"Lin Jue, according to your opinion, the reform will take a long time to complete. It will take at least three to five years to achieve some results. However, how do you judge that the Liao people will give us such a long time? The Liao people are so ambitious.
This time it was fully exposed. When the envoys sent to hold people accountable came back, they said that the Liao people denied it, which showed that they had no regrets. If the rebellion in the Liao Kingdom subsided, how could the Zhou Dynasty be willing to give me enough time? Yan Zhengsheng and Fang Dunru
Is your worry unreasonable?" Guo Chong asked in a deep voice.
Lin Jue cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, it is true that the Liao people are eager to be tigers and wolves. There is no need for any doubt that the Liao people covet me, the Great Zhou. But if there is any chance, they will take action against me, the Great Zhou. I, the Great Zhou and the Liao people
There must be a war, that's for sure. But this does not conflict with my method of reform in the Zhou Dynasty. Reform is what I, the Zhou Dynasty, have to do. Could it be said that the reform is necessary because of the persecution of the Liao people? That is a wrong idea.
Even if we still have good relations with the Liao people, we still need to reform, because this is the need of the people to live a good life, and it is also the need of our great Zhou Dynasty. The absence of foreign troubles does not mean the absence of internal worries. How many people have been destroyed by foreign enemies in the past dynasties?
The Qin Dynasty was destroyed because the people rebelled, and the Chu and Han Dynasties arose together. The Han Dynasty was destroyed due to the separatist rule of the feudal lords. The Tang Dynasty was destroyed due to the local power. External and internal troubles are all terrible. Simply linking the need for reform with foreign enemies is a fallacy. Regardless.
When does the Liao people come to attack, does it have anything to do with my Zhou Dynasty's reform? I, the Zhou Dynasty, want to strengthen the country and make the people rich, and have a foundation that lasts for eternity. Does it have anything to do with whether the Liao people come to attack, and when do they come to attack?
The reform was carried out step by step in accordance with the national conditions of the Zhou Dynasty. It should be slow when it should be slow, and it should be urgent when it is urgent. How can we just blindly administer strong medicine and ignore the actual situation just because of external pressure? This is what I think."
Guo Chong nodded slowly, thinking about Lin Jue's words. He had to admit that what Lin Jue said made sense. Da Zhou's reform should be a change based on national conditions to strengthen himself. At present, he did regard the threat of the Liao people as a
The motivation for reform actually seems to be a misunderstanding. Even if there was no threat from foreign enemies, wouldn't there be no need for reform in Zhou Dynasty? From this point of view, perhaps Yan Zhengsheng and Fang Dunru deliberately used the threat from foreign enemies as a tool to promote reform.
His methods are somewhat misleading to himself and the people of the world.
"Lin Jue, if we follow your idea of walking slowly and working hard for a long time, then we, the Zhou Dynasty, cannot have a completely new situation in a short period of time. If the Liao people attack, can we, the Zhou Dynasty, resist it? If we cannot resist foreign enemies,
, what else can you say?" Guo Chong pondered.
Lin Jue looked at Guo Chong in surprise. The fact that Guo Chong could say such words showed how worried and worried he was in his heart. As the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, he seemed to have no confidence in fighting the Liao people. This
This is extremely inappropriate. This also shows from the side that the Liao people have always been under tremendous psychological pressure on the Central Plains Zhou Dynasty. I am afraid that not only Guo Chong, but most people in the entire Zhou Dynasty have also been facing the Liao people.
With a kind of fear, this is probably one of the reasons why the Zhou Dynasty signed the Yanyun Alliance with the Liao people when they were in a victorious situation, paying tribute and paying annual coins to the Liao people to buy peace.
The Yanyun Alliance at that time was regarded as an alliance between the two countries and was regarded as a good thing. But in fact, in the eyes of many people, it was a humiliating compromise. This was actually what the emperor and ministers at the time felt.
They all understood it. But they still did it, probably because of their fear of the Liao people. They didn't want to push the Liao people into a desperate situation. If there was a way to make a good alliance, they signed it without hesitation. This kind of
Xenophobia should be a common phenomenon.
Of course, this is related to the disastrous defeats in several battles with the Liao people at the beginning of the founding of the country. The Liao people's iron cavalry and strong bows, galloping and ferocious tactics left a deep psychological shadow on the people of the Zhou Dynasty. Even the soldiers and horses of the Zhou Dynasty later
The combat power of the equipment has long been equal to that of the opponent, but it still lingers.
Facing Guo Chong's question, Lin Jue replied in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have seen a wolf fighting with an elephant. Although the wolf is ferocious and the elephant is docile, they are not on the same level. Evil.
