On how to deal with the war between the Persian Sassanians and Byzantium, the cabinet formed two opinions after nearly a month of deliberations. These two opinions could not be unified for a while, and finally reported to Liu Ziqiu and asked him to make a decision.

When the cabinet was set up, Liu Ziqiu took into account that the emperor's power was too great, and everything had to be decided by the emperor. But the emperor's wisdom and energy alone are limited after all, and mistakes will inevitably occur. And once the emperor's decision is wrong, it will even drag the whole country into the abyss. After all, Liu Ziqiu came from later generations and knew the repeated changes of many dynasties in history, so he was able to resist the temptation of absolute power and wanted to divide a large part of his power. Even, he wanted to learn from the early constitutional monarchy in the West, but his ideas were difficult to accept for a while.

In fact, Liu Ziqiu has been working hard to transfer power to the cabinet. He also has an ulterior motive in this, he has always wanted to be a hands-off shopkeeper. Although the emperor is full of words, it is also very hard, especially to be a diligent emperor, and the pieces that need to be reviewed every day are piled up. Of course, as a special soldier, Liu Ziqiu never had the word "fear of hardship" in his dictionary, he just didn't want to be trapped in the palace for a long time.

Of course, although the willingness is good, there are many difficulties in realizing it, and Liu Ziqiu must continue to face all kinds of music that are sent to the desk like snowflakes every day, and he must also deal with those things that are difficult for the cabinet to decide.

Looking at the cabinet scholars sitting in front of him, Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said, "Before I listen to the opinions of the ministers, I only emphasize one point. No, how to deal with this, we must put the interests of the Han Dynasty first! ”

Earlier, Liu Ziqiu had already clarified the possible impact of the war between Persia and Byzantium on the Han Dynasty, and now he wanted to give the scholars a chance to re-evaluate. The improvement of the Cabinet's ability to handle affairs is crucial to the realization of his wishes.

Li Jing arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that the competition between Persia and Byzantium is a good opportunity for my Han Dynasty." can take advantage of the defeat of both of them, and send heavy troops to take it down in one fell swoop! ”

For military generals, expanding their territory and leaving a name for eternity is a temptation that can never be resisted.

Yu Shinan shook his head and said: "General Li's words are wrong, my Han has always established the country with benevolence and righteousness, how can he do such an unrighteous thing!" ”

Wei Zheng smiled and said, "According to what Weichen can see, General Li's words are very good. However, Persia and Byzantium were too far away from the Central Plains. The so-called whip is beyond the reach of the whip, even if it can take its land, it is difficult to cure it for a long time. It's better to divide it up! ”

Li Jing and Wei Zheng put forward two different opinions. Li Jing meant to directly send troops to capture Byzantium in Persia and incorporate it into the territory of the Han Dynasty. Wei Zheng also agreed to send troops, but after defeating the armies of these two countries, he did not occupy their lands, but only split the two formerly powerful empires into several small states. After listening to the impact of Liu Ziqiu's explanation, the two still insisted on their opinions. Of course, he is the only one in the cabinet who insists on benevolence and righteousness like Yu Shinan, and he is not the mainstream.

Liu Ziqiu laughed: "What Zhu Qing said has its own reason. However, I think that it is not a good strategy to use military force. Although my Han has never relaxed his military preparedness, I do not want to use troops at will. Therefore, I dare not agree with the opinion of the eldest brother. Mr. Wei's opinion is very good, but he doesn't hear that the division will be together for a long time, and the union will be divided for a long time? While it is now possible to divide them into several small countries, there will always be one that will become stronger and annex the others. Over time, wars and chaos will occur, which will eventually affect the trade routes of our Han Dynasty. ”

Yu Shinan couldn't help but get proud: "What His Majesty said is very true, Weichen thinks that we don't have to do anything, just wait and see what happens!" ”

Liu Ziqiu shook his head and said: "I don't want to send troops, I just don't want my good man's blood to be splashed on the battlefield, but it doesn't mean that I can do nothing!" I believe that the war between these two countries should be based on mediation. As long as the two countries cease fighting, the people's lives will gradually become peaceful. The tranquility of the border is beneficial and harmless to our Han Dynasty, and it can save me from going on an expedition, so why not do it? ”

Actually, there is another sentence that Liu Ziqiu did not say. If this battle continues, the winner will soon be decided. The victorious side is often in a state of extreme euphoria, gets carried away, and is likely to move east. After all, people will inevitably have greed, and if there is no greed, there will be no war. Together, greed often leads to loss of reason. And the richness of the Han will naturally attract the eyes of the victorious side. Although the Han army was strong and he was not afraid of the enemy's attack, it was never a good thing for the flames of war to reach the doorstep. Only if both countries remain strong enough to maintain a delicate balance will the Han be safer.

