Chapter 295 China
“As a ruler, you should not just be a tool for reviewing memorials. You should have your own ideas.”

“In this way, your country will develop according to your ideas.”

“Of course, just don’t overthink it. Just like Emperor Yang of Sui, he was a man of great talent and strategy.”

“Move the capital to Luoyang, dig a canal, and conquer Goguryeo.”

“But because they don’t know the hardships of the people, they don’t care to know their hardships.”

“So the country was eventually destroyed.”

“In the past, people were not paid for corvée labor, and they even had to bring their own food on the way.”

“It’s not like now, when people work, they are paid. They are even paid enough to support their entire family.”

“In fact, giving money is also beneficial.”

“This will equalize the rich and the poor and prevent the poor from rebelling.”

“Our Zhao family wants to be the family that stands at the top of the world, so we must always have this awareness in our minds.”

“To keep the world in a relatively balanced state of consciousness.”

“We can’t let officials and businessmen monopolize all the wealth. We should give some to the poor.”

“That way the poor won’t rebel.”

“The country will not perish, and we can always stand at the top and enjoy the wealth and privileges that come with being at the top.”

“Actually… the one I’m most worried about is you.”

“Because I know very well that you have too little experience and have seen too little.”

“I can only tell you as soon as I find a chance.”

“I don’t know how many years I have left.”

……

The last sentence is an exclamation.

But to be honest, living too long is not actually a good thing.

after all……

If you always occupy the official position, then the prince will only be the prince for the rest of his life.

Therefore, Zhao Xin has also thought about at what age it would be best for him to retire.

otherwise……

The prince will always live under his shadow.

can only say……

Speed ​​up the development of technology.

Once you have developed all the technologies that you understand, it is time for you to step down.

……

This year.

Let the people of a certain state in Hebei report their own land and taxes.

Zhao Xin did not take a closer look at those areas where the average acreage was less than 20 mu.

Don’t think that these poor peasants won’t hide their land.

For example, it is very likely that someone might secretly expand the land next to his own by another half an acre.

Mainly looking at those who own more than 300 acres of land.

Even thousands.

Especially those who are officials.

Conduct random checks. If the actual results are too different from the reported ones, would it be too much to send someone to inquire with the other party?

If the other party is sensible, he will naturally admit that it is his mistake.

But if the other party refuses to admit it even if you beat him to death.

Then Zhao Xin could only sentence the other party on charges of tax evasion and deceiving the emperor.

And don’t you say…

This time we actually caught more than a dozen.

Then confiscate any unreported excess property and distribute it to the local poor for cultivation.

at the same time……

Those who evaded taxes would be exiled to Ryukyu to do hard labor for five years to reform themselves.

This also made everyone in Zhao Xin’s business group shudder.

mainly……

Everyone here must have some land to hide, to a certain extent.

This is not!

The counterattack of the literati began immediately.

First, he kindly told Zhao Xin that the square field law disturbed the people and made them feel uneasy. He also listed some people who did not have much land and had secretly reclaimed the land. If the taxes on these people were to be increased, they would definitely not be able to survive.

Immediately afterwards…

Someone else reported that some people in Zhao Xin’s merchant group concealed a large amount of land in order to prevent Zhao Xin from implementing the Square Field System.

Zhao Xin could only say that it seemed that you all didn’t like to implement the square field system, so from now on it would depend on God’s will. If there was a disaster in a certain place and the people couldn’t make ends meet and wanted to rebel, I would implement the square field system in that place.

All officials were speechless.

Is there any official like you who treats things like this?
but……

At least not all of them were implemented.

This is a blessing among misfortunes.

But Sima Guang then said, “If this is the case, then local officials will certainly conceal the disaster, which will be detrimental to future disaster relief.”

Zhao Xin also said: “So the moral standards of officials in my Song Dynasty have become so low?”

“Then add another rule. If any official conceals the disaster, all his property will be confiscated, and he will be sent to Ryukyu for five years like those dozen people, and then demoted to a civilian.”

can only say……

Many people hated Sima Guang to death.

You are the only one who talks too much!

It is certain that some officials are dissatisfied with Zhao Xin.

only……

There is no other way.

……

After returning to the harem.

