A few days later, when the snow first stopped, Yuan Zhao and his party finally returned to Changle Plateau. There was one more person in the accompanying team, and that was Xu Le, the son of the Xu family in Guanzhong.

Xu Le came back from the distant country of Qi on the coast of the East China Sea, seeing that winter is coming, and the days of the year are coming to an end, it is inevitable to come back to make an inventory of the family's industry, which is a routine. And this year is especially important, because he received news from Yuan Zhao that before the end of the year, there will be a party on Changle Plateau, hoping that he can rush back to participate.

Since the death of Liu Dingguo, the king of Qi, as the first batch of vassal states to be implemented by the imperial court's edict, was soon divided into more than a dozen small princes, and his sons, each of whom was divided into several states and counties of different sizes as their own fiefdoms, has since become a plate of scattered sand, can only obediently obey the imperial court's edicts, and no longer has the ability or courage to give birth to dissent.

The only one who did not give in was Liu Xuan, the son of King Qi, the guy who had a conflict with Yuan Zhao in Mingyue Tower and was cut off by Xiaoice'er, leading those henchmen loyal to King Qi to escape to the sea and disappear after the rebellion was unsuccessful.

Qi's new salt industry policy is in full swing, and with the cooperation of Shaofu officials, more than a dozen salt families led by the Xu family have fully taken over all the salt farms in the East China Sea. As the leader of the son, Xu Le, knows that he has a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, and he is conscientious, and he does not dare to slack off, lest he live up to the trust of Yuan Zhao.

The new method of producing refined salt has completely changed the rough sea field salt drying method in the past, and watching the process of those rhubarb particles gradually turning into white and fine salt, whether it is the officials of the Shaofu, or the salt merchants and ordinary laborers, they are all very excited. They all knew in their hearts that with such a major change, the vast wealth of the East China Sea would be inexhaustible and become a real national treasure.

There are thousands of things, naturally it is very busy, but after receiving the news of Yuan Zhao, Xu Le did not dare to slack off at all, and after explaining all the matters in detail, he set off for the west and returned to Chang'an all the way.

Xu Le and Sima Xiangru have also been friends for many years, and at the beginning, seven or eight of them traveled the world together, and they were known to the world in the name of literature, and were known as talents for a while. Unexpectedly, after a few years passed, they each embarked on different development paths, and the most outstanding of them were him, Zhongjun and Sima.

Needless to say, the current commander of the Division, the newly established official system, has become more and more important in its authority. In the eyes of many discerning people, in just a few years, the Sili Lieutenant Office will inevitably surpass or even replace the Tingwei Mansion and become the most important law enforcement agency of the Han Dynasty. And Sima Xiangru relied on the merit of quelling the rebellion, and he already had the experience of pacifying one side, this time he returned to Chang'an, he must be above the clouds, and Jiuqing is in sight!

Although Xu Le gave up his career, no one dared to despise him. As long as you look at the fact that the salt politics of the East China Sea is dominated by the Xu family, you will envy countless people, as long as there are no other accidents, the Xu family will definitely rise rapidly in the shortest possible time and become one of the top wealthy families in the Han Domain, rich and noble.

thinks that Xu Le was also a son who thought highly of himself back then, except for a few friends he fancied, no one else could enter his vision at all. But since he saw Yuan Zhao, he was impressed by him. After overhearing the conversation between Yuan Zhao and Sima and his wife at the first meeting, he jumped out of his own initiative to express his desire to engage in business, and since then he has followed Yuan Zhao on a road that he never dared to think of.

This incident also became an experience that he bragged to countless people in the years to come, and he was complacent about his clear eyes. It was because of this opportunity that the Xu family seized this opportunity and became a huge family that almost rested with the country.

When I was in a restaurant in the suburbs of Qingdao, there were many people, so naturally there was no need to talk about it. On the way back to Changle Yuan, Xu Le was so excited that he reported to Yuan Zhao about the development of the East China Sea Salt Administration, the situation was very good, and the future was worth looking forward to. Yuan Zhao was naturally very satisfied, and the people he entrusted at the beginning saved a lot of worries. Give this piece to Xu Le, he is very worry-free.

Yuan Zhao has a preliminary idea, before the arrival of this year's Yuan Day, to carry out an inventory and summary. He wants to see what kind of achievements he has achieved through his own efforts in the past few years. What kind of strength has reached in his hands now, he wants to know in his heart. A series of big moves will be launched in the coming year, and you must prepare in advance to be prepared.

Yuan Zhao has not been on Changleyuan's side for nearly two months since he went to the Western Regions to answer and went directly to Chang'an after coming back, and then he was injured and recuperated until now. At this time, everyone was very happy to see that he had finally returned. Unconsciously, this figure has become a firm support for many people, and his every move has had a far-reaching impact.

In the wooden hall of Changle Plateau, the charcoal fire was very warm, and in this cold weather, people gathered here to welcome his arrival. Facing a pair of eager eyes, Yuan Zhao had a lot of emotion in his heart, these people in front of him are his most trustworthy team, and Changle Yuan, who is under construction according to his own will, will be his confidence to meet various challenges.

