Chapter 370: Appointment of the aforementioned position
After Xiao Xia left, Cui Hongzhou came to the inner house. His wife Zheng was packing up the fine silk and jewelry given by her daughter. Cui Hongzhou saw that the gifts filled the bed. There were five sets of gold-inlaid jewelry alone. Cui Hongzhou asked, “How are you going to divide up so many ladies?”

“I’ve thought about it. I’ll divide it into five parts. I’ll keep one for myself, give one to Xiaomei, one to each of my two daughters-in-law, and one to Ning’er after she gets married. That’ll be four parts. And then I’ll give one to Ma. Isn’t that just right?”

Ma was Cui Hongzhou’s concubine and was very much favored by Cui Hongzhou, so Zheng had to give her husband this face.

Cui Hongzhou was delighted, and stroked his beard and smiled at his wife, “You didn’t expect it! My son-in-law actually gave me a manor of 5,000 acres in Huxian County. After I transfer the ownership, our whole family will go and see it.”

Zheng was surprised and delighted and said, “Master, this son-in-law is really good! He solved your biggest worry.”

Cui Hongzhou also has a manor of 3,000 acres, but he has two sons. He has always been worried about how to divide the manor in the future. The eldest son will definitely inherit it, but what about the younger son?
He has been worrying about this issue for the past few years, so Zheng said that Xiao Xia solved his biggest worry.

Cui Hongzhou added: “My son-in-law wants to send Dalang to Hexi to serve as an official for two years. When he comes back, he will be a fifth-rank official. Otherwise, Dalang will have to wait for another five years and may not even be promoted. You know, it is the most difficult to be promoted from the sixth rank to the fifth rank. Many people spend their entire lives at the sixth rank. I think this is a good idea.”

“Ah! Are both the grandson and granddaughter going?”

“It’s only two years anyway! I think my family doesn’t need to go, just stay in Chang’an!”

“That’s good. Yu’er wants to keep Xiaomei by her side. If everyone leaves, the mansion will be too lonely.”

Cui Hongzhou was stunned, “Yu’er wants to take Xiaomei away?”

Zheng nodded, “Yu’er said that we were too indulgent towards Xiaomei. She was worried that Xiaomei would learn bad things in Chang’an. She brought her with her so that she could discipline Xiaomei.”

Fathers generally don’t think too highly of their daughters. Cui Hongzhou thinks more highly of his two sons. He nodded and said, “You decide! I won’t be in charge of this matter. I have to go find my second brother and discuss Dalang’s transfer.”

Cui Hongzhou turned around and went to his second brother’s house.

Time passed quickly, and two days later, Xiao Xia received a summons from his father and hurried to the palace.

Arriving at the imperial study, Xiao Xia bowed and said, “Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father!”

Yang Guang nodded and asked, “How do you plan to govern Hexi? Do you have any ideas?”

Xiao Xia said frankly: “I plan to destroy Tuyuhun directly and establish Xihai County. My grandfather told me that he would make me the King of Xihai County because he wanted me to establish Xihai County.”

Yang Guang said happily: “The cabinet was discussing this matter this morning. It seems that no one knows the situation very well. I have summoned them all. Please explain it to them in detail!”

“My son obeys the order!”

Yang Guang immediately ordered people to summon the seven ministers of the cabinet and Crown Prince Yang Zhao, and asked the on-duty attendant Feng Deyi to fetch the largest map.

History always says that the Sui Dynasty fell because Emperor Yang Guang was ambitious. In fact, many of Yang Guang’s national policies were a continuation of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, such as the construction of the Grand Canal, which began in the era of Emperor Wen of Sui.

For example, the attack on Goguryeo also began in the era of Emperor Wen of Sui. The same was true for Tuyuhun. During the era of Emperor Wen of Sui, they repeatedly invaded Longyou. The Sui Dynasty was planning to destroy Tuyuhun, and the plan was officially implemented in the fourth year of Daye.

As for the final demise of the Sui Dynasty, it was because there was no bloodshed when it was established, so bloodshed was inevitable later.

Just like the establishment of New China, countless martyrs fought bloody battles for a hundred years before success, which led to today’s great rejuvenation.

If India had not shed blood when it was founded, and had not thoroughly liquidated the landlords and old forces, then all its subsequent efforts would have been dreams that would have failed and would have inevitably ended in bloodshed.

Therefore, the Sui Dynasty was destined to be short-lived when it was first established. Soon, the seven prime ministers and Crown Prince Yang Zhao all rushed to the imperial study. They sat down in the meeting hall and listened to Xiao Xia’s first pre-appointment report, which was also a pre-appointment report.

