stepped on the snow and Lingshuang, went west out of Chang'an, and sent off Dong Zhongshu's Yuan Zhao, but did not return to Changle Yuan directly. After taking the main father Yan, Cui Hong, Xiaoice and others, along the avenue outside Yong'an Gate for half an hour, in the bleak winter weather, where the wine flag is fragrant, the Qingjiao restaurant is already in sight.

Just a few days ago, Sima Xiangru, who pacified the southwest Yi, finally returned to Chang'an. It's just that he and Wen Jun haven't seen each other for a long time, and he misses the children at home who have not yet met, so he didn't stay in Chang'an City for long. After meeting the emperor and reporting all the matters, he got the permission of His Majesty the Emperor to take a half-month vacation to complete his longing for a few years away from home.

The emperor was so sympathetic to him, and he could already see the weight of Sima Xiangru in the sacred heart. After thanking Long En, he didn't care about anything else, just rushed to the Changle Marquis's mansion and hurriedly visited Yuan Zhao. Halfway through, he already knew the news of Yuan Zhao's injury, and when he saw that he was fine, he was relieved.

Yuan Zhao knew his intentions, but he just left him for a meal, and in the future, he had time to talk about it, so he urged him to go home and visit him quickly. The understanding between them naturally does not need too much politeness, and when the time is agreed, Sima Xiangru will leave and go back.

Although he didn't elaborate, the current situation in the southwest Yi place, Yuan Zhao was naturally clear in his heart. Not only he knew it, but even the emperor and several important ministers understood it very well in their hearts. This is naturally due to the fact that the waterway and land routes leading to the southwest have been opened, the transportation is convenient, the merchants are constantly coming and going, and the news of thousands of miles will arrive in two or three days.

After several years of governance, the rebellion of the Southwest Yi has been completely quelled, of course, there are still a small number of tribal chiefs and barbarian nobles, who refuse to give in, escape into remote places in the mountains, and continue to fight, but most of them are no longer climate, and do not pose a big threat.

The difficulty of governing the states of the Southwest is not a matter of one or two days. These tribal alliances had been closely connected with the Central Plains for many years before the Qin Dynasty unified the Six Kingdoms. It is also a constant incursion of the bordering Qin State.

During the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, in order to relieve the worries of the future, in order to make every effort to conquer the six eastern countries, the Qin State raised troops to the west in the shortest possible time, successively destroyed the two countries of Bashu and some small subject states, thoroughly understood the hidden dangers of the rear, and set up Bashu County here. After the Qin king unified the world, he carried out a thorough sweep of this area, and set up six counties to strengthen the management of these barbarian minorities.

However, after the great chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty, these places lost control, and fell back into chaos, and they were divided into dozens of feudal states of various sizes, arrogant, believing that the Han people could no longer control them.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, in the first few decades, the imperial court really had no time to take care of these places. Although they became ruthless later, and local counties also sent troops to suppress them a few times, it did not have much effect. This is because a road is difficult to walk, and the difficulty of Shu Road is difficult to go to the sky! Heavy troops simply can't get in. Second, because the imperial court does not pay enough attention to this area, in the eyes of those in power, it is just some wild and barren land, even if it takes great effort to completely submerge them into the territory of the Han Dynasty, it seems that there is no great benefit, and even the gains outweigh the losses.

But now everything is different, since a few years ago, Yuan Zhao officially formulated a plan to develop the southwest Yi in the court, and soon made huge profits, the emperor who tasted the sweetness has long regarded it as a treasure land.

In just a few years, the Han Dynasty not only quickly quelled the riots on the southwest border and exterminated several feudal kings who led the rebellion, but also set up a total of three counties in the Nanyi region, which were Jianwei County, Ke County and Yizhou County. In the Xiyi area, four counties were set up, namely Yuejun County, Shenli County, Wenshan County and Wudu County. And again, among the many ethnic minority monarchs in the southwest region, the monarchs of the two countries were selected to be crowned kings, namely the Yelang King and the Dian King, in order to appease the local people.

From then on, this area was included in the Han territory and officially became a county of the Han Empire.

The reason why the situation was quickly stabilized in such a short period of time is, of course, inseparable from Sima Xiangru, who was the envoy of the southwest of the Guanbai Zhonglang. Even the emperor didn't expect that this Sima Changqing, who entered his eyes because of his talent, would be such a man who was both civil and military, and had a strategic belly.

Although this is also related to the fact that Yuan Zhao has planned all the overall situation a long time ago, Sima Xiangru can quickly achieve today's point in such a complicated situation, which is enough to see his ability. Therefore, the emperor has long expressed his intention, and this time he will return to Chang'an, which is to be of great use.

It is no wonder that the emperor attaches great importance to it, since the beginning of the development of the southwest Yi, the two passages of water and land have been gradually opened up, and the exchanges between the Han people and those ethnic minorities in the Central Plains have been further strengthened, and the circulation of all kinds of commodities is endless. Not to mention the growth of the wealth of the vast number of people, it is his own "small treasury" in the palace, and now if the foreign ministers know how much wealth is contained there, I am afraid they will be stunned.

