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

Chapter 399: Prime Minister Candidates and Fierce Competition

June 3rd, the tenth year of the Han calendar.

"Water is flowing!" As the water flowed into a wide ditch, countless craftsmen and laborers cheered.

Ye Teng was even more excited. The canal that had been under construction for two years was finally completed today. The timing was even more perfect than he had imagined, neither too early nor too late. With this canal as a stepping stone, he could charge towards the prime minister's throne.

The canal that Ye Teng spent two years to build is the Baiqu in history, of course it is now called Yequ.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, all countries have attached great importance to the development of agriculture in order to enhance their strength, and water conservancy facilities have developed the fastest in this era. Each country has talents in water management, such as Li Bing in Qin State and Zheng Guo in South Korea. Ye Teng's ancestor Ye Gong is also a water management expert. He managed 5 hectares of fertile land in Yunmengze. The Ye family is also a family of water management, and Ye Teng himself is also a water management expert.

When the Han calendar entered its tenth year, the retirement of Zhou Zhang, the first prime minister of the Han Dynasty, had become the biggest hot topic in the entire Han Dynasty, and quickly spread from the Han Dynasty court to the people of the entire Han Dynasty.

Especially in Chang'an City, residents who like gossip solemnly ranked which high-ranking officials were qualified to launch the charge, and speculated who would be the second prime minister of the Han Dynasty.

Among the princes of the Han Dynasty, they were also paying attention to the new prime minister of the Han Dynasty. The current policy of the Han Dynasty was that the prime minister was in charge of the government and could decide most of the affairs of the Han court. The prime minister also had a great influence on these princes. When Zhou Zhang was the prime minister, he was extremely supportive of their opening up of vassal states. It can be said that he gave them money and people.

After all, Zhou Zhang is also one of their old brothers, and the friendship between the two sides can be said to have gone through wars. These Han princes also trust Zhou Zhang.

But when a new prime minister comes to power, will he support their expansion like Zhou Zhang did?

This is what all the princes of the Han Dynasty suspected.

For the princes of the Han Dynasty, the new prime minister is also one of their old brothers, which is in the best interest of them. Therefore, the princes of the Han Dynasty are also extremely concerned about the selection of the prime minister this time, and are trying to promote Wu Guang, Chen Chui and other people who are qualified to launch an attack on the prime minister to be the prime minister.

Among them, Nei Shi Ling Ye Teng is one of all the candidates for prime minister, and is ranked in the top five.

There was no other way, his political achievements were too brilliant. He was appointed governor of Kuaiji County from the moment he surrendered to the emperor. During his tenure, he managed salt fields, built sea vessels, promoted fishing, built water conservancy projects, and developed agriculture, making Kuaiji County a well-known and wealthy county in three years.

Instead, during the three years since he became the Minister of Internal Affairs, the entire Guanzhong region has developed rapidly. Canals, railways, and new handicraft workshops have been built. The tax revenue of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has doubled during his tenure, allowing Guanzhong to maintain its status as the Land of Abundance. He is a world-renowned minister who is capable of governing the country.

Even among ordinary people, Ye Teng is the best candidate for the second Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty.

But Ye Teng himself knew his own limitations. Although his political achievements were outstanding and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was comparable to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, there were too many capable ministers in the prosperous Han Dynasty, and there were many who could achieve as much as Guan Zhong and Yue Yi.

Like the Minister of Agriculture Shang Nong, when he was the prefect of Chen County, he made Chen County even richer than Kuaiji County. Even now, Chen County is still the richest county in the Han Dynasty, and the tax revenue it provides each year accounts for more than 10% of the court's tax quota. Although the rapid development of Chen County was mainly due to the emperor, the same was true when he was in Kuaiji County.

Because of his contributions to the governance of Chen County, Shang Nong was promoted to the position of Da Si Nong, one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of all farmland and water conservancy affairs in the world after the Han Dynasty unified the country.

During Shang Nong's tenure as Grand Minister of Agriculture, the Han Dynasty built thousands of miles of more canals, nearly 100 million mu of irrigated land was added, and hundreds of millions mu of wasteland were reclaimed. The average grain output in the world increased from one stone to two stones. It can be said that the Han Dynasty could confidently declare that it had defeated hunger, and Shang Nong's role as Grand Minister of Agriculture played an indispensable role.

