From Xuchang to Luoyang, you need to bypass Songshan Mountain and Yangcheng Mountain, these are barberry Zeng Hua and his entourage walked from the foot of the mountain, and found that the mountains inside are high and dense, and the birds and beasts roar, endlessly. Now is the autumn hunting season, and from time to time you can see nearby people riding horses or walking, walking together into the mountains.

Seeing the team escorting Zeng Hua, he stood far away, dismounted and stood solemnly, not daring to make a mistake. And these people, with their swords and bows, also became the focus of the guards and sergeants. Under the gaze of thousands of tigers, it was impossible for these people not to stand solemnly.

Many people had already returned from the mountains, and there were many wild animals in front of the saddle and behind the horses. Zeng Wen looked at those prey, smelled the faint smell of blood wafting in the air, and couldn't help but get excited.

"Father, we might as well set up camp at the foot of the mountain, or go to Yanshou City and rest for a few days." Zeng Wen turned to Zeng Hua and pleaded, and although Che Miao next to him did not help, he was also looking forward to it.

Zeng Hua knew that Zeng Wen and Che Miao were both avid hunting enthusiasts, and the "pocket money" of both of them was spent on raising hunting dogs. Now that I see such a great opportunity, my hands and feet are naturally itchy.

"Luoyang still has important things to deal with, and we have to rush to Chang'an quickly when it's over." Zeng Hua said with a straight face. Seeing the disappointment on the faces of the two of them, he immediately smiled and said, "It's not impossible for you to stay and hunt, as long as you are willing to resign from your position as an attendant military attaché, I will approve you to stay here." ”

Zeng Wen and Che Miao's originally happy expressions passed in an instant. There was even greater disappointment on his face. Zeng Hua's suggestion might as well not be said.

If it weren't for the special status of the two of them, Zeng Hua personally approved it, how could it be Zeng Wen and Che Miao's turn? If he resigned from this position for hunting, he would not have heard that Che Miao would most likely be cut off by his father.

Zeng Wen walked for a while in a sullen mood, and finally looked at Songshan in the distance and complained to Zeng Huadao: "Father." Why do you want to practice "The Law of Hunting in the Mountains and Forests". How can this wild thing in the mountains, forests and rivers be defeated? Why bother? ”

Zeng Hua knew that Zeng Wen was complaining about a series of new laws that he had led. Since last year's Yanzhou floods. Zeng Hua has realized the dangers of the Yellow River's flooding. As a traverser, Zeng Hua certainly knows that the best way to prevent river flooding is to protect the environment and reduce soil erosion.

But Zeng Hua also knows that he is a bit too avant-garde to talk about environmental protection in this era, and it is better to find another way. So on the way to inspect the Kanto, Zeng Hua frequently wrote letters to Che Yin, Xun Xian, Jiang Kui, Pu and other leaders of the old and new factions, and talked about the unity of heaven, earth and man in the account of his feelings about inspecting the Kanto. said that when he traveled through the magnificent mountains and rivers of the Central Plains. All of them are intoxicated by the beautiful scenery of Jinzhu, and from time to time they feel that "all things are one with me" and "everything in heaven and earth is all living beings".

In the end, Zeng Hua proposed that "heaven and man are one, the Tao is natural, and when the sky is good, the amount of land is favorable." He also demanded that on this basis, the law should be determined, the mountains, forests and rivers should be protected, and the time and place should be favorable. Zeng Hua also attached a number of suggested provisions of the law to the end of his letter.

If it weren't for these people, they would all know that Zeng Hua was the behind-the-scenes leader of the new faction. Everyone thought that Zeng Hua suddenly switched to conservatives, after all, these are the most important ideas of conservatives, because most of the conservatives who are from metaphysics will of course focus on Huang Laozhuangxue.

However, Zeng Huaneng showed positive ideological progress towards the conservatives. Why don't conservatives rejoice? So they responded one after another, perfected Zeng Hua's legal idea, and waved their flags in Zhongshu Province to create momentum for the passage of the law.

