Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2119 Establishing a New Salt Supply System, Standardizing Writing, and Implementing Chinese Characters

September of the third year of the Yuan Shi era.

The busy Emperor Gaozu of Han, Wang Yu, finally had some free time to have a reunion dinner with his concubines, princes, and princesses at Xingqing Palace.

It is worth mentioning that Wang Yu now has a large family, with his number of children soon reaching two hands.

However, only the eldest son, Wang Yuan, was slightly older, at six years old, while the legitimate eldest son, Wang Zhi, was already three years old.

The rest are all under three years old.

Among them was Wang Qiong, the eldest daughter born in the first year of the Yuanshi era, who was born to Yelü Zhaoyang.

Queen Tong, also born in the first year of the Yuanshi era, was born to Venus.

In addition, there was Wang Yu, the third son born in the second year of the Yuanshi era, who was born to Lady Changsun.

Wang Sheng, the third daughter, was born in the second year of the Yuanshi era and was born to Lady Shangguan.

The fourth daughter, Wang Ling, was born at the end of the second year of the Yuanshi era. She was born to Bai Ruolan.

In addition, the fourth son, Wang Yi, and the fifth son, Wang Xun, were born in the third year of the Yuanshi era, respectively by Xu Qing and Ye Wanqing, daughters of the Xu family.

In addition, Helian Mingzhu, who has been found to be pregnant, means that Wang Yu's number of children will soon officially reach two hands.

In addition, there were two babies who died at birth, which were not included in the count.

In this era, infant survival was a major problem, even for royalty, let alone ordinary people.

With these new princes and princesses, the Han imperial family is now unified and finally has some vitality.

Wang Yu wanted to gather everyone together and have several reunion dinners.

However, three women make a drama, let alone more than a dozen women.

After a few gatherings at first, Wang Yu got annoyed by the noise and stopped having any so-called family reunion dinners.

Inside Xingqing Palace, Wang Yu held the wailing Fourth Princess Wang Ling in his arms, trying to soothe her no matter what he did. However, as soon as he handed her back to her mother, she became quiet and calm as if nothing had happened, leaving Wang Yu speechless.

The Prince of Yan had been ill for some time and had little appetite. However, he ate quite a bit today and has basically returned to a normal diet.

Before Wang Yu arrived, he had been discussing matters with his ministers in the cabinet, and had only eaten a few simple bites. He wasn't hungry yet, so he hadn't touched his chopsticks.

Seeing that the Prince of Yan had such a good appetite today, Wang Yu, who had already eaten, picked up his chopsticks again, which was quite unusual.

However, as soon as the dish entered my mouth, I realized that the taste was different from before.

"Has there been a breakthrough in salt production methods?" Wang Yu turned to ask Zhao Gao behind him.

Having just finished a major battle, the next step is to digest the newly acquired Henan, Guangyin, and Qingbei regions.

It was precisely for this reason that, starting from the third year of the Yuanshi era, the focus of the Han Dynasty began to shift more towards the people's livelihood.

Furthermore, after the Nangong family was overthrown, most of their salt fields and related salt trade were taken back by the imperial court.

Therefore, against this backdrop, Wang Yu innovated the method of salt production.

Traditional salt, limited by technology, contained numerous impurities. However, the emergence of new salt, especially pure white refined salt, has resulted in a significantly lower price compared to older salt. The impact on the market is therefore considerable.

At the same time, not only pure white salt appeared, but also pure white sugar, and even purer brown sugar.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works' workshops just had some work done last night, and a batch has been specially sent to the palace as a surprise for Your Majesty!" Zhao Gao then spoke.

Back on Earth, Wang Yu wasn't an engineering student. If you asked him to build airplanes or cannons, he definitely wouldn't be able to do it in his lifetime.

However, he can't handle the complicated salt-making process, but he doesn't know the basics, does he?
Therefore, Emperor Gaozu's salt-making method was officially established in May of the first half of the year.

Following his innovative salt-making method, Wang Yu instructed the craft workshop to further innovate, striving to classify refined salt into different categories based on quality.

Of course, with different qualities and additional packaging before leaving the factory, the prices will naturally vary drastically.

The salt supplied to wealthy merchants, powerful families, and aristocratic households must not be the same as that supplied to ordinary people. These wealthy merchants, powerful families, and aristocratic households are all rich people, and their money is much easier to earn than that of ordinary people.

"That's about enough. Tell the workshop that once this year is over, we should completely liberalize salt production!"

The new salt-making method emerged at the beginning of this year, but initially, production was not fully liberalized.

How many people did the Han Dynasty have?

To ensure the salt supply for so many people, the scale and production required are unimaginable.

He changed the salt-making method, and the salt he produced was not like that of other time travelers. His fundamental purpose was not for commerce.

In commercial terms, even if the demand is huge, the production volume is still limited and can naturally be concealed.

However, his innovative salt-making method was not for commercial use, but for the people's livelihood. In the future, it was intended to supply the entire Han Dynasty, and the required amount was considerable.

If production were to be carried out entirely on a Han Dynasty-wide scale, the new salt-making method could not be kept secret for long, given the output and scale.

Ultimately, this isn't really something that requires any technical expertise.

Compared to crossbows, which are truly technologically advanced, salt production is far too easy to copy.

Therefore, at the beginning of the year, the imperial court systematically and in a planned manner introduced new salt into the market.

After the Nangong family was destroyed, their salt-related business was taken back. Now, Wang Yu intends to use the new salt to disrupt the market and bring the entire salt administration of the Han Dynasty under the control of the imperial court.

