Hou Luo, entering the grassland, is not what I want. Ran Min said pretendly: "In the past, when the Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties were strong, the Central Plains was strong and the grasslands were weak, and they did their best, but the Central Plains dynasties still preserved their homeland and had no intention of expanding their territory to the north, do you know why?" ”

"His Majesty the Great Emperor is wrong in what he said." Hou Luojile said with a smile: "As far as I know, the Central Plains Dynasty in the past dynasties did not have the ambition to enter Mobei and expand the territory, nor did they lack this strength. It is a wasteland in the north of Yinshan Mountain and the Great Wall, barren land, not suitable for the growth of crops, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and its people are unruly, so the Central Plains Dynasty of the former dynasties such as Qin, Han, Wei, Jin and other previous dynasties did not seize the land of Mobei. ”

"If you know, it's good."

Ran Min sighed and said, "It's not that Great Wei doesn't have the ability to acquire these territories, but that it doesn't have the ability to govern. This huge piece of land, if you want to govern it well and turn it into summer, I don't know how much it will cost the empire. There is no certain reward for paying, even if I want to be a monarch who opens up the Quartet, I am afraid that my subjects will not agree! ”

Hearing this, Hou Luojiao said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, contemptible people think that if you pay, you will definitely reap the rewards." Although the land of Mobei is barren, and it is difficult to grow rice and millet grains, it is difficult for the Wei people to adapt and survive there, but Your Majesty must know one thing, if the Hu people in Mobei are not removed, they will eventually become border troubles! In the history of China, it has always suffered from border troubles, and a Great Wall of 10,000 miles is just to block the iron hooves of the Hu people from going south. But is it really what His Majesty wants to be beaten passively like this? ”

"Hurojel, what you say does make sense. But the current situation is similar to when Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty unified the whole country. In the past, when Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, the Han Dynasty was strong, the soldiers were strong, and the Southern Xiongnu also invited him to fight the resurgence of the Northern Xiongnu, but Liu Xiu resigned on the grounds that "there is no good governance in the country, the disasters are endless, the people are frightened, and people do not protect themselves". ”

Ran Min said lightly: "Do you think the current Great Wei is much stronger than the Eastern Han Dynasty at that time?" ”

Hou Luojile sighed and said: "Great Emperor, the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Great Wei Dynasty are not the same. At present, the people of the grassland are eager to end this chaotic situation, but how to end it? I think there is only one way, and that is to have a unified empire on the steppe, a supreme master! ”

"Can't Xianbei people?"

Looking at Ran Min's mocking expression, Hou Luojile lowered his head and said, "The Great Emperor doesn't have to laugh. Xianbei people like my Gaoche people, Fuyu people, and Goguryeo people are all the same, they belong to the Hu people, and the tribes under their command are inclined to each other and hostile to each other, everyone wants to become the overlord of the grassland, but no one has this strength! When the Xiongnu was as strong as the Xiongnu and when the Xianbei Tanshi Huai King was strong, the Mobei area was unified and became a relatively powerful tribal alliance, but with their death, the original system began to collapse! ”

"We steppe people believe in the strong, superstitious in force, and whoever is strong obeys his orders. Now that the Wei State is already so powerful, why not take the opportunity to enter the grassland? ”

Ran Min squinted his eyes and said, "Hou Luo, I still say the same thing, although I am the emperor, I can't be arbitrary. It is not in the actual interests of the empire to send troops to conquer Mobei now! I can't go all out for my own selfishness, and it's the common people who suffer in the end. ”

Throughout the ages, other countries like to expand their territory, why was ancient China not keen to expand its territory?

First of all, for cultural reasons, China has always respected Confucianism since the Han Dynasty, and Confucianism has always been the mainstream thought in ancient China.

The core of Confucianism is "benevolence", and Confucius has always advocated that gentlemen should "govern the country with benevolence", and only when the ruler achieves benevolence, the people below will follow suit, so that the whole society will develop harmoniously. Confucianism has always emphasized "one polarity", that is, to take the imperial power as the center, to ensure the imperial power can ensure the dominant position, if the territory has been constantly expanded, it is difficult to ensure the unity of power, and the management is also very chaotic.

Secondly, Confucianism emphasizes "inclusiveness", and if the ruler does not compete with him for the throne and threaten his position, he is very tolerant of others. In dealing with some small countries, as long as they do not have the intention of rebellion, pay tribute on time, and meet on time, then the ruler will not easily send troops to conscript.

Another reason is economic reasons, ancient China has always been a self-sufficient small peasant economy, people work in the sun, sunset, can live a lifetime on their own two acres of land, life is also rich, then there is no need to conquer others, especially some remote areas.

Those remote areas are often barren areas, crops cannot be grown there, and economic development is not good, so they attack and develop these areas casually, and after incorporating them into their own territory, they also have to help these poor areas develop their economies and assist them to be self-reliant, which is very laborious and costly, so the rulers of the dynasties generally do not casually open up their territories.

Hou Luo said indignantly: "When you were in the Beihai Sea (Lake Baikal), you often heard that others were spreading the praises of your reputation as the Great Emperor. The contemptible people originally thought that the Great Emperor would be an unprecedented great monarch, a savior sent by the Immortal Heaven, majestic and strategic, unmatched! But I didn't expect that the emperor was just in vain! What a disappointment for me! ”

"Huh?"

Seeing Hou Luo's gaffe, Ran Min couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said, "Hou Luo's master, you dare to be so presumptuous in front of me, aren't you afraid that I will kill you?" ”

"If you want to kill or chop, I, Hou Luo, will never frown! But the emperor is so mediocre, I'm afraid that the national glory of the Great Wei will not last long! ”

"Bold!"

Before Ran Min could say anything, the translator next to him was furious.

Ran Min waved his hand and said, "Hou Luo, you are very courageous, and your courage is commendable!" You're the first person you've dared to speak to me since I took this position. I won't tell you the truth, I do have the ambition to reign on the grassland, when will I not treat me, the world is so big, do I have to occupy every inch of land? ”

"What the emperor is worried about is nothing more than how to govern Mobei. What's so hard about that? The Great Emperor can completely follow the example of the Western Regions Protectorate and establish a Metropolitan Protectorate in Mobei to raze and govern the country, and directly include Mobei in the territory of the Great Wei? ”

To be honest, Hou Luo's words have already entered Ran Min's heart. He had long wanted to annex all the lands of Mobei, and then establish a capital protectorate, and even places around Liaodong and the Bohai Sea could establish the capital protectorate of the Great Wei Empire.

At least nominally, these places were the territory of the Empire.

But Ran Min finally did not agree to Hou Luo's request, and just asked him to go back and rest.

Subsequently, Ran Min held a small court meeting and summoned Cui Hao, Wang Meng, Qin Mu, and Xun Ji into the palace to discuss this matter.