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

Chapter 703: Competition for the Prime Minister's Position and a Different Approach to Relocation
Li Hao said helplessly: "Brother, you really think too highly of us. For thousands of years, the imperial power has not extended to the countryside. My Han Dynasty is already the strongest in history."

Gao Di said, "Not all the lords and village heads are so lawless. The villages with agricultural cooperatives are better. I think there are too few agricultural cooperatives in the court, and they have not fully covered the villages of the Han Dynasty, so these law-breaking Han officials have appeared."

Feng Tang said unhappily, "Villages with agricultural cooperatives are already wealthy and are not included in the subsidies. The court wants to subsidize those poorer farmers."

Gao Di clapped his hands and said, "This is the contradiction. Those are old, young, poor and remote areas. They are the most backward areas under the administration of our Han Dynasty. If the Han officials there knew the law and followed the etiquette like the Han officials in Chang'an City, our Han Dynasty's world of great harmony would have been successfully established long ago."

Gongshu Qi said: "There are hundreds of thousands of Han officials in the countryside, and it is difficult to manage them. It is inevitable that there will be some corrupt officials. But the court cannot deny it just because of a small number of people. After more than ten years of hard work, the villages in the Han Dynasty are now richer and the people's lives are better than when the Han Dynasty was founded. This is a huge progress. We should not be blinded by one leaf and miss the big mountain."

Feng Tang disagreed and said, "Our Han dynasty wants to build a prosperous society, which is a difficult task. Just because these tasks are difficult, we should not do them. Just because there are too few corrupt officials, we should not punish them."

Gongshu Qiyou said angrily, "You are just arguing. I have been telling you about the real problems, but you don't try to solve them. Instead, you keep emphasizing the spirit. Even the emperor said that matter comes first and consciousness comes second. This world is determined by matter."

Seeing that everyone was about to quarrel, Yuan Ang naturally couldn't bear to see his brothers split up, so he persuaded them: "We are here today to reminisce about the past, not to quarrel. Don't make fun of us. If we really want to quarrel, we can wait until we fight for the project at the Sages Conference."

After hearing this, the atmosphere at the scene eased, and several people recalled the past days when they promoted the agricultural cooperative in the Prince's Mansion. Among their group of people, there were military strategists, Mohists, and Confucianists, but now they have all become farmers.

Then Gongshu Qi put down his wine glass and asked, "This year, the three dukes will be replaced. Brother, are you sure you can become the one who rules the world?"

The others also looked at Yuan Ang. Those who had entered the Prince's Mansion at the beginning had all developed well. The worst was a Han official with a salary of 2000 shi. The best were naturally Zhang Pijiang, Chen Mai, Liu Heng, Chao Cuo, Zhang Shizhi, Yuan Ang, and Feng Tang. They were all high-ranking officials at the level of Nine Ministers. Of course, there were also differences in rank among the Nine Ministers. For example, the Grand Minister of Agriculture controlled most of the financial revenue of the Han Dynasty when the Han Dynasty was founded, which was almost equivalent to the Ministry of Revenue of the Han Dynasty. He was in a high position and had great power. However, after the industrialization of the Han Dynasty, the proportion of agriculture in the economy continued to decline, and income was also decreasing with continuous tax cuts. Now, billions of subsidies are required every year. Naturally, the status of the Grand Minister of Agriculture continued to decline.

The power of the Shaofu, Neishi, Shangji, Guidao, and Jianshe departments continued to increase. Among their small team, only Yuan Ang was qualified to compete for the position of prime minister.

However, the position of prime minister in the Han Dynasty was always highly competitive. It took hundreds of thousands of Han officials ten years to select four officials. Although their eldest brother Yuan Ang was the construction director, he also had outstanding achievements in his ten years in office. He added 400 million houses in the Han Dynasty, allowing the craftsmen of the Han Dynasty to live in the houses they built. Don't underestimate this point. Even in the hundreds of countries in the future, who dares to say that they can do this.

Yuan Ang had done a great deed just by ensuring that every craftsman had a house to live in. He also completed the expansion and electrification transformation of hundreds of cities. Yuan Ang also contributed to the Han Dynasty's promotion of Industry 2.0.

Moreover, the Han Dynasty's industrialization continued to deepen, with more and more factories and more and more craftsmen needed, which led to a continuous increase in urban population and the need for more and more cities to expand. Local land approvals all required review by the Construction Order. During the 10 years that Yuan Ang served as the Construction Order, he set up almost no obstacles to the land needs of local county governors.