Shang Nong's political achievements were already so outstanding, and he had the entire farming family as his backing. The emperor also loved this Minister of Agriculture who often went to the fields to farm. He repeatedly praised Shang Nong's hard-working character and called on the Han officials to learn from Shang Nong. This was something Ye Teng could not compare to at all.

In addition to merchants and farmers, the newly appointed Director of the Ministry of Public Administration, Xiao He, and Cao Shen are also on the list of prime ministers. Their political achievements are also extremely remarkable. Xiao He was originally the Chief Clerk of the Prime Minister's Office, and assisted the prime minister in completing the Northern Expedition. When he was appointed as the prefect of Chen County, the development of Chen County did not slow down. Although this may seem insignificant, Chen County was already the richest county in the world, and it was rare for it to maintain rapid development.

Later, Xiao He and Cao Shen jointly completed the Grand Canal, connecting the three major regions of the Yangtze River, Jianghuai, and Central Plains, making the entire wealthy land of the Han Dynasty a whole and accelerating the development of the Central Plains.

For this, the two of them were featured in the Han Monthly and were praised by people all over the world. They also became role models of the Han Dynasty's prosperity and gained extremely high prestige.

Cao Shen not only had outstanding political achievements, but was also a fierce general who was both civil and military. During the Northern Expedition, Cao Shen was among the first batch of generals who crossed the Yellow River. He had many supporters in the army, and even local princes strongly supported Cao Shen to be the new prime minister of the Han Dynasty. It can be said that the military advantage was Cao Shen's biggest advantage as a candidate for prime minister.

The two of them also have an advantage that Ye Teng cannot compare with, that is, they are both confidants of the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister supports them to become his successors. The Grand Canal was a project built by the Prime Minister to help the two of them gain political achievements. With the emperor's trust in the Prime Minister, there is a high probability that promoting the two of them as successors will succeed.

In addition to Xiao He and Cao Shen, the Tax Inspector Zhou Bo was also an extremely strong competitor. Zhou Bo was originally a famous general of the Han Dynasty. He had made great contributions in many battles over the years. When the emperor unified the country, Zhou Bo was granted the title of founding earl for his merits.

Later, Zhou Bo turned from military to civil, and became the governor of Sanchuan County. During his tenure in Sanchuan County, he was enterprising and reformed the taxation, causing the taxation of Sanchuan County to surge by 50%. Because of his merits, he was promoted to the position of Tax Inspector, and it became the only department with armed forces among the nine ministers of the Han Dynasty, and was highly valued by the emperor.

Last year, he withstood the pressure and carried out another tax reform, increasing the tax revenue for the court by more than 100,000 gold. This achievement alone surpassed the achievements of countless Han officials.

You have to know that this is equivalent to half of the taxes levied by the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, and Zhou Bo did it alone. Moreover, Zhou Bo also had the support of the false prime minister Chen Ping. It can be said that Zhou Bo had connections in the army and the support of the false prime minister in the court. Even the emperor admired Zhou Bo very much. Zhou Bo had connections with all parties and was an extremely powerful competitor.

In addition to these people, the voices of the Imperial Court Judge Wu Guang, the Minister of the Imperial Household Chen Chui, and the Imperial Coachman Chen Gang were not low. They were the elders of the Han Dynasty, and there were many people who supported them among the meritorious officials of the Han Dynasty. Although their merits and abilities were slightly inferior, with the support of the emperor, they might not be unable to ascend to the throne of prime minister.

Therefore, Ye Teng was under tremendous competitive pressure. His competitors either had outstanding political achievements, or had strong backstage connections, or were the emperor's friends in times of trouble. Any of them had the potential to become prime minister.

The only thing Ye Teng could show off was his political achievements. He had noticed this more than two years ago and began to prepare for the competition for the position of prime minister. He had outstanding political achievements, so he could only continue to strengthen this strength. He had no backing, but he wanted to make the people of Guanzhong his backing.

