Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 159 The Importance of Top Scholars, Li Yuanji's Heart-Palpitating Inadequacies
In the next two days, when Cen Wenben had learned all about the situation in Haikang and Lingnan, he was shocked and immediately came to Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, I want to get started right away. Please start making the arrangements."

Li Yuanji was delighted when he saw Cen Wenben, who was full of energy.

"Okay, since Jingren has this idea, let's get started. Dahe should have been handed over, right? The focus of development here now is to reclaim wasteland. This cannot be stopped. We must ensure arable land so that we can have more food and accommodate more people.

The second thing is the expansion of the city. You mentioned earlier that we need to increase the population quickly. We have already determined that, but when people come, they must have a place to live. The expansion of the city is also urgent. Then there is the population. Currently, Haikang has more than 158,600 people, and it must be expanded to 300,000 as soon as possible.

This number is only the first goal at hand. Later we need to find ways to increase the population to 500,000, 1 million, 2 million, 5 million, and then tens of millions. However, that is a bit far off, so let's take it one step at a time.

Then the most important thing is commercial trade. Now, many commercial commodities have been formed here. Except for military ones, such as weapons and armor, all other ones can be sold. And after we replace our weapons and build better weapons, all the weapons we have now can be sold.

Of course, weapons and other things are things for the future and cannot be confirmed now, but commercial trade is the core of development. Yang Cheng and Pei Xuanyan are in charge of trade. After this time, there should be merchants from the Tang Dynasty and neighboring countries coming here, and trade will surely develop then.

The only pity nowadays is that the roads in Lingnan are difficult to travel. The sea route is smoother, but there are still too few people who own large ships. Moreover, today's ships cannot sail long distances and are relatively slow, which limits Lingnan's exchanges with the outside world.

But these are already being changed. What you need to do now is just these for the time being. Oh, there is one more thing, which is road construction. Now all the cement roads within Haikang have been opened. The next step is to open up roads to Xuwen, Zhanjiang, and Shenchuan.

Road construction is also very important. As I said just now, the biggest difficulty hindering the development of Lingnan is roads. If you want to get rich, you must build roads first. You must remember this and build roads as soon as possible. As long as the roads are open, they will naturally drive development.

Now these are the main things to do, and I will leave it all to you. Every task is very important and must be done well. "

What Li Yuanji is talking about now are just big problems. The most urgent issue now is that there are many other things to deal with. Moreover, it is not easy to implement these things. Ning Chun was handling these things before, and now finally someone has changed to experience this kind of busyness.

Cen Wenben frowned and kept in mind everything Li Yuanji said. At this moment, Cen Wenben felt a little numb. Ning Chun had said a lot to him here. Now, none of what Li Yuanji said was easy. No wonder Ning Chun had been complaining to him these two days. Now Cen Wenben also understood.

These tasks are very tiring for everyone, but there is no way to deal with them. Who can blame Li Yuanji for not having anyone else who can take the lead? They have to personally check these things, which is very tiring. Now he is just listening and has not started to do them, but he has a headache.

At this moment, Cen Wenben really admired Ning Chun, a native of Lingnan. No wonder he grew so fast. Cen Wenben even thought that Ning Chun was brought by Li Yuanji from Chang'an. Now he knew that with so many things to do in a day, it was impossible not to make progress.

After a while, Cen Wenben looked at Li Yuanji.

"I have noted it all. I plan to keep the land reclamation unchanged. I think the most important thing now is the population and the expansion of the city. As for the roads, they will be started first, but the manpower input will definitely not be too much.

I plan to gather people from the surrounding areas to Haikang. The cities of Xuwen, Zhanjiang, and Shenchuan will only need to have a population of 50,000 to 100,000 for the time being, and the rest of the people will gather here first. I plan to use large ships and send soldiers to transport the people here by land and sea.

At the same time, special personnel will be arranged in each state to appease the Liao people, so that they can get out of the mountains as soon as possible, allow them to become naturalized citizens as soon as possible, and strive to replenish the population of Haikang as soon as possible.

Then there is one more thing. During my visits these days, I have discovered that almost all the people under the king are from Chang'an. I think this situation is very dangerous. I suggest that the king build a school here and recruit students for teaching.

