Chapter 314: Choice

Gao Shui is actually not important. For Chen Zhong and others, now he only has Chen Mengyao in his heart, and Gao Shui is naturally ignored. Pier Ma Heima is busy rushing back to the thorns, so naturally no one is paying attention to Gao Shui. So after a while, Jiang Lang secretly sent Gao Shui over, while he and others hurried back to the capital.

From Hangzhou to Beijing, in addition to dry roads, there is water, and there is one road that leads directly to Beijing, that is, the Grand Canal of Beijing.

The Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou is the earliest canal with the longest mileage and the largest engineering project in the world. It starts from Beijing (Zhuojun) in the north and goes to Hangzhou (Yuhang) in the south, with a total length of more than 1,700 kilometers. The Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou has played a huge role in the economic, cultural development and exchanges between the north and south of China, especially in the development of industrial and agricultural economy and the rise of towns along the route. The Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou is also one of the oldest canals. It is known as two great projects in ancient my country and is famous all over the world.

The Grand Canal starts from Beijing in the north and ends at Hangzhou in the south, passes through Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, connecting the five major water systems of Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River and Qiantang River.

When he heard that Jiang Lang was going to return to the capital by boat, he immediately transferred a large ship and placed a lot of Hangzhou's specialties on the ship. As for those gold, silver and other things, Jiang Lang was unceremonious to accept them all. After all, if there were silver in the past two years, others would be idiotic, and the money was also some ill-gotten gains. Suzhou and Hangzhou were originally a place of wealth, and the family of the officials did not have any assets? It was not the oil and water collected by the local area.

However, being a corrupt official also has the ability to be a corrupt official. If you are greedy, you will have no future. Moreover, after checking it above, no one will protect you. Jiang Lang already has plans for these gold and silver, that is, to be filial to the emperor, and to leave 10% himself, although only 10%, it is also a lot.

Zi Ling had previously said that she would go to Fuzhou first and see Zhu Yuqi, but according to the current situation, it seems impossible. Time is urgent, and Yesen and Tuotuobuhua are about to fight, so the court must be prepared immediately. After all, to fight, it is necessary to be fully prepared.

Before this, Jiang Lang also sent someone to report all the things that happened in Hangzhou, including Chen Mengyao's assassination and the negotiations between him and Pierma Heima, to the court.

The journey went smoothly. In order to rush back to the capital as soon as possible, Jiang Lang did not use the banner of his own East Factory Supervisor, and also asked the Hangzhou Prefect and other people to keep their itinerary confidential, so no one knew his itinerary along the way.

It took less time for Jiang Lang and his group to finally return to the capital. After returning home, they didn't have time to rest. Jiang Lang changed into his official uniform and headed straight to the palace. At the same time, they asked someone to bring the gold and silver things, and after the notice, they went in to meet Emperor Jingtai.

Jiang Lang's sudden confrontation with the Saint surprised Emperor Jingtai. He did not expect Jiang Lang to rush back to the capital so quickly. Without any hesitation, he immediately received Jiang Lang and ordered someone to notify Yu Qian.

After receiving permission, Jiang Lang took his men straight to the imperial study room. When he saw Emperor Jingtai, he quickly knelt down and said, "I will meet the emperor!"

Emperor Jingtai is in a good mood now. Although the 300-mile grassland is not many for the Ming Dynasty, it is also a starting point. He can also train a lot of war horses for the Ming Dynasty. So when Jiang Lang comes back, he is happy from the heart. He is happy that all the etiquette of the monarch and ministers is thrown away. He hurriedly stepped forward to help Jiang Lang up and said, "Get up quickly, thank you for your hard work along the way."

Jiang Lang said neither humble nor arrogantly: "It is the duty of the minister to do things for the court, and I dare not talk about the word "hard work."

"You don't have to be polite in front of me!"

Emperor Jingtai smiled slightly and said very politely, "What you did this time is very good. I decided to reward you well. Just speak up if you need anything!"

"I dare not!"

Jiang Lang shook his head and said, "This is all my duty!"

Emperor Jingtai's face slightly darkened and said, "This is not possible. I have already opened my mouth, how can I take it back? You must say it!"

