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

Chapter 706: The princes seek support and new troops

October 60, 10th year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, Qi Palace.

This place is where the elders of the Han Dynasty retire. Most of the retired ministers of the Han Dynasty will stay here. On the one hand, staying in Chang'an City can continue their influence and safeguard the progress of their family's future generations.

On the other hand, it is also because the medical treatment in Chang'an City is better. In Chang'an City, they can live longer, which the elders who stayed in Chang'an have a deep understanding of.

There are many elders in the Qi Palace who are in their seventies and eighties and are still in good health and can walk normally. The retired emperor, Feng Jing, and Funian are over 90 years old and still vigorous. Last year, Zhang Cang celebrated his 100th birthday and became the first centenarian of the Han Dynasty. These are the best signs. However, among the princes who have opened up the desert overseas, there are not many who can live beyond 60 years old.

There is such a strong contrast that even the overseas princes of the Han Dynasty like to abdicate early and return to Chang'an to retire. So to some extent, the Qi Palace is another political center of the Han Dynasty. On the one hand, it is because these princes and elders have a huge network of people. On the other hand, these abdicated princes and elders usually have the title of consultant in the Zhongshujian. The emperor will often ask the elders about these state affairs. The emperor is the power center of the Han Dynasty. The elders who are close to the emperor will gain some power.

Especially during the Han Dynasty's princes' conference, envoys from princes from all over the country gathered in Chang'an City. Some of these princes came to visit their fathers, and some came to visit their uncles to build relationships, so the palace would be extremely lively in October and November every year.

Qi Palace, garden area.

Xu Fan and Mei Xuan were playing Chang'an's latest sandbox chess game "Qin and Han Dynasty". This was a war chess game that Xu Fan made after his retirement based on the "Cao Cao Biography" he played. Of course, as there were no computers, the calculation of values ​​required several soldiers to do it, and there must be a relatively professional strategic sandbox that could both simplify the real terrain and ensure the position of the strategic core, which was a test of their understanding of sandbox operations.

But these problems were nothing to the elders of the Qi Palace. Recruiting a few advisers to act as referees for them was just a matter of going to the Taiwei Mansion to say hello.

This kind of battle flag game is simpler to understand and more playable than the formal sandbox. It is closely related to the military, and they can even see their own numbers on it, so it is very popular here.

The battlefield that Xu Fan and Mei Xuan are playing on now is the Yellow River Battle of that year. Xu Fan plays himself, and his generals like Han Xin, Cao Xing, Song Liu, Peng Yue and other generals are on it, while Mei Xuan's commanders are Meng Tian, ​​Su Jiao and other generals of the Qin Dynasty.

The referees are Chen Mai and Yingxiong, who are relatively young people. Although they are all in their fifties, the youngest veteran here is over sixty, and the oldest is over a hundred years old. They are truly young people here.

Zhang Cang, Fusheng, Zhao Tuo and others were watching from the side, which made the place seem very lively.

"I didn't expect that at your age, you would be willing to leave the Kingdom of Nanyue." Zhang Cang pointed at Zhao Tuo and laughed.

Zhao Tuo seldom came to the Han Dynasty. According to Zhang Cang's memory, there were only two times. One time was after the world was pacified, when Zhao Tuo went to his hometown to worship his ancestors. Another time was when he came to Chang'an to attend the meeting of princes under the threat of the retired emperor. He was then forced to abdicate and his son Zhao Shi became the new King of Nanyue. It might be such bad experiences that made Zhao Tuo dislike coming to Chang'an.

Zhao Tuo said helplessly: "If Nanyue is stable, I don't want to come to Chang'an."

Don’t you understand why I don’t want to come to Chang’an City?

Zhang Cang understood what he meant. In recent years, the emperor's intention to extend favor to the south of the Yangtze River has been clear. There have been five princes who have implemented the policy of extending favor when the old and new dynasties take over. A good vassal state has been divided into several pieces, or even more than a dozen pieces. This depends entirely on the descendants left by the princes. After the extension of favor, the vassal states became fiefdoms, and the court immediately set up counties and established a ruling order.

