Hao Ren Wanhu was in a very good mood when he gathered the generals, and the generals already knew that the envoys of Kublai Khan had just arrived, and they soon appeared in the yamen in the city of Taiyuan. Seeing the undisguised joy on Hao Renwanhu's face, these generals knew that it must be a good thing.

"The Great Khan has promised us to go to the eastern borders of the Golden Horde." Hao Ren told his subordinates the good news.

Most of the people already understood what was going on, and those who didn't asked, "What's going on?" ”

Hao Ren was in a very good mood, and he smiled and said: "The Golden Horde is a traitor, and the Great Khan asked me to wait to go to the east of the Golden Horde, which should be to attack the Golden Horde after we arrive." To the west of the Golden Horde is the great plain of which I am speaking. Although it is cold, there is a famous city like Kyiv. We're going to build our good days here. ”

These days, Hao Ren Wanhu has been telling his subordinates about the good days ahead. It was a good time under the agrarian Han regime, with centralized power, the imperial examination system, and the development of iron smelting and handicrafts like the Great Song Dynasty. Hao Ren Wanhu believed that in the far west, avoiding the attacks of the Great Song Dynasty and not being directly under the direct control of the Mongol Great Khan, he and these Han Chinese could build a bright new world. That is not only the dream of Haoren Wanhu, but also the future of Mongolians. Although the Mongols did not like that system, they were bound to face various unsolvable problems, and the new state established by Hao Ren could point the Mongols in a new direction. In front of them, these Hebei Han people who were not allowed to be in the Great Song Dynasty could also follow Hao Ren to enjoy a civilized, wealthy, and powerful life.

The Han people in Hebei have a considerable degree of identification with Hao Ren's ideals, and everyone is also happy. Immediately, someone asked, "But you don't know when to leave?" ”

"That's what I'm worried about right now." Hao Ren Wanhu replied, "We can't go all the way thousands of miles away without preparation, although there are orders from the Mongol Khan along the way, and the local Mongol tribes will not stop it, but we must be prepared along the way." Someone has to be on the way in the winter......"

After the last expedition to the west, Hao Ren Wanhu already had enough understanding of the 10,000-mile expedition. The last time he was dispatched, all the young government soldiers were driving cattle and sheep. The animals that did not run fast were killed first, and the conquered tribes were able to provide some supplies, and although it was hard work, they were still able to reach their destination.

"I am waiting for this trip, there are a large number of old and weak women and children in the team, and the speed of the march will never be fast. It requires a lot of preliminary preparation. Enough food must be stocked up on the road north, as well as water. Last time we had a lot of times when we had to drink mare's milk to get by, now these hundreds of thousands of people are even more logistically stressed. The water source alone is troublesome. After Hao Ren finished speaking, he was quite annoyed in his heart.

As a Mongol, Hao Ren knew from the Mongolian side how the Mongol army destroyed dozens of countries in Central Asia, and slaughtered cities. Let Mongolia recognize how much wealth it has accumulated. The conquest in Central Asia was a daily battle of flowers and gold. However, the newspapers of the Great Song Dynasty described this completely differently: 'When the Mongols invaded Central Asia, they not only killed people, slaughtered cities, and plundered, but also completely destroyed the water conservancy system in Central Asia. Let the accumulation of Central Asia for thousands of years be destroyed, and from then on this place has become a thirsty world. During the rainy season there are floods and during the dry season there is great thirst. The Silk Road, a string of pearls made up of oasis cities, turned into a desert road, a wilderness road, where tenacious surviving vultures and jackals watched every moving human, waiting for them to die of thirst and hunger, and then went to gnaw on the corpses of humans......

Although Hao Ren Wanhu was very dissatisfied with these obviously tendentious descriptions, he had to admit one thing, the water source was indeed the biggest problem during the last expedition to the west. The short-term march of hundreds of thousands of people has such a huge need for water. Not only was water source a big problem during the Western Expedition, but even in the Jiangnan War, where there was no shortage of water, the Mongol army was troubled by how to obtain clean drinking water.

Jiang Guangtou participated in the whole process of the Western Expedition last time, and of course he knew the hardships of the Western Expedition. Seeing that no one else was silent, Jiang Guangtou volunteered, "Lord Wang, the last general is willing to ask for orders to go to the road that contacted the former Ogedai Khanate and the Chagatai Khanate. ”

"Hmm." Hao Ren is quite satisfied with Jiang Guangtou, although this person is calculating, but on the whole, he is okay. But it is not enough to rely on such a Han general, Hao Ren looked at the Mongolian deputy general Batieer, "Batieer, you go with Jiang Guangtou." ”

Batier did not agree, but asked: "Lord, didn't the Great Khan seal a piece of grassland that originally belonged to the Ögedai Khanate for you?" Now the Great Khan can say the ownership of this pasture? ”

"That meadow has now been arranged by many tribes by us."

