The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 235 Guo Jing Seeks Advice, the Road to a Nation

Nanchang Prefecture, Government Affairs Hall.

Several high-ranking officials of the Song Dynasty gathered here, their faces were extremely grim, and Qiao Xingjian was even more indignant, "Doesn't the Khan of Mongolia understand the principle of raising a tiger to cause trouble? He gave Guo Jing such a large territory, and he wants to raise a second Jin Kingdom?"

Zhen Dexiu frowned, and the wings of his official hat swayed slightly. "Since ancient times, those who unified the north must go south. Guo Jing has been crowned king, and he even recognized the previous dynasty's great ancestor as his ancestor. He was carried into the imperial temple. He deserves death! Now I understand why he was unwilling to participate in the signing of the treaty."

"Yes, this man has hidden ambitions and has long been planning to attack our Song Dynasty. For now, the only way to stop the war is to rely on Mongolia."

No one present thought there was anything wrong with this. Over the years, the Song Dynasty had become accustomed to paying protection fees. They were even more accustomed to their own military decline, so as long as it did not affect the wealth and glory of those scholar-official families, it was enough.

They knew very well how the Jin Dynasty was destroyed, but the problem was that the Song Dynasty could not even stop the Jin Dynasty, let alone Guo Jing's Great Zhou.

"It seems we have to send an envoy to Mongolia in person."

Soon after the conquest of the Jin Dynasty, the Song Dynasty signed an alliance with the Grand Tutor King Mu Huali. The Song Dynasty paid tribute to Mongolia and handed over 600,000 taels of silver and 500,000 pieces of silk every year.

Who would have thought that Genghis Khan's return to the grassland would lead to a drastic change in the situation in the Central Plains. Guo Jing's power was not weakened but even strengthened. However, Mu Huali, the backer of the Song Dynasty, had to return to the grassland. Once Mu Huali left, no one in the Central Plains could compete with Guo Jing and help them withstand the pressure.

Several officials looked at each other and quickly reached a consensus, "We hope that we can sign an alliance with the Mongolian Khan this time, otherwise, the country will be in danger."

……

Golden tent on the grassland.

Tolui stood in front of Genghis Khan and said, "Father Khan, our Mongolia is already the most powerful country in the world, and it should also have a magnificent royal city to show your style. I am willing to ask for your order to supervise the construction of a royal city for you, father Khan!"

Genghis Khan joked, "You are quite ambitious to go to the Central Plains."

"Our Mongolia is so big, we can't have no decent royal city, and father Khan can't always live in the Golden Tent. Please allow me."

Seeing his sincere request, Genghis Khan immediately made the decision, "Well, supervising the construction of the city is not an easy task. Let Yelu Chucai help you. You are fully responsible for this matter. I only look at the results."

Then he looked at him with a smile in his eyes, "You are not good at politics, and suddenly you want to build a royal city. Did you ask Guo Jing for advice?"

Tuolei took the opportunity to flatter him, "As expected of my father Khan, you guessed my thoughts right away. Guo Jing was crowned king in Luoyang, and the imperial palace there is bigger than any other city we have seen in the Western Regions, and it is not even finished yet. After all, he is still a king crowned by my father Khan, so we can't be worse than him, right?"

"I have thought about building a royal city for a long time, but it was delayed by the Western Expedition. However, since there is no war now, it is not a problem to build a royal city. This is a good idea of ​​yours. Do you have any considerations on this matter?"

The implication was that this was both a test and an attempt to help him come up with some ideas.

"I plan to build my capital in Kharakhorum. This place has abundant grass and water, and the terrain is flat, which is just right for relocating my people. In addition, I brought back a large number of craftsmen and the blueprints of Luoyang City from the Central Plains, and I plan to build a city that is no less powerful than Luoyang."

"With the craftsmen from the Central Plains and many artisans from the Western Regions, plus millions of slaves in the west, what kind of city can't be built? By then, this will be the center of Mongolia and the center of the world!" When he said this, Tolui's eyes were full of light and he looked excited.

"Well, you are worthy of being my son. You have such ambition. I will leave this matter to you!"

"Don't worry, father. I won't let you down!"

Soon after, Mongolia began a vigorous civil engineering project. Slaves from the Western Regions continued to enter the grassland to fill the shortage of Mongolian labor. Historically, Ogedei Khan ordered Han craftsmen to build a capital on the banks of the Orkhon River, which was named Karakorum. The city was about four miles from north to south and about two miles from east to west. The Wan'an Palace where the Khan lived was in its southwest corner. It was surrounded by a palace wall with a circumference of about two miles, which was far smaller than the cities in the Central Plains.