Students in the school do not need to be very talented, as long as they have a certain foundation, they can be arranged to various places in due time. Now the king’s prestige here is unmatched. Those who are taught among these people, once they become officials in various places, will surely be the king’s most loyal subjects.

By then, no one will be able to shake the king's foundation in Lingnan. At the same time, the shortage of local officials at the lowest level will also be solved.

This is the problem I heard Dahe talk about yesterday. Nowadays, our officials are almost all tall ones picked from among short ones. Some of them can't even read. They just have a little experience or some reputation in the local area, but they are directly appointed. This is not good for the future development of Lingnan.

Especially, the number of the flirtatious people here is far more than that of the Han people. It can be said that the people here are almost unintelligent. The establishment of the school can also help these flirtatious people to become intelligent. In this way, they will definitely be more integrated.

Although it is difficult to set up a school, once it succeeds, the king will benefit greatly. I suggest that the school should be opened."

Li Yuanji was shocked and annoyed when he heard what Cen Wenben said. Why didn't he think of the school? He often complained that he had no one under him, but he could obviously train talents.

He does not need to train many talents. What he needs most now are low-level officials. He has not touched the officials in various states as long as they are not too extreme. This is because if he touches them, he will have no one to arrange and he has to continue using them.

He knew that establishing a college was very important, but he had never thought about it before. No one around him, such as Wang Xuance and Ning Chun, had ever raised this issue to him. Fortunately, Cen Wenben brought it up now, otherwise when would he be able to react?
Li Yuanji was suddenly very excited. It was just a matter of talent. He didn't have any, but couldn't he cultivate one himself?

"Haha, Jingren, you reminded me rightly. It's such a simple question, how come I never thought of it?
This matter is now handed over to you. First, build the college. It cannot be too small. In the early stage, it will mainly focus on training local officials. Later, when it develops, we will focus on training some outstanding talents.

As for the issue of books, I will take care of it and make sure that every student has books to read. As for the teachers, Jingren, you have to work hard first. After the academy is established, we will start recruiting students immediately, and you can teach first.

I will write to the saint now to transfer that old man Kong Yingda here. They are the most suitable people for studying. "The difficulty in establishing an academy nowadays lies in the teachers and books. It is still the era of aristocratic families, and knowledge is still controlled by aristocratic families. Even when Li Shimin came to power and re-used the imperial examination, those who could participate in the imperial examination were almost all family members, and there were no real common people.

Teachers are the difficulty for him. They are not a problem in Chang'an. As for books, he already has them in the Prince Qi's Palace. Although they are not complete, he can ask Li Yuan for them. Didn't Li Yuan strengthen his power to balance Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin?
Now it's time for Li Yuan to start paying. He has already been willing to be Li Yuan's pawn. If these demands are not met, he will turn the table over.

When Cen Wenben heard what Li Yuanji said, the corner of his mouth twitched suddenly. He was really speechless. He was just right there and was happy to receive another big thing to do. He had always thought that he would be extremely busy, and now he was even busier and had more things to do.

But Cen Wenben did not regret it. In his opinion, this matter had to be done sooner or later, so it was better to do it early. The sooner he started, the sooner he could benefit.

Then Cen Wenben was full of worry again.

"Your Majesty, I have no problem teaching these things. We can also arrange for some people from Chang'an to enter the academy to teach first, but Your Majesty, the most important thing is books. We must have people start copying them now, otherwise there will definitely not be enough books.

Moreover, the books in the palace may not be complete, so we have to find a way to complete the books. It’s okay now, but it will definitely not be possible later.

As for writing a letter to the Saint, I suggest that you submit the matter of books as well, and ask the Saint to deliver some books. In addition, if the King has manpower in Chang'an, try to transfer some more. Once the academy is established, more manpower will be needed. "

Cen Wenben was full of worries, and Li Yuanji was also having a headache. He didn't have any manpower in Chang'an. He had brought all the people he could bring. Now the only people he could count on were Yang and Wei.

Li Yuanji sighed inwardly, thought for a while, and then spoke slowly.

"There is no manpower left in Chang'an. How about this? Yang Cheng and Wei Ye brought some people here, and now they are busy with things. You can transfer a few people back later. That's it. I will write a memorial and send it to the saint later.

