The carriages and horses roared, and a huge army was winding east along the road.

Zhou Yafu was wearing light armor and riding a white horse. He walked in the middle of the marching queue surrounded by hundreds of personal soldiers. Looking at the endless queue behind him, Zhou Yafu suddenly felt a little dazed.

Four months ago, when Zhou Yafu received the imperial edict, he was still a little unbelievable. The emperor actually ordered him to lead 50,000 cavalry and 200,000 infantry to attack Goguryeo? How is this possible?! You must know that Zhou Yafu was a surrendered general of the Han Dynasty, and the emperor had a grudge against him to kill his father. Are you not afraid of him leading the army to rebel?!

Later, Zhou Yafu found out that he was recommended by the prince Xiang Zheng.

Zhou Yafu's perception of the prince Xiang Zheng was extremely complicated. In Qi, Zhou Yafu suffered consecutive losses under Xiang Zheng, which led to the complete collapse of the Lianheng alliance, which led to the ten Chu army's large-scale attack on the Han Dynasty. So in a sense, the competition between Zhou Yafu and Xiang Zheng directly determined the end of the Chu-Han dispute.

Zhou Yafu received the imperial edict without hesitation because he had the same thoughts as Bai Mo. Only by completely winning the trust of the emperor can he restore the Han Dynasty. If he wants to win the trust of the emperor, the best way is undoubtedly to establish enough merits and make himself the most prominent meritorious general in the court.

The preparations for the expedition to Goguryeo were complicated.

Even a huge empire like the Chinese Empire has been preparing for several months!

In April, the emperor issued an order, and the army did not complete the assembly in June, and the army did not leave Liaodong at the end of July.

A team of horses suddenly rushed from the front, and the leading school bowed to Zhou Yafu on the horse's back and breathed, "General, the king of the barbarians is located in front of him. There is a dirt city with a radius of more than ten miles, with a wall of about a meter high. However, this barbarians do not seem to be called Goguryeo, but the Fuyu Kingdom."

"That's right, it's it." Zhou Yafu said lightly.

When Xiang Zhuang was about to go to war, he summoned Zhou Yafu to the foreword, saying that the country to be conquered this time might not be Goguryeo, but the name does not matter. Anyway, it is a regime established by several barbarians between Liaodong and Jizi and Korea. How can the barbarians establish a regime? It must be resolutely destroyed.

In fact, the so-called Goguryeo is a barbarian regime established by the Fuyu people and the Woju people. As for when the name of Goguryeo was adopted, there are several statements in the historical community. Some say it was in the first century BC and some say it was in the second century BC. It can be verified that there must be Goguryeo in the early Western Han Dynasty.

Zhou Yafu raised the whip in his hand and said calmly: "I will order the whole army to camp on the spot. The baggage battalion began to assemble the siege equipment, and then attacked the barbarian royal court after a day of rest."

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In early October, Xiang Zhuang returned to Luoyang after inspecting Danyang.

Danyang County, the hundreds of acres of imperial fields designated by Xiangzhuang have achieved a bumper harvest. Half a basket of potatoes has turned into dozens of baskets, and half a basket of corn has harvested hundreds of stones, but the biggest harvest is sweet potatoes. Because sweet potato seeds can grow new seedlings after the seedlings are cut, but only half a basket of sweet potato seeds have planted fifty acres of area!

The growth cycle of sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn is almost four months. It is now early October, and it is too late to sow the second season, but it is obvious that it can be sown for at least two seasons. Then the planting scale can be expanded to 10,000 mu. By the next year, there will be enough seeds in the four counties of Jiangdong to start large-scale planting.

As soon as Xiang Zhuang returned to Luoyang, he received a good news from Zhou Yafu.

In the magnificent Fengtian Hall, the prince Xiang Zheng reported to Xiang Zhuang: "Father, Zhou Yafu has broken through the Goguryeo Royal City, beheaded more than 80,000 women and children, and captured more than 100,000 women and children. In the Goguryeo Royal City, male men who were more than the wheel of a carriage were killed. A few of them escaped into the mountains and were condemning the cavalry and were able to defeat them soon."

Xiang Zhuang nodded slightly, and the result was long as he expected.

At that time, the Qin State had a population of less than 5 million, but it could launch a million troops to fight south and north, and wipe out the six countries one after another. What did it rely on? It was the power of the farming and war system! The current Chinese Empire has a population of 20 million, and it has a more complete business, farming and reading system that is better than the farming and war system. Can it not destroy a mere Goguryeo?

Not to mention that Goguryeo was just a barbarian regime that had just established a country for a while. Even though Goguryeo had the military strength and national strength of Qin among the seven heroes of the Warring States Period, it could not resist Zhou Yafu's 250,000 cavalry and infantry army. You must know that these 250,000 troops were far better than the Qin army, whether it was weapons, training or supplies!

As for why the Goguryeo males were killed, instead of embracing all rivers and adopting an open and inclusive ethnic policy like the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Xiangzhuang was forced to do so, because the population of the Huaxia people is only more than 20 million at this stage, even the Yellow River and the Yangtze River two traditional settlement areas are far from saturated, let alone large-scale immigration to foreign countries.

Before the population has reached 60 million and there is no large-scale immigration to foreign countries, we can only adopt a cruel and bloody policy of reducing taxes against the surrounding barbarians. When the population of the Huaxia people exceeds 60 million, we can start large-scale immigration to foreign countries, and then try to integrate the genetic genes of the surrounding barbarians into the Huaxia people.

