In the autumn of the tenth year of China, Chang'an Daming Palace, a palace built by using the natural topography of Longshouyuan, formed a relatively independent castle. The southern part of Miyagi is rectangular in shape, and the northern part is in the shape of a trapezoidal shape that is wide in the south and narrow in the north. The city wall is three miles wide from east to west, five miles long from north to south, and fifteen miles in circumference, with an area of about fifteen square miles. All the walls are made of blue bricks based on large stones, with a bottom width of about 11 meters and a height of 7 meters. The south main gate is a typical "new style of Beifu", the main palace gate is a gate que archway type building, all are built with white marble, it is named the main gate, there is a partition wall that runs through the east and west on the left and right, and behind it is a 126-meter-long, with stairs and slopes intersecting avenues, divided into the middle of the main road and the side road on both sides, and the surface is paved with tiles.

Along this avenue, you can go all the way to the main hall in the middle - Xinhua Hall, the base of the hall is 16 meters higher than the flat ground, 120 meters long from east to west, 62 meters long from north to south, and there are sub-steps with a width of 5 meters around it. In the southeast and southwest directions of the main hall, there are Xuanwen Pavilion and Xuanwu Pavilion respectively, each is connected with the main hall with a curved ruler-shaped corridor, and the whole group of buildings is in the shape of "concave". The whole building complex is mainly made of stone bricks, supplemented by wood, the momentum is magnificent, majestic and magnificent, it is the so-called "Zhaomin looks forward to Chang'an, and all countries worship Xinhua". This is the place where Zeng Hua received important officials from the three provinces and localities, greeted "foreign guests", and held other ceremonial aspects such as awarding and knighthood.

More than 100 meters in the north of Xinhua Hall is the auxiliary hall - Zichen Palace, the temple base is built with rammed earth stone, the four walls are paved with bricks, the north and south are 46 meters long, and the east and west are more than 62 meters wide. There are three palaces adjoining the front, middle and back on the platform, which are divided into two floors. On the east and west sides, there are symmetrical Wenying Building and Haina Building respectively to communicate with the upper floor of the main hall with a flying corridor, and there is a corridor around it, and there is a pavilion in front of the building, which is connected as a door. This is where Zeng Hua met with people of a slightly lower rank. It is also a place where Zeng Hua collected books and read. Here, Zeng Hua met most of the bachelors of the Hanlin Academy, professors of Chinese studies and scholars from all over the world.

To the north of the Zichen Hall is a lawn one hundred meters long and one hundred and twenty meters wide from east to west, with a straight bluestone avenue in the middle, and two rows of towering pine trees planted beside the road. There is a circular pool on each side of the avenue. In the middle of the pool, there is a statue that can spray water, the one on the left is Kuafu chasing the sun, and the one on the right is Jingwei reclamation. Walking north along this avenue is the inner courtyard of Daming Palace.

The inner courtyard, enclosed by an iron fence, is a garden area, and the architectural layout is sparse and diverse. It is centered on the middle oval-shaped pond with an area of about 6,000 square meters. There is a mound in the east of the pond, more than five meters high, called Penglai Mountain, there is a pavilion built, called Penglai Pavilion. There is a cloister along the eastern shore of Penglai Pond, with many pavilions and pavilions built in a staggered manner, while the western part of the pond is a large garden. More than 10 buildings are hidden in it. There are small corridors that connect them.

To the north is the north gate of the Daming Palace, Zeng Hua hired Roman and Greek craftsmen to build here, so it has a strong Roman and Greek style, with an arch as high as 10 meters and a span of 20 meters, towering domes on both sides, a huge coupon arch structure, heavy stone materials, simple geometric shapes, and huge scale volumes. Stacked together give a powerful shock. Behind the door of the north gate, there are two buildings, the one on the left is called the Persian Pavilion, which has a strong Persian style, and the one on the right is called the Tianzhu Pavilion. There is a strong Tianzhu style. They were mainly used to collect cultural relics and treasures that Zeng Hua "collected" from various places.

