Chapter 277 Next, it should be the sea of ​​stars

The fourth year of Li Yuan, the end of the year.

This year, Zhao Xin was twenty-nine years old.

And if we count the vassal states, the territory of the Song Dynasty is probably only slightly smaller than that of the Tang Dynasty at its most powerful, right?

In that year, the Western Region Uighurs sent monks to present Buddha’s teeth, glassware, amber cups, and various jade bridles, jade belts, frankincense, etc. to Youzhou.

Upon hearing that Western Xia had been defeated, the leaders of the various Uighur tribes in Western Region naturally came to pay tribute immediately.

To the west of the Xizhou Uighurs, there was a country called the Karakhanid Kingdom.

Those are all the ancient territories of our Tang Dynasty.

Zhao Xin also asked the envoy of the Western Region Uighurs: “Has the Karakhanid Kingdom ever bullied you?”

The monk immediately said, “My dear Han uncle, you are joking. But if I must say, the Karakhanid Kingdom is indeed quite hostile to us.”

Zhao Xin asked, “Oh? Why?”

The monk replied: “It’s because most of the people in their country believe in the Arab law. Therefore, they are often hostile to those of us who believe in Buddhism, and often call us pagans. Back then, the Kingdom of Khotan was conquered by them in the name of holy war.”

Zhao Xin then asked, “Have they ever attacked you in these years?”

The monk replied: “No, it’s mainly because there was a rebellion in the country about 20 years ago, and the country has been divided into two. The Karakhan Kingdom in the east can’t even destroy the western one, let alone go to war with us.”

Zhao Xin could only feel that it was a pity.

And I also thought to myself, you won’t destroy each other.

Be reasonable!
Without communicating with them, Zhao Xin would not be very clear about the current situation in the Western Regions of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Xin was quite familiar with the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty.

After all, he was someone who had been familiar with Tang history books at the age of three.

The monk felt from Zhao Xin’s words that this Han uncle, a high-ranking official, was very eager for war.

After returning, he had to warn his king to be careful.

Don’t be careless and bring disaster upon your country.

Zhao Xin then shared with the other party about the Zhubu rebellion.

After he finished speaking, he said to the other party: “If any chieftain of the Zhubu tribe escapes to your side, I hope you can hand them all over to me.”

After the conversation.

The monks also celebrated the Lantern Festival in the capital before returning.

Because he was walking on the grassland north of the Yellow River, he did not see the railway they were building.

But it doesn’t matter.

If the other party repaired it secretly, then he would have a good reason to beat him up.

When you learn that the world outside is so vast, it is really difficult to restrain your desire to expand your territory.

Yes!

Who can resist such temptation?

Of course, there probably won’t be that time in the next one or two years.

After all, they haven’t dealt with Xixia yet.

The end of the year.

Zhao Xin also summoned Su Shi again.

The main task for Su Shi to complete this year was a questionnaire survey.

We visited the Khitan people one by one and asked them questions.

First ask them, what do you think of Tian Khan today?
How does it compare to the former ruler of the Liao Dynasty?

What if you don’t need to fight in the future, and specialized people do the fighting and guarding the borders, and you don’t need to serve in the military? What do you think?
Actually, I have to say…

There are very few warmongers who truly enjoy war.

Basically, most Khitan people are definitely unwilling to face war.

Then, Su Shi explained to them the latest policies of the Khan.

Next…

The Liao Kingdom wanted to implement separation of military and political power.

For example, the original chief was the highest military commander of the tribe, but this needs to be changed.

of course!

If you say so, then the original chiefs will definitely have objections.

only……

If you have any objections, then let’s sit down and talk it out until you have no objections.

Since the founding of our Great Song Dynasty, there has been a fine tradition of releasing military power over a cup of wine. As long as you can hand over the military power, you have also seen those generals of the Great Song Dynasty who have handed over the military power.

Life is pretty good these days, isn’t it?

Moreover, after handing over your military power, you can also become an official.

You are still the chief of your tribe.

It’s just that from now on you won’t have to worry about things like wars.

Now Zhao Xin is the knife and they are the fish.

natural!

Even if someone feels it is not good, there is nothing that can be done.

After all these years, the Liao army has been reformed successively. The current Liao army is no longer the previous army where each tribe was led by its own chief.

