Chapter 811: Three years of stability, ten years of great governance
The princes of the world have been fighting for hundreds of years, and from hundreds of countries there are only two countries left (Zhao and Wei). Without a martial spirit, they have long been swept into the dust of history.
If the internal integration had not been completed, even the weights and measures were not unified, the fields were not re-measured and divided, the officials in various places were not fully arranged, and the world system was still in chaos, Zhao would have taken the initiative to fight, and would have waited until the Mauryan Dynasty came over
?
Now Zhao Guo lacks nothing but time.
As long as Zhao State is given enough time to resolve its internal problems, it will at least be able to remain invincible.
On the other hand, although the Maurya Dynasty was unified nearly twenty years earlier than Zhao State, its internal hidden dangers have not been resolved. Race, ideology, system, religion, etc., are all hidden dangers that can destroy an empire.
Although these hidden dangers were temporarily dormant under Ashoka's suppression, they would explode sooner or later.
At that time, even if the gods come, they will not be able to save you.
"Your Majesty, maybe you can put some pressure on the Maurya Dynasty." Wei Wuji said.
"Exerting pressure? Send an envoy to condemn?" Zhao Kuo didn't understand for a while. He didn't think the Mauryan Dynasty would fall for this trick. Moreover, the two countries were too far apart, so sending an envoy was a waste of time.
"Increase the sales price of silk, ceramics, paper, and tea, and lower the purchase price of spices, just because the Maurya Dynasty provoked trouble between the two countries. In this way, the nobles of the Maurya Dynasty will naturally find ways to put pressure on the court." Wei Wuji said.
Silk, ceramics, paper, tea, etc. are all hard currencies. Zhao State has all the pricing power, and the supply is always in short supply. Even if an imperial war breaks out between Zhao State and the Maurya Dynasty, there will be no worries about sales.
It is even more impossible for the Mauryan court to ban trade with Zhao and cut off the financial resources of the domestic nobles. This would only arouse conflicts and even push these nobles to the opposite side.
"The Maurya Dynasty can also use the same method to deal with our country Zhao." Le Yi was a little confused. He didn't know much about business, but he knew based on intuition that doing so would hurt both sides.
"It's different. Our country of Zhao mainly imports three kinds of commodities from the Mauryan Dynasty: spices, cotton, and grain. In the past, there were also jade, but later I found that there was also a lot of jade in the Western Regions, and the price was very cheap. There were fewer imports from the Mauryan Dynasty.
.”
"Our country, Zhao, is self-sufficient in food and cotton. It imports from the Maurya Dynasty, mainly because it is cheap. It can not only be used for strategic reserves, but also to build breeding farms. As for spices, our country Zhao also grows them in Indochina. Although
The output is not high, but it can satisfy part of the domestic market."
"If the Maurya Dynasty raises prices, our country Zhao can reduce imports, or even not import them, to counter the Maurya Dynasty. On the other hand, only our country Zhao can produce silk, ceramics, paper, tea, and lacquerware. As long as the Maurya Dynasty still needs these commodities,
It can only be imported from our country, Zhao. As time goes by, the first one to be unable to bear it will definitely be the Maurya Dynasty." Wei Wuji said.
All in all, Zhao State had absolute initiative in its trade dealings with the Maurya Dynasty.
Without the Maurya Dynasty, Zhao State will only be affected, and Zhao State has a chamber of commerce that can mobilize all businessmen to advance and retreat together.
But without Zhao, the Mauryan Dynasty's economy would be severely damaged.
"Then follow what Lord Xinling said and send a message to the Chamber of Commerce. The prices of all exported Maurya products will increase by 30%. The purchase price of spices will be reduced by 30%, and the price of cotton and grain will be reduced by 30%.
10. Let the nobles put pressure on the Maurya Dynasty on the grounds that the Maurya Dynasty provoked a war between the two countries without authorization." Zhao Kuo said.
Cotton and grain prices are already very low, and there is not much room for downward adjustments.
However, most of the trade between the Zhao State and the Maurya Dynasty was carried out by barter. This time, the price increased by almost 50%, which was enough for the Maurya Dynasty to drink a pot.
There was nothing the Maurya Dynasty could do against Zhao.
In early August, Zhao Kuo finally arrived in Handan.
Lin Xiangru led all the civil and military officials ten miles out of the city to greet him. Both sides of the road were lined with Zhao people who came to greet him.
The news that Zhao had unified the Central Plains had spread throughout Hebei under the initiative of the imperial court. All Zhao people were proud of it and spontaneously came to greet Zhao Kuo.
Some people even came from hundreds of miles away just to see Zhao Kuo.
They have experienced the changes in Zhao State for more than ten years and know how difficult it is.
