A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 1021: Discussing the Northwest Trade Road, the Ministers Advised the Research Institute

The Great Han Dynasty repelled the Xiongnu in the north and made it clear that anyone who offended the mighty Han would be punished, no matter how far away they were.

The Great Tang opened its imperial gates, and all nations came to pay homage to the emperor.

As descendants of Yu the Great, the founder of the first unified dynasty, Bianxia has always taken it as its mission to unify the world, and naturally has an ambition to expand territory and prosper China.

Now that the Tibetans have given Bai Xi a chance, if he doesn’t seize it, how can he be worthy of the aspirations of his ancestors and future generations?

It just so happened that after the war in Dali ended, Daxia had not moved troops for three years and had barely accumulated some wealth, enough to launch a battle of moderate size.

"This is the situation. Since the destruction of the Later Tang Dynasty and the defeat of the Khitan, everyone has been looking to the south, hoping to achieve great unification as soon as possible."

"But you forget that the Western Regions has also been our land since ancient times."

Bai Xi stood tall in front of the throne, looking down at the group of civil and military officials dressed in purple and red, and said so.

When the ministers heard this, they all bowed in shame and said, "We are ashamed."

It's time to stop. After all, they are all the backbone of the country and cannot be too harsh. Therefore, Bai Xi stopped forcing them and let Prince Bai Mu speak out.

Bai Mu bowed to Bai Xi who had returned to the throne, then walked to the northwest map where Wang Ziwu had just stood and said:
"Since ancient times, the only way to the Western Regions has been the Hexi Corridor."

"But since the middle and late period of the pre-Tang Dynasty, the Tibetans occupied Hexi, and the Western Regions were isolated for a long time and had no connection with the Central Plains. The Central Plains cut off the financial resources of the Western Regions until today."

"However, in the late Tang Dynasty, after Zhang Yichao of Shazhou returned to Chang'an and was appointed as the governor of Guiyi Army, the Central Plains gained another way."

Bai Mu took the ebony stick, knocked on a spot on the map, and drew a diagonal line:
"South of the Qilian Mountains, near Qinghai Lake."

"Today, most of the land north of the Qilian Mountains is occupied by the Uighurs, especially the Ganzhou Uighurs, who completely control the Hexi Corridor, and even the two states of Sha and Gua, which originally belonged to the Guiyi Army, have fallen into their hands."

"If we want to conquer the Ganzhou Uighurs, we will have to go on a long expedition, and the cost will be no less than the conquest of the Dali Kingdom two years ago."

"So the best route is through Qinghai Lake."

"Only the Tibetan tribes and the Yellow-headed Huihe are on this passage."

"The Yellow-Headed Huihe occupy the desert area north of Qinghai Lake. It is sparsely populated and not very powerful. They can be easily defeated."

"In other words, we only need to subdue the Tibetans, and then we can follow the southern foot of the Qilian Mountains, head north, pass the Dangjin Pass, and reach the border of Shazhou."

After saying this, Bai Mu pointed at Shazhou and said meaningfully:
"Shazhou is the seat of the Guiyi Army, where many Han people live. If we capture it, we can not only communicate with the Western Regions, but also cut off the connection between the Ganzhou Uighurs and the Xizhou Uighurs."

"It will buy us more time to manage the Hexi Corridor."

At this time, the newly appointed Three Commissioners, the former Salt and Iron Commissioner and National Treasury Commissioner Bai Changzhi, came out with a little excitement and said:
"In this way, Daxia will be able to open up a new source of income. By then, the imperial court's finances will no longer be as stretched as they are now."

"Your Majesty." The new Grand Commander, former Cavalry Commander Li Cunxiao, spoke at this time:

"It's not that I disagree with Your Majesty's strategy to govern the northwest, but take the civil unrest in Chu last year as an example. If we hadn't stationed our troops in Huaibei, Chu would have probably been annexed by Southern Tang."

"The south of the Yangtze River is densely networked with rivers, and most of our troops are from the north. If we allow the Southern Tang to annex us at will, once it annexes Southern Chu, swallows up Wuyue, and subdues Southern Han, I am afraid that we will become another Eastern Wu."

When Li Cunxiao finished speaking, Privy Councilor Luo Minghan, Prime Minister Su Xiaohui, Bai Xuan, Liu Fansheng and others all spoke out to dissuade him.

