The host is red and black, and the system can only chirp

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.

The purpose of sacrifice is to build ideology, to express the legitimacy of the regime to God, and to demonstrate the divine right of the monarch. The military is the output of violence, and only if your fists are strong enough, your policies will be the norm for the world.

When the news of Li Jing's capture of Jiangling came back, Gao Hongde was so happy that he ran wildly in the Mingtang.

"The greatest task for an emperor is to follow the order of heaven, and the most important thing for following the order of heaven is to offer sacrifices to the gods in the suburbs. Offer sacrifices! Respect heaven! The first winter solstice sacrifice to heaven at the Circular Mound of the dynasty must not be simple."

Xi Mingming was afraid of trouble, so he forced Gao Hongde to almost completely forget many royal etiquettes, such as the normal ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sky during the winter solstice.

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Ever since Fu Gongju publicly insulted the Empress as a "hen crowing at dawn", officials of Daxia seemed to have collectively developed paranoia. They did everything they could to promote the fact that the Emperor of Daxia had ascended to the throne in a legitimate way, comparable only to the Han Dynasty.

In view of this, Gao Hongde and others did not hesitate to madly slander Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, saying that he "bullied orphans and widows to gain the world."

Xi Mingming: ...That's enough. The common people don't need to care so much. Whoever can keep the people alive is a wise ruler.

For example, Xiao Xian, who had just surrendered and was sent to Luoyang, did not care whether his emphasis on agriculture and sericulture was out of a desire to suppress the generals, but the common people benefited. For this reason alone, Xi Mingming was willing to confer him the title of Duke.

Xiao Xin was "lenient on the outside but cautious on the inside", no matter what consequences the inner cautiousness caused; the word "lenient on the outside" proved that the lives of local people were always better.

Moreover, Xiao Xin surrendered the city and asked for nothing else, only confessing his guilt and saying, "Only Xiao Xin should be killed, the people are innocent, please don't kill them!"

Therefore, there is a poem in later generations that says: The old man in Jiangling pities Xiao Xian, and the deserted palace in Longshou remembers Wei Xiao.

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Wang Xinyi did send back a lot of information about Xiao Xin's investigation.

For example, there are rumors in the martial arts world that Xiao Xin is a lackey of the Sui Emperor Yang Guang, and that he and Lu Kangshou established the Baling Gang, which is extremely powerful. They have set up 300 gambling houses and 200 brothels across the country, and they are involved in both the black and white worlds.

It is said that he had a very bad reputation in the underworld, and was mainly engaged in the shameful act of human trafficking for the tyrant emperor Yang Guang.

After investigation, Wang Xinyi found solid evidence that Xiang Gui and Xiang Yushan, father and son of the Baling Gang, were trafficking in human beings, and both were swiftly beheaded by Li Da Zongguan. As there was no evidence that Xiao Xin had committed a crime, Zongguan Li sent Li Xiaogong to escort Xiao Xin back to Luoyang.

Wang Xinyi had no evidence, but Xi Mingming didn't believe it at all.

Given Yang Guang's willful behavior, if Xiao Xin really wanted the whole country to collect women for him, would Xiao Xin still be able to work as the magistrate of the small Luochuan County for more than ten years?

Xiao Xin was a county magistrate, and he did a great job, enjoying a high reputation in the local area. It is possible that Xiao Xin suddenly became a rich man, and the people who were plotting behind the scenes got the benefit, so they started to slander him crazily.

Wait, this looks like the way the Demon Sect behaves. Could Xianggui Xiangyu Mountain be connected to the Demon Sect?

Xi Mingming summoned Wang Xinyi who was in Yuzhang County and asked her to check it out when she had time.

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His Majesty the Emperor thought as he read the secret letter. Why are there so many demon sects everywhere? Can it be good? Everyone has special skills. Can they do something useful for the people?

Go back and capture all the people and make atonement for the bad things they have done over the years!

On the contrary, Xiao Xin was a lame emperor, but he had no problem being a minister.

Xi Mingming and Li Shimin were not Li Yuan. Li Yuan killed any rebel king he encountered. The better the reputation of Dou Jiande, Xiao Xian, Du Fuwei and others among the people, the more eager he was to kill them. Li Yuan took the initiative to establish a clan relationship with Li Gui, but he still killed them.

To put it bluntly, Li Yuan lacked a sense of security. He was afraid that the rebel kings would turn around and kidnap him one day, so he would feel more at ease if they destroyed him physically.

Public opinion? What's the use of that?

Li Yuan trusted Pei Ji's relatives the most, those who had a good relationship with him, those who had strong family backgrounds, and those who spoke well. These people were the ones that Li Yuan liked the most.

It doesn't matter what your ability is.

