Chapter 104: Eloquence

In late March of the first year of Xianchun, the Great Khan of the Ilkhanate, one of the four great khanates of Mongolia, Hulegu (brother of Kublai Khan), was assassinated.

Among the four western Mongolian khanates, Kipchak Khan Bergo, Chagatai Khan Aruku, and Ilkhan Hulegu unanimously agreed to go east to the Mongolian steppe to participate in the Kuritai Conference convened by Kublai Khan. The unexpected death of Hülegü led to enmity between the major khanates, and war broke out.

After Kublai Khan moved the capital, he adopted Yin Tianya's suggestion and ordered Liu Bingzhong to build a new city and a large palace (i.e., the Forbidden City in later generations) ten miles northeast of the original Yanjing City, gathering the aura of heaven and earth in the name of immortality and suppressing the northern dragon's lair of the Han people.

After the outbreak of war between the four khanates, Kublai Khan sent an envoy to the west in early April to demand a truce from the khanates.

In May, Kublai Khan convened a meeting of Mongolia's highest-ranking civil and military officials in his temporary palace in Yanjing (the central capital).

After consulting with the god Yin Tianya, Kublai Khan formulated the national policy of "imitating the Han system and inheriting Mongolia with martial arts". As soon as this national policy was announced, it met with strong opposition from the majority of Mongolian officials.

"How can my Mongolian boy imitate the Han system?"

"The ministers are resolutely opposed."

Most of the Mongols have their surnames exposed, what do they say, Ashu, Ali Hague, Sange, etc., have played one after another, and for a while there were oppositions one after another.

On the eve of the meeting, Kublai Khan met with Yin Tianya in a secluded hut and had a detailed discussion with Yin Tianya all night on the future development of Mongolia.

Yin Tianya finally asked: "Great Khan, now that my Mongolia has occupied half of the country, we will fight a decisive battle with the Nanren in a few years, judging from the current situation, both sides have their own strengths, but we have the blessing of immortality, and we will definitely be able to dominate the world." Great Khan, let me ask you, do you want to be the successor of Genghis Khan of Mongolia, or do you want to be the ruler of the nineteenth dynasty of China? ”

"It's both."

Kublai Khan looked at these agitated opponents quietly until his voice completely disappeared before he said slowly: "There is no need for anyone to doubt the national policy that Ben Khan said, my Mongolian man is invincible on the battlefield, but in terms of the way of governing the country, it is still inferior to the Han system, which has a history of thousands of years. ”

"Great Khan." Ali Hague, who calmed down, said: "The minister accompanied General Ashu to fight in the Southern Dynasty, and most of the officials there [***] are incompetent, and according to the minister's view, their governance ability is not as good as my Mongolia." ”

Ali Hague, in his 40s, was intelligent and eloquent, all-round in civil and military affairs, and was a senator of Zhongshu Province at that time, who was deeply loved by Kublai Khan, and was a rare talent among the Mongols to govern the country.

"Ali Hague, after all, you didn't understand the root of the symptoms of the Southern Dynasties, thousands of years of historical precipitation, the system of the Han people has been quite perfect, and the decline of the Song people is not because of their bad system, but because of their own reasons."

Speaking of this, Kublai Khan suddenly pulled out the treasure knife in his waist and said: "This treasure knife is called Flying Dragon, which is obtained by my father Khan when he dragged the thunder to the south, and its craftsmanship is the best in the world. Do you imagine that if this sword were placed on Ali Buge, would Ben Khan not be his enemy? ”

Ali Hague was already smart, but he was a rare wise man among the Mongols, and his comprehension was much stronger than that of the generals who could only fight, "the Great Khan's ministers understood, but they were ......"

"Ali Hague, Ben Khan knows that you have always looked down on the Han and other races, in fact, everyone, every ethnic group has strengths and weaknesses, and those who govern the country should learn from each other's strengths to make up for their weaknesses so as not to lose bias. National teacher, Mr. Shi, the two of you are on the list. ”

Kublai Khan called the national teacher, is the first Mongolian national teacher Ba Sipa, a young Tibetan monk less than 30 years old, Mr. Shi's name is Shi Tianze, is a Han old man who has passed the age of the sixtieth year, the official to the left of the Chinese book.

Kublai Khan pointed at these two people and said with a smile: "Ali Hague, one of these two is a person from the Western Regions, and the other is a Han person, you boast of being both civil and military, compared with them, what are your chances of winning?" ”

"Minister......