The entire Daming Palace was built from the first year of Huaxia, and the cost was huge. At present, only half of the repair has been completed, and nearly 10 million silver yuan has been spent, which is almost half of all Zeng Hua's income in the past ten years. Daming Palace did not recruit eunuchs in accordance with the "convention", and the guards were responsible for taking care of the outer court, they were all recruited from the children of nobles and scholars, and after strict examination, they entered the outer court such as the Xinhua Palace, the Zichen Palace, the Persian Pavilion, and the Tianzhu Pavilion to manage these places, while the inner court was managed and cared for by the recruited female officials.

The whole Daming Palace is garrisoned by the most elite guards in China, according to the Chinese system, Yong, Qin, Si three states are Kinki Prefecture, their government soldiers are called the guard army, and the person in charge of Chang'an, Luoyang is the guard, it is selected from the Xiang army from all over the place, every three years to change the defense, the total number is as much as 50,000. The Su Guards were also selected from various places, and their requirements were stricter, and they changed their guards every five years. It has a total of 20,000 people and is also responsible for the defense of the inner city of Chang'an.

In the Daming Palace, the Su Guards are divided into three shifts, respectively in the middle of the morning (eight o'clock in the morning), in the middle of the Shen Shi (four o'clock in the afternoon) in the middle of the hour (twelve o'clock in the middle of the night) to change shifts, and the main gate of the eight o'clock in the morning change ceremony has become a beautiful scenery in Chang'an City, more attractive than the change of shifts in the three provinces. Because according to Zeng Hua's requirements, the guards on duty at the Zhongzheng Gate wore beautiful military uniforms and carried out quite complicated shift change ceremonies, and every movement of these carefully selected sergeants was very beautiful and powerful. Therefore, everyone who goes to Chang'an will take the time to gather in the square in front of the Zhongzheng Gate at 8 o'clock in the morning, not only to worship the Daming Palace from afar, but also to enjoy this pleasing shift ceremony.

In the afternoon of this day, Zeng Hua was a little tired when he came out of the Xinhua Palace, and today is the time to release the appointment letter of the new state official of Shangshu Province. Since the establishment of the province in Beifu, the Pingzhang State Affairs and Shangshu Province has been the fourth, the first is Wang Meng, the second is Di Pu, the third is Zhang Shou, and the current Pingzhang State Affairs is Xie Shu.

Since Zhang Shou served as the state affairs of Pingzhang, a new practice was created - Zhang Shou, as the new state affairs of Pingzhang, drew up a list of the books of each ministry before being appointed, and then added a sentence "sincerely ask for permission to carry out state affairs", and then asked Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province to transfer it to Zeng Hua for approval, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province can only exercise veto power at this time, that is, if they do not agree to this list, they will be sealed back to Zhang Shou, and if they agree, they will be submitted to Zeng Hua, Zeng Hua signed the letter of appointment, and Zhang Shou and others officially took office.

Xie Shu also went through this process, but he was the first Pingzhang state minister to be appointed in the Xinhua Palace, and when Zhang Shou was appointed as the Pingzhang state minister seven years ago, most of the buildings in the Xinhua Hall and Daming Palace had not yet been repaired.

The ceremony was very brief, Yuan Fangping, the special entry Guanglu doctor of Zhongshu Province, and the thirty "representatives" of the court doctors, Xu Qian, the special entry of the provincial special entry of the senior doctor, and the thirty "representatives" of the counselors, the Zhengqing Shaoqing of the Dali Temple headed by Liao Qian, the privy council officials headed by the Tongzhi military Rongye Wang, and the Hao Long, Marc Aurello. Valerian is a member of the Hanlin Academy. Che Yin, president of Chang'an University, and Xie An, president of Yongzhou University, were the heads of professors of Chinese studies, and more than 200 envoys from Rome, Persia, Tianzhu and other countries were on the sidelines.

Zeng Hua awarded the edict of appointment of Pingzhang state affairs and the edict of appointment of various ministers to Xie Shu and others one by one, and Xie Shu and others, who received the edict, lined up to bow down to Zeng Hua, and then swore to abide by the charter and the law and serve the country and the people. Fulfill your duties.

