Zhao Kuo had a faint smile on his face. These ministers were usually the ones who would remain calm even if the mountain collapsed, but now they still looked moved.
No one in the world can remain calm in front of a fiefdom.
The relationship between monarch and minister, to put it bluntly, is a relationship of interests. We help you ascend to the great treasure, and you distribute the interests to us and protect our descendants.
There is no doubt that they met a very generous monarch who was still willing to grant them fiefdoms during this transitional period from enfeoffment to centralization.
Although the enfeoffments were all 'leftovers', or undeveloped areas, it had exceeded everyone's expectations.
When the Zhou Dynasty first enfeoffed the feudal lords, weren't they the same scraps given to the princes? They didn't even get the territory. You just drew a place on the map and you had to take people to conquer it yourself.
Zhao Guo at least helped them gain territory, and each county official Zhao Kuo divided a part of the black land. Although it was not much, the total amount was about half, which was enough for their early development.
At the same time, it is also a message to the people of the world that I, Zhao Kuo, have a true seal and will never eat alone.
The Warring States Period was different from the later dynasties. If it was the later dynasties, the centralization of power had been customized. The king only needed to allocate some fiefdoms to ministers. He might not even have the fiefdoms. It was just a false title and a reputation.
But the Warring States Period was different. The Warring States Period was a transitional stage from feudalism to centralization, and people's thoughts were still stuck on the feudal monarchy of the past.
That is to say, ministers and monarchs are relatively equal, and ministers should enjoy fiefdoms.
Both Xiang Yu and Liu Bang did this in history. It took the Han Dynasty nearly a hundred years to complete the institutional transition.
The only exception was the Qin Dynasty. They put all the benefits into their own pockets and were not even willing to entrust the barbarian lands to meritorious soldiers and clan children. Therefore, when the second generation of the Qin Dynasty died, no one stood up.
Even if it's just pretending.
If you are alone and have no community of interests, who will help you?
"As for the population, based on the population in your previous fiefdom, I will give you twice as much." Zhao Kuo continued.
If there is a fiefdom, there must naturally be a population.
Having only a fiefdom without a population is ridiculous.
But Zhao Kuo couldn't afford to provide too many people, so they could only distribute them according to the population in their previous fiefdom. If they had provided snacks before and developed the fiefdom well, they would be able to gain more people.
If they were harsh in their governance and all the people fled, then don't blame others.
But to be honest, the six major princes are all at the level of shopkeepers, and their fiefdoms are all handed over to family members or people they trust. They can't guarantee what will happen in practice.
Zhao State gave them part of the population, plus Sushen and part of Donghu's original population, which was enough to complete the initial development and construction.
Wei Wuji and Tian Dan were so excited that their fingers were trembling slightly. Although their fiefdom did not have many people, they could immigrate from Wei and Qi.
More importantly... to a certain extent, this incident can be regarded as resolving part of the knot between the two of them.
Although the two of them were happy about the strength of Zhao State, at the same time they were worried every day that Zhao State would attack Wei and Qi in the future.
Although they have high power, they know very well that they cannot change the outcome.
But it's different now. They have their own fiefdom, and it's not just a small piece of land like before, it's a fiefdom as big as South Korea.
Even if Wei or Qi are destroyed in the future, the ancestral temple sacrifices will not be discontinued, and even Guozuo can be passed on in another way.
Under the Nine Springs, they can face their ancestors calmly.
"There will be many opportunities to make meritorious deeds in the future. I hope that more dukes will appear in our country of Zhao in the future, and even... the soil will be split apart." Zhao Kuo said slowly.
Hearing this, everyone suddenly raised their heads and looked at Zhao Kuo, splitting the soil and dividing the grass. This was the meaning of establishing a feudal state. Although they had a fiefdom now, they were still just county princes, which was completely different from founding a state.
They knew that Zhao Kuo was bold and generous, but they didn't expect that Zhao Kuo could be bold and generous to this extent!
"Okay, let's discuss government affairs." Zhao Kuo clapped his hands and attracted everyone's attention, "The Korean Peninsula and the Northeast region are vast. Except for the enfeoffed areas, I plan to divide them into three states to govern.
Each state has a governor and a deputy governor, who are responsible for political and military power respectively."
"Gaoyi, Jizi, Korea and other countries established Pingzhou in their hometown, which administered six counties: Xuantu County, Lelang County, Lintun County, Zhenfan County, Canghai County and Chen County. The governor was Mao Gong, and the deputy governor was Jia.
Yan takes charge."
