After hearing Kong You's words, Zhou Jun stared at the map of the Tang Dynasty and pondered for a long time, then asked: "What do you think?"
Huayue said: "Whatever Erlang wants to do, just go and do it. I chose to stay at the beginning, but I have no intention of looking back."
Zhou Jun cast his gaze on Kong You, who thought for a moment and said: "The Tang Dynasty's national calamity ten years later will be more about the decay of the court than the rebellion caused by the outsiders."
"The saints only care about enjoying themselves, the powerful ministers only care about fighting for power, the national treasury is almost at its bottom, and the people are in dire straits."
"If you just want to use the power of one person to bring peace to the world after such disasters, it will be as difficult as ascending to heaven."
Zhou Jun said: "What does Bo Hong mean by this?"
Kong You: "I have three methods for Erlang to choose from. One is to find a peaceful corner in the south of the Yangtze River, bring family members and friends, and move south to avoid disaster. This method can save hundreds of people."
Zhou Jun did not hesitate at all and immediately rejected the proposal: "Ten years later, the disaster of war is spreading. Now that we know the disaster, how can we just sit back and watch and let all lives be destroyed?"
Kong You nodded and said: "The two of them imitate the actions of Prime Minister Li. They want to support the king, do not disobey the saints, fight for power, only pursue high positions, do not think about the world's worries, and only follow their own names. Before the disaster of war, this method
It can save thousands of people."
Zhou Jun lowered his head, thought for a while, shook his head and said: "When a man comes to this world, he knows that he will be in trouble in the future, how can he only pursue his own self-interest? This is not a son of man."
Kong You smiled and said: "Three of them, abandon the rotten wood and build new beams, abandon the chimes and make lacquer cups, recruit all the talents, and reorganize the world. This can save the world."
Zhou Jun's eyes widened, his body froze, and he was stunned.
Kong You stared into Zhou Jun's eyes and asked again: "What does Erlang want to choose?"
Zhou Jun lowered his head and looked at the map of the Tang Dynasty. He was silent for a moment and then said, "Let's talk about the last route in detail."
With a smile on his face, Kong You nodded and said, "If you want to establish a new one, you can't avoid the five essentials: heaven, earth, people, food, and heart."
"Let's talk about heaven first. The so-called heaven is the Tao. Throughout the ages, anyone who is self-reliant must first find a righteous Tao in order to win the hearts of the people and consolidate his rule."
"Erlang is not from the royal family. If he wants to be known as the unification, he may not be able to do it. At the moment, he can only accumulate merit and rewards, delay the title of king, and consider himself as a subordinate first."
"Let's talk about the land. Erlang does not have a fiefdom, and he is not the envoy of the state. Although he has settled in Bachuan, the owner of this place is Mr. Pang. In daily life, he needs to be careful about the leakage of information, so it is not stable. If you can find it,
If I have the opportunity to serve as an official abroad and accumulate sufficient resources, I'm afraid it will be much better than here."
Hearing this, Zhou Jun asked: "If I want to be an official abroad, where would it be more suitable?"
Kong You pondered for a moment, and first placed his finger on Chang'an on the map of the Tang Dynasty, then moved north to Shuofang, then west to Hexi, then west to Yumen Pass, then westward, and finally landed on
Zhou Jun's hometown - Yanqi Shang.
Zhou Jun looked at Kong You and asked in surprise: "Anxi?"
Kong You nodded: "Hebei, Henan, Hedong, and Guanzhong are all battlefields. Jiangnan and central Guizhou are located in the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty. Lingnan is sparsely populated and has high mountains and long roads. Things are complicated in the south of Jiannan, and there may be war."
Huayue looked at the map of the four towns in Anxi and asked: "But Anxi is not stable either. To the north are Geluolu and Uighur, to the south is Tubo, to the west is Dashi, and to the east is Tang Dynasty. It looks very chaotic.
."
Kong You touched his chin and said: "The four towns of Anxi are Qiuci, Khotan, Yanqi, and Shule. In the north, the Turks have been destroyed, and internal strife among the nine surnames is imminent. There will be endless wars; the food in the west..."
