At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 393: Rapid Sinicization of Liaodong and the Emperor's Rebuke
September 17th, the ninth year of the Han calendar.

Under the protection of Xu Chongzhao, Zhang Liang went north along the Liao River to Xiangping City. At the same time, he also inspected the development of this land by the Liaodong princes.

Although Zhang Liang knew from the memorials that Liaodong was developing rapidly, the description in the memorials and what he saw with his own eyes were two different things.

From what he saw in Xu, it was a vibrant vassal kingdom.

There were countless fishing boats shuttling along the coast of Xu State, providing Xu State with sea fish as food. Zhang Liang could see one fishing boat after another entering the fish processing workshop on the seashore. As long as the sea fish entered this workshop, it would soon become delicious salted fish.

Liaodong salted fish is also produced and sold throughout Hebei with its high quality and low price. Fishery is the first pillar industry of Xu State and many vassal states near the coast of Liaodong. According to the information Zhang Liang learned, the fishery production capacity of Liaodong is more than twice that of Kuaiji County. Fishery has supported the development of Liaodong vassal states.

After leaving the capital of Xu State, Zhang Liang saw canals crisscrossing all around, water wheels slowly turning on both sides of the river, and in the wilderness, fields crisscrossed and golden rice fluttering in the wind.

Zhang Liang got off the carriage when he saw this scene and pulled out a grain of rice from the field. He saw that the grains of Liaodong rice were full and there were many grains on the ear. He was surprised and said, "I have always heard that Liaodong rice has full grains and a pleasant fragrance. Today I see that it is indeed as good as the reputation."

To be honest, Zhang Liang had never understood why rice, which was obviously the grain of Chu, was grown in the cold Liaodong with the best quality. If he had not eaten the Liaodong rice offered by the princes in Chang'an City, which was indeed sweet and delicious and completely different from the rice in the south, he would have thought it was a "good omen" made up by the Han officials. Today, he finally saw the legendary Liaodong rice with his own eyes in the fields of Liaodong.

Xu Zhao smiled and said, "If Prime Minister Zhang likes it, I will leave the best Liaodong rice for you to take back to Chang'an to taste. The rice in Liaodong is the best in the world. If you go to Hebei, you can't buy it without twice the price."

Thanks to the blessing of Emperor Xu Fan, Liaodong rice became famous and became one of the best grains in the world. The price of other grains in the Han Dynasty fell to around 30 coins, but Liaodong rice was worth hundreds of coins locally. In Hebei and Qi, the price doubled to 200 coins, and in Guanzhong it reached 400 coins, so Liaodong rice became one of the specialties of the Liaodong princes.

The sea merchants in the Central Plains were willing to transport rice from Liaodong back to the Central Plains Qi for sale. It was precisely because of the specialty of Liaodong rice that the sea merchants were more willing to come to Liaodong to do business. After all, the profits from bilateral trade would be high.

Zhang Liang smiled and nodded, then continued on his way. Every ten or so miles along the way, he could see villages with smoke rising from chimneys on both sides of the road. Outside the villages were golden rice fields and towering water wheels. There were quite a few of them, some even exceeded Zhang Liang's expectations. Although there were still many places that had not been developed, Liaodong at that time was definitely not a wild land.

Some villagers have already started harvesting rice in the fields, and every farmer's face is filled with joy of the harvest.

Unlike their counterparts in the Central Plains, the income from grain in Liaodong is three times higher than that in the Central Plains. The income from 30 mu of land is equivalent to that from mu of land in the Central Plains. Therefore, the enthusiasm of farmers in Liaodong to reclaim wasteland is very high. Even though it is very difficult to reclaim wasteland here, not only sweat but also blood is needed. However, as long as there is enough income, local farmers will drain swamps, cut down trees, and reclaim acres of fertile land in Liaodong.

This is also the reason why Xu Fan is willing to make Liaodong rice into tribute rice. Liaodong needs to have the function of hematopoietic function so as to speed up the development progress of the princes of the Han Dynasty in Liaodong.

Among these harvested fields, Zhang Liang also saw many farmers with flat noses, round faces, and stout bodies who were shorter than the Han people.

Zhang Liang knew that these should be farmers converted from the Liaodong Hu people, and there were quite a few of them, almost reaching a one-to-one ratio.

"You have done a good job in educating Liaodong. Liaodong now is no different from the Han mainland." Zhang Liang sighed.