Now, Tolui built a royal city based on the model of Luoyang, which was extremely large in scale, far exceeding this one. The major khanates also sent craftsmen and manpower to assist. It was precisely for this reason that Mongolia did not launch a war for the time being.

……

In the backyard, Guo Jing, dressed in a long robe, asked Su Ming for advice, "Teacher, I plan to lead an army to destroy Song soon. Please give me some advice."

Su Ming put down the medical book and replied nonchalantly, "You already have a plan in mind, why ask me? With the current strength of the Great Zhou, can the Song Kingdom still resist?"

He knew very well that Guo Jing was anxious to destroy the Song Dynasty because he was afraid that things would get more complicated if the time came, and he wanted to prevent the Song Dynasty from getting involved with Mongolia and ruining the plan of unification!

Guo Jing did not comment, his expression was uncertain, "There are two opinions in the court now. One side wants to send a large army south, attack Huanglong directly, capture Nanchang Prefecture, and conquer the world in one battle. The other side wants to take it slowly, first seize Shu, then attack from two directions, attack southern Jing, capture Jiujiang, and then join forces to capture Nanchang Prefecture."

"Either attack route has its merits. I am hesitant and have difficulty making a decision."

Su Ming's expression became a little serious. "It is not difficult to destroy the Song Dynasty. The difficult part is how to govern the country after destroying the Song Dynasty. Most of the nine states in the world are in your hands. The old order has collapsed, and a new order must be established. Are you ready to be the emperor?"

Hearing this, Guo Jing smiled bitterly, "Teacher, to be honest, I was not prepared. Back then, I saw that the Song Dynasty was weak and incompetent, groveling to the Jin people, without any integrity, and the people of Central Plains suffered. This was a catastrophe for the Han people."

"Teacher, I can't just watch them being bullied by foreigners. Even if it takes my life, I just want to support the Han people and let them live a stable life."

"It was not until the teacher gave me Wu Mu's suicide note that I understood the teacher's good intentions."

Su Ming smiled and shook his head slightly. "It can only be said that heroes are made by the times. You are in an era of great changes in the world. Your teacher is just teaching you. You have come to where you are today because of your own efforts. No one can replace you."

"Disciple, you understand. For more than ten years, I have been working day and night, just wanting to destroy the Jin Dynasty as soon as possible, avenge the Han people, and fulfill Yue Wumu's last wish. I thought I could leave a place for us Han people to live and work in peace in the north, but I didn't expect the Khan to be so caring. Not only did he not be on guard, he even gave me all the territories in Hebei." "Everything came unexpectedly. With the withdrawal of the Mongolian forces from the Central Plains, no one can stop me from unifying the world. Even when I started the army, I never thought I would be able to get to this point today." His words were full of emotion.

"Until today, I have thoroughly understood what it means to wear the crown and bear its weight. After becoming king, all matters, big and small, had to be reported to me, including disasters, bandits, and dispatches. All matters were extremely complicated. It took the officials in the court several months to get everything on track."

"So, you are confused now?" Su Ming picked up the teapot and poured tea for each of them.

"I don't know what kind of country I want to build. If the country I build inherits the ills of the Song Dynasty, with the people being exploited, the literati living a life of drunkenness and dreams, and constant party struggles, the people at the bottom of society unable to survive, then I don't want such a country! Back then, my father and uncle were persecuted by the government of the Song Dynasty. If the government of my country is the same, then what's the point of everything I do?" When saying this, Guo Jing's eyes were filled with fatigue and a little confusion.

As the ruler of a country and even more so the founding monarch, he has seen too much and his heart has long been as hard as iron, but the enthusiasm in his heart has never dissipated. What he has done is not only for himself, but also for the people.

His ambition has never been for wealth and glory, but to save the people and to restore the glory of the Han people. He wants to save people, to save many people, but if the dragon slayer turns into an evil dragon, that is something he does not want to see.

Guo Jing's confusion also stems from this.

Su Ming knew that GC was the best solution to this problem, but in this feudal ancient time, it was extremely difficult to implement the system of later generations. Technology, economy and productivity could not allow such a great leap forward.

Practicing gc in ancient times was an absolute fallacy. After a hundred years of changes in later generations, Shenzhou Luchen gave birth to a great man on this land. But obviously, even if Su Ming helped with all his strength, he could not become the second great man.

