At the end of April of the third year of the Apocalypse, when Wan Yi sent people to send Zhang Sheng and others back to Chang'an while reorganizing his troops and horses and marching towards Ganzhou, the cabinet was also holding a meeting to discuss how to govern the Western Regions that were about to be incorporated into the imperial territory. In accordance with Li Xuanqing's previous instructions, Cen Tianshi formulated three basic principles for all ethnic groups in the northwest, and promulgated them at this cabinet meeting for the cabinet ministers to discuss and formulate policies for each department based on them.

The first is that all those who can speak Tang dialect in the Western Regions, and there are indications that they are descendants of the Han people, will be given priority to enter the household registration of the Tang Empire, as the first batch of people ruled by the empire in the Western Regions. This is also the first principle formulated by Cen Tianshi under the reality of many tribes in the northwest. After all, the theme of the Tang Empire is the Han nationality, and the ethnic integration policy formulated by Li Xuanqing is also based on the Han nationality to accommodate and absorb other ethnic groups. This article has been unanimously endorsed by all the ministries of the Cabinet, and the focus of consideration of the Northwest Ethnic Cluster must also be emphasized, so as to bring about an exemplary effect.

The second is to deal with the lower-class people in the northwest. Although there are many ethnic groups in the northwest, most of the tribes still live at the lowest level, and it can be said that the rule of both the Tibetans and the Uighurs in the northwest is based on the enslavement of other tribes. So, with the exception of a few tribes that could be called the ruling class in the same class as the Uighurs, most of the other small and medium-sized tribes were not much better off than the Han Chinese. Yang Qiu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs disagreed with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Guards, and Yang Qiu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs believed that it was possible to consider gradually incorporating this part of the population into the official subjects of the empire under the premise of establishing the priority of the Han people, granting household registration and enjoying all the rights and obligations of the subjects of the empire. However, Murong Hanhai and Zhang Qi have reservations about this, among which Murong Hanhai is more inclined to believe that these tribes must contribute to the unification and economic development of the empire before they can enter the empire in the form of rewarding meritorious deeds, otherwise it will be unfair to other ethnic groups, and it is also unfair to the struggling Han people in the northwest region. Naturally, his opinion could also represent the opinions of the other few tribes within the empire at this moment. Zhang Qi's opinion was much more violent, and the Ministry of Security hated these forces that oppressed the Han people on weekdays, and advocated driving them out of the Western Regions.

After listening to everyone's opinions, Cen Tianshi decided to include the opinions of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, but for the few tribes that had been screened in the northwest region, it was decided to incorporate them into the empire, and other tribes with problems and bad deeds adopted Murong Hanhai's opinion.

The third point is that the Uighurs and some of the tribes that depend on them are all disposed of as war criminals, and they are all sent to various places to serve hard labor for three to ten years, after which they are incorporated into the household register of the imperial subjects of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Originally, the meeting was basically over here, but at this time Li Xuanqing and Xu Tianxiang came over, in addition to the news that the General Staff brought an urgent express message sent by Wan Yi to report Zhang Sheng, Li Xuanqing also added a three-point principle to Cen Tianshi, that is, schools at all levels should be established in batches in the northwest region, all administrative personnel and the common language must be changed to Tang dialect from now on, the culture taught in schools must also be Chinese characters, and all non-Tang dialect school institutions should be abolished.

Li Xuanqing's article has a self-evident effect on the integration of other ethnic groups in the northwest region, and the Minister of Education Yuan He, who attended the meeting, also stated on the spot that he would start to establish schools in major cities and towns in the northwest, select teachers to teach the Tang dialect and Tang culture to the children of various places, and re-establish the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty in the northwest.

Immediately after the reunification, the Cabinet sent Deputy Prime Minister Tuoba Siji, as the head of the Northwest Military Administrative Region, to personally go to the front line to direct officials at all levels to take over the rectification, and to restore it, and to coordinate all parties to quickly stabilize the rear and provide support for the military's military operations.

After the meeting, Tuoba Sizhi said goodbye to Li Xuanqing after the handover with Cen Tianshi, and then rushed to the Western Regions, meeting Yang Yi and others along the way. And Murong Hanhai was left behind by Li Xuanqing.

"Zhang Sheng, are they really descendants of Anxi? And the relics of Anthy back then? Cen Tianshi took the news from Xu Tianxiang and looked at it, a little surprised, and said uncertainly.