Xu Chongzhao smiled and said, "These are all the teachings of the emperor to us. When we first came to Liaodong, the emperor repeatedly reminded us that the reason why he gave us fiefdoms in Liaodong was, first, to reward us for our contributions to the court, and second, to ask us to follow the example of Taigong and Zhaogong and convert Liaodong into Han. We have never dared to forget the emperor's teachings in Liaodong."

Zhang Liang nodded and said, "I will report the merits of Lord Xu's education to the emperor."

Xu Chongzhao said, "Prime Minister Tian Qi is also a great contributor. When I first arrived in Liaodong, the prime minister advised me to accept the written laws and systems of the Han Dynasty in all tribes within the territory of Xu State, build villages, and open up fields. Anyone who dares not to obey the teachings of the Han Dynasty must be ruthlessly exterminated. This is how Liaodong entered the Central Plains today."

Feudal aristocrats and feudal bureaucrats are different after all. They are more suitable for wild areas with backward productivity.

The feudal nobles regarded Liaodong as their own property. Of course, they wanted their own property to be as prosperous as possible, and they would try to eliminate any potential enemies.

That is why Liaodong was able to transform from a barbarian to a Han people in just a few years. Forests and swamps were reclaimed into fields, and cities and villages with curling smoke appeared on the vast land of Liaodong.

How could feudal bureaucrats have such strong motivation and sense of responsibility?

They are officials who do things in a perfunctory manner, fearing that trouble will arise in the local area and tarnish their political performance.

This led to the feudal bureaucrats daring to exploit the more honest the farmers were, and giving way to the more troublesome the Hu people were, for fear of causing local rebellion.

Although not every feudal bureaucrat is like this, most of them are like this.

If we count from the establishment of Liaodong counties in the Warring States Period, the process of sinicization of this land in history lasted for two thousand years, over and over again, with the Hu people being strong at one time and the Han people being strong at another.

Compared with the Central Plains region which was quickly assimilated into the Han Dynasty, the harsh climate in Liaodong was one of the reasons for the slow assimilation, but the feudal officials' unsuitability for land reclamation was also one of the main reasons, which can also be regarded as the result of the mismatch between production and distribution.

However, these princes of the Han Dynasty were very accustomed to such a wild land, and they did not have so many scruples. When they first implemented the policy of sinicization, the riots caused by the Hu people in Liaodong, those dissatisfied Hu people made trouble everywhere and refused to be sinicized.

But the Hu people in Liaodong were soon suppressed with iron blood by the Han princes who emerged from the troubled times.

Any Hu tribe that dared not obey the Han Dynasty's teachings fell at the hands of these Han princes.

Under the abundant martial arts education of the Han princes, the Hu people in the Liaodong land either became subjects of the Han Dynasty or allies of the Han Dynasty, obeyed the command of the Han Dynasty and eliminated the tribes in this area that did not obey the Han Dynasty's teachings.

In less than 10 years, the power of the Liaodong Hu people was reduced by more than half, and only some tribal forces allied with the Han Dynasty existed further north.

In the south of Liaodong, the original Hu tribes disappeared without a trace, and were replaced by Han people who spoke Chinese and wore Chinese clothes.

The grasslands turned into fields, the tribes became cities, and the land of Liaodong saw the addition of two million Han people.

What the princes of the Han Dynasty did in ten years exceeded what the officials of Yan and Qin had done in hundreds of years. This shows that when it comes to reclaiming local areas, feudal princes are more suitable than feudal officials.

Zhang Liang and his men continued to the front line, and he saw a large number of people working hard to cut down trees in the forests of Liaodong. The original forests of Liaodong were cut down in large areas, and then tied into rafts, floated down the river, and transported to the shipyard.

These huge trees are also one of the specialties of Liaodong. In the past, they were towed by sea vessels to the Guangyang County Shipyard.

Now that Liaodong has its own shipyard, these timbers only need to float downstream and become raw materials for the Liaodong shipyard.

The remaining small timber will be sent to some small shipyards to make small fishing boats. After all, fishing is one of the pillar industries in Liaodong.

The upstream and downstream industrial chain is extremely vast, with wooden barrels for fish, salt pans for pickling, and even spices from overseas. A small amount of these will be transported to Liaodong and then made into delicious canned fish. Although this industrial chain is simple, it is extremely important in Liaodong, supporting hundreds of workshops and tens of thousands of craftsmen of all sizes.