Zhao Xin also said to Zhao Zhe: “In fact, your father naturally knows that if he does this, they will definitely slander me in the history books, and they may even say that I am mean and ungrateful, but there is nothing we can do!”

“It’s like when a person’s body is dirty, they have to wash it and get rid of the fleas on it.”

“Otherwise, this person will not live long.”

“Then do you know why I don’t just push it all the way?”

Zhao Zhe then asked, “Is it because the resistance in the court is too great?”

Zhao Xin said, “Actually… I knew they would resist, so I only picked a dozen of them to serve as an example. In fact… being an official is really tiring, especially being a good official. You have to fight against all kinds of people all the time.”

“Besides…if you can’t even keep yourself clean, let alone fight with others.”

Zhao Zhe also said: “Just like your business group, Dad?”

Zhao Xin said: “I’m not saying that I want to protect them, but I know that land inspections have always been difficult to do since ancient times.”

“Even if it is my business group, we will not show mercy if we find out about it in the future.”

“Besides, the sooner you do something like this, the better. If you wait until it’s too late to turn back, it will be too late.”

“Of course, I can do all this because I am more confident than anyone else.”

“I conquered the Liao Kingdom.”

“I also conquered Xixia.”

“If I were just a person without any merit, and I inherited the position of the official family just because I am the crown prince.”

“Something like this won’t be that easy.”

“From now on… you will also have to form your own team.”

Zhao Zhe asked, “When was that?”

Zhao Xin: “Are you anxious?”

Zhao Zhe also said: “But Zhao Hong and the others already have their own team.”

Zhao Xin said, “It’s not that Daddy doesn’t want you to have your own team, but it’s too expensive to start supporting them now.”

“I’ll give you a budget of 500 people. I only had 500 people at the beginning.”

“We can bring in the noble sons of Liao, Xixia, Bohai, etc.”

“You have to find a way to make yourself the most prestigious person among them.”

Zhao Zhe also asked: “Then how can I become the most prestigious person among them?”

Zhao Xin said, “How would I know that?”

“However, there are some historical figures that can be used as references. For example, Liu Bang was more concerned about loyalty than money. Therefore, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, most people were willing to follow Liu Bang. As long as Liu Bang had meat to eat, he would not let you just drink soup.” “Another example is Li Shimin. He was very fond of crying, and every time he went to war, even as a prince, he would still lead the troops. The key point is that he was also good at archery, and six of his war horses died. Who wouldn’t want to join such a person?”

Zhao Zhe also asked: “What about you, Dad?”

Zhao Xin thought about it and said, “What kind of prestige does your father have? I just have a good father who allows me to do whatever I want and inherit his influence.”

“Later, he won military merits and pacified the four barbarians, but that is a story for another time.”

“In fact, the ministers in the court were not very enthusiastic about attacking Goryeo and Jiaozhi.”

“It’s just my wishful thinking that I want to fight.”

“That’s true, actually!”

“People can’t get much benefit from it, so of course they won’t flatter you.”

“That is what Ouyang Xiu said, far surpassing the Han and Tang dynasties.”

“If you conquer Goryeo and Jiaozhi, more people will be able to go to these places to serve as officials, then maybe they will flatter you.”

Zhao Zhe also asked: “Then why don’t you do that, Dad?”

Zhao Xin said, “Don’t you think about it? Goryeo and Jiaozhi were places where officials who committed crimes were exiled. If you put them in such places, it would be good if they don’t scold you.”

Zhao Zhe thought about it and asked, “Then Dad, why don’t you let Zhao Hong and the others go?”

Zhao Xin said, “Because at least they can be kings alone, but you, an official, can’t be king if you go there.”

“Rather than being a royal family member who can’t even hold an official position in the Song Dynasty and just eat and wait for death, it would be more interesting to run away and make decisions on my own.”

“If your father was not your grandfather’s only son, but had a prince, I would be just a prince.”

“At this moment, your father would definitely run out without hesitation.”

……

The end of the year.

Youzhou City and Kaifeng City have introduced new things.

Wax cylinder phonograph.

For only fifty strings of cash each, you could take the wax cylinder phonograph home.

As a new toy, it can replace paper and pen to preserve people’s voices. In the future, when delivering letters, there will be no need for letters, but wax cylinders can be used directly.