After a complete set of busyness, everyone withdrew from the Xinhua Palace, and Zeng Hua could also go back to the inner courtyard to rest, and tomorrow Xie Shu will take all the Shangshu to Zhongshu Province to make a state of the nation address. This is a practice left at the beginning of the state affairs of Zheng Pu Ren Pingzhang, and on the second day of his presidency and the beginning of spring every year, he will go to Zhongshu Province to deliver a state of the nation address. Indicate your policy strategy and direction, or your annual policy priorities. Zeng Hua will go to the previous state of the nation address, and he will not go to the rest of the annual state of the nation address.

When Zeng Hua bypassed the Zichen Hall and walked along the boulevard to the inner courtyard, a seven-foot-tall officer walked over quickly, and Zeng Hua, who knew that something was wrong, stopped and asked first after the person approached, "Send slaves." What's the matter. ”

The officer stood solemnly. With his legs together, he replied respectfully after giving a military salute: "Back to Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Zeng Wei has returned from Chang'an and wants to report to you." ”

"Oh, the sixth is back, then I'll wait for him in the Persian Pavilion." Since Zeng Wei didn't have any major events and could only come in through the north gate, Zeng Hua said that he would meet him in the Persian Pavilion behind the north gate.

"Jinu, you go and call Liu Daohe. He had something to do in the Xuanwen Pavilion in the Central Palace. Zeng Hua had just taken two steps before turning his head to the officer and said. This officer called Jinudi is Liu Yu, and his father Liu Qiao was used as a scapegoat for the fraud case of the Jingkou Guancang fraud in the fifth year of Taihe and was exiled to Youzhou Fanyang. When he arrived in Fanyang, Liu Qiao, who was rich in governance experience, quickly made meritorious contributions in Beifu, where there was a lack of officials, and finally became the classic history of Hucao in Fanyang County.

As the son of an official, Liu Yu had two choices after finishing his county school. The first is to apply for state school. Take the road of civilian officials, and the second is to apply for military academies. Take the path of a military attaché. Liu Yu has liked to dance and play with guns since he was a child, and of course he applied for the Chang'an Army Academy, and he was lucky to be admitted. Zeng Hua has always attached great importance to the Chang'an Army Military Academy, and every admitted freshman will find an opportunity to meet one by one, and Liu Yu soon entered Zeng Hua's sight. Of course, Zeng Hua knew who this fierce man was, and immediately paid a lot of attention, and finally transferred him to serve as his military attache after graduation, which is the most coveted place for graduates of various military academies.

Liu Yu answered, turned back, and then ran quickly towards the central hall. Daohe's full name is Liu Muzhi and he is Zeng Hua's state secretary. Liu Muzhi's father was also a small official in Jingkou, and like Liu Qiao, he was also implicated in the Guancang fraud case and was exiled to Beifu, but he was exiled to Taiyuan, and later became the history of Taiyuan County. Liu Mu was later admitted to Chang'an University, he was talented, and soon was favored by Mao Muzhi, who had the same name and different surname, and became his student, so he was favored by Zeng Hua and became his state secretary.

Zeng Hua didn't sit down in the Persian Pavilion for a few minutes, Liu Yu and Liu Muzhi hurried over, they saluted Zeng Hua, and then stood behind him. After a while, Zeng Wei came in with two people.

"My son has seen my father." Zeng Wei bent down first and saluted.

"Minister Xie Xuan/Cui Hong has seen King Ming." The two people behind Zeng Wei also bent down and saluted. Xie Xuan is Xie An's nephew and Jiang Zuo's famous general, as the years go by, the former ministers of Jiang Zuo's Jin family finally accepted the facts, because they are loyal to Sima Yao, Zeng Hua's brother-in-law is really not a talent when he becomes an adult, he indulges in wine all day long, and spends extravagantly, if Zeng Hua hadn't supported him a lot of money, he would have gone bankrupt. These former ministers quickly focused on Zeng Wei, the place where the eldest princess of Guiyang was born, and Xie Xuan took the initiative to befriend Zeng Wei and became his right-hand man. And Cui Hong and Zeng Wei got acquainted because they used to be colleagues of the Ministry of Rites and Domains, and they became friends after several interactions, and even their sons played together.

