Chapter 1065: Established Strategy

Early in the morning, gusts of breeze blew, carrying a faint fragrance of flowers.

It was already mid-April, and the peach blossoms at Wuji Palace had all bloomed, clustered together and as red as fire.

Inside the Imperial Study, Zhao Xu set down a stack of documents and rose to go out.

To him, these trivial matters were like ants crawling on his body; they could be brushed off lightly and were not yet enough to cause any harm to Da Song.

And as for the punches he would throw next, each one would make his enemies cough up blood.

Although he was not yet prepared to strike at the Westerner armies gathered in Tianzhu.

According to the plan from the beginning of the year, this month, Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry should enter the Grassland to sweep it clean.

Previously, this move by Zhao Xu was intended to eliminate the Northern Di and recover the vast territories of the North.

Now, on the foundation of this move, there was an additional task: to pin down the military forces of the Tusman Empire.

At present, the Tusman Empire was extremely inflated with the support of Britain and Ross.

On one hand, they dispatched a large army into the Tianshan region, and on the other, they were prepared to support Tianzhu at any time; they thought too highly of themselves.

Little did they know, they were merely cannon fodder pushed to the front lines by the empires of Britain and Ross.

However, regarding Tusman, this hegemon of Zhongtu that sat between a feudal dynasty and a modern nation, although he was confident he could easily defeat them.

There was no need to let them get tangled up with the Westerners in Tianzhu and increase the pressure on the Azure Dragon Army and the Vermilion Bird Army.

His idea had always been to let the various armies of Da Song share the burden of the various enemies as much as possible.

Rather than letting one side's army bear too much and increase casualties.

In this way, it would be better to hand them over to the Western Regions Protectorate to deal with.

When the time came, once Chen Hu had severely disciplined them in the Tianzhu region, they would naturally have no time to care about Tianzhu.

The Azure Dragon Army and the Vermilion Bird Army would then be able to focus on dealing with the Westerner armies.

As he was thinking, a young eunuch hurried over and handed a slip of paper to Xiao Guizi.

Xiao Guizi then presented it to Zhao Xu.

Glancing at the note, Zhao Xu smiled lightly and thought to himself: Truly, whatever one thinks of, it comes.

The content on this slip of paper was exactly what Chen Hu had sent via telegraph.

On the note, he formally requested an imperial decree to allow him to lead the Cavalry into the Grassland and launch a full-scale offensive against the Northern Di.

"Reply to Chen Hu's telegram and say that I approve his request," Zhao Xu said to Xiao Guizi.

After he moved to Wuji Palace, the telegraph office of the Prince's Mansion was also moved to Wuji Palace.

However, it was not in the inner palace, but in the outer palace, together with the area where the ministers worked.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Xiao Guizi replied and turned to leave.

Just as Xiao Guizi left, another eunuch came to report that the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Liu Fu, requested an audience.

Zhao Xu then returned to the study to wait for Liu Fu.

Before long, Liu Fu arrived at the Imperial Study.

Seeing Zhao Xu, he said, "Your Majesty, I have come specifically to report that the office for the Cabinet has been selected, the functions of the Grand Secretaries have been divided, and the Cabinet has officially begun handling government affairs today."

Zhao Xu nodded, looked at Liu Fu, and smiled, "I have removed you from the position of Prime Minister and divided your functions among nine people; you don't resent me, do you?"

Before the Cabinet existed, government affairs were managed solely by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister could be said to be below one person and above ten thousand.

This also led to the endless emergence of instances where Prime Ministers usurped power throughout history.

Therefore, after the Ming Dynasty was established, because of the case of the Prime Minister Hu Weiyong usurping power, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the Prime Minister in a fit of rage, and subsequently, the Cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty gradually took shape.

The Cabinet ministers were more like the Emperor's secretaries and advisors.

Therefore, the Cabinet was not a restriction on imperial power; in reality, it was a strengthening of imperial power.

The reason why the emperors of the late Ming Dynasty seemed to have been sidelined by the Cabinet was actually due to the emperors themselves.

The Cabinets during the reigns of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were honest and obedient, with no one acting out.

This was one of the foundations of how human systems depend on the people executing them.

As long as he was on the throne for one day, this Cabinet would be under his control.

As for the future, with the advancement of civilization, he would gradually adjust the distribution of power between the Cabinet and the Emperor.

After all, by that point, Da Song might be a brand-new world, requiring a brand-new structure.

But for now, he did not need to consider these things.

The Cabinet was his secretariat.

"Your Majesty underestimates me. I follow Your Majesty so that the poor scholars of the world have books to read, food to eat, clothes to wear, and houses to live in; it is not for the sake of power. This Cabinet is disadvantageous to me, but it has many benefits for the future of the Da Song empire," Liu Fu said with a calm expression.

"That is good. I hope you never forget your original intention and, together with me, let the people of Da Song eat better, dress better, and live better," Zhao Xu said loudly.

Liu Fu also smiled, "I dare not disobey your command."

The two laughed for a while, and Zhao Xu added, "The Cabinet is newly established; you, as the Senior Grand Secretary, must put in more effort to get the Cabinet on the right track as soon as possible. For the memorials sent up, those that do not require debate should be drafted directly and sent to me for review. For those with disputes, the nine of you should deliberate, then annotate, and send them to me for the final decision."

This method meant that what was previously decided by Liu Fu alone must now be decided by nine people, avoiding errors in government affairs caused by one person's arbitrary decisions.

"By the way, how is the laying of the wired telegraph and the Railway going?" After briefly discussing the Cabinet, Zhao Xu inquired.

Speaking of this, Liu Fu also became excited. He said, "I was just about to report this to Your Majesty. It is truly a joyous occasion. At present, the southernmost end of the wired telegraph has reached Yunzhou, and all six main lines, east-west and north-south, have been connected. The next step is to carry out further construction of the wired telegraph network."

"Hmm, not bad. In this way, information transmission within Da Song will be accessible," Zhao Xu showed a satisfied expression.

The six main lines of the wired telegraph were three north-south lines and three east-west lines.

The north-south main lines were the coastal line of Yancheng, Lu City, Jinling, Lin'an, Haicheng, and Jin City; the middle route of Jincheng, Xiangcheng, Shacheng, and Guicheng; and the final western line of Xian City, Yiyang, and Kuncheng.

As for the east-west lines, there was the northern line of Yancheng, Jincheng, and Yongcheng.

The central line was Peng City, Luocheng, and Xian City.

The southern line was the one from Song City to Yiyang.

Six lines intersect with one another, connecting the twenty-one Xingsheng of Great Song, as well as all the prefecture cities within those Xingsheng.

What needs to be done next, just as Liu Fu said, is to use the six main lines as a foundation to establish a network of wired telegraphs and promote wired telegraphy to the county level.

However, just like the initial idea, wired telegraphy is actually only meant to pave the way for the installation of the Telephone.

Because once the wired telegraph lines are laid and connected, the Telephone lines can follow along the same path, which is equivalent to feeling for stones to cross the river.

Thinking that the first Thermal Power Plant in Great Song would be put into use in June, and that the conditions for using the Telephone were already met, he said to Liu Fu, "Let them continue laying the wired telegraph lines to accumulate experience; very soon, they will have new work to do."

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