Jiang Lang is somewhat embarrassed now, and he doesn't know what to ask for now, but Jiang Lang also understands this truth. The so-called accompanying the king is like accompanying a tiger. Now the emperor is very good to him, but in the future, he can't explain it clearly. He has to leave a way out for himself no matter what, and there is undoubtedly an opportunity in front of him. He said now: "Then I beg the emperor to keep this reward. When I think about what I need, I will ask the emperor to agree."

Emperor Jingtai pondered slightly and said, "It's good that way, then I'm sure! Get up too."

Jiang Lang stood up, then waved his hand and said, "Emperor, I have something to offer to the Emperor!"

"oh?"

Emperor Jingtai showed a curious look, looked at the big box that had been carried in front of him, and said strangely: "What is this?"

Jiang Lang didn't answer, waved his hand, and the guard immediately opened the box, and saw that there were a lot of gold and silver utensils and pearl agate in the box, which slowed down the entire box and was of great value.

Emperor Jingtai looked blankly, then looked at Jiang Lang in surprise and said strangely: "Where are you from?"

Jiang Lang bowed and said, "If you go back to the emperor, you will be the one who goes to Hangzhou. The officials of all sizes along the way are filial to the ministers. I dare not keep them privately and hand them over to the emperor."

Emperor Jingtai's face couldn't help but sank, and he said, "Where are these officials coming from again? Greedy?"

Jiang Lang nodded and said, "The Jiangnan area is originally a place of wealth, so the local officials naturally have a lot of property. These filial piety to the ministers are just a small part of them. They are filial to the ministers. When I think about it carefully, if the ministers do not accept them, they will not pay tribute to the court. It is better for the ministers to accept them and then hand them over to the emperor and confiscate the treasury."

"Damn it!"

Emperor Jingtai couldn't help but say angrily, "As an official in the court, he is actually greedy for ink, which is really hateful!"

Jiang Lang didn't expect Emperor Jingtai to be so furious. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "I know my crime, please atone for your sins!"

"I'm not talking about you!"

When Emperor Jingtai saw Jiang Lang kneeling on the ground, he realized that Jiang Lang had misunderstood his meaning. He quickly helped him up and said, "I am angry with those officials. Do you still remember that it was sent by those people. You send someone to arrest them. I will deal with it well."

Jiang Lang shook his head slightly and said, "Master, this is actually not very useful!"

Emperor Jingtai was stunned and said a little unwillingly: "Do you just let them do whatever they want?"

"Of course not!"

Jiang Lang shook his head, you should know that this corrupt official is not just a problem of a certain dynasty, but a problem of every court. However, from ancient times to the present, no dynasty can completely eliminate corrupt officials. As long as people have selfish desires, there are corrupt officials. Everyone has selfish desires and has great power. In the face of the waste of money, how many people can completely turn a blind eye. The so-called view of money as dirt is not something that everyone can do.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Lang said: "The Jiangnan region has been a place of wealth since ancient times. The emperor killed these corrupt officials in time. How many new officials can guarantee that they will not be moved by the white silver? Moreover, now we are about to use troops to the Tissus, and the court still cannot use the energy to eliminate those corrupt officials."

Emperor Jingtai thought about it and felt that Jiang Lang was right, so he said, "Then what do you think is the time?"

"After dealing with the Watana matter!"

Jiang Lang immediately replied, "Now for the Ming Dynasty, the soldiers of Watshu are more important than dealing with these corrupt officials, but I can order people to investigate these officials first, grasp the evidence of their greed, and wait for the matter of Watshu to be over and clean them up immediately."

Emperor Jingtai nodded and said, "Since Jiangnan is so rich, I think it should be increasing taxes and increasing the treasury income!"

"No!"

Jiang Lang hurriedly said, "Although Jiangnan is rich, ordinary people's lives are not very easy. Moreover, the imperial court adds one cent to tax, and the officials below may add one and two points, and the extra two points will be added to their pockets. Moreover, to ensure the stability of the country, the best way is to never add taxes. There is a saying that harsh policies are more powerful than tigers. The emperor must have heard of them!"

"Well said!"

Yu Qian's voice came from outside the door.

Jiang Lang couldn't help but turn his head and look, and saw that it was Yu Qian who entered the room. He bowed and said, "Mr. Yu!"

