Looking at the calm and peaceful emperor in front of him, Huang Ruifeng couldn't help but swallowed when he heard that he had been given such an important responsibility and said: "Father, although my son, I have been deeply taught by my father these years, I know a little about government affairs. But after all, Erchen is young and has no experience in governing, and those famous ministers and generals may not really buy into Erchen. The most important thing is that Erchen has never worried about We have to bear such a heavy burden. This place has always been a place with a mixture of Tibetan and Han people and many tribes."
"Not only are the Khitans, Xi people and other tribes in the west, the Jurchens in the north, and the Bohai people in the east, they are also bordered by Gaoli, a vassal state of Daqi. If one thing is not handled well, it may lead to elbow and armpit injuries. I know that my ability is limited and I am simply not qualified to take on such a big responsibility. I am really worried that it will affect my father's grand plan. I also ask my father to take back such an order. It is more appropriate for my father to take charge of the overall situation personally. I sincerely ask my father to withdraw his troops at this time. The retreat to Yanshan Mansion is really out of public motives and has no selfish motives at all. I ask my father to be clear about this."
Hearing his son's excuse here, Huang Qiong smiled and said: "Among my sons, you are the only one who has been to Beiliao. None of your brothers have a better understanding of the mountains, rivers, climate, and people here. You are more familiar with it. Keeping you here will make full use of your strengths. Although the climate in Beiliao is severe and there are many tribes, the Tokyo Road is fertile. If it is developed, it will never lose to Jiangnan. I will conquer the north. Liao, not only because I have suffered from the invasion of Northern Liao since the founding of Da Qi."
"Every year, a large amount of money and food are spent on the defense of the North. What's more, the land in the world is becoming more and more concentrated. And with my decree to never increase taxes, the Ding tax will be abolished. There will definitely be a large number of Dingkou in the world. , if we don’t find a place for those Dingkou, I’m afraid the world will be in chaos sooner or later. The requirements of the people of Daqi are actually very simple, that is, they can have enough to eat, and after a year of farming, the harvest can support their wives and children. When their sons marry, When you marry a girl, you can give her a betrothal gift. When you marry a daughter, you can make a dowry."
"As the co-owner of this world, I allow the people to live and work in peace and contentment, and no longer suffer from poverty. It is also the responsibility given to me by God. The Tokyo Road in Northern Liao has crisscrossed rivers and fertile land. It is far from comparable to that in the mainland. If it is developed, There is absolutely no problem in feeding tens of millions of Dingkou. If we appoint civil and military officials, it may be difficult to check and balance. I do not want the Anshi Rebellion of the former Tang Dynasty to reoccur in this dynasty. Therefore, I have already decided before the Northern Expedition. If we capture the homeland of Bei Liao, we will send the prince to take charge."
"As for those officials, you don't have to worry. Before I leave, I will leave you the Shang Fang Sword. All civil and military officials below the third rank will be left to your disposal. As for the tribes in Tokyo Road, you have to deal with them these days. Come up with a statement as soon as possible. I have sent an order to Zheng Daoyuan and appointed him as the Deputy Historian to assist you in dealing with those tribes. Also, I have issued an edict to temporarily rename Shangjing Road to Linhuang Road, and Zheng Daoyuan will serve concurrently. To appease the envoy, Guo Chen transferred Linhuang Road to be the envoy of Jiedu."
"Change the Dongdong Road in Northern Liaoning to Liaoyangfu Road, transfer Kou Zhun to serve as the pacification envoy, and transfer Zhao Wuhe to serve as the Jiedushi envoy. These two roads are temporarily under your control. As for the Zhongjing Road, I have not yet made this determination. Zheng Daoyuan is in Xining. He has been in charge of Fubo for many years, and he has single-handedly implemented the alliance and flag system of the Tubo people. I sent him to be your deputy envoy, which can be considered a good intention. Kou Zhun is a capable official, both in terms of conduct and ability. , among the hundreds of officials in the court, they are all outstanding. From the rest of the staff, I can choose as you wish."
"I still know whether my own son has the ability to take on such a big responsibility. When I went to the northwest to fight the rebellion, I was about the same age as you now. I could do it back then, why can't you? Your boy refused like this. , is it that my ability to cultivate my son is not as good as your imperial grandfather? Or is it that I am blind and do not know people well? Or is it that I am selfish, and in order to let my son gain some merit, I ignore the overall situation and send an incompetent person? , to preside over such an important matter?"
After pondering for a while, Huang Qiong finally said: "As a superior, you should put the overall situation of the world first, and you cannot ignore the overall situation just because of the personal relationship between your children. Otherwise, they are no different from those foolish kings who misled the country because of their beauty. ?I’m not saying that as a superior, you have to have your own preferences and not live in the world. But in the face of right and wrong, you still have to know how to choose. I leave you here as a big test for you. If you don’t even have this little burden, If you can't even bear it, how can I entrust you with a heavier burden in the future?"
After hearing what his father had said, Huang Ruifeng didn't dare to say anything. I could only bite the bullet and agreed with a grimace. Seeing this bastard's grimace, Huang Qiong didn't take it seriously at all. This guy has all the abilities and means. I can really calm down when doing things. But compared to his own time, he is not an ordinary person who can pretend. Compared with myself back then, I know how to restrain my sharpness. Especially since he has settled down in the past few years, his face has become much calmer than even his father's.
But before Huang Ruifeng could think about it mentally, how to implement this clause and what to do about this matter. Huang Qiong suddenly said over there: "I have decided to betroth the third daughter of Liao Emperor Yelu Longxu, Yelu Shangu, to your fourth brother as the princess. When I return to Yanshan Mansion, I will arrange this marriage for them. For me As the second brother and future second-line system ambassador, what do you think of this decision? If you have any ideas, just say it directly. Although I have made this decision, I still want to hear your opinions."
