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

Chapter 532, Confirmation of Successor
Zhou Zhang enviously said, "I understand Liu Ji. He is now successful and famous. You younger generations are also working hard. Naturally, he will do what you want to do. I also want to travel around the world to see if the world is really that big. It's a pity that I am entangled in worldly things and can only give up this idea."

At this time, Liu Ruyi remembered his mission and said, "Prime Minister, the governor has issued an order requiring all the major vassal states in Yinzhou to go to Qishi City in July to discuss a peaceful resolution of the dispute with Maya."

Zhou Zhang frowned and said, "It is indeed necessary to control these princes of the Han Dynasty. Without the suppression of the emperor, they have become a little unscrupulous. Destroying their countries and occupying their land is what we should do to our blood brothers. I will go to Qishicheng in July."

Zhou Zhang also felt that the way these princes of the Han Dynasty ate was too ugly. They could obviously digest the Maya Kingdom slowly, but they were so impatient and wanted to get fat in one bite. They were not afraid of causing dissatisfaction among the natives of the New World, nor did they think about whether they could digest so many Mayans.

The population ratio of many vassal states of the Han Dynasty is now extremely unhealthy. Ninety percent or even ninety-five percent of the country's population are indigenous people of the New World. Even in this situation, they still want to increase the population without considering whether they can bear it.

Moreover, the behavior of these princes is extremely detrimental to the hegemony of the Han Dynasty. Most of the world has been explored by the Han Dynasty. Among these civilizations, no country is more powerful than the Han Dynasty. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Han Dynasty is the overlord of the world.

How to manage the world has become what the Han Dynasty has to do in the future. However, no matter how it is managed, burning, killing and looting are obviously not feasible. The Han Dynasty wants to be the overlord of the world, not robbers and pirates.

(This is Zhou Zhang using the morality of the Han civilization to understand other civilizations in the world. He obviously didn't know that there was a civilization in the future that established a set of rules to rule the world by burning, killing and looting.)
After meeting Zhou Zhang, Liu Ruyi spent a month traveling all over Zhongyinzhou to convey Xu Aimin's orders.

On the 27th day of the sixth month in the 29th year of the Han calendar, in the Yinzhou continent, the starting city.

The major princes of the Han Dynasty gave face to Xu Aimin and arrived at the starting city a few days in advance.

Xu Aimin asked Zhang Yang, the governor of Qishicheng, to receive the princes who came to Qishicheng.

Seeing the busy and bustling Starting City, Ye Zhao said with a little envy: "I don't know if it's because I've been in the New World for too long, but why do I feel that this Starting City is more prosperous than Chang'an?"

You have to know that Ye Zhao grew up in Kuaiji County and Chang'an City. All he saw were the most prosperous cities in Chang'an. Logically speaking, the Starting City could only be regarded as a third-rate city in the Han Dynasty, but Ye Zhao had seen too much of the wilderness. Even his vassal state was only the size of a small county town. Now seeing the Starting City with a population of more than 100,000, he really had a feeling of walking from the wilderness into civilization, which made him feel that the Starting City was more prosperous than Chang'an.

Cao Qiu also said with a hint of envy: "It is certainly not as good as Chang'an, but it is not an exaggeration to say that this is the Little Chang'an of the New World. Only here can you see some of the scenery of my hometown."

Compared with those vassal states, the Starting City can obtain materials from the entire continent. The goods transported by the major vassal states are generally transported to the Starting City and then back to the Han Dynasty. The goods of the Han Dynasty also come to the Starting City and are then dispersed to other vassal states. With an annual cargo turnover of one or two billion, it is considered a very prosperous trading city even in the Han Dynasty.

In addition, Xu Aimin positioned the Starting City as an agricultural city and an industrial city. Through agricultural production and industrial production, wealth can flow into the hands of ordinary people in the Starting City.

Therefore, the towns and villages of the major vassal states in the New World are generally full of thatched houses, while in the villages of the starting city, there are very few thatched-style buildings. There are only a few brick and stone buildings, and most of them are wooden houses, which are obviously much richer than the villages of these vassal states.

Moreover, there are more fields here, and the canals and windmills in the fields are the same as those in the Han Dynasty, making the crops here grow obviously better than the crops in their vassal territories.

