The Wucheng era of the Great Xia Dynasty has ended, and the new Longchang era has arrived.

Yang Zhi did not plan to go to the customs offices in various places to inspect this time, but went straight to Jinling. The death of the first emperor and the ascension of the new emperor to the throne, although all the previously formulated response plans were useless, but they were tantamount to an actual combat exercise. Yang Zhi is eager to understand the results of the exercise, and there are many things to do in the future.

Before Zhao Qi was fledgling, he would only follow the strategy of the first emperor's period, and use and defend against Yang Zhi. It is almost an open secret that Yang Zhi has money, power, territory, and fleet. Zhao Qi is the same as the first emperor, one can't take care of it, the second is that there is no way, the third is that the division is unknown, again from a strategic point of view, no matter how capable Yang Zhi is, the land, resources, and population of the islands off the coast of Shandong and Yizhou are limited after all, or they can compete with Great Xia for a certain period of time, and it is absolutely impossible to turn around and swallow Great Xia.

When the first emperor was alive, he talked about Yang Zhi with Zhao Qi countless times, and the father and son also held the same view in another section: the Yang Group is not necessarily a monolith. The Qin clan has a huge structure, semicolons all over the world, tens of thousands of employees, and the foundation can only be rooted in Great Xia, and the concerns under the pressure of the imperial authority are far from being comparable to Yang Zhi. Xu Wenhan has the talent of Zaifu, Wei Feiyang has the ability to be a general, this is not false, if there is an emergency, will they follow Yang Zhiyuan overseas desperately? The Yamen of the Governor of Customs is the official office of Daxia, so it is even less worrying. It is only a matter of time before it is returned to the imperial court. As the saying goes, a good man has three gangs, and top talents are not big road goods, so why should he Yang Zhi go to fight the world alone?

According to Yang Zhi's second-step concept, at least three years of precious time can be gained. Now that the initial groundwork has been laid, it's time to get into the fast lane.

Wealth, force, and population are all indispensable. Wealth can be earned predatorily. The armed forces can be built unremittingly, but the steady and healthy growth of the population, especially to share the demographic dividend, is absolutely immediate. There is no war, no natural disasters, and we can live and work in peace and contentment. Since ancient times, it has been the most simple and practical wish of the small people. Who wants to be so foolish to entice them to settle down just after lucrative conditions, and who wants to be so foolish when they have just been tempted to settle down in a few days, and then encourage them to prepare to move to even farther overseas?

Zhao Qi's wisest choice at present is to learn his father's routine of pretending to be deaf and dumb before his death, in order to make Yang Zhi feel at ease.

Time. What Zhao Qi and Yang Zhi need most is time, and their biggest advantage is also time.

When the Turkic envoys came to the court, Xu Wenhan and Yang Zhi were both prescient, and they turned out to be prophecy.

Xia Li Longchang in February of the year. Suoli Khan poured the strength of the Western Turks into the country, and launched a surprise attack on the Eastern Turks when the weather was cold and the water was dripping into ice. The princes and nobles of the Eastern Turks, who were the khans of the former Youxian King, were killed, the Eastern Turks were wiped out, and the desert was reunited.

In March, Soli Khan again sent an envoy to the court to "plead guilty". It is claimed that only because the grassland has suffered a locust plague, almost not a single inch of grass remains. Then the harsh winter came, and the cattle, sheep and horses died of hunger. And the Great Xia aid grain and grass is too little. It's far from enough to survive the winter. So "out of desperation", it was too late to ask the "Heavenly Empire" for instructions. He had to launch a surprise attack on the Eastern Turks to keep his tribes alive.

Great Xia is changing the dynasty, and there is no time to take care of anything else when the old and the new are changing. It is true that there is a locust plague in the grassland outside the autumn plug, and it is also true that you use this as an excuse to ask you for food and grass, and you are petty and treat me as a flower child. No way. I'm also a big family to eat! It's good that I didn't come to your house to burn and loot, but don't you want me to rob others? Originally, there was nothing to do with you, but because your waist was too strong, and I was afraid that you would blame me, I specially sent an envoy to ask for guilt. That's kind enough, right?

The vast desert. There has always been no shortage of heroes. Suoli is extremely accurate in timing and very skilled in diplomacy.

In the confrontation with the northern nomads, there were only a handful of Chinese dynasties that were able to occupy an absolute advantage for a long time. Today's Great Xia simply does not have the strength and conditions to completely conquer the Turks, let alone the determination and courage to brazenly launch an all-out war against the Turks.

Even the blind man could see that the envoy sent by Soli Khan to show weakness and plead guilt was nothing more than a delaying tactic. Zhao Qi needs to consolidate the throne, Suoli also needs to clean up the mess and consolidate the throne, and the two families are reluctant to go to war. However, the Turkic nation has always advocated force, and the situation that Suo Li has to deal with is much simpler than Zhao Qi. In any case, since the 25th year of the Xia Li Wucheng, the favorable strategic situation formed by the Turkic split no longer exists.

It doesn't matter if you're happy or not. Everyone over there has finished their work, and they can't let him spit out the meat he swallowed in his stomach and return it to its original state, right? I couldn't help but congratulate the Turkic envoy and send him away.

Zhao Qi seemed to be silent and calmly dealt with it, but in fact he was extremely depressed, and even had a fire in his belly. After the day was over, he locked himself in the imperial study and sat without saying a word for nearly two hours.

After the death of the first emperor, the inner servant Ma Chengjuan asked to volunteer to guard the tomb for three years, and the new emperor's personal attendant is Jin Zishan, who is also a personal bodyguard. Zhao Qi didn't like Jin Zishan when he was a child, but he thought that liking and appointing were two different things.

