In addition to the Han people, who have a small population, the others are the Li people, Miao and other aborigines, but the number is about 300,000, which is more than the number of the original Han people. These aborigines usually live by fishing and hunting, and some even live in the primitive tribal era, and most of these groups live in the southern and central hilly and mountainous areas of Qiongzhou Island.

The two sides are not very harmonious, and sometimes bloody conflicts even break out, and the entire Qiongzhou Island is also living in internal and external troubles. Relatively speaking, the Han people were still at a disadvantage, so Su Wanghai was even a little looking forward to the arrival of the Song army.

There are many mountains and hills on Qiongzhou Island, but there are relatively few flat lands suitable for farming, but fortunately, the climate here is hot and humid, rice can be two to three kinds a year, and vegetables and fruits are also very abundant, basically survival is not too worrying.

However, because of the abundant products and food and clothing here, the people here are not as hard-working as the people in the Central Plains, they usually prefer to live an idle life and do not have too high pursuits. Especially the Li and Miao people in the mountains and wilderness, they will not do it themselves if they can get it without work, and they will not work by themselves if they can grab it. Therefore, although there are abundant products here, it is still common for the Han people to be harassed and plundered.

And most importantly, these Li and Miao ethnic groups do not have a strong sense of identity with the Great Song Dynasty. Even they don't necessarily think that they are from the Song Dynasty, if they want to use Qiongzhou as a foothold, then at least solve the problem of Li Miao.

When Su Wanghai explained the situation in Qiongzhou in detail, the whole scene quieted down.

Lu Xiufu, who was standing on the side, glanced at Su Wanghai, then at Chen Xiang, and said: "Now is the time to employ people, and our army has lost too many soldiers after repeated defeats. Replenish our forces! First of all, reorganize the forbidden army! ”

Chen Xiang smiled and said, "That's right, replenishing new blood is indeed one of our most important jobs, but we can't just replenish soldiers, but also officials. Prime Minister Lu Cheng, you and Governor Su are in charge together, and they will urgently hold a scientific examination on Qiongzhou Island, and this scientific examination is not limited to their background, and both businessmen and criminals can participate in the examination. There is no age limit, as long as there is talent, you can give fame, regardless of race. Both Han Chinese and Li Miao can take the exam.

Moreover, the content of the examination focuses first on persuading farmers, second on craftsmen and business, and three on military martial arts. Got it? Chen Xiang naturally knew that there was no way to reverse the current disadvantage by relying only on civilian officials and the army, and he also deeply understood the importance of productivity, and he must restore or even stimulate production as soon as possible, so as to quickly recover the vitality of his poor fleeing army and further restore the luck on his head, so that he could have the strength to fight with the Mongols.

In addition, interracial problems. The Han people's contempt for barbarians is also one of the main contradictions that lead to conflicts, and the first thing to solve the problem quickly is to use force to forcibly destroy the original social structure and culture of Li Miao. The Han culture directly replaced their original culture. The second is to incorporate them into their own system by means of gentleness, and assimilate them into a part of themselves through benefit sharing and constant promotion.

Chen Xiang did not want to solve this problem by force. First, the Song army may not succeed when it is so weak, and secondly, it is not in line with his goal of satisfying most people with system and execution and establishing a prosperous era.

Now Chen Xiang has temporarily won himself a short respite by controlling Zhang Hongfan. And this time is very short, after Zhang Hongfan is controlled by himself, even if he is a generation of famous generals, it is impossible to lead the army with wavering military morale in this situation, and there are friendly troops with bad intentions around him, all the way north, break the restrictions of the Mongols, and restore the entire country. What's more, Zhang Hongfan is actually just a dead man now, and he has no ability to exert the strength of his famous general!

Chen Xiang only tried his best to develop his strength during the period of Zhang Hongfan's insistence, and after recovering his strength, he tried to make a comeback. Zhang Hongfan can only be used as his delaying strategy, but not as his reliance, Chen Xiang deeply understands this!

Besides, these northern soldiers have received different education since childhood, and they have no idea of loyalty to the Song Dynasty in their minds, so they can't rely on it, so they simply throw themselves into the war with the Mongols and consume it.

In this case, controlling the power of Qiongzhou Island as soon as possible and mobilizing every force is the most important task in front of Chen Xiang. Therefore, he would conduct such scientific expeditions in order to improve the political status of the peasants and workers and stimulate their production and capacity.

Lu Xiufu's eyes moved, as if he was moved by what he said, and cautiously admonished: "But Your Majesty, in this way, this court will be mixed, good and bad, and it will make our court even weaker!" ”

Chen Xiang thought for a while and said quietly: "After drinking the donkey to quench your thirst, seek an antidote to solve the toxicity, or is it better to die of thirst now?" The current imperial court, like a candle flame in the wind, will be extinguished if you are not careful, only by finding dry firewood to survive, it is possible to talk about the solution of the ills, if we do not replenish our own strength, it is very likely that we will perish directly in this internal and external troubles! ”

Hearing the little emperor's defense, Lu Xiufu also understood that this was not a whim of the little emperor, but a well-thought-out policy, so he no longer contradicted and kowtowed to apologize.

