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On March 18, the second year of Xuanwu, the Daming Palace in Chang'an...

The report of the war in the northwest was once every seven days, and it was sent to the six deployment yamen set up in the palace. All the moves in the northwest were recorded in a timely manner. Finally, the Minister of Personnel Gong Yang Gao personally sent them to Liu Ce for review.

At this time, Gongyang Master held a new report of his arrival and ran to the Weiyang Palace where Liu Ce was currently in with a red face. It seemed that he had encountered something extraordinary, which made him extremely excited.

As soon as he entered the Weiyang Palace, Gong Yang Gao saw Liu Ce talking and Zhuge Zhi, the Minister of War, talking and laughing.

Gong Yang Gao tidied up his clothes, then entered the hall and said excitedly to Liu Ce: "Your Majesty, report to the northwest..."

"Slow..." Liu Ce stopped Gong Yang Gao from continuing, and then said with a smile: "Shangshu Gong Yang, don't rush to say it, let me guess whether Bai Qi defeated the Mengluo people. Now the Western Regions are all in the territory of my Han?"

Yang Gao was stunned: "Your Majesty knows everything?"

Liu Ce and Zhuge Zhi looked at each other and said to Gong Yang Gao: "I just analyzed the situation in the northwest with Mr. Zhuge. Mr. Zhuge bluntly said that Bai Qi's trip to the Western Regions would definitely return in triumph. When he saw Mr. Gong Yang enter the palace, he looked happy and concludes that the war in the Western Regions has ended perfectly..."

Gong Yang Gao bowed and presented the Chinese book: "Your Majesty, this is a good news in the northwest. It was signed by Shangshu Xu himself and said bluntly that not only the Monroe people's forces in the Western Regions were wiped out, but even the Bohe army was bleeding from the Longyou Stone Fort, which was a double victory."

Liu Ce joked: "Then is Xu Wenjing back to Beijing now? I haven't seen him in the past few months. My beautiful wife Meijuan is afraid that she will be lonely. If she doesn't come back, I won't guarantee that he will wear some favorite colors on his head..."

Gongyang Gaodao: "Shishu Xu wrote a letter saying that he had set off to return to Beijing, and the other people were accompanied by Governor Bai, Seiwei Duan, Yu Yu of Yuchuan, and more than a hundred soldiers guarding the stone fortress came to Beijing to report their duties together."

Liu Ce said: "It's very good. When they enter the capital, I will go out of the city to greet each other in person. What my Han needs are these loyal and brave men..."

Speaking of this, Liu Ce paused and his face slightly darkened: "As the way, let the group of people who are only knowledgeable about it, understand. Why is the gap so big for both literati?

What else can this group of waste besides writing pretentious poems to vent their dissatisfaction? I just let them know why I value Xu Wenjing.

If they had one-tenth of Xu Wenjing's ability, I would have arranged a real flaw for them in the court. If not, I would write down my daily life in the Hanlin area…”

Gong Yang Gao naturally knew that the so-called "Hanlin Academy" was a group of Confucian scholars who could only talk big and actually did not do their jobs.

Anyone who has entered the Hanlin Academy, all the civil and military officials in the court knows that these people are basically out of the way of officialdom and are destined to be able to live a life of life and wait for death, which is equivalent to those who sell words on the street.

The Hanlin Academy was established because the three views of those Confucian scholars were incompatible with what Liu Ce advocated, and many of them even praised the Great Zhou.

Although Liu Ce was very angry with their opinions, he was helpless. After all, the advocacy of freedom of speech was proposed by Liu Ce himself at the beginning of the founding of the country. As long as their words did not meet the bottom line of the Han official rules, they could not be dealt with at will.

Liu Ce could not bear it anymore, so he followed Ye Yin's advice and set up this Hanlin Academy in the palace, which was to think that he owed this group of waste in his previous life and spent his spare money to support them.

Although those Confucian scholars have distorted views, they also have self-knowledge. If they leave the Han court, how should they survive?

Most of these Confucian scholars have enjoyed the benefits given by the previous dynasty. Once they leave the officialdom, they may even make a living a problem. After all, they can't farm, and they have no skills to stay with them. They can't do anything except with the old saint's teachings.

And if you leave the Han court, where will you go? Is it a great Chu? There is a clear prohibition of Confucian scholars from moving around. Once a Confucian scholar is found in the state of Chu, you will be arrested and do tiring work in the mine for the rest of your life.

So, although they knew that Liu Ce was excluding him and that he knew what it meant to enter the Hanlin Academy, no one dared to resign.

Why? Don’t dare!

After Yang Gao finished delivering his hand, he reported to leave, Liu Ce immediately said to Zhuge Zhi: "Mr. Zhuge, the Western Regions have been removed. The Western Regions Protectorate I mentioned earlier should be established earlier."

Zhuge Zhi replied: "Your Majesty will set up the problem of Mengluo outside Xuanwu Pass without waiting for the solution to solve it? Will it be too hasty..."

Liu Ce said: "I think these two things do not conflict, and they can even be carried out at the same time. The sooner the Western Regions Protectorate, the better. After all, what we do now is equivalent to breaking apart with the Monroe people. No matter what, a great war will break out between the Han and the Mongolian."

Zhuge Zhi pondered for a moment and said to Liu Ce: "What Your Majesty said makes sense. Did the Western Regions Protectorate be established in the same way as the Andong Protectorate?"

