General Tang, look, I just said that Yelanghou is not a fool, as long as we give him a chance to live, he will definitely agree to talk to us. ”

Sima Xiangru pointed to Duotong who came out of the palace with a horsewhip, and said to Tang Meng with a smile.

Although Sima Xiangru hadn't seen what Duotong looked like before, the exaggerated golden armor on Duotong's body could directly prove his identity.

Tang Meng smiled and nodded, earlier he just didn't want to talk about it, thinking that it would be good to directly kill all the thousand palace guards of Duotong and attack this palace full of gold and gems.

I don't really think that Sima Xiangru said that he would negotiate, and Duotong would refuse.

Tang Meng still had his own selfishness and wanted to make a fortune in this war.

Duotong slowly walked out of the palace step by step, and when he saw the three thousand soldiers of the Han Dynasty, he couldn't help but tremble in his heart.

Just now, it was this army that forced him back into the city of Yanxian County, and he was thinking about whether to negotiate or not, and what to do if the Han army suddenly attacked and held him hostage.

As a result, before he could come up with any results, he had already walked in front of Sima Xiangru.

Sima Xiangru and Tang Meng saw that Duotong was still a liege of the Han Dynasty, and they dismounted together, and did not treat Duotong with a look of disdain.

"Zhonglang General Sima Xiangru and Tang Meng have seen Yelanghou."

The two of them were extremely polite, which made Duotong have an illusion, couldn't the war just outside the city of Juan County be a joke?

"You don't have to be so polite, I just lost the battle, and you guys make me a little confused."

Duo Tong was a little flustered, and he didn't know what he said.

Sima Xiangru almost didn't laugh out loud, and he was still thinking about rebellion.

"Yelang Hou should know that His Majesty the Emperor of our country is a benevolent and righteous king, although you are unkind, unrighteous, disloyal and unfilial first, but Your Majesty does not blame you.

Otherwise, General Tang and I wouldn't be so polite. ”

Duo didn't react for a while, and asked Sima Xiangru.

"Since the emperor of the Han State doesn't blame me, why do you still send troops to attack my Yelang Kingdom?"

Sima Xiangru changed his previous kind appearance and said with a sneer.

"There is no Yelang country anymore, this is the Qianwei County of the Han Dynasty, and the county seat of the Han Dynasty is also a county seat of the Han Dynasty.

Although Your Majesty does not blame you, for the sake of the face of the Celestial Empire, you must teach those rebels a bloody lesson. ”

Duotong reacted at this time, earlier he still thought that Yelang Kingdom was actually preserved, and he thought that there was still this meaning waiting for him.

"You are talking nonsense, this is my Yelang, not the territory of your Han.

The ambition of the wolf son of the Han Kingdom, how can he convince the people of the world? ”

Sima Xiangru didn't answer Duotong's question, and he didn't want to continue to dwell on it.

"Your Majesty ordered me to suppress the rebellion of Qianwei County, and the Marquis of Yelang will be the same as the rebels, and if they surrender, they will be spared, and the rest of the people who will still retain the title of Marquis of Lie.

The official offices of Qianwei County are not allowed to be controlled by the Yelang people, and the imperial court will send officials to take over military and political affairs.

If the Yelang tribe insists on going its own way, I have the right to purge everyone in the Yelang tribe.

This is an order from His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, do you still have any questions about Yelanghou?

Now there are only two choices in front of you, surrender, and you can continue to be your marquis.

Resistance, all the Yelang people in this county town have only one end, and the soldiers of the Han Dynasty will not mind dyeing the entire Qiqi River red. ”

Duotong's face was blue for a while and white for a while, in fact, he wanted to surrender immediately, but now that he has surrendered, the previous war has become a joke.

Will anyone listen to his words in this night? What a grievance those dead Yelang people were.

"Surrender the king, Yelang can't die anymore."

The minister who had advised Duotong earlier said in the back.

After Sima Xiangru heard this, he directly shouted.

"What king is here and there? You really want to continue to rebel, but you can't do it! ”

The minister was so frightened that he fell to his knees and begged for mercy.

"General Shangguo, the villain made a slip of the tongue for a while, please have a large number of adults, forgive the villain."