Hua Yue interrupted Kong You: "I know that the Shia sect of the Prophet's family is causing chaos, and I'm afraid they won't be able to move eastward."
Kong You: "In the Tang Dynasty to the east, as long as Erlang's actions don't attract too much attention, they will not cause trouble."
"As for the Tibetans in the south... I'm afraid they are the biggest trouble, but I predict that they will not use large-scale troops against Anxi for at least 20 years."
Zhou Jun asked curiously: "Why?"
Kong You pointed at the narrow Hexi Corridor in Suzhou and Ganzhou of the Tang Dynasty, and said to Zhou Jun: "If Tubo wants to attack the Tang Dynasty, they are more likely to attack than Anxi, which is separated by the Kunlun Mountains and the Tulum Desert.
Here."
"As long as they capture the Hexi Corridor of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo will be able to split the territory of the Tang Dynasty into two, and then it will be easy to turn around and use troops against Anxi."
Zhou Jun listened and nodded secretly. History is indeed as Kong You said. The Tubos first attacked the Hexi Corridor. After capturing that area, they then surrounded and attacked the four towns of Anxi, Qiuci, Yutian, Yanqi, and Shule.
, and held on until 808, when they all fell.
Kong You: "The third one is people. The word 'people' here has two meanings, one is people and the other is talents."
"Of the four towns in Anxi, Kucha has the largest population, but it only has a population of 170,000. The sum of the four towns is not as good as Gyeonggi Province, even Qianzhong Road."
"If we take Anxi as our base, how to move the population on a large scale and recruit wise men is probably the biggest problem Erlang has to think about."
Zhou Jun nodded. There were few people in Anxi, which was indeed a problem.
Kong You added: "Erlang is now able to make connections all over the world. Look out for talented people in the military, government, craftsmanship, law, and business. If he can take them under his command, that would be the best."
Zhou Jun thought about it in his mind. How many talents in the military, government, craftsman, law, and business circles do he know, and which ones do he have a better relationship with?
Kong You: "The fourth is grain, also known as grain money. Anxi's products are not abundant, and the military government's income mostly relies on the Silk Road. The generals are short and they can still support them. If a war breaks out, the finances may be insufficient."
Huayue asked: "What should we do?"
Kong You: "Anlushan rebelled, and the northern trade routes were cut off. Silk and other goods could not be transported from the Central Plains to the north and west, but Anxi could replace the Central Plains as the starting point of the Silk Road."
Huayue was stunned: "There are also silk workshops in Anxi?"
Kong You glanced at her and said, "Bisha, Khotan, and Hapantuo all have mulberry forests and silk and satin workshops, but the silk they produce is not as good as Shu brocade."
"The fifth and final one is the heart..."
Having said this, Kong You stopped talking and showed a rare look of contemplation.
After a while, Kong You said quietly: "What is heart? It is called loyalty in short, and it is called trust in deep words."
"When Erlang regarded himself as a minister of the Tang Dynasty, he could naturally use the loyalty of the Tang Dynasty to restrain his subjects. But one day, he would need to establish another institution, and naturally he would have to find a way to win back the people's hearts."
"To drive the people away with force is the worst policy; to lure the people with profit is the middle policy; to win the people with faith is the best policy."
Zhou Jun asked: "What does it mean to lead people with faith?"
Kong You shook his head: "It can only be understood, not expressed in words."
After listening to the five essentials of heaven, earth, people, food, and heart, Zhou Jun had some enlightenment and just sat in his study, meditating without saying a word.
Kong You made a gesture to Huayue, telling the latter not to disturb his master's thinking.
The two of them carefully exited the study.
Kong You left the small courtyard, first went back to his residence to get a bottle of wine, then walked out of the gate of Bachuan Villa and headed east.
When he arrived at the edge of the Ba River, Kong You faced the raging river, opened the seal of the wine bottle, and poured the wine on the land by the river.
Then, he closed his eyes, bent his knees, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed three times into the distance.
After doing all this, he stood up, ignoring the mud on his body, and walked towards the Bieyuan with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
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