"Father, the son went to Luoyang to worship the Duke of Jingluo this time, and he has completed the task." Zeng Wei, who had just sat down, went straight to the point.

"Gong Jingluo is gone, Duke Su Chang, Duke Bingtai and Duke Wusheng are also gone, and only Mr. Wuzi is still by my side among the five ministers of the year." Zeng Hua sighed gloomily, time flies, and many ministers have passed away. In the third year of China, Xun Xian, the president of Jiankang University, died, and in the fourth year of China, Feng Yue, the Zhengqing of Dali Temple, died. In the fifth year of Huaxia, the general of the town army, Liu Jin, died, and in the sixth year of Huaxia, Di Pu and Wang Meng died one after another, and Zeng Hua was grief-stricken. Ordered a state funeral and enjoyed the spring and autumn sacrifices, and in the eighth year of China, Mao Muzhi and Xie Ai died one after another, and it was also a state funeral to enjoy the spring and autumn sacrifices.

Due to the death of Wang Meng while serving as the president of Luoyang University. Therefore, he was also buried on the campus of Luoyang University, and this time Zeng Wei was entrusted by Zeng Hua and Shangshu Province to carry out the autumn sacrifice.

Seeing Zeng Hua's unbearable grief, Zeng Wei hurriedly persuaded him: "Father, please take care of your health." ”

Zeng Hua waved his hand and said: "Birth, old age, sickness and death are very normal. I'm just a momentary concern. ”

After a pause, Zeng Hua said, "In addition to this matter, you should have other things." ”

"Yes Father, I am also here for the conflict in Persian Khorasan." Zeng Wei replied.

Zeng Wei was transferred to a variety of official positions in the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Education in Shangshu Province. He is now the Deputy Governor of the Military Intelligence Department of the Privy Council. He is now the only one of Zeng Hua's children who serves in the central government, which is very telling. He referred to the recent information about Persia from Zhaozhou.

Immediately after ascending to the position of Persian emperor, he showed the demeanor of a promising ruler, and he first adopted a strategy of secretly suppressing the Holy Religion in the Khorasan region, but on the surface, he was more flattering to the Chinese, and first stabilized the eastern region. He then concentrated his forces and first attacked the kingdom of Helah, which was located westward between Babylon and Basra.

The Kingdom of Sheila was founded by a group of Saracens (Arabs) from the south who called themselves the Donukh people. These Donukhs moved north along the eastern shore of the Arabian Peninsula to the valley of the two rivers. In 242 CE, Shapur I (241272 A.D.), the Sassanid king of Persia, the Rahmi of these Tanukhs on the Persian border, submitted to Persia and established the kingdom of Hira on the banks of the Euphrates River. "Sheila" was originally the name of the village and town. Later, it was expanded into a city and designated as the capital. The inhabitants of the kingdom of Sheila speak Arabic and practice Christianity. The Hila region was fertile and rich in products, and it was a transit area for exchanges and trade between the Persians and the Arabs in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula. All can be said to be rich and oily. B.C. took them under the knife. The first was to cut off the Christian threat to the flanks of the Persian Empire.

It took two years for the city of Hira to be destroyed, and then he swung his scimitar at the kingdom of Ansa. Ansar is a southern Arab tribal name. End of the 3rd century AD. The Ansa people moved north to the Howlan region of southern Syria and moved through southern Syria, eastern Jordan, and Palestine, without a fixed capital. These nomadic peoples spoke Arabic and Aramaic, were brave and warlike, but they were Christians and were greatly influenced by Syrian culture, and played an important role in the introduction of Christianity to the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Naturally, BC sees it as a thorn in its side.

In the course of the war, the Anza turned to Constantinople for help, and the situation in the Roman Empire was in a state of chaos. After the threat of the barbarians in the north was swept away by the Chinese, the Roman Empire experienced a brief period of tranquility. Gratian, the co-emperor of the West, died in 383 AD, leaving only Valentinian II as Emperor of the Western Empire. Soon, the British governor Magnus Maximus and his son Flavius Victor, who did not take the weak Roman emperor seriously, began to attack. They marched into Gaul in an attempt to overthrow Valentinian II, the Eastern Emperor Theodosius I was busy leading his army to help his co-rulers.

