Dynasty is focusing on building firearms. It intends to use firearms Although it is not possible to find out the power of their firearms against the archers of our dynasty, I feel that the conquest of the south should be carried out sooner rather than later."
"I understand. I will assist Lord Zhenjin to prepare all the supplies needed by the general as soon as possible." Hao Jing continued. "Great Khan, it seems that we underestimated the little emperor of the Southern Dynasty. It was wrong to give Yang Lian Zhenjia the task of weakening Jia Sidao. "
Kublai Khan said: "Emperor Master, even without Yang Lianzhenjia, the result will be the same. Unless Jia Sidao dares to openly rebel, he will not have the ability to fight against an accomplished emperor. After all, the Southern Dynasty's surname is Zhao, not Jia. .Yang Lianzhenjia also obtained a lot of information by using his association with Jia Sidao. It can be regarded as a meritorious service."
"The Great Khan Shengming. It seems that he has to set a new direction for Yang Liazhenjia."
"Yes. He will come to the palace to bid farewell to the Khan in a while. Imperial Master, please come and tell him."
"Yes. Profuse sweat."
"Emperor Master. In recent days, most people in the army agree with Liu Zheng's plan to use Xiangyang as the breakthrough point for the southern expedition. What do you think?"
"Great Khan, I agree," Hao Jing said. "Although the Southern Dynasty is only half the size of the original Song Dynasty, it is still vast. The first two southern expeditions chose Xichuan as the focus of attack. However, the terrain of Xichuan is dangerous. Most of them are steep mountains. In fact, This is not conducive to our cavalry. And the Yangzhou and Luzhou areas in the east are mostly puddles, which is also not conducive to the cavalry. Therefore, it is best to concentrate our forces in Xiangyang for a decisive battle with the Southern Dynasty. Moreover, Lu Wende of Xiangyang City is greedy. They actually agreed to allow us to set up a banquet field. We only need to build more fortresses in the Lumen Mountain, Baihe City, and Baizhang Mountain areas to form an encirclement. No matter how strong Xiangyang City is, it will surely be broken."
Kublai Khan nodded and praised: "The emperor's teacher's words are reasonable."
"Great Khan. There is one more thing. I thought we could use Xiangyang as bait and encircle it instead of attacking it."
Kublai Khan was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean?"
"The Great Khan surrounded Xiangyang, which will inevitably lead to the Southern Dynasty sending troops to rescue. Our army can use the fortresses outside Xiangyang to wait for work, wait for the Southern Dynasty army to attack, or force it to engage in field battles. In this way, our army can give full play to the strengths of the cavalry. Take the opportunity to eliminate its main force and gain the initiative in future wars."
"Siege instead of attack." Kublai Khan said thoughtfully. "The emperor's suggestion is very reasonable. I must think about it carefully."
Zhenjin said: "Father Khan, the emperor's army's policy of encircling and not attacking is actually the best policy."
"Really? Real gold. Tell me."
While the three of them were talking, a report came from outside the door: "Report. Great Khan. Priest Yang Lianzhenjia of Tianya is asking for an audience."
"Haha. Talk about Cao Cao. Cao Cao has arrived." Kublai Khan said. "Xuan."
After Yang Lianzhenjia entered the house, he said: "My subordinate Yang Liangzhenjia has come to see the Great Khan."
"Without any courtesy. On your own."
"Yes. Great Khan." After Yang Liangzhenjia stood up, he saluted Zhenjin and Hao Jing. "I have met Lord Zhongshu Ling. I have met Lord Imperial Master."
"Your Majesty, you're welcome." Hao Jing quickly returned the greeting.
Zhenjin just nodded slightly as a return gift.
Kublai Khan said: "Yang Lian Zhenjia. I've already told you about this year's latent mission, Yin Shen Zun."