Han Shizu

Chapter 1821

After a heavy snowfall, Luoyang became significantly colder. The north wind howled and the cold wave surged, almost freezing people's thoughts.Pan Mei walked among the palace roads, and walked steadily towards the Chuigong Palace. Her fluttering white beard contrasted with the surrounding snow, her figure was still tall and straight, but her expression was a little serious. There was no room for frivolity when going to see Emperor Liu , I haven't reached the palace yet, and I have already adjusted my mood.

It was ice and snow outside, but the palace was still as warm as spring. Since the midwinter, Emperor Liu basically stayed in this warm room. Unless necessary, he seldom went out. The weather is becoming more and more fearful.

He went to the front of the hall and asked for an audience. After being notified, he quickly received a response from Emperor Liu.In the hall, Emperor Liu was studying the map. The whole map of the imperial court, not only the Han Dynasty, but also the tribes of the surrounding countries, including Nanyang, Tianzhu, Dashi and other overseas powers, were all marked.

It is still very meaningful for King Yong and his party to go on a mission. It has more comprehensively and systematically improved the exploration and cognition of the great Han to foreign countries. on the map.

At any time, what hangs beside Emperor Liu will always be the most authoritative, comprehensive and detailed map of the Han Dynasty.At this time, Emperor Liu's attention was basically on two areas, one was Southeast Asia, and the other was Central Asia. One was the Chinese food on the plate, and the other was the object of direct conflict.

From Emperor Liu's point of view, this map is still very rough. For example, the outline of the big islands in Nanyang is somewhat abstract.But in terms of current cartography technology and conditions, this is already the pinnacle of cartography in this era.

There may be many mistakes and omissions in the details, but at least the current major countries and forces have been ascertained.And in this picture, one can intuitively feel what kind of behemoth the big man is today, and how extensive and far-reaching his influence is. This is an achievement that is enough to make the people of the country proud and exciting, and Emperor Liu is no exception. .

However, every time I look at this picture, after a brief moment of excitement, all that remains is confusion and doubt.The former lies in the fact that when he draws his sword and looks around, he is completely invincible. Although Anxi fought, Emperor Liu really didn't pay much attention to the opponent.

The latter is because of a question that has troubled Emperor Liu for many years. Is the bigger the country the better?Emperor Liu had awakened to this problem as early as after Kaibao's Northern Expedition.Considering the current organizational and execution capabilities of the imperial court, as well as the difficult transportation and backward communication conditions, and insisting on centralization, maintaining this huge empire in this way has become more and more difficult as time goes by.

It was a feeling of reaching the ceiling and approaching the limit. If you want to force it, you will either break your head and bleed, or collapse yourself.After Kaibao's Northern Expedition, Emperor Liu paused his desire to expand, stopped his ambition to expand the frontier, and wanted to cultivate and carry out a contraction strategy, which was also a helpless move.

It has achieved certain results. The Dahan has gained almost ten years of peaceful development. There is no war outside and less chaos inside.

However, in recent years, the situation has obviously changed, either actively or passively, with constant chaos and tossing.The Yulin rebellion, overseas development, the Black Khan War, the turmoil in the various borders, and the results of ten years of recuperation, not to mention being consumed, are almost the same.

If it hadn't been for a lot of blood recovered from the unlimited plunder overseas, the problems facing the court would have been even more serious.And overseas development is not without cost. The construction of the navy, ship construction, weapon development, personnel salaries, training and voyages, small-scale conflicts and wars, etc., are all expensive.

Up to now, the empire is like a high-speed carriage, walking on a road that is both familiar and unfamiliar. The footprints of the predecessors have long been covered, but no one knows what the future will be like and what the scenery at the end of the road will be.

Sometimes, thinking of these things, Emperor Liu was even terrified.Emperor Liu has been making policy adjustments, but often incompletely, the ship is difficult to turn around, and if there is a slight disturbance, it will return to the original track, as if there is some will.

During this year, the clean-up of the bureaucracy caused so much turmoil and such firm determination, as if he wanted to kill corrupt officials all over the world, but seeing that the momentum was wrong, it was not because he decisively changed course, but because of Emperor Liu's damned sense of crisis.

If you don't move, you will only see the disadvantages intensify and conflicts arise. If you move too hard, you will easily break it.Of course, this is the distress that only a worthy king can feel.

"Your Majesty!" Entering the hall, Pan Mei saluted respectfully when she saw Emperor Liu who was slightly hunched over and looking up at the map.

Hearing the sound, Emperor Liu came back from his contemplation again, probably because he was too fascinated, and his expression didn't recover for a while.He glanced at Pan Mei coldly, waved his hands at him, and said to him with a stiff face: "It's just in time, Qing also come to see the whole picture of the emperor's father!"

"Yes!" Pan Mei heard the words, crept forward, watched carefully for a while, and then said with emotion: "Stylish! Such a vast territory, magnificent mountains and rivers, since ancient times, only I, a big man, can do it!"

Regarding Pan Mei's emotion, Emperor Liu didn't have much joyful reaction. After thinking for a while, he said: "The land is vast, the resources are abundant, and the population is rich. Of course, it is worthy of joy, but how to keep it?"

Glancing at Emperor Liu from the corner of the eye, Pan Mei didn't understand what Emperor Liu was thinking, so she became more cautious, thought for a while, and said in a regular manner: "Returning to Your Majesty, you need to guard it with good officials and generals."

"Is this enough? This can lead to long-term peace and stability?" Emperor Liu murmured in a low voice, with a stern expression, worried brows, and deep eyes like a philosopher.
If it were another civil servant, and listened to what Emperor Liu said, he would probably have to quote the scriptures again, talk about the way of a saint, and talk about the strategy of Anbang.But Pan Mei didn't speak rashly, and she wouldn't talk nonsense about things that he couldn't even figure out.

Emperor Liu did not continue to immerse himself in his emotions, he quickly cleared up his mood, his face returned to normal, and smiled at Pan Mei: "Why do you, the Prime Minister, come to report in person?"

Upon hearing this, Pan Mei immediately presented a memorial in person, explaining: "Your Majesty, Anxi came to report that most of the YSL bandit army has retreated westward, Suiye City is safe and sound, and the war has subsided for the time being! The remnants of the bandit army and small bandits, rest and save up for the coming war!"

"The battle of Broken Ye Shui finally hurt those bandits!" Hearing this, Emperor Liu chuckled lightly.

Pan Mei was silent for a while, and said: "Our army's loss is not light. The battle of Suiye Shui is too risky. If you are not careful, you will lose everything. It is necessary to defend the enemy and protect the country. His Royal Highness Wei Wang The best of both worlds.”

Pan Mei's words were only ordinary, but Emperor Liu had already understood what he meant. Obviously, Pan Mei, an old handsome man, had a different opinion about the battle of Suiye Shui that happened more than two months ago.

Of course, it's just a little bit of expressing my opinion after the fact.However, Emperor Liu could somewhat understand Liu Min's considerations. If it were him, he might choose to take risks. After all, behind Liu Min's actions, he obviously managed Anxi as his own territory.

Otherwise, with Anxi's strength, how difficult it would be to defend a Suiye City, just wait for the imperial reinforcements to arrive, and seize the opportunity to push back and even obtain greater results.

"Where are the reinforcements?" Emperor Liu asked.

Pan Mei replied: "Gaochang Road has sent 1 troops into Anxi, and the Privy Council has dispatched [-] soldiers from Hexi and Qinlong regions, and they have already entered the Gaochang realm. If you want to support Anxi in the war, you have to wait for the next spring. After warming up!"

Emperor Liu nodded, and finally couldn't help sighing: "It's still too far away! The time to dispatch troops and generals is measured in months, back and forth or even years. Such a war costs too much, and the gains outweigh the losses."

Regarding this, Pan Mei was also silent. It was Emperor Liu's decision to fight, and now that they are concerned about the cost, it will be difficult for them, the executive officials.

"Based on your experience, with Anxi's current strength, can Suiye be defended?" Emperor Liu said suddenly.

Pan Mei was a little stunned when she heard the words, quickly calculated, and cupped her hands and said: "If the enemy's strength is only shown at present, with Anxi's current strength, even if it is difficult to take care of everything, there is no problem in defending and resisting the enemy!"

Sensing Pan Mei's affirmative tone, Emperor Liu pondered for a while, and said, "Temporarily suspend the large-scale mobilization of the northwest provinces. On the Anxi side, tell Liu Min that I don't care how he fights, but the strategy is to focus on defense first. After that, the Privy Council The scheduling arrangement is also based on this!"

"Yes!" Pan Mei was a little surprised, but she responded quickly.He could tell that Emperor Liu didn't plan to fight in Anxi anymore, so that's fine, if he sent a hundred thousand troops to the west, it would be really hard to resist
After Pan Mei withdrew, Emperor Liu stared at the map again in a trance. Every time at this time, the idea of ​​slaughtering the world and enfeoffing things kept coming to his mind, and he couldn't cut it off.

Needless to say the advantages and disadvantages of enfeoffment, even though there are enough heavy historical lessons in front of him, when it was Emperor Liu's turn, he still couldn't help being moved.

Naturally, it is not for the purpose of giving the sons a foundation. This idea is too ridiculous. The real consideration is how to ensure that the empire's foundation can be passed on for a longer time. a feasible way.

As for possible future troubles, that is a matter of the future.Needless to say, as an autocratic emperor for decades, he no longer regards the world as the world of the people in the world, and the family world is the family world. This is not influenced by the cognition of the soul, but only about human nature.

For Emperor Liu, his sons and brothers are always more reliable than those bureaucrats.However, considering the high probability of disasters caused by enfeoffment, Emperor Liu still hesitated. It is impossible to indiscriminately enfeoff like the Western Jin Dynasty. After thinking about it, his eyes fell on the corners and corners around the big man...

(End of this chapter)