What surprised them the most was that cement roads were being paved inside the Starting City. You know, there were only a few cities in the Han Dynasty that could do this. Could it be that the cement in the Starting City was abundant enough to be used for paving roads?
Ye Zhao said helplessly: "What is this? I am waiting for the vassal state to be located on the Silver Mountain, but it is not as good as the Starting City."

Cao Qiu said: "The New World really needs to build roads, otherwise it will be difficult to get to the starting city."

For the Mayans of this era, the level of their roads was not just one level lower than that of the Han people, but thousands of years lower. Because there were no wheels and no large livestock, there was no need for ox carts or horse carriages on the roads. The roads in the New World were very narrow, almost like the farm paths of the Han people. When the Governor's Office was established, a large amount of resources were invested in road construction every year, but only some dirt roads that could accommodate ox carts and horse carriages were built.

Zhang Yang said, "My two lords, I have a business that I would like to discuss with you two."

"what business?"

Zhang Yang said, "My two lords, if you don't intend to reduce the amount of silver you refine, it would be a waste for the blast furnace to be empty. I, Qishi City, am willing to order 100 million jin of refined iron from the two countries."

Although the Starting City also has a steel mill, because the Starting City has developed in a balanced manner in all aspects, the investment in steel is not very large. It only has a 10-level blast furnace, with an annual steel output of about 200 million kilograms. However, this amount of steel is far from meeting the needs of a continent, especially since the New World has had almost no accumulation in the past few thousand years.

In the New World, iron is used in many places. Not to mention the various farm tools for land reclamation, farmers also need a lot of weapons. There are more beasts than people in the New World, and farmers need weapons to protect themselves. The major vassal states need tools for mining and iron sheets for building tracks. Now the New World has to transport two million kilograms of iron from the Han Dynasty every year to meet the demand. The reason for this number is not that the New World does not need more steel, but that they cannot afford more steel. These two million kilograms alone are worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the New World. People without some savings really cannot afford the steel in the New World.

When Xu Aimin learned that the major vassal states had decided to reduce the amount of silver production, he thought of using the blast furnaces of those vassal states to refine steel.

Cao Qiu and the other man looked at each other. This was a good deal. If the blast furnace was just sitting there and was used to smelt iron, they could recover some of the cost.

Although these vassal states lagged behind the starting city in all aspects, their only advantage was their iron smelting ability. They spent most of their wealth on building silver smelters.

The price of one pound of iron in the New World is 50 coins, and one million pounds is 100 million coins. After deducting the cost of iron smelting, if each family gets a share, they might be able to get tens of millions of coins.

"I have agreed to this deal."

Then Cao Qiu and his companions went to the West Market of the Starting City, which was near the dock of the Starting City. The market was extremely prosperous and lively, because the Starting City was the most important port in the New World, and all the goods of the Han Dynasty could be found here.

Silk, cotton, tea, porcelain, refined salt, sugar. It can be said that all the goods that were available in the Han Dynasty were available here, and the quantity was also extremely large. For example, silk and cotton, within 10,000 pieces, could be ordered on the spot and transported directly to their vassal states by caravans. It can be said that the service was extremely thoughtful.

Of course, the reason behind this thoughtfulness is that the prices of these goods are extremely expensive. A piece of silk costs 10,000 coins. In the Han Dynasty, it was Shu brocade or Chen brocade, but here it is Jiujiang brocade. The price has skyrocketed by more than five times. The prices of other goods have also generally increased by five to ten times. This is the price of goods in the New World. Everything is expensive except silver.

But even though the prices were so expensive, Cao Qiu and Ye Zhao still placed orders for 2000 rolls of silk, 3000 rolls of cotton cloth, as well as a lot of grain, tea, porcelain and other goods. They spent almost 1000 million yuan, which was directly covered by the income from silver for half a year.

After making the purchase, Cao Qiu said viciously, "You are being taken advantage of. When I return, I will grow cotton to weave cloth, grow mulberry trees to raise silkworms, and I will also lower the price of silk and cotton cloth, so that you profiteers will lose all your money."

Ye Zhao said with a smile: "Then you won't lose all your money."

Cao Qiu then realized that as a sincere silk and cotton merchant, it was his money that was lost due to the price drop.

"A fleet is coming!" someone shouted.

People in the market moved towards the pier.

Cao Qiu looked from afar and found that it was a fleet of 10 ships, the main ship of which was extremely large, with a volume far exceeding 5 stones.

