The sun was shining brightly, and the entire Weiyang Palace was bathed in the spring light. The imperial garden was very lively with the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers.
Liu Che raised his steps and moved forward slowly
Two nobles in armor, one on the left and one on the right, supported him.
Time makes people grow old, even though he has already conquered the world and ruled the entire world, his titles are getting more and more.
The Emperor of the Han Dynasty, the Chanyu of Heaven, the God Emperor, the son of Xian Po, the envoy of Ahura...
As long as you can think of it, the supreme gods of all religions in the world today have been related to him.
Even Western Europeans call him the 'illegitimate son of Zeus'.
However, neither the Haotian God Taiyi nor Xian Po, Ahura, or Zeus could stop his aging.
Now, he is an old man in his sixties.
The slightly trembling steps showed that his body had aged to a limit.
"Liu Yang..." Liu Che slowly turned around, looked at the nobleman on his left, and stroked his hair: "I heard that you did a pretty good job with the body poison..."
"My father is overly praised. This is all due to the hard work of all the ministers. My son is just ruling from the top of his head, using Huang Lao Wuwei's technique, and just sitting back and enjoying the results..." The nobleman immediately said respectfully with a smile.
He is Liu Che's fourth son, Jin Wang Liu Yang, born to Mrs. Xia.
Liu Yang was awarded the title of King of Jin fourteen years ago, and was immediately sent to the Indian subcontinent, which had just been pacified by Wei Qing's army at that time. He sat in the center of the subcontinent and was ordered to rule the princes, princes, and princes in various parts of the subcontinent.
It is also responsible for transporting resources from the subcontinent back to the mainland.
Over the past fourteen years, Liu Yang has done very well in India!
Every year, tens of thousands of cotton, gold, jade, grain, cloth, and other resources are transported to the Han Dynasty via sea and land.
The economy of the Han Dynasty continued to prosper for fourteen years, and the national treasury became increasingly abundant. The gold reserves of Weiyang Palace alone had reached an unprecedented 10 million gold!
"From now on, you and the prince must unite together and work hard to maintain the country!" Liu Che touched his beloved son's hand and warned: "I plan to abdicate, let the prince ascend the throne, and start taking over the country!"
"The King of Jin and the King of Qin must put aside their differences and work together to assist the Crown Prince!"
"No!" The nobleman on Liu Yang's right immediately nodded.
This man is none other than the current King of Qin, Liu Che's tenth son, and his favorite son, Liu Shen, the son of Mrs. Zhuo.
At present, the territory of the Han Dynasty is too vast, and the central government cannot take into account and rule all the territories.
Therefore, the concurrent governance method of the tutelary system and the Duhufu was implemented.
Within the Great Wall is the mainland composed of thirteen states.
Outside the Great Wall, it is ruled by the Protectorate and the Guards.
The Duhu Mansion was dominated by meritorious officials with different surnames and civilian officials, while the Guards Mansion was headed by members of the Liu clan.
Twenty years ago, since Liu Che appointed his younger brother Liu Yan to personally take charge of Anxi City, the capital of the Western Regions, the garrison system has undergone twenty years of strictness and continuous evolution, and now it has even become an indispensable and important part of the empire.
Currently, the Han Dynasty has three garrison offices.
They are the Shendu garrison where Jin King Liu Yang sits, which controls almost the entire imperial army, princes, and vassal armies of the Indian subcontinent, and coordinates and manages them in a unified way, allocating resources, and tasks.
Liu Shen, the king of Qin, was based in Khotan, the capital of the former Kangju state, and governed the vast land of Central Asia.
As Liu Che's shadow, King Liu Yan of Jiangdu personally sat in Anxi City in the Western Regions on his behalf, managing and ruling the entire Western Regions and Mubei region.
The heads of the garrison mansions all led their feudal states from afar.
For example, King Liu Yang of Qin, his feudal state was in the Guzang Mountain area in Hexi, and King Liu Yan of Jiangdu, his state was still in Jiangdu in his hometown, and was managed by his descendants.
Such a pattern is very similar to the pattern in which Shaanxi was divided and ruled by the Duke of Zhou during the Zong Zhou Dynasty.
Therefore, people at that time regarded the three major guards as the Three Dukes, and they were called the Three Dukes of the Royal Family. They were ranked above the princes and kings and were important ministers at the level of the country's prime ministers and assistants.
The leader of the garrison is called the king.
In addition to these three major kings, today there are vassals and kings of the Han family all over the Asian continent.
From Hexi to the Indian subcontinent, more than eighty Liu clan princes and kings were densely populated, firmly controlling the strategic and resource points of the Asian continent.
Hundreds of princes and feudal lords completed the colonization around these princes and kingdoms like stars over the moon.
In the empire itself, industry has developed extremely rapidly. In just over thirty years, the technology tree has reached the steam age.
The first train track was laid in Andong four years ago, and soon after, railways appeared in Qilu and Luoyang.
The train track plan presided over by the Shaofu is advancing in an orderly manner. In the next twenty years, China's railway mileage will likely reach thousands of kilometers, connecting major local cities.
"When will King Yan come back?" Liu Che suddenly asked.
"Reporting to my father, I learned from Da Honglu yesterday that King Yan's fleet has arrived at the Japanese Nu Islands, and it will probably only take more than a month to arrive in Beijing..." King Liu Shen of Jin replied.