Liu Ce shook his head: "No, the situation in the Western Regions and Liaodong is very different. The situation in the Western Regions is a hundred times more complicated than that in Liaodong. There are no strong enemies around the Andong Protectorate, and the indigenous people have adapted to the current rule of the Han Dynasty.

However, there are many foreign countries in the Western Regions, and there are still powerful countries like Kushan and Parthia, and there are also Central European overlords like Sassanida, who are eyeing them.

According to the deployment of the Andong Protectorate's troops, it is afraid that it will not be able to manage the Western Regions for a long time. We must make another charter and make a detailed plan."

Zhuge Zhi: "Why does Your Majesty already have a vain in his heart? Let's just listen to it, so that the empress can help me take charge of the staff."

Liu Ce said: "I think so. The Western Regions Protectorate's Office is the same as the Andong Protectorate's Office. It has civil and military Protectorate in charge of military and political affairs. At the same time, it has established counties and counties in various parts of the Western Regions. The court will directly appoint outstanding civil servants in the Protectorate's Office to take over.

As for the recruitment of the Wufu, the Han people in Yongliang and the four counties outside the northwest border, and they can also rely on the people of the Central Plains who have lived in the Western Regions for a long time. The main combat force will be set at 40,000 first..."

"Forty thousand people?" Zhuge Zhi frowned, "Your Majesty, will the 40,000 people be too few? The Western Regions are too big, let alone deal with the affairs of all parties at the same time. If something goes wrong, I am afraid I will not be able to deal with wars from multiple parties at the same time..."

Liu Ce nodded and said, "Yes, what Mr. Zhuge said was very true, but in addition to the Western Regions Protectorate, I also plan to set up ten lieutenant offices in various parts of the Western Regions.

The number of soldiers in each lieutenant's mansion is fixed to 7,000. Of course, the lieutenant's mansion in Longyou Road must be stationed between 10,000 and 15,000.

With these ten lieutenants' offices, it is not difficult to assist the Western Regions Protectorate's office in handling the affairs of the Western Regions. These troops are enough to deal with possible situations in many aspects."

Zhuge Zhi agreed with this proposal: "The Western Region Protectorate Constitution envisioned by Your Majesty is indeed impeccable at present, but the main government's troops are easy to recruit.

After all, the two states of Yongliang have a large population and the customs of the people are more fierce, so it is naturally no problem for them to go to the main palace. However, there is a loophole that must be mentioned in the ten magistrates' offices. I wonder if the empress can explain it."

"But it's okay..." Liu Ce nodded and responded.

Zhuge Zhi said: "Your Majesty has just said that these ten lieutenants are located everywhere, so I believe that in my spare time, it must be the first priority to intimidate the local Western Regions states.

But my Han folk customs are completely incompatible with the Western Regions. I heard that those Central Plains who went to the Western Regions to avoid chaos still lived a festival belonging to the Central Plains for more than ten years.

If this relationship is not handled well, I am afraid that the magistrate's office and the local people in the Western Regions will have unnecessary friction, which is very unfavorable to control the overall situation of the Western Regions."

Liu Ce thought for a moment and pondered: "What Mr. Zhuge said was very true, but I have neglected it. Then let's do it. There are six thousand soldiers in the Central Plains in each lieutenant's mansion.

The remaining 1,000 soldiers were left to those people in the Western Regions who were willing to join the Han army. As long as they were selected as soldiers in the lieutenant's office, they would be treated as equivalent to those in the Han army.

At the same time, they brought their families to the counties where the various lieutenants' offices are located. I think this way should be able to handle the relationship between the lieutenant and the states in the Western Regions."

"Wonderful!" After hearing Liu Ce's words, Zhuge Zhi couldn't help but exclaim, "In this way, the soldiers of the Western Regions who joined the Han army will be loyal to the Han army. After a long time, even if there is a mutiny in various parts of the Western Regions, they will definitely sacrifice their lives to stand with the Han army."

Liu Ce smiled slightly: "Of course, except for the Western Regions who joined the Han army and their families who could enjoy the same treatment as the soldiers of the Han army,

The other states in the Western Regions should still be divided according to their friendship with the Han Dynasty. If they are treated equally, how can they reflect the importance of joining the Han army?"

Zhuge Zhi added: "I'm afraid that once this conscript order is released, the entire Western Regions will cause a sensation. Those herders who were bullied by local chieftains will definitely seize this straw that changes their destiny and clamor to join the Han army..."

Speaking of this, Zhuge Zhi sighed again: "Ah~ I am ashamed. As a Confucian scholar, I often hear others mentioning the spread of the kingly teachings outside the Great Wall and influence their remarks.

But now these Confucian scholars have not done this, but His Majesty has put all this into action lightly. If the scholars in the world know this, they will be ashamed and ashamed."

"I'm afraid there will be many Confucian scholars who will scold me for buying people's hearts?" Liu Ce raised his body backwards, "In fact, it's not a big deal about these Confucian scholars. After all, they just saw some comments left by saints in the book.

I have idealized them, believing that just by saying a big truth to the group of Hu people who don’t know a lot, they will be grateful? But they do not care about the actual situation in vain.

I think that if someone wants to accept the teachings of a saint, he must give him certain benefits. After all, people have seven emotions and six desires, and they cannot be controlled at will.
Chapter completed!