Chapter 854
Sending Troops
Chen Jie opened his eyes and felt that he was the idol in front of him, and the idol was him. What was even more amazing was that he had a faint feeling that he could not only connect with this idol, but also with idols in other areas of this world.
However, Chen Jie's current strength may not be enough. He can only sense the statues within a 300-mile radius outside Dadu. He can't sense anything further away.
Chen Jie felt that he could control these three hundred-mile-long divine statues at any time, and that he could even project his spiritual power onto them with a single thought.
The power used in this process is the power of incense offerings from all living beings.
Chen Jie muttered to himself, "Could this be the legendary incense-burning deity?"
Amazing, truly amazing! Now, my power can only control the statues a hundred miles away from the capital, and my strength, after these five years of training, is much stronger than when I attacked Dadu back then.
Even so, his power could only radiate to an area of three hundred miles around the capital. If he could radiate to the whole of China, or even the whole world...
Chen Jie was already extremely excited. If he could reach that level, he should have reached the level of the incense-burning emperor that the senior Shennong had mentioned.
Chen Jie pondered for a moment, then slowly regained his composure and withdrew from the statue's perspective.
At that moment, among the people worshipping on the ground, a child suddenly looked up and said, "Mom, it seemed like the eyes of the statue moved just now."
Upon hearing this, the child's mother immediately pulled the child aside and said, "Don't talk nonsense. That's our Emperor. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't even have a chance to eat right now. Quickly kneel down and kowtow."
"Oh, but his eyes clearly moved just now."
The child muttered to himself.
Chen Jie extracted his spiritual power from the statue and returned it to himself. He felt that his spiritual power had become even stronger after the spiritual journey.
This suddenly reminded Chen Jie of a word.
Yang Shen!
That's right, could this be what Taoism refers to as the emergence of the Yang spirit?
Thinking of this, Chen Jie was also extremely excited. Indeed, there is no end to learning.
Furthermore, I should pay more attention to the power of faith, and I should also expand my territory. Once I have completely mastered all the idols and all the areas of this world, then I should be considered to have mastered this world.
It is the incense-burning emperor, the one Shennong spoke of, who turned this world into his own magic weapon.
Chen Jie thought that Chen Wen was probably tired from walking, and at this moment she grabbed Chen Jie's arm and tried to climb onto him.
"Father, give me a hug."
Chen Jie immediately snapped out of his daze, looked at his sensible eldest son Chen Li and his lively second son Chen Wen, picked up the two little ones with one arm each, and then turned around and said, "Let's go home!"
After speaking, Chen Jie left the crowd with his two sons. Then he looked around Dadu. In the past five years, Dadu has developed rapidly and very well.
Previously, there were very few Han Chinese, but after five years, the number of Han Chinese has reached 70% to 80%, and there are also some skilled herdsmen.
As for the former Mulan nobles, apart from a few extremely talented ones who may have been recruited into the court by Chen Jie, many others couldn't make it in the city and left. After leaving, Chen Jie had people issue them travel permits and allocated land to them as legitimate citizens of the Great Han Kingdom.
If they were skilled at raising cattle and sheep, Chen Jie also designated a pastureland outside the Great Wall specifically for raising cattle and sheep, to provide the Han people with delicious beef and mutton to eat.
Of course, raising cattle and sheep is not exclusive to the Mulan people; most of them are raised by Han people, but the Mulan people are also allowed to raise them.
In addition, in recent years, the Mulan people and Han people have gradually begun to intermarry. Moreover, the Mulan people are now studying Han classics, and Han language has become the only official language of the Han Dynasty. As time goes by, the language and culture of the entire Han land should be unified in the near future.
Then, just like the King of Qin unified the six kingdoms, we can make the whole country have only one culture and one voice, and thus achieve unification.
Chen Jie walked the streets of Dadu, explaining to Chen Li and Chen Wen some governing principles that children could understand, and also had them visit farmers' homes to experience what life was like for them.
Moreover, Chen Jie decided that once they came of age, that is, when they turned eighteen, they would all work as farmers for two years, then work as factory workers for two years, and then gradually rise up from the bottom.
This is also the policy and philosophy that Chen Jie is about to implement.