Logically speaking, the fact that half of the important civil and military officials submitted remonstrations represented the thoughts of most of the grassroots officials and generals of Daxia.

Bai Xi should just follow the crowd, or at worst try to find a compromise.

This is a good way to stabilize the country's political situation.

But the Bai family is not an ordinary royal family, and Bai Xi is not an ordinary king.

He stood up again, his eyes cold, and said, "Everyone says that the Later Han Dynasty stationed its troops at the Yangtze River, but I am not Emperor Xiaozong of the Han Dynasty, and the Southern Tang is definitely not the Eastern Wu." "Gentlemen, times have changed."

"Your Majesty." Despite Bai Xi's determination, Teng Song, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the 'Supervisory Yuan', still wanted to advise.

Bai Xi raised her hand to stop him: "I know that I cannot convince you with words alone, so please follow me."

After saying that, he took the lead and walked out of the hall without waiting.

Yan Xu, the eunuch who had been following him, stepped forward and said loudly, "Go to the Research Institute."

The Research Institute, like the Dali Temple and the Censorate, is a third-rank government office.

Only the Ministry of Clan Affairs was a second-rank government office, and its left and right clan directors were of the same rank as the third-rank ministers, nine ministers and other important officials.

The Research Institute originated from the Gewu Academy within the Bai clan. Tracing back further, it can be traced back to the Special Research Institute, which has a history of thousands of years.

After the Bai family took control of the central government, they brought with them a culture that emphasized culture, commerce, and craftsmanship, from top to bottom.

Daxia has two departments dedicated to research and development. One is the "Craftsmen's Institute" under the Ministry of Industry, and the other is the "Scientific Research Institute" directly under the emperor.

The highest title in the Artisan Academy is "Chief Craftsman", and he enjoys the treatment of a fourth-rank official.

Below that are five levels: 'master craftsman', 'senior craftsman', 'middle craftsman', 'lower craftsman' and 'apprentice'.

The treatment decreases from the fifth rank to the seventh rank.

Those who were able to enter the Artisan Workshop were the country's best craftsmen, blacksmiths, bricklayers and other tradesmen.

The highest professional title in the research institute is "Guoshi", which enjoys the treatment of the third rank and is granted the title of "Zhuguo". Only those who have made significant research contributions to the country have the opportunity to be awarded.

Below them are three grades: "famous scholar", "talented scholar" and "scientific researcher". The lowest-level scientific researcher enjoys the treatment of the sixth rank.

Now, there are only dozens of people in the entire research institute, and only three national scholars.

"This is Diao Wengao, the Great Xia scholar."

Bai Xi came to the research institute and pointed at a middle-aged man in an ordinary round-necked robe and introduced him to the people behind him.

"Are you Mr. Diao? I've heard of you a long time ago. Nice to meet you." Grand Commander Li Cunxiao greeted him while standing in place.

"The Grand Commander knows him?"

It is no wonder that important officials such as Privy Councilor Luo Minghan, Su Xiaohui, Bai Xuan, and Liu Fansheng did not know him.

They all stay in the provinces and ministries to handle government affairs all year round and have almost never set foot in the research institute, which is an office directly under the emperor.

On the other hand, Li Cunxiao is the current number one in the military, and Diao Wengao is the strongest person in building military equipment in Daxia today.

The advanced weapons used by the armies in many major battles, and even the Xia sword currently developed by Daxia after improving the Tang sword, were all made by Diao Wengao.

The research institute now has three great national scholars, namely Wang Chu'ne, the "Si Tian", Diao Wengao, the "Si Lei", and Guo Kang, the "Si Shui".

Among them, Wang Chu'ne was extremely good at astronomy and mathematics. He wrote "Shuntian Calendar" to correct the calendar errors since the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, he served as the director of the Sitianjian.

Guo Kang was very good at construction and water conservancy. He supervised the construction of the Great Song Palace and the construction of the southern dike of the Yellow River to stabilize the Yellow River and prevent it from attacking Kaifeng. He also dug a waterway to connect to Jibei Prefecture and served as the Minister of Works.

Diao Wengao is very good at military equipment, and most of the advanced military equipment in the army comes from his hands. However, because he does not have a part-time job and stays in the research institute all year round, he is not well known to outsiders.

It is these three people, together with their disciples, who make up the three largest departments in the Institute of Scientific Research and even in "National Studies" besides "Medicine", namely "Celestial Science", "Engineering" and "Military Science".

(End of this chapter)