More than ten years ago, they were devastated by war and faced precarious conditions. They never believed they could live the life they live now.
"Thank you for your hard work, Prime Minister and all of you." Returning to the main hall, Zhao Kuo first saluted Lin Xiangru and all the courtiers.
"Your Majesty, your words are serious. It is really hard for Your Majesty to go out on an expedition. We are just sitting in the back, drinking tea and chatting." Lin Xiangru and others quickly returned the greeting.
"Everyone, please sit down." Zhao Kuo stretched out his hand and said, "It is said that conquering the world is easy, but governing the world is difficult. Now that the world has been conquered, how to govern it depends on everyone's concerted efforts."
"I will do my best," Lin Xiangru and others said in unison.
"Everyone has heard about the Mauryan Dynasty. Please share your thoughts." Zhao Kuo said.
"I believe that the Mauryan Dynasty will not give up attacking Zhao State easily. However, Zhao State has just unified the Central Plains and is still internally stable. It is not appropriate to initiate an attack in a short period of time. I suggest that we capture this place first.
As a bridgehead for the future attack on the Mauryan Dynasty." Lin Xiangru said, pointing to the plains of Myanmar.
It is very close to the Mauryan Empire, but the Arakan Mountains separate the two places.
As long as you occupy the Arakan Mountains, you can attack if you advance and defend if you retreat.
While taking the initiative in the war, avoid constant consumption with the Maurya Dynasty.
Moreover, the climate here is warm and humid, and a large river flows through it. After development, it will be enough to support tens of millions of people.
"I heard that there are several small countries in the south of the Maurya Dynasty?" Yu Xin rolled his eyes. The enemy of his enemy is his friend. He did not believe that the Zhuluo and other countries had no idea about the prosperous Maurya Dynasty.
Just like the barbarians in the north, do they have no idea about the Central Plains?
They dream about going south to the Central Plains every day, but their strength does not allow it.
But Zhao Guo can provide them with strength.
"With the strength of those small countries... I am afraid it will be difficult to pose a threat to the Maurya Dynasty..." Cai Ze said.
Why didn't the Mauryan Dynasty destroy several small countries in the south? Isn't it because they were poor, weak, no threat, and worthless?
"Although they are a little weak, I, the State of Zhao, can help them. I don't ask for much effect, as long as it can contain some of the forces. Anyway, there are still a lot of obsolete weapons and armor in the treasury, and it is useless to pile them there.
It's almost moldy, so we might as well sell it to them cheaply," Yu Xin said.
There is another sentence he did not say. Even if the Chola and other countries were destroyed by the Maurya Dynasty, Zhao State could still recruit local people to continue fighting against the Maurya Dynasty under the banner of revenge for them.
Zhao State cannot send too many troops for the time being, but as long as it randomly sends out a famous general and leads some local people, it can continue to bleed the Mauryan Dynasty in the south.
If the battle is lost, the soldiers are lost and the general can escape.
After all, they are not our own soldiers. No matter how many people die, they will not feel bad.
And what Zhao State is most in need of are famous generals.
"Then first send envoys to contact Zhuluo, Ayi and other countries." Zhao Kuo nodded. It would be best if it succeeds. There is no loss if it fails.
"Leave this matter to the minister." Yu Xin said, as long as Zhao State sends people to Zhu Luo and other countries, the rest will not be decided by these small countries.
Ambition grows with the growth of strength, and he does not believe that when the country becomes strong, he can remain content.
As long as there is one who is ambitious, that is enough.
"The next thing is domestic matters. The world has gone through hundreds of years of war and the people have been displaced. What they need most is recuperation. I want to exempt agricultural taxes for five years and exempt them from corvee for five years, so that everyone can recover from the war as soon as possible." Zhao Kuo said.
.
The six kingdoms of Qin, Chu, Qi, Yan, Han, and Wei have been established for hundreds of years, and they do have a lot of foundations in various places. But as long as everyone is fed and clothed, everyone will soon forget the six kingdoms and recognize the Zhao Kingdom.
As for the small number of nobles, they cannot achieve anything without the common people as their foundation.
"At the same time, many places in Zhao State are vast and sparsely populated, requiring a large number of people. However, the people's annual income is only so small, and it is difficult to feed more children. In order to allow everyone to have enough money to raise their children, from today on, the Six Kingdoms Homeland
, just like Zhao State, all oral taxes, that is, poll taxes, are exempted." Zhao Kuo continued.
Everyone had a wry smile on their faces. For the first time in so many years, a country dared to exempt agricultural taxes and corvee for five years at once, and even directly canceled the oral tax.
