The train passed through the vast grassland, through the vast desert, and after three days and three nights, it finally left the border.

"I don't know if I don't go out, it turns out that our country is so big, it will take three days and three nights to take the train." Ji Ran said with emotion.

"Yes, if our territory doesn't shrink, it's much bigger than it is now." Huo Wuxian said with a smile.

"Really? We are now very large, with 9.6 million square kilometers of land, which is also among the top four in the world. Ji Ran said proudly.

"Do you know how big the biggest territory is in our history?" Huo Wuxian asked with a smile.

"I know that at the peak of the Qing Dynasty, the territory covered an area of more than 13 million square kilometers, from Lake Baikal in the north, to the Outer Khingan Mountains in the northeast, to Taiwan and the Penghu Islands in the southeast, to the Zengmu Dark Sands in the south, and to the Himalayas in the southwest, which is much larger than the current land area, and many surrounding countries are our vassal countries." Ji Ran said like a treasure.

"Hehe, I know a lot, but this is not the peak of our territory, when our territory was the largest, it was in the Yuan Dynasty, the territory of the Great Yuan Dynasty established by the Mongols reached an unprecedented area of 45 million square kilometers, ruling two-thirds of the world's population at that time, including the whole territory of China in the east, as well as neighboring North Korea, Vietnam and other countries, and in the west until near the Danube River in Europe.

The Great Mongol Empire, founded by the Mongols, was at the height of our territory. Huo Wuxian said.

"Huh? Isn't that right? The country founded by the Mongols is not ours, is it? What's more, our Yuan Dynasty was only a part of the Great Mongol Empire, and other khanates didn't talk to us. Ji Ran retorted.

"Wrong, although the Great Mongol Empire is divided into the Yuan Empire in the east and the four khanates in the west, the kings of the other khanates are still subject to the control of the Great Yuan Emperor, that is to say, the Great Yuan Empire is their suzerain, which is equivalent to being born to their own mother, while those khanates are born to their mothers, and their treatment and status are completely different, strictly speaking, they are also part of us." Huo Wuxian said seriously, quite a bit of a Korean flavor.

"Hehe, the whole universe is ours too." Ji Ran joked with a smile.

"Even if there is no Yuan Dynasty, our prosperous Han and Tang Dynasty territory is much larger than now, the Han Dynasty opened up the Silk Road from the Western Regions to Central Asia, the heyday of the Han Dynasty, the scope of control directly to Central Asia, is the most powerful country in the East at that time, there is no one.

Later, the Tang Dynasty was the same, with an extremely vast territory and a large-scale war with the Central Asian powers, known as the Battle of Talas. Huo Wuxian said.

"The battle of the big screws? Hehe, what a strange name. Ji Ran said with a smile.

"It's not a big screw, it's Talas, a place name in ancient Central Asia." Huo Wuxian explained with a smile.

"No need to ask, it must have been our Tang Dynasty that won, because we were the most powerful country in the world at that time, right?" Ji Ran asked with a smile.

"Hehe, no, we lost, and moreover, we lost badly, almost wiped out." Huo Wuxian shook his head regretfully and said.

"Huh? How so? Could it be the Tang Army after the Anshi Rebellion? Seriously reduced combat effectiveness? Ji Ran asked strangely.

"No, when the Battle of Talas broke out, it was the period when the Tang Dynasty was strong, the north destroyed the Turks, the south pacified the Southern Shao, the country was prosperous and stable, the national strength was quite strong, and it was a veritable hegemon of East Asia at that time." Huo Wuxian said.

"Then why did you still lose? Isn't this scientific? Ji Ran asked strangely.

"In fact, there is nothing to be ashamed of, at that time, the Arab Empire gathered all the elite troops, plus the armies of other small states, a total of more than 200,000 troops, and our Tang side only had 18,000 Tang troops of the Longyou Army, and the two sides broke out in an unprecedentedly fierce war in Central Asia, although the Tang Army was finally defeated, but the Arab Empire did not bargain.

At the cost of more than 70,000 casualties, they annihilated more than 8,000 Tang troops and won a crushing victory. When Huo Wuxian talked about that period of history, he didn't feel ashamed at all, but was quite proud.

"Wow, if you say so, our Tang Army is really very powerful, 18,000 people beat more than 200,000 people, and killed more than 70,000 of them." Ji Ran said excitedly.

"This is not the most powerful Tang Army, at that time there were many border guards in the Tang Dynasty, such as the famous Shuofang Army, Hexi Army, Fanyang Army, Pinglu Army, Jiannan Army, Lingnan Army, etc..., and the Tang Army that participated in the Battle of Talas was only a partial army of the Longyou Army, not to mention that it was compared in the Tang Army, that is, it was not the main force in the Longyou Army, it was such a partial division, but it made the Arab Empire lose its troops and lose face, and won the battle but did not dare to put forward conditions with the Tang Dynasty, but it was very interesting where to come from and where to go, didn't dare to continue to provoke Datang.

In less than half a year, the part of the troops lost by the Tang Dynasty was fully loaded, and they were equipped with more sophisticated Mo knives and bows and crossbows to continue to defend Central Asia.

Later, during the period of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty simply set up the Anxi Protectorate in Central Asia and established the Anxi Army, and since then, Central Asia has been completely included in the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty, which is the real strength. Huo Wuxian said impassionedly.

"Wow, the Tang Dynasty is really powerful, no wonder we all call ourselves Tang people abroad, it turns out that the Tang Dynasty is so strong." Ji Ran said excitedly.

"Therefore, the ******** we are advocating now also wants to achieve the same great achievements as the prosperous Han and Tang Dynasties, rise in the world, and benefit future generations." Huo Wuxian said with a smile.

"No wonder Uncle Xi put forward the Chinese dream, it turns out that our dream is national rejuvenation and reproduction of the prosperous Han and Tang dynasties." Ji Ran said with a smile.

"However, to realize this dream, there is still a little difficulty, in addition to the economic development, military strength, we compared to the prosperous Han and Tang Dynasty, there is also a lack of a little national self-confidence and mind, if we can be more confident, a little broader-minded, our country will be stronger." Huo Wuxian said with a little regret.

"Oh? Doesn't our nation have self-confidence? Why do we say we don't have a heart? Ji Ran asked strangely.

"A strong and self-confident country, should be wide-ranging, the sea is inclusive, instead of closing the eyes and listening, engage in literature [and] word [harmonious] prison, so that the national culture into a pool of stagnant water, a country's strength, not only the export of economy and technology, more importantly, the export of national culture and connotation, if you are afraid of affecting the mental health of children, you will completely ignore the reasonable needs of adults, in order to purify the network, just overturn the whole boat of people, then who will dare to continue cultural creation in the future?

If culture is like dancing on the tip of a knife, and every writer has a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, if he looks ahead and looks backward, fears the wolf and the tiger, and writes everything with trepidation and caution, what great works can such a nation create?

A person who kneels on the ground, trembling with fear, can only write groveling slave texts, and if culture cannot stand up, the whole nation will always kneel. Huo Wuxian said, sighing helplessly, with a trace of regret in his eyes.