I

"Meet His Majesty the Emperor!"

Li Zicheng stood with his head held high, and when he cupped his hands, he looked directly at Zhao Han, but unfortunately he couldn't see clearly from too far away.

But Niu Jinxing immediately fell to his knees, prostrating and worshiping: "Niu Jinxing, a grass-roots man, long live my emperor!"

"Exemption." Zhao Han said.

Niu Jinxing got up slowly, but seeing that Li Zicheng was still looking directly at the emperor, his heart beat suddenly, for fear that he would be implicated by this rude act.

But Zhao Han said: "Come here and give me a seat."

Li Zicheng strode forward, Niu Jinxing walked quickly, and sat down a foot away from the emperor.

The palace guards on both sides put their hands on the handle of the hammer one after another, and if something happened, they would rush forward and beat Li Zicheng to death.

As they got closer, Li Zicheng finally saw Zhao Han's face clearly, and he was inevitably a little disappointed in his heart. This Emperor Zhao was a little different from what he had imagined, more like a scholar full of knowledge, not like the founding monarch who recklessly raised his troops to conquer the world.

She was pretty good-looking, just like a little boy.

The beard is not very imposing, there is only a small slender mustache between the lips and nose, and the beard on the chin is only four or five inches.

But there is one thing that Li Zicheng admires quite a lot, that is Emperor Zhao's generosity. He was not forced to kneel, nor was he angry because of his rude behavior, otherwise it would be really embarrassing for him to kneel.

Zhao Han was also looking at Li Zicheng, who had dark and rough skin, sunken eye sockets, high cheekbones, forward nostrils, and a big beard under his jaw. The most noticeable thing is Li Zicheng's eyes, bright and sharp, looking directly at the emperor at this moment, vividly interpreting what is called "the eagle looks at the wolf".

Zhao Han couldn't help laughing and asked: "Why does King Chuang stare at me? It seems like there is a sworn enemy."

Niu Jinxing quickly smoothed things over: "Your Majesty doesn't know, Mr. Li has always seen things like this, and he didn't mean to stare at His Majesty."

Li Zicheng didn't want to offend the emperor, he knew how to accept it when he was happy, his eyes softened a little, and he cupped his hands and said, "The emperor please forgive me!"

"It doesn't matter," Zhao Han assessed Li Zicheng's merits and demerits face to face, "Chuang Wang raised his army because the officials forced the people to rebel. You and I are both of the same kind. It's a pity that the killing was too much, and it was an act of injustice. I was lucky enough to win the world. And also Recapturing Hetao is a great contribution to our Huaxia, and if the merits and demerits are equal, does King Chuang think it is possible?"

"Listen to the emperor," Li Zicheng said, "Your Majesty don't want to call me King Chuang anymore. It's a thing of the past, and it's boring to mention it now."

Zhao Han laughed and said, "It's just a nickname, don't worry too much about it. King Chuang doesn't want to go back to his hometown and settle down?"

Li Zicheng said: "As long as you don't go back to Mizhi, you can go anywhere."

Zhao Han said, "Then let's settle in Hebei. Hebei is vast and sparsely populated, so it's easy to share the property when you register."

"Thank you, Emperor, for your understanding!" Li Zicheng said.

Zhao Han looked at Niu Jinxing again: "What about you? I heard you want to be an official."

Niu Jinxing quickly replied: "The grass people are guilty of crimes, and they dare not have extravagant hopes. They all depend on His Majesty's arrangement." Go to the grass and become a bandit. The grassroots have read the "Datong Collection" repeatedly, and they know the good governance of the new dynasty. If they can really be an official, they must follow the "Datong Collection" and seek the well-being of the people."

This guy really wants to be an official!

But Zhao Han was shaking his head: "You are quite old, and you have served as a prime minister with King Chuang. If you are given a small official, you will not be convinced. If you are given a high official, the civil and military will not be convinced. Why don't you go teach, just specialize in it?" Ask a student from the teaching university, I think you must have something to say in your lecture."

"Your Majesty is holy!"

Niu Jinxing was so disappointed by this that he finally gave up his desire to be an official. At the same time, he thought to himself that by luck, Zhao Han asked him to teach, and he probably won't bring up old troubles again in the future.

Zhao Han looked at Li Zicheng again, but saw this guy staring at his desk. All he could see was the globe on the table.

"King Chuang likes this?" Zhao Han asked.

Li Zicheng said: "I don't know what it is, but it's so eye-catching, I couldn't help but look at it a few more times."

Zhao Han said to the female attendant, "Hold him over."

Li Zicheng has been educated, but his literacy is not much, and he has not yet reached the level of a child.

Holding the globe, he saw the big word "Nanjing" at a glance, and knew it was a weird map. Go all the way up and find Yulin and Hetao, and go east to see Shanhaiguan and Liaoning.

Looking down, it is North Korea and Japan.

To the east of North Korea and Japan is the sea. If you continue to turn the globe, you will see America, which you have never heard of. Europe, Africa, India... and then China again.

Li Zicheng's eyes widened, and his hometown dialect came out: "Is there a ball under your feet?"

Zhao Han nodded: "Earth."

Knowing that Zhang Xianzhong was thrown in Taiwan, Li Zicheng searched for a while, and finally found the word "Taiwan House".

This guy seems to have encountered a novelty toy. He pulled the globe and looked horizontally and vertically. The more he looked, the more shocked he was by the vastness of the earth.

