On the day of Yinshi, the sky is not yet fully bright, and there are still a few stars hanging in the sky that are unwilling to leave. The moon gradually disappears, and the sun is about to rise. Both of them seem to be there, making it impossible to tell the difference between the sun and the moon.
In this dim light, a carriage quietly left the palace. The carriage looked very ordinary, there was nothing surprising about it, and no one would have thought that the Emperor of Han was sitting in this carriage.
Liu Xi sat in the carriage, rolled up the curtains, and looked at Luoyang City in the early morning. At this dawn, he could already see a lot of passers-by. Passers-by were rushing on their way, and occasionally there were
Several rangers gathered at the door, yawning and talking about something. There were also scholars, holding books in hand, walking down the street, seeming to be reciting something.
"Master, it's still a little cold outside now," the horseman driving the car quickly reminded him. The horseman looked young because he didn't have a beard. Hearing his reminder, Liu Xi smiled and said, "It's okay, just right.
After a while, I'm afraid the heat will become unbearable, but now is the time." Naturally, the driver was Qi Yue. Hearing the emperor's words, he did not continue to dissuade him.
If you want to know the prosperity of the Han Dynasty, it is best to take a walk around Luoyang. As the center of the Han Dynasty, the prosperity of Luoyang best reflects the prosperity of the entire Han Dynasty. As the carriages drive in Luoyang, there are more and more people.
, the shouting vendors pushed the carts and hawked along the road. At a certain moment, the whole big man seemed to wake up. When Liu Xi came back to his senses, the carriage was already blocked.
There were too many pedestrians in Luoyang. Liu Xi was just glad that he was traveling by carriage. On the street, people were next to each other, and most people had to squeeze to move forward. It was best to squeeze out a road from the crowd.
Several bustling streets were completely blocked, and even the watchmen couldn't get in. People who were blocked started to curse and use all kinds of unpleasant words.
Qi Yue frowned, looking at these uncultured roughnecks with displeasure, and became angry.
The noises, cries, noises, and even the shouts of soldiers organizing the evacuation of the crowd formed a picture of Luoyang's various states on the street, which was perfectly displayed in front of Liu Xi. Liu Xi did not feel any anger.
Instead, he grinned. Even though he was blocked at the intersection and slowly drove forward, he didn't feel the slightest bit annoyed.
"Master, why don't I call someone to block this place like this?" Qi Yue said helplessly. Liu Xi looked around and saw a few pedestrians standing around his carriage, as if they were also blocked here.
They were cursing, but they were always staring at their carriage and watching the passers-by around them vigilantly. These were all the embroidered messengers arranged by Yuan Shang.
"No need, just block it if it's blocked so I can take a look."
As Liu Xi spoke, he looked at the passers-by on the street attentively. Most of these people were traders. Even with a large number of policies targeting merchants, the number of merchants was increasing, especially in Luoyang.
Businessmen from almost all over the world can enjoy fruits from Jiaozhou, fish from Ningzhou, melons from Xizhou, and even fruit wine from beyond the Great Wall in Luoyang without leaving home.
Zhong Changtong also struggled with some people, shouting all day long to revitalize commerce and no longer inhibit the development of commerce. Liu Xi could not imagine that if he did what he said and abolished the emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business, the number of these merchants would increase.
How much will it increase and how much impact will it have on the big man? Liu Xi considers himself to be courageous. He dares to try any new policies, but he still dares not make a decision on this matter of merchants.
Of course, the benefits of the increase in merchants are also obvious. The Han Dynasty's increasingly abundant treasury is the best proof. Commercial tax has become the most important financial source of the Han Dynasty. The tax revenue paid by overseas governments every year has exceeded that of the state.
This is especially true for Xizhou, which has become the richest state and county in the Han Dynasty just by relying on commercial taxes.
Fifty years ago, who would have dared to think about Xizhou? People at that time wanted to give up even Liangzhou, let alone the Western Regions at that time. Looking at Liangzhou and Xizhou today, as long as these
People are not crazy, and even if they are beaten to death, they will not give up Liangzhou, Xizhou, Jiaozhou, Ningzhou and other places that are not valued. In his hands, Liu Xi has released his power and has become the most important place in the Han Dynasty.
area.
Look at Luoyang today. The number of registered households exceeds 3 million, which is already the total population of some countries. Street congestion has become the norm. Watch them curse Luoyang’s traffic, curse Luoyang’s order, and push each other.
Pushing, Liu Xi had a smile on his face and was extremely happy. Perhaps this is the prosperous age that his father and ancestors were pursuing. This scene has finally come true in my hands.
"Qi Yue."
"My slave is here."
"Cao Chong is right. It is indeed time for Luoyang to be divided and conquered. If it is not divided and conquered, I am afraid that no one will be able to walk on this street in the future."
"Master, it is said that many lofts have been built in the west of the city. Some are two-story and some are three-story. People can live in both the upper and lower floors. More and more places are beginning to follow suit."
"Wouldn't it be dangerous to do this?"
"It is said that the government has made a new thing. I don't know what it is. It can make the building not collapse easily. But the master wants to go to the west of the city to see it?"
"Forget it, let's leave the city first and go to the west of the city. I don't know how long it will take just on this road."