"This is a new type of sea-going ship of the Han Dynasty. It looks like it has at least 10 or tons of cargo capacity, if not tons. Who has the money to buy such a huge sea-going ship?"

The larger the tonnage, the higher the price of the sea-going ship. Especially after the emergence of the New World, the sea merchants' demand for tonnage became higher and higher, and the sea-going ships became closer and closer to the behemoths of later generations. Of course, the larger the sea-going ship, the more expensive it is. This is almost common sense in the Han Dynasty, especially the newly developed sea-going ships, which have the highest cost. The cost of the sea-going ships alone for this fleet may cost more than 10 billion yuan.

Ye Zhao looked at the ship's flag and asked, "Xu?"

There was no vassal named Xu in the Han Dynasty, and the only general was Xu Lu? But Xu Lu was the Lieutenant General of the South China Sea Fleet, and it was almost impossible for him to come to the New World.

Cao Qiu said, "Why worry so much? Everything will be clear in a few days."

After docking, the fleet did not unload the cargo but instead stayed at the side of the pier, which caused even more discussion in the Starting City.

Northern Yinzhou Military Governor's Office.

Xu Aimin asked his wife to prepare a meal to entertain the fleet's owners.

"Brother, this is Shao'er and Ling'er!" Xu Aiguo said a little excitedly as he looked at his nephews and nieces.

Xu Aimin said, "Why don't you call me Second Uncle?"

Xu Shao and Xu Ling said, "Hello, Second Uncle!"

Xu Aiguo smiled and said, "Okay, this is a gift from your uncle."

He handed a wooden sword to Xu Shao and a panda toy filled with cotton to Xu Ling.

Xu Aimin asked in confusion: "How did you come to the New World?"

Xu Aiguo said, "The New World will be my home from now on. My father asked me to be a vassal in the New World and found a good position for me, saying that there is a mountain of gold waiting for me to explore. At the same time, he also gave you an order. He asked you to settle down the Governor's Office and prepare to return to the Han Dynasty."

Xu Aimin was a little surprised. This almost confirmed his position as the crown prince. You know, although Xu Fan valued Xu Aimin very much, he had never confirmed his position as the crown prince. He was still only the eldest son.

Xu Fan has five children, three boys and two girls. Xu Aimin and Xu Aiguo are the oldest and both are already adults. They are both strong contenders for the crown prince, while their fifth brother Xu Aijun is only 5 years old this year and is obviously not a contender for the two. Now that Xu Aiguo has been enfeoffed in the New World, his only competitor has disappeared, especially now that he is allowed to return to the Han Dynasty, it is almost certain that Xu Aimin will be the crown prince.

Their idea was not wrong. Xu Aimin had experienced more than 10 years of experience. He could not be said to be a genius, but he was a skilled Han official. He understood the internal operation of the Han court and had been exposed to the lower classes of the Han Dynasty. It was enough for a normal person like him to be the emperor of the Han Dynasty. Xu Fan was not a feudal monarch, and he had to set many tests for his son.

In his system design, as long as the emperor of the Han Dynasty was not an idiot, he could basically do anything. What he worried about most was the emergence of a prodigal like Yang Guang among his descendants. Who knows whether a country of the size of the Han Dynasty could withstand the turmoil of a prodigal like Yang Guang?
Through so many years of observation, he believed that Xu Aimin had normal values, a sound personality, and was a qualified successor. In the 2000 years of feudal history, there were very few people with normal values ​​who became emperors. Xu Fan planned to let him return to the Han Dynasty to gain some experience in the various departments of the Nine Ministers before he could succeed to the throne.

Xu Fan planned to retire at the age of 60. He didn't want to work for another year. The craftsman laws stipulated that 60 was the retirement age. As the emperor of the Han Dynasty, how could he not abide by it? If he didn't abide by it, how could his subordinates obey it? The laws became just a piece of official document. What prestige did the Han Dynasty have?

Now it is only a few years until he turns 60, so he plans to let Xu Aimin return to Dahan, and then go to the tax supervision, accounting and other departments to gain experience for a few years. After he has experienced and is familiar with these departments, he will not be easily deceived by the people below, and then he can give him the position.

Although Xu Aiguo felt a little disappointed, he finally figured it out after a few months.