Although the new faction does not understand what Zeng Hua is playing the "environmental protection" card for, they know that Zeng Hua will never turn to the conservatives, and they prefer to believe that this is a means of weighing Zeng Hua to win over the conservatives, just to give the conservatives some empty benefits, because the real power is still in the hands of the new faction.

In the first year of Taihe, the province of Zhongshu quickly promulgated the "Prohibition Law on Mountains, Forests, Waters, and Rivers", and the main idea was that the spring government could not help but be born for a hundred years, and the summer government could not help but not be able to achieve five grains. The rules are that in spring and February, it is forbidden to burn grass for fertilizer; The mountains, forests and rivers in various places are closed, and it is not allowed to cut down budding plants or hunt young animals; It is forbidden to poison fish and hunt birds and beasts at will; The ban was not lifted until autumn in July. Of course, there are many provisions that take care of the daily life of the people, such as the need for coffins in the place of sudden death, which can be agreed without the above-mentioned time limit; The people needed firewood to be cut in designated areas, and there were regulations on the size of the trees and the location of the felling land.

Then the "Law on Land Granting" was amended, mainly because most of the mountains, forests and rivers were no longer privately granted to everyone, and were completely managed by the government, and no arbitrary logging and hunting were allowed; The forests assigned to private individuals must be cut down according to the season and regulations, and the principle is to cut down one tree and plant one tree; He also encouraged the people to plant trees, and stipulated that all privately planted trees could be cut down in installments and sold for money after they were matured.

In the revision of the "Land Granting Law", Beifu encouraged the people of the Central Plains to migrate to the grassland and encouraged them to engage in animal husbandry; And began to control the density of population agglomeration by granting land in different places, so as to control the "degree of development" of a certain place, and achieve the purpose of "not destroying mountains, forests, and rivers".

All kinds of measures are aimed at reducing population density and protecting the environment, but they are all under the banner of "good weather, good location". Zeng Hua also knows that environmental protection is a difficult thing to do, especially in this era when there is not much environmental pressure and only the pursuit of reclamation and farming. But Zeng Hua wanted to establish a thought, a thought that respects nature and conforms to the times, so the conservatives are put to good use.

Since it was organized by Zeng Hua, these laws and amendments were quickly reviewed by the Ministry of Travel, and Zeng Hua signed them on the way to the inspection, and soon they were officially praised.

In the reluctance of Zeng Wen and Che Miao, Zeng Hua and his entourage soon rushed to Luoyang, which had been defended by 6,000 soldiers, and only 2,000 of the 3,000 original Luoyang defenders remained, all of whom became prisoners of the Beifu army.

Seeing Zeng Hua, Shen Chi fell to the ground and cried.

Father is so bad. Zeng Hua appeased Shen Jin's tomb and paid a grand respect.

Subsequently, Zeng Hua did not wait for Huan Wen's reply, and first ordered all the 2,000 original Luoyang defenders to be escorted back to Jingxiang, including some troublesome generals and soldiers, these were all people sent by Huan Wen, and Zeng Hua was unwilling to intervene to deal with it.

Then Zeng Hua went to the court for the third time and asked the Jiangzuo court to move back to Luoyang, the old capital. But Zeng Hua knew. This time the above table is estimated to be the same as the previous two times. Disappear off the face of the earth. Zeng Hua then went on the table again, expressing Shen Jin's exploits, and asking him to be the champion general, the history of Sizhou Thorn.

In the following days, Zeng Hua waited for Jiang Zuo and Huan Wen's reply to the letter, and at the same time appeased and won over the people and scholars in Luoyang. and asked Chang'an to allocate a large amount of money to overhaul Luoyang, and also set an example. Donated a huge amount of money for the restoration of Luoyang.

In August, Lu Jindi Huan Wen replied from Zhecheng, informing him of the final disposition of the incident, and the 2,000 generals and leading officers of the Jingxiang army who were escorted back to make trouble were all beheaded, and the rest were sent to Jiaozhou. Huan Wen also frankly told Zeng Hua that he didn't want to defend Luoyang City. Let Zeng Hua do it himself. These words are similar to what Zeng Hua thought. However, the other part of the letter is extremely confidential, Huan Wen and Zeng Hua had a very in-depth discussion on the issue of the Jiangzuo court, and Zeng Hua's reply also made Huan Wen more relieved.