Instead, it has become an army that is a mixture of people from multiple tribes.

Now, this army has been initially integrated by Zhong Yi under the instruction of Zhao Xin.

Now that the army has been formed, Zhao Xin feels that it is time to remove the military power from the rest of them.

We need to change the past practice where once a war broke out, the chief would lead the army to the battlefield.

of course!

The biggest change is definitely that from now on, these chiefs and people who are not soldiers will not be able to privately keep things like armor.

The most you can do is play with bows and arrows and go hunting.

After Zhao Xin made this proposal, he did not expect them to agree immediately.

Instead, we encourage them to speak actively and enthusiastically.

in fact……

The reason why he did this was simply to ensure long-term peace and stability on the grassland in the future.

Otherwise, it would be very unsettling to see you chiefs always recruiting people from your own tribes to form armies.

At last……

After three months of discussion.

Everyone had to accept this proposal.

Not to mention that continuing to oppose is just seeking death.

Secondly…

The Liao Kingdom was so large, but there were very few people who could become chiefs.

Compared with the large number of other Liao officials who failed to become chiefs, the opposition voices of these chiefs themselves can only be said to be weak.

Other Liao officials had no reason to support them.

After all, there is no particular benefit to them.

Zhao Xin also allowed their chieftainship position to be hereditary.

In addition, they are given annual financial compensation.

at last……

In the fifth year of the Li Yuan period, in April.

Zhao Xin followed the example of Emperor Taizu of Song and released the military power to the Khitan people over a toast.

This year……

My son will be eighteen next year.

Although his age is still seventeen.

but……

I feel like it’s time to find a Crown Princess in advance.

to be frank!
There really isn’t any particularly good candidate.

Soldier business.

Marrying a scholar can be said to be the most useless thing.

There is no need to marry workers.

Only soldiers and businessmen can be considered.

but……

Zhao Xin herself has already married Shang.

If Zhao Zhe marries Shang again, he will be competing with Chen’s father.

This is a sign of division, and it doesn’t feel good. Then the only option is to marry the soldiers.

The best option, of course, is to find the descendants of Li Yuanjun.

But the descendants of Li Yuanjun may indeed be a bit shallow in their knowledge.

Do you think it would be a good idea to find a hero like Zhao Xun?
The main reason is that Zhao Xun’s family didn’t have a daughter.

therefore……

Finally thought about it.

It seems that Yelu Hongji’s eldest daughter, Yelu Sagezhi, seems to be doing pretty well.

mainly……

Yelu Saguzhi herself was very dignified and beautiful, so she could actually be a suitable candidate to be the queen.

of course!

How to do this specifically is not something Zhao Xin can decide.

after all……

Zhao Xin definitely doesn’t want an arranged marriage.

Zhao Xin just hoped that his analysis of the pros and cons here could provide Zhao Zhe with a little reference.

The only thing we need to note is that women in Liao were relatively strong.

For example, Yelu Hongji’s grandmother was a very ambitious woman.

However, Zhao Xin looked at it and asked his daughter, and found that Yelu Sager did not have this problem.

She is quite similar to her mother, Empress Xiao Guanyin of Liao Dynasty, in that she has a gentle personality and is introverted and delicate.

Recently, I also wrote a poem.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that after you marry a queen, you can’t have other women. You can have one from the Li Yuan army, one from generals like Zhao Xun, one from the merchants, and one from the literati.

It’s also possible to have four concubines in this way.

As long as you can keep them from fighting.

of course!

Under such circumstances, when Zhao Zhe was about to die, Zhao Xin estimated that the country would inevitably have civil unrest.

This is a no-brainer.

It will definitely be like this!

So sometimes, it might be better to marry someone from a smaller family who poses less of a threat.

“Whether you want to marry Yelu Sa Gezhi, you should think about it yourself. Besides, you can ask her out first. If you don’t like her, forget it.”

Zhao Xin finished talking to Zhao Zhe.

The rest of the matter was up to Zhao Zhe to figure out on his own.

To be honest, Yelu Sager is just okay in appearance.

She is beautiful, with a quiet and gentle voice, and is no worse than her mother, Xiao Guanyin.

As for what Ouyang Xiu and his people think…

can only say……

They definitely disagree.