"The Han Dynasty has so many rules and regulations, brother. When you go back, you will have to endure being a crown prince. It's not like me who became a vassal king in the New World and can do whatever I want." Then he said with a little pride, "My mother's private treasury and father's inner treasury have almost been emptied by me. Not to mention, my father's ability to make money is first-class. He even left 30 billion yuan to subsidize the scholars and doctors in the world. When my fifth brother becomes a vassal, I'm afraid it will be another 30 billion yuan. I'm afraid that you will only be left with an empty treasury."

Xu Aimin smiled and said, "It is only natural that our father and mother gave you money to establish a vassal state. If you are short of money in the New World, you can tell your brother."

Xu Aiguo said, "I have a mountain of gold, how could I be short of money? But you, my brother, have very little money to spend. After we return to the Han Dynasty, if you need money, please write to me. I will not let you down."

The news that the second prince Xu Aiguo was enfeoffed in the New World and the eldest prince Xu Aimin was about to return to the Han Dynasty caused a sensation among the top leaders of the entire Qiqi City.

Especially the Han officials of the Northern Yinzhou Governor's Office, all of them were excited and excited. What did this mean? They knew very well that the Governor would become the Crown Prince, and they were the Crown Prince's veteran team. When the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne, they, the veteran team, would definitely be valued by the court, and their rapid rise to prominence was just around the corner.

The enthusiasm of the Han officials in the Governor's Office for government affairs increased several times. They worked all night long, wanting to perform in front of Xu Aimin.

The princes of the Han Dynasty also paid more attention to Xu Aimin, because they knew that His Majesty was the emperor, and even if they made some mistakes, His Majesty would not punish them too severely because of his sentimental character.

But after the prince became the emperor of the Han Dynasty, this relationship became shallower. After all, a new emperor appoints new ministers, and after the prince ascends the throne, he will certainly use ministers he trusts, and the status of these people in the Han Dynasty will inevitably decline.

Therefore, the princes who came to the starting city took this meeting more seriously. After all, no one wanted to offend the future emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Xu Aiguo's team stayed in the starting city for three days and then headed north to establish their own vassal state. The location Xu Fan chose for him was the Jinshan City of later generations.

On the 27th day of the sixth month of the 29th year of the Han calendar, starting from Qishi City, the meeting hall.

Among the sixty-five princes in the New World, the princes who are closer came here in person, and the representatives of the Ze faction who are farther away came here.

There was a map of the New World hanging in the conference hall. The map was extremely rough. The area centered on the starting city was basically accurate, and the capitals of the major vassal states were also drawn relatively accurately. But other than that, it only roughly drew the directions and positions of some mountains, rivers, and streams. After all, the Han Dynasty had been in the New World for less than ten years, and the areas that could be explored were extremely limited.

Xu Aimin pointed at the map and said, "Today's meeting of princes is to resolve the territorial disputes in the New World. For a long time, although the court has established princely states in the New World, there have been no obvious restrictions on where the borders of the major princely states are located. This has led to constant disputes in the New World in the past two years. The people of China have died under their own butcher knives, which violates the policy of your majesty that the people of China are one family."

Cao Qiu immediately said, "The governor is right. Since the unification of the world, the Han Dynasty has not seen war for more than 20 years. As a result, due to border issues, war has broken out again in the New World. This is really contrary to the current prosperity of the Han Dynasty. Especially since the blood shed is from the people of the Han Dynasty, it shows the seriousness of this border issue. If this issue is not resolved, the blood of the people of the Han Dynasty will not be shed in vain."

All the princes present looked at Cao Qiu with contempt. The news that Xu Aimin was about to become the crown prince had only been circulating for a few days, and you, Cao Qiu, were already flattering him.

Cao Qiu also despised other people. He believed that only those who knew the times were heroes. The identity of the crown prince was about to be confirmed. If he didn't flatter him at this time, would he wait until the crown prince went to the Han Dynasty before flattering him?

Xu Aimin said: "Today, we will draw the boundaries of each family here. If there are any disputes in the future, you can report them to the Governor's Office. But if anyone dares to use force rashly, my Governor's Office will punish the princes who violate the law on behalf of the court."

Zhou Zhang was the first to step forward and define the borders of his own vassal state, and then other vassals followed suit. In some areas where vassals were densely populated, the two sides argued for a long time over the border issue, and finally Xu Aimin made a ruling for both parties. Three days later, the first vassal conference in the New World was successfully concluded.

(End of this chapter)