Chapter 670: A City of Fifty Miles
Zhao Yulin told Chen Longzhi that this required the Ministry of Revenue to send capable people to the west to survey the borders, divide the prefectures and counties, and formulate a governance plan.
He looked at the blue sky outside the window and said: Xuanzang traveled thousands of miles to the west to seek Buddhist scriptures, which was a journey of great hardships. For us, governing the Western Regions is not a simple matter of passing through. We have to repair the roads, build cities, station troops, and guard it with meticulous management by officials.
The two nodded again and drank tea.
Wu Qian told him that General Wang Hanchen of the Western Regions had sent a memorial, reporting that the Western Regions were too vast, and there was no human habitation even if one galloped hundreds or thousands of miles on horseback. It was necessary to migrate to the Western Regions, build cities and station garrisons, and educate the local subjects to follow Confucianism in order to achieve the unification of the four seas.
He believed that the city should be built like a post station, and a solid city should be built every at least fifty miles, and the post station city should be used to connect the Western Regions and the imperial capital.
These are the things they should do.
Zhao Yulin nodded and asked the maid to bring a new cup of tea, but the two insisted on not having it and stood up to say goodbye.
When Shunzhidi saw people leaving, she laughed and said: Brother, you scared away two important ministers with just a cup of new tea.
He said that it was not the new tea that caused the trouble, but that the other two had misunderstood and thought that the host's invitation to tea meant to send the guests off.
Shunzhidi said that the territory of the new Song Dynasty described by Brother Yulin was too grand, and not only Wu Gong and his people, but also she was greatly shocked. How many prefectures and counties would be set up in such a large territory, and how many officials would be needed to govern it? Could the court afford the expenses?
Zhao Yulin told him that those places were not without production or tax revenue. We mainly stationed troops, settled immigrants, and selected good officials to manage them.
In the future, when the country is stable, our Shenwei Army will be stationed in the border areas, new recruits will be sent to the border areas for training, the most grassroots officials will be selected from the immigrants, and officials to be promoted from the mainland will be sent to the border areas to serve for three to five years before being evaluated and promoted.
In this way, there will be more officials who are familiar with the border areas, and those who cannot bear the hardships of life can be eliminated from the bureaucracy, and the court can save a lot of expenses.
Once the border is stable, people in the interior can focus on making a living and earn more and more money to benefit the people.
In the evening, Zhao Yulin invited Lu Youpeng to have a drink at the Lotus Pond Beggar Chicken in Huaxi. Old Lu said that since he was a marshal, he should be the one to treat them.
Zhao Yulin said that it didn't matter who invited whom.
After three cups of wine, Lao Lu felt that it had not been easy along the way. He was lucky to have lived to see the New Song Dynasty becoming increasingly powerful. The stability of the country is a blessing for the people.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile: It is easy to conquer a country, but it is difficult to rule it. Apart from other things, it is painful to see the punishment of corrupt officials in recent years. Many brothers died on the battlefield and many generals were beheaded for corruption.
Those who sacrifice their lives for their country are called heroes and will be remembered in history. Those who are beheaded for corruption will bring disaster to the country and the people and will be cursed for eternity. There are still people who take risks. The burden on our shoulders is not light.
Lao Lu drank a glass and asked Zhao Yulin: We invited him to drink because we want to put the safety of Chengdu in his hands.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: Dongmei is a woman after all, Guoan has gone to the front line again, Chengdu is the heart of the New Song Dynasty, and there can be no mistakes.
Lao Lu told Zhao Yulin not to worry, as he knew what to do as soon as Miao Gui announced the division of labor. The two looked at each other and drank their glasses in one gulp.
Yangjin has returned to Lhasa City on the Tubo Road.
When the snow blocked the mountains, the three great kings in the city and the lower reaches of the Lhasa River rebelled. After the garrison received the warning from Ba Si, the remaining officers and soldiers were ready to catch the rebels. They caught the captives in the downwind area and tortured them severely. How could the slave owners and nobles who had been pampered for a long time stand it? They confessed everything at once.
The city of Lhasa quickly launched a full-scale arrest campaign, and no one would be spared as long as the kings and abbots who had anything to do with the rebellion were allowed to escape.
Yangjin was furious when she heard the news. After cleaning up the officialdom in Shannan, she set off for home without waiting for the snow to melt. At this moment, she was handling a case in the lobby.
Wang Youling was shocked to see the densely packed prisoners. Usually, they were well-behaved and would respectfully put their hands together and bless her when they saw her and Han Chen. But in the blink of an eye, they turned into rebels.
Yangjin gritted her teeth and said that such people chanted Amitabha with their mouths but were actually killing people and overthrowing the court with their hands. They were the most despicable and should be dragged out to be beheaded in public. Their corpses should be left exposed for three days before their family members were allowed to collect them. Those that were not collected would be left there to feed the wolves and dogs.
The Royal Guards in charge of guarding immediately dragged the prisoner out for execution.
When these people heard that the chief steward was really going to behead people, they became anxious and frightened to the point of wetting their pants. Many of them fell to the ground and kowtowed, begging for mercy, and shouted to report and expose the crimes and ask for forgiveness.
Yangjin didn't care anymore, and sent a message to various prefectures and cities, demanding that the rebels hiding inside be thoroughly cleaned up. She asked the deputy envoy to take charge, and she tried each case one by one and gave them a severe punishment, and those who deserved to be beheaded still had their heads chopped off.
A massive anti-counterrevolutionary campaign was quickly launched in Tubo Road.