It's almost September. The will of the Jiangzuo court finally came. first agreed with Zeng Hua's above table, commended Shen Jin, and then summoned Shen Chi to Jianye after Zhongliang, ready to be of great use.

In the last part of the edict, the imperial court said vaguely that if it is not long before it is stable today, the people are withering, and the imperial court decides to temporarily live in seclusion in order not to waste the people and money, so the capital Luoyang will ask the general Zeng Hua Haosheng to take care of it.

The Jiangzuo court is so easy to speak, Zeng Hua also has to take a good stand.

Zeng Hua patted his chest and impassionedly assured the envoy that the ancestral mausoleum of the Jin family would be handed over to him, not only guarded by heavy soldiers, but also taken care of by special personnel. Moreover, the ancestor envoys of the Jiangzuo Imperial Court, Beifu, are all covered with food and accommodation, and there is no other word.

After finishing these, Zeng Hua left Luoyang and hurriedly marched to Chang'an.

Zeng Hua hurried back to Chang'an because there was a major event there that had been delayed for a long time.

In the third year of Xingning, the professors of the National History Department of Yongzhou University wrote an article - "Qianhu Kaoyuan", which was published in "Minbao", "Journal" and other newspapers and periodicals under the instruction of Zeng Hua, causing a great sensation.

According to the research of the professor of Yongzhou University, Hu was a Kangju person west of Dawan1, but the Qianhu was different from the Sogdians (Gedianas) who were the agricultural inhabitants of the land south of Yaozhishui (Syr Darya) who had been conquered by the Kangju people. The Qiangqu was separated from the authentic Kangju people (Qiangqu) who lived east of Daze (Aral Sea) and north of Yaozhishui and lived as nomads.

According to the professors, during the first two Han dynasties, Kangju was a Xiongnu, so some people may have come east with the Xiongnu and fought in the Mobei grassland, and then moved south, gradually migrating to the area of Shangdangwu Township, because they were Kangju people. It is also a vassal of the Xiongnu, so it is said that there is a book record: "The other part of the Xiongnu, the tomb of the Qiang canal." ”

As soon as this article came out, someone wrote an article with the discussion, Beifu has long pacified the Western Regions, and the territory has been adjacent to Kangju, and now the root of Hu has been examined.

This argument was enthusiastically supported by the students and students of the Chinese culture and various states, and these enthusiastic young people wrote books or articles one after another, saying that "those who commit strong men will be punished even if they are far away", and asked the northern government to march west and rebuild the glory of a strong country.

However, there are still a large number of people who do not support this argument, emphasizing the difficulty of the western expedition and explaining that Kangju is a bitter cold place, and that the losses are far greater than the gains are outweighed by sending troops. Moreover, Hu is only separated from the Kangju people, and it has been hundreds of years since they were separated from their tribes, so they should have long looked like two different tribes. Now because of an article, Kangju thousands of miles away is involved, which is too trivial, and it is better to spend so much money to go west to Kangju, it is better to spend this money on improving people's livelihood.

As a result, the two factions fought for each other, and these two factions were not divided into conservative and new factions, and they quarreled happily in Chinese studies, newspapers and periodicals, Chinese calligraphy provinces, and menxia provinces. As a result, the "Western Expedition Kangju Wushi Case" proposed by Xingning in the third year has not been passed in Zhongshu Province, and the corresponding "Western Expedition Budget" has not been passed in Menxia Province, and it has been delayed until now. Zeng Hua rushed back to Chang'an, hoping to use his influence. Facilitate the passage of these two bills.

Zeng Wen knew the purpose of Zeng Hua's rush back, so he took advantage of the opportunity to rest in Tongguan and secretly asked, "Father, why do we want to go west to Kangju?" Is it really just to vent his anger and take revenge? ”

Zeng Hua couldn't help laughing, only his son dared to ask this. He couldn't help patting Zeng Wen's head, and his face became solemn and replied: "Many kings and rulers always like to turn their people into sheep through various means for the sake of the stability of their thrones and the ability to pass them on for generations to come. In the end, it broke the backbone of our Chinese nation.