Li Zicheng suddenly pointed to the west of Yinchuan: "The emperor, let me say one more thing, there are still tribes in Achatu (Alashan) who are not convinced. The next time you send troops, you should go to fight Achatu. That fellow Dazamusu was in Achatu before. Bald shepherds sheep, and later moved to Hetao with his troops. When the troops are dispatched, they will bring Daza Musu and others with them, and they will surely be defeated in two or three months."

Zhao Han said: "The Mongols of Achatu have already surrendered, and they are placed under the jurisdiction of the Anbei Protectorate."

But Li Zicheng said: "Surrender is fake, and they still surrender to me. If there is not enough food in one year, they will definitely come to Hetao to plunder. Anyway, the emperor is not short of soldiers, so let's kill them first. One is to get the people there. The Mongolian Tartars conquered, and the second is to take the opportunity to kill more people, so that there will be no shortage of food if there are fewer Tartars."

"Whenever they go to Hetao to plunder, I will fight them every year. There are deserts everywhere. If you kill more people, you can grow more grass, so that the desert will not continue to grow." Zhao Han said.

Datong China's northwest territory, as far as Jiayuguan, Yumen, Guazhou, Dunhuang, Hami... These places are all in the hands of the Yarkand Khanate.

As for the Alashan region, that is, the northern part of the Hexi Corridor, there lived the remnants of the Ordos Mongols. There are deserts and Gobi everywhere, and the living environment is extremely harsh. Those Mongolian remnants can't grow up at all. Since the opponent has surrendered, there is no need to fight, and it will not be too late to clean up when he is disobedient.

The Western Regions, Qinghai and Tibet will definitely be recovered in the future.

The main reason why it is inconvenient to send troops at present is that the population of the Hexi Corridor is too small. When the population of Shaanxi increases, especially the population of the Hexi Corridor increases, the time to recover the Western Regions will be ripe, otherwise it will be very difficult to fight logistics.

Some of the civilian officials in the Ministry of War may not know about soldiers, but they must all be familiar with history books.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also took a detour when he first attacked the Western Regions. In the end, they had to work steadily and frantically immigrated to the Hexi Corridor, enriching the population of the border areas, and finally stabilized the Western Regions.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had already tried and made mistakes, there was no need for the Datong New Dynasty to make mistakes again.

However, I guess it won't be that long.

Gushi Khan, who is entrenched in Qinghai and Tibet, is getting old and sick in bed all the year round, and his nine sons are just around the corner. Once Gushi Khan died, Qinghai and Tibet would inevitably be in chaos, and that would be an excellent opportunity to send troops.

In the direction of Xinjiang, within the Yarkand Khanate, religious conflicts became increasingly fierce, and King Abdullah Khan was almost unable to suppress it. Muhanmaitixia Hezhuo, who ruled Hami, has become a target of public criticism in the Yarkand Khanate because he occupies the commercial road leading to Jiayuguan and crazily collects heavy taxes from it.

But Muhanmaitisha Hezhuo was also the teacher of the king of Yarkand, and the king was still unwilling to do anything to his teacher.

Inside the Khanate, dissatisfaction with the king was growing, and the king was still guarding a tax-collecting road tyrant. The more prosperous the Northwest commercial road is, the easier it is for the civil war in Yarkand to break out, and the time for the Datong Army to conquer the Western Regions has come!

At the same time, Heshuote Mongolia, which occupies the north of Tianshan Mountain, is also eyeing Hami. A large number of Mongolians who believed in Buddhism were driven away by Muhanmaiti Xia Hezhuo. They fled to Heshuote Mongolia, always waiting for the opportunity to kill them back.

Holding the globe, Li Zicheng looked at the Western Regions, Mobei, and the vast overseas.

He felt a sense of arrogance spontaneously, but was quickly discouraged.

Li Zicheng is still young, but he has been injured all year round and suffers from rheumatism repeatedly. From now on, he can only be a rich man and has no hope of expanding his territory.

"In addition to fighting the north, did the emperor use troops overseas?" Li Zicheng asked curiously.

Zhao Han said: "The Ryukyu Kingdom refused to accept Wang Hua, and has already destroyed the country. The two counties of Ryukyu and Fangzhang were placed under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan government."

Li Zicheng checked carefully and finally found Ryukyu County and Fangzhang County, which were almost to Japan.

Zhao Han also said: "Two governor's offices have been set up overseas, one is the governor of Luzon and the other is the governor of Palembang, and they govern the surrounding areas respectively."

Due to the continuous expansion of the imperial court, it is too late to update the folk maps, but Zhao Han's globe is constantly being updated. When news from Nanyang comes back early next year, Mindoro, Batavia and other places will be added.

Li Zicheng understood thoroughly that Datong China's actual control sites were all framed with thick lines. The vassal states of the Datong New Dynasty are circled with dotted lines.

If you count the vassal states, it is really a huge territory!

Not to mention a bunch of vassal states in Nanyang, even Japan, North Korea, Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang are all vassals.

On the way out of the Forbidden City, Li Zicheng said to Niu Jinxing, "Do you know there is America?"

Niu Jinxing was at a loss: "Where is America?"

Li Zicheng said: "Cross the sea and go east, what a big land."

Niu Jinxing didn't know how to answer the conversation at all.

Li Zicheng said with emotion: "We have been holding back in Hetao for several years, but we don't think the world has changed. The earth is a ball, and there are so many places overseas. There are coal-burning machines, and spinning is scary fast. Such a bizarre situation, I can't read it anymore, it's like... like..."

"It seems like a lifetime away." Niu Jinxing said.

"Right, it's like reincarnation." Li Zicheng sighed more and more.

Niu Jinxing also felt this way. From Hetao all the way to Nanjing, what he saw and heard seemed like a world away, and it was not the Chinese land he was familiar with at all.