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

Chapter 444: The Vision of the Western Region Track and the New Generation of the Han Dynasty

A sad fact is that apart from Hetian jade and agate, there are almost no other goods in the Western Regions that Chang'an needs. Although gold and silver can also be considered as a kind of goods, Ji State has already been established and also needs gold and silver as equivalents.

Because Ji State did not have the strong productivity like the Han Dynasty, it could not use goods to provide credibility guarantee for paper money. This determined that Ji State could only choose to use gold and silver to maintain the stability of its own currency, and sometimes it had to import some copper coins from the Han Dynasty as a general equivalent for ordinary people.

The entire Ji State actually lacks precious metals, so the Prime Minister's Office of Ji State has issued an order strictly prohibiting Ji State's caravans from taking gold and silver to Guanzhong for business, because too much gold and silver lost will cause economic deflation in Ji State, causing huge harm.

There are two major financial pillars in the country of Ji. One is the silk trade. The official merchant caravans of the country alone would purchase hundreds of thousands of pieces of silk and hundreds of thousands of pieces of cloth from the Han Dynasty every year, with profits multiplied 5 to 10 times and then sold to various countries in Central Asia. The silk trade could bring hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the country of Ji every year.

The second is the official business of agate and Hetian jade trading. If you mine Hetian jade and agate in Jiguo, the court of Jiguo will not care. You can use and trade them freely in your own country. But you are not qualified to sell them to the Han Dynasty. You can only sell the Hetian jade and agate you mined to the court of Jiguo. Violators will be fined 5 to 10 times the amount. In the Western Regions, Hetian jade and agate are officially operated by major vassal states.

There are people who do the business of killing people, but no one does the business of losing money. As long as Hetian jade and agate enter the Han Dynasty, the profit will be 10 times. The closer to Chang'an City, the higher the profit. Once you enter Chang'an City, as long as you are eloquent, you can get hundreds of times the profit. This led to a large number of merchants smuggling Hetian jade and agate in Ji State.

However, Tian Shu blocked the Yumen Pass trade route, and at the same time, the cavalry of the princes in the Western Regions attacked these smugglers continuously for 12 hours, so there were only a few caravans that were truly successful.

9% of the Hetian jade and agate business of the Han Dynasty was monopolized by Ji Bu and other princes of the Western Regions. This business could bring them 10 billion in profits every year. Most of the princes in the Western Regions relied on these two specialties to support their finances. It could be said that this was their Achilles' heel, and any force that dared to touch this pillar would surely be ruthlessly attacked by all the princes in the Western Regions.

The major vassal states in the Western Regions are about four thousand miles away from Chang'an City, and the farthest are five or six thousand miles away. This distance means that the goods traded by both sides can only be luxury goods. Even if they are not luxury goods, they will become luxury goods after traveling such a long distance.

This has both advantages and disadvantages. The good thing is that the handicraft market in the country has been preserved. Hami cloth is rough and not durable. It can only be regarded as the lowest quality cotton cloth in the Han Dynasty, but the people in the Western Regions have no other choice. Hami cloth is the most high-end luxury here, which is difficult for the people in the Western Regions to reach. There are also other ironware, pottery, and woodware industries. Jiguo's goods are all high-priced and low-quality. They cannot be sold in the Han Dynasty, but they are in short supply in Jiguo.

Therefore, the handicraft industries of other princes were completely defeated in the face of the powerful productivity of the Han Dynasty, and they could only serve as raw material production bases and commodity markets. On the contrary, the Western Regions were able to develop their own handicraft industries due to limited conditions.

But the bad side was that other goods from the Western Regions could never reach the Han market. Only luxury goods like Hetian jade and agate could enter the Han market.

Hetian jade and agate are already the business cards of the Western Regions. There is no need for a steam expo. The people of the Han Dynasty also know about these two kinds of goods. Moreover, Hetian jade and agate cannot be displayed at a steam expo. This will give the people of Chang'an a cheap impression, which is something that is absolutely not allowed to happen for luxury goods.

If things like Hami cloth, ironware and ceramics from the Western Regions were brought to the Han Dynasty, they would be laughed at by the people of Chang'an. Therefore, the Steam Expo was a waste of time for the Western Regions.

Ji Budao said: "I saw a memorial submitted by a petty official below, saying that he has extracted a kind of kerosene from fierce fire oil, which can be used as lamp oil, and the price is extremely low, which can completely replace the current lamp oil of the Han Dynasty. Fierce fire oil is a specialty of our Western Regions. If this can really be achieved, our Ji Kingdom will be equivalent to obtaining a pillar industry that makes ten times more money than Hetian jade and agate."