Yuan Ang's merits are immeasurable for the local area. The higher the level of industrialization in the Han Dynasty, the more supporting facilities are needed. In the past, it was only necessary to build bridges, railways, roads, and canals, but now power plants, power grids, canals and other infrastructure have been added. The demand for urban expansion is also increasing. This leads to the local counties earning more but spending more.

Although the projects sought in the Sages' Conference are good, the review is too strict and not free. More importantly, it is difficult for this to become their political achievement, and local governments also need money to create their own political achievements.

The taxes collected by counties and prefectures all have a destination. Although the county's factory can make money and allow the counties to use it themselves, the pressure of market competition is too great. If they want to gain an advantage in the competition, they need to make continuous investments, constantly update new machines, continuously cultivate high-quality craftsmen, and create high-quality products. All of this points to one thing: money.

The purpose of building factories was to raise money for the counties, but once the factories were built, it was difficult to pay the money. If you force them to pay, these factories will really go bankrupt. Repaying the debts and relocating the workers will be a headache, and it may not be possible to clean up the mess even after several years of hard work. But the court was very strict in this regard, and whoever created the debt had to pay it back.

Therefore, the main purpose of the county shaofu factory is to become a major taxpayer in the local area, provide long-term and stable taxes to the local area, and provide a small amount of income. This money is distributed as welfare and can improve the income of local Han officials, but it is a bit beyond the capacity to carry out large projects worth hundreds of millions.

Relatively speaking, land income is their most stable source of income. Land for building factories is an income. The people of the Han Dynasty need to build houses, and buying land is another income. Real estate companies need to develop communities, and buying land is another income. If the local development is good, real estate tax is also a large income, especially this income does not need to be shared with the court.

In this way, it is not an exaggeration to say that Yuan Ang controlled the lifeline of local counties. If the counties wanted more money and political achievements, they had to establish a good relationship with Yuan Ang, the construction commander. Yuan Ang himself was also a man who was good at networking. Under his management, most of the county governors of the Han Dynasty had a good relationship with him, and they became strong supporters of Yuan Ang becoming the prime minister.

But Yuan Ang also understood that although local county governors could influence the emperor, their influence was extremely limited, and his political achievements were nothing compared to other competitors.

There were too many capable officials in the Han Dynasty, and the competition for the three highest officials became more and more fierce. Yuan Ang's achievements were not as obvious as those of Zhang Pijiang, Chen Mai, Liu Heng, Chao Cuo, and Zhang Shizhi, so they were also a little worried.

Some of them who came from the Prince's Mansion could become Nine Ministers and are now competing for the position of Prime Minister, but they are still only prefects with a salary of 2000 stones. Although for many Han officials, stones is an achievement that they will never achieve in their lifetime, for people like Gongsun Qi, they would be embarrassed to say hello to their colleagues in the Prince's Mansion if they did not become Nine Ministers.

To reach their position and go further, in addition to political achievements, having someone above them is still the key, so now Yuan Ang’s competition is also closely related to them.

Yuan Ang put down his wine glass and said with a smile: "I dare not say it is 100% certain, but I am 50% sure that I can become one of the Three Dukes."

Gongshu Qi was surprised and said, "Brother, are you so confident? Zhang Pijiang and Chen Mai are the emperor's scion, and their abilities are top notch in the Han Dynasty. I think I am far inferior to them. Liu Heng is a humble and low-key person with great achievements. He is also loved by the emperor and the emperor. I think these three people are likely to become the Three Dukes. As for the position of Imperial Censor, it has always been held by the Legalists. I think it will be either Chao Cuo or Zhang Shizhi."

Yuan Ang smiled and said, "The only difference between the three of them is their status. Your Majesty cannot allow all the prime ministers of the Han Dynasty to be from the nobility. One of the three of them will definitely fail."

Gao Di's eyes lit up and he said, "Then your chances are great."

Chao Cuo and Zhang Shizhi were both members of the Legalist School. They were competing for the position of Grand Censor, and the atmosphere became lively for a while.

Only Feng Tang said, "What a pity for Jia Yi."

Gongshu Qiyou gloated: "Jia Yi is just too arrogant. Even with the emperor's protection, he could have become one of the nine ministers of the Han Dynasty, but he still caused trouble that even the emperor couldn't protect him from."