Duotong glanced at the minister kneeling on the ground, and sighed in his heart.

"General Sima, this matter will end here, this time I was dizzy for a while, and I ask the general to convey my regret to His Majesty the Emperor of the Celestial Empire."

When Sima Xiangru heard that Duotong was willing to surrender, his face immediately turned cloudy and clear, and he became kind again.

Then the general led the army to retreat.

By the way, there is one more thing that may require Yelanghou to agree. ”

Duotong frowned and asked Sima Xiangru.

"Whatever I can, I will do it with all my might."

Sima Xiangru smiled and pointed to the thousand palace guards behind Duotong.

"These people's weapons may be something we have to bring back."

"What? Won't I have no one to protect me in the future? ”

"Don't worry, Your Majesty will send someone to be the county guard of Qianwei County, and the county guard will form a county soldier at that time.

If Yelanghou is worried about his safety, he can go back to Chang'an with me, and the safest place in the world is there. ”

People are swordsmen, I am fish and meat, and even if you are reluctant at this moment, it is impossible to regret it.

"Well, as General Sima said.

I was a little tired and wanted to go back to the palace to rest. ”

Sima Xiangru smiled and waved his hand.

"It's okay to be free to be free."

The conversation between the two made the people around them feel as if Sima Xiang was like the host, but they had become guests.

After collecting all the weapons of the palace guards of the Thousand Nights, Sima Xiangru did not stay long, and directly led the army out of the valley.

Then he ordered the 20,000 Yelang troops to be released, and after arranging some spies, Sima Xiangru and Tang Mengcai withdrew with a large army from the county town of Yan, and went south along the Qiqi River to Hanyang Duwei.

Seeing that the Han army had withdrawn from the city, Zong Xing, who was hiding in a private house, was relieved.

His coming to the county town was definitely a confidential matter, and before leaving, Zhang Yuan told Zongxing that even Zhuo Wenjun could not reveal the matter of collecting the mad fruit.

Sima Xiangru and Tang Meng both knew Zongxing, and if they were discovered, they would definitely be suspicious in their hearts.

Zongxing didn't know whether the Han army had returned to Fuguan or where to go, and was worried that he would meet the departing Han army on the road, so he stayed in the city for three days before leaving calmly.

This time, Yelang people also know what it means to be high and thick, of course, there are many people who are not convinced, but at this juncture, no one will make any more trouble.

Chang'an City Jianzhang Palace.

After less than ten days, Sima Xiangru summarized what happened in Southwest Yi and sent it to Liu Che's desk.

There are actually quite a lot of things in the south, and sometimes it is more of a headache for Liu Che than the Xiongnu in the north.

There is only one enemy in the north, and that is the Huns.

But there are too many ethnic minorities in the south, known as Baiyue.

Every now and then, a tribe comes out and jumps.

After Liu Che read Sima Xiangru's recital, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

He hadn't been worried about anything in the southwest, he just felt irritable.

As an emperor, he wanted to expand the territory for the Han Dynasty as much as possible, but the many problems that came to him made Liu Che feel tired.

The population of Dahan is not large, and now it is only 50 million, but a considerable part of it, almost more than 10 million people, do not have a hukou.

Therefore, the number of people counted by the government is only more than 30 million.

If the population of the Han Dynasty is extremely large, coupled with the expansion of the territory of the Han army in all directions, it can replenish the population to those border areas, increase the proportion of local Han people, and greatly reduce the probability of accidents.

However, now the population of the Han Dynasty cannot even develop the original land, and only less than one-third of the entire territory has been developed, and the rest of the land is all deserted.

This made Liu Che never have a good way to completely solve the troubles in the south.

That's why the tail doesn't fall off.

"Let Taixue order Zhang Yuan to come to see me."

Liu Che was a little bored in his heart, and then said this sentence.

"Whoa."

A yellow squire stepped out of the shadows, and quickly exited the palace after making a promise.

Knowing that Liu Che was going to summon him, Zhang Yuan was a little abrupt, and the relationship between Liu Che and Zhang Yuan was a little deformed for such a long time.