Zeng Hua said this. His eyes looked deep into the darkness outside the camp. After a long silence, he continued: "Our nation and country have just suffered great damage and blows, what do you say is the most important thing now? ”

Zeng Wen didn't dare to answer this question easily, just shook his head.

"It is to restore our confidence, to restore the confidence of our country and our nation. The houses and fields are destroyed, and we can still rebuild, but the backbone and confidence are gone, and it is useless for our country and nation to recover no matter how rich they are. Zeng Hua continued.

"Father. I understand, the purpose of the expedition to Kangju in the west is to restore our confidence in China. Zeng Wen replied cautiously.

"Yes, the reason why the name of the Han Dynasty could spread far away from the world back then was because they were able to seal the wolf Juxu and Zheng Zheng Yan - those who commit strong men will be punished even if they are far away." Hearing this, Zeng Wen couldn't help but boil his blood, sealing the wolf Juxu and Chen Tang on the table, it is the lifelong pursuit of any military general, and it is also the most solid confidence guarantee of a nation and a country.

"Wen'er. You've heard of the Wrath of the Son of Heaven and the Son of Heaven

”

"Father. I know that the wrath of the Son of Heaven is a million corpses. Thousands of miles of bloodshed. And if the warrior will be angry, the corpse of the two will be ambushed, and the blood will be shed for five steps, and the world will be bored. Zeng Wen replied excitedly.

"The anger of this scholar is exactly what we Chinese people should have, we would rather be broken than broken, and would rather die standing than live on our knees. But the wrath of the Son of Heaven should be the wrath of our country and nation. Zeng Hua said in a deep tone.

"I see, Father."

Zeng Hua touched Zeng Wen's head again, and continued: "But Wen'er, you must know that politicians can't act with will. We can't make the mistake of Emperor Wu of the former Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu were beaten away, but the people were beaten poor. Kang, who lived as a nomad, lived in poverty, but the Sogdia, Dawan, and Kushan countries to the south were not poor. ”

"Father, you mean?"

"Once we march westward, an army of more than 100,000 people will travel thousands of miles to destroy Kangju, it will really be a big fuss. The two river basins of Wushui and Yaoshui were very rich, and the Sogdians were good at business, traveling to Persia, Huaxia, and Tianzhu, and their wealth was far greater than that of the Western Regions. Zeng Hua squinted his eyes and said.

Hearing this, Zeng Wen understood his father's thoughts. It seems that my father's war thinking has not changed, and it is not profitable to be early.

"Actually, there is another reason for our expedition to the west," Zeng Hua said suddenly.

"Father, what is the reason?"

"The pressure on our military spending is getting bigger and bigger." Zeng Hua sighed and said, "Not to mention the government soldiers, there are more than 100,000 garrisons in our place, plus auxiliary soldiers, there are more than 300,000, and the cost is huge." A few years ago, it was okay to eat and destroy the old foundation of Goguryeo and Korea, but now it can't be eaten like this anymore. ”

Zeng Wen understood that he knew that Beifu was different from Jiangzuo, and joining the army was a very promising and "rich" profession, so the young people of Beifu would be so enthusiastic about joining the army. However, in exchange for the land, Beifu had to bear great financial pressure, but fortunately, Beifu had developed commerce and trade, paid sufficient taxes, and advanced agriculture and animal husbandry, and could afford to support these troops. But in the long run, it was not a solution, and in the first two years, you could use the income from the destruction of Yan and Goguryeo, but now there is no subsidy. The Xiang Army, as well as the Navy, saw a lot of money invested in, but did not see the benefits come out, which is not the style of Beifu.

Zeng Wen knew that his father, as the head of the Northern Mansion, had to think more far-reaching.

"The world to the west of Kangju is vast and rich, and perhaps those are all given to us by the Holy Lord." Zeng Hua finally said meaningfully. Zeng Wen blinked his eyes and silently remembered it in his heart.