Li Yuan shamelessly despised Liu Bang and believed that the Li Tang Dynasty was stronger than the peasant Liu Bang.

Frankly speaking, if there was no Li Shimin, the development of the Li Tang Dynasty might not have been as good as that of Dou Jiande in history.

Gao Hongde and other people and officials of Tiance Mansion hated Li Yuan's behavior the most, so they vigorously advocated Liu Bang and Xi Mingming. I don't know what Li Yuan, who was circled, no, honored, felt after hearing this.

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Back to the Winter Solstice Heavenly Worship Ceremony, His Majesty the Emperor was very tempted, but then politely declined.

The sacrifices these days were not just a matter of the emperor burning incense and worshipping gods.

All the buildings and facilities of the altar had to be completely renovated in advance. From Ziwei City to the altar in the suburbs, all the streets that the emperor passed through when offering sacrifices to heaven had to be completely repaired and made look brand new.

Not to mention that offering sacrifices to heaven requires slaughtering countless livestock, making sacrifices, and arranging sacrificial vessels... At the beginning of a new dynasty, many things are missing. The winter solstice is approaching and the sacrifice is imminent. Will it cost a lot of money to rebuild them?

Major renovations of buildings, new look of roads... any one of them taken individually, Xi Mingming could see the countless manpower mobilized behind it.

"Forget it. A sacrifice would waste countless manpower, material resources and money. It would be better to reward the soldiers at the front. They have sacrificed a lot for the reputation of Daxia."

Daxia invaded Jiangling and did not harm the local people at all. The reputation of the Daxia emperor suddenly became brilliant in the south of the Yangtze River.

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Here is some common sense about ancient warfare.

After ancient armies won a battle, it was assumed that looting everything was a reward for the soldiers. Otherwise, where would the motivation for fighting come from?

Let me tell you a little story from the original historical line.

The Zizhi Tongjian records that in the 645th year of Zhenguan ( AD), the Tang army conquered Liaodong and the defenders of Baiyan City requested surrender.

Li Shimin wanted to accept the other side's surrender, but Li Shiji refused.

Li Shiji led dozens of soldiers to ask for orders, "The soldiers braved the arrows and stones and did not care about their own lives because they were greedy for the captives. Now that the city is about to be captured, why should we accept their surrender? This is the heart of a lonely soldier!"

What do you mean?

The reason why the soldiers were not afraid of flying arrows and stones and fought desperately was not to gain women and property? Now that the city is within reach, why should they accept the other side's surrender? Isn't this the heart of the cold warriors?

What did Li Shimin do?

He got on and off his horse and thanked him, saying, "General, you are right. But I cannot bear to see my soldiers kill people and capture their wives and children. I will reward those who have made contributions under your command with my treasures, so that I can redeem this city with your help."

Translated, Li Shimin couldn't bear it, but what Li Shiji said made sense. The emperor said that he would take money from his private treasury and distribute it to the soldiers, which was equivalent to His Majesty the Emperor redeeming the city from his soldiers.

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Think about it, it was already the 19th year of the Zhenguan Period. Li Shimin's imperial power was growing stronger and stronger, and Li Shiji dared to lead dozens of elite soldiers to stop the emperor, and Your Majesty still had to pay out of his own pocket to redeem the captives.

This shows how strict Li Jing's military discipline is and how eager the soldiers are to protect the reputation of the Great Xia Emperor. If you give me a peach, I will give you a jade in return. Xi Mingming hopes that the money will be spent on practical things.

Xi Mingming thought to himself, maybe I have always been just a commoner and cannot adapt to spending money on grand occasions.

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Gao Hongde firmly disagreed.

Xi Mingming was helpless, "Why rush? Has Kunzhou in the southwest been pacified? Have Gao Kaidao and Li Gui been pacified? Where is Dugu Huai'en, the Minister of Works of Daxia? The prince just left, and Xu Yuanlang rebelled against Daxia again, daring to conspire with Dugu Huai'en and Fu Gongju to kill the prince. The Turkic Jie Li is ready to make a move, Tuyuhun raids the border from time to time, and Tiele dares to collude with the Central Plains... Yuzhang and Lingnan are in a state of anxiety, what is there to celebrate?"

Xi Mingming waved his hand and rejected the idea casually: "We'll talk about it after the world is unified."

The world is unified, the world is unified...If you are not in a hurry to abdicate, why should I wait for every opportunity to ensure the authority of your throne?

For a moment, Gao Hongde could only breathe out but not breathe in.

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Today was another day when the Emperor of Daxia made Prime Minister Gao Hongde so angry that he stormed off.

Oh, Prime Minister Gao did not forget to take the Emperor’s Hu Bing away with him.