Huang Ruifeng did not immediately answer Huang Qiong's idea. After pondering for a long time, he said: "Father, my fourth brother can only marry such a beautiful woman, I will only be happy for him. However, I think it is not just the remnants of the Northern Liao royal family who need to be appeased. Now, although General Zhao defeated Xi Ren , but Xiren has not completely lost the ability to rebel. I heard that the niece of the current King Xi is also a beautiful woman. I wonder if she will be given to the fourth brother as a concubine, or something else. One brother will be the concubine."
"The Xi people and the Khitans grazed and farmed in the Huangshui River Basin. Although they were conquered by the Khitans and held high by the Khitans, the Khitans still took extra precautions against the Xi people and repeatedly weakened the authority of Prince Xi's palace. And divided the Xi people from six to eight, further weakening the room for resistance of the Xi people. Therefore, Erchen believed that the court could focus on winning over the Xi people and give them an empty and high status, so as to use the Xi people to further divide and disintegrate the Khitan people. . Letting the prince marry Xiren will also bring a lot of benefits to the court."
"Moreover, whether they are Khitan people or Xi people, I have discovered through my contact during this period that they are all very Chinese. There are also a lot of scholars among them. I think that in the future, a separate section can be set up for them in the imperial examination." Branch, specially selected officials from among them. Encourage them to herd cattle and convert the remaining nomadic parts to farming. The children and ministers thought that they would give certain treatment to the higher-ups, and converted the ordinary herdsmen below to fixed farming, and purchased their grazing land at high prices. Cattle, let them raise more cows and less horses.”
"The grasslands are rich in cattle, and the demand for cattle in the Central Plains is huge. Although my father is working hard, farming in the Central Plains no longer relies entirely on cattle, and more mules are produced. However, there is still a huge demand for cattle, resulting in high cattle prices. No less. In order to ensure the number of cattle for farming, my father set up cattle farming bureaus in all states and capitals around the world to ensure that in the event of a natural disaster, the victims would not slaughter cattle in large numbers in exchange for food. The most indispensable thing on the grassland is, It happens to be cattle. The Khitan people are encouraged to herd cattle, and the imperial court is buying them at a price."
"Transport it to the Central Plains and lend it to the people who cannot afford to buy cattle. Or let the cattle of the Khitan and Xi people go into the Central Plains and use them as meat. I have eaten a lot of captured Liao cattle in the army these days. Human cows. I feel that after eating cows, the sergeants are much stronger than before when they mainly ate pork. In the severe cold weather of the Northern Liao Dynasty, they are much more resistant to freezing than eating only vegetables. The imperial court can restrict the Khitan people from raising horses. , to encourage the Khitan people to raise cattle. After purchasing every year, they are either used as cattle for farming or as military rations."
"The Khitan people are good at cavalry. The Liao army cavalry who fought with our army generally had three horses each. If we limit the number of horses they raise and encourage them to switch to farming, without the ability to ride and shoot, it will be equivalent to unloading the Khitan people's ability. The ability to continue to resist. In terms of daily treatment, although we cannot give too high treatment like the former Qin. But as long as we do not discriminate in daily life, encourage them to turn to farming, encourage them to raise cattle, and restrict them from raising horses. Three-pronged approach Come on, it won’t take three generations. Even if they want to rebel, they don’t have a war horse to use.”
Having said this, Huang Ruifeng looked at Huang Qiong's face, gritted his teeth and said: "Father, I think that it is not appropriate to adopt the alliance flag system for the Khitan people, whether they are nomadic or farming areas. Instead, they should set up floating officials to govern them. . Every year, people are selected from among the new scholars or among the Imperial College students to undergo some special training, and then they are sent to the Khitan homeland as officials. Even the imperial court can give priority to selecting people who understand Chinese from the Khitan tribes to serve as state officials. County magistrate. The term of office of a wandering official is three years, and priority will be given to promotion upon expiration."
"Although the imperial court had learned from the Dangxiang people, I thought it was not appropriate to copy the strategy used to treat the Dangxiang people at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The imperial court suppressed the Dangxiang people too hard at that time, which led to increasing dissatisfaction among the Dangxiang people. Although when Da Qi was strong, , I dare not have any rebellion. But once Daqi falls into weakness, those dissatisfactions will not be exposed. Therefore, I thought that the court should not only not discriminate against the Khitans, but even encourage them to marry the Central Plains people and encourage them The scholars among them will become officials."
Although Huang Qiong was not completely satisfied with Huang Ruifeng's idea, he was somewhat surprised by it. Only then did he realize that his son had put a lot of effort into this aspect. However, Huang Qiong did not show his satisfaction with his son. He didn't want to make his son feel arrogant. Therefore, Huang Qiong pondered for a while and then said: "Well, don't be a concubine for that brother. If you don't bother the two masters, Princess Xi Ren, you can stay as a concubine for yourself."
"Being a concubine will make Xi Ren feel more valued. In addition, you can choose one from the captured Khitan noble daughters, especially from the Xiaos, including the Empress Dowager Chengtian and the Shulu family. Approval of people. Make several of your married brothers your concubines. In addition to Yelu Shangu, who is promised to your fourth brother. You are weighing it yourself and selecting a few young people from among the nobles of the Yelu and Xiao families. Promising young people. I am selecting a few princesses from the clan, and I will make them princesses and marry them."
"As for capturing those princesses, you should also choose one of them to be your side concubine. After weighing it up, look at which of your brothers of the same age is more mature, and choose one of them to be your main concubine. Since you want to get married, To give those Khitans a comparable status, I am afraid there is nothing more suitable than the empty-brand Prince Consort Captain."
