The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 253: Genghis Khan dies, Guo Jing returns to the court
After returning to the garrison camp, Guo Jing ordered the army to break camp. Everything went on in an orderly manner. The city of Kharakorum was as prosperous as before, but he smelled a storm coming.

The people in the city seemed different from ordinary people. In fact, they were all a bit anxious in their words and deeds. The whole city seemed to have become a powder keg that could explode at any time.

In the camp, Guo Jing bent over the desk, wrote a letter, sealed it with wax, and handed it to his personal guard, instructing him, "Make sure to deliver it to the residence of the fourth Mongolian prince, Tolui."

The personal soldier took the letter, turned around and left in a hurry.

Inside the palace, Tolui received Guo Jing's letter and his expression became complicated after reading it. He inherited all of Genghis Khan's Ōrudo, pastures and armies on the Onon River and the Qiluklian River.

However, the fiefdom of the Mongolian successor Ogedei was centered on Yemili and Khobo, which was the western part of the ancient Silk Road, while the "center of the Mongol Empire" was in the Mongolian mainland from the Qilulian River to the Antai Mountains, which was the territory of Tolui.

More importantly, most of the troops left by Genghis Khan were inherited by Tolui. He was the strongest among all the Mongolian Khans. In other words, no matter who became the Mongolian Khan, he had to look at his face.

In the letter, Guo Jing described his situation and gave him three strategies. The best strategy was to overthrow Genghis Khan's will and usurp the throne of the Great Khan of Mongolia. The middle strategy was to ask for favors, reduce the fiefs and divide them among his sons, and move the fiefs. The worst strategy was to recommend Ogedei as the Khan and command his own troops.

After reading the letter, Tuolei smiled bitterly, "Anda, your vision is still as sharp as ever."

There seem to be three strategies, but in fact there is only one way, that is to ask for favor. The strength of Tolui's own army is too strong, while the khanates of Chagatai and Jochi are too far away to provide assistance.

Even if Ogedei did not take action against him out of consideration for their brotherly love, the next Khan of Mongolia would certainly not sit idly by and watch the power fall into others' hands. A Khan without power is nothing more than a puppet.

Tolui was not stupid. Especially after everything that happened on the way back from the Western Expedition, he realized that the days of internal harmony in Mongolia were gone forever.

Even if Jochi and Chagatai could have shaken hands and made peace before, after this battle, they were as hostile as water and fire, and it was impossible for them to cooperate sincerely and make progress. Their two countries were far outside the center of Mongolia, and they would become the target of public criticism. Only by actively weakening their power could they preserve the Khanate.

……

At this time, inside the Golden Horde Palace.

Genghis Khan, who once bent his bow and shot an eagle, is now on his deathbed. He lies on the bed, dying, and the third prince Ogedei is guarding him.

"Third brother, after I leave, you must maintain the overall situation of Mongolia. The dispute between the eldest and the second brother will be resolved by you."

Ogedei held his hand and nodded heavily, "Father Khan, I will remember it." The hand in his palm was no longer as strong and powerful as it used to be.

"The fourth brother is the helper I leave for you. With him, Mongolia will not be in chaos. If you two brothers work together, the tribes will not be able to revolt. After I die, the countries in the Western Regions will have ups and downs. It is enough to let those Fengwangmen deal with these matters."

"Also, there is Guo Jing. He can be an external aid to Mongolia. The Central Plains is densely populated and has strong forces. We should not make enemies with them unless we have no other choice. If we want to go to war with them, we must plan ahead and not gather all the strength of Mongolia to defeat them."

Hearing this, Ogedei was startled and kept the matter in mind.

The next moment, Genghis Khan coughed a few times, his eyes brighter, "Third brother, I have traveled all over the world and destroyed countless countries in my life. There are people who can compare with me in the grassland for thousands of years. Am I a hero?"

Ogedei said hurriedly, "Father Khan led the Mongols to conquer the world. Since ancient times, no one has conquered more land than us, and no one has ruled over a larger population than us. You are definitely a hero!"

Genghis Khan held his hand tightly, muttering: "Hero, hero..." Then he laughed three times and died suddenly.

After a long time, Ogedei stared at the person on the bed, with a complicated expression on his dark face.

"Third Prince, personnel have been deployed inside and outside the palace."

"Go away." Ogedei waved his hand and sat down on the couch.

In an instant, he was the only one left in the hall.

The man on the couch had stopped breathing. He grabbed Genghis Khan's hand and said calmly, "Father Khan, you are gone after all. I'm afraid the fourth brother has heard the news. If you really wanted me to be the Khan, why did you give the tribal territory and the army to the fourth brother? I am probably the weakest Khan among all the Mongolian kings."

"Without a large army, how can I command Mongolia?"

