Shuhan

"Your Majesty's words are certainly reasonable, but this truth must also be clearly understood by all officials and the people of the world."

In times of great contention, the one who laughs last is the winner.

As for what method you use to have the last laugh, does it matter?

History is written by the victors.

"Of course I understand this."

Publicity is important.

We must take control of public opinion.

Sometimes you want to do something that is obviously a good thing, but if you don’t control public opinion, even if it is a good thing, others may say it is a bad thing.

So many educated people in the 21st century are easily deceived by various rhetoric, let alone in this era.

Ninety-nine percent of the Han people cannot read a single word.

The method of publicity is very important.

"I want to issue an edict and have it posted in all the states and counties to show my intentions."

edict?

Zhuge Liang was stunned for a moment.

The emperor's edict is equivalent to official endorsement. Once the edict is issued, the matter is settled.

"Huang Hao, read the imperial edict!"

Liu Chan had prepared the edict long ago. As an emperor, Liu Chan never fought a battle without preparation.

Huang Hao immediately found the imperial edict, opened it in the dragon tent and read:
"I hereby proclaim to the world:

All the Han people who have extraordinary skills and can increase the strength of our country and enhance the prestige of the Han Dynasty should be rewarded generously.

Now in Chang'an city, a Hall of Hundred Craftsmen has been built to gather skilled craftsmen from all over the world to jointly plan ways to restore the city.

I know that there are many talented people in the world, some who can make crystal clear glass, some who can create gorgeous porcelain, and some who can mix fragrant perfume. All of these are treasures of the Han Dynasty.

Anyone who can contribute such skills, regardless of their status or origin, will be rewarded by me. Those who have made outstanding achievements can be appointed as Grand Secretary of the Hundred Craftsmen Hall and be granted the title of Guannei Hou to show my sincerity.

I firmly believe that talents are the country's most valuable asset and skills are the people's most valuable asset.

If the Han Dynasty can gather the best talents in the world to jointly research and innovate, it will surely make our national strength prosperous and our power known to the world.

I hope that the people of the world will not underestimate their skills, nor limit themselves by their status, but will actively participate and join in the great cause. I will treat everyone equally, treat talented people generously, and work together to make the Han Dynasty prosperous and strong.

Admire this! "

After Huang Hao finished reading the edict, Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng looked at each other and said, "Once this edict is issued, the people of the world will surely be eager to participate in the affairs of the Academy of Sciences. However, I'm afraid that this edict alone will not be enough to convince those soldiers who are going to fight the enemy, right?"

Liu Chan smiled and said, "Of course. I have already asked the people of the Military Affairs Department and the Public Opinion Department to use various channels to publicize it. Today is the hunting day, and I am also ready to let all the officials and generals have a good look at the world."

See the world?
"What does your majesty mean?"

"Facts speak louder than words. No matter how much I say here, even if I say it until my mouth is dry, you may just be skeptical. Seeing is believing. Let's go. It's almost time."

Facts speak louder than words.

Seeing is better than hearing.

Liu Chan's words made Zhuge Liang's eyes light up.

A Hall of Hundred Craftsmen was established, and these craftsmen were given titles of nobility.

Your Majesty has great ambitions.

Zhuge Liang's political sense was still very sharp, and by now he was gradually reacting.

The so-called establishment of the Hall of Hundred Craftsmen and conferring titles of nobility on craftsmen are probably sending a signal to people all over the world.

Practicality is king.

What are the classics and commentaries? What are the elegant conversations?
Can it strengthen the Han Dynasty?

If not, then you are not even as good as the craftsmen in the Academy of Sciences.

This is digging into the family's foundation, albeit in the least obvious and gentlest way.

Perhaps those people from the aristocratic families did not react for a while.

After all, the emperor did not reduce their power.

Although their power was not reduced, they created another force within the Han Dynasty.

This force started from scratch and basically has no complicated relationships.

And their appearance was resisted by the original forces.

In the eyes of the military generals, what qualifications do these people who use strange and cunning tricks have to travel with them and be granted the title of nobility together?
What level? Do you want to be conferred the same title of marquis as me?

In the eyes of aristocratic families and officials, these people only rose to power through their strange skills and cunning ways to flatter the king. How can they compare with us who pass down the classics and discuss state affairs?

The existing forces in the court now basically reject this new emerging force in the court.

With this kind of force, who can he lean on?
There is no doubt that they can only move closer to His Majesty.

These people will become the most supportive force for Your Majesty.

Their wealth and honor were given by His Majesty. His Majesty was like a rebirth for them: they went from being lowly craftsmen to becoming the upper class of the empire.

Your Majesty is under pressure, and they are also despised and oppressed.

