Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1716 Post-war Waves ([-]) Driving Tigers and Wolves
Zhu Yijun asked what was his plan, but Liang Menglong glanced at Wu Dui, who then smiled and said, "The Great Situ used to say that the Western Regions are extremely important and should not be occupied by outsiders. The prosperity of the Ming Dynasty not only stabilizes the northern border, To open up Manchuria and subdue the southern barbarians, but also to control the Western Regions, to consolidate the Silk Road, and to hold an inexhaustible source of wealth for the world."

Zhu Yijun was startled for a moment, a trace of doubt appeared on his round face, he blinked, and subconsciously said "Oh?"

Liang Menglong smiled and said: "For the explanation of the Western Regions, I have only heard it from the mouth of Da Situ for decades."

Zhu Yijun became even more curious, leaning forward slightly, and said, "Really, what do you say pragmatically?" He slipped his tongue for a while, and said the address he usually used when communicating with Gao Wushi.Fortunately, everyone knew about his relationship with Gao Yushi. Although the elders heard it differently, they tacitly pretended to be deaf and dumb.

"Since the emperor is inquiring, then I will briefly convey Da Situ's point of view. There may be some omissions in it. The emperor might as well ask Da Situ carefully in the future." Liang Menglong said respectfully.

Zhu Yijun laughed and waved his hands: "It's okay, Liang Aiqing said so."

"Yes, Your Majesty. But before talking about the significance of the Western Regions, I need to talk about the definition of the term Western Regions, because according to Da Situ, this definition is often somewhat vague. The Western Regions we talk about are actually there. Narrow and broad sense."

After a pause, seeing that the emperor and all the elders were listening very carefully, Liang Menglong got up and walked to the Kanyu map, pointed to an area on the map, gestured, and said: "The Western Region in a broad sense is the vast area west of the Hexi Corridor. Land; in a narrow sense, the Western Regions refer to the land west of the Hexi Corridor, south of the Tianshan Mountains, north of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and east of Congling, which is centered on the Qaidam Basin. Da Situ named it "Southern Xinjiang" '.

The idea of ​​Da Situ mentioned just now is mainly related to the Western Regions in this narrow sense—Southern Xinjiang.Later, when I mentioned the word 'Western Region', I was referring to this area. "

When he said this, everyone's eyes were immediately attracted to the location of the future Xinjiang on the Kanyu map, and they all nodded to express their understanding.

So Liang Menglong continued: "So what is the significance of the Western Regions to our Chinese dynasties, so that all dynasties have desperately held the Western Regions in their hands? In fact, it is mainly because of its strategic role. Next, I will learn from its history. I will explain one or two things to everyone during the changes, so as to save the emperor and everyone from wasting time thinking about it."

As for history, everyone is a scholar, so we can’t say that people don’t know it, but let me explain it so that you don’t have to think about it to avoid wasting time.

"From ancient times to the present, China's most powerful foreign enemy is the northern nomads, that is, Mobei. For example, the Huns, Turks, Mongolia, etc. The consistent style of nomadic rulers is mostly through contacting the tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to gain control over the Central Plains. Containment of the western and northern regions. Therefore, when China was strong, we separated them with the Western Regions, which was conducive to weakening the invasion of the Central Plains by nomadic peoples, and even preventing them from becoming bigger.

It was Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who first opened up this strategic plan. After controlling the Western Regions, after the expansion of the emperors of the Han Dynasty, the Western Regions have completely fallen into the hands of China, and the Xiongnu in the Han Dynasty lost the Western Regions. Sure enough, it began to weaken step by step.Although in the Three Kingdoms period, the world was in chaos for decades, the Central Plains Dynasty still easily inherited the rule of the Western Regions.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Western Regions fell into the hands of foreign races, and the Han Dynasty has always been passive.In the Sui Dynasty, although the Sui Dynasty had begun to gradually control the Western Regions, it perished before it could implement its conquest plan for the Western Regions because of its short existence.

Then came the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty was also the dynasty that once again perfectly implemented the strategic plan for the Western Regions after the Han Dynasty.When the Sui Dynasty fell, the Western Regions once fell into the hands of the Turkic people, and then the Turkic, Tubo and other foreign races were indeed connected, which exerted a huge deterrent force on the nascent Tang Dynasty.

After stabilizing the domestic situation, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty began to implement a complete conquest of the Western Regions and successfully incorporated this place into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, was also called "Heavenly Khan" by them, and he enjoyed a great reputation in the Western Regions and even among aliens. highest status.

However, with the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, the Hexi Corridor eventually disappeared. Although the Tang Dynasty never gave up on recovering the Western Regions, it still completely lost the Western Regions during the Tang Xuanzong period.