In Chang'an City, Yuan Zhao did not elaborate, those things related to the battle in the court, he could deal with it himself. And these followers, as long as they do things with hope. It's not just for the land, it's for the future, it's for themselves.

Yu Dan, the smiling prince of the Xiongnu, had a separate conversation with Yuan Zhao afterwards. Naturally, outsiders don't know what they're talking about. In the process of the first mission of the Han delegation to the Western Regions, Prince Yu Dan's forces gave them a lot of help, and Yuan Zhao promised him, so naturally he would not break his promise.

Even in the near future, the Han Dynasty was able to completely defeat the Huns, so that they would no longer dare to launch a rash invasion. But it is completely impossible to completely eliminate their power by force alone. Therefore, Yuan Zhao wanted to try a method that had not been used before to solve this big problem once and for all.

In the original history, Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty spent nearly 30 years, exhausted most of the national strength, and fought for many years, although he achieved an absolute victory against the Xiongnu and established great achievements. The Huns were hit hard and were driven far away to Mobei, but the contradictions between the Han and the Huns were not completely resolved. After Li Guang, Huo Quzhi, Wei Qing and other famous generals died one after another, the Huns, whose strength had recovered, gradually invaded the south again, and the war between the two countries was still not broken.

In the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, with the intensification of various domestic contradictions and struggles, he was no longer able to raise troops to the north. The arrogance of the Xiongnu became arrogant again, and in the face of a grim form, the court in the future had to continue to implement the policy of peace and proximity. The famous Wang Zhaojun's exit from the fortress is just a microcosm of this humiliating policy.

In such a situation, in Yuan Zhao's view, the exploits of Emperor Wu that are widely touted in the history books will be greatly discounted. Gambling on the fortunes of a prosperous dynasty only maintained a peaceful situation for a few decades, and then directly led to the rapid decline and demise of an empire, such a price to pay is a painful lesson.

Naturally, this cannot only be blamed for the recklessness of the Huns, which is difficult to domesticate, nor can it be blamed for the incompetence of the generals and the failure of the imperial court's strategy, it can only be said that this is an inevitability. The living conditions of the Huns determined their way of survival. In the harsh steppe desert, what can this tenacious people do for the reproduction of the race and their own survival?

The people who live on horseback are destined to not survive by grazing cattle and sheep alone. When the old, weak, women and children were waiting to be fed, the strong Hun cavalry, except to step on horseback and raise their scimitars to kill and rob, is there any other way to go?

Therefore, conquest by force alone is not enough. Even if Yuan Zhao trained the Black Eagle Army to be an invincible army in the world, they would not be able to slaughter all the Hun races that had been inherited for hundreds of years. In that case, why not think of something else?

It is necessary to let the Xiongnu and the Han people live in peace and gradually integrate them into the big family of the East. Let them get off their horses, remove their leather armor, forge their swords into ploughshares, melt their murderous scimitars into farming tools, and learn how to be self-reliant and get a better living environment.

As in his grand plan, in the future of the Han Empire, not only the Xiongnu, but also the Southwest Yi people, the Southeast Yue people, and the Lingnan barbarians will be transformed one by one. It is not only to conquer their bodies with swords and arrows, but also to transform their minds with words, and only by completely transforming them from the inside out, so that they can gradually accept and tame and even admire them from their hearts, this is a good way to completely solve the contradictions between the Han people and the surrounding countries.

This can be said to be a grand project, and no one seems to have done it well in the past dynasties. However, Yuan Zhao had the confidence and perseverance to achieve this goal as much as possible in his lifetime, so that future generations could completely solve the continuous wars caused by this contradiction.

To do this, you need help from many sources. Yuan Zhao has been preparing for a long time, and he has quietly laid out in many unknown places. Yu Dan, who was hunted down and killed by the Huns Dashan Yu Yi Zhixi, was an important chess piece he prepared in advance.

"The news from the grassland that since the second half of this year, Yi Zhixie has summoned the kings of various tribes to the royal court for meetings several times, and the elite cavalry has also stepped up their mobilization and gathering. Hehe! I think you should have known all this information a long time ago, right?"

"Yes, I don't need to hide this from you, there are naturally many spies we sent over the grassland. Changes from the grasslands can be known at any time ....... ”

In the cold moonlight, the two were talking quietly, and the wind was loud from far and near, and there were elite Black Hawk sergeants conducting night training. Yu Dan turned his head and silently looked at Yuan Zhao's eyes in the firelight, just as they had when they first met.

"Brother Yuan, I am helping the Han people to do these things, hoping to get the forgiveness and understanding of my father Khan's spirit in the sky, I just want to avenge him...... And just rescue Mom. ”

"Don't think too much, Yu Dan, after all, you have half of the Han blood in your body...... In the future, I hope you can be a king of benevolence and lead the grassland people to a bright future ....... ”