That is, if the country wants to be strong, the people must first become rich, and after the people are rich, those in power must feel the suffering of the people.
Chen Jie rose through the ranks from the bottom, so he knew what kind of life the common people lived. That's why he could implement policies in a targeted manner and wouldn't be fooled by the civil and military officials.
This is why founding emperors are rarely incompetent or prone to bullying their superiors or subordinates.
You must understand that the emperor was originally from the common people. If you dare to do things that harm the common people to benefit yourself, the emperor will be the first to punish you.
However, later emperors were different. Because they inherited the throne in order of succession, they rarely knew the hardships of the common people. They did not know what kind of life the common people were living, which is why absurd scenes such as "Why don't they eat meat porridge?" could occur.
This is a sign of being spoiled and wasted while being raised in the inner palace.
Therefore, Chen Jie decided to write his lessons into the "Imperial Han Ancestral Instructions," which is that the emperor should not only study the Four Books and Five Classics, but should also systematically study professional subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and Chinese, according to the educational situation.
If possible, one can enroll in a public primary school in the capital city and study under a pseudonym.
Once they reach adulthood, they spend two years in the countryside, two years in factories, and then two more years working at the grassroots level before gradually rising through the ranks. They can even be sent to a region, starting as a county magistrate, then a prefect, then a governor, and finally a high-ranking official in one of the six central ministries.
Only then can one become a qualified heir to the empire. Of course, by this time, the heir to the empire should already be in their thirties or even forties.
With such a comprehensive understanding of all aspects, it was impossible for him not to become a wise ruler. Even if he didn't become a wise ruler, he would at least not be a foolish one who thought, "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"
This is what Chen Jie wanted to do: to set rules for future generations.
If the Han Dynasty is to be able to last for a long time, the most important thing is to ensure that the successors are qualified.
He wasn't even worried about the mediocrity of these successors, because Chen Jie had set up a cabinet, a prime minister, and six ministries for them. These were all capable advisors who checked and balanced each other, as long as the emperor wasn't a foolish ruler like the one who said, "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"
As long as he can still distinguish right from wrong, then this dynasty will not easily collapse.
This is Chen Jie's prince training program, also known as the ancestral precepts of Emperor Taizu.
Chen Jie took his family on a round trip incognito and then came to the council hall. He had two main things to do today. The first was to discuss the matter of sending troops, which they had agreed on yesterday.
Another matter was that he wanted the Ministry of Rites to re-examine the sacrificial rites and how they could exaggerate his personal influence.
Thus, Chen Jie arrived at the council hall, which was already filled with people, including civil and military officials and all the court officials. To the left sat military officers, led by Duke Zhang Dingbian of Wei, followed by Duke Chen Xiaohu of Chu, Duke Xu Da of Zhao, Duke Shi Gengming of Yue, Duke Ding Pulang of Liang, and behind them a group of marquises.
Seated on the right is the civil official group, led by Duke Hu Weiyong of Jing, Minister of Supervision Duke Wu Hong of Ding, Minister of Police Duke Zhou Chu of Xin, and Minister of Justice Duke Jin Yanzi of Rong, followed by numerous other officials.
Senior officials from both the civil and military departments sat around a large conference table, with Chen Jie in the chairman's seat.
This is the council hall. The Han Dynasty is quite good in this respect; during council meetings, civil and military officials can sit and discuss state affairs together instead of standing.
This reveals a side of human nature in the Han people.
Moreover, Chen Jie directly changed the court session format, with only three grand court assemblies held each month at the beginning, middle, and end of the month to convene civil and military officials to discuss issues. There was no such outdated custom of holding morning court sessions at other times.
After all, forcing people to get up at two or three in the morning and attend the morning court at six is against human nature.
Anyone who can keep doing this every day will get sick even if they weren't already.
Therefore, Chen Jie changed the work system, starting work at Chen Shi in the morning, which is equivalent to 8:00 AM today.
I finished get off work at the end of the You hour in the evening, which is equivalent to 7 pm today.
Normally, you can take one day off every ten days. There are also several holidays throughout the year, such as Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year, and Lantern Festival, each with corresponding holidays and rest periods.
