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A simple sentence of "the place of death and life" is enough to show how much Liu Ziqiu attaches importance to the entire Liaodong. This kind of attention did not even appear when he broke into Mobei. Because Liu Ziqiu knew that in the original history, Yang Guang's million-strong army conquered Goryeo, and only a few thousand people came back alive in the end. Therefore, Liaodong is a real place of death and life, and the slightest carelessness will cause the Han Dynasty that has just settled down to break its muscles and bones.

Li Jing muttered: "Your Majesty means to befriend the surrounding tribes first, and then recover Huaiyuan?" ”

Long-distance friendship and close attack are also an important and effective strategy for foreign warfare, and it is not surprising that Li Jing has some ideas. Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said, "Those who dare to offend my Huaxia will be punished even if they are far away!" The reason why I want to be cautious is that I don't want to increase the casualties of my big man's disciples. But no matter what, the land of my Han cannot be allowed to be touched by barbarians, and Huaiyuan must be recovered. Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin, you two have not yet produced military exploits in our dynasty, so I will hand over this opportunity to you. ”

Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin were overjoyed, and hurriedly arched their hands and said, "The last general will be ordered!" ”

Liu Ziqiu told again: "Go to Liaoxi, just recover Huaiyuan, don't be greedy for merit!" ”

……

When Yang Guang was in power, he had already dug the Yongji Canal from Luoyang to Yuyang. Yuyang used to be Lulong, and Lulong was only dozens of miles away from Shanhaiguan, and it was the boundary of Liucheng County when it came out. With the Yongji Canal, it will be much more convenient to transport troops and grain. At the beginning, Yang Guang left many dragon boats, Liu Ziqiu didn't need these things, and had already ordered these dragon boats to be transformed into transport ships, which now came in handy.

A few years ago, Wei Chigong had already led an army of 20,000 to reinforce Liaoxi, and according to the itinerary, he should have arrived in Yancheng. Now, Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin each led 20,000 troops and horses to set off, and with these 60,000 troops, it is not difficult to recover a small county town. This is not Liu Ziqiu's big deal, after all, Huaiyuan County is in the territory of Dahan, and it is a home battle, and it can get support from all sides.

Sure enough, half a month later, good news came from Liaoxi. As soon as the three-way army arrived, the Goryeo soldiers and horses had already withdrawn from Huaiyuan and retreated to the Black Bone City. After repairing the Huaiyuan city wall and sending troops to garrison it, the army returned to Luoyang.

……

The border crisis was temporarily resolved, Liu Ziqiu did not take it lightly, he convened the generals to discuss and asked: "When did Goryeo occupy such a large piece of land?" ”

Indeed, judging from the map, half of Goryeo's territory was west of the Yalu River, which made Liu Ziqiu, who came from later generations and was accustomed to the Yalu River as the boundary, feel very uncomfortable.

After returning to Luoyang, Yu Shinan was not idle, he took out the map of the early Jin Dynasty from the vast book of Chongwen Palace, pointed to the northeast corner, and said: "Your Majesty, please see, before the Jin Dynasty, this place was under the jurisdiction of Liaodong County, and even the area around Pyongyang City was under the jurisdiction of Lelang County and Obifang County respectively. Later, during the Jin Rebellion, Goguryeo took the opportunity to raise troops and successively annexed most of Liaodong County, Lelang County and Obifang County. ”

Only then did Liu Ziqiu understand the evolution of this map of North Korea, nodded lightly, and said, "I see." ”

Li Jing had always known that Liu Ziqiu was a battleground for every inch of land, so he arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty is going to raise troops to fight against Goryeo in order to restore the homeland of Jin?" ”

Liu Ziqiu shook his head and said, "Since this land originally belonged to our Huaxia, as the first emperor of Huaxia, how could I abandon the land of my ancestors. However, this matter is not in a hurry, and it can be discussed in the long run. ”

After a pause, Liu Ziqiu said again: "Jin has lost its place for a long time, who is familiar with the geography of mountains and rivers there?" Who knows about climate change? The march needs to be planned before moving! ”

……

After this discussion, the imperial court gradually relaxed its attitude towards Liaodong on the surface, but secretly organized hundreds of scouts, using caravans as a cover, to go deep into the territories of Goryeo, Baekje, Silla, and nomadic peoples such as Xi, Xi, Xi, Khitan, Jin, and Murowei to collect information on humanities, geography, climate, and other aspects. In the eyes of the people at the time, this information did not involve military affairs, so the caravans that collected the intelligence did not arouse the suspicion of the locals, and everything went very smoothly.

However, the Han Dynasty, which entered October, did not calm down, on the contrary, it became extremely lively, because two major events were about to take place.

The first exciting event is that Liu Ziqiu has been planning for a long time for the imperial examination, which is also the country's talent selection ceremony, whether it can be successfully held is related to the future and future of the country. Since the beginning of the year, the cabinet headed by Wei Zheng has begun to prepare for this major event.