On September 26 of the first year of Taihe, Zeng Hua gathered all the Chao Yilang of Zhongshu Province and Feng Yilang of Menxia Province in Xian and delivered a speech: "In the second year of Emperor Wu of the former Han Dynasty (103 BC), when the Central Plains sent troops to attack Dawan, Kangju had intended to help Dawan, but failed. At the beginning of the fourth year of Emperor Xuan of the former Han Dynasty (58 BC), the Xiongnu were in civil strife, and the five orders were in disputes. In the second year of Wufeng (B.C.), Hutu Wusi established himself as a branch of Shan Yu, and his younger brother Hu Han Evil Shan Yu was opposed. Hu Han Xie moved south to the Han Dynasty, and the branch led his troops to migrate to the northwest, first set up a royal court in Jiankun (Kirgiz steppe), and then at the request of the king of Kangju, moved southwest to the territory of Kangju, and built a branch city on the Dulai River (now Zhambyl in Kazakhstan) to expand its power. In the first year of Emperor Yongguang of the former Han Dynasty (43 BC), King Kangju welcomed the Xiongnu Zhidan, and joined forces in the east of Kangju to fight against Wusun. In the third year of Emperor Jianzhao of the Yuan Dynasty (36 BC), the Western Regions Protector Gan Yanshou and Deputy Captain Chen Tang led the troops: +L to attack the branch, kill the branch Shan Yu in the city, and stabilize the situation in the Western Regions, but Kangju still adopted a hostile attitude towards our Han Dynasty for a long time. ”

Zeng Hua first reviewed the history of Kangju and the Huaxia Dynasty, and then pointed out sharply: "Kangju has always been the most dangerous enemy in the west of the Western Regions. ”

Everyone was talking, and for a moment there was a buzzing sound in the hall. But as soon as Zeng Hua opened his mouth and continued to speak, his voice immediately stopped, and the hall was silent again, only Zeng Hua's loud voice still echoed in the hall.

"Stabilizing the Western Regions is one of the reasons for our expedition to the west, but the biggest reason for our expedition to the west is revenge," Zeng Hua finished talking about the practical significance, and then turned to the greatest spiritual significance of the western expedition to Kangju, "Many people asked, for a hatred that has passed, can we use the expedition of thousands of miles and spend endless manpower and material resources?" I used to wonder like that, too. But when I stood in front of the Hu Monument in the city, my doubts disappeared at once, because I had a thought in front of the stone monument that I wanted to erect the Hu Monument in Kangju Country, the place where Hu was rooted. I want everyone in the world to know that all the enemies who slaughter my Chinese people will be subjected to our fiercest and most cruel revenge, ambushing millions of corpses and shedding thousands of miles of blood! This is the anger of our Chinese nation! With this anger, we can confidently walk anywhere in the world, and we can proudly say to any alien race, I am a Chinese citizen. ”

Speaking of this, there was silence in the hall, Zeng Hua glanced around the audience, and then said word by word: "For this ideal, I have prepared a war horse and a sword and bow, and I am willing to use my life to realize this ideal, in order to leave this confidence for my nation and my future generations!" If you are still proud to be a Chinese citizen, please follow behind me! ”

As soon as the words fell, all the people in the hall stood up, they applauded vigorously, and some even burst into tears, and everyone had no objection to the Xizheng Kangju.

In the afternoon, the Zhongshu Province passed the "Western Expedition to Kangju National Military Affairs Case", and the Menxia Province also quickly deliberated and passed the "Military Affairs Case" after passing the "Western Expedition Budget" and immediately forwarded it to Zeng Hua.

According to the bill, Zeng Hua officially signed an order, and from now on, Beifu will declare war on Kangjuguo and its allies!

1 Note: There are several theories about the origin of the caravan, and Lao Zeng personally agrees with Mr. Tong Chao's statement, so his argument is also adopted. (Please refer to "Several References on the Internal Migration of Wuhu", see Journal of Shanxi University, 19784.) This argument is more relevant and credible than the literature. ）