Generally, when there is no major event that Zhang Yuan must participate in, Liu Che always subconsciously forgets Zhang Yuan.

After receiving the order to summon, before an hour, Zhang Yuan had already arrived at Jianzhang Palace.

After such a long time, Liu Che was still waiting for Zhang Yuan in the Yutang Hall while handling government affairs.

"Your Majesty, the Taixue Order has already arrived outside the palace."

"Announce him in."

"Xuantaixue ordered Zhang Yuan to meet him."

Zhang Yuan heard the shout, quickly took off his shoes, and quickly entered the hall.

"Minister Zhang Yuan pays a visit to Your Majesty."

Liu Che saw Zhang Yuan coming in, put down the piece in his hand, and looked at Zhang Yuan.

"Okay, Taixue Ling doesn't have to be so restrained, I summoned you here today because I want to ask you something."

"Your Majesty, please ask, the minister must know everything and say everything."

"Yelang Hou Duotong launched a rebellion in Qianwei County some time ago, and I asked Sima Xiangru and Tang Meng to suppress it.

Now Yelang Hou Duotong has succumbed, but these barbarians have always liked to go back and forth, and only you Zhang Yuan in Chang'an City are very familiar with Yelang.

I would like to ask you if there is any way to solve the problems of the Yoro clan in one fell swoop. ”

Zhang Yuan had long wanted to know what the situation was with Yelang now, but he didn't expect Liu Che to come to the door by himself and tell Zhang Yuan about the matter.

Since someone went to suppress it, and Liu Che still called Duotong Yelanghou, it means that the matter is not very big, and the safety of Zongxing should also be guaranteed.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yuan's heart relaxed a lot, but he forgot to answer Liu Che's question.

"Is there any worry in Taixueling's heart, why don't you answer?"

Zhang Yuan reacted at this time, Liu Che was still in front of him.

"Please forgive your majesty, the minister is still Yelang who went a few years ago, Your Majesty suddenly asked the minister, and the minister just thought about some more things about Yelang."

"Do you have any good ideas to come up with?"

"The minister has a way, that is, to say it for fear that His Majesty will blame."

Zhang Yuan thought about it and did think of a good solution, but it might be difficult for Liu Che to accept.

"Even if you say it, no matter what you say in the Jade Hall Hall today, as long as it is not spread out, I will not blame you."

"Your Majesty is magnanimous, and the minister suddenly thought of the theory of heaven and man induction that Dong Zhongshu had told His Majesty.

The minister thought to himself, since His Majesty is the spokesman of heaven, the son of the true dragon, and the protector of the Han Dynasty, then naturally he can also be the god of other tribes in the world. ”

Liu Che had always been very interested in this kind of remarks, his eyes lit up when he stared at Zhang Yuan, and then said to Zhang Yuan.

"Go on."

"Solving the problem of the Yelang clan is actually very simple, the reason why the Yelang people dare to start a rebellion is because they do not agree with Your Majesty in their hearts.

His Majesty is now only the Emperor of our Han people, but in the eyes of the Yelang people, His Majesty is not their god.

The Yelang clan believes in witchcraft, believes in mountain kings, ghosts and gods, and if something big happens, they must ask the ghost master.

Yelang Hou Duo's status in the minds of the Yelang clan is even inferior to the ghost masters in the Yelang clan, let alone those gods.

As long as we send people to Gandhi County and spread the word that His Majesty is the King of the Mountain and the reincarnation of the Black God among the Yelang clan, in the long run, His Majesty will definitely become the true god of the Yelang clan.

Of course, the gods that this kind of small clan believes in are definitely inferior to Your Majesty, and once you do this, your Majesty's status will be lowered. ”

Zhang Yuan's method actually thought of the Qing Dynasty emperors behind him, those Manchu emperors not only became the gods of the Manchus, but also the gods of the Mongolian and Tibetan peoples.

Take Emperor Kangxi as an example, the Qing Shengzu Mongolian people called him Enkh Amgulang Khan, and the Tibetans regarded the emperor of the Central Plains as the embodiment of Manjushri in the mortal world.

All these are very conducive to the rule of the rulers and can also maintain the stability of ethnic minorities.