Uncle Tian shook his head and said, "Jiguo is 4,000 miles away from Guanzhong. This distance is enough to offset all the cheap costs. My Jiguo's wine and raisins are also unique, but they are too far away from Guanzhong. Even if they are sold to Guanzhong, not many people will buy them."

Ji Bu sighed and said, "Yes, a distance of 4000 miles is enough to isolate everything. But this petty official proposed a solution, which is to ask the court to build a wooden track connecting the Western Regions. The wooden track can reduce the cost of goods by more than ten times, so that kerosene will have a broad market in the Han Dynasty."

Uncle Tian shook his head again and said, "This is simply wishful thinking. Let's calculate the minimum length of this wooden track at 25 miles. One mile of iron-clad wooden track costs coins, so miles is billion coins. Even if the cost of maintaining the wooden track is low in the Western Region, the cost of maintaining this wooden track every year is still hundreds of millions of coins."

When Tian Shu first became the prime minister of Ji State, he wanted to build a wooden track connecting Guanzhong to the Western Regions, but the cost of 10 billion coins was prohibitive. You know, even the Grand Canal proposed by Prime Minister Zhou Zhang was only about 7 gold. Moreover, the Grand Canal could connect the Jianghuai and Central Plains regions of the Han Dynasty and become the main artery for cargo transportation in the entire Central Plains. Its economic efficiency was obvious.

As for building a wooden track to connect the Western Regions, not to mention the cost, even the annual maintenance fee of hundreds of millions will probably not make any profit. Tracks are the most discriminating thing. The richer the region, the richer it will become if it builds tracks. However, if wooden tracks are built in poor places, even the maintenance fee of the tracks cannot be recovered.

But the Western Region was such a poor place, and the Hexi area connecting the Western Region was even poorer, with many areas still uninhabited. The section of track connecting the two poor people accounted for 90% of the distance. Such a cruel reality made Uncle Tian dare not even think about building a track connecting the Western Region.

But Ji Bu said enviously: "Last year, the court discovered another gold mine and two copper mines on the Japanese island, which directly increased the court's income by 5 gold. The court's finances have been increasing in the past two years. It is said that it may exceed 200 billion coins next year. The court is so rich that it should not be a problem to take out billion coins to build a wooden track connecting the Western Regions. Although it is not economically cost-effective, it has extremely important strategic significance."

Upon hearing the news, Tian Shu didn't know what to say for a moment. Xiao He was also a prime minister, so how could he be so lucky? During the six years since he took over, the Han Dynasty discovered three copper mines, one silver mine and one gold mine. These minerals alone added nearly 3 billion yuan in revenue to the court each year, while the income of his Ji State was only one-tenth or one-twelfth of this money. He often had to move around for the meritorious officials of Ji State in order to barely maintain the financial balance.

Tian Shu thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty can ask the emperor when the princes are in power. As long as the emperor agrees, it will be a done deal."

Ji Budao said: "I was originally worried that Jiguo could not even afford the cost of maintaining the track, but with the kerosene, I am more confident. As long as I sell hundreds of millions of kilograms of kerosene to the Han Dynasty, the maintenance cost of the wooden track will be recovered. This Jia Sheng is a talent. Prime Minister, please arrange for him to participate in the steam expo and strive to make the kerosene lamp a sensation."

Uncle Tian said: "Yes!"

On the 29th day of the tenth month in the fifteenth year of the Han calendar, in Baishuli, Ji State.

A knight galloped over and arrived outside Baishuli and said, "I am the messenger from Ji Country, who is Jia Sheng, the husband of Baishuli Township?"

Immediately, a villager called out, "Mr. Qiang, the king's messenger is here to see you."

Jia Sheng, who was still busy digging a karez, took a long time to learn the news. He immediately climbed out of the karez, tidied himself up, and then came to the messenger and saluted, saying, "I am Jia Sheng, a Qiangfu from Baishuli Township."

The messenger took out a letter and said, "This is a letter from the Prime Minister's Office to you." Then he left.

Jia Sheng took the letter and opened it. After reading the contents, he laughed and said, "Finally, someone has recognized my kerosene." Jia Sheng excitedly said to Wan Yu and Chen Cheng, "The Prime Minister asked me to make hundreds of kerosene lamps and kerosene and bring them to the Prime Minister's Mansion. He said that as long as they are practical and can make a splash at the Second Steam Expo, I will be rewarded by the King. This is our chance to change our destiny."

Wan Yu was stunned and asked, "Does the Prime Minister's Mansion really approve of your kerosene lamp?"

Jia Sheng pulled the two of them and said, "Don't be stunned for a moment. Now go and make kerosene lamps and kerosene. Whether we can succeed depends on this time."