After the Tang Dynasty lost the Western Regions, the Western Regions were successively occupied by various foreign races, such as the Uyghurs, Khitans, and Mongols. As the number of people from different ethnic groups increased, other religious cultures began to appear here.

All of the above, coupled with the fact that the subsequent Song Dynasty was originally weak in cavalry, it was still unable to regain this place—not even Xixia.The inability to regain the Western Regions also made the Song Dynasty, which lacked offensive capabilities, always be in a passive and beaten strategic situation.

The later Yuan Dynasty, since it was originally a regime established by the nomadic Mongols, naturally ruled here very conveniently, this can be skipped... and then it came to our dynasty. "

Everyone's faces became serious, not because they became very sensitive when it comes to this dynasty, sensitivity is only one of the reasons, in fact, in their position, many things can be talked about freely - of course, still Pay attention to the division between monarch and minister.

Another reason that really made them serious is that after Liang Menglong said the above, everyone heard a problem that was intentionally or unintentionally ignored in the past: the reason why Ming Dynasty has been fighting the tug-of-war with the Mongols for 200 years seems to be It has a major relationship with Ming Dynasty not occupying the Western Regions.

Sure enough, Liang Menglong suddenly stretched out his hand and slapped the map of the Western Regions, and said, "Your Majesty, gentlemen, just imagine: if I occupy the Western Regions, does the Hexi Corridor look like a branch extending from the generation of the Western Regions?" An arm, or a claw?"

Even Liang Menglong himself didn't expect that the fastest pick-up this time was actually the emperor himself.Liang Menglong had just finished speaking, and Zhu Yijun, who is quite sensitive in terms of strategy, immediately said with concentration: "Da Situ... and Liang Aiqing mean that this hand can pose a threat to the Mobei grassland on the flanks if it goes north and east, and it can pose a threat to Qinghai-Tibet if it goes south. The plateau forms a deterrent, and it can even affect those places further west?"

Before Liang Menglong could answer, Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand to stop him, and muttered: "Oh, and...with the Western Regions in my hands, it can also prevent the opponents from going out to threaten the Central Plains, lest I send troops from the Western Regions and let them fall into siege. Even the old nest was taken over by me, right?"

Liang Menglong was overjoyed, and immediately praised: "My emperor is holy! That's exactly what Da Situ said."

Zhu Yijun was satisfied when he heard it, and secretly said: After all, I and Pragmatism are the most connected.Immediately, he couldn't help but raise his chin a little bit, but after getting excited, he remembered the business again, and said: "The above is considered from the aspect of military affairs, right? Liang Aiqing said it very well, I have been taught." Liang Menglong said in disbelief. dare.

Zhu Yijun asked Wu Dui again: "Based on my understanding of practicality, he must have economic considerations, so I'll ask Wu Aiqing to explain one or two things. For example, the benefits of the so-called 'Silk Road' to my Ming Dynasty Where—isn't it just selling some silk?"

Here is an additional sentence: The term "Silk Road" was not created by the Chinese. In fact, this term was proposed by a German in the original history, and the time was quite late. Anyway, it definitely did not exist in the Ming Dynasty.The reason why it exists now is because of the butterfly effect that Gao Yu has mentioned many times in the past 20 years.

Just like Zhu Yijun was able to say the word "economy" just now - "economy" has existed since ancient times, but in the past it was more like the abbreviation of "economics for the people".And now the word "economy" in Ming Dynasty, also because of the influence of high pragmatism, has changed into the understanding of this word in later generations.

Wu Dui cupped his hands with a smile and said, "Da Situ has said a lot about this, and it is difficult for me to repeat it in detail in the limited time now, so let's just talk about it briefly?"

"It's okay, thank you Wu Aiqing." Zhu Yijun nodded to express his approval. After all, they have something to discuss later, and the details of these things can be asked after a while.

Wu Duidao: "Da Situ said that the Silk Road originated from Zhang Qian in the Han Dynasty. However, the primary purpose of the Han Dynasty to open up the Silk Road at that time was actually one word: horses.

Your Majesty, gentlemen, we Han people have been short of good horses since ancient times, and there is no doubt about our desire for good horses.Just as we need to control the old land of Chahar now, the Han Dynasty also needs good horses from the Western Regions to strengthen their cavalry against the Huns.

Now it can be foreseen that with the Chahar Ranch, we will have an excellent horse farm in the future, but as the saying goes, "Confucius climbed Dongshan and became a small Lu, and climbed Taishan and made a small world."
Da Situ believes that good horses are still in the Western Regions.Over the years, the Jinghua Trading Company has gone through untold hardships, and obtained a small number of good horses from the Western Regions, either tall and powerful, or quick-witted, or powerful and powerful.Therefore, we should introduce good horses from the Western Regions, breed them in Chahar, and cultivate one or several good horses suitable for our Ming Dynasty, and build an invincible cavalry.