Jia Yi's advice five years ago was eventually spread, causing the princes and nobles of the Han Dynasty to hate Jia Yi very much. It was obvious that the Han Dynasty was conquered by their ancestors, but Jia Yi, the treacherous minister, actually said that they, the princes, were enemies of the Han Dynasty. This was simply confusing right and wrong.

In the official system of the Han Dynasty, even though two generations of emperors had imposed restrictions, aristocratic elders still occupied important positions, and the higher the level, the higher the proportion. It is not wrong to say that they are the first political force in the Han Dynasty. Jia Yi's advice offended them all. It was from that year that the Han Dynasty had many accidents in building railways. In the 58th year of the Han Dynasty, the collapse of the Xiangjiang Railway Bridge in Nanjun caused hundreds of deaths and injuries. At that time, all walks of life in the Han Dynasty called for the killing of Jia Yi of the Track Department, believing that he had embezzled the money for building the railway bridge, which led to such a shoddy project. The accident investigation team sent by the Imperial Censor's Office in later generations also came to a very unfavorable conclusion for Jia Yi. In the end, Jia Yi was forced to retire and died of illness a year later.

Yuan Ang was relieved by Jia Yi's death, because he understood that his status in the emperor's heart was far inferior to Jia Yi's. If Jia Yi were still alive, the Legalists might have produced a prime minister of the Han Dynasty.

Now, even for the sake of balancing interests, the emperor cannot allow Zhang Pijiang, Chen Mai and Liu Heng to be prime ministers. This is his opportunity. He does not compete with these second-generation elders. He is confident that his network of contacts among the middle and high-level officials in the Han Dynasty is the strongest.

October 60, 10rd year of the Han calendar, Guanzhong.

In the sky above Hu County, a huge monster is flying quickly. This monster is hundreds of meters long and more than ten meters in diameter. Even at an altitude of 2000 meters, the people of Hu County can see this monster and then look at it with envy. The aviation industry of the Han Dynasty was developed very early. Decades ago, the Baiyue Marquis used hot air balloons to transport goods. Later, more and more merchants began to use hot air balloons to transport valuable and time-sensitive goods.

In addition, the wealthy second-generation nobles also like to play hot air balloon drifting, so the sky of the Han Dynasty is very lively. When the children in the city saw this scene, they even ran after the airship happily, as if they could catch up with the airship in the sky by this method.

Chen Mai looked at the Luoyang City below him, which looked like a small cube, and sighed, "Technology has advanced so fast that even something as ingenious as an airship can be created."

In the past, hot air balloons could only drift with the monsoon, which was very restrictive, but now the airships are like a Kunpeng floating in the sky.

Mei Xuan said proudly, "This Baiyue is 130 meters long and 12 meters in diameter. It uses the most expensive aluminum alloy in the Han Dynasty as its keel, which weighs 1400 kilograms. The interior is made up of 24 wooden bridges and a large number of longitudinal and radial long lines. The frame is covered with waterproof cloth. It is divided into two cabins, front and rear, each equipped with a 2-horsepower gasoline engine. There are 16 air bags in the boat, with a volume of 16 cubic meters, a load capacity of 225 tons, and a ceiling of 13 meters. The price is 25 million."

The Baiyue Kingdom has always had a demand for flying, and Mei Xuan himself built the first hot air balloon production factory in the Han Dynasty. The use of hot air balloons to transport luxury goods in Baiyue has become a brand. Lychees are not as expensive as rice in the Baiyue, but when they are on a hot air balloon, they are not only more expensive than gold, but also more expensive than silver. The nobles and wealthy businessmen of the Han Dynasty do not like to eat cheap canned food, but like to eat fresh lychees that are hundreds of times more expensive. There is also the Dahongpao from Wuyi Mountain, which is no longer cheaper than gold, but is 10 times more expensive than gold.

When it comes to the luxury goods industry, the Baiyue Kingdom has mastered it all. The value of the goods is not the key, but whether the buyer thinks it is worth the price is the key.

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However, the defect of hot air balloons was that they could only float according to the seasons, which affected the Baiyue Kingdom's ability to make money. When the new airship appeared, especially because it had a power system compared to hot air balloons, Mei Xuan was overjoyed. The local government ordered an airship in Chen County. After a year, the cost of the airship was recovered by transporting luxury goods. Mei Xuan saw the potential of the Han Dynasty's high-altitude economy, so he ordered another five airships.

The Baiyue is Mei Xuan's own airship and the calling card of the Baiyue Kingdom. It is naturally decorated extremely luxuriously. It is not an exaggeration to say that a palace has been moved to this airship.