Now the princes of Jiangnan are in trouble both internally and externally. Needless to say, the external pressure is the oppression of the imperial court. The internal pressure is also very simple. The eldest son naturally hates the Enfeoffment Order, but the other sons of the princes do not hate it at all. They are all princes, so why can the eldest son become the prince, while they can only be rich and idle, and their descendants can't even keep their wealth.

Although they still have the option of going to the Han Dynasty to study, the Han Dynasty court has been continuously expanding its schools over the years, and the number of students is hundreds of times more than in the founding period. They have to compete with hundreds of poor scholars alone, and the pressure is too great. Although their success rate is very high due to family relationships, it is also one person who goes up, and 10 people serve as stepping stones. A large number of them are working as minor officials at the grassroots level, but most of them have lived a wealthy life since childhood, and it is difficult for them to adapt to the complicated government affairs at the grassroots level, especially after living such a life for decades. Many people will leave on their own when they see no way out.

The imperial court's Enfeoffment Order was their favorite policy. Although they could not become princes, they could become viscounts with fiefs, and barons were not bad either.

These heirs have their mothers, and pillow talk has always been the most powerful. Not to mention that even the mothers of their eldest sons also hope that their other sons can also get some land. The backyards of the princes in the south of the Yangtze River are on fire.

Zhao Tuo does not have many choices now. In order to stabilize the land of Nanyue, he intermarried with many large local tribes and had many wives and concubines. He had more than thirty children in his lifetime, twenty of whom survived, including six sons. Later, he was granted a vassal state and five earldoms by the emperor. However, he has hundreds of grandchildren. If the emperor continues to grant him favors, his descendants will become powerful people in some lands.

Zhang Cang smiled calmly and said, "You are a Zhao native, but you served as a Qin general and eventually became the King of Nanyue. You even wore the emperor's clothes and rode in a chariot. Dozens of your descendants became princes and nobles. Compared to those heroes who died in the war, what else can you be dissatisfied with?"

Zhao Tuo was still a little unwilling and said: "The court can't keep bullying people like this."

Zhang Cang laughed and said, "Where are the monarchs of the seven kingdoms now? You, Zhao Tuo, have been rich and powerful for most of your life, so what are you still not satisfied with? If it were during the time of the First Emperor, you would dare to bargain."

Zhao Tuo was speechless. The First Emperor was extremely domineering and always eliminated threats completely. He was a ruthless man who dared to kill all his relatives. Naturally, he did not dare to raise any opinions, but the Han court had always been reasonable, so he naturally wanted to be reasonable as well.

After only a few rounds of playing the battle flag game, Mei Xuan was completely suppressed by Xu Fan, but he didn't care about it. After all, the emperor was invincible on the real battlefield, so being suppressed on the chessboard was considered good.

But he took his chess model and said, "Your Majesty, which soldier set this? How could my strength be only 79? I want to teach him a lesson and show you if you are a third-rate general."

The values ​​of these military generals and chess pieces are calculated based on their performance in real historical events, mainly in three aspects: military strength, wisdom, and command ability.

The standards for recruiting soldiers below were also set based on Xu Fan's data, with a hint of flattery. Xu Fan's three values ​​were all full marks of 100, while Xiang Yu's martial arts value was only 99. The famous generals of the Han Dynasty, Ying Bu's martial arts value was 98, Fan Kuai's martial arts value was 97, in terms of wisdom, Prime Minister Zhou Zhang's was 99, Zhang Liang's was 98, Chen Ping's was 97, and in terms of command rate, Han Xin's was 99, Ji Bu's was 98, and so on. These data cannot be said to be completely fair, but are relatively convincing to everyone.

But Mei Xuan was not convinced. It was okay that he was not as strong as his boss Ying Bu, but he was one of the top ten generals of the Han Dynasty. How could he have only 79 points of strength?

Zhao Tuo said contemptuously, "What famous generals have you killed? How many times have you achieved the four great military merits of beheading a general and seizing the flag, and being the first to charge into battle array? Xiang Yu and Ying Bu have all achieved these merits, and they have even done it more than once. You haven't done them once. If you're not a third-rate general, what are you?"

Mei Xuan looked at Zhao Tuo angrily, and Zhao Tuo glared at Mei Xuan without giving in.