September 9, the 9th year of the Han calendar, Xiangping City.

The various princes of the Han Dynasty had already gathered here. They were waiting at the gate of Xiangping City, waiting for Prime Minister Zhang Liang to arrive.

"I've said it before, don't be too greedy, don't be too greedy. Chang'an City is under the emperor's nose. Although the emperor is kind and generous and willing to subsidize us, we should know when to stop. We should be content with 10 billion yuan and not be too greedy."

"So you guys are planning to build a railroad in Liaodong, and you're spending 1 billion yuan at once, just like you're going to wipe out Chang'an. Now the emperor is angry, and I don't know how he's going to punish us later."

The lords of Liaodong already knew what Zhang Liang was going to do in Liaodong. It must be because of the fundraising in Chang'an. Xu Xuan said angrily, "Liu Laosan, you are the greediest among us. You got 1 million yuan for a shipyard. How dare you blame us now?"

Liu Bang was immediately furious and said, "If it weren't for Nai Gong reminding you of such a good thing, you would probably still be sleeping with your wild wife. You were able to borrow so much money and get so many properties! Now you repay kindness with hatred. It's true that you can't be a good person."

Lu Chen said, "Okay, stop arguing. We made such a big plan in the first place for the development of Liaodong. Now everyone can see the convenience of wooden tracks. If we also built wooden tracks in Liaodong, the development would definitely be even better. But now it seems that someone is forcing things. The development of Liaodong still needs to be done step by step."

Chen Ying smiled and said, "We are all brothers, why bother arguing here? If the emperor scolds you, just say a few words. What a big deal."

"On the contrary, it is the matter of the Enfeoffment Order that gives me a headache. It is the right way for the eldest son to inherit the family business, but the other heirs have also contributed to our vassal state. They are also our children. Our family business is all invested in the vassal state. It is difficult for other heirs to live a rich life. This has caused unrest in the family during this period. I really don't know what to do?"

Chen Ying's worries were also the worries of these princes, and they soon turned the topic to the Enfeoffment Order.

Xu Xuan said worriedly, "It's so difficult to treat everyone equally. Sometimes I think I should just divide the vassal states equally among these children."

Lu Chen said: "Don't mess around. Look at Chen Yu's descendants. In one more generation, they will be the lower nobles of the Han Dynasty. If there are no outstanding people among them, Chen Yu's descendants will surely decline. Only this branch on the grassland can be rich and live long."

"Our vassal states are even smaller. If we really extend our favor, I'm afraid that by the third generation we will become ordinary people of the Han Dynasty."

Chen Ying looked at Liu Bang and said, "You have the most offspring among us. How did you make your choice?"

Among these princes, Liu Bang was the oldest and had the most offspring. His eldest son was over 30 years old, so Chen Ying wanted to hear how Liu Bang arranged his offspring.

Liu Bang said: "Nai Gong is just like you, with his wives and concubines quarreling with each other. But my eldest wife can control the situation, and they only dare to give their sons a good future and dare not have too many unreasonable thoughts.

A few years ago, the eldest brother was asked by Your Majesty to look after him. Now he is the deputy manager of Kaifa Money House, managing the money houses in the entire Kuaiji County. The money he handles is more than that of you uncles and aunts, and he can be said to have a career to make a living.

I have sent all the other boys who are almost adults to various universities in Chang'an to study. If they become talented, I will find a way to let them stay in the Han Dynasty to develop. If they are not talented and cannot make it, I will find a way to leave them a family business in the Han Dynasty, so that they can at least become rich and live a wealthy life. As for the grandchildren, they will have their own blessings. Your father has taken care of him all his life, so it is his turn to take care of his son. "

Lu Chen was surprised and said, "Liu Ji, you are always ahead of us. Why didn't we think of sending our children to the Chang'an Academy and let the emperor take care of them?"

"This is a good idea. Scholars gather in Chang'an, and the success rate of studying in Chang'an is high. Even if you don't succeed, life in Chang'an is much better than in Liaodong."

Liu Bang's approach suddenly gave them a new choice.

At this time, Zhang Liang's convoy slowly arrived outside Xiangping City, and Lu Chen led the Liaodong princes to greet them.

"We, your servants, greet the angel!" Lu Chen and other Liaodong princes saluted Zhang Liang.