Suddenly, he asked: "Zishan, if the first emperor is alive, how will he deal with this Turkic envoy?" ”

There are no ifs in this world. Jin Zishan said expressionlessly: "Returning to the emperor, exempting the Turks from paying tribute for one year, and aiding 200,000 stones of grain and grass were all the will of the emperor a few months ago. ”

Zhao Qi said frustratedly: "I know, it's useless to ask." - Summoning Xu Wenhan to meet! ”

After Xu Wenhan was summoned, Zhao Qi asked directly: "Wenhan, what do you think of my handling of the Turkic envoys?" ”

Xu Wenhan cherished the words like gold and said: "Acceptable." ”

"Acceptable" means so-so. Zhao Qi asked dejectedly, "Are you very disappointed in me?" ”

"The emperor is serious. The minister didn't dare. ”

"Really? …… Then I ask you again, if it were Yang Zhi, what would he advise me to do? I've known your brothers since I was a child, don't say you don't know. ”

"Since the emperor said so, he should know Yang Zhi better than the minister. In his humble opinion, if it was really Yang Zhi, as early as last year, when the Turks sent envoys, he would have strongly advocated sending troops to seek war. When Soli Khan launched a surprise attack on the Eastern Turks, he would again advocate an attack that took advantage of the situation. This time, the Turks sent envoys to the DPRK again, and he would still strongly advocate war. ”

Xu Wenhan and Yang Zhi have the same smell and have always had the same opinions. In other words, Xu Wenhan just took the opportunity to pretend to be Yang Zhi and express his opinion.

No matter how deep Zhao Qi's scheming is, he is still very young after all. Hearing Xu Wenhan say this, his face was a little unbearable: "You mean, I had three chances to go to war, but I couldn't grasp them well?" Yang Zhi is famous all over the world because of the bloody battle in the desert, and he fights with one force, but do you know if it is not out of personal will? I want to hear your reasons for going to war. ”

Xu Wenhan replied indifferently: "The minister just responded to the emperor's inquiry based on the facts, and had no other intentions. Fighting is a major matter of the country. Yang Zhi has always seen far-reaching things, and never does anything that harms himself and is not profitable. The minister dared to guarantee with his life, and he had no selfish intentions in the main battle. ”

"As for the reason for going to war, in general, the Turks have been a strong enemy in the north of our Chinese dynasty since ancient times, but there is an opportunity to suppress and weaken it, how can it be allowed to let it go? To put it mildly, Yang Zhi sought provocation several times when the two countries negotiated peace, and brazenly killed the Turkic national teacher Khurchi, which should be remembered by the emperor vividly. Does he need a reason to go to war? Is there a reason why it really matters? Is it hard to find a reason? Bactria had reached countless peace talks with the Turks, and when they tore up the peace treaty and sent troops south to burn and loot, did they give Bactria a reason? ”

Zhao Qi couldn't help but be silent for a while. sighed helplessly: "You also said just now, the danger of fighting is a major matter of the country. You should know that I have my difficulties. ”

Xu Wenhan said meaningfully: "The minister knows that the emperor is in trouble. But I don't know if the emperor ever thought that there was no disadvantage to starting a war with the Turks. From a tactical point of view, the Turks suffered a natural disaster last year, and winter is about to begin, so it is necessary to strictly guard against the attack of the Eastern Turks. Great Xia sent troops, and the battle was sure to be won. When Suoli attacked the Eastern Turks with all his might, the rear was bound to be empty, and the battle could still be won. This time, the envoy came to the DPRK, taking advantage of the fatigue of his soldiers, his breathing was undecided, and his foothold was not stable, and he could still win the battle. ”

"At the strategic level, it is necessary to maintain a favorable posture for the Turks and ensure that they will not be able to send troops south for five to ten years. And the emperor's new treasure can be a battle. ”

"The ministers are bold and vain, and they hope that the emperor will forgive their sins."

Zhao Qi smiled bitterly: "Between you and me, teachers and friends, we should be honest with each other, know everything, what is there to forgive and not forgive?" I admit that there is a reason for harmony, and there are benefits to fighting. That's why I felt panicked and called you to talk. Retire! ”

After Xu Wenhan left, Zhao Qi asked Jin Zishan again: "I just said something, did I say a little too much?" ”

Jin Zishan hesitated for a moment and replied: "The emperor is worried about state affairs, so he shouldn't be in a hurry. According to the current situation, if you can do nothing, it is better to do nothing. In this way, the emperor can see many people clearly and understand many things when he stands on a high place. The ministers thought that the emperor was not wrong. ”

An elusive smile appeared at the corner of Zhao Qi's mouth: "The old lady is over seventy years old, right?" I'm not in a hurry. ”

Just when Zhao Qi was entangled and depressed, Yang Zhi was also very busy.

After arriving in Jinling, he immediately summoned Yun Niang and Xue Qingyun and the subordinate commanders of the Commercial Investigation Department to deduce the plan formulated before returning to Beijing last time. Subsequently, official letters or confidential letters were successively issued to local branch offices to make relevant arrangements and deployments. He then contacted Goldlion, Qin Jiaoyang and Qin Kongyun to discuss the next move. It was busy until mid-April, when I crossed the sea to Yizhou by boat.

Yang Zhi stayed in Yizhou for nearly a month, and after careful consideration, decided to put the plan of colonization to the sea on hold for the time being.

Today, the population of Yizhou is less than one million, and more than half of the early immigrants and aborigines have been reached, and although the number of later immigrants who can really rely on is increasing day by day, there are still only about 400,000. Until the population reaches a certain base, there can be no talk of sustained and stable output. Relying solely on external blood transfusions to maintain it is not a long-term solution! (To be continued.) )