But soon Mei Xuan laughed and said, "I am a third-rate general, but there are people who are not as good as me, with a force value of only 76. Now it seems that the rules set by those who joined the army are still very reasonable. They clearly know the limits of some people's abilities and did not let them get away with it."

Mei Xuan did participate in the Central Plains War after all, and he captured Xingyang together with Ying Bu. But after Zhao Tuo seized the military power of southern Xinjiang, he watched the Central Plains War between Han and Qin with cold eyes, and never fought a battle until the end of this chaotic era. The Han army staff ranked Zhao Tuo's martial arts value at 76, one because of his contribution to pacifying southern Xinjiang, and the other was that he was the King of Nanyue of the Han Dynasty, so it was not easy to give him a passing value, and he still had to know some human relationships and worldly wisdom.

Zhao Tuo wanted to say something, but Xu Fan stopped him, saying, "You are all old, it's just a game, what's there to argue about? If you think the number is too low, why don't you just make a battle flag game yourself and set it at 100?"

The two stopped arguing after Xu Fan stopped them.

Mei Xuan said to Xu Fan in a flattering manner: "Your Majesty, I brought the most advanced airship of the Han Dynasty to Chang'an this time. If you like, I can take you to see the scenery in the sky, or even to the Baiyue Kingdom. I have made some achievements in these years and have managed the Baiyue in an orderly manner. You should go to Baiyue to have a look." Fu Sheng, who was standing aside, glared at Mei Xuan and said: "The son of a wealthy family should not sit in the hall, let alone the emperor. If something really happens, you will be responsible for it."

Xu Fan looked at the nervous heroes around him and refused with a smile: "I won't take it, but I did hear about your use of airships to transport goods."

Then Xu Fan gave a thumbs up and said, "This can be regarded as the creation of an industry. Now that the Han Dynasty is becoming more and more wealthy, your airship can also expand its business and carry people. It can allow people to travel from morning to night, and travel thousands of miles in a day. There is a lot of room for development in the aviation industry."

Xu Fan had some impression of airships. Many novels said that airships were more suitable for air transportation, had a larger cargo capacity and lower costs. However, due to a serious airship accident in the United States that year, which killed many people, the airship technology tree stagnated, and was soon replaced by increasingly powerful aircraft.

Xu Fan didn’t know whether this statement was true or not, but if the Han aircraft industry wanted to develop now, it would be impossible without several decades. With such a long period of time, perhaps the airship industry could really take a different history.

Mei Xuan said happily: "Your Majesty, what you approve of is definitely a profitable business. After I go back, I will buy more airships to form a fleet. In the future, they will not only transport goods but also people."

After that, Mei Xuan was embarrassed for a long time and then asked in a low voice: "Emperor, is there really so much oil underground in Rixi County?"

Compared with the current emperor, Mei Xuan still trusts Xu Fan more. Xu Fan's attitude towards these heroes has remained the same for decades. Sometimes he would rather suffer losses himself than let these heroes suffer losses.

Xu Fan nodded and said, "No more, no less. If Baiyue is really relocated to Rixi County, as long as your descendants protect this country, a hundred years of prosperity can be expected. The power source of the machines in the first technological revolution was coal, and the power source of the second technological revolution was oil. In the future, the value of oil will become higher and higher, and its status will also become higher and higher."

Mei Xuan said happily: "Your Majesty, you have promised, I will listen to you, you will not let me suffer any loss."

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Xu Fan said: "But you must also be vigilant. You, the descendants of the Mei family, were born in adversity and died in comfort. If you are overthrown by the local people, don't blame the court."

Xu Fan had no good feelings towards the princes and nobles in this land in history. They guarded such a treasure land, but they didn't even build the most basic industrial foundation. Although the external factor of Bai Tou was also a big problem, any country that wanted to industrialize would have a lot of problems.

After entering modern society, countries that have not completed industrialization will sooner or later be swept into the dustbin of history, just like the zombie primitive civilizations that did not even enter the slave society during the Age of Discovery.

If Mei Xuan's descendants were also so corrupt, it would be better for them to be overthrown directly.

Then Zhao Tuo also looked at Xu Fan. He didn't like Xu Fan, but he also acknowledged Xu Fan's credit. He was a peerless hero who had lowered the moral and ethical bottom line since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. His moral bottom line was much higher than that of thousands of monarchs since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Xu Fan said: "If you are relocated to the desert peninsula, your descendants may be cursed as dog-rich people in the future."