Then use the cavalry to rule the roost together with the fleet, land and sea, and will surely be able to defend the Chinese civilization in the east and glorify China's heavenly prestige to all nations. "

This passage made Zhu Yijun's heart agitated, he slapped the case, and said: "Well said! I also heard that he has worked hard to buy a batch of good horses from the Western Regions, but unfortunately those horses are not in the capital, so I have not had the chance to see them so far. It is a great pity. However, he bought these horses for the sake of the Ming cavalry to rule all directions in the future, I only found out today, and it really took him a lot of planning."

The emperor sighed with emotion, no matter what the elders thought in their hearts, they had no choice but to compliment him at this moment.Then Zhu Yijun said: "These good horses must not be easy to obtain, so he wants to open up the Silk Road and exchange them with our silk and other things, right?"

"Your Majesty is wise, that's exactly the case." Wu Dui nodded in response, but continued: "But it's not just good horses. Your Majesty knows that grapes, pomegranates, walnuts, flax, soybeans, etc. were actually introduced to China from the Western Regions. ?
In addition, there are many countries in the far west of the Western Regions, and there are many special products among them that can enrich our dynasty's supplies.Among them are not only high-end goods used by the palace and gentry, but also things that can benefit the common people.In short, the exchange of things is beneficial to both sides. "

After a pause, Wu Dui added another sentence: "Oh, by the way, Da Situ said that gold and silver are produced in the far west of the Western Regions, and the goods in our dynasty are expensive and the supply is sufficient. Once the trade routes are consolidated, the establishment of tax After customs, it is just another customs.”

To be honest, Zhu Yijun just listened to the above words, and in his mind, they were probably "icing on the cake" in nature.There is actually no essential difference between this kind of thinking and Qianlong's "I am rich in products in the heavenly dynasty, and I have everything, so I didn't borrow goods from foreigners to exchange goods." After all, apart from excellent war horses, the ancient Chinese did not feel too much about themselves. What is urgently needed and only others have.

However, in the end, Wu Dui's "make up knife" hit Zhu Yijun all of a sudden: the Ming Dynasty was really short of money, and during the more than [-] years of reforms from Gao Gong to Gao Pragmatism, he witnessed "money" with his own eyes. Ability to understand" fact.

In the final analysis, where is the most important part of the reform of the Practical School?Is it the government, or the military?No, it's finances.

It is precisely because of more than 20 years of practical learning reforms that a new financial system has been reformed for the Ming Dynasty [Note: This is what Zhu Yijun thinks is new, but in fact it is far from enough to be highly pragmatic], which makes the Ming Dynasty able to point to it in recent years. Where to fight, which to fight which to win!
The reform of official administration and military industry all rely on financial reform in the final analysis. Without financial reform, other reforms are useless, because as long as the court has no money, nothing can be changed at all!
Just because he has seen how important financial power is, Zhu Yijun is overjoyed when he hears that the Silk Road is expected to become another customs, and he doesn’t even ask the opinions of other cabinet elders and immediately expresses his position: "This policy is extremely important. Wu Aiqing today After the call, we must discuss it carefully, and fully discuss it with Da Situ, and report to me in detail at that time, so don't ignore it."

"I obey the order." Wu Dui immediately accepted the order solemnly.

When everyone heard it, they had different perceptions.But one thing is certain: Even if Gao Yushi wants to join the cabinet, Wu Dui's position must be secure, otherwise he will have to discuss this matter with Gao Yushi?And since Wu Dui's position is secure, Liang Menglong, who is also involved in this matter, is also secure.

In other words, because of this "Western Regions Project", the two bigwigs of the Gaodang Department of the Real School have secured their positions at the same time at this moment, and the one elder who may be out of the game has been confirmed to be among the remaining four. among.

However, at this time Zhu Yijun suddenly realized that there was some "digression", and frowned: "Although the matter of the Western Regions is important, what does it have to do with the Erdos issue mentioned earlier?"

"Naturally, it has something to do with it, and it has a great deal to do with it." Liang Menglong immediately took up the topic and said, "The Great Situ's plan lies in the fact that we shouldn't use our Daming army as the main force in the conquest of the Western Regions. The role of the Daming army is the core. The main force should be Tumed and Ordos. In other words, my Ming Dynasty’s strategy for regaining the Western Regions is to drive away the tiger and devour the wolf. Then, let the Ordos tiger that was originally entrenched in the Hetao move its nest.”
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(End of this chapter)