The kings and nobles in the city became quiet when they saw the Shenwei Army arresting people and ransacking their homes. Several wealthy families were beheaded and their bodies piled up like a mountain. Every household closed their doors and dared not go out. Only servants and housekeepers pretended to go out to buy things and gather information.
In the Bu Palace on the Maburi Mountain, Basi and his master were drinking tea.
When Basi saw Yangjin decisively execute the rebels, she was amazed at Yangjin's courage and said that he was a living devil.
Basi's master nodded and praised Yangjin for his swift and decisive actions, saying that he was a living bodhisattva of the Tibetans. He said: Luoshui City completely eliminated dissidents and showed the whole of Tibet the determination of the imperial court to suppress the rebellion. This was to use the death of a few people in exchange for the awakening of the majority. If there were still people with second thoughts in other places who saw such an outcome, who would dare to follow suit and rebel easily? Did they really not want to eat?
The appeaser is saving people, this is the heart of a bodhisattva.
A master is a master. If Zhao Yulin heard Basi’s master preaching like this on the spot, he would definitely give the master a thumbs up.
Afterwards, the abbot of the Potala Palace issued an official document to monasteries across the country, demanding the purge of abbots and various eminent monks. Anyone who had evil intentions, was hypocritical, and was unpatriotic should be expelled from the monasteries.
Yangjin was overjoyed when she learned that the abbot of the Potala Palace supported her in suppressing the rebellion.
Wang Youling told her: The Potala Palace has been repaired and renovated and will be open tomorrow. Let's go and worship the Buddha.
The two women bought tickets in person the next morning and entered the palace to worship the Buddha devoutly. More and more believers gathered in front of the Potala Palace, and soon a long line formed. A large number of believers kowtowed every three steps at the gate to worship the Buddha. The scene was spectacular.
Basi enthusiastically accompanied Yangjin and the others in explaining all the way. Yangjin saw a large number of believers prostrating themselves outside the gate with their clothes soiled, and told Basi that the craftsmen from Chengdu had fired large, top-quality floor tiles, which would be transported to the Potala Palace to pave the floor. We must keep the holy temple spotless.
Basi was extremely happy and thanked the envoy of appeasement .
As the saying goes, "mountains and rivers are worse than people, and gods also need the atmosphere of the world." After seeing Yangjin off, Basi and his master stood on the nine-story pagoda and looked at the city of Lhasa. Seeing the believers lining up to worship at the foot of the mountain, they praised Yangjin's idea.
He warned Basi to manage the donation boxes and ticket revenue well, and to hand over the excess money to the government office according to the rules to help the people.
Basi responded with an "ah hey" sound, and even said that monks do not tell lies, so please rest assured, Master.
In the Western Regions of Shamalhan, Hubili was convening the princes to discuss matters. His army had rested for two months and was preparing to launch an attack again.
Dong's personal guard reported to him that through the recent recruitment and expansion of the army, the number of troops had reached 300,000, but they were all skinny and pale, lacked training, and had no suitable weapons at hand.
Mr. Yao from Taiji Academy got a job in logistics, but he was helpless and said: We have been fleeing along the way and have discarded a lot of tools. The new workshop has not been repaired in time as we are rushing west. How can we catch up with the manufacturing of weapons for the army? We can't even catch up with the repairs.
Hubili was aware of all this, but the military situation was urgent and no time could be lost. He asked coldly: "There are hundreds of thousands of people coming to the Mobei steppes. We have already captured hundreds of thousands of prisoners from the Chagatai Khanate alone. Isn't that enough?"
Sir, what do you want me to do?
Mr. Yao felt frustrated and immediately bowed and said carefully that he would go and supervise the work.
After this person left, Wulianghe said with a little dissatisfaction: Mr. Yao has a kind heart of a bodhisattva. Once the craftsman complained, he didn't know what to do. How could he get anything done?
Take the matter of searching for ironware for example. The army lacked fine iron to forge swords and arrows, so he gave him soldiers and ordered them to search for ironware in various households. When Mr. Yao saw those bad guys crying, he forgot that there were soldiers holding steel knives standing behind him. After wandering around for half a day, he didn't find even two kilograms of iron.
Hubili slapped the armrest of the dragon throne and said that it was Brother Dong who should arrange for people to supervise the matter. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. He asked the people to be patient. As long as they followed me firmly, everything would be fine.
Dong Qinwei simply replied with a "Yes", bowed and went out to do his job.
Hubili sighed and asked Wulianghe: Among the 300,000-strong army, how many soldiers can actually fight?
Wulianghe hesitated for a moment and reported to him: This time, the conscription included men as old as 60 years old and boys as young as 14 years old, and some battalions even recruited some strong female soldiers. This was already the limit on the grassland.
We moved like we were fleeing, and many people starved to death on the way. Those who died in battle were all strong men. Everyone who arrived at Shamalk was skinny and lacked food and clothing. He felt a little distressed when he saw it. Even if everyone was equipped with bows and arrows, they could only pretend to be strong. Soldiers without physical strength could not even pull the bow.
Hubili said that an army that is in despair will surely win, and gave them scimitars. As long as they work together and charge forward regardless of the consequences, we will surely win.
Wulianghe said sadly: Intelligence shows that Badu’s troops are heading south. What does Badu mean? Are they going to make things difficult for the Khan too?
Hubili smiled and said, "Who doesn't want to be the Khan, the chosen one of heaven?" But Baju would not come openly, at most he would come to cause trouble under the banner of seeking justice for the descendants of Mengge.
Therefore, we have to get the Asahi train service done as soon as possible.
At this time, the guards outside the king's tent reported: General Shi's messenger has arrived.
Hu Bili shouted to let it in.
