The Rise of the Song People of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1009 Governing the Western Regions
The Western Regions is the unified name of a large area from the west of Yumenguan to Congling and Wusun, which is the new province of later generations.

Both Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty and Ban Chao in the Eastern Han Dynasty left a strong mark, and now the Song Dynasty has regained this land from the population of the Liao Dynasty again.

Throughout the history of China, the Western Regions did not have a high sense of existence. They often cut off contact with the Middle Earth. If Zuo Zongtang did not fight to conquer the Western Regions (which was already called Xinjiang at that time) in the late Braid Dynasty, this vast territory would be split apart in later generations. .

The geographical location of the Western Regions has extended beyond the Central Plains. Its territory occupies a quarter of the present Song Dynasty, but its population is very small.

The geographical environment of the Western Regions is complex, and more than half of the central, eastern, and southern regions are desert environments. Lop Nur has not yet dried up, but it can be seen from various battle reports that the wind and sand is very serious.

The northeast of the Western Regions is also a mountainous terrain. The Tianshan Mountains serve as a barrier for the Western Regions, and at the same time, it prevents traditional important industries such as farming and animal husbandry from developing.

In Northwest Wusun, however, the terrain of grassland mixed with mountains occupies hundreds of miles.

In addition, the Western Regions used to be full of countries and many ethnic groups. The problem that had troubled Yelu Abaoji had now become a problem for Lu Heng.

How to govern the Western Regions has become a question that Lu Heng, the emperor of the Song Dynasty, thinks about.

The Western Regions Protectorate System implemented in the Han Dynasty was actually a system that allowed the Western Regions to self-govern.

Therefore, Lu Heng does not intend to continue the system of the Duhufu, but to further carry out the system of prefectures and counties on the basis of Yelu Abaoji.

First of all, all the internal affairs experts in the cabinet expressed their opinions one after another. Among them, Wang Anshi's opinion was quite special, because the oasis was the core of the sandy western regions, that is, Puchanghai (later Lop Nur), Puleihai (later Balikun Lake), Qinhai (later Bosten Lake), Qingchi (later Issyk-Kul Lake), and Yibohai (later Balkhash Lake), the five major lakes are centered on the establishment of prefectures and counties to send officials to manage them.

Wang Anshi's previous words are fine, but the last sentence of coordinating the government affairs of the Western Regions is earth-shattering.

Because this is tantamount to centralizing all the affairs of the Western Regions into the hands of one person. This place is originally located in a remote place with high mountains and far away from the emperor. The benefits of a unified regime are obviously obvious, but the threat is also great.

Fortunately, the current Song Dynasty has achieved the separation of the military and the government, otherwise Wang Anshi's opinions would be suspected, just like Liu Yan's proposal of the state pastoral system.

Zhang Zhao immediately objected to Wang Anshi's opinion, thinking that this would lead to a big tail!

Instead, the ministers shifted their focus to the establishment of official positions, and discussions began to take place over the overall planning of the Western Regions.

Lu Heng was also thinking about Wang Anshi's suggestion on the basis of the case. This gentleman is only responsible for accepting the advice, but whether he accepts it is the matter of the emperor himself.

Governing the Western Regions takes a very long time, and it is not something that can be achieved in one or two years. From any angle, it is much better to consider centralized regional management than to report to each other loosely.

Otherwise, the Western Regions are so vast and far away, and human energy and time costs are limited, it is obviously impossible to consult the central government for everything.

Therefore, Wang Anshi's division of regions and unified management is indeed a very good way. As for the big tail and too much power, there are many ways.

Lu Heng thought over and over again to set up a system of prime ministers of the Western Regions and deputy ministers. The status of the prime ministers of the Western Regions is equal to that of the left and right ministers of the Great Song Dynasty. He will coordinate and manage all government affairs in the Western Regions and report to the central government. The term of office is six years and cannot be re-elected.

