Chapter 613

The Taiji Palace.

The Imperial Study.

Qin Mu was looking at a list.

The major event of the imperial examination had finally come to an end.

In addition to the three hundred officially hired people, there was also a reserve list of the top three thousand.

These people, although their abilities might be slightly inferior, could still be considered usable.

This was the list Qin Mu was looking at.

On the list, he discovered a large number of descendants from noble families.

Just as he had expected.

The noble families would not let this opportunity pass, wanting to use the imperial examination to desperately plant their own people into the Great Qin officialdom. The Great Qin imperial examination was fair and just. Without sufficient reason, they could not turn these people away.

This was the method of the noble families.

Controlling the officialdom was what they cared about most, and it was also the foundation of the noble families.

Opposite Qin Mu, Wen Tianxiang stood with his hands cupped, waiting for orders.

Qin Mu handed the list in his hand to Wen Tianxiang.

"Send all these people to the Western Regions for training. Anyone who dares not to go will be blacklisted and never hired for all eternity! Furthermore, those whose names I have circled are not allowed to refuse. Even if you have to put them in shackles, you must drag them to the Western Regions!" Wen Tianxiang opened the list and took a look.

Those whose names were circled were all descendants of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans.

"Your subject obeys the decree!"

Qin Mu wanted to let those noble family descendants go to the Western Regions and suffer a bit.

Didn't they want to plant their own people in Great Qin?

Fine, go eat sand in the Western Regions!

Among the list of three thousand people, there were also many scholars from humble backgrounds whose levels were not yet high enough.

Training in the Western Regions was also an opportunity for them to grow. Moreover, they would receive a generous salary, which would be enough to support their families and live a decent life.

"I have already issued a decree appointing Su Dingfang as the Grand Marshal of the Western Expedition. We will draw troops from Tibet and the Western Regions to form the Western Expedition Army, and in a few days, we will launch a war against the Arabian Empire!" Wen Tianxiang was somewhat surprised.

Great Qin had just occupied the Central Plains and the northern border, not long ago.

It was also facing threats from the massive armies of Goguryeo and Khitan.

Now, while having to guard against a counterattack from Great Tang, it was also starting a war in the Western Regions!

"Your Majesty, the Arabian Empire has just destroyed Persia and has started to invade Tokharistan; its momentum is at its peak. At this time, starting a war with the Arabian Empire is somewhat disadvantageous for Great Qin!" Qin Mu waved his hand, denying this thought of Wen Tianxiang's.

"You only see that the Arabian Empire's momentum is at its peak, but you don't see how many refugees have flowed into the Western Regions because Persia was destroyed?"

Wen Tianxiang received the reminder, and his mind suddenly turned.

"Your Majesty, the figures received by the Western Regions Cabinet show that over the past few months, the influx of Persian refugees has exceeded one million. And it is still constantly increasing."

As he spoke, Wen Tianxiang seemed to realize something.

"Is Your Majesty planning to conscript these refugees to join the Great Qin Western Expedition Army?"

Qin Mu smiled.

Wen Tianxiang was still quite smart; with a little guidance, he could see through it.

"Tianxiang, you must remember, how can one make an army invincible? The only way is to ensure that the commoners always stand on the side of the army!"

These words were very profound; Wen Tianxiang decided to write them down and go back to slowly comprehend them.

"You also take those two Persian princes back to the Western Regions. Let them be two great generals under Su Dingfang, and call upon the Persians to join our Great Qin legions!"

Wen Tianxiang's eyes lit up instantly.

"Your Majesty is brilliant! With the Persian princes in our hands, we can conscript more Persians to join the Great Qin army. They have a blood feud with the Arabian Empire; with a little reorganization, their morale will surely be high!"

Wen Tianxiang was impressed to the point of prostration.

The predicament in his eyes was, in the eyes of His Majesty, a golden opportunity.

One million Persian refugees—and that was only those who had drifted to the Western Regions.

Once they invaded the Persian homeland, how many more Persians would join the Great Qin army to attack the Arabian Empire together?

These people all had the hatred of a lost nation; conscripting them would be effortless!

In this way, there would be no need to worry about the source of troops for the Western Expedition Army.

How wonderful!

Qin Mu tapped the desk twice.

"Those two Persian princes may not truly be submissive to Great Qin right now. You go and tell them..."

"Your subject obeys the decree!"

Wen Tianxiang received the decree and left.

Qin Mu also left the Imperial Study and went to the Ganlu Hall.

He had long since received a system task to go to Jicheng to check in.

Before leaving, Qin Mu felt he should still say a word to those women.

"Tomorrow morning, let them go to the northern city drill ground to witness the military might of Great Qin!"

After all, day by day, their hearts were all hung on him.

The Ganlu Hall.

Changle lowered her head unhappily.

"Brother-in-law, are you annoyed by me? Are you deliberately going out to hide for a while?"

Qin Mu laughed in spite of himself.

He hadn't expected that a child as innocent as Changle would actually think this way?

"Changle, how could brother-in-law be annoyed by you? This imperial expedition is truly very important. Maritime hegemony?"

The women were all hearing this term for the first time and felt it was very novel.

"On the vast sea, the winds are high and the waves are fierce, the billows are surging; why must there be maritime hegemony?"

"It concerns the future maritime hegemony of Great Qin!"

"Could it be that with maritime hegemony, those winds and waves will also obey?"

Regarding the sea, whether they were Tang people or Qin people, they all thought it was too dangerous. Moreover, there were no good things on the sea, so there was no need to take risks.

This was the common view of both the commoners and the imperial court.

Qin Mu's imperial expedition this time was to tell the people of the world that in the eyes of the Great Qin Emperor, the sea was very important and must be contested!

Qin Mu stroked Changle's little head and said.

"This world is very large. But I want to tell you that the sea is several times larger than the land, and there are countless islands of all sizes in the sea, as well as many foreign barbarians."

"They are still living in deep water and scorching fire, waiting for Great Qin to bring the Kingly Way and civilization to save them!"

These words were spoken with righteous indignation!

Wu Zetian clenched her little fist tightly.

"Husband, so we must save all the foreign barbarians in the world and bring our Kingly Way and civilization to them!"

"To do this, must we first build a powerful maritime fleet?"

Qin Mu pinched Wu Zetian's little nose.

"Correct, we must build an invincible fleet!"