Liu Che closed his eyes after listening to Zhang Yuan's words, Zhang Yuan knew that he was thinking about the feasibility of this matter, so he stood respectfully under His Highness and stopped making a sound.

Soon Liu Che made a decision and opened his eyes suddenly.

"Does Taixue make you believe in ghosts and gods?"

Zhang Yuan shook his head.

"I'm not afraid of Your Majesty's anger, the minister doesn't believe in ghosts and gods."

Although Zhang Yuan came through time, the prompt sounds of the system can often sound in his mind, and these voices remind Zhang Yuan all the time, because if it is really a ghost or god, it is a magic weapon to give Zhang Yuan, why bother to make a system.

The most important thing is the name of this system, could it be that the gods in the sky lived too long, and went to see the literary masterpiece "How Steel is Made"?

"Actually, I don't believe it, but I often have doubts in my mind, and sometimes I think about it all day long, and I can't figure out why.

But if you connect these doubts with ghosts and gods, everything seems to have an explanation, do you usually have these doubts? ”

Zhang Yuan didn't shake his head this time, but nodded firmly, he felt that he had more doubts in his heart than Liu Che, and the more he knew, the more question marks in his mind.

The minister often has doubts, but the minister feels that since these doubts are doubts, there is a reason for their existence.

Doubts and troubles are not good things, they are things that people always want to stay away from and abandon, and they are afraid to avoid them.

It is precisely because doubts cause uneasiness in our hearts, and doubts come from our hearts, that these doubts need to be explained by ourselves.

Ghosts and spirits cannot interfere with our hearts, and naturally they cannot answer the doubts in our hearts.

People in the world are ignorant and don't understand the reason, so they have confusion in their hearts and don't ask about ghosts and gods in their hearts, but they don't know that doubts are all thoughts born in our own hearts. ”

Zhang Yuan said that Liu Che's brows were obviously furrowed at this time, but Zhang Yuan didn't notice it, but continued to speak.

"The minister dared to guess what His Majesty was thinking, and His Majesty wanted to make a contribution to eternity and become a saint of the ages.

Only then did you want to solve the biggest trouble of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu, and also wanted to expand the territory, and at the same time wanted the Han Dynasty to enter the prosperous era during your reign.

I don't know if the minister's guess is right or wrong. ”

Liu Che's brows, which were originally furrowed because Zhang Yuan said that he didn't ask about ghosts and gods, suddenly eased.

"You're right, I really want to build immortality."

"Then Your Majesty should work hard to destroy the Xiongnu and open up the territory to create a prosperous world, instead of believing in ghosts and gods.

Expanding the territory requires His Majesty to build an invincible army in the world, and His Majesty can improve the weapons and equipment of the Han army, and can expand the number of troops.

To create a prosperous world, His Majesty needs to have wealthy people, officials who can make local government simple and clean, and grain that can fill the granaries of the world.

As long as Your Majesty can do this, how can there be doubts in your heart?

Improving weapons and equipment is the business of craftsmen, expanding the number of troops is the business of the population, making the people rich is the business of the courtiers, and harvesting the inexhaustible grain is the business of the people.

Your Majesty only needs to choose good officials to handle these matters, and you will be able to fulfill your wishes.

If you feel that there are no excellent talents to use, it means that the minister has not done his best, and it is the responsibility of Taixue. ”

Liu Che originally just wanted to ask about Yelangguo, but he didn't expect to talk to Zhang Yuan more and more, and he talked about his life ideals from the actual situation.

"Then according to what you said, isn't Dong Zhongshu deceiving me?"

Zhang Yuan shook his head.

"The minister said a few words in vain, Your Majesty, you and Dong Zhongshu are just using each other.

You want to use Confucianism to control the people, and Dong Zhongshu wants to use you to elevate the status of Confucianism and suppress other doctrines. ”

"Aren't you afraid of death if you say such disobedient words?"

Zhang Yuan was stunned, and sure enough, the companion was like a tiger, and Ma De himself said hi all of a sudden, and almost lifted the table to expose the darkness under the table.