The wolf may be able to bite the elephant a few times and make the elephant bleed and hurt, but it cannot defeat the elephant, let alone eat the elephant. As long as the elephant does not fall to the ground by itself and puts its throat to the mouth of the evil wolf, the evil wolf will
You can never kill an elephant. On the contrary, as long as the elephant steps on it, the evil wolf will break its muscles and bones and die unexpectedly. I, Zhou, am that elephant. In a country of etiquette that respects Confucianism and Taoism, is humble and gentle, I can easily
They will not compete with others, let alone oppress and invade others. The people of Liao are just evil wolves at best. They want to devour me, Zhou Dynasty, but that is just a dream."
"That's what I said. But... once the fight actually breaks out..." Guo Chong hesitated in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, the Great Zhou Dynasty has a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. No matter in terms of resources or population, I don't know how much better than the Liao people. If the Liao people only invaded a few cities and ponds, they might be able to do it. But if they want to invade the entire Great Zhou Dynasty,
, that is absolutely wishful thinking. I know what the emperor is worried about. Our country, Zhou Dynasty, is indeed weak now and its treasury is empty. However, I read "A Brief History of the Dynasties" and found that when the country was founded, the strength of Zhou Dynasty was far less than it is now. At that time,
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were no more than 300,000 soldiers, no more than 10 million civilians, and no more than three or four territories. There was the Liao Kingdom in the north, Tubo in the west, Xixia in the northwest, Annan, Wu, Yue, Li and other countries in the south. They were all looking at each other, and they could be said to be surrounded by powerful enemies.
.But what should we do? It’s not that those who surrendered surrendered, those who defeated were defeated, and unified the world of the Zhou Dynasty. Nowadays, we have millions of soldiers and horses in the Zhou Dynasty, a vast territory of fifteen routes, and hundreds of millions of people in the Zhou Dynasty. Compared with that time,
So what? Are you still afraid of a mere Liao Kingdom? Don’t forget that the Liao people are currently in civil strife. It took Yelu Zongyuan more than a year to quell the Jurchen rebellion. Hundreds of thousands of troops were trapped in Ping Ping in the north.
It’s not that we are afraid of them, it’s that they are afraid of us. We are worried that the Liao people will come back to attack the Zhou Dynasty. Who knows that Yelu Zongyuan is not worried about the Liao people coming back to attack the Liao Kingdom every day?
Let them be attacked from both sides? Therefore, I ask the emperor not to worry. Maybe the rise and fall of the country is inevitable, but I, the Zhou Dynasty, will never be destroyed by the Liao people. They don't have that ability, and we are not that bad. Of course,
The premise is that we ourselves cannot make mistakes and cannot put our throats into the mouths of evil wolves."
Guo Chong looked excited, patted his thigh, looked at Lin Jue and nodded: "Well said, well said. I haven't heard words of encouragement like what you just said for a long time. Lin Jue, wake up.
I, it’s not that we should be afraid of them, it’s that they should be afraid of us. Everyone expressed their worries and anxieties in front of me, but no one told me that my country is not a paper country.
I have hundreds of millions of people and millions of powerful soldiers, who am I afraid of?"
After a pause, Guo Chong looked at Lin Jue and said: "Lin Jue, just because you can think so much about the affairs of the Zhou Dynasty and think so deeply, I am very pleased. Now everyone in the imperial court wants you to think about state affairs like this.
There are very few people. I am very happy that you can think so much. It is my great fortune to have more ministers like you, and it is also what I hope for. I work hard for the consideration of the Great Zhou, and I have to take care of all aspects of things. I really
I'm a little tired. There are too few people who can share my worries."
Lin Jue hurriedly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, please do not overwork yourself and take care of your dragon body. Your Majesty is the backbone of all the subjects in the world. For the sake of the country, the country, the people, and the common people, your Majesty must also take care of yourself."
Guo Chong nodded slightly and sighed softly: "I don't know how important the responsibility is, but I am also unable to do what I do. My body... is getting worse day by day. Therefore, I issued a proposal to establish a prince. Guo Mian and Guo Xu
They are not young anymore, so it seems that I should hand over the burden to them. I also want to take a rest."
Lin Jue didn't dare to say anything. It was best not to discuss this kind of topic. When I went to the palace today, the biggest gain was that I found that Guo Chong seemed to be seriously ill, so he issued the prince's proposal. This fact almost overturned
Lin Jue's previous speculations about Guo Chong's move to establish the crown prince. Lin Jue initially believed that it was just an order given by Guo Chong in order to cooperate with his sinner's edict. The purpose was naturally to test the reaction of the ministers and win greater sympathy from the people.
He showed sincerity and took responsibility. But now it seems that this is not entirely the case. With Guo Chong's physical condition today, it seems that something is very wrong, so he is forced to do this.
Guo Chong had no intention of letting Lin Jue go, and still asked those words.
"Lin Jue, who do you think has the biggest responsibility among them?"