"Xiao Si is already waiting in Lingzhou, is it that he will find a way to screen it, according to Wan Yi's report, he should be sure of it." Xu Tianxiang nodded and said: "And if what Zhang Sheng said is true, I am afraid that Guo Xin will have other descendants in the capital, which means that there are other descendants of Anxi in Anxi." ”

"If it's true, that's a great blessing. After decades of fierce fighting, the Anxi Army finally has seeds left. Cen Tianshi also said with emotion: "I think they will be responsible for the management of Anxi after we recover Anxi." After all, they know Anthy better than we do. ”

Li Xuanqing nodded and said: "The cabinet here must do its best to manage the Western Regions, the Northwest Relations Empire has long-term peace and stability, and taking Anxi means that the empire's territory is close to the whole picture, and we can be regarded as fulfilling the promise to the people on the altar of heaven that day." ”

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, now the trade situation on the Japanese side is very good, the Xu family has organized the third fleet to go to sea, and the colony has also started construction, and the income will be endless. Moreover, the trade route on the Nanyang side has also been opened, and Guangzhou's income has now risen significantly, and the money in our hands is enough to build the northwest. Cen Tianshi nodded, he was very optimistic about the current economic situation of the empire, and the continuous large-scale inflow of wealth from the outside made the cabinet's hand in economic construction more and more large, and the Ministry of Communications approved the start of construction of three railways in addition to the Fengzhou Railway.

"Back then, our family also had a lot of power among the nine surnames of Zhaowu, but after a hundred years, I am afraid that the status of the Murong family may not be recognized over there." Murong Hanhai smiled bitterly: "A few years ago, my father had already sent people back to Anxi to find the descendants of the Kang clan back then, and there has been no news so far, but I am afraid that it has long been assimilated by other races." "What Murong Hanhai said is not true, not to mention that their Zhaowu nine surnames back then were only canonized Tang forces, even if they are now Han people in the Western Regions, they are afraid that the situation will not be too good. After all, the inheritance of civilization has been cut off for a hundred years.

"Forget it, if you can't find it, you can't find it. Isn't your Murong family already independent? In the future, it is enough to develop this one. Cen Tianshi didn't care about this, and said with a smile: "Isn't what we are doing now to make amends for the regrets of a hundred years ago?" I am sure that within ten years, the Western Regions will become the world of my Tang Dynasty and become an unbreakable territory. ”

"In fact, the mineral resources in the Western Regions are still very rich, and the joint investigation of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Xuan Yingwei in the early stage has found a lot of gold and silver mines and other kinds of minerals, and when the time comes, it can still drive economic development. And most importantly, the Silk Road. Murong Hanhai was very optimistic about the development of the Western Regions, and said with a smile: "Once we recover the goods from the interior of Anxi, we will be able to continuously transport them to the West along the Silk Road. ”

"This is also the starting point of your previous proposal to let those few tribes exchange merit for the status of subjects of the empire, right?" Cen Tianshi smiled at Murong Hanhai's thoughts: "In this way, it is good to let these people reflect on the benefits of the Tang Empire, and it will also make the empire's household registration more valuable and precious." ”

"However, what the emperor just said about the northwest is only allowed to pass Tang Yan, but I am afraid that it is very difficult to do, I heard that not only other tribes over there, but even many descendants of the Han people no longer speak Tang Yan. Many people even pride themselves on being able to speak other languages, which is not ordinarily difficult to implement. If we don't understand the language, I'm afraid that the transmission of our decrees will also be a big problem. Xu Tianxiang saw that everyone was talking about positive things, and couldn't help but get up and pour cold water.

Li Xuanqing knew that this guy had been thinking about the last one he had just added, and waved his hand and smiled: "Actually, this is also simple, let the Ministry of Security mobilize some people to enter the northwest to assist Tuoba Si Advisory, and all government orders are issued except for announcements and other transmissions, which are conveyed by force." The murderous aura revealed in Li Xuanqing's words made everyone shudder, but then he understood what he meant, this is to force the ethnic groups in the northwest to divide whether Tang Yan will be divided, and those who can speak Tang Yan and know Chinese characters will inevitably benefit in advance in this policy, so according to Murong Hanhai's method, they will be able to enjoy the treatment of the people of the empire one step ahead, so that the differentiation will soon be revealed, and when the time comes, not only the government decree but also the schools of the Ministry of Education will be quickly crowded. You must know that the welfare benefits formulated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs for the people of the Tang Dynasty who have household registration are not generally superior, they are formulated under the guidance of the concepts brought by Li Xuanqing to later generations. It may not be visible in the interior in normal times, but once you get to the frontier and deal with other tribes, this kind of treatment is an alternative protection and even dependence, enough to ensure that the subjects of the empire will not be treated unfairly, and in many cases even bullied.