Different from the imperial examinations conducted in the Yang Guang era, Liu Ziqiu not only divided the imperial examinations into three subjects: literature, martial arts, and engineering, but also set an age limit for students who participated in the imperial examinations. Only those who are over the age of eighteen and under the age of thirty are eligible to participate in the imperial examination. This is a decision made by Liu Ziqiu after careful consideration. He is too young and his mind is not yet mature, and even if he can stand out in the imperial examination, it is difficult to entrust him with affairs. And too old, in many ways, has been stereotyped, and lacks plasticity.

In addition to the age limit, those selected through the imperial examination will not be immediately appointed to official positions, and they must also enter the newly established Tai Academy to study for two years. During these two years, they will come into contact with many things, including some of the laws of the imperial court, the operation of various ministries. They will also take turns to serve in the cabinet and various ministries to develop their practical skills. More importantly, Liu Ziqiu would personally go to the Tai Academy to teach and instill in them some ideas, such as equality before the law, such as the sanctity of private property, and the state belongs to all the Han people rather than the emperor alone. Liu Ziqiu did not disclose these contents now, because he knew that Wei Zheng and the others would definitely oppose it.

Because those who passed the imperial examination this time, regardless of whether they were rich or poor, could enter the court as officials. This was a great attraction to the people of the Han Dynasty, especially the engineering exams that had never been held before, which made some illiterate craftsmen also see hope, so the city of Luoyang was overcrowded for a while.

Of course, the focus of the imperial examination is still in the liberal arts, and Confucianism and Taoism must be respected exclusively since the Han Dynasty, which has made the Chinese people accustomed to being governed by scholars. Therefore, in the first imperial examination of the Han Dynasty, the final quota for liberal arts was 360 people, that is, 360 people would pass the liberal arts examination and become Han officials. In comparison, only sixteen students finally passed the martial arts exam, and only six people passed the engineering exam, which was much less than that of the liberal arts. The plan for the allocation of places was also approved by the majority of officials in the DPRK and China, after all, they themselves were scholars. The entire imperial examination was run by the cabinet from beginning to end, and Liu Ziqiu only listened to their reports and occasionally made suggestions, but did not interfere.

However, when the list of all candidates was finally reported to Liu Ziqiu, he still saw some clues. In the past, only the Li family in Longxi and the Wang family in Taiyuan sent their children to register, and none of the other five families participated, which was obviously showing Liu Ziqiu with practical actions. Of course, in addition to these five major families, some other second-rate and third-rate families also sent people to participate, and some did not send people to participate. Like Hongnong's Yang family, Chang'an's Shangguan family, and Du family, they all sent their children to participate, which was also a kind of support for Liu Ziqiu. At the same time, it also shows that the Saga group has begun to split, which is also a good thing for the imperial court.

The Xie family in Jiangnan naturally sent many children to participate, and they have already entered the ranks of top families, all thanks to the edict issued by Liu Ziqiu. Now the Xie family is tied up with Liu Ziqiu, and of course they will spare no effort to support Liu Ziqiu. The brothers Xie Zhiwen and Xie Zhiwu stayed in Luoyang for half a year, just to prepare for this imperial examination. The only thing that surprised Liu Ziqiu was that Xie Zhiwu actually applied for liberal arts. In fact, this is not surprising, if his kung fu of the three-legged cat is really reported to the martial arts, the possibility of falling off the list is very great.

For the absence of the five great families, Liu Ziqiu did not regret it. On the contrary, Liu Ziqiu was sure that these five great families would definitely regret their wrong decision today. The reason why they can become a family is by power and money, and wealth must also be escorted by power. Missing this imperial examination means that no one from these families will enter the imperial court as an official within four years, because the imperial examination will only be held once every four years. A lot will happen in four years, and when the four years pass and the officials change, they will find that there are fewer and fewer people in the DPRK.

However, Liu Ziqiu soon discovered something that surprised him even more, or a candidate who surprised him even more.

The first candidate who surprised him was Luoyang's eldest grandson, Wuji. Once upon a time, he regarded his eldest grandson Wuji as his brother, and the two also talked happily. However, time has passed, and as the eldest grandson Wuji followed Li Shimin to Jiangnan to attack his wife and children, the two sides can no longer return to the feeling they had back then. Originally, Liu Ziqiu pardoned his eldest grandson Wuji because he was still young. Unexpectedly, the eldest grandson Wuji also reached the age of eighteen this year and signed up for the imperial examination.

With the talent of the eldest grandson Wuji, passing the imperial examination is not a problem. The question is, will he be loyal to the imperial court? Should Liu Ziqiu cancel his exam qualification?

And what made Liu Ziqiu even more difficult was another candidate, Li Jiancheng from Longxi, Li Yuan's eldest son.

After Li Yuan surrendered, he was moved out of Luoyang by Liu Ziqiu and sent to Longxi. However, with the two old brothers Li Changshan and Li Changfeng, it is naturally impossible for him to accept Li Yuan's family as members of the Li family in Longxi. Therefore, Li Jiancheng's registration this time was carried out as an ordinary candidate. Ren Liu Ziqiu wanted to break his head, but he didn't expect that Li Jiancheng would come to participate in the imperial examination. One can imagine how much humiliation you have to endure to make such a decision! It is also a difficult problem to allow Li Jiancheng to participate in the imperial examination!