Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 120: The territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty entered its heyday, Chu Shizhao performed the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, and the embryonic form of factional struggles emerged.

Huan Yi also found it difficult to "understand" this.

Because in her opinion, what her elder brother Huan Sheng did was already rebellious and unrighteous, and it was not something that the world could understand.

What Chu Shizhao did was far more outrageous than what her elder brother Huan Sheng did.

There were many literati who wanted to leave their names in history by carrying out reforms. Huan Sheng was certainly doing something that was not easy, but at least there was an example to learn from.

Chu Shizhao led a northern expedition to conquer the Huns. Throughout the dynasties, there have been strategic plans to conquer the grasslands, including feint attacks to intimidate and head-on attacks.

There are very few people like Chu Shizhao who seriously fight an all-out war, but the problem is that Chu Shizhao does not just fight an all-out war.

He also wanted to seal the Wolf's Lair and carve a stone at Yanran, and now he wanted to continue his western expedition.

Which of these behaviors is not a show of flattery? This is completely stepping on the heads of the nomadic people! Forget about the unprecedented and unparalleled Western Expedition after conquering the grasslands.

Langjuxu Mountain and Yanran Mountain have deep symbolic meanings for the people of the grassland.

Just like that, Chu Shizhao still thinks it's not enough? !

Huan Yi is really hard to understand, especially since all-out war is easier said than done. Winning is not easy at all, but achieving a situation where one is almost certain to win a "total victory" is extremely rare.

As far as the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty is concerned, during its most powerful founding period, it was on equal footing with the nomadic peoples on the grasslands, and the situation was at a stalemate, let alone a counterattack on the grasslands.

The defensive position is the norm.

Chu Shizhao went to other people's sacred mountains to worship their ancestors, performed Fengshan ceremonies to acknowledge their legitimacy, and even engraved words to publicize the prestige of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

This is completely different from the previous Northern Expedition of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The unwinnable Northern Expedition had a deeper symbolic meaning, as it was a way of intimidating the enemy and showing them what they could do. It was also the most common type of Northern Expedition in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which was a bluff.

When a new monarch ascended the throne, most of the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty would do the same thing.

The few "Northern Expeditions" that were successfully won were when tens of thousands of people bullied a few hundred lone cavalrymen, and then they claimed that they had successfully completed the Northern Expedition.

Chu Shizhao's Northern Expedition was fought with real guns and swords.

So, when Chu Shizhao proposed the idea of ​​a western expedition, which was obviously so unrealistic and there was obviously no example of a western expedition in the previous dynasty, Huan Yi did not doubt his true thoughts at all.

The main thing is that he did everything Chu Shizhao said.

Moreover, let’s not talk about the Western Expedition first. Just the fact that Chu Shizhao conquered all the surrounding countries shows how strong Chu Shizhao’s martial virtue is.

You give him a chance, you give him a full treasury. Huan Yi suspects that Chu Shizhao is about to start his westward expedition.

[In October of the 11th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao's years of war and the implementation of the "One Whip Law" led to a rebellion led by landlords and powerful people in the tax-intensive areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.]

[In the same month, Chu Shizhao changed the one-time court session to two-time court session, divided into morning court session and afternoon court session, and governed diligently day and night.]

[In November of the 11th year of the Kaihuang reign, Chu Shizhao sent Han Gu to quell the rebellion in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, and commissioned Guo You to compile a new "Da Zhou Law". This code also symbolized that the culture and system of the Da Zhou Dynasty were becoming more perfect. As time went on, the "Da Zhou Law" fully reflected the level of the legal system during the Kaihuang period and was used by later generations.]

[In December of the 11th year of Kaihuang, Han Gu put down the rebellion in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, and in doing so, he recruited more than 40,000 young and strong men.]

[In March of the 12th year of Kaihuang, the Khan of the Southern Xiongnu changed his name to Zhou and began to learn all the etiquette of the Great Zhou Dynasty. In order to compete for territory on the Korean Peninsula, Silla, which had originally been allied with the Great Zhou Dynasty, eventually tore up the alliance with the Great Zhou Dynasty.]

[In April of the 12th year of Kaihuang, after Baekje and Goguryeo were destroyed by Chu Shizhao, Silla, once an allied country and vassal state, launched a war against the Great Zhou Dynasty in order to fight for the right to rule the former territories of Baekje and Goguryeo.]

【The short-term rule established by Chu Shizhao on the Korean Peninsula was hit.】

[Since most people were unwilling to migrate to these barren lands, and most of the local residents were dissatisfied with Chu Shizhao's rule and intended to restore their country, indirectly colluding with Silla from within and without, the Governor of Andong, Lan Shu, who was stationed here, had a very hard time defending and suffered pressure from both inside and outside.]