The Son of Heaven is different from previous emperors. He attaches great importance to public opinion. He spends most of the year touring the local areas and investigating the local people's sentiments. If the people of Guanzhong support him to become prime minister, his chances of winning will be greatly improved.

So in the eighth year of the Han calendar, when the entire court's attention was attracted by tax reform, Ye Teng had quietly started the construction of Yequ in Guanzhong. Although this project was extremely costly, it could be supported by the current local finances of the Internal History.

According to Ye Teng's plan, the Ye Canal starts from Gukou, ends at Liyang, and flows into the Weihe River. It is 200 miles long and irrigates 4,500 hectares of farmland. This canal will be the largest canal after the Zhengguo Canal. Guanzhong will have hundreds of thousands of acres of irrigated land, and the grain production will increase by more than one million shi, benefiting tens of thousands of farmers on both sides of the canal.

The biggest difference between Yequ and Zhengguoqu is that, in addition to satisfying agricultural irrigation needs, it can also connect water transportation in Liyang, Gaoling, Chang'an and other places, reducing transportation costs in the three places and promoting the development of industries in the three places. There are tens of thousands of farmers and hundreds of thousands of craftsmen in Guanzhong, and workshop owners benefit greatly.

These tens of thousands of farmers and hundreds of thousands of craftsmen and workshop owners are his biggest supporters in Guanzhong. If these people were in other places in the Han Dynasty, their support for Ye Teng might be extremely limited, but in Guanzhong, in Chang'an City, the influence of tens of thousands of farmers and hundreds of thousands of craftsmen is different.

He could use these voices to influence the emperor's view of him, and the views of the other three dukes and nine ministers of the Han Dynasty. Guanzhong was his base camp, and the people of Guanzhong were his biggest supporters. Even the emperor and the prime minister had to take these people's voices into consideration.

Watching the water flow filling the canal and beginning to irrigate the land in the distance, Ye Teng secretly said, "Man proposes, God disposes. I have done everything I can. Now it all depends on whether God will grant me the position of Prime Minister."

June 4th, the tenth year of the Han calendar.

The people of Chang'an City knew that in addition to the Zhengguo Canal, there was another Yequ Canal in Guanzhong. This canal was closer to Guanzhong and could irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of land. In addition, thousands of tons of transport ships could go to Liyang, Gaoling and other places through the Yequ, greatly saving transportation costs.

This news immediately caused a sensation throughout Chang'an City. The teahouse was full of people discussing Ye Qu.

"How come there is a new canal without anyone noticing? It is said that it is not much different from the Zhengguo Canal. Back then, the Zhengguo Canal took so many people. It took 10 people from the whole Guanzhong area years to build it. My father even went to the construction site of the Zhengguo Canal to build the canal and he almost died there."

"How can they be the same? The tyrannical Qin was as wealthy as the Han. The laborers who are repairing the canals now all have salaries. The laborers on the construction site can not only eat their fill but also have meat every two or three days. The strength gained from eating meat is the same as that gained from eating corn.

One civilian worker nowadays is worth three before. Besides, our Han Dynasty is rich in iron tools, while that civilian worker didn’t have a shovel. It is said that he even used gunpowder to split the mountain and crack the rocks. In every aspect, he is no match for the tyrannical Qin Dynasty. Naturally, the Yequ can be built faster.”

Another tea drinker laughed and said, "It can be said that Ye Teng is indeed a capable minister who was listed in the Han Monthly Report. He completed such a big task as repairing the canal without making any noise or causing much disturbance. I'm afraid that Guan Zhong and Yue Yi of the past could not compare with him." The older tea drinkers nodded. What they feared most in those days was such a big project. If they were not careful, they would die on the construction site. Now Ye Teng and his team were repairing the canal near Chang'an, and they completed it without making any noise. If it hadn't been completed now, they wouldn't have known about it.

"Now the court is not about to retire the old prime minister, the court should let a capable official like Ye Nei Shi become the prime minister of our Han Dynasty, so that the good days we have been waiting for can continue."