The two parties hit it off immediately.

I am afraid.
Zhuge Liang had sharp eyes and had seen the essence of the problem.

If these people become powerful, I'm afraid there will be a bloody storm in the court.

Your Majesty, you want to centralize power!

Zhuge Liang, thoughtful, followed the pace and walked out of the dragon tent.

The Emperor of Han and his ministers in the Dragon Tent walked to the south bank of the Wei River, outside a large manor.

There are lanterns symbolizing royal family hanging above the manor, and it is obvious that this manor is an imperial manor.

The Merchant Alliance was essentially royal in nature. These imperial farms were spread all over the Han State, providing a steady stream of wealth to the emperor's treasury.

No matter who you are, an ordinary citizen, a high-ranking official, or even an emperor, you can't take a single step without money.

Don't think that just because an emperor is rich, he can do whatever he wants.

This is just an illusion.

When you have no skills and cannot control your ministers, the money in the national treasury has nothing to do with you.

In other words, whether the national treasury can receive the money is still another issue.

Think about the emperors at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Although they were emperors, they could not control the local areas. There was no military expenditure and no disaster relief funds. In the end, what was the emperor worth?
The end result was that he committed suicide on Coal Hill.

With the benefits of the business alliance and the imperial farms in various places, Liu Chan might be the richest emperor.

but
After all, it was the early years of the dynasty and everything was still thriving.

Whether these imperial farms can be preserved as time goes by is another matter.

"It's almost time for hunting. The Academy of Sciences has made many achievements in recent years. They are all in this manor. Please, gentlemen!"

All the officials in the court and the generals with titles showed curiosity on their faces for a moment, and followed Liu Chan's footsteps into the imperial manor.

The imperial farm on the south bank of the Wei River covers a very large area.

After entering the manor, Liu Chan immediately led them into the lobby.

It is called a lobby, but it is more like a museum of later times.

There are many small tables in the hall, with items and descriptions of the items placed on them. "Look, everyone. Over the years, the Academy of Sciences has produced a lot of good things. Some of them you have already used, but some are not perfect yet and still require a lot of effort to improve."

After the emperor spoke, the ministers and generals could no longer resist their curiosity and began to walk around the hall.

Zhang Fei was a warrior, and he was immediately attracted by the deep and sharp sword in the hall.

"Hundred-forged steel?"

Zhang Fei picked up the sword from the small table.

The dagger was covered with complex patterns, and two blood grooves were clearly visible.

"It's like cutting iron into mud. Really?"

Zhang Fei took out his ceremonial sword, but after thinking for a moment, he bowed to Liu Chan on the main seat and said, "Your Majesty, this couch says that this sword is made of a hundred times forged steel, and it can cut iron like mud. I would like to find out its authenticity. Please grant your approval."

As expected, the warrior was attracted by the sword at first sight.

"Yes." Liu Chan agreed readily.

Qiang~
Zhang Fei drew his sword and chopped it hard at the sword made of hundred-forged steel.

Zheng!
The sound was like tearing cloth and was very harsh.

The sword at Zhang Fei's waist was actually cut in half by the sword on the couch.

"What a sword! What a sword!"

The pursuit of weapons and equipment by generals on the battlefield is not something that the civilian officials can understand.

If you have good weapons, your chances of surviving on the battlefield will be much higher.

This is a fatal thing and he cannot afford to ignore it.

"Can this sword be mass-produced?" Zhang Fei couldn't let go of the sword and asked those around him.

At the side, the Dean of the Academy of Sciences, Qingxuzi, stepped forward and said, "General, the process of refining Hundred Forging Steel requires repeated heating and forging, and it takes a lot of time. In the past, it took a craftsman several months to forge a sword."

How many months does it take one person to forge one?
This speed is a bit slow.

"Is it impossible to equip all the soldiers in the army?"

Qingxuzi smiled and said, "Before, our Han Dynasty General Supervisor adopted the method of low-temperature smelting of wrought iron. The steel could not be melted, the iron and slag were not easy to separate, and the carbon could not penetrate quickly. Now the Academy of Sciences has invented the steel pouring method. The steel pouring method is to pour high-carbon molten iron into red-hot low-carbon wrought iron, melt and mix them together, and directly obtain hard forged steel. The efficiency is more than ten times faster than before."

Zhang Fei couldn't understand those professional terms.

But he could still understand the latter sentence.

Efficiency has improved.

Dozens of times faster?
"Couldn't a craftsman forge one in a day?"

Qingxuzi smiled and said, "If you have wrought iron ready, a skilled blacksmith can make one in three days."

Three days to make a handful.
too fast.