[In May of the 12th year of Kaihuang, Wen Yu advised Chu Shizhao that he should not devote too much effort to those impoverished lands. If the country's military forces were all placed on such small lands, it would sooner or later drag down the country.]

[In late May of the 12th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao ignored Wen Yu's advice and dispatched Li Shengming to assist the Governor of Andong, Lan Shu, and led the navy across the sea to attack the mainland of Silla.]

[In June of the 12th year of Kaihuang, under Chu Shizhao's deployment of troops, Silla was defeated on the front battlefield. As a former vassal state, Silla had to ask for peace with Chu Shizhao.]

[The result was naturally rejected by Chu Shizhao, who gave Anxi Governor Lan Shu the greatest command power, asking him to attack Silla and destroy such a capricious country.]

[In July of the 12th year of Kaihuang, with the full support of Chu Shizhao, Lan Shu began to fight back with all his might.]

[In August of the 12th year of Kaihuang, every time Lan Shu captured a city in Silla, he would choose to use massacre to shock the enemy, so that the defenders of other cities in Silla would give up resistance. In order to ensure his progress in the siege, he would not hesitate to use any means to capture the city.]

[Because Lan Shu's methods were too cruel, many civil officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty impeached him for violating the harmony of heaven.]

[In September of the 12th year of Kaihuang, Lan Shu had more and more experience in strategy. He would first attack the weak counties. After these counties were captured, Lan Shu would force these captives to attack other cities of Silla. If these captives were unwilling to obey him, Lan Shu would not only kill them as a warning to others, but also execute the families of these captives.]

[In October of the 12th year of Kaihuang, Lan Shu placed the corpses swept from the battlefield into catapults to cause a plague. In order to ensure the efficiency of destroying the country, Lan Shu did not hesitate to pollute the water source in order to drag Silla into decline.]

[In November of the 12th year of Kaihuang, Lan Shu encountered a stalemate on the front battlefield. After a long time of attacking and failing, Lan Shu simply cultivated land outside the city of Silla and surrounded the city tightly, fighting a protracted war with the enemy.]

[Lan Shu waited until the enemy ran out of ammunition and food and was exhausted before he began to attack the city.]

[If Silla does not surrender and continues to resist, Lan Shu will use all the means he has used to win, at all costs, to kill all the people in the city, including the nobles of Silla and their people, until this place becomes a dead city.]

genius.

When Chu Shizhao saw this, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

He wanted Lan Shu to destroy Silla, a country that was fickle, broke its alliance, and was willing to stab him in the back, but he didn't expect Lan Shu to destroy the country physically.

Not to mention destroying the ruling class of Silla, Lan Shu wants to kill everyone from top to bottom.

During the last simulation, Chu Shizhao felt that Lan Shu was an unusual person. He was not the kind of military commander with ordinary courage. His main characteristic was that he was ruthless, not only to others but also to himself.

Chu Shizhao really didn't expect Lan Shu to play such a big game.

This made Chu Shizhao sometimes a little afraid to use him.

[In December of the twelfth year of Kaihuang, Lan Shu's army finally broke into the city. He set the palace on fire and led his personal army to kill all the living people in the city.]

[Due to the months-long war, Lan Shu's An Dong army has been in a state of tension, so Lan Shu allowed them to freely plunder the wealth in the main city of Silla. ]

[The morale of the Anton army was greatly boosted, and Lan Shu's behavior also caused the discipline of the Anton army to gradually deteriorate. ]

[In January of the 13th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao completely ruled the Korean Peninsula.]

[In the same month, Chu Shizhao established the Anding Military Governor's Office in Pyongyang, and Lan Shu was appointed as the Grand Governor of the Anding Military Governor's Office.]

[In February of the 13th year of Kaihuang, under the rule of Chu Shizhao, the Great Zhou Dynasty reached its peak, stretching from the Korean Peninsula in the east to the Aral Sea in the west, from Lake Baikal in the north to the Hengshan Mountains in Vietnam in the south, all the way to Hanoi.] [In March of the 13th year of Kaihuang, the Great Zhou Dynasty had a rapid economic development due to the early implementation of the "One Whip Law", and the tax revenue was higher every year, which allowed the Great Zhou Dynasty, which was in a war period, to still keep its fiscal expenditure and tax revenue in a state of balance.]