Many people bought it out of curiosity.

It can be used to convey information between good girlfriends, good brothers, and good friends.

and……

For example, the songs sung by a singer can be burned into wax cylinders.

only……

Due to the limitations of the material, the sound of the wax cylinder can usually only be heard about five to ten times.

You can’t listen to it as many times as you can a vinyl record.

Of course, Zhao Xin has also released a variety of songs.

in fact……

Now, there is one thing that makes Zhao Xin worried.

That is……

Although the territory of the Song Dynasty is large today, it has been difficult to form a general sense of identity for this country.

I can only say that this is not a good thing.

So this is why Zhao Xin asked Shen Kuo to invent the phonograph.

Because through this phonograph, some culture and ideas can be spread to more distant places.

Next…

In addition to strengthening economic ties, what needs to be done is to integrate people of all ethnic groups through culture.

therefore……

Only then did Zhao Xin promote some people who knew and were good at painting.

It would be perfect if we could draw portraits of the 56 ethnic groups and pair them with the song “Love My China”.

At the end of the year.

Under the leadership of Cai Jing, painters including Guo Xi, Li Gonglin and some painters from the Liao Dynasty tried to complete such paintings.

He drew the costumes, men and women of different ethnic groups and spread them around the world.

Whether it is the grasslands in the north, Goryeo in the east, Jiaozhi in the south, Tubo in the west, or the Western Region Uighurs.

from now on……

We all have a common name, China.

of course!

You may not agree.

The consequence of your disagreement is that the Song Dynasty’s army will arrive at your doorstep next.

In fact, it’s easy to deal with those who have been defeated by Zhao Xin.

Now, perhaps only the Xizhou Uighurs may still have some objections.

But the desire to resist is not very strong.

Anyway…

It’s just a name, a code name.

After receiving the imperial edict, each tribe selected two good-looking people from their own country or tribe and sent them to the Song Dynasty.

then……

On the Song Dynasty side, all the people and all the subtle details of their costumes were drawn.

can only say……

The amount of work is still a bit huge.

The key is that Zhao Xin also requires the painting to be more refined, which requires more time.

Although there was a tribute system in the past, as long as you came to pay tribute, you were one of us.

But Zhao Xin felt that this was far from enough.

We still have to let everyone have a common name.

The officials in the court naturally did not understand the significance of Zhao Xin’s actions.

It is believed that Zhao Xin is old and probably wants to make the content in his history books look better.

For example, like Emperor Yang of Sui, he organized a tribute ceremony for all nations and provided those who came to pay tribute with free food and drink.

of course!

The cost Zhao Xin needed to do this was much less than that of Emperor Yang of Sui.

After the second year.

These paintings began to spread all over the place gradually.

Not only the leader of a certain country or tribe received this painting.

If only the tribal leader received the painting and then the other party hid it and never let the local people see it, then it would be meaningless.

Zhao Xin asked someone to post it where everyone could see it.

When the leader of the Western Region Uighurs saw the paintings of civil servants from the Song Dynasty, he didn’t feel anything special. He just felt that the figures were painted to be rather weak.

But when I saw the painting of a man wearing armor and holding a sword with the sword stuck in the ground while sitting, I was a little scared.

He even couldn’t help but ask the Han official who came over to post the poster: “Are these the elite troops of your Song Dynasty?”

The Han official also corrected the other party: “You should say, this is the elite of our China?”

Looking at the armor pieces glowing white, the Uighur officials of Xizhou could only say that they felt as if they had returned to the Tang Dynasty.

There are also Han people living there, although their number is relatively small.

When I saw this painting, I immediately felt full of pride.

of course!

In fact, people of other nationalities are not bad either.

And when this painting spread further west…

Karakhanid Kingdom.

The two countries, which had originally split into the Eastern and Western Karakhanid Kingdoms, had to take this matter seriously.

after all……

The influence of China has already extended here.

Then…

That is to send people to pay tribute.

As the news spread further and further, even the Seljuk Empire further west learned that the Song Dynasty had made a big move in the Western Regions.

and……

It is known that the current territory of the Song Dynasty has even recovered to some extent to the appearance of the original Tang Dynasty.

At this time, the Seljuk Empire had almost reached its peak.

(End of this chapter)