"So what, the pasture belongs to the prince. Do they really dare to swallow it privately? ”

Hao Ren couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing this, he didn't think about this grassland. But after careful consideration, Hao Ren felt that instead of wasting great efforts to control the grassland, it would be better to simply use the method of trading to cooperate with the Mongol tribes along the way. Fighting for pasture is a very cruel and time-consuming method, and declaring ownership of a piece of pasture is probably a good example of suffering before it is profitable. The last thing Hao Ren Wanhu needs now is the enemy.

Hao Ren told the generals his thoughts, but the generals obviously did not support Hao Ren's views. Batieer said proudly: "When I waited for the westward expedition, I was afraid of anyone. Not to mention a few tribes, what about the Chagatai Khanate and the Ogedai Khanate. It's not like we're beaten to the ground. ”

With Mongolian generals in front, Jiang Guangtou also followed Ying He and said, "That's right." Lord, as the saying goes, once born and twice cooked. We are still on the old road in this expedition to the west, so why are we afraid? ”

Hao Ren replied unhappily: "We were 20,000 people last time we went west, and this time it is hundreds of thousands. This is obviously the first time we have taken so many people west. ”

From a materialist point of view, this is indeed a correct judgment. But materialism is a thing that is in great conflict with human nature, and human beings have an instinct to know themselves, which is an indispensable instinctive response to human beings themselves. However, once this instinct encounters the social level, it is easy to become self-centered in looking at the world. In the Great Song Dynasty, this was one of the courses of the society, and there was no such systematic education in Mongolia. Hao Ren's generals think that 'having a gun is the king of grass', and they don't care what waves those former defeated generals can make.

Listening to the nonsense of a group of generals, Hao Ren was already extremely annoyed in his heart, but now that he is a minority, Hao Ren slapped the table angrily and shouted: "You guys are so messy, don't you want to go west?" ”

With such a big hat buttoned down, most of the generals under Hao Ren didn't dare to speak anymore. Looking at Jiang Guangtou and Batieer, who were still unconvinced, Hao Ren continued to say angrily: "You wait to speak like this, don't you want to prepare?" ”

"Of course not." Batiers felt that he had been wronged.

"Since it's not, let's hurry up and prepare. If you tell the heavens here, will the food run on its own path? Hao Ren said angrily.

This Ba Tieer and Jiang Guangtou didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore, so they could only obediently obey their orders. At the end of the meeting, Hao Ren returned to his residence with a hum, sat on a chair, and tried to squeeze out the unhappiness in his heart. Thinking of this group of subordinates, Hao Ren's pride in building a new country plummeted.

Seeing the strength of the Great Song Dynasty and seeing characters like Zhao Jiaren, Hao Ren felt that the truth in the world was actually very clear. Thousands of years ago, all the sons and hundreds of schools of thought tried to expound the truth of the world, and they told a lot. In the end, it is summarized as a complete thing by a character like Xunzi.

Xunzi's two apprentices, Han Fei, completed the ideological system in this regard, and this system was extremely valued by Qin Shi Huang. In practice, Li Si helped Qin Shi Huang complete the great cause of unifying the world and establishing a centralized and unified country. Even now, more than 1,000 years later, the system created by Qin Shi Huang has not been conclusively sealed. The Zhao family has undoubtedly created a more powerful new form on this system. But Hao Ren's men obviously couldn't understand this. Their abilities are not enough compared to such great deeds.

Thinking of this, Hao Ren even had some trepidation. What if his career fails! But now if you don't rely on these people, what other people can you rely on?

In frustration, the guards came to report, and Wei Jingwang came to ask for a meeting. Wei Jingwang is a big landlord in Hebei, and Hao Ren can only invite him in. After the two of them sat down, Wei Jingwang said: "I heard the prince describe the khanate he wanted to establish, and I was really excited to listen. However, the son said on the river, and the deceased is like Sifu. I might as well wait to take advantage of the fact that there is nothing to do in the winter now, and I will take a scientific examination. ”

"Take the imperial examination now?" Hao Ren only felt that his heart began to beat violently.

"Exactly. Since you have arrived in the extreme west, you also want to take the imperial examination, so why not start the imperial examination now. On the contrary, this can convince everyone that what the prince said is not empty talk. And now that the prince is a military general, if there are civil officials to do things, wouldn't it be more justifiable to govern civil affairs. Wei Jingwang continued to tell his thoughts.

Hao Ren already completely agreed with Wei Jingwang's idea in his heart, and he smiled: "But I don't know if Mr. Wei is willing to be the examiner this time." ”

Wei Jingwang laughed, "Lord Wang, I just think that Lord Wang is ambitious and on the right path, so I want to serve Lord Wang." I haven't read any books, and the examiner who came out to do this time would only laugh at other people's mouths. I would like to recommend a few people to the prince, they are all well-educated people, and they can be the examiners of this time. ”