As for the issue of books, don't worry, I'll take care of it, and it will save the manpower to copy them, which will also reduce your burden."

Li Yuanji was ready to bleed heavily this time. Although Li Yuan himself said that he wanted to strengthen his strength, if he could make Li Yuan happy, he might get unexpected gains. It was impossible that Li Yuan would only send him Kong Yingda when he wanted one, right?
If this is really the case, Li Yuanji said that if you want him to bleed again in the future, not only will there be no door, there will be no windows either.

As for copying books, why do we need to use the primitive method of hand copying? He can't do complex printing, but can't he do simple printing?
It just so happens that by developing printing, one can also control the lifeline of an aristocratic family. Those aristocratic families dare to act so rampantly because no matter who is in power, they have to use them, because the knowledge is in their hands, while ordinary people outside do not have it.

It is difficult for the court to make changes. The issue of books is a huge limitation. If people are hired to copy, then it will be like the Imperial College today. No, it is still called the Imperial College. It was only changed to the Imperial College in the first year of Zhenguan. The court employs so many people, and most of them are responsible for copying. The cost is simply unbearable and cannot be implemented.

With printing, this constraint can be broken directly. Li Yuanji thought that if it was really brought out, the first people to suffer would probably be most of the people in the Imperial College. They would be directly unemployed.

Cen Wenben listened to Li Yuanji's solemn assurance and stopped thinking about it. Li Yuanji had created too many miracles now. As long as Li Yuanji said he could solve it, Cen Wenben would completely believe it. There had been so many miracles, it seemed that this one wouldn't make a difference, right?
Then Cen Wenben spoke again.

"Your Majesty, there is one more matter besides this, which is about Feng Ang. I heard from Dahe and General Xie that Your Majesty has not yet given Feng Ang a clear official position, which is probably not a good thing.

Feng Ang was originally the Duke of Geng, and now Feng Ang leads twenty-one states to follow the king directly, making a great sacrifice. The king should give Feng Ang a position, even if the official position the king can give him is not as high as the current one, but Feng Ang follows the king after all, and the king must have it.

Now that Shu Fang is the Left General of Chariots and Cavalry of the Royal Palace, Your Majesty can appoint Feng Ang as the Right General of Chariots and Cavalry of the Royal Palace of Qi. At the same time, recruit Feng Ang's sons Feng Zhidai and Feng Zhiyu into the Royal Palace as officials to show your important role to Feng Ang and to reassure Feng Ang.

Although the king now uses Feng Ang's eldest son Feng Zhixun, which is very good, it is not enough. Feng Ang has a high status in Lingnan and is of great help to the king. It can be said that without Feng Ang, it would be even more difficult for the king to develop Lingnan.

In this regard, the king can only reuse his son to show his love for him, and also to let everyone see that the king will never destroy those who follow him. Now Feng Ang has given up the government affairs of the twenty-one states and is only responsible for the army. Feng Ang has made too many sacrifices.

In addition, including Tan Dian, his heir, the king should also take him into the palace as an official to show that the king values ​​him, so that Feng Ang and Tan Dian will die for the king. "

Li Yuanji listened to Cen Wenben's words and couldn't come back to his senses for a long time. He originally thought that these things were nothing, but after Cen Wenben talked about it, he realized how important this matter was. He didn't think about it seriously before, and no one around him mentioned it. After getting busy, he forgot about it.

Li Yuanji was really frightened at this moment. Feng Ang and Tan Dian, especially Feng Ang, had made great sacrifices after his arrival, and it was indeed because of the help provided by Feng Ang that he was able to develop relatively smoothly.

Places like Guangzhou in Lingnan, where development was slightly better, were kept going for so long because Feng Ang had sent several large ships of supplies each time. Those supplies were Feng Ang's accumulation in Lingnan, and he gave them all to him.

Li Yuanji was really glad at this moment that Cen Wenben had pointed out all the things he had not thought of and his shortcomings.

It was also at this moment that Li Yuanji deeply realized the importance of having truly top-notch civil officials by his side, who could really help him identify and fill in the gaps.

(End of this chapter)