[In April of the 13th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao temporarily stopped fighting and began to restore productivity and stabilize people's livelihood. ]

【However, due to the war enthusiasm sparked by Chu Shizhao, many soldiers hoped to improve their lives through military merit. 】

[In May of the 13th year of Kaihuang, the bandits in the Great Zhou Dynasty almost disappeared, and Chu Shizhao was too opinionated, which made most of the civil officials in the court unwilling to give advice.]

[Chu Shizhao often wanted to be open-minded and accept advice to ensure political clarity and stability.]

[However, Wen Yu always brought up Chu Shizhao's unwillingness to listen to his advice, and even pointed out that Chu Shizhao was too ambitious, and used the example of Chu Shizhao's wars everywhere.]

[In his opinion, since you won't listen even if I tell you, it's better not to tell you.]

[In June of the 13th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao just laughed at Wen Yu's criticism and didn't take it seriously. Chu Shizhao didn't dismiss Wen Yu because of his opinion. Instead, he continued to use Wen Yu's talents to build water conservancy projects everywhere to ease the transportation difficulties between the north and the south.]

[In July of the 13th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao saw the political situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which was declining. He found that during the Yongjin Dynasty, most ministers valued the imperial court more than the local officials, and local officials were all selected from those who were old and incompetent.]

[As a result, the state not only failed to properly govern many local areas, but also caused new unrest due to the inaction of local officials.]

[Some local officials even thought that since they had no chance of becoming officials in Beijing, they might as well make some money in their local area and fill their private coffers, so local officials became more and more corrupt.]

[In order to eliminate this malpractice, Chu Shizhao issued a decree to select talented officials from among the officials in the capital to serve as prefects, prefects, and county magistrates in the local areas. Then, from among the prefects, prefects, and county magistrates, those with good political achievements were selected to serve as officials in the capital, and their achievements were evaluated according to the "Kaocheng Law" to determine whether they could be promoted to the capital.]

【In this way, “the income and expenditure will be always balanced and the pattern will be constant forever.”】

[In September of the 13th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao not only effectively governed the internal affairs, but also the border areas. The original Jiedushi system was basically abolished by Chu Shizhao, which ensured the stability of the country's military and political affairs. Chu Shizhao continued to rely on the "One Whip Law" to inspect the land and households, and crack down on the tyrants who occupied the land and concealed the facts. Those who evaded the state tax in terms of land and population had no way to avoid it under the strong national strength. ]

[In October of the 13th year of Kaihuang, after the Great Zhou Dynasty stopped the war through Chu Shizhao's effective measures, the tax revenue in the first year of the truce was more than twice the fiscal expenditure.]

[In the same month, Chu Shizhao began to suppress various religions because in the old laws, monks and nuns were given preferential treatment and could be exempted from certain taxes. Many people were willing to join the temples even though they did not worship Buddhism.]

[In November of the 13th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao established customs duties in coastal areas. Anyone entering the Great Zhou Dynasty had to pay customs duties, otherwise they would be expelled.]

[In December of the 13th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao ordered Wen Yu, Guo You, Huan Sheng and others to compile a book that brought together all the ancient classics of the Zhou Dynasty, named Kaihuang Dadian.]

[Afterwards, Chu Shizhao personally wrote the preface and also included many of his own cognitions and ideas in it. The book consists of nearly 30,000 volumes, more than 10,000 books, about 400 million words, and collects 7,000 to 8,000 books from ancient times to the present.]

[This wonderful book is a compilation of all the classics, history, philosophy, and literature since the beginning of writing, as well as astronomy, geography, yin and yang, medicine, divination, monks, and arts.]

[In the 14th year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao's imperial power was so great that he was completely supported by the generals and held the military power. As a result, the imperial power overwhelmed the country, and the civil officials almost lost control of the country and could only guide and persuade.]

[In April of the 14th year of Kaihuang, Lan Shu contracted plague and died in Anding Military Governor's Office. Chu Shizhao gave him the posthumous title of Zhongwu and the title of Taibao. He also sent Han Gu to Anding Military Governor's Office to govern the Korean Peninsula.]

[In May of the fourteenth year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao and Huan Yi's eldest son was already thirteen years old, and most officials, led by Huan Sheng, supported Chu Jiyue. ]

【However, because your rule is too strong, many officials have advised Chu Jiyue to be a benevolent and filial monarch and rule the country with benevolence and righteousness. 】

[And your lack of attention has also caused Chu Jiyue to gradually become a gentleman without his own opinions and only knows benevolence, filial piety, integrity and shame under the support of these ministers. ]

[Chu Jiyue's morality was thus raised to 85 points. ]

[So, when Lan Shu died of illness in Anding Dudu Mansion, Chu Jiyue wrote a letter to advise your Majesty that you should not give such a high-level posthumous title to a general who committed so many murders.]

