"Even when Handan was the most prosperous in the past, it was not half as good as it is now." Zhao Sheng felt a little disappointed.
It’s only been less than three years!
Compared with Zhao Kuo, the previous kings of Zhao were useless.
If he had known that Zhao Kuo would be the king of Zhao and Zhao Guoguo would develop so quickly, Zhao Sheng would have killed Zhao Wangdan long ago and helped Zhao Kuo up.
"This is still far from it. When the expansion of Handan is completed, it will be even more prosperous... However, the location of Handan has somewhat restricted development." Zhao Kuo said.
From a development perspective, the most suitable city in Zhao to be the capital is Yecheng, which is close to the Central Plains, has the Zhang River, and has convenient transportation.
In comparison, the transportation capacity of water outside Handan is much smaller, otherwise Zhao State would not have specially arranged people to dredge it.
However, Yecheng is located on the border of Zhao State. Across the Huan River is the Wei State. It is completely undefendable and cannot be used as a capital.
Unless Zhao will dominate the world in the future.
But after unifying the world, there will be better choices, and it will not be Yecheng's turn either...
After leaving Handan City, the carriage drove towards Handan College. Along the way, you could see patches of millet seedlings or bean seedlings, and rice was planted in some places near the river.
There are farmers in the fields weeding and catching insects. They take this matter very seriously. These days, the whole family is tied to the land and there is no room for sloppiness.
Zhao Kuo did not go to the college immediately, but chose to get out of the car and talk to the farmers in the fields.
"Why is my husband farming here alone? Isn't there any labor at home?" Zhao Kuo raised his hand to an old man not far away who looked to be in his fifties or sixties.
"I have two sons, but the government wanted to recruit river workers, so I let them all go. Do you want to go to the academy?" When the old man saw Zhao Kuo coming over, he stopped and wiped the sweat from his face.
"Yes, we heard about Handan College in Wei State, so we wanted to go to the college to study." Zhao Kuo said. "Does the Zhao government pay to recruit river workers?"
"Here, why not? I used to give five cents, but it increased to seven cents some time ago. I also take care of the meals at noon. I can have a lot of savings in a month. If it weren't for my husband, I am getting older and I have to manage the fields. I would like to go
Yes." The old man heard that Zhao Kuo was a student, so he put down his guard and said with a smile.
"We in Wei also pay wages, but those corrupt officials embezzle every time. When the wages are paid, there is only one meal left for lunch." Zhao Kuo said, pretending to be angry.
"I tell you, those corrupt officials should be killed. Look at our Zhao country, no one dares to embezzle wages. It's because at the beginning of the year, the great foreman Mo Feng chopped off thirteen heads outside Handan City and even
It has been hanging on the city gate for a month, and I even went to see it and spit on it." The old man shook his head in the direction of Handan.
"That's what my father-in-law said." Zhao Kuo said with a smile, "By the way, I heard that the State of Zhao has built colleges in various places. Do any of the descendants of my father-in-law's family go to the college to study?"
"How can we be so lucky? Apart from the nobles, only the children of soldiers who have made meritorious service on the battlefield can enter the academy. My father-in-law wanted to send my two sons to join the army, but they were eliminated during the selection the year before last, so we can only wait.
During wartime, the country has a chance to recruit soldiers on a large scale." The old man sighed.
"Don't I object to fighting?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Of course it was excluded before, but it's different now. Land, money and food are all distributed in full, and children can still go to school. Even if they die in war, their families can receive pensions. Although we don't know whether it's true or not, we believe it.
Your Majesty, he is different from those great kings before."
The old man took off his shirt, exposed his chest, pointed to a scar on his right chest and said, "This scar was left from the Battle of Longmen more than thirty years ago. At that time, there were more than 10,000 Zhao soldiers, but only 2,000 came back alive.
.In the end, I still didn’t get a cent of the reward.”
Then, the old man pointed to the scar on his abdomen and said, "This scar was left from the Battle of Changping a few years ago. I almost died in Changping, but it was worth it in exchange for the land under my feet."
"The noble man asked me why I don't reject the war. It's useless for us Guizhou leaders to reject it. When the country didn't give anything in the past, when the country was recruiting people, didn't we still have to go? Now at least we can get some land, money and food, even if we die
Now, you don’t have to worry about your wife and children being bullied.”
"To tell you the truth, I don't think my life is worth much. In the past, when my whole family was starving, if someone said that they could help my family have enough to eat in the future, I would screw their heads on them without saying a word.
"
"My husband's life is still very valuable. Don't give it to others easily." Zhao Kuo turned around and walked towards the carriage, "Boy, I won't disturb my husband anymore."
"Why does it feel familiar?" The old man looked at Zhao Kuo's back and scratched his head strangely, "There are so many people in the world who look alike, so it's normal for them to look familiar. No matter what, let's just weed. How much harvest can we get this year?
Look at this piece of land."
…
After entering the academy, Zhao Kuo did not go to the classroom, but walked towards the arena.
If you want to say where is the most quintessential place of Handan Academy, it must be the big arena, where you can see the most dazzling geniuses in the world...
Fighting together without grace...
After the turmoil of the human trafficker case passed, Handan College continued to return to the conventional themes of the debate between heaven and man, the debate between human nature, the debate between justice and interests...
When Zhao Kuo walked to the big arena, the two students above were debating the debate on human nature.
That is the so-called whether nature is inherently good or nature is inherently evil.
However, Zhao Kuo did not dare to be interested in this, because the matter had been debated for more than two thousand years with no result.
"There are so few people? Doesn't it mean that the seats are packed?" Zhao Kuo asked with a frown.
The large arena that could accommodate thousands of people watching at the same time had only a few dozen people, and the remaining seats were all empty.
In addition to being used for debates, the big arena of Handan College also has another function, which is to make money.
In addition to students in the academy, anyone who wants to watch must buy a ticket. In addition, the official has also set up a bet, and you can buy whether either side wins or loses before the debate.
Although he was ridiculed by some celebrities for being greedy for money, Zhao Kuo still carried out the plan.
On the one hand, he is really in it for money.
On the other hand, if he doesn't do it, others will do it. Instead of making a mess when the time comes, it would be better for the government to step in and standardize and legalize it.
Zhao Guo made a lot of money from this in the beginning.
But... what's going on now? Don't those people like hearing debates?
"Your Majesty, when celebrities such as Xunzi, Kong Chuan, and Gongsun Long came to the stage to debate, the seats were indeed packed. Many people would rather stand than listen. However, Xunzi and others have not participated in debates for a long time. Others are far more famous.
I can’t compare with them, so the number of people watching decreases.”
"In addition, the college organized a Cuju competition a few days ago, and everyone ran to watch Cuju." Zhan He said helplessly.
Compared with debate, it is obvious that Cuju is more ornamental and more in line with the character of Zhao people.
In the past, I didn’t have a choice when watching debates, but now I have a choice and naturally go to watch Cuju!
One thing to say is that Chinese Cuju now ranks first in the world.
Well, the top ten Cuju teams in the world are all in China.