November 9th, the fifteenth year of the Han calendar.

Jia Sheng came to Ji Du, the Prime Minister's Mansion, bringing with him hundreds of kerosene lamps that he had carefully made and thousands of kilograms of kerosene that he had refined.

After using the real thing, Uncle Tian had to admit that kerosene lamps are bright and inexpensive, and except for a slight odor, they have no disadvantages. Candles are much cheaper than dragon candles.

After seeing the actual effect, Tian Shu appointed Jia Sheng as Shaofu Kaogongling, Wan Yu and Chen Cheng as Kaogongling Cheng, and ordered the three to set up workshops to manufacture kerosene lamps and produce kerosene for Ji State. For the first time, the fierce fire oil in the Western Regions was transformed from a military supply into a civilian supply.

The 9th day of the sixth month in the sixteenth year of the Han calendar, Gaoling County.

Several young men were looking around in Gaoling County, full of curiosity about everything around them.

One of the burly young men said, "Prince, the old prime minister asked us to write a social practice report during the summer vacation. Why don't we stay in Chang'an City? Gaoling is like a construction site and it's not fun at all."

The burly young man is called Yingxiong, Ying Bu's eldest son, and he is 12 years old this year. He inherited his father's genes, and although he is only twelve years old, he has grown tall and strong. If it weren't for his childish face, one would think he is an adult.

The one he called Prince was naturally Xu Fan's eldest son, Xu Aimin, who was thirteen years old this year and was currently a first-year student at Chang'an No. 1 Middle School.

This summer, their principal Zhou Zhang assigned them a social activities class. The content was not limited, but they were required to do a social survey, investigate the situation of an industry, and write down their own thoughts.

This was a very novel thing for Xu Aimin, who had always lived in Chang'an City. However, he was too familiar with Chang'an and didn't know how to conduct this social survey. He simply took his friends to Gaoling County, not far from Chang'an City.

Zhang Piqiang looked at the surroundings and said hesitantly, "Isn't Gaoling known as the Little Chang'an? Why does it look like a large construction site now?"

It's no wonder he thought so. On the streets of Gaoling, there were excavated ditches everywhere on both sides of the street. A group of workers were busy extending the length of the ditch bit by bit. Dust was flying all around, and it really looked like a big construction site.

Zhang Piqiang was the youngest son of Zhang Liang, the fake prime minister. He had an older brother named Zhang Buyi. Two years ago, Zhang Liang retired and the emperor gave him the title of Duke of the Kingdom. However, Zhang Liang gave the title of Duke of Korea to his eldest son Zhang Buyi, who established a new Kingdom of Korea in Nanzhong. Zhang Liang continued to live in Chang'an with his youngest son.

Zhang Piqiang also studied at Chang'an No. 1 Middle School. The principal of this middle school was Prime Minister Zhou Zhang, and the teachers were founding fathers of the Han Dynasty such as Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. Most of the students were children of princes and nobles of the Han Dynasty. Only these founding fathers of the Han Dynasty could intimidate these children of princes and nobles.

Because these are the legitimate sons of princes, Xu Fan hopes that they can become useful people so that they can continue to expand the princes' territories for the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the school management is very strict. Even in the summer vacation, social activities classes are arranged to prevent these princes' children from becoming sorghum children who would rather eat meat than meat.

Chen Mai looked at the construction site and said hesitantly, "Gaoling should be under renovation. In fact, Chang'an City is also a large construction site, but Chang'an City is too big, and only one or two city blocks are renovated each time, so we didn't notice it. But Gaoling County is too small, and the renovation of the city blocks makes the whole city look like a construction site. This shows that Gaoling County's economy has developed very fast in the past two years, and there is money to renovate the city blocks."

Chen Mai is Chen Ping's eldest son. He is a tall young man who looks rather thin, like a bamboo pole.

After thinking for a while, Chen Mai said, "Prince, we should leave. It is difficult to conduct social surveys in Gaoling now."

Xu Aimin said, "I think Gao Ling is the most suitable person for social research. Also, don't call me the prince outside."

"promise!"

A few people walked along the construction site and found the migrant workers' dormitory. They were about to go in.

An old man stopped them and said, "This is not a place for you to play. No one can be held responsible if something happens. Go back home and play."

Xu Aimin immediately said, "Uncle, we are not here to play. We are middle school students. Our teacher assigned us homework to conduct a social survey, so we came here."

The old man hesitated and said, "Social survey?"

Zhang Piqiang immediately said: "The emperor has said that this social survey was initiated by the emperor."

The old man was in awe when he heard this and said, "Since it is advocated by the Holy Emperor, it must be a good thing. What are you kids investigating?"

(End of this chapter)