A Roman army of less than 20,000 men arrived to reinforce them, but was defeated by an Ambush at Palmyra and seized Palmyra, a wealthy commercial hub in Western Asia. After the pacification of the western border, B.C. had more energy to pay attention to the problems in the east. He used the wealth he had obtained from Sheila, Ansar, and Palmyra to employ more than 50,000 Saracens (Bedouins) in the southern deserts, and recruited more than 100,000 elite soldiers in Syria, Mesopotamia, and central Persia, all of which were transferred to the east in batches, and by the ninth year of China, the Persian army in Khorasan had exceeded 250,000, and all of them were the elite troops of the Persian Empire, which was completely different from the nominally large army he had led more than ten years earlier.

With this support, B.C. began to harden the Holy Cultists in the Khorasan region, suppressing the Holy Cultists, forcibly disbanding the Holy Religious Groups, and expelling the Holy Religious missionaries. Not to be outdone, the holy cultists of Khorasan fought against each other, and the bloodshed became more and more intense. Zeng Wei said that this is this.

"Looks like we're going to go west again." Zeng Hua said with a smile.

Zeng Wei was very surprised, he made eye contact with Xie Xuan and Cui Hong for a while, and then said hesitantly: "Father, you said that we are going to go to the west for the fourth time?" ”

"Yes, are you worried that we are too aggressive? Especially now that the war in the South China Sea is not completely over. Zeng Hua asked with a smile.

Zeng Wei was silent for a moment. Then he nodded. The war in the South China Sea has been much more difficult than expected. It took Huan Chong nearly three years to pacify Ningzhou and begin his assault on the state of Pi, which sounded so powerful in two years under the attack of the soldiers of the Changzhou Prefecture on the eastern road and the navy to the south, but it was the same as the rest of the South China Sea. The continuous rebellion and uprisings in various places made the Huaxia Nanhai Economic Strategy Army a little overwhelmed for a period of time, and even some "extreme measures" were adopted with little effect.

Later, the Huaxia army changed its tactics, and they built strongholds on good coastal ports and communication arteries, and then used them as bases to develop in depth in all directions. Moreover, they began to use various means such as differentiation and bribery to "raze and raze". But up to now, the fighting in the South China Sea is still fierce, the generals of the South China Sea East and West Road have been replaced, and the Changzhou soldiers and Qingzhou and Xuzhou soldiers have been rotated for the third batch, and the casualties have exceeded 100,000, especially the Changzhou soldiers. accounted for four-fifths of the casualties. However, there are still many results. At least the South China Sea is now the sea of China, and Chinese caravans can reach the Andaman Sea directly from Ningzhou along rivers and highways. However, it will take at least a few decades to set up a county.

"Sixth, where do you think our biggest enemy comes from?" Zeng Hua asked suddenly.

The greatest enemy, to the east, where there is an endless sea, and the Chinese expeditionary navy is sailing through the waves, but it seems that there is no edge in sight; To the south, there are the South China Sea and islands with more pebbles than the river, and there should be no strong enemies there. Because of this, the Huaxia army fought there very calmly; Tianzhu in the southwest, they are fighting with Guishan, and now they have been suppressed by Huaxia from the east, west and north; To the west, the iron horsemen of China have been on the road for a year. I don't know how many tribes were wiped out along the way. How can there be danger.

"The danger of our China has always come from the north." Zeng Hua told his answer, which was exactly the north that Zeng Wei didn't expect. It was indeed the greatest danger in China and the Central Plains in the past, but now he has not become the Shuozhou and Hezhou of China?

"North, yes, north. There were first the Xiongnu, then Xianbei, and then Rouran, which brought greater harm to the Central Plains every time. Moreover, these nomads have slowly absorbed the advanced technology and production of the Central Plains in hundreds of years of war, and it will become even more terrifying. At this point, Zeng Hua stopped, because he could not tell Zeng Wei and others about the Khitan, former Jurchen, Mongol, and Later Jurchen Liao, Jin, Yuan, and Qing established in the history that he knew.