"Jinnuo."
I don’t know how long I waited. Finally, the carriage arrived at the city gate. The soldiers at the city gate were checking the carriages one by one. Liu Xi was also a little anxious. After waiting like this, he might not be able to leave the city until night. He looked to both sides.
Looking around, he suddenly saw Sima Fu inspecting the passers-by in the distance. Liu Xi was overjoyed and quickly said to the farmer carrying a load: "Bring the captain of the city gate over here!"
The somewhat honest farmer quickly said hello, put down his load, and hurried towards Sima Fu. Sima Fu looked at the people at the city gate with some suspicion. What happened today made him feel that something was wrong.
, there are many people going out on weekdays, but today, there are always some strange people wandering around the city gate, and there are even several people who go out of the city, taking all kinds of goods out of the city to sell? This is obviously wrong, and there are people outside Luoyang.
There is no market.
While Sima Fu was thinking, suddenly, an old farmer ran over quickly, smiled honestly, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty invites you."
Sima Fu was startled. He looked at the honest farmer in front of him. The farmer didn't say anything and just turned around and left. Sima Fu hurriedly followed him. The two of them came to a carriage. The farmer picked up the carriage again.
Looking around, Liu Xi rolled up the car curtains and looked at Sima Fu with a smile. Sima Fu was about to bow to see him, but Liu Xi shook his head.
"I'm just going out for a walk this time. I don't want to be discovered, so don't reveal my whereabouts."
"Here you go!"
"Well, what you did just now was quite good. You were cautious enough and very good." Liu Xi praised him again, and then said, "I want to go out. You can give me a gift." Sima Fu nodded and called over quickly.
After checking the soldiers, Qi Yue asked Qi Yue to move the carriage to the road for the soldiers to enter and exit, and left Luoyang directly. Seeing the always selfless Chengmen Colonel treating a carriage like this, the soldiers were a little confused and did not dare to say anything.
ask.
After leaving Luoyang City, the carriage stopped again. Liu Xi poked his head out, "Hey guys, there are still a sea of people outside the city gate, all waiting to enter the city!"
Finally, they came to the countryside. It was much better here. Although there were still a lot of pedestrians and carriages, fortunately they would not be blocked anymore. Liu Xi also took a rare breath of fresh air. Both sides of the road were completely crowded.
The hard-working farmers are standing in the plowed fields and are busy plowing fields everywhere. They are sweating in such hot weather.
"Are they weeding?"
Liu Xi asked curiously.
Qi Yue said quickly: "That's it, head of the family, it's a busy time for farming now."
"Hahaha, that's right. There are a lot more cultivated fields outside Luoyang. In the past, these places were all wasteland and overgrown with weeds. I didn't expect that you can't see that kind of situation now. There are everywhere.
It's farmland. Look, there are some cows there. They're so strong. That's great." Liu Xi was in a very good mood and couldn't help but said, "Go and give them some money."
"Huh?", Qi Yue was stunned, quickly got off the carriage, and hurriedly walked towards the farmland. Liu Xi squinted his eyes and looked at them. Qi Yue seemed to be asking something. After getting the answer, he walked out of his clothes.
He took out some certificates from his sleeves and handed them to those people. The farmers did not dare to ask for them and refused in every possible way. Qi Yue gave them the money, turned around and ran over without any nonsense.
"Did you ask them for directions?"
"Yes, slaves can't give them money for no reason."
"Hahaha, look how happy they are. With this money, they can buy cattle and allow their children to go to school."
"The master of the house is kind."
"Well, it's easy to make one family happy, but it's difficult to make everyone in the world do the same." Liu Xi shook his head, and the carriage slowly left here. Liu Xi was serious along the way.
After looking at the surrounding situation, Liu Xi finally asked Qi Yue to stop the carriage until he came to a place near a stream and could smell the water vapor in the air.
There was no stream here before. Obviously, this was a small canal dug by man. Looking at the clear stream, Liu Xi was in a good mood. He turned his head. Suddenly, he saw a piece of cultivated land in the distance. Liu Xi was stunned.
What puzzled him was that the crops here were exceptionally abundant, and even the weeds in the fields were different, almost as tall as a person.
Liu Xi soon noticed the difference. He hurriedly walked towards the farmland, and Qi Yue hurriedly followed behind him.
A dam was actually built around the silt of the creek, and the entire cultivated land was enclosed in the middle. The water flow was outside the dam, and ditches were opened inside the enclosure, and culverts were set up for drainage and irrigation.
After reading the structure of the entire cultivated land one by one, Liu Xi became more and more shocked as he looked at it. Qi Yue followed the emperor. He also saw the difference in the cultivated land, but he did not see the general outline. He just followed the emperor.
.
Several old farmers stood up from their fields and looked at the two uninvited guests in surprise.
"May I ask the visitor, what's important?"
Those people asked, and Liu Xi smiled and asked, "I wonder who owns this cultivated land?"
Hearing this, he leaned out of the farmland again. The man was young, covered in mud, and dressed like a farmer. But as soon as he stood up, Liu Xi recognized him.
Of course, the other party also recognized Liu Xilai, bowed to Liu Xi, and then said: