The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

On May 20th, the weather was clear. In the square outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, five hundred sets of tables and desks were already set up, each with its own number and name.

The area was surrounded by Imperial Guards, whose uniforms differed from those of ordinary soldiers only in that they were trimmed with yellow.

"Summon the scholars to enter!"

With a shout from Zhao Fengnian, the scholars entered the examination hall in an orderly fashion through the Taihe Gate. Xie Bo'an quickly found his desk by following the signs for Shanxi.

Once everyone had arrived, Liu Mu led the officials out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and sat on the Nine-Dragon Wall to observe the examination.

The five hundred scholars moved to the table and knelt down to kowtow to Liu Mu.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

This wasn't Liu Mu putting on an act; it was a matter of etiquette. With this one bow, they would become the emperor's disciples, and from then on, their careers would soar to great heights.

In this way, the emperor gains these talented individuals, and these scholars in turn obtain official positions—a win-win situation!

After the three shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" were finished, Liu Mu immediately got up from the dragon throne, stood at the front of the Nine Dragon Wall, and looked down at the five hundred scholars.

"I have three questions for you today!"

"First question: Why did the Ming Dynasty perish?"

"Second question: How could the Manchu Eight Banners, with a mere 200,000 men, govern 100 million people of China?"

"Three questions: How should our Han Dynasty treat the various barbarian tribes surrounding China? Should we exterminate their descendants, or continue to adopt the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?"

Liu Mu's three questions were very straightforward, but in reality, only the last question was about how to deal with barbarians.

The fall of the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu conquest of China served as a profound lesson for all Han Chinese: barbarians cannot be tamed; they always covet the Central Plains.

And Liu Mu was also planning to do that.

He wanted all races to be united! From then on, either Han or enemy!

Having had his fill of speaking, Liu Mu left the examination hall, leaving the scholars completely bewildered.

My Emperor.

Do you know what you're saying?

What's this? Now you're the emperor in the Central Plains?

So you no longer recognize Mongolia?

How are we supposed to begin writing this?

No one cared what these scholars were thinking. After all, the company now belonged to the Liu family, and the emperor, as the chairman, could say whatever he wanted.

Even the palace maids had entered and begun distributing paper to the scholars, but when Qi Yanzhao prepared to receive the paper, a palace maid did not give it to him. Instead, she whispered:

"His Majesty summons you; come with me!"

Qi Yanzhao was only stunned for a moment upon hearing this before getting up and leaving with the palace maid. Seeing Xie Bo'an's worried expression, he simply nodded confidently.

On the steps of the side gate of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Liu Mu sat on the steps without any regard for his image. Qi Yanzhao, who had come with the palace maid, was about to bow when Liu Mu interrupted her.

"sit!"

"I dislike people who are overly restrictive!"

Without any hesitation, Qi Yanzhao sat down on Liu Mu's three steps down the stairs. Liu Mu nodded in satisfaction and asked directly:

"Tell me about it!"

"How should our great Han Dynasty treat those inhabitants, those barbarian tribes who are like weeds, impossible to eradicate and impossible to civilize, in the future!"

Qi Yanzhao hesitated only slightly before revealing a confident expression, clearly indicating that he had come prepared.

"The Ming Dynasty was too lax and too lenient in its treatment of these foreign tribes, lacking the iron fist to govern them. Even a small foreign tribe, if left unchecked, will become a source of trouble in the long run!"

"Now that His Majesty has driven the Manchus to the south, they are still able to consolidate their rule there through both brutality and appeasement. This is a legacy of the Ming dynasty!"

Despite Liu Mu's questioning gaze, Qi Yanzhao remained unfazed and instead stood up, pointing north.

"The student is referring to the Ming Dynasty, to its so-called 'tributary system.' It involved wasting resources and manpower to conquer a region, yet instead of focusing on controlling it and extracting benefits, it allowed its leaders to continue controlling the military and political affairs. This was wrong!"

"Even without the Manchu conquest of China, if the succeeding state continued to adopt a policy of indirect rule, then the Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam, or even the Japanese pirates who were repelled by the Wanli Emperor of the Ming dynasty, might take advantage of the internal turmoil in the Central Plains to invade again."

The system of indirect rule piqued Liu Mu's interest.

This was a method chosen by the Central Plains dynasties because they were unable to control the barren lands due to their national strength. It meant that as long as you were willing to pay taxes and submit to the Central Plains dynasty, the emperor would not want to manage your military and political affairs.

However, as time went by and the Central Plains dynasties became prosperous and peaceful, these tribes continued to annex each other.

When the Central Plains dynasties were embroiled in land annexation and financial difficulties, the tribes that grew up through these annexations became the greatest threat to the Central Plains dynasties.

Moreover, this kind of annexation is not the kind of annexation that existed before the Han Dynasty, but rather an annexation that learns from the ruling methods of the Central Plains, which is the most terrifying aspect.

If the Manchu Eight Banners were merely a tribe like the Xiongnu, even with hundreds of thousands of cavalry, they would only be killing and plundering on the frontier. But starting from the Five Barbarian Invasions and their entry into the Central Plains, all the foreign tribes began to harbor unbridled ambitions.

"So what do you think the Great Han should do?"

Faced with further questioning, Qi Yanzhao hesitated and looked at Liu Mu. Only after realizing there was no trick to it did he dare to speak.

"Your Majesty, once the Han Dynasty conquers any land, we should exterminate all its able-bodied men and women, assimilate them into the Han population, and ideally eliminate their language and culture altogether to solve the problem at its root!"

Qi Yanzhao originally intended to say that all male members should be beheaded, but after years of studying Confucianism, he changed his mind at the last minute.

Liu Mu was dumbfounded.

That's a ruthless person!

If the Han Dynasty really did that, how many people would be killed in Heilongjiang, Siberia, and the Gobi Desert? Liu Mu suddenly felt that Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong were both good people.

"If I were to send you to the North Sea to oversee the issues north of the Gobi Desert and with Tsarist Russia, what would you do?"

Liu Mu began to change the subject, or rather, he prepared to send Qi Yanzhao as far away as possible, and once everything was ready, he would send him to the Japanese island, where he could be allowed to do as he pleased.

"Your Majesty, although you are a Mongol, you have Han Chinese blood and acknowledge the legitimacy of the Han dynasty!"

"If the student were to govern the north, he would surely propagate Christianity among the Mongols and wage war against foreign tribes!"

Qi Yanzhao's meaning was very simple: since the current emperor rose to power in Mongolia, then he should promote education and civilization in Mongolia, which is commonly known as reasoning with them, and then unite with the civilized Mongolians before going to fight with foreign tribes such as Tsarist Russia.

This overlaps significantly with what Liu Mu has always done.

It's just that his murderous intent has become even stronger.

"I intend to use the North Sea as a starting point to contend with Tsarist Russia for Siberia. That area will later become Jilin Province. I appoint you as the first Governor-General of Jilin, to provide logistical support for my General Subutai, and at the same time manage the local ethnic minorities!"

"As for the palace examination, you don't need to go. I will grant you the title of Jinshi afterward. Once you have finished reviewing the examination papers in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, you can set off for Nerchinsk on the shore of the North Sea!"

After Liu Mu finished speaking, he stood up, dusted off his backside, and strode towards the examination hall.

The governor of a province, a high-ranking official of the first rank, was obtained so easily.