After all, from the perspective of biology and genetics, there is actually no benefit in maintaining the purity of bloodline. Only by constantly integrating into the genes of other ethnic groups can a nation become better and stronger. For example, the Tang Empire, and even the maternal bloodline of the royal family comes from the grassland barbarians.

Xiangzhuang does not reject the introduction of matriline genes of the barbarian race to improve the gene lineage of the Huaxia race.

It is precisely because of the matriline genes from the grassland barbarians that the emperors of Li Tang have more pioneering spirit and expansion ambitions than those of any dynasty in Chinese history, which in turn makes the Tang Empire the most vast dynasty in Chinese history. Although the territory of the Mongolian and Yuan dynasties is wider than that of the Tang Empire, it is not the dynasty of China at all.

Xiang Zhuang looked at Xiang Zheng softly and said, "Prince, you have recommended a good commander."

"My sons dare not take credit for merit." Xiang Zhengdao, "All this is the credit of Zhou Yafu and the soldiers who went to war."

Xiang Zhuang smiled slightly and suddenly said, "Crown Prince, do you still remember the three-year agreement that my father made with you? I'll do it with a little bit of my fingers and count it, it's almost time, haha."

Xiang Zheng's heart was beating slightly, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

Is it not to say that my father was just a joke at the beginning? What a joke? It’s not a joke. Isn’t it to be despised by saying that? It seems inappropriate to agree with my father, so why don’t you rush to seize power?

The ministers below also looked at each other, not knowing what the three-year agreement was.

Xiang Zhuang's eyes turned to the ministers in the hall and said calmly: "Three years ago, I made an agreement with the prince to abdicate the throne to him in three years. Now the three-year period is coming, and I should fulfill my promise." After saying this, Xiang Zhuang paused, and said to Xiang Zheng, "Zheng'er, come up and come to my father's side."

The ministers in the palace were shocked, and Xiang Zheng was also anxious and at a loss and said, "Father, son minister..."

Xiang Zhuang smiled and walked down the jade steps and led Xiang Zheng back to the steps. He pressed Xiang Zheng onto the dragon throne, then turned to the ministers in the palace and said, "Don't do those sloppy rituals. From now on, I will officially abdicate. Zheng'er is the second emperor of the Chinese Empire. Why don't you even pay attention to the new emperor?"

"This is this..." The civil and military officials in the court looked at each other and were at a loss. It was not until Xiang Zhuang repeatedly urged him that they finally bowed to the Danzi and shouted long live.

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That night, Dahua Palace went to the study room.

After performing the great bowing ceremony, Xiang Zheng sat respectfully across from Xiangzhuang.

Although he was already the emperor of the empire, Xiang Zheng was still as respectful as ever in front of Xiang Zhuang, because Xiang Zheng knew very well that his father's authority was definitely not something he, the second emperor, could challenge. If he did something wrong, and the father's words only, he would have to abdicate obediently.

In short, the alternation of the throne is only superficial.

Compared with the past, the only difference is that Xiang Zhuang no longer sat in court to rule the government, while Xiang Zheng sat from the prince's chair under the jade steps to the dragon chair on the jade steps.

Of course, Xiang Zhuang knew that no matter how much he delegated power, no matter how the prince adjusted the officials in the cabinet, no matter how the generals and schoolmen in Jianwuyuan were, he would never be able to challenge his authority, because Xiang Zhuang was the only privileged figure who could mobilize the three imperial guards and soldiers of various counties without using military talismans and face alone.

Looking at Xiang Zheng, Xiang Zhuang said calmly: "Zheng'er, Wanshou Palace has been completed. The father will move there tomorrow. This Dahua Palace will be yours from now on, haha."

Xiang Zheng hurriedly said: "It is better to stay in Dahua Palace than to let your sons meet you every day..."

"You, my father and I don't have to be pretentious." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and said slowly, "But before going to Wanshou Palace, my father still wants to discuss with you the matter of the crown prince. The crown prince is the foundation of the country, and the matter is very important, so you must be careful."

"Crown Lord?" Xiang Zheng said in surprise, "Father, Chu'er has just been full moon. Is it too early?"

Xiang Zheng got married four years ago and had three daughters and one son. The eldest son Xiang Chu was born by the crown princess and was just over a month old.

"Chu'er?" Xiang Zhuang shook his head and said, "Chu'er is still in her infancy. Her ability and character are unknown. She doesn't even know whether she can raise an adult. How can she take on the responsibility of the crown prince?"

Xiang Zheng said confusedly: "The father means..."

Xiang Zhuang said calmly: "The Father means that among your dozen adult younger brothers, one of the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the meritorious generals of the Martial Arts Academy will be promoted to be the crown prince."

"Ah?" Xiang Zheng said in shock, "Father... isn't that very consistent with the ancient system, right?"

From the Great Xia Dynasty, China had a system of inheritance where father died and son succeeded, and brothers died, meaning that when the old king died, his son was the first heir. If there was no son, it would be the turn of the king's younger brother. Now Xiang Zheng clearly already had a son, so why did he choose a younger brother to be the crown prince? So Xiang Zheng couldn't understand.

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ps: I asked Du Niang, the Dongchang was indeed set up by Zhu Di, and the swordsman was wrong. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!