Yu Qian nodded and saluted Emperor Jingtai before saying, "Mr. Wang said it well. The so-called harsh government is more powerful than tigers. Many dynasties have been bullying the people because of the heavy taxes. They have caused the people to live in poverty. So they rebel everywhere and thus destroy the country. In fact, the people can survive, and no one rebelled for rebellion because of the reason. This is all the officials forcing the people to rebel. The emperor cannot follow the old path of these people."

"I understand this principle too!"

Emperor Jingtai nodded, sighed, pointed to the box and said, "Look, Wang Aiqing went to Hangzhou, and those officials respected so much money. This shows that the greed for ink in the south of the Yangtze River is prevalent. If it is not punished, wouldn't the court be in chaos?"

"It's not the time yet!"

Yu Qian shook his head and said, "I just received the news and Yexian has already started to mobilize troops. I guess I will attack Tutuobuhua in advance!"

Yu Qian's news also surprised Jiang Lang and said in surprise: "You said Ye Tian might have taken action against Tutuobuhua in advance?"

Jiang Lang just came back and had not had time to go to the East Factory, so the latest information has not been delivered to him yet. So he was a little surprised by Yu Qian's words. And according to his own estimate, although he has power now, he seems a little reckless when he starts a war now?

Yu Qian nodded slightly, took out a very neatly stacked piece of paper from his arms, handed it to Emperor Jingtai, and said, "This is the information I just sent. Many tribes with the thorns still concentrate their troops and integrate these information. I found that the forces that were moved belonged to Yeshen. Of course, Tuotuobuhua also discovered it and began to assemble troops, so I guess Yeshen and Tuotuobuhua might have to fight."

He had just obtained this news. One of the reasons why the Ming army was defeated so badly in the last war was that it did not set up an intelligence network in Washu. The court did not know that Washu's large-scale mobilization of the army was caught off guard by Yeshu. It was said that one would learn from one's mistakes. After the last war, in order to closely monitor Yeshu and wait for the movements of others, a large number of spies sneaked into Washu and scattered into various tribes of Washu, forming a huge intelligence network. Washu could not escape the eyes of these spies, and Washu was different from the Ming Dynasty. When their soldiers were not fighting, they were herders. Once the battle started, these herders picked up their weapons and gathered them into warriors. So once there was a war, the mobilization of these soldiers could not be hidden from the eyes of the spies. This time, this was also the reason.

Emperor Jingtai took the paper from Yu Qian's hand, looked at it, and then handed it to Jiang Lang, and said, "Although they had not suffered much loss last time, they also suffered losses. They recovered their vitality in such a short time? Is this possible?"

"It should be impossible!"

After all, Yu Qian was the Minister of War, so he was very concerned about the Watts and said, "The population of Watts is far smaller than that of the Ming Dynasty, so it is not easy to recover its vitality. This time, the reason why Yexian planned to take action first was to eliminate Tuttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

"Get out of trouble?"

Emperor Jingtai raised a curve with a smug look on his lips and said, "Yesen's idea was really good, but he was doomed to fail. The current Ming Dynasty may still be bullied like the Ming Dynasty in the past? He wanted to quickly solve Tutuobuhua, how could we let him do what he wanted?"

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at Jiang Lang and asked, "Wang Aiqing, what do you mean?"

Jiang Lang has now read the information in his hand and said, "Yeshen is also a smart person. When he saw that the prince became the emperor's student, he knew that things were not that simple. Moreover, when he was about to return to Hangzhou, the princess was assassinated and fell into the river. Life and death were unknown. I guess there must be Yeshen's spy among the envoys sent by Tuotuobuhua. So he probably knew about the negotiations with Tuotuobuhua, so he hurriedly wanted to defeat Tuotuobuhua. Then concentrate on dealing with our Ming Dynasty."

"How can we get him to do it?"

Yu Qian smiled and said, "After Yesen and Tuotuo Buhua's battle, his vitality was severely damaged. For us, it was a fighter opportunity. At this time, we should naturally send troops and teach Yesen a lesson. On the one hand, it is to avenge the last revenge. Of course, it is best to eliminate Yesen. At that time, the prince can ascend to the position of Watsat Khan as the descendant of the Golden Family, so the final winner will be us."

Jiang Lang nodded slightly. He also agreed with Yu Qian's approach. Washu was not as united as imagined. Especially the largest tribes, who had been fighting for the throne of Washu. In history, it was recorded that after he died in civil strife, Washu split again, and the large tribes annexed small tribes, while the large tribes fought for the grasslands, Washu fell into civil strife again.