"That makes sense. The court needs a prime minister who does not disturb the people but can enrich the country. I remember that when Ye Nei Shi was the governor of Kuaiji County, he made Kuaiji County one of the richest places in the world in just three years. Guanzhong has developed so well in recent years, and we live a rich life. Ye Nei Shi has made an indelible contribution. Such a person should be the prime minister."

"We should ask this year's wise men to recommend a capable official like Ye Nei Shi as prime minister."

Such discussions continued in Dahan's teahouses, storytelling halls, and theaters. After all, Ye Qu could truly influence their lives and bring them benefits.

June 5th, the tenth year of the Han calendar.

Rulin Weekly and other small weekly newspapers of the Han Dynasty published the news about Ye Qu and reported on Ye Teng's political achievements since he joined the Han Dynasty. They then said in an extremely fierce tone that the Han Dynasty needed such capable officials.

He also criticized some local Han officials, who did not have much ability and were not outstanding in local governance, but were arrogant and unreasonable, and only knew how to deceive their superiors and subordinates when encountering problems. These Han officials should really learn from the Nei Shi.

The article in Rulin Weekly was hotly discussed and reprinted in other tabloids and periodicals, and the topic had turned to the crusade against local Han officials.

The biggest enemy of these tabloids is the Han officials. Although they have not yet reached the level of mortal enemies, they are still disgusted with each other.

The way newspaper reporters viewed local Han officials was roughly the same as the way the upright censors of later generations viewed corrupt officials.

The local Han officials looked at these newspaper reporters just as celebrities in later generations looked at paparazzi, like annoying flies that could not be driven away.

Since Xu Fan founded the Dahan Monthly, the newspaper industry has developed rapidly in Dahan. With the reduction in paper costs and the application of various movable type printing technologies, the cost of newspapers is also decreasing rapidly.

Now, newspapers in the Han Dynasty have changed from monthly to weekly, and there are even many tabloids that publish directly as daily newspapers. Of course, these are all inferior tabloids, and they use the cheapest yellow straw paper to print daily newspapers, and the printing is not clear, but daily newspapers are cheap, and the news published is very fast. Many poor scholars in the Han Dynasty like to subscribe to these daily newspapers to learn about the Han Dynasty. Three or two daily newspapers have survived, which has opened up a new track for those tabloids.

The mainstream newspaper and periodical format is still mainly monthly, but biweekly and weekly newspapers are developing rapidly. These weekly newspapers update news faster, are more popular in the market, and are already able to compete with the mainstream.

Therefore, the development of the newspaper industry in Guanzhong was extremely prosperous, with more than a hundred newspapers and periodicals of all sizes, and several new ones being established almost every month.

Of course, with more newspapers and periodicals, the competitive pressure is also great, and most newly established newspapers and periodicals do not survive more than half a year.

Under strong competitive pressure, in order to survive, the small newspapers in the Han Dynasty had to find other ways. They dared to report things that the mainstream newspapers dared not to report, and they dared to take care of things that the mainstream newspapers dared not to take care of. The competitive pressure in Guanzhong was great, so they went to other parts of the world to find new things, focusing on struggling to survive.

But conflicts arose at this time. Xu Fan was suppressing him in Guanzhong, and he spent most of the year touring the counties and towns in Guanzhong.

Whenever a conflict arose at the local level, if the Han officials acted strictly in accordance with the law, Xu Fan would at most reprimand the Han officials and then find a way to resolve the conflict.

However, if the Han officials violated the law and discipline, Xu Fan would act without mercy. Therefore, the Han officials in Guanzhong were under great pressure and dared not act recklessly.

But it was different at the local level. The emperor was far away and the Han officials were only slightly better than the Qin officials.

For reporters who are accustomed to the atmosphere in Guanzhong, one can imagine the conflicts they would cause with Han officials when they arrived at the local area.

Journalists report everything that is new, but newness means contradictions.
However, attacking local Han officials has become the political correctness of journalists. They used Ye Teng's case to vent their grievances against local Han officials, but their actions unexpectedly boosted Ye Teng's prestige.