"No need for formalities!" Zhang Liang said holding the imperial seal.

Then Zhang Liang exchanged greetings with several princes and entered Xiangping City, the venue of the princes' assembly.

Zhang Liang sat at the head of the group and said, "At this meeting of the princes, I am here on behalf of the emperor to inspect the situation in Liaodong."

As usual, Lu Chen and others reported the situation of their own vassal states to Zhang Liang, and handed over the tribute they should hand over to the emperor to Zhang Liang.

After completing these procedures, Zhang Liang said: "The emperor also told the truth this time and asked about the funds you recruited through Chang'an City, the construction of the workshop, the profitability, etc."

"Ah!" Lu Chen and the others were surprised and not surprised. They knew the emperor would ask about these things, but they were surprised that he asked so carefully.

After they got the money, they spent part of it on the projects and used the other part to fill other deficits. Now the emperor is asking them for the account books, but they haven't even made them. Where can they find them?
Zhang Liang said solemnly: "The wealthy merchants in Chang'an are also the emperor's subjects. The emperor has the responsibility to protect their legitimate interests."

"Of course, the emperor also took into account that stocks are a new thing, and naturally there will be various unexpected situations and lack of preparation."

After saying this, Zhang Liang clapped his hands, and several middle-aged and elderly people came into the hall.

Zhang Liang said, "These people are accountants sent by small and medium shareholders. They are here to check the progress of the workshop's projects and the status of the accounts. From now on, all your spending must be supervised by these tents. Special funds must be used for special purposes. This should not only be implemented in the Han Dynasty, but also in your vassal states. If the accounts are not clear, it is better to clarify them as soon as possible."

Liu Bang and the others smiled awkwardly and said, "Of course. The rich people in the Han Dynasty who invested money in us are our employers. It is only natural for the employer to check the accounts."

Liu Bang was not worried. After his shipyard was built, he would build whaling ships specifically for the princes of Liaodong. The profits would be extremely considerable, and he only had to fill some gaps.

The other princes were not as lucky as Liu Bang. Most of their projects had not been completed and had not started to make money. They could only find ways to fill the gap on their own.

Zhang Liang continued, "The Han Dynasty has established a stock supervision committee, which will supervise all workshops listed in Chang'an in the future. Any acts of corruption and fraud will be treated as violations of Han law, and the court will definitely impose severe punishments, even for princes and nobles. If investors' money cannot be repaid, the court has the right to pursue all the wealth of the project initiator, including the princes and nobles."

Yes, this is the method Xu Fan uses to restrain these princes, which is to formalize stocks and regulate the responsibilities of these listed workshops.

To achieve equal rights and responsibilities, Xu Fan will not pursue you if you make a loss in business, but if you transfer money or deliberately suffer a loss, then don't blame Xu Fan, the emperor, for punishing you severely.

As the Son of Heaven, Xu Fan can guarantee that you get financing through formal channels, but if you want to commit fraud and cause a gap in the formal Han financial market, causing the market to become unbalanced and become a place where nobles and powerful people reap the benefits of the people, Xu Fan will severely crack down on such behavior.

Anyone can make quick money from the financial market, so who would want to run a workshop to make money? Having fallen into a trap once, Xu Fan would not let the big man fall into the trap again.

Finally, Zhang Liang said sternly: "The emperor has one last word, which I want to convey to you in person."

"As princes, you are already extremely rich and powerful. You must be down-to-earth and do things honestly. Only in this way can you be worthy of the people's tribute to you. If you want to take crooked paths, don't blame me, the emperor, for punishing you on behalf of the people of the world."

When Lü Chen and other princes heard Xu Fan's harsh words, they were so frightened that they said, "I dare not!"

Zhang Liang said: "Well, the emperor's will has been conveyed. You should do your best. Even if you really want to build a workshop, you must think twice and do it within your ability."

Only after Zhang Liang left did the princes present breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's too scary. I've followed the emperor for 10 years and have never heard him reprimand anyone in such a harsh tone." Lu Chenyou said with fear in his heart.

Chen Ying said: "We still have to listen to the emperor, be down-to-earth and do things honestly. We are already princes, there is no need to offend the emperor for money. If we lose our fiefdom, we will be ashamed of our family."

Chen Ying decided that he would never touch stocks again, and even set family rules not allowing his descendants to touch stocks.

(End of this chapter)