And when he saw that the prince was actually associating with the princess of Liao, he immediately called a halt.

Moreover, he suggested to Zhao Xin that the Crown Prince should not sit around doing nothing all day, but should find a great scholar to read to him.

Zhao Xin ignored the first half of Ouyang Xiu’s speech. This study…

There is indeed still some need.

After all, I had listened to Madam Miao reading in the past.

But if you say you want to really look for those great scholars who are actually corrupt scholars, then it seems there is really no need for that.

For example, Sima Guang. Although Zhao Xin would use him as a censor, Zhao Xin would never let Zhao Zhe follow him and learn from him.

What Zhao Xin used was just Sima Guang’s hatred of evil, which helped him distinguish between loyalty and treachery in the court.

Actually, he is just a tool.

When the other party is around, many people dare not do evil, at least they dare not do evil blatantly.

Then the people can still live a slightly better life.

Unable to find anyone particularly good to be the prince’s teacher, Zhao Xin simply taught himself.

First, we set up Chinese, mathematics, foreign languages, physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy courses.

Language…

Let’s ask Ouyang Xiu for this.

Just learn how he writes articles and how he chooses words and sentences. Just listen to his ideas, but don’t follow his advice completely.

Ask him to tell some stories from ancient times every day. Think about the meaning behind them yourself, and don’t assume that what he says is right.

math……

Zhao Xin can just teach himself, and it will probably take only a few months for him to become a master.

foreign language……

You can learn from Yelu Sagu.

Otherwise, you won’t even know if others are planning a rebellion in the future.

For physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy, just read Science News.

Zhao Xin also found Ouyang Xiu and asked him to tell Zhao Zhe a story.

It starts from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and goes all the way to the present.

But to be honest, Ouyang Xiu may not be as good as Sima Guang in historical research.

After all, Sima Guang has “Zizhi Tongjian”.

It seems that Zizhi Tongjian was compiled by Sima Guang?
But it doesn’t matter. The reason why Sima Guang was so strong was because he spent time. Ouyang Xiu could do the same if he was willing to spend time.

It might be relatively tiring.

After thinking about it…

It’s better not to be Ouyang Xiu.

After all, Ouyang Xiu was too tired.

Just ask Ouyang Xiu who is better at studying history, and then look for it from the grassroots level.

Find some unknown people.

After he had finished searching and listening, he would repeat the story to Zhao Xin every day, and Zhao Xin would correct him.

To instill class perspective in Zhao Zhe, we must learn to view history in a dialectical materialist way.

Of course!
Like what Zhao Xin said, don’t tell anyone else casually, just keep it to yourself.

In addition…

We can’t just teach the crown prince; the other princes still need to be taught as well.

then……

Coincidentally, that year, the super-large astronomical telescope at the Academy of Sciences was also polished by craftsmen.

Zhao Xin then took them with him and started by observing the universe.

First, start by understanding your place in the universe.

Be reasonable!
The moon is really big and really clear.

After Zhao Xin told them how humans evolved from gorillas, of course, no one could say for sure whether humans evolved from gorillas.

but……

Just listen to it like this for now.

Anyway…

This is how human beings have developed step by step, from stone tools to bronze tools to iron tools, through continuous innovation, until today.

So how will humanity develop next?

Zhao Xin didn’t tell them the answer first, but let them think about it themselves. After looking through their homework, he could only say that each of them was written very poorly. But it was not their fault, after all, they were so young, what knowledge could they have? Only then did he express his own hypothesis.

in fact……

The world is big.

Instead of fighting among themselves, they could unite and expand outward together.

Zhao Xin then began to think about how to find a reason to attack Jiaozhi.

Exactly!

June of the fifth year of the Li Yuan Dynasty.

Champa sent envoys to the Song Dynasty, hoping to agree to attack Jiaozhi together next year.

But to be honest, the Song Dynasty had just made peace with Jiaozhi, and now they are attacking them again. It doesn’t seem very fair.

Champa saw that the Song Dynasty had fought with Jiaozhi before and had killed many people from Jiaozhi, so they wanted to take advantage of the situation.

If he could conquer Jiaozhi next, then at least the fiefdom of one of his sons would be secured.

(End of this chapter)