Chen Xiang helped him and said, "Prime Minister Lu is not guilty, there is no need to apologize." After thinking about it again, he said: "If there is a place where Hao Qiang is willing to come with his own troops, he will be directly appointed as a forbidden army officer according to the number of people, but he must be trained in a unified manner." There are also families on Qiongzhou Island with a property of more than 500 acres, all of whom can be sent to children over the age of 16 and under the age of 40 to enter the imperial court for apprenticeship.

In addition, when our army entered Qiongzhou Island before, the collection of military supplies was a little anxious, which may cause dissatisfaction among the people. Those who are unwilling to contribute to the imperial court are recorded as taxes, which are considered to be their taxes in advance, and the taxes in the next few years are discounted from them and cannot be collected again. ”

When Lu Xiufu and Su Wanghai heard Chen Xiang's words, they had to listen to the order, but the two looked at each other, knowing that the emperor was going to win people's hearts first and stabilize the rear, so they naturally knew it.

In this imperial examination, the biggest competitors can clearly foresee that the Han people who came over with the emperor of the late Song Dynasty and the local Han people on Qiongzhou Island, as for the Li and Miao ethnic groups in the mountains and wilderness, they may not be able to recognize the rewards and systems of the Song Dynasty, and they will not be smoothly integrated into the imperial court system like the Han people.

After making this decision, Chen Xiang turned his head to look at Su Wanghai again, and said: "Su Aiqing must cooperate with this Prime Minister Lu, those scholarly families on Qiongzhou Island need to be taken care of, those young talents need to be promoted, Su Aiqing is the most familiar and understood, this needs Su Aiqing's mention, and it is necessary to bring the capable and strong people of the entire Qiongzhou Island to the imperial court." Su Wanghai was hesitating in his heart, and suddenly a childish voice suddenly sounded behind the living room that was serving as a court meeting: "Who dares to hurt my father!" I fought with him! ”

When Su Wanghai heard this voice, his face turned white immediately, and he shouted angrily: "Don't talk nonsense!" Get back to the book! ”

I didn't expect Su Wanghai not to shout, as soon as he shouted, a little boy in lake green clothes rushed in from behind the living room, who looked like he was seven or eight years old, and as soon as he came in, he saw Chen Xianglai, who was sitting on a chair wearing a dragon robe and a gold box hanging from his waist.

When Chen Xiang saw this child, he smiled and said, "Who is this child?" ”

The kid didn't wait for Su Wanghai to answer, and said loudly: "I am Su Huaiyuan, the third son of Su Mansion, who are you?" ”

One of the imperial guards suddenly pulled out his long sword and shouted, "Presumptuous! In front of the emperor, how can you be wild! Su Wanghai hurriedly rushed up, held down Su Huaiyuan, knelt in front of Chen Xiang, and said in a panic: "The emperor is angry!" This is the young son of the minister, please ask the emperor to spare the dog's life for the sake of Weichen's loyalty! ”

Seeing Su Wanghai begging for mercy, Chen Xiang shouted: "Slow guards!" ”

The guards naturally knew that the emperor was going to subdue this Su Wanghai county guard, so naturally he was just making a show, as soon as Chen Xiang shouted, he restrained his movements, and just glared at the child angrily. Although the child was frightened, he still looked stubborn, but he didn't look scared at all.

Chen Xiang said: "Since Su Aiqing has such a good son, why don't you come to my palace and be a housekeeper." ”

Sheren is basically equivalent to a secretary in later generations, but an eight-year-old emperor wants a child who is also seven or eight years old to be a secretary, how do you look at it and feel ridiculous, but at this moment, Su Wanghai didn't feel ridiculous at all, he only felt that his back was probably soaked. This is obviously to make his son a hostage to the emperor!

As soon as Chen Xiang's words fell, Su Wanghai was also obviously nervous, the whole scene quieted down, and the guards even put their hands on the hilt of their swords. After a while, a lot of sweat appeared on Su Wanghai's forehead, and finally he seemed to have figured it out, breathed a sigh of relief, knelt on the ground, bowed to Chen Xiangsan nine times, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" ”

Chen Xiang saw that the luck on Su Wanghai's head had completely drifted to his side, and began to dissolve into his own luck, and his heart was also a lot more relaxed and happy, if his policies were not assisted by Su Wanghai, they would inevitably make things develop in a bad direction, and only when he returned to his heart could he do things well.

Su Wanghai hurriedly thanked him, and Chen Xiang nodded with satisfaction. (To be continued......)