"No matter how these nomads absorb civilization, they are still barbaric and backward compared to the Central Plains, they are barbaric and ignorant, so the establishment of local political power is also barbaric and ignorant, as a result, the civilization accumulated in the Central Plains for hundreds of years has been destroyed again and again, and our Chinese nation will be reincarnated again and again in destruction, restoration, accumulation, prosperity, and destruction, and cannot reach a new height." Zeng Hua said these things that Zeng Wei and others seemed to understand.

Speaking of this, Zeng Hua thought further. Rome and Greece had a similar experience, when they were so powerful that they had to expend great energy defending against the barbarians in the north, but in the end the barbarians destroyed the Roman Empire. But when Christianity turned the barbarians of the north into civilized people, such as the Lombards, Franks, Saxons, Slavs, etc., the history of Europe changed dramatically. Although they were tormented in the darkness of the Middle Ages, they no longer had to worry about the accumulation of civilization and the continuous rupture, and after hundreds of years of recovery and accumulation, there was finally the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution.

And what about Chinese civilization? After the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty finally recovered, with a prosperous culture and a developed economy, but it was looted by the Khitans, Jurchens, Dangxiang people, and Mongols in turn, and finally all the glory was turned into dust in the barbaric conquest. The Ming Dynasty, after hundreds of years of development and a high degree of economic development, may produce a bourgeois revolution like Britain after a period of pain, keeping up with the pace of the times, but it was taken advantage of by the Jurchens with long braids, so the Chinese civilization sank again in the so-called "prosperous era", this time, China was left far behind by the times and the West.

"We need to change the strategy of the past, we can no longer isolate ourselves from the northern grasslands, we must use religion, culture and economy to connect them to the Central Plains." Zeng Hua calmed down and continued, "But this can only reduce the impact of the north on the Central Plains, and we must use other methods to prevent possible disasters. ”

"I understand what my father meant, we want to use the wealth of the West, the vast land to attract the nomads of the north, and transfer their desires and plunders to the West." Zeng Wei kind of understood.

"That's right, why can't I wait to start the expedition to the west when I was in Beifu? The nomads in the north can be regarded as a flood, and we must not only block the flood when we control the water, but more importantly, we must channel this flood to the open field, so that we can be safe. Zeng Hua explained.

Zeng Wei and the others nodded thoughtfully. For more than 20 years in Beifu, there were three major western expeditions, and five small western expeditions, and more than 300,000 elite cavalry were successively drawn from Hezhou, Shuozhou counties, Pingzhou Heishui, Bohai and other counties, and most of them later settled in the western states such as Zhaozhou and Xizhou, and the vacant places were divided into land in the equalization system to let the Qiang people and Hexi Xianbei who were most assimilated supplement the past, and the grazing methods of each state also changed from the nomadic mode of the past to the settled pasture mode, which was more convenient for the central power to manage and control it.

"Your Majesty, will this be able to maintain peace for a long time?" After a while, Cui Hong, who came back to his senses, asked.

"After a long time, there may be new problems, and no one dares to predict what will happen in a hundred years, but this kind of initiative has bought us at least a hundred years. You have seen some experimental military products in Mozi Academy and other places, and you should also feel the power of science, when it develops to a certain extent, it will become the key to victory, so that the civilization and economy that we are best at will become the greatest source of power. Zeng Hua said with a smile.

"We must adhere to a national policy, the monarch can be continued, and the minister can be replaced, but the essence of our governance cannot change, and our pursuit of the ultimate goal cannot change."

Hearing this, Cui Hong and the others all turned their eyes to Zeng Wei, who was pondering the meaning of Zeng Hua's words. Zeng Wei sat there and thought for a long time as if no one was around, and finally replied cautiously: "Erchen understands. ”

Lao Zeng went back to his hometown on the 21st for the New Year, and he was in a poor and remote country, and he had to go to an Internet café to go online, so he didn't dare to guarantee the update, and he might have been busy with the reunion and neglected to update. Only when the construction started on February 2 did I dare to say that it was updated.