Film and television started from Yan Jiecheng in the Siheyuan

After understanding the opinions of all parties, Sheng Changbai approached Xiang Liang, the leader of the force-conquering faction.

Deputy Governor Xiang is in his 40s, so he is still in his prime. He is not a nobleman, but a newly emerging grassroots general.

It is developing well now. It is a strategic location and the number two person who commands the troops along the way is already regarded as a high-ranking member of the Zhou Dynasty military.

The ability must be there, otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today as a grassroots person.

But the ability to lead troops cannot represent political ability.

Even if they have some political ability, few generals will consider the overall situation of the Zhou Dynasty.

These foreign races are either close to Zhou Dynasty or close to Xixia.

It's completely a matter of trade-off and coercion. Using force and coercion is definitely not a wise choice.

On the other hand, the cost of using force to conquer these alien races must also be considered.

The cost is huge, and there are no practical benefits. It is completely a loss-making deal.

The military originally serves politics, and it is obviously a huge waste to use the military rashly to solve problems that can be solved by political means.

"General Xiang, I heard that you have some opinions about Fanbang?"

You don't need to be polite when talking to military commanders. After a few simple polite words, Sheng Changbai chose to go straight to the topic.

These grassroots generals are not the aristocrats of Bianliang City, and they do not pay attention to so many twists and turns.

"It's just some aliens who are disobedient and uncivilized. There is no need for the court to appease them. I will lead the army there, and the aliens will naturally surrender."

Deputy Du Guan Shang had a strong desire to use troops.

Sheng Changbai actually knew what these generals were thinking.

After all, he is a military officer. The most direct way to make achievements and get promoted and make a fortune is to fight.

Compared with the Xixia people, who have established a political power, united and have risen in combat power.

It is obvious that the Tubo and Uighur tribes are still in their own way, which is easier to bully and easier to achieve achievements.

If these people are from a different tribe, choose to appease them.

The generals will have no room to show their talents and will not be able to make any achievements.

Simply standing in the position of a military commander, naturally you cannot be happy.

"What General Shang said is reasonable. Some of these foreign tribes are indeed quite unruly. We really need to let these foreign tribes experience the military might of the Great Zhou Dynasty. General, you can rest assured that even if you choose to pacify the tribes of Fan State, it will not be without the use of force by the soldiers." land……"

If possible, Sheng Changbai still wanted to achieve his goal through persuasion.

If that fails, Sheng Changbai can actually force his way through.

Just because Wang Zhizhou couldn't do anything with the deputy commander of the army and horses, it didn't mean that Sheng Changbai couldn't do anything either.

It would be best if it makes sense. If it doesn't, Sheng Changbai can directly promote this matter from the higher level, from the central government.

"Shang Shanjing, can you not lie?"

"No joke, in the process of conquering the foreign countries, the efforts of the soldiers are indispensable. After these foreign countries are stabilized, I will personally go to the table to ask for credit for all the soldiers."

Seeing that Deputy Du Guan Shang's attitude had softened, Sheng Changbai said in a timely manner.

Verbal words are of no use, and these soldiers are not easy to fool.

You still have to give tangible benefits to truly impress people.

Because of the success of Conglong and his father-in-law being the deputy prime minister, Sheng Changbai's promise was quite effective for these military leaders.

In the process of recruiting foreign states, soldiers and horses from the northwest were needed, which was originally part of Sheng Changbai's plan.

The reason why Fanbang is despised by the Central Plains is indeed because of the real cultural gap.

It was a time when the people of the Central Plains were deeply educated in etiquette and respected benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust.

These barbarians in Fanbang still believe in the most primitive laws of the jungle.

If you want to conquer these foreign countries with carrots, you must give them enough sticks.

"Then I also agree to recruit all the barbarian tribes."

The situation is not bad. The credit for conquering these foreign countries can be divided among the generals and soldiers.

Regarding this matter, the military commander will also show a supportive attitude.

After the plan was set, Sheng Changbai first called Dafang for support.

Although Sheng Changbai mainly represented the imperial court and traded with these merchants.

But after all, there are many places in the imperial court, and they are not as flexible as private operations.

Now that Sheng Changbai has taken up an official position in the northwest, Dafang's business can be expanded.

In addition to facilitating Sheng Changbai's influence on Qinzhou's business, the Silk Road brought considerable profits.

You can also help the first room, who has been giving blood transfusions to the second room, to get a wave of blood back.

Although the Zhou Dynasty’s foreign trade mostly took place by water.

The volume of trade overland was not large, but this was not because the overland route was unprofitable.

The main reason is that there is no northwest in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the traditional Silk Road is not peaceful.