Liu Che nodded. King Liu Si of Yan was the eldest son of Mrs. Zhuo.
This prince, who was the daughter of a merchant, married Chen Wanniang, the daughter of Chen Jiao, the Marquis of Longli, when he came of age.
Because he grew up in Chen Jiao's fleet since he was a child, he showed unusual enthusiasm for the ocean as an adult.
Five years ago, he volunteered to lead a huge fleet on a long sea voyage, determined to complete the unfinished mission of his father-in-law, Long Liuhou, and Chen Jiao - to find the legendary Fusang Continent and recover the survivors of the Yin Shang Dynasty.
However, after all, the Han family had just learned how to sail the ocean, so it was still a bit difficult to cross the vast ocean and get to the other side.
"When King Yan returns to the capital, ask him to come see me immediately..." Liu Che said with a smile, "I haven't seen him for several years..."
"No!" The two princes nodded immediately.
"I'm tired...you guys please step back..." Liu Che waved his hand, and with the help of two maids, he walked to a pavilion and sat down.
This pavilion is located in front of the Imperial Garden of Weiyang Palace, overlooking the entire Chang'an City.
This has been Liu Che's favorite resting place for the past two years.
Staring at the Chang'an City in front of him, Liu Che sighed twice.
The Chang'an before our eyes has completely changed compared to what it was thirty years ago!
This great imperial capital has now become the center of the world.
The city is dotted with countless villages, and millions of people gather here. In the distant suburbs, chimneys stand tall, spitting out thick smoke.
The Weihe River, Fengshui River, Lishui River...all have been turned into smelly rivers by the pollutants discharged from these factories and workshops.
The air is filled with various rotten and moldy smells.
In the city, capitalists chasing profits and opportunities are in the ascendant and full of ambition.
Just as he thought back then, the terrible monster called the bourgeoisie had been hatched.
The terrifying monster called capitalism has revealed its ferocious face to the entire world.
Tens of millions of Yi and Di slaves and bonded workers were enslaved, controlled, and exploited by them.
From the Great Wall to the Indian subcontinent and even to Europe, these terrifying existences spread war, famine and exploitation everywhere.
Capital has no borders, and these people are not just exploiting foreigners.
Even the compatriots who were fellow robes of Zhu Xia were not spared.
From Chang'an to Linzi, tens of millions of Xia subjects were driven into workshops and engaged in all kinds of heavy, boring and arduous work.
Thanks to them, the Han Empire flourished and its treasury was filled with gold and jewels.
Granaries everywhere were filled with grain and copper coins.
The most extreme evil gave birth to the most prosperous empire in human history.
As Liu Che can see now, the population of the Han Empire has exceeded 150 million, and the household registration has reached an unprecedented 30 million households.
"I saw the smoke and flames of war..." Liu Che whispered as he looked at the city in front of him.
He knew that the revolutionary anger was brewing, boiling, and boiling in private.
The people of Zhuxia can no longer endure such cruel exploitation and oppression.
Instead of waiting for Chen Sheng and Wu Guang to rise up, it is better to wield the butcher knife yourself and cut off the claws of those greedy and cruel powerful people.
"Have the Huben Guards and the Yulin Guards assembled?" Liu Che asked a eunuch next to him, who was his confidant in recent years.
"Your Majesty, the Tiger Guards and Yulin Guards are on standby!"
"Where are the Feihu Army and Juzhu Army?" Liu Che asked again.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the information I just received is that the Flying Fox Army has arrived in Luoyang, and the Juzhu Army got off in Taiyuan..."
"Good!" Liu Che nodded: "Waiting for my order..."
"Take action immediately after the meeting! Put all big cities under military control, issue my edict, order all merchants with a net income of more than 10 million to truthfully report their property and capital, and have them all sign the five-hour work system decree
!" Liu Che ordered calmly: "Go and tell the Mohists and Huang Lao sects that the leaders of each Confucian academy should mobilize students to take to the streets for rallies to publicize the necessity and urgency of the 'five-hour work system'!"
"Send people to control the Legalist schools and put all the Legalist giants under house arrest until the world is settled!"
This is the last thing he does before abdicating.
Speaking of which, it is also full of irony.
After the rise of capital, Mohism and Confucianism were the most active in resisting the erosion of capital.
In order to fight against capital, Confucianism and Mohism even formed an unprecedented alliance.
But the historical trend is so majestic that it cannot be stopped by words.
Even Liu Che was powerless against this monster that had formed a class and had vitality.
We can only use guns and guns to force the capitalists to bow their heads, make profits internally, and make concessions to the lower classes.
"No!" Upon hearing this, the eunuch accepted the order and went down.
"I can only do this one step..." Liu Che sighed leisurely: "What will happen to the world in the future will be judged by those who come after..."
But no one is by his side anymore.
Zhou Yafu died of illness in the 21st year of Yuande, and Yi Zong died the next year.
Chao Cuo also died before Zhou Yafu. He became ill due to overwork and died during his tenure as prime minister.
The successor was Zhang Tang, who died of typhoid fever in his 30th year in Yuande.
Ji An also died of illness at his residence last year.
Even Liu Che's concubines left one by one before him, and those around him now are just canaries.
As a result, Liu Che, like his father and grandfather, truly became a loner.
But the world will continue to move forward, and Liu Che can no longer tell what the future will look like.