"Please also ask Your Majesty to forgive the minister's sins, Your Majesty just said that no matter what the ministers said in the Yutang Hall today, Your Majesty will not blame the minister."

Liu Che wanted to slap Zhang Yuan a few times, but he still held back.

"I remember my promise, and I don't need to be reminded too much.

But I want to remind Taixue Ling, it's just your guess, I'm the lord of the world, do you need to use anyone, in other words, no matter who wants to use me, there is only one end, and that is death! ”

"I understand."

"Okay, I won't scare you anymore, then you can tell me how Dong Zhongshu is not deceiving me, how I should deal with those Confucian students."

"Your Majesty can use the Confucian scholars in the world as a tool, don't believe their words, just believe the people of the world."

At this time, Liu Che and Dong Zhongshu didn't know that the 'divine right of the monarch' was a double-edged sword, and at this time, they had not yet used the conditions and opportunities of the 'divine grant of the monarch' to restrict the power of the monarch.

Liu Che also did not taste the taste of 'divine authority of the monarch' to restrain himself.

Now Liu Che only thinks about being able to get rid of the constraints brought to him by the power of the prime minister, and he has not thought that the will of heaven will also bring constraints to himself.

"I remember what you said, listen to what you mean, to solve the matter of Yelang Country is to ask me to act for the Yelang people, anyway, the ghosts and gods are all nonsense, so it doesn't matter whether it's a big god or a small ghost, right?"

Zhang Yuan smiled and nodded, that's what he meant.

"Your Majesty is wise, and once implemented, this model can be replicated.

There are only tens of millions of Han people, and Your Majesty will not be able to limit your eyes to the Han people when you expand your territory and encompass the whole world.

As long as Your Majesty becomes a god among the tribes, the people in those tribes will support and be loyal to Your Majesty just like the people of the Han Dynasty! ”

"I originally thought that you Zhang Yuan was just a little clever, but now it seems that you know more about the big man than the others.

What would you think if I made you prime minister? ”

Liu Che asked Zhang Yuan with a smile, but Zhang Yuan trembled all over, let him be any official, even if it was a war with the Huns, but he couldn't be two officials, one was the prime minister, that was against Liu Che, and the other was Tingwei, and when Tingwei was against all officials except Liu Che.

"Your Majesty, the minister can now be ranked as a doctor, and it is already beyond his power to learn the order.

Now let alone be the prime minister, even if the minister is made to be an important official position such as the imperial historian or the court captain, the minister will not be able to meet the expectations of His Majesty. ”

"Since you don't want to, then I don't force it.

Wu Anhou is old after all, and he doesn't know who is more suitable to take over this position.

Okay, don't mention this matter, you go back and get a plan and send it to the palace, and I will find someone else to do Yelang's business. ”

"Obey the holy will."

"I'm a little tired, you go back to Taixue first."

"The minister retired."

After coming out of the Jade Hall, Zhang Yuan put another stone in his heart.

I was still thinking about the political achievements that I didn't take, but when the time of two years is up, maybe I will be finished, but when I am really sleepy, someone will come to deliver a pillow, and when I am hungry, others will prepare the meal.

The warmth that Liu Che sent this time made Zhang Yuan very comfortable.

And also let Zhang Yuan know many things, the most important of which is Liu Che's attitude.

The attitude towards Confucianism, the attitude towards ghosts and gods, and the attitude towards Tian Wei and the tolerance of Zhang Yuan himself.

If it was another person, or Liu Che in the past, many of the words Zhang Yuan said in the palace today could make Zhang Yuan die.

inadvertently satirized Liu Che's grandfather, and secretly manipulated Liu Che's thoughts, and even said that Liu Che was using Confucianism to deceive the world.

Fortunately, only Zhang Yuan and Liu Che were in the Yutang Hall at that time, and Liu Che was not worried that Zhang Yuan would die by himself and spread all the words of today, which made Zhang Yuan walk out of the Yutang Hall safely.

Outsiders only know that Liu Che summoned Zhang Yuan today, but they will never know what Liu Che and Zhang Yuan said between each other.

Just like before, Dou Ying met Liu Che late at night with an edict from Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and outsiders didn't know what they said.