As for the appearance of the Ministry of Guards, I am afraid that it is only a deterrent to those tribes who will not be able to speak and cannot obey the decrees, and use force to drive and suppress them to unconditionally follow the decrees and policies issued by the empire, which is called violent law enforcement, and these people are afraid that they will not have a sense of law enforcement when they arrive in the northwest, and the fierce national hatred is only afraid that these people will definitely be stained with blood at that time.

"In this case, I have to explain Zhang Qi well, pay more attention when sending people, and don't really train a bunch of killers for me." After Cen Tianshi thought about it, he smiled bitterly and said, "Isn't the emperor's method too bloody?" Especially at the beginning, I was afraid that the butcher's knife would be difficult to collect at that time. And the main thing is that it's not a war. ”

"Regarding Zhang Sheng's coming to Chang'an, let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receive it, and then the cabinet and the General Staff will make unified arrangements. Those who are willing to join the army can be sent to Wan Yi's side, and those who are unwilling to join the army can also be registered as people. Li Xuanqing ordered that after this, he would turn to Changqing Palace, and during this time, Qiaoxi also began to be busy with the early education industry, Li Xuanqing took the map of the Western Regions and began to seriously think about things other than Anxi.

On the first day of the fifth month of the third year of the Apocalypse, Zhang Sheng and his entourage arrived in Lingzhou to meet Hu Xiaosi, and in the face of this group of soldiers returning from the Western Regions, Hu Xiaosi took them to Lingzhou for three days and then returned to Guanzhong by train. The first time these 3,000 people saw the train, they almost made a joke, many people thought that this was some kind of monster, and they didn't want to get on the train, and Hu Xiaosi had no choice but to let Zhang Sheng order these people to get on the train.

The roaring train took them all the way, and soon crossed the Yellow River Bridge into Guanzhong, after adapting to the train, Zhang Sheng was obviously very curious about everything in the mainland, and along the way, he kept asking questions to Hu Xiaosi like a curious baby, and the fusion of the memories and encounters that the previous generation taught him in his memory of the Central Plains and the Tang Dynasty.

"Is this Chang'an, the capital of our Tang Dynasty?" Outside Chang'an City, Zhang Sheng looked at the giant city in front of him and the endless flow of people, and asked a little dumbfounded.

Zhang Sheng's expression Hu Xiaosi saw it in his eyes, and sighed secretly in his heart, but his mouth kept explaining: "This is the capital of the Tang Dynasty, that is, the center of the world, and the place of pilgrimage for every Tang people." The decrees conveyed from here reached all corners of the empire. Looking at Zhang Sheng's almost pious eyes, he said, "Brother, on behalf of the Tang Empire, I welcome you home." Come in with me, first go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare a case, and then the Prime Minister will receive you and take you to our Emperor's Majesty. ”

"General Hu, do you think I should prepare some gifts? I didn't prepare for anything along the way. Zhang Sheng's rare advantages were twisted, and he looked at Hu Xiaosi and asked a little embarrassed.

"It is the best gift for the emperor that you can come back." Hu Xiaosi looked at Zhang Sheng's embarrassment but couldn't laugh at all, sure enough, after a hundred years, these iron-blooded men who fought in the Western Regions were nervous when they approached Chang'an, the most sacred capital of the Tang Dynasty. So he not only comforted them, but also took them directly into the city.

At this time, the vicinity of Chang'an's Xicheng has long been arranged by the Chang'an County Government to arrange countless pennants, on which all kinds of slogans are written, but without exception are the words "welcome Anxi heroes home" and "Anxi war spirit is immortal". These handwritings accompanied Zhang Sheng and others into the city, and almost all the people along the way were spontaneously cheering them, and even many people kindly handed over the food in their hands to entertain the descendants of these heroes who had returned from afar.

And Zhang Sheng and the others almost knelt in three steps, bowed in five steps, burst into tears, choked silently, watching all the people along the way follow the pathos, and many people roared angrily, venting their anger at the tragedy in Anxi. And more is to dig out the Anxi Army alone in the Western Regions until the end of the lonely army to die in battle, all of which undoubtedly convey to the people the indomitable arrogance and pioneering spirit of the Tang Dynasty.

It can be said that the return of Zhang Sheng and others completely ignited the memories of the people of the Tang Dynasty for the soul-haunting homeland of the Western Regions, and after this day, hundreds of people began to embark on the journey of the vast Western Regions along the road opened up by their ancestors, and the Tang Dynasty reopened the Silk Road.