However, Zhao Tuo, a guest on the airship, was a little worried and said, "I was really blinded by my own greed and was bewitched by an old man like you to get on your so-called airship. If something goes wrong, I will not let you go even if I die."

Mei Xuan said with disdain: "Zhao Tuo, you are already 90 years old. Even if you die now, it is considered a long life. What is there to complain about? Chen Mai is young and strong and he has not complained yet."

Chen Mai smiled and said, "The younger generation has confidence in Dahan's products."

Mei Xuan and Zhao Tuo were also rare centenarians in the Han Dynasty. They lived from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty. There were only two centenarians like them in the entire Han Dynasty. Therefore, Chen Mai did not feel embarrassed at all to be humble in front of them.

Mei Xuan laughed and said, "Look at this awareness, no wonder he wants to rule the world."

Chen Mai said: "The talents of our Han Dynasty are as numerous as the stars in the sky. I dare not say that I can rule the world."

Zhao Tuo said in an unacceptable way: "We have already reached Guanzhong. What does the emperor want us two old men to do in Chang'an?"

Zhao Tuo was already ninety years old, and had reached the point where he could do whatever he wanted without breaking the rules. Even the emperor of the Han Dynasty did not dare to touch him easily, so he did not show any mercy.

He had no good feelings towards the Han Dynasty. He was a good king of Nanyue, but was forced to retire by the emperor. The court extended the favor to Nanyue, leaving only the Nanhai County to his eldest son Zhao Shi. The other Guilin and Xiang counties had been split into several counties by the court and governed directly. His other descendants only had the status of marquis in the Han Dynasty. Although they kept their rich lives, they lost their fiefdoms.

Chen Mai said solemnly: "I, the younger generation, follow the order of the emperor and want to discuss the relocation of the title with the two elders."

Zhao Tuo sneered and said, "I have spent half my life in the South China Sea. I don't want to leave. Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

Mei Xuan also hesitated and asked, "What does the emperor mean?"

The territory of the Baiyue Kingdom was roughly in the central Fujian area in later generations. It was surrounded by mountains and was an area of ​​eight mountains, one river, and one piece of farmland. That is, it relied on maritime trade and the sale of local cash crops such as fruits and tea to the Han Dynasty. In addition, Mei Xuan's brand strategy in recent years positioned the Baiyue Kingdom as a luxury goods producer and was relatively wealthy. Naturally, he did not want to move his fiefdom.

After hearing what Chen Mai said, the first person Mei Xuan thought of was Xu Fan. He wanted to use Xu Fan as a backer. Now there were not many founding ministers of the Han Dynasty, and he believed that the emperor would protect him.

Chen Mai had no choice but to take out a document and said, "Two seniors, please take a look at the new kingdom that the court has prepared for you. I promise that you will not be disappointed."

Zhao Tuo was unmoved. Although Nanyue was left with only one county, it was the richest region in the entire Baiyue land. Especially after the Age of Exploration, Panyu was the most important port of navigation for the Han Dynasty. Maritime transport brought a huge amount of wealth to Nanyue. Now Panyu alone had a population of more than 50, making it the most dazzling pearl in the entire South China Sea. He naturally did not want to exchange territory with the court. What good territory could the emperor give him in exchange! Kuaiji County? Linzi County? The overseas territory of the Han Dynasty was not as good as that of Nanyue.

Mei Xuan took the document from Chen Mai and said hesitantly, "Rixi County?"

Chen Maidao said, "Rixi County is located in the border of Daqinzhou. It originally belonged to the Seleucids. In order to develop the economy and use the power of our Han Dynasty to resist the Xiongnu, the Seleucids sold the territory of Rixi County to our Han Dynasty. The area is about 20,000 square kilometers. Although it is not large, there are oil resources underground. According to the court's exploration, there are tens of billions of barrels of oil and hundreds of billions of cubic meters of natural gas underground. It is a rich place."

Mei Xuanyou's heartbeat quickened, and he covered his chest with his hands. The Han Dynasty now has more than one million cars, and even the streets of Baiyue are full of busy cars. In addition to the asphalt products, kerosene, and petrochemical products that the Han Dynasty needs, the Han Dynasty consumes more than 50 million barrels of oil a year. The price of a barrel of oil is coins, and the annual output value is over billion. According to Chen Mai, there are hundreds of billions of wealth underground in Rixi County, which is richer than a mountain of gold. After all, the cost of mining gold is very high, but digging oil only requires opening an oil well.

(End of this chapter)