You could say that Chen Jie's rest system might seem like a heartless boss by today's standards, but in this era, it was definitely a conscientious system.
This ensures that every official has enough rest time, allowing them to live longer and serve as their servants for longer.
In addition, there are three grand court assemblies, held at the beginning, middle, and end of the month. These are regular events. Besides reporting on the progress of work during these times, the main purpose is to let the officials see Chen Jie.
Let them know that their emperor still cares about them.
These three morning assemblies allowed people to take leave, and the meeting time was changed from the inhumane 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM.
This allows officials to return to their respective government offices to instruct their subordinates to complete the day's work before holding the general meeting, which also allows lower-ranking officials to attend.
During the meeting, one could submit a memorial to the emperor, impeach certain individuals, or offer constructive suggestions.
Every time, they would collect the papers. If no one had any objections, they could simply write "no" and submit it. If they had objections, or were afraid of retaliation for reporting something, they could hide them in these papers. In this way, Chen Jie would often have some unexpected gains.
Therefore, the officials were quite wary of this and called it a secret memorial.
Each time such an act of accepting memorials on the spot was performed, it terrified the officials, serving as a constant reminder to them.
However, Chen Jie would not allow all officials to live in a state of constant fear. He would thoroughly investigate every memorial he read. If there were any unclear points, Chen Jie would be lenient. But if someone reported you for the same thing a second time, you would be finished.
This is Chen Jie giving the officials a chance to repent and start anew.
At the same time, it also serves as a warning to officials.
Chen Jie did many things like this in the imperial court, to the point that officials of Chen Jie's generation became upright and honest.
The corrupt practices were swept away, and Chen Jie ensured that officials received high salaries, guaranteeing them a decent life.
Therefore, during Chen Jie's five-year reign, the Han Dynasty was definitely a period of positive progress, and its national strength was unprecedentedly strong.
At this moment, Chen Jie, accompanied by Chen Chun, entered the council hall.
All the officials stood up when they saw Chen Jie and said, "Your Majesty."
Chen Jie said, "Please sit down. Today we are discussing military and political matters. Regardless of rank, please speak freely."
Chen Jie then sat down in his seat, waved his hand, and everyone else sat down. At this point, Chen Jie gestured to Chen Chun.
"Hang up the map."
Upon hearing this, Chen Chun immediately waved his hand, and then someone took out a map that had been prepared in advance and hung it on the wall behind the council hall. The map was so large that it was dropped directly from the roof to the ground.
Chen Jie then looked at the map and said, "Everyone, you can see this is our current Great Han Empire."
Chen Jie stood up and pointed to the Han Empire, whose border was marked in red on the map, and then said, "The Han Empire is currently on the outskirts, with the Russians to the north."
"To the west are many small states, such as the Golden Horde."
"To the east, there is still Fusang, where Lan Yu is located, and Goguryeo."
"As for the south, there's no need to worry. Many small countries in the south have already been occupied by Fang Guozhen, and we have begun to send people to take over them one by one. If you want to go further south, that's Australia."
"This place!"
Chen Jie pointed to Australia and said, "It's a vast and sparsely populated place, so it would be easy to take it over, but we lack enough people."
"So, my idea is to leave it for now and not rush to develop it. When our domestic population reaches five or six hundred million, we can send troops to occupy it."
"And before that!"
Chen Jie pointed to other places and said, "I suggest we conquer these places first, because they have a relatively large population. With the population replenishment from these places, we can expand rapidly, build infrastructure, and quickly turn these occupied territories into resources."
Chen explained, "Otherwise, if we take over the land but can't quickly turn it into resources, then these places will become dead zones. Once we leave, they will revert to their original state."
Chen explained, "The Great Khan Mulan has already proven this: the goal is not to occupy these places, but to quickly make them part of us, the foundation of our Han Dynasty, rather than a burden that drags us down!"
At this point, Chen pointed to the map and said, "Although the Han Dynasty is currently very powerful, we cannot ignore the lives of the people when we are fighting a war, so..."
"You need to confirm the directions: east, west, and north. You can only attack one direction at a time; don't be greedy and try to attack multiple directions."
"Which route should we attack?"
Chen Jie looked at everyone and asked. (End of Chapter)