The reason why a great man is a great man is that no one can become him or imitate him. In this era, we can only follow the path of the feudal era. Being half a step ahead is a genius, and being one step ahead is a madman. In this ancient era, there is no soil for change.

Thinking of this, Su Ming's heart became heavy, but his face remained calm. "The Song Dynasty has deep-rooted problems, and such problems also exist in the Zhou Dynasty. Your foundation is the government soldiers, but they cannot replace the civil officials, and they cannot replace those powerful landlords to maintain local stability in a short period of time."

"Similarly, those scholars and officials annexed land without limit, and it was inevitable that their wealth and power would be passed down from generation to generation. In the final analysis, land is an important source of wealth. Emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce has been the national policy for thousands of years. But have you noticed that the source of the Song Dynasty's economy does not rely on farmland and food, but on commodities?"

"Commodities?" Guo Jing's eyes flickered. "Teacher, are you referring to trade?"

"The constant flow of internal business and trade with foreign countries has allowed the Song Dynasty to have a steady stream of taxes. Agriculture is important, but commerce is equally important. When land is no longer the only source of wealth, perhaps the country can get rid of the bad policy of land annexation."

"Without money, nothing can be done, especially in a country. Taxes and money are more important than military power. If you have time, you can read more of Guanzi, and perhaps you will be inspired."

Guo Jing was obviously not stupid, and he quickly understood what Su Ming meant. "Teacher, do you mean that you want us to do business with Mongolia?"

Su Ming took a sip of tea and nodded with satisfaction. "The land of Mongolia is so vast, and the wealth they robbed is innumerable. Is there any better buyer in the world than them?"

If the huge Mongolian market could be taken over, it would be enough for the Great Zhou to plunder countless wealth in this world war, and this wealth could be used to feed back into the domestic industry and commerce.

With money, either launching a war or recuperating is an option, and Su Ming's goal is to liberate the people from the land, turn them into workers, and expand productivity.

Of course, all this must be carried out under the leadership of the state. Su Ming called it feudal state capitalism. There are countless such examples in later generations, so I will not list them one by one.

In history, many dynasties could not escape the three-hundred-year cycle because of insufficient productivity. The existing resources had already been occupied by middle and high-level people. The people at the bottom could not get enough resources to survive, so they had no choice but to redistribute resources, and war was undoubtedly the most direct way.

Those people have spent most of their lives digging for food in the fields. Is it because they are not working hard enough?

No, it was because most of the grain in the fields was taken away by the government, and the remaining was not enough for survival. Harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger, and the high pressure from the government is not worth one's own life, so there was a peasant uprising.

Guo Jing pondered for a long time, a hint of enlightenment appeared on his face, and he bowed deeply to Su Ming, "Teacher, agriculture and commerce are equally important. I understand what you mean. Thank you for your teachings!"

In fact, Su Ming meant to give equal importance to industry and agriculture, but this understanding was not wrong. Anyway, he didn't believe that the court would allow those large factories to fall into the hands of businessmen.

Then, Guo Jing made another decision, "To destroy Song, I plan to adopt the second approach, slowly and gradually. Only by clearing away the old stubborn problems can new fruits grow. The war to destroy a country is not about unification, but about gaining land and population. As for those officials and literati, they are not important, and the people's hearts do not depend on them."

Su Ming smiled with relief, "If that's the case, then go ahead. I'll be waiting for your good news here."

"Disciple retire!"

……

At the turn of autumn and winter in 1226, Guo Jing launched a war against the Song Dynasty. He sent troops from Guanzhong to attack Hanzhong, and his target was directly Shu. He even had a ready-made reason: to take back the Guo family's kingdom and avenge his ancestors.

At this time, the Mongolian envoys had just arrived in the desert and had not even seen Genghis Khan.

The Sichuan region was the weakest link in the Song Dynasty, because the Song Dynasty had been exploiting and oppressing Sichuan since it conquered it, which was comparable to the exploitation of Hebei by the imperial court during the Tang Dynasty.

However, Shu was weak and it was difficult for it to form a separatist regime, unlike Hebei which was strong. But because of this, Shu and the Song Dynasty court had always been alienated, and few Shu scholars became high officials in the Song Dynasty.

The economy is gone and there is not enough political status, so Shu has long been full of complaints. In addition, the Song Dynasty only has a small corner of the country and is not as strong as before. The taxes on the people of Shu have been increased several times, which has caused a lot of unrest in recent years.

As the news of the Great Zhou's attack on Song spread, the ambitious people in Shu had already been ready to fight, secretly communicating and waiting for the arrival of the royal army.

(End of this chapter)