Because the prestige of Ye Qu and Ye Teng began to spread, the people of Guanzhong knew that the internal historian had quietly built a canal that could irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and transport goods. The people of Guanzhong began to cheer for Ye Teng, and this voice soon spread from the people to the Han court.

Ye Teng was not wrong about one thing. Although he had a high prestige among the people, few people in the Han officialdom took him seriously and regarded him as a candidate for prime minister. The candidates for prime minister that everyone was discussing were meritorious officials and veterans such as Shang Nong, Xiao He, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Chen Gang, and Chen Chui.

Ye Teng's position in the Han Dynasty was awkward. He was the biggest figure in the Nanjun faction. The powerful people in the Nanjun faction had left the Han Dynasty, so they were not considered as their own people by the Han Dynasty elders. Ye Teng was isolated by the Han Dynasty elders and became a small faction.

Therefore, in the eyes of most Han officials, the position of Nei Shi, one of the Nine Ministers, was already the limit for Ye Teng, and the position of Prime Minister was simply not something Ye Teng could reach.

Ye Teng did have good political achievements, but did the Han Dynasty lack capable officials?
Those who can compete for the position of prime minister are all talented people who can rule the country like Guan Zhong and Yue Yi. The Han Dynasty is not short of such talented people. If you have no connections or background, how can you be the prime minister?

So although Ye Teng was among the candidates for prime minister, he had always been a runner-up.

Now the voice of the people in Guanzhong must be taken seriously by the Han officials. After all, the emperor attaches great importance to local public opinion. Some Han officials have begun to spread the word that Ye Teng is also qualified to be a prime minister. Although they are only some relatively low-level Han officials, this is already a good start.

Guanzhong, Yequ construction site.

Xu Fan stood beside Yequ, looking at the new canal and the cheers of the people not far away. Xu Fan felt comfortable in his heart.

In this era, there is indeed nothing that can increase harvest more than building a canal. Hundreds of thousands of people around the Ye Canal have benefited from it. If the shipping value is taken into account, there will be millions of people in the entire Guanzhong area who will benefit from this canal.

This is the unique passion of the Chinese people to change the world. It took China thousands of years and heroes from every generation to build the land of Han into what the people of later generations called the chosen land.

It is not God who chose this land, but the people on this land who chose to transform it. This is the romance that belongs only to the Chinese people.

In the history that Xu Fan knew, all powerful empires relied on invading the weak to grow stronger, but the Han people were the only exception. Their ancestors relied on their hard work to gain a powerful empire.

Especially for Xu Fan, who came from the future, he understood even more clearly that any powerful empire could only be strong in the long run by transforming the world and developing productivity. Any empire that plundered them would eventually suffer backlash.

Zhang Liang, who was standing next to Xu Fan, smiled and said, "Nei Shi Ye is indeed worthy of the title of a capable minister who can govern the country."

Xu Fan smiled and said, "Zifang, are you supporting Ye Teng as prime minister?"

To be honest, when Xu Fan was first considering the chancellorship, he didn't have Ye Teng in his heart. This wasn't because Xu Fan discriminated against Ye Teng, nor was he angry that Gong Ao and the others had betrayed him. Xu Fan wasn't that petty.

But history has already given him the answer. Xiao He was the first-class choice for prime minister of this era, and his political achievements were also extremely brilliant. Whether he was assisting Zhou Zhang in maintaining the logistics of the Han Dynasty, or governing Chen County and building the Grand Canal, Xiao He demonstrated his strong integration ability.

Moreover, Xiao He's ideas were consistent with Zhou Zhang's, and Zhou Zhang also supported Xiao He as his successor. Since Xiao He was also a rebel who defected to the Han Dynasty, the elders of the Han Dynasty did not reject Xiao He becoming prime minister. Xiao He could continue the policies of the Han Dynasty as prime minister. Under such open-book answers, Xiao He was naturally the first candidate for prime minister in Xu Fan's mind.

However, this leaf canal made Xu Fan see another option. Although Ye Teng was not famous in later generations, he had been well-trained in the Han Dynasty. Just based on his current achievements, it would be no problem for him to leave a temple in the future and have the incense passed down for a thousand years. He should give him a chance.

(End of this chapter)