If such a sharp sword is equipped among the soldiers, how can the Wei State be a match for our Han State?
The two armies fought hand to hand, and after a few clangs, the swords in the hands of the Wei soldiers broke.

Then why are you, Wei State, fighting?
Receive your neck and be killed!
"Has it been equipped in the army?"

"The Imperial Guards of the South, three thousand men are already equipped."

"Good good!"

Zhang Fei was very happy.

Now there are three thousand people equipped with such weapons.

After a few years, won't every soldier of the Han Dynasty be equipped with such magical weapons?
If this is the case, who in the world can stop the Han army?
By now, Zhang Fei gradually understood why the emperor wanted to confer titles on the craftsmen who invented these things.

Should we reward the craftsman who invented this steel pouring method?
Zhang Fei is now shouting in his heart:
Want a big reward!
And he will also be granted a title of nobility!

"I wonder who invented this method of pouring steel?"

Qingxuzi touched the bridge of his nose and said, "The method of pouring steel is something your majesty learned from a book given by an immortal."

His Majesty?

Zhang Fei looked at Liu Chan and felt that Liu Chan's whole body was glowing.

Being able to establish a relationship with immortals, he truly is the Holy Emperor of the Han Dynasty!
Zhang Fei was concerned about the sword. Deng Ai had been farming for several years. At this moment, he saw that there was actually space for wheat and rice ears in the lobby. Moreover, these wheat and rice ears were unusually plump. If it were on an ordinary day, it would probably be a good omen.

Deng Ai looked at the text description on the table again.

"Hybrid rice? Hybrid wheat?"

Deng Ai's eyes suddenly lit up.

"By hybridizing high-yield rice with disease-resistant rice, we can have a chance to harvest high-yield and disease-resistant rice. This is simply a fantastic idea, a stroke of genius!"

But why did he not understand the following content?

“Hybrid rice is produced by crossing different rice varieties with each other, but rice is a self-pollinating crop, which is not conducive to the preparation of hybrid seeds.

To hybridize two different rice varieties, the stamens of one variety must first be artificially emasculated or killed, and then the pollen from the stamens of the other variety can be used to pollinate the emasculated variety. This will prevent the production of false hybrid rice from self-pollination of the emasculated variety.

"

These words were so professional that he could hardly understand them.

"Can this hybrid rice really increase yields?"

Deng Ai also asked a question.

One of the teachers in the Academy of Sciences came over and said to Deng Ai, "Hybrid rice can indeed increase yields, but the results are not obvious now. Your Majesty said that the process is complicated and requires professionals to be responsible. It will take more than ten years or even decades."

As he spoke, the professor of the Academy of Sciences sighed and said, "If hybrid rice and hybrid wheat can really succeed, the yield per mu can be doubled or even several times higher. In this way, will our Han Dynasty still be without military rations? Will the people still not have enough food to eat?"

This is a big project.

It is a major project that benefits the country and the people and saves countless lives. If it is done well, it will be recorded in history and have great merits.

If one can really do what is written on this silk, he can definitely enter the Hall of Hundred Craftsmen, and can even be canonized as a saint by future generations!
“Why is no one doing this?”

"Not many people do it, and it's too hard to see results. It requires people to work hard, but few people do thankless tasks."

It turned out to be the case.

Deng Ai became thoughtful, and immediately followed the others to look through the other items in the lobby.

Fine porcelain, perfume, colored glass, sweaters, armor
The dazzling array of new things in the lobby dazzled all the civil and military officials.

Half an hour later, Liu Chan saw that the time was almost up, so he stood up and said, "What the Academy of Sciences is doing is not some fancy trick, but a major project that benefits the country and the people. If anyone can make hybrid rice, steam engines, or gunpowder applied to firearms, would it be too much to make him a marquis?"

The things in the lobby of the imperial manor are truly too shocking.

When all the officials saw this, they were all excited.

If one can really create this hybrid rice, would it be too much to be granted a title of nobility?

Do not!
Not too much at all.

It is even possible to allow the people to build temples and hold sacrifices among the people.

"Everyone, go and see for yourself some of the achievements of the Academy of Sciences!"

Next, Liu Chan took the civil and military officials to experience the power of gunpowder, see the work of hybrid rice selection and breeding, and see the difference between the growth of fields with farmyard manure and fields without farmyard manure.
The civil and military officials were like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden - dazzled.

Seeing these people's reactions, Liu Chan understood in his heart that, at least on the surface, no civil or military officials would dare to openly deny the establishment of the Hall of Hundred Craftsmen, and the matter of ennobling meritorious people with titles would also go smoothly.

But the waves in the dark are inevitable.

In short
Change slowly.

In his hands, the big man will become a different big man! (End of this chapter)