With Xu Fan's guarantee, Zhao Tuo felt relieved.

At night, the Qi Palace became even more lively. Xu Fan, Zhang Cang, Fu Sheng, Zhao Tuo, and Mei Xuan were sitting in their seats, with other Han elders behind them. Dance troupes from various vassal states vied to perform for these Han elders.

The Han Dynasty extended favor to the south of the Yangtze River, but it also had the effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkey. In recent years, the princes of the Han Dynasty have been rather fearful. Every year, more and more princes came to the princes' conference, and more and more princes came to see Xu Fan.

Xu Fan also understood the thoughts of these princes, who wanted to use him to fight against his son.

But these princes did not know that Xu Fan was more radical than Xu Aimin. In Xu Aimin's eyes, the complete territory of the Han Dynasty might be the territory of the Qin Dynasty during its most vast period, but he believed that the Western Regions and Liaodong should also be integrated into the territory of the Han Dynasty, so he also agreed with the policy of extending favors and would not oppose his son's policies at all.

Chen Mai and Yingxiong were sitting behind Xu Fan. Yingxiong asked quietly, "Is there really no room for furtherance?"

Chen Maiyou said angrily, "You don't know what you've given up. The Desert Peninsula is called a desert, but it's full of oil. The emperor has guaranteed this. From now on, this piece of land will be called the Oil Peninsula. If you move Britain to the Oil Peninsula, your descendants will be well supported even if they increase to tens of thousands."

The hero said firmly: "How can I abandon the foundation that my father built after risking his life?"

Chen Maidao said, "The princes of Mobei have no way to relocate. Their foundations were not opened up by their fathers, so why don't they feel sorry at all? It's because Mobei is too barren and the environment is too harsh, so they want to escape from here. What foundation? It's all about money. If Jiangnan was the same as Mobei, you wouldn't be so determined."

Yingxiong thought for a moment and said helplessly, "Maybe, but Britain was not only built by my father, I have also been building Britain all my life. You are building the great world of Han, and I am also building my own small world in Britain. If I lose Britain, the great world I want to build will be gone. What is the meaning of my life?"

Chen Mai was stunned by what he said. He really hadn't thought about this. After a long while, he said helplessly: "Then you should stay in Jiangnan and wait for the court to extend favor. Anyway, you won't be able to see it by then."

September 60, 10th year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, the Imperial Guards camp.

Emperor Xu Aimin, led by the Wei Wei Liu Chang, came to the imperial guards camp. General Zhenjun Zhou Yafu, led by the military supervisor Xu Li and the military officer Cheng Bushi came to greet him.

Xu Aimin asked everyone to excuse themselves from formalities and said simply, "Take me to see the new army."

Zhou Yafu and his men said, "Yes!"

Then Zhou Yafu brought Xu Aimin to the new army camp in the camp.

Zhou Yafu looked at the brand new transport ships, jeeps, and motorcycles that were being cleaned all around him and said, "The new army is a motorized battalion with 430 transport vehicles, 100 assault jeeps, 50 reconnaissance motorcycles, and three reconnaissance airships that can gather intelligence within a radius of miles at an altitude of over meters."

Zhou Yafu became more and more excited as he spoke. When he was fighting the Huns in Daqinzhou, he discovered that tractors were more suitable for transporting military equipment and food than the mules and horses in the army. However, in the environment of Daqinzhou at that time, even he found it difficult to get a large number of tractors.

But after Han Anguo brought him the new Han car, he was pleasantly surprised to find that this machine was exactly the equipment he wanted. He then reported to the Taiwei Mansion, intending to experiment with the new army among the imperial guards so that all soldiers could march in cars.

Although Zhou Yafu's reform ideas were recognized by the Taiwei Mansion, the prices of transport vehicles, jeeps and motorcycles were too high. The price of equipment for one battalion exceeded 5000 million yuan, and the daily maintenance was more expensive than that of war horses, exceeding million yuan. In other words, to maintain this army, it would take four years to form another motorcycle battalion. The maintenance cost was too high, so high that even the Han Dynasty could hardly afford it.

(End of this chapter)