"Hezhou was established south of Songjiang and east of the Daxingan Mountains, with six counties under its jurisdiction: Sushen County, Liaoyuan County, Changbai County, Woju County, Liaoyang County, and Raole County. The governor was Kong Chuan, and the deputy governor was Feng Ting."
"Songzhou was established north of Songjiang and south of the North Xing'an Mountains, with eight counties under its jurisdiction: Songhei County, Andong County, Xing'an County, Hailan County, Mudan County, Heishui County, Jibei County, and Kuye County. The governor was Xue
The deputy governor will be Lejian. The Prime Minister will tell you the specific details."
According to Zhao Kuo's original plan, he would wait until the Central Plains was unified before developing the Northeast. By then, manpower would be available and the Liaohe Plain would be under control. Then he could immigrate there and spend ten or twenty years turning it into the granary of Zhao.
.
But the plan could not keep up with the changes. Now that it has been won, it is naturally impossible to give up.
It is impossible to spit out what is eaten into the stomach.
The Northeast itself is a fertile land, and it is close to the ocean, so it enjoys the benefits of fishing and salt. The Korean Peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and while enjoying the benefits of fish and salt, it is also close to Qi State. It can completely rely on trade with Qi State to complete the initial development.
Construction and development.
Of course, these all take time to complete.
Moreover, results cannot be seen in one or two years. Even for the most capable group of officials, it will take ten or twenty years to complete the initial development and construction.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "The next period of time will be hard work." Zhao Kuo looked at Wei Qi apologetically, saying that it was Li Mu who brought down Northeast China.
The hard worker is not Li Mu himself, nor the officials who are about to go to the harsh place, but Wei Qi and the construction team led by Wei Qi.
They have not even planned the official road to the North Sea, but they also need to plan and build the official road that runs through the Korean Peninsula and connects the entire Northeast.
They are all bitterly cold places. In winter, the strong winds blow and blow, and there is no place for living people. In summer, when the sun basks, they are no better than the Central Plains, and there are more mosquitoes.
Only autumn and spring are barely better, and the short period is fatal.
If you are not in good health, you may die on the road.
"Thank you for your hard work." Wei Qi shook his head with determination in his eyes. He is now considered a famous person all over the world, and it is not a bad reputation in the past, but a truly good reputation.
Even many civilians who have never left the county town in their lives have heard of Wei Qi's name and know that most of the official roads in Zhao State were built by Wei Qi.
The merchants were extremely grateful to Wei Qi. It was because of Wei Qi that their trade became so convenient.
Over the years, Wei Qi worked conscientiously and did not dare to make any mistakes. He did not dare to forget that when he was desperate, it was Zhao who took him in and gave him a chance.
If it weren't for Zhao Guo, he might have been killed by Fan Ju long ago.
Wei Qi always felt grateful to Zhao Guo and Zhao Kuo. He worked hard to build the road, not to pursue any reputation, but to repay Zhao Guo.
Three days later, Zhao Kuo came to the military camp and distributed rewards to all the soldiers. As the deputy general, Sima Shang also successfully obtained the title of Marquis of Lun, only one level short of receiving the fief.
Soon, the news of Zhao Guo's canonization of six major princes spread throughout the world.
While everyone was in awe, they couldn't help but wonder, if Li Mu and Lin Xiangru can get a fief, can't I?
We are all human beings, am I inherently inferior to others?
Even if I don't get a county fief, a county or a township is still good.
There are only a few people in the world who are self-aware. The vast majority of people will not admit that they are inferior to others. They just feel that they are unappreciated and have not encountered real opportunities. As long as they arrive in the Zhao Kingdom, they will definitely be able to soar into the sky.
There are many people who came to Zhao State with this idea. No one knows how they developed later.
But other countries undoubtedly suffered a huge loss. In addition to the loss of civilians, many officials even left with their seals.
The King of Qi also wrote to Zhao Kuo, saying that he was unkind.
The other countries dared to be angry but dared not speak out.
At the end of the year, the censor Chulong retired and returned to his hometown, and Li Fu took over the post of censor.
Since then, the State of Zhao has removed the post of governor of Hetao, and the counties in Hetao, like other counties of Zhao State, are under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court and no longer have governors.
In the twelfth year, in order to promote the development of Pingzhou, Hezhou, and Songzhou, Zhao State's policies were fully tilted towards the three places. In addition to building roads, they also sent people to build salt farms, fisheries, seafood processing plants, shipyards, and ports along the coast.
Promote trade with the Central Plains.
