In order to ensure the development of Lianghuai, it is not impossible for Dahan to slow down in other aspects.
Otherwise, if the Lianghuai River cannot be revitalized quickly, the advanced culture and ideas of the Han Dynasty in the south cannot be conveyed to the north, or the goods from the south cannot quickly occupy the northern market, then the Han Dynasty can only exert influence on the north through Guanzhong and Xiangyang.
The area from Xiangyang to Nanyang leads directly to Luoyang, which is not bad. In addition, Jingzhou has been a Han Dynasty for a long time and has developed well. However, Guanzhong has only just begun to show signs of revitalization.
no?
Just relying on Jingzhou means there is a bottleneck between the north and the south, which is of course unsafe.
Bao Xing continued: "Finally, the governors of the Huaihe River and the Ministry of Industry also proposed that it is time to build a canal from the Huai River to Luoyang directly. On the other side of the Huai River, there are Yingshui and Rushui that can be used, while in the Central Plains there is still the old Honggou River.
There are not many river sections that really need to be excavated. Once the canal is dredged and repaired, grain and goods from Lingnan and Jiangnan can go north through the canal, without having to be transshipped from Xuchang, and can directly reach Luoyang City.
They even entered the river and relied on its tributaries to support the northern war effort."
Li Xingchen's hand shook slightly. Even though he had seen too many storms, he could not suppress the excitement in his heart at this time.
The Grand Canal is finally here.
Although Li Xingchen had already had the idea of digging the Grand Canal a long time ago, he has yet to put forward this idea in a formal occasion. In the final analysis, Li Xingchen himself had concerns. Excavation of the canal involves many things, especially it will take up a lot of land.
Labor force also requires a high amount of money. Emperor Sui Yang shot himself in the foot. Why wasn't Li Xingchen afraid that he would become another Emperor Yang of Sui?
Sometimes Li Xingchen himself had to laugh at himself. He always felt that many wise rulers in Chinese history lacked the courage to carry out drastic reforms in the social system. In fact, sitting in the position of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, he is really walking on thin ice. Who would want to
To take the risk of losing the throne directly?
As a later person, Li Xingchen had enough historical experience, and he did not dare to do anything, let alone the ancients who had no historical experience at all.
In particular, the Grand Canal involves too many things. If you are not careful, it is very likely that the economy of the Han Dynasty will be in ruins for many years. After all, this is a cause where the sin is contemporary and the merit is eternal.
But if this matter was raised by the people and officials together, then Li Xingchen's situation might be better. When the civil, military and people agreed that the Han Dynasty needed such a canal to meet economic development and north-south exchanges, the Grand Canal would no longer be Li Xingchen's.
A symbol of arrogance and extravagance, it will become a major project to meet the needs of the people.
Why did Zheng Guo Canal, which is also recorded in history, not arouse the anger of the people of Qin State, but instead became the basis for Qin to unify the six countries after several hardships? It is because the people of Qin State have realized that this Zheng Guo Canal is important to them.
What is the meaning and what benefits can it bring to them, so even if their generation has to pay more, they have no regrets. The same principle applies to Dujiangyan.
Therefore, Li Xingchen did not dare to act rashly before the people's wisdom was fully awakened.
When the people's wisdom awakens and the economy develops to the point where such a canal is needed, even if Li Xinchen or Li Xinchen's successor has no intention of digging a canal, he must take action.
Li Xingchen looked at the picture, imagining the scene of the same canal appearing in front of him as in history. It would be the blood of the Han Dynasty, and it would be Li Xingchen's confidence to truly hold the world in the north and south in his hands!
Taking a gentle breath to calm down, Li Xingchen warned: "This matter still needs to be considered in the long run, and we must not make a decision."
Bao Xing nodded and added: "The other two governors of the Huaihe River also mentioned sea transportation. I think that the construction of the Grand Canal cost a lot of money. It is indeed difficult for the Han Dynasty to be unified before it is unified. However, sea transportation can indeed make a difference between the north and the south. The demand for goods exchanges plays a certain compensation role, and short-term consumption is under the canal."
Li Xingchen looked at the vast expanse of white on the right side of the map, which was the sea.
Not much was known about the ocean in this era. Ultimately, it was because navigation technology was far less developed, so even in troubled times and raging wars, people had no way to travel eastward to explore a wider world.
The Han Dynasty has begun to develop the Nanyang. Large islands close to the coast such as Zhuya and Yizhou have been discovered, and many islands in the Nanyang have also appeared on the territory of the Han Dynasty. Anyway, Han warships and Han merchant ships are everywhere. The way to do this is to plant the flag of the Han Dynasty, and then have "friendly" negotiations with the local indigenous people. If they are willing to become subjects of the Han Dynasty, then everyone will be a family in the future. If they are ignorant, they will open the way with muskets and block the way. Those who were on the road were killed and those who were not in the way were captured. So many newly opened fields in the south are still waiting for the young and middle-aged labor force to cultivate them.
Li Xingchen didn't know how these guys talked with the local natives who didn't understand the language at all, and he was not interested in knowing. Li Xingchen didn't have a good impression of the natives on various islands in Southeast Asia, and he also didn't mind if they captured all the natives. .
The rise of every nation is destined to stand on the blood and tears of other nations. Especially now, the Han Dynasty needs more wealth and more people to complete the changes. Therefore, Li Xingchen is ruthless to his enemies while being ruthless to himself.
But this is only the Nanyang. From Nanyang to the north along the coastline, the so-called East China Sea area in later generations is not known much now. Firstly, the focus of the navy has always been in the south. Secondly, Li Xingchen also knew that from the coastline to the east, it has to be You can't see land again until you reach Fuso. Although there are islands such as the Ryukyu Islands along the way, for the Han Dynasty, there are more minerals and wealth in Nanyang that need to be "searched", so it is obviously not worth the gain to shift attention to the east.
What's more, Fusang, if Li Xingchen didn't look for them, they would do it themselves.
Historically, Japan also began to have a national system in the Han Dynasty. For example, Queen Yamatai Himiko, mentioned in many Three Kingdoms novels, once sent envoys to pay homage to the monarch of Cao Wei, Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui. But that was just sending envoys, and Japan really Large-scale exchanges with China began in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The emergence of envoys and envoys to the Tang Dynasty allowed Japan to extensively learn the developed culture and technology of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The exchanges between the two sides reached the peak in history.
Li Xingchen believed that after the news of his unification of the north and the south spread, Japan would definitely start sending envoys, just like the Sui and Tang Dynasties in history.