Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 404
It was another year of good autumn, the sky gradually cleared, and time passed quickly. Shi Congyun stood at the top of Xuandemen City and looked to the north, with countless melancholy in his heart. Finally, after a sage mode, he completely saw himself.

He admitted that he stopped pretending. In fact, all kinds of statements about Xiao Chuo were just giving himself a reason. He just wanted to try and see who made her so famous in later generations. Such a simple reason did not even have the slightest emotion of.

For this reason, Shi Congyun deeply reflected on his own mistakes, and introspected for a long time. This cannot delay the state affairs because of the impulse of the lower body, but he is also looking forward to it more and more.

Until the end of July, [-] cattle and sheep were received by Li Hanchao, and most of them were transported to Daliang. Xiao Chuo, who made Emperor Shi eager to fight, did not arrive on time. The trip may be life-threatening. I hope that the emperor of Qin can forgive him until next year, and then send his daughter south.

This undoubtedly made the Emperor Shi, who was sharpening his sword, lose interest, but considering that Xiao Chuo was really young, only eleven or twelve years old, he still wanted to be a human being no matter how beastly he was, so he agreed to Xiao Siwen's request. In my heart, I sighed again, being an emperor is so good.

In early July, good news came from Chen Chengzhao, who was in charge of dredging the canal near Luoyang, that the overall project was almost complete.

Shi Congyun was very happy and happened to be idle, so in mid-July he took a new navy ship and entered the Yellow River along the Bian River, and then went east to Luoyang for a cruise, leaving the affairs of the court to Fan Zhi.

Shi Congyun also gradually discovered that the old man is harder than the stones in the latrine, and the bad temper of not eating oil and salt, and not eating hot and cold is also good, that is, he is not around, and if he is asked to take charge of the government, there is no need to worry about the prime minister. Bending the law for personal gain and forming cliques.

And Emperor Shi's tour is also of great significance. The emperor's influence in this era is far beyond the imagination of future generations. The emperor went to Luoyang for a tour, and soon brought many new opportunities to the gods, and business travelers followed. At that time, many retired officials also went to Luoyang.

After arriving in Luoyang, Shi Congyun observed the surrounding situation and found that many places in Luoyang were slowly recovering from the war.

As the place where the Central Plains, Guanzhong, and Hedong meet, Luoyang's development and recovery are very fast, but it is Guanzhong that is most related to its rise and fall.

Because of soil erosion, population moving eastward and other reasons, Guanzhong is no longer as prosperous as it used to be.

During Shi Congyun's stay in Luoyang, he led his soldiers out of the city several times, rode horses to the fields, and observed the surrounding situation between villages.

The final conclusion is that Luoyang has indeed begun to recover, but it is still far behind Daliang.

Due to the restoration of the canal, Luoyang has gradually returned to its former prosperity due to the foreshadowing of peace in these years, but its highlights are gradually dissipating. After looking at the surrounding situation for many days, Emperor Shi also understood why Luoyang gradually failed to earn money in the east. The city is gone.

Guanzhong is lonely.
The Guanzhong Plain was originally not big, and it was enough to support the entire imperial court when the population was small. However, with the development of society and the increase in population, Guanzhong was doomed to be unable to support too many people. The Tang Dynasty had already appeared when food was in short supply. The entire imperial court was going to move eastward, and the emperor took all the officials to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to "eat".

And the loneliness in Guanzhong also doomed the loneliness in Luoyang.
Emperor Shi couldn't help but said a little lonely: "When Guanzhong prospers, Luoyang prospers; when Guanzhong degenerates, Luoyang prospers."

Few people can understand the loneliness behind Emperor Shi's words, not only because of the decline of Guanzhong and Luoyang, but also because of the larger and long-term considerations.

Because he understands that in this era of inconvenient transportation, the location of the capital determines the scope of the dynasty's influence.

After the Western Han Dynasty opened up the Hexi Corridor and controlled the Western Regions, it was lost in the Tang Dynasty, and the Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties no longer controlled the Western Regions.

It was not until the Qing Dynasty recaptured it that it was named "Xinjiang" with the meaning of "fixing the soil and returning to it", and there was an interval of more than 1000 years.

Not to mention the Song Dynasty, the Ming and Yuan dynasties were unable to control the Western Regions like the Han Dynasty, crossed the Congling Mountains, surveyed the Silk Road, and even could not completely control the Hexi Corridor. One of the important reasons is that the capital moved eastward and it was difficult to radiate power westward.

Because of this, Emperor Shi never forgot, and hoped that in the future, he would have the opportunity to locate the capital as far as possible to the west.

The location of the country's capital can best reflect the strategic purpose of a country, just like Sun Quan moved the country's capital westward to the front line to fight against Xishu.

The Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing. Many people said that the emperor guarded the gate of the country, but that was the saying when the strategy was conservative in the later period and did not think about making progress. The reason for moving the capital at the beginning was not to "guard the gate of the country", but to go north. Using troops, because the capital is in Beijing, it is convenient for the power of the empire to radiate to the north, and using troops to the north can greatly save costs.

In the same way, to control the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions, it is best to set up Chang'an as the capital, followed by Luoyang. This is the obsession that Emperor Shi had from the very beginning. Western Regions.

He asked Chen Chengzhao and others to repair the canal with such long-term considerations, just as Zhao Kuangyin said back then, "Use the victory of mountains and rivers to eliminate redundant soldiers and find the stories of Zhou and Han".

This is also his wish, but after seeing it this time, his heart is much colder, because Luoyang is incomparable to the prosperity of Daliang, the decline of Guanzhong, and the rise of Jiangnan also made Luoyang lose its advantage.

But he didn't tell outsiders about these things. He rewarded Chen Chengzhao heavily and transferred him to the confidentiality department to be responsible for the construction of the new ship together.

He also met his retired father-in-law Fu Yanqing in Luoyang.

Fu Yanqing's voluntary abdication of military power set a good example for all Jiedu envoys, so no matter emotionally or politically, he did not treat his old father-in-law badly, and rewarded a lot of property after meeting.

He stayed in Luoyang until the end of July, and Fan Zhi in the court had written several letters urging him to go back, so Shi Congyun reluctantly left Luoyang.

When he went back, he was still riding a new type of gunboat, standing on the deck and looking west. The mountains and valleys gradually became smaller in the sunlight, and the sky was dazzling in the daytime. The mountains are black and crushed in the sky, cutting off the sight of the distant view.

At the other end of his gaze, although he couldn't see anything, Emperor Shi knew that there was the Hexi Corridor, the Western Regions, and the connection channel with the world that he never forgot
In the last two days of July, when he returned to Daliang, all the officials greeted him at Chengqiao Station, and even Zhao Kuangyin, who had been given to idle officials, also came to greet him, which really made Emperor Shi very frightened.

After all, Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Qiaoyi are really scary.

Then he learned about the news of the Liao Kingdom and Xiao Siwen's letter.

The meeting that day also reminded Shi Congyun of one thing. Putting aside his preconceived precautions, Lao Zhao is indeed a talent, and he wanted to revive him in his heart.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Emperor Shi gave a big banquet to his ministers, and the Department of Confidentiality presented him with a big gift, that is, the [-]th cannon!
Shi Congyun excitedly fired a cannon in the imperial city himself to celebrate the birth of the [-] cannons in the Qin Kingdom.

Everyone could see that the emperor was happy and became more and more interested in the matter of firearms.

In September, the Security Department proposed a new research, which they called "infantry artillery", but Shi Congyun could tell at a glance that what they wanted to get was a musket for individual soldiers.

Shi Congyun immediately approved and approved the funds. Although it is technically difficult and it will take an unknown number of years, he has never been stingy in such matters.

In winter, there was no major event in the court, and there were some floods. Shi Congyun asked Chen Chengzhao to deal with it. This year, Hebei still had a bumper harvest, but several counties along the Yellow River suffered floods, which required disaster relief and cost a lot.

But there is a big event in the harem, Mrs. Huarui and the Queen's Sixth Sister both give birth in winter, which is undoubtedly a very big event.

Needless to say, the queen, Mrs. Huarui is also the reliance of many Shu officials, such as Meng Xuanzhe, Han Baozheng, Han Baosheng, etc. They all hope that the concubine De, who is also from Shu, will be more expensive than her mother and her son, and have better treatment.

As for the queen, everyone in the world has been watching. Although Emperor Shi is in his prime, if the queen gives birth to a son, they can still feel at ease, and the sooner the son, the better, so as not to follow in the footsteps of Zhou Shizong
But the final situation disappointed some people. The queen and concubine De gave birth to two princesses in winter. Named Shilin.

Time flies, and the second year of Tenglong came to an end very quickly. This was a rare and peaceful year. Shi Congyun did not take the initiative to launch a war with the outside world. It's not that they are going to slow down the pace of foreign conquests.

It's just that under these peaces, Qin's new navy has been formed, and the professional embargo has expanded to 20!
The new gunboats began to be mass-produced, and the navy was installed. The cannons were already on board. The workshops along the Bianshui River continued to accumulate a large amount of gunpowder, and each cannon was also produced overtime. By next year, the Qin army's cannons will exceed One thousand doors!

The outside world does not know about all of this. They only saw that Emperor Shi blackmailed the princess of the Liao Kingdom, traveled to the ancient capital Luoyang, did not launch a thunderous counterattack against the provocations of the Southern Han Dynasty, but just enough, traveling around the mountains and rivers, and doing nothing.

But only the generals and prime ministers around him, and the craftsmen in the workshops stretching for tens of miles along the Bianshui River are familiar with the emperor's ambitions and the terrifying power accumulated in peace.

Although Emperor Shi used one person to fight a hundred in Hedong, he was not a reckless man. He understood in his heart the way to advance and retreat, forbearance, and trade-offs.

Everything is based on the consideration of the overall interests and the judgment of the world situation, except of course Xiao Chuo.

In short, Emperor Shi thought he was a good emperor, his dormancy and waiting would not be in vain, and one day he would erupt, sweeping across the north and south with overwhelming momentum, and unifying the world.

The second year of Tenglong is a year of accumulating strength, and it is also a rare year of stability and peace.

(End of this chapter)