Because there are many mountains in the two places, there are many ferocious beasts in the mountains, which often come down to harm the civilians. Zhao Kuo also ordered Lejian, Jia Yan, and Feng Ting to lead an army to sweep the mountains and clear out the wild beasts in the mountains.
In February, Zhao State released all the soldiers who had previously captured Qin and Yan. With many Hu captives, Zhao State had a few months to spare, so they released them in advance.
Not only that, even the prisoners in the Huaisi area of Chu State were released, but those in other areas of Chu State were not released.
After several years of construction, Zhao State's official roads have run through the entire Hexi Corridor, from Longxi County to Loulan State. If you want to build westward, you need the consent of Loulan State.
Loulan is just a small country, and it is very afraid of Zhao, a big country in the east. It does not dare to refuse openly, but it also does not cooperate.
Zhao Guo did not care about this, and Meng Ao directly ordered to continue paving the road to the west. Loulan sent people to stop them, but Meng Ao directly ordered them to be killed.
These years of continuous victory have established the Zhao people's confident and proud character. Especially when facing barbarians, this kind of contempt comes from the heart and is written on their faces.
It can be said that you don't treat the other person as a human being at all.
There is no doubt that a small country like Loulan will not receive special preferential treatment from Zhao.
As for Zhao Guo, I'm here to inform you, not to discuss with you. Don't be shameless.
Equal conversation is based on equal strength. There is no doubt that Lou Lan is not qualified to communicate with Zhao Guoping.
Zhao Guo's tough attitude made Lou Lan very frightened and angry, but there was nothing he could do about it.
To be honest, Loulan doesn't even know how big Zhao is or how many people there are. They only know that Zhao's Jiuquan County alone is far more powerful than Loulan, and there is Liangzhou above Jiuquan County, and above Liangzhou is Zhao.
In March, Meng Ao sent Mao Sui as an envoy to Loulan to issue an ultimatum and asked Loulan to become a vassal state of Zhao.
Mao Sui led an entourage to Loulan City. This is a beautiful small city built on the lakeside. It is surrounded by an oasis.
Only then was it occupied by Loulan.
The herdsmen drove their cattle, sheep and horses to graze on the oasis near the lake, and there was no cultivated land in sight.
There is no doubt that Loulan is a country mainly devoted to herding.
Mao Sui couldn't help but have a hint of contempt in his eyes.
"The little king respectfully welcomes the envoy from the State of Zhao." When the King of Loulan heard that the envoy from the State of Zhao had arrived, he quickly led all the civil and military officials out of the city to greet him.
Although he is the leader of a country, when facing Mao Sui, he can only flatter him cautiously, for fear of being offended accidentally.
Although he hated Zhao Guo, he did not dare to neglect or make any mistakes in this kind of etiquette, for fear of giving Zhao Guo an excuse to attack them.
"I've met Mr. Loulan." Mao Sui bowed slightly, his attitude was very contemptuous.
King Loulan opened his mouth. He wanted to tell Mao Sui that he should actually be called King Loulan. He and King Zhao were equal beings, but in the end he did not dare to correct him.
Zhao people have a very weird temper. Sometimes they get angry suddenly. If you can talk as little as possible, you should try to talk as little as possible. If you can send the Zhao envoy away safely, it will be considered a success.
As for the slight humiliation, I endured it.
"The little king has already held a banquet in the palace and invited envoys to enter the city." Lord Loulan leaned over and said.
Mao Sui nodded slightly, passed the Lord of Loulan, and walked toward the city.
The Loulan people looked at Mao Sui angrily, but Mao Sui seemed to turn a blind eye. Surrounded by the Loulan monarch and the civil and military ministers, he walked into the palace and sat directly on the main seat.
Lord Loulan's face froze instantly, and he clenched his fists with both hands, wishing he could kill Mao Sui with one sword.
After a few breaths, Lord Loulan slowly released his palm, sat next to Mao Sui with a smile on his face, picked up the wine flask, and poured a glass of wine for Mao Sui.
"Everyone raise your glasses, let's toast the envoy." Lord Loulan said with a smile, picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
The civil and military ministers who were sitting with him followed suit one after another.
Mao Sui picked up the wine glass, took a sip, frowned, and said coldly: "Does Loulan even have his own wine?"
Lord Loulan's face froze and he didn't know how to answer.
"Well, the envoy doesn't know something. Your Majesty is worried that the envoy won't get used to my Loulan wine, so he specially bought wine from the State of Zhao to entertain the envoy." A minister said quickly.
"It seems that I have wrongly blamed you." Mao Sui glanced at everyone's faces and drank the wine in one gulp.