Zhou Dynasty also deliberately blocked foreign countries, and trade routes were not so easy to pass.

In fact, this road is still a golden road.

Then Sheng Changbai's job in Qinzhou City was to contact merchants from various tribes and tribes who came to Qinzhou.

Most of these businessmen are actually high-level leaders of various tribes.

With both parties interested in contacting each other, Sheng Changbai became familiar with many tribal heirs in a short period of time.

I received beauties and fine horses from the Western Regions sent by many people.

Sheng Changbai also returned some silk, tea, and porcelain in return.

The bottom line is still necessary, there can be trade, but it should mainly focus on luxury goods.

These things cannot be done to support the enemy.

Surrendering and then revolting, and punishing and then surrendering are also the routine operations of these tribes.

In terms of its realization stage, Dazhou's economy has indeed developed to a peak.

It is indeed possible to use economic means to carry out some economic plunder on all parties.

The productivity of the Great Zhou Dynasty was not strong, also compared to later generations.

In modern times, the Great Zhou Dynasty is still far ahead of the world and the country with the highest productivity.

Just because the military is not strong, it is impossible to obtain too many benefits through trade means.

After all, the Zhou Dynasty's army was not strong, and when it was expected to be weak, these neighbors would not follow the same rules as the Zhou Dynasty.

Without free pricing power, Dazhou is actually at a disadvantage in terms of trade.

The Liao Kingdom and Xixia were strong, while the Zhou Dynasty passively opened up trade.

In other countries, the Zhou Dynasty did not gain much benefit from trade for various reasons.

Of course, except for these trades that involve political factors.

Speaking of pure trade, Da Zhou's silk, porcelain, tea, gold, silver, jewelry, and gemstones were still very popular in various countries along the Maritime Silk Road.

Although the imperial court did not receive much benefit, a group of maritime merchants still received huge profits.

The sea trade side can wait until later. The current navy of the Great Zhou Dynasty does not have the ability to stop smuggling.

The development of the navy in the Great Zhou Dynasty will indeed bring certain benefits. If you have the opportunity, you can take advantage of the Liao Kingdom.

But at this stage, it is more important to deal with the northwest first.The navy is a more expensive service than the cavalry, but the Zhou Dynasty still cannot afford to develop it.

"Censor Sheng, I didn't expect that it only took you half a year to conquer these alien races."

Before winter came, Sheng Changbai used both hard and soft tactics, using a knife in one hand and candy in the other, to achieve results with the foreign tribes.

In just half a year, tens of thousands of soldiers were recruited within Qinzhou to assist the Zhou army and stationed in various forts.

If you don't consider developing Dazhou's own combat power, hiring soldiers is actually the most cost-effective way.

Hiring soldiers is cheaper than the local warriors from the northwest region.

You only need to provide some luxuries to the rulers of each tribe, and you can hire many.

After training, these soldiers will be more powerful than the ordinary soldiers of Zhou Dynasty.

What's more important is that many of these soldiers can bring their own bows and horses, and they become superior cavalry without training.

In normal times, it may not be as useful as Zhou's army.

But when they want to fight Xixia, they can achieve greater results.

It is very necessary for these people to have cavalry with the ability to pursue them.

"No, this is not the result of me alone. In the front, General Shang charged forward and the soldiers sacrificed their lives. In the back, there was Duke Ming who stabilized the place and strategized. This is the credit of everyone in Qinzhou."

Compared to his age, Sheng Changbai has made enough contributions and there is no need to take credit.

Stabilizing the local alien races and achieving Sheng Changbai's goal is Sheng Changbai's greatest gain.

"No matter where you are, you can't do without Sheng Yushi. You took command from the center and went deep into foreign countries to achieve today's results..." Wang Zhizhou replied.

"Okay, let's not refuse each other. Stabilizing the surrounding foreign races is just the beginning. Once we defeat Xixia and behead the Li family's puppet emperor, it won't be too late for us to celebrate our success."

After complimenting each other for a long time, Sheng Changbai ended the compliment.

Conquering the foreign races around Dazhou can only be regarded as a small step.

If Xixia did not counterattack, using these foreign troops to defend the city would only save a little of Zhou's military expenditure.

In terms of defense, these extra soldiers are not as effective as the army's own soldiers.

It was still Sheng Changbai's original intention to come to Qinzhou to deal with Xixia and stabilize the northwest.

"Censor Sheng, the Xixia bandits are not as ferocious as those from other tribes, so we should be cautious." Wang Zhizhou advised.

"Yes, Shangshang, there is no need to rush. We have few troops and horses, so we won't have much advantage in fighting the Xixia bandits in the field." Deputy Du Guan Shang's attitude was the same as Wang Zhizhou's.