Feeling that the once strong and sturdy hand had lost its warmth, Ogedei sighed, "I hope that the fourth brother can help me once for the sake of brotherhood."

……

Soon, the news of Genghis Khan's death spread from the palace. Tolui entered the palace that day and saw Ogedei kneeling in front of the sickbed. He saw the gray figure on the bed, his body swaying, with a face full of sadness and dejection.

"Father Khan!"

Soon, the sound of grief spread throughout the hall.

Tolui woke up from his grief and immediately approached Ogedei, "Third brother, my father is gone, and you will be the Great Khan from now on. I will listen to you about what you want to do next!"

Ogedei's expression eased, "Fourth brother, once Father Khan leaves, the eldest and second brother will probably quarrel. You are the most powerful among the Mongolian kings, and the situation still depends on you."

"Don't worry, leave this to me."

A few days later, many of Genghis Khan's children rushed from their fiefdoms to attend the funeral.

Jochi, who was thousands of miles away, was overjoyed and returned to the Mongolian headquarters with his army. At the funeral, Chagatai, Tolui and the other two jointly recommended Ogedei as the successor Khan, but Jochi refused to recognize it on the grounds that the meeting had not yet been held.

According to common sense, after the death of a monarch, his designated successor should immediately ascend the throne. However, the Mongolian tribal council system, namely the kurultai system, already existed before the establishment of Mongolia. This is also the legal basis of the Mongolian Khan system. Although Genghis Khan's will is still there, it is not greater than the system, and he cannot bypass the system to ascend the throne as the Khan.

Therefore, Ogedei could not succeed to the throne according to his father's will and had to wait for the final decision of the kurultai.

However, Mongolia could not leave the throne vacant. Finally, with the joint recommendation of many Khans, the fourth prince Tolui took charge of state affairs.

After Tolui founded the country, he convened a Mongolian court meeting, and many khans and leaders gathered in the palace hall.

Before the Great Khan ascended the throne, he personally appointed Ogedei to have full authority to arrange the Great Khan's funeral. Jochi was dissatisfied, but he did not dare to disobey the regent's order.

… “Sure enough, the Khan is dead.”

Half a month after Guo Jing left, the news of Genghis Khan's death reached him through the trade route. In the carriage, he took out the edict given to him by Genghis Khan and opened it.

Sure enough, inside was an imperial edict for an alliance with the Great Zhou. The edict no longer called the Great Zhou a vassal of Mongolia, but an ally. The two sides would help each other and open up trade routes.

He knew that this was a reward from Genghis Khan. He had made great contributions in this Western Expedition, but only received some wealth and goods, without any territory or population. This edict was also a recognition of him.

However, after reading it, Guo Jing sighed, "Great Khan, oh Great Khan, when a person dies, it is like a light going out. It is still unclear whether this edict can be recognized by Mongolia."

If the Great Zhou was a vassal of Mongolia, it would have to contribute manpower and accept conscription in every Mongol war. The main trading partner for Mongolia and the Western Regions would be the Great Zhou. Even if Genghis Khan left a will, facing such huge profits, it would be impossible for those Mongolian princes not to be tempted.

That means there may be another fight in the future.

……

Two months later, the army set foot on the land of Great Zhou. Looking at the pass in front of them, with grassland on one side and the city on the other, Guo Jing felt much more at ease. The army was isolated and felt like a rootless duckweed.

In the Mongolian army, except for Tolui and many veteran generals, the other princes did not show much courtesy to him, the son-in-law of the emperor. The reason for this was that the confidence brought by Mongolia's powerful military force made them naturally superior when facing other ethnic groups.

After entering the pass, Guo Jing personally met with the soldiers guarding the pass and rewarded the three armies as encouragement.

The army rested at the border for several days before setting out again, and the news of the emperor's triumphant return was rushed to Luoyang over a thousand miles. Soon, the court and the public were in an uproar, and everyone was worried about gains and losses.

Three months later, Guo Jing returned to Luoyang with more than 10,000 Han cavalry.

Crown Prince Guo Chengping and all the civil and military officials in the court went out of Luoyang thirty miles outside the city to welcome the king. On the carriage, Guo Jing met with all the ministers and then pulled Guo Chengping into the carriage.

Guo Chengping is no longer as young as he used to be. He now has a short beard and a calm and sophisticated temperament.

Guo Jing looked at her for a long while and said with emotion, "Ping'er, you have suffered a lot in the past few years."

"It is the hardship that father endures while on the battlefield. How dare a minister like you complain?"

"There's no need to be polite between you and me, just tell me about the situation in the court."

Guo Chengping then briefed him on the situation of the Great Zhou court and the institutional policies that had been reformed in recent years. Soon, the carriage drove into Luoyang City. As the palace gate opened, Guo Jing returned to the imperial palace after being away for many days.