In fact, if you look at history, for the Ming Dynasty, this matter is the best period to attack Wasai, support a tribe, and then use it as a sharp blade to attack other tribes, so as to make profits from it. Although it is very immoral to build your own victory on the pain of others, the country only has interests before the country, and there is no moral immorality. Jiang Lang, who came from later generations, naturally knows this. Just as the United States has always claimed human rights, the United States often despises human rights in its own country, but uses the slogan of human rights to send troops everywhere to achieve its own interests. The facts also prove that in this world, there is no human rights or human rights, only power and hegemony. Others say that you have no human rights and want to beat you for your own interests. Even if it is an egg, you will be picked out bones for you.

The original society was the same, not to mention in this era where there is no human rights, power is the only truth, and interests are the ultimate goal.

Emperor Jingtai clapped his hands and said, "Yu Aiqing said it well, so I also think that the time is ripe now, and we should immediately go to the border and prepare to attack Washu."

Yu Qian also said: "The emperor said it well, and now it is also an opportunity. However, I wonder if the agreement is agreed upon by Tuotuo for not spending the conditions over there?"

Jiang Lang shook his head and said, "It is obvious that the envoy of Tuotuobuhua's conditions were difficult to make decisions, so he hurried back to Watshu to seek Tuotuobuhua's opinions. In fact, I also think that my appetite is not very big, so why is it difficult for him to make decisions?"

"You don't have a big appetite?"

Yu Qian laughed and said, "You can probably say this, three hundred miles from east to west, north and south, how far is it? This horse will take a long time to reach it. You don't know that when I got the letter you sent someone, the emperor and I were shocked, but I didn't expect that you had such a big appetite."

Emperor Jingtai also smiled and said, "Mr. Yu said it well. I asked someone to call your conditions in the morning court. None of the ministers who opposed it dared to speak. Your appetite would be beyond their imagination. But I am worried now. Will Tuotuobuhua agree?"

"Actually... he would be better if he didn't agree!"

Jiang Lang thought for a moment, then said, "Our army is approaching, just look at them. If Yesen really fights, and Tuotuobuhua and does not agree to our conditions, then we can legitimately not send troops. After they fight, we attacked Yesen's remnants. After two consecutive battles, Wasen has not many troops to resist our attack. After defeating Yesen, we will have the entire land of Wasen, which is the entire grassland, which is much more cost-effective than these three hundred miles."

“Yes…yes…yes!”

Emperor Jingtai nodded immediately and said, "This method is good. By then, this tile thorn will be part of the Ming Dynasty, and there is no need to worry about chaos in the lockdown here."

I guess Emperor Jingtai and Yu Qianke seemed much more experienced. After pondering for a moment, he said: "The situation may indeed be as you said. At that time, the Ming Dynasty might be able to conquer the entire thorn, but how to obey it is a problem. They are like a wolf, and they are not so easy to support their family."

Emperor Jingtai couldn't help but frowned, and then said, "This is also a question. How could those barbarians obey us? Maybe someone will rebel soon."

After muttering, Emperor Jingtai looked at Jiang Lang and said, "Since this is what you proposed, does that mean that you have a solution?"

Jiang Lang naturally had already thought of a solution in his heart. According to his personality, he was definitely not the kind that thought about the beginning but did not think about the latter. Now he heard the question of Emperor Jingtai and answered: "Two ways: respect them and assimilation."

Yu Qian and Emperor Jingtai couldn't help but look thoughtful on their faces. After a while, Yu Qian asked: "Are you talking about assimilation to let them learn our culture, just like the prince now?"

Jiang Lang nodded and said, "You are right. I really mean it, but there is a condition, that is, respect their customs and habits. After all, they are different from us and have their own beliefs. If we forcefully change them, the result will naturally be many people rebel. On the contrary, if we respect their customs and teach them the culture of the Ming Dynasty, in a subtle way, they will slowly regard us as friends rather than invaders. At the same time, if they are still ordinary people, they will also rebel. As long as we are good to them, let them have food and clothing through their own efforts, and we do not interfere with their beliefs and do not force them to change them, why do they rebel? Even if someone incites them, no one is willing. Only when the country is prosperous and the people can be safe and stable for a long time. These two are inseparable."
Chapter completed!