Today's Dazhou really has no advantage against Xixia.

"Don't worry, you two. I don't want to take the initiative to challenge Xixia right now, but I still have to have the courage to fight. Now I just want to see the Xixia thieves."

Sheng Changbai did not want to invade Xixia, but the time was also before winter.

This time is when nomads stock up on winter supplies.

It was also the time when Xixia soldiers invaded the Zhou Dynasty and plundered.

Sheng Changbai still wanted to try it himself to see the strength of the Xixia soldiers.

That is to say, go to the areas where Xixia soldiers often invade and stop these Xixia soldiers.

"Then I will send more troops to brave you." Deputy Du Guan Shang said.

"Just give me a few hundred troops."

In the northwest region, it is still much easier to get war horses than in Bianliang.

Sheng Changbai came to Qinzhou with just a few war horses.

In just over half a year, Sheng Changbai replaced his guns with cannons, and all the combat-effective men he brought were equipped with war horses.

If he wanted to fight these invading Xixia thieves in the field, Sheng Changbai could not bring any infantry.

Picking up hundreds of mounted soldiers will give you more mobility.

After several people discussed it, Sheng Changbai returned to the houya and informed the people he brought with him to be ready to go.

But before Sheng Changbai notified him, Liu Tao came over with a letter from Bianliang and said:
"Sir, there's a letter from home."

"Where is the messenger? I'll call him over later."

Sheng Changbai took the letter in his hand and said.

The letter sent from Bianliang is quite important to Sheng Changbai.

In addition to understanding the situation of the Sheng family, Sheng Changbai also needs to understand the situation in Bianjing.

"Zhen'an, Wu Shengjun, Jiedu Envoy, Situ and Shizhong, and Prime Minister, the new emperor still misses the old love."

The most important thing in the letter is that Han Zhang finally stepped down.

Han Zhang's resignation came later than Sheng Changbai expected.

Three words and three rejections, this kind of false and false attempt to stay, still wasted a lot of time.

Otherwise, Han Zhang should have returned to his hometown after Zhao Zongquan's mausoleum was built.

The new emperor still praised Han Zhang for his contribution to Zhao Zongquan and securing the throne.

Even the removal of Han Zhang's position also gave Han Zhang a great favor.

Zhen'an, Wu Shengjun Jiedushi, Situ and Shizhong, these are all honorary posts given to Han Zhang by the new emperor.

Even after retiring, Han Zhang still retained his first-class rank.

"Pan Xiangzhou" is Han Zhang's real mission, which means that Han Zhang is now the magistrate of Xiangzhou. Because of his high position and low position, the word "Pan" was used in his dispatch.

According to the practice of the Great Zhou Dynasty, after the old minister retires, he can be arranged to return to his hometown to serve and provide for his retirement.

But Han Zhang, the prime minister, is still different.

After ten years of being Prime Minister, the Han family has dominated Xiangzhou with one hand.

Now the new emperor also asked Han Zhang to judge Xiangzhou, obviously wanting to help Zhao Zongquan fulfill his promise.

Give Xiangzhou to the Han family, so that the Han family can obtain a de facto seal and separatize Xiangzhou.

Of course Sheng Changbai was dissatisfied, but this matter was not an urgent matter.

If you want to help the imperial court take back Xiangzhou, you will have plenty of time in the future.

"After all, after ten years as prime minister and assistant, Mr. Han has still made some achievements. He retired this time with such good sense, so it is appropriate for the officials to give him some rewards."

Liu Tao said in time, somewhat to comfort Sheng Changbai.

I understand that Sheng Changbai is not satisfied with Han Zhang's ending.

He betrayed the interests of the scholar-bureaucrats for his own selfish purposes and knelt down to lick the emperor.

Those who tried to let imperial power prevail over etiquette and law, and who almost laid the foundation for the country's downfall, should not have such a good outcome.

If the Han family does not have a profound lesson, it will not be enough to warn future generations.

People who do such desperate things need to be taught a lesson.

"I understand that Han Zhang's dismissal as prime minister is a good thing. The court finally has a new look, which can change the decadence of Han Zhang's time in power." Sheng Changbai replied.

Han Zhang is gone, and the new dynasty has a new atmosphere.

Otherwise, it means that Han Zhang is not in power, and standing solemnly in the court is a sign.

Although Han Zhang originally wanted to get promoted, he also tried to get close to the reformists and wanted to carry out reforms.

But after the reform failed and he succeeded in taking office, Han Zhang exposed his true nature and was actually a complete conservative.

Such a conservative faction of Prime Minister and Fu who spanned three dynasties was a hindrance to Sheng Changbai and the new emperor's governance.