Two eunuchs hung a huge map on a shelf. This was a map that was accidentally discovered in the palace. It was drawn on silk and its source was unknown.

Xiao Xia slowly pointed at the map and said to everyone, “Whether it is Hexi or Longyou, their own development is limited by population size. Population growth requires a peaceful environment. If they are threatened by war all day long, and are killed or taken away as slaves by foreigners at any time, how can the people live and work in peace? If I were a farmer, I would also run to the Central Plains. Therefore, if we want to manage Longyou and Hexi, safety must be guaranteed.”

Gao Jiong nodded and said, “So your highness’s primary goal is to make Tuyuhun completely submit to the Sui Dynasty?”

Xiao Xia shook his head. “Prime Minister Gao is wrong on two points. First, it is not my primary goal, but the main goal. The predecessors planted trees, and the later generations enjoyed the shade. I am going to plant trees, and the shade will be left to the later generations! Second, it is not to make Tuyuhun surrender, but to kill Tuyuhun completely and destroy this dynasty. I want to make the people of Tuyuhun become the subjects of the Great Sui Dynasty, and kill all the Tuyuhun nobles, leaving no one alive.”

Wei Chong, the Minister of Revenue, frowned and said, “Your Highness, you can talk about it, but if you really kill them all, it will be a sea of ​​blood and corpses.”

Xiao Xia said: “When I say kill all, I mean men. Women and children will not be killed.”

“Even this is too cruel!”

Xiao Xia ignored him and pointed to the map and continued, “The territory of Tuyuhun is vast, stretching from Qiemo and Ruoqiang in the west to the Yellow River bend in the east, covering more than 2,000 miles from north to south. My goal is to incorporate this vast land into the territory of the Sui Dynasty and establish Xihai County, Heyuan County, Qiemo County and Ruoqiang County. If possible, I will also establish Yiwu County. This will be the first time in history that this land has belonged to the Central Plains Dynasty, and let our descendants take a good look at how their ancestors expanded their territory!”

Yang Guang was really moved. His son’s words touched his heart. He stroked his beard and smiled slightly, saying, “If these counties are really established, I will definitely go to inspect them.”

The left prime minister Yang Su said: “Your Highness, can you tell me about the time arrangement? And also about the money and grain arrangement.”

Xiao Xia nodded, “We will send out troops in March next year, so we will have to ask the court to arrange for all kinds of money, food and supplies as soon as possible. It would be best if we can get it done before this winter.”

Yang Guang glanced at Gao Jiong and said, “There shouldn’t be any problem with money, food and supplies!”

Gao Jiong nodded and said, “There is still a lot of food and supplies left from the last expedition to Tuyuhun. They are all stored in the Jincheng warehouse. Your Highness can use them. In addition, the court will allocate 500,000 strings of cash for military expenses. There are also 300,000 dan of food in the warehouse in the Hehuang Valley. Your Highness can use them.”

“Where’s the army?”

Crown Prince Yang Zhao reminded: “Do you think your army can completely wipe out Tuyuhun?”

Xiao Xia nodded, “I need at least 100,000 troops. Currently, there are 30,000 troops in Longyou and 30,000 troops in Hexi. Together with my own 30,000 recruits, there are 90,000 troops in total. It is barely enough. If the court can add another 20,000 or 30,000, it would be even better. The key is that I need to use the horses in the Hexi horse farm. Please approve it, father.”

Yang Guang thought for a moment and said, “I can allocate 30,000 troops to you, and they will arrive in Wuwei County before winter. As for the Hexi Horse Farm, I can allocate 100,000 war horses to support the war.”

“Thank you, Father!”

Yang Guang pondered for a moment and continued, “I also intend to let you serve as the Grand Commander of Lingzhou. You have a mission to take up this position. At the beginning, we helped Qimin Khan to start a new business in the northern area of ​​Fengzhou. Now he has obtained the most prosperous golden area in the grassland, but the Turks have been slow to return Fengzhou to us.

The late emperor told me before his death that this was his biggest regret. I ask you to take back Fengzhou and Beitao. As for the relationship between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks, you don’t need to consider it so much. They occupied us and didn’t consider the relationship between the two countries, so you don’t need to consider it either.”

Xiao Xia nodded slowly, “I’ll remember this!”

That afternoon, the emperor issued an edict, officially appointing Xiao Xia as the commander-in-chief of the three towns of Shanzhou, Liangzhou, and Lingzhou, and bestowing him with the emperor’s sword and a set of golden armor, allowing him to make his own decisions on all military actions.

(End of this chapter)