The wealth of the emperor's inner library was quickly accumulated by Yuan Zhao for him in the past few years, and more than half of it came from Southwest Yi. The rest are from the South China Sea and East Vietnam.

It's just that it has started a few small wars to achieve such a big gain! Every time the emperor went to Jianzhang Palace to look through the account book that Wei Zifu was in charge of him, he would sigh with emotion. Yes, these victories came so easily, it was easy not even the regular Han army was mobilized, it can be said that there was no loss at all, and the territory was expanded and the financial resources were extensive!

Whenever he thought of this, the emperor's heart became extremely confident, and he naturally understood why all this came so easily. Thinking about his original meritorious work, he hastily set the plan for the siege of Mayi, and did not hesitate to mobilize more than 300,000 elite Han troops across the country, spent countless materials, money and food, and wanted to trap and kill the Xiongnu Shan Yu, but in the end it was fruitless, and he almost became a laughing stock.

The current good situation was reversed from Yuan Zhao's formal participation in the government. Whether it was to quell the rebellion in Southeast Vietnam or to develop the Southwest Yi, he was the first to plan. And the talents that emerged among them, such as Yan Zhu, Zhongjun, Sima Xiangru and Zhang Qian, who later made the first contribution to the Western Regions, are also inseparable from his strong recommendation. And these young talents also lived up to expectations, and after they came out, they all made great contributions and made important contributions to the prosperity of the Han Dynasty step by step.

Therefore, from Yuan Zhao to Sima Xiangru, these people were treated by the emperor specially. He believes that there will be more and more miracles created by Yuan Zhao leading these young talents to him, and he is looking forward to this and giving him the greatest faith and support.

A holy decree of reward has arrived with Sima Xiangru's footsteps home. When Yuan Zhao arrived at the restaurant, it was bustling, and a large number of congratulatory people gathered in the suburbs of Qing, which was very lively.

"Bounty of 10,000 gold, give the ...... of the marquis of the town!"

The emperor's grace is vast, although he is only a marquis of Guannei who does not have many fiefdoms, but Sima Xiangru was born in white, which is already a rare honor. What's more, he is already in the emperor's heart, and his future is unlimited.

The old friends who had heard the news and rushed over saw the new marquis who had traveled the world with him in the past, and his demeanor was very different from the past. The taste in my heart is different, but one thing is the same, and that is to feel happy and uplifted.

Today's meritocracy is not an empty slogan! As long as you have real talent and real learning, you will not have to worry about not having the opportunity to get ahead. Look at these former friends, Zhong Jun, Yan An, Xu Le, and Sima Xiangru, they can all be regarded as successful and famous, and they are really envious of others!

Sima Xiangru's mood today is needless to say. Looking at Wen Jun who has followed him without regrets for all these years, the corners of his eyes have been slightly wrinkled, and then he looks at his white and chubby son Mingzhu in his arms, his heart is bittersweet and bitter, and he has mixed tastes.

Now that he has finally lived up to what he has learned in his chest and begun to make great progress, most of the credit belongs to Wenjun. It's just that she doesn't need him to say any words of gratitude, a touch of tenderness in her eyes is enough.

The so-called icing on the cake, cooking oil in a hot fire, such things always come extra lively. In the past few days, not only Sima Xiangru's friends have come to congratulate him, but even the wealthy families in Shuzhong who have been friends with the Zhuo family who have gotten the news are hundreds of miles away, and dozens of people have followed the old man Zhuo.

The owners of the Qingjiao restaurant have been busy these days, and all the stores under their names have stopped operating, and they are specially entertaining their own masters. The carriages on the avenue are discharged for dozens of miles, and every day there are many congratulatory guests, and the wine banquet is set up as a flowing water banquet.

Don't say that the Zhuo family, the No. 1 wealthy family in Shuzhong, is not bad for money, even if you don't need Zhang Luo from your mother's family, only the industry in the suburbs presided over by Zhuo Wenjun is already an extraordinary value. To say that the happiest is of course her, not only is she in harmony with the Zhuo family, but also Changqing's career has finally been fulfilled, and today the family is reunited and beautiful, and it can be said that there is nothing to ask for.

Therefore, when Yuan Zhao came, the smile on Wen Jun's face was so satisfied that he could no longer hold it. She personally pulled this little brother to the main seat and sat down, and gave everyone a grand introduction.

Of course, a few friends who have been in Chang'an for a long time know Yuan Zhao, and they have already respectfully bowed their hands. And most people have only heard of his reputation and do not know him. When they heard that the young man in front of them, who was no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, was the famous Changle Hou, everyone's hearts stirred.

And the most excited among them are the dozen or so wealthy businessmen in Shuzhong who came from afar. They know best how to find business opportunities, and they are very sensitive to some court trends. The news that the imperial court wanted to open the Western Regions made them feel extremely excited, because a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity was in front of them. Therefore, the Shuzhong consortium came to Chang'an just to see Yuan Zhao!