[This made Lan Shu's eldest son, Lan Qichou, very unhappy.]

[This indirectly led to Lan Qichou turning to support the Jinyang faction headed by the second prince Chu Jimin.]

[In June of the fourteenth year of Kaihuang, the Zhou Dynasty became more and more prosperous, and factions appeared in many fields to varying degrees.]

[Some cliques were headed by the princes of the royal family, some were formed around the opposition between civil and military officials, some were formed due to regional affinity, and some were caused by class conflicts. The conflicts between the friends headed by the poor and the cliques headed by the powerful gradually intensified.]

[Even ministers like Wen Yu and Guo You, who were at odds with each other, came from humble backgrounds and banded together to fight against the group of civil officials from powerful and prestigious families in the court.]

[Even if Chu Shizhao wanted to curb the trend of party disputes, he found that he had no good way. Most of these so-called cliques were formed because of differences in interests. Chu Shizhao had no way to ensure that the interests of each party could be consistent.]

【After years of fighting and governing, the Zhou Dynasty had many generals who were good at fighting and civil officials who were good at governing. With so many powerful officials in the court, it was too difficult to make them respect each other.】

[To Chu Shizhao, these ministers involved in the factional disputes were all wise, good, and loyal ministers. Under his leadership, they could all set an example in their respective fields. Now that they were in opposition to each other, who would not want to kill the other? ]

[Even sworn enemies like Wen Yu and Guo You can band together, which shows that the drawbacks of factionalism have already penetrated deeply into the court. ]

[The so-called dispute between the princes was not a conflict between the two princes at all, but a fight between the ministers under the princes who belonged to Chu Shizhao.]

[These ministers simply put the conflict on the prince, so that the struggle for succession could materialize the conflict that actually existed between them.]

[Chu Shizhao and Li Fengning's son Chu Jimin recruited people from poor families and supported poor scholars, so those ministers from powerful and famous families would support Chu Shizhao's eldest son Chu Jiyue.]

[Chu Jiyue accepted and humbly accepted the advice of the civil officials, opposed the use of force, and opposed the military and politically powerful generals. Then those generals who were born as military generals, were promoted by military merit, and achieved meritorious service, would support Chu Shizhao's second son, Chu Jimin.]

[Which of them was willing to serve these princes because of their personal charm? It was nothing more than factions, interests, and disputes, and they made the most advantageous choice for themselves. ]

[As His Majesty, Chu Shizhao cannot side with one side. If he personally intervenes, it will only make the situation more difficult. The most he can do is to cultivate the talents of the two princes, so that they have the ability to control their subordinates, to ensure that when he ascends the throne in the future, he will not only be able to control the ministers who originally belonged to him, but also those who do not support him. ]

[At the same time, Chu Shizhao also warned his two sons not to be partial to some ministers just because they supported him, nor to be partial to some ministers just because they did not support him.]

[What is important is what you want to do and what you want these ministers to do, rather than reversing the priorities and helping them do what the ministers propose.]

[Chu Shizhao treated his two sons equally and taught them both personally, which also made the ministers confused and they didn't know which son Chu Shizhao wanted to establish as the heir.]

[Now, Chu Shizhao doesn't care who will succeed him. He only cares whether the successor can bear the weight of the world.]

[That’s why Chu Shizhao trained both of his sons together. Even if one of them failed, the other could still pull the situation back with his own talents.]

[He knew very well that he could not stop a person's desire for power. If you want to make progress and become the ruler of the world, then show your ability.]

[Now, under the governance of Chu Shizhao, the Great Zhou Dynasty seems to be well-organized and extremely powerful. In fact, many of its systems are established and have to be introduced under the current circumstances. Once a new emperor is replaced, without Chu Shizhao's insights and tolerance, it may not be possible to control such a powerful system.]

[Once Chu Shizhao passed away, the regime would cease to exist and the Great Zhou Dynasty would return to its state of ruin. That was also a possibility.]

[In July of the fourteenth year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao ascended Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to the gods.]

[On the ninth day of the seventh month, Chu Shizhao went east to Mount Tai. The grass and trees on Mount Tai had not yet grown leaves, so he had people climb the top of Mount Tai, where a stone was erected, to perform a ritual of offering sacrifices and appeasing heaven and earth.]

[The next day, all the ministers worshipped at the top of Mount Tai. Chu Shizhao issued an edict, announcing the completion of the Fengshan ceremony and granting amnesty to the whole country. After this, all the kings who had made great achievements were proud to perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai.]

【The Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai was not to honor Mount Tai alone, but to honor Chu Shizhao for climbing the mountain.】

(End of this chapter)