As for dividing these two countries into a number of smaller countries, it may seem safer, but it is not. Because these countries are not the Western Regions, nor are they Mobei. There are not too many contradictions within their nation, and after being forcibly split by the Han Dynasty, they will inevitably feel resentment. Some narrow-minded nationalists may have done something out of the ordinary, such as attacking the caravans of the Han Dynasty or assassinating important members of the imperial court. These operations in the dark can often be overwhelming. Therefore, Liu Ziqiu didn't want to make too many enemies. Unless he can be ruthless, kill all these aliens, and then migrate the Han people over.

Li Jing frowned and said, "I'm afraid that they have already killed their eyes and refuse to listen to His Majesty's mediation." ”

Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, if anyone refuses to listen to mediation, my Han will become famous." When the time comes, our Han will send an expeditionary force to assist the other side to completely destroy him! ”

Weak countries have no diplomacy, and with the current national strength of the Han Dynasty, it is not difficult to annex these two countries in one fell swoop. It's just that it was difficult to maintain local rule after the annexation. I believe that neither Persia nor Byzantium are willing to face such a formidable enemy now.

…

This time, Liu Ziqiu's plan to get the cabinet to solve a serious problem went bankrupt again, and it was he who made the decision in the end. It's not that Li Jing, Wei Zheng and others are not wise enough. In fact, when it comes to figuring out people's hearts and using power and strategy, any scholar in the cabinet is much stronger than Liu Ziqiu. It's just that Liu Ziqiu has more than a thousand years of knowledge than them, and he sees the problem more far-reaching.

Of course, things turned out as Liu Ziqiu expected. Both Persia and Byzantium refused to quit lightly at first, after all, the two sides fought fiercely for many years, and the hatred grew bigger and bigger. However, when the Han envoys pretended to intervene by force, both countries chose to relent, agreeing to accept the mediation of the Han Dynasty.

A month later, the envoys of the three countries held talks in Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Han Dynasty, and signed an armistice treaty, known as the Treaty of Luoyang. The treaty stipulated that the border between the two countries should be restored to the state it had been at the beginning of the war, and that each side should retreat 100 miles from the border, leaving a long strip of space. Of course, the envoys of the Han Dynasty did not forget to fight for the interests of their own dynasty. From then on, the Han caravans passed through the two countries, and the customs enjoyed the same treatment as the people of these two countries. It was an unequal treaty until five years later, when the Han caravans controlled almost the entire Silk Road. Liu Ziqiucai specifically ordered to allow the caravans of these two countries to enjoy the same tariff treatment as the Han nationals in the Han Dynasty. However, by that time, the caravans of the Han Dynasty had already controlled the economic lifeblood of the two countries, and even the coins were entrusted to the merchants of the Han Dynasty to be minted. The implementation of this equal treatment is no longer of much significance.

…

After this incident, Liu Ziqiu made up his mind to implement a constitutional monarchy in imitation of the early system of Western countries in later generations. At this time, after more than ten years of development in the Han Dynasty, some of Liu Ziqiu's new ideas have been widely disseminated in China. In some economically developed areas, some associations have emerged, and industry associations have been widely extended. Moreover, with the development of county schools, in the later imperial examinations, the number of children of the family who passed the guò examination became smaller and smaller, and their power was further weakened, which created excellent conditions for Liu Ziqiu to implement the new system.

In the fifteenth year of Daxing, the two congresses were finally established. One was a congress of nobles composed of the founding fathers and families, and the other was a congress of ordinary people from all walks of life. The Prime Minister was elected by the two congresses from among the Cabinet Members, and then appointed directly by Liu Ziqiu.

And this year, Liu Ziqiu also completely handed over power, announcing that he only had symbolic power, and all power belonged to the two congresses and the cabinet.

However, in this year's election of the prime minister, there was an accident, and the winner was actually Li Shimin, which was a result that no one expected.

After winning the second place in the second imperial examination, Li Shimin entered the Tai Academy to study. A few years later, he was also in the Cabinet. Time can erase people's memories. In the past ten years, Li Shimin has been humble and diligent, and has gradually won the recognition of the government and the opposition. And in the meantime, he was also very respectful to Liu Ziqiu, as if he had really given up his ambitions and was willing to be a courtier who followed the rules. It is precisely for this reason that he was gradually accepted by the deputies, stood out among the cabinet ministers, and was elected prime minister with a high vote, only waiting for Liu Ziqiu's appointment.

Although Liu Ziqiu's appointment was only symbolic, he was still the supreme king in the minds of the Han government and the opposition. Without his letter of appointment, no result would have been acceptable to the people of the world.

It's just that some old people who followed Liu Ziqiu to fight the world back then still have fresh memories of some old things, and they entered the palace to meet Liu Ziqiu and advised: "Your Majesty, you don't know your heart, you must not be the political commissar of the court to Li Shimin!" ”