As for the left and right deputy ministers, it is the position of assisting the prime ministers of the Western Regions, with the same status as the officials of the twelve ministries, and the term of office for both assistants and separation of powers is three years.

As for the candidate for the first Prime Minister of the Western Regions, the only person in Lu Heng's heart was Zhuge Liang, that's why the resignation of Marshal Sifang happened. The separation of military and government was the main program of the Song Dynasty, and even Yu Yunwen could not shake it. Naturally, Zhuge Liang would also follow this rule.

What's more, Zhuge Liang has made countless great achievements in the military, and he already feels that there is no room for promotion. Now that the Great Song Dynasty has many generals, it is a good thing for Zhuge Liang and the Great Song Dynasty.

Of course, as the saying goes, a good man has two gangs. No matter how strong Zhuge Liang is, there is only one person who is not three-headed and six-armed. Lu Heng did not want to exhaust his prime minister Zhuge, so he selected Dong Yun and Fei Yi as the left and right deputy prime ministers.

Dong Yun and Fei Yi were very young, and they were talents who had taken the imperial examination in recent years. However, they also had sufficient knowledge in internal affairs in history. In addition to Dong Yun and Fei Yi, Lu Heng also dispatched a group of talents to the Western Regions.

For example, Jiang Wan was the prefect of Cheshi County, Wang You was the prefect of Shanshan County, Song Qi was the prefect of Kucha County, Chen Congxin was the prefect of Dawan County, Bi Yingyuan was the prefect of Shache County, Gao Tanglong was the prefect of Wusun County, Ma Liang was the prefect of Jingjue County The prefect and Wang Chang are the prefects of Congling County.

This group of talents is the elite soldiers assigned to Zhuge Liang to govern the Western Regions.

Lu Heng still has his own ideas about the Western Region, the first is to establish the Western Region Imperial City Division and Jinyiwei, intelligence is the top priority, of course, Lu Heng will ask Gu Yong and Qin Han alone to instruct this matter.

In addition, the Western Regions are now also the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, so the New Deal of the Great Song Dynasty must also be promoted in the Western Regions. Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi and others in the Siqing Bureau must give themselves a charter, and at the same time, it is likely to send a person to deal with the New Deal.

For commerce and trade, although there is the Maritime Silk Road, no one thinks that there will be many commercial routes. The Silk Road in the Western Regions is the top priority, and the widening of commerce and trade is an important weapon for governing the economy of the Western Regions.

Then there is the planting industry in the Western Regions. It is naturally impossible to grow rice in the Western Regions where water is scarce. However, God has given the people of the Western Regions another hope. Western Regions wheat (which is later Xinjiang wheat) has the characteristics of heat resistance and drought resistance. It is already grown in the local area and can only be promoted on a large scale. That's it.

The other is cotton. Although this product has been introduced to the Song Dynasty, it is still not as good as rice and wheat as a cash crop. A large amount of cotton is grown in the Western Regions and then sold back to China. This is an important plan in Lu Heng's mind.

In addition, the Western Regions are naturally the origin of various fruits, gold, and beautiful jade. These Lu Heng will seek out Zhuge Liang and others for in-depth communication one by one.

At the same time, there are many civilizations in the Western Regions, including Loulan Civilization, Jingjue Civilization and many other legendary things. Lu Heng is very curious.

Lu Heng wanted to see if there were any 'Pisces Jade Pendant', 'Exquisite Ancient City', these marvelous things!
The last and most important thing is sand control. The increasingly serious desertification in the Western Regions has already affected the Central Plains. The desertification of Shuofang County in the northernmost part of Bingzhou came from the Western Regions. There are large deserts in the entire Western Regions. Lu Heng hopes to reduce the number of Western Regions from his own time. Desertification!
At least Lop Nur must be preserved. Today’s Lop Nur is said to be a beautiful lake. Lu Heng, who knows the historical trajectory, naturally hopes that Lop Nur will always be a beautiful Pulei Sea!

(End of this chapter)