"Guo Jing, you're finally back." After returning to the bedroom, Hua Zheng went forward to greet him.

Looking at his beautiful wife in front of him, Guo Jing took her into his arms. Hua Zheng leaned obediently in his arms, enjoying the rare warmth and tenderness. In the evening, the Guo family held a family dinner in the palace, and more than a dozen grown-up children sat in the hall to eat.

Seeing this scene, he thought of the Mongolian kings and gradually some ideas came to his mind.

In order to prevent his sons from fighting for the throne, among his descendants, only Guo Chengping was named the crown prince, while the others were just princes without titles. As his sons grew up and the government got on track, the rewards for his sons would be decided sooner or later.

This Western Expedition had a profound impact on Guo Jing. The vast world outside was very different from the Central Plains. The people in the Western Regions also had different cultural customs. The vast and fertile land was unoccupied and was overgrown with weeds and trees. Gradually, a feudal system like that of Mongolia took shape in his mind.

……

After Tolui became regent, he took out Genghis Khan's last will, which included a will to form an alliance with the Great Zhou. When Subuchi heard this will, he was very unhappy because he had a conflict with Guo Jing when they were young.

If the Great Zhou and Mongolia were on an equal footing now, wouldn't he, the Khan, be reduced to a lower generation? Chagatai had the same idea, and both of them opposed the edict, but Ogedei accepted it.

With his vision, it is not difficult for him to see the potential of Guo Jing and the Great Zhou. If he wants to become the Great Khan in the future, he must rely on the power of the Great Zhou. There are also many Han forces within Mongolia. If he can bring this force under his command, his chances of becoming the Great Khan will increase a little bit.

Ogedei spoke out to help, and his weight was no less than that of Jochi and Chagatai. As the most powerful king of the Mongolian forces, Tolui's words were decisive, and Genghis Khan's edict was also executed. Soon Mongolia will send envoys to formally form an alliance with the Great Zhou.

With the completion of Genghis Khan's funeral, the kings of various khanates returned to their countries one after another, and Jochi and Chagatai were also preparing to leave. However, at this time, Jochi suddenly fell ill and his condition was very serious, so he had to stay in Karakorum.

Seeing this, Chagatai also stayed on the grounds of poor health. For a time, all four princes stayed in Karakorum. The undercurrent within Mongolia did not disappear with the death of Genghis Khan. Instead, it intensified and gradually showed a tendency to expand.

……

In the Ganlu Palace, Huang Yaoshi was explaining government affairs to Guo Jing, "Your Majesty, the performance evaluation system has been implemented for three years, and the household registration and land inventory in various places is nearing completion."

At the same time, he was also secretly sizing up Guo Jing. The Western Expedition had been going on for more than four years, and the government had been able to function naturally. Now that the emperor had returned, the officials in the court were unsettled and worried about changes.

Sitting on the chair, Guo Jing was wearing a dragon robe. The dragon pattern on the sleeves was lively and vivid, as if glaring. He flipped through the memorials and nodded continuously, "Thank you, Prime Minister."

Huang Yaoshi then reported, "According to the decree of His Majesty, the court has been holding special examinations every year, with equal emphasis on civil and military examinations. The Imperial College of Military Affairs has trained a large number of candidates over the years, and official schools have been established in various prefectures and counties. The rotation of leading officials in various regions across the country has been completed, and the old officials of the previous dynasty have also been cleared out."

This government exchange lasted nearly two hours and gave Guo Jing a general understanding of the court.

"Prime Minister, my sons and daughters have all grown up, and it's time for them to be divided into fiefdoms. I wonder if you have any good ideas?"

Huang Yaoshi was a little caught off guard by Guo Jing's sudden words, but thinking about the situation in the court, he pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the matter of conferring the title of king is an internal affair of the royal family. I am an outsider and dare not say too much."

Hearing this, Guo Jing stood up and spoke calmly, "In the former Song Dynasty, the drawbacks of redundant soldiers, redundant officials, and redundant personnel were well known to everyone. The government's responsibilities were unclear and they suppressed each other. Our Great Zhou will certainly not follow in their footsteps. I am only forty years old and I already have more than a dozen children. I will have more children in the future."

"Now the grandchildren are all here, and the royal family is almost over a hundred years old. How many years has it been?"

"As the saying goes, if you don't think about the future, you will have immediate worries. The royal family is born without worries about food and clothing. If this continues, they will be useless to the country. I have decided to restart the feudal system and send them to various border areas to expand the territory. What do you think, Prime Minister?"

These words were like a bolt from the blue. The feudal system had not appeared for a long time. Since the Han and Jin Dynasties, the actual enfeoffment of kings had long ceased to exist. Emperors of all dynasties had learned from the lessons of the previous dynasties and were wary of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings.

(End of this chapter)