"Ali Hague, the Han people have a famous saying, under the whole world, it is not the king's land; On the shore of the land, it is not a prince's minister, under the rule of Ben Khan, all my Mongolian people, and Ben Khan only imitates the Han system, which is a great achievement in the world, do you understand? ”

Ali Hague saw that Kublai Khan was rarely so gentle, but his heart became uneasy.

Kublai Khan's fierce eyes swept over the people present, and his tone suddenly became stern, and he continued: "Ali Hague, Ben Khan asks you again, if you wear Han clothes and speak a Han language, will you become a Han Chinese?" ”

Ali Hague was already a little afraid of Kublai Khan, and now he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly said: "The minister knows that he is wrong. ”

Kublai Khan snorted and said: "Ben Khan is pursuing a dualistic policy, in principle, we must consistently maintain the unity of our Mongols, maintain the spiritual inheritance, but more importantly, absorb the advantages of various ethnic groups in order to achieve a unified Mongol Empire, this established national policy does not need to be discussed, whether you understand it or not, just implement it." ”

"The ministers obey." Mongolian officials, Han officials, and Semu officials spoke in unison.

"Militarily, according to the original strategy, continue to strengthen our Mongolian iron cavalry. The privy council envoy A Shu, the privy deputy envoy Zhang Rou, Zhang Wenqian, the cowardly Xue Jun commanded Boyan, and the deputy commander made Zhang Hongfan obey the order. ”

"Ministers listen to the decree of the Great Khan."

Kublai Khan looked at these generals with satisfaction and said: "The plan for the conquest of the south will be implemented by the Privy Council, and an army of 200,000 will be formed within two years to conquer the south, and the troops will be sent to the southern dynasty. General Ashu, the former Sichuan Liu Quanju has given instructions to reorganize the naval division, and the Privy Council should unconditionally support it, so that our Mongolian naval division must be able to compete with the Southern Song naval division within two years, and in addition, the breakthrough point for the conquest of the Southern Dynasty must be selected within one year. Boyan, Zhang Hongfan, and Ben Khan allow you to expand the army of Ti Xue to 20,000 within two years, and then go south with Marshal Ashu. ”

"The ministers obey."

"National teacher."

"The minister is here."

"Ben Khan will set up a general system in Beijing, in charge of the affairs of Buddhism and Tibetan areas in the country, the national teacher is also in charge of the affairs of the general system, and under the rule of Mongolia, Buddhist shamanism is the state religion, but there is no need to overly suppress other religious beliefs, let them develop. The national teacher and his subordinate Tubo speakers recreated the new Mongolian script and translated it with Chinese. ”

"Obey."

Pasipa is different from Yin Tianya, Pasipa was appointed as a national teacher, so he naturally became one of the ministers of Mongolia, while Yin Tianya did not serve in the court, so he did not need to be called a minister.

Mongolian Zhongshu Province was established by Kublai Khan in 1660, the general leader of 100 officials, and the Privy Council divided the government, military power, Shangshu Province was abolished, Menxia Province was not replaced, and it was not like the Song Dynasty when there were six departments, so Mongolian Zhongshu Province was more important than the previous generation.

"The right minister of the middle book, Zalu Huchi, the left minister of the middle book, Shi Tianze, the left minister of the middle book, the political affairs of the middle book, Ahma, Yelu Zhu, and the governor of the Chinese book, Saiyi Azar, listen to the order."

"Ministers listen to the decree of the Great Khan."

In addition to commanding the government affairs of hundreds of officials, improving local branches, and laying the foundation for the provincial system, the main task of Zhongshu Province in recent years is to develop production to meet the grain and grass needs of the southern army, and at the same time prepare to start the establishment of the Imperial Historical Observatory, which is responsible for the supervision of hundreds of officials. In addition, Ben Khan intends to try out the imperial examination system next year, and there is one more way to select talents, which is in charge of Yelu Zhu, Saiyi Azar, you continue to implement the paper money system to ensure the supply of metals needed for the weapons of the army, but the issuance of paper money must be maintained within reasonable limits, and it is strictly forbidden to depreciate at will like the Southern Dynasties. ”

"Yes."

Kublai Khan's military and political orders were issued in an orderly manner, and everyone received them one by one.

"Everyone, you are all my good Mongolian men, do your best according to the order of Ben Khan, dominate the world, and you can wait."

"The Great Khan is majestic and strategic, long live the outer years, long live the outer years."

"Haha." Kublai Khan's hearty laughter spread throughout the capital and throughout Mongolia.