If it were not for Zhao, there would still be foreign trade in silk, tea, ceramics, paper, etc., and domestic trade in salt, coal, copper, iron, gold, silver, cotton, furs, medicinal materials, wine, etc.
After the agricultural tax was exempted, officials and workers could not even afford salaries, let alone maintain an army of hundreds of thousands.
If in the past, the monarch dared to do this, the internal history in charge of the country's finance and taxation would have to fight against the monarch.
"The remaining unified weights and measures currency, re-measurement and division of fields, clearing out all hidden fields, and proceeding step by step according to the previous plan. By the way, starting from next year, the imperial court will mint a total of one billion coins in three years to provide for the six countries' hometown.
The people exchanged new coins. This matter should be published in a slanderous newspaper and let everyone in the world know." Zhao Kuo said.
The Zhao State has experience in all of these things. It was done once in Yandi back then. Although the territory is now larger, it is still the same in the final analysis.
"No." Lin Xiangru said.
"I heard that there are many private schools in the Six Kingdoms, most of which are opened by local nobles or celebrities. I do not prohibit private schools. But from now on, whether it is an official school or a private school, you must use official unified textbooks and are not allowed to use private textbooks. If you violate the rules, your home will be confiscated.
." Zhao Kuo continued.
Textbooks are the most important and powerful weapon for unifying the written language, culture. In this era, only a few people are truly literate. As long as Zhao can generally popularize education, it will be easy to unify the written language.
In the Zhaoguo Hetao and Hebei areas, colleges have basically spread to the countryside. As for other areas, either because of their late development or because their population density is too low, they cannot be widely spread.
The goal of Zhao State is to spread the coverage to townships in places with high population density. In places with low population density, one college in each county will be enough. To spread it all to townships, Zhao State cannot really do it. The population in some places is too small.
There are only a few school-age children, and the academy can be built, but it cannot afford to recruit teachers.
If Zhao Guo had not started to engage in education more than ten years ago, even if he wanted to popularize education, the number of teachers would not be enough.
"By the way, has the national dictionary been compiled?" Zhao Kuo looked at Xunzi. He asked him to compile this thing a few years ago just to prepare for today. Don't let it slip.
"Your Majesty, it has been compiled." Xunzi said.
"Publish it as soon as possible and distribute it to various colleges. From now on, all writing must be in accordance with the dictionary. Everything should be based on the dictionary. Alien characters and different characters are prohibited." Zhao Kuo ordered.
"It is already being published. Dictionaries have been distributed to colleges in all regions of Hebei, and those in other regions are still being distributed. It will definitely not delay the opening of colleges." Xunzi said.
The academies in most areas of the Six Kingdoms Homeland have not yet been built, so there is no time.
"There is also the matter of village mergers. Some villages with too small populations, even those with less than 100 households, will be merged. Those living in the deep mountains and old forests will also be moved out, and our country, Zhao, will divide the land for them and build houses.
, Make households and people together." Zhao Kuo said.
In the past, everyone took refuge in the mountains because of the war. Now that the war is over, it's time to come out.
The State of Zhao could not be like later generations, where only a dozen or so households in the mountains could build a cement road leading to their doorsteps.
Zhao Guo couldn't even build cement roads into the villages in the Central Plains. He could only build official roads into every county, let alone deep mountains and old forests.
To be honest, Zhao State didn't even bother to collect taxes in these places because it was not cost-effective.
The tax collector had been running around for a day, and finally arrived at the place. He collected some grain, but it was not enough for consumption on the road.
Even if you can still collect tax, there are still people who cannot collect tax...
They all moved out and were given land and houses. Their lives became better, and Zhao's population and tax revenue also increased.
Win-win!
It’s not like Zhao State doesn’t have enough land.
Not to mention a thousand households in each village, there must be at least one or two hundred households.
Several villages were closer together to form a township, with the county seat as the center. Zhao Guo also had the need to build colleges and hospitals. Otherwise, it would really be impossible to manage them.
Zhao Kuo not only told the ministers in the court, but also called all the officials who were about to take up their posts in various places the next day.
"These tasks are difficult to complete. If you encounter difficulties, you can seek help from the troops stationed in various places. I will ask them to cooperate with you in handling government affairs. Remember, no matter what happens, I will stand behind you." Zhao Kuo said to all those who are about to do so.
said the appointed official.
Although it is very risky for local officials to interfere with military power, extraordinary things will be done in extraordinary times.
In the early days of the world, if there is no military power to suppress it, it will be very difficult to implement administrative orders. You cannot expect that all officials have very strong political skills and can complete all tasks when they take office alone.
This is unrealistic.
"My goal is to achieve stability in three years and great governance in ten years. I hope you will work together with me," Zhao Kuo said.