Compared to the importance of reclaiming the salt administration to the imperial court, profitability had to take a backseat.

After the salt administration was taken back, production was then allowed to resume.

Judging from the current pace, Wang Yu should be able to finish this matter by the end of the year.

His Great Han is not Great Cang. These things related to the economic lifeline of the country cannot be placed in the hands of merchants, even imperial merchants.

Or rather, in the future, his Han dynasty will not need imperial merchants.

The salt administration was just the beginning!
After that, the mining of iron ore and other minerals, as well as the minting of coins, will all be gradually recovered.

After having a meal with the concubines, Wang Yu did not rest, but went to the Imperial Study to continue handling matters.

The Han Dynasty had only been established for a few years, and the world was still in great chaos. He had a lot to deal with every day.

However, compared to other emperors, his workload was relatively light.

At least, all the memorials sent to him had already been reviewed by the cabinet. Except for a few things that couldn't be decided, the cabinet would usually give their suggestions as a reply before submitting them to Wang Yu.

Therefore, relatively speaking, apart from a few important matters, Wang Yu basically only needed to mark the rest with a checkmark or an X. "Does the lady-in-waiting understand the text of this memorial?"

When he was halfway through approving the documents, Wang Yu handed one of the memorials to Shangguan Wan'er, the female official next to him.

Several hundred years have passed since the Great Wu Dynasty collapsed.

Over the past few hundred years, the written language of many dynasties has evolved. In other words, it would be problematic if it remained unchanged for hundreds of years.

Let alone in apocalyptic worlds, even on Earth, the writing systems of different dynasties are constantly evolving.

Although they all evolved from the script of the Great Wu Dynasty, there are still some similarities in the scripts of each dynasty.

However, it is true that many dynasties had their own written languages.

It's not just about written language, but also about cultural distinctions.

Different regions naturally develop their own unique regional cultures.

Although they belong to the Central Plains, the cultural differences between the northernmost Da Cang and the southernmost Da Wu may be even greater than the differences between Da Wu and the Northern Di.

In places like Wu and Cang in the north, the social atmosphere was open, and women could also serve as officials. However, in the Wu region of the south, the situation for women was similar to that of the Song Dynasty on Earth.

"Your Majesty, this memorial should be from Lanwen! It should be about the affairs of the Jian and Hao dynasties!"

After taking the memorial, Shangguan Wan'er glanced at it a few times. She didn't recognize most of the characters.

Unlike other dynasties, the four minor dynasties were located next to the former Da Cang, which is now the Han Dynasty. Their cultures were very similar in many ways. Although their writing systems differed, they were largely the same.

Therefore, although it's not a confirmed diagnosis, we can at least guess about 70-80% of it.

"Xuanling's memorial!"

"What do you think Xuanling intended by writing this memorial in Lanwen style?" Wang Yu glanced at the signature at the end of the memorial and asked thoughtfully.

"How dare I presume to discuss matters of state!"

“However, Governor Fang is a man of great talent in governing the country, or perhaps there is another reason behind it!” Shangguan Wan’er did not answer directly.

Although she was not a concubine in the Han Dynasty's imperial harem, she was a female official.

However, her official position was not that of a court official, but rather a palace official.

As for court officials like Wu Zetian, they could naturally speak freely about national affairs.

However, female officials in the palace must avoid any appearance of impropriety. The principle that the harem must not interfere in politics applies even in the alternate world of Tianqi.

Wang Yu smiled and didn't ask any more questions.

Some questions are asked with an answer in mind. Other questions are asked without the intention of getting an answer.

Shangguan Wan'er didn't give this answer, which made Wang Yu happy. In contrast, Zhao Gao was sometimes not so clear-headed.

As the commander of the floating house, he should know everything that is rightfully his and everything that is not rightfully his.

However, this does not mean that he is able to express his opinion after he knows about it.

Fortunately, although Zhao Gao has been somewhat out of his mind recently, he has not yet lost his mind and has not really gone too far.

Three days later, before the morning light had completely dispelled the shadows deep within the palace, the Linde Hall was already filled with a dense crowd of officials.

Wang Yu sat upright on the noble throne, his crown and tassels obscuring most of his face. Only his sharp, hawk-like eyes pierced through the beaded curtain, scanning the assembled civil and military officials below.

Inside the hall, the enormous bronze beast-shaped incense burner emitted wisps of smoke, yet it could not suppress the tension and restlessness permeating the air, born of the impending changes.

"My esteemed ministers, in the past few days, we have received numerous memorials from various regions, as well as official letters from our neighboring states!"

"Leaving aside our neighboring countries, even within our own Han Dynasty, there are four different scripts: Dongyi script, Cang script, Sheng script, and Lan script. They give me quite a headache!"

He slammed his hand on the armrest of the throne, making a sharp "smack" that startled everyone.

“The same character ‘Han’ is written like this in the Great Han Dynasty,” he casually drew a Cangwen-style “Han” character in the air, “but in Xiping Road, it’s written like this!” He then demonstrated an even more complex and curving form. “And in Shenglan Road, hey, it becomes a bunch of twists and turns, like worms crawling! And this is just one character!”

"Although I'm guessing and inferring, I can still understand about 70-80% of it!"

"However, in the future, if the imperial decrees are issued, the officials in Xiping will see the documents sent by the imperial court as if they were reading gibberish! Merchants from Shenglan Road and merchants from Xiping Road will argue and sue for half a year over a single word that is written differently! Is this reasonable? How can this vast country be governed? How can the decrees be implemented smoothly? What will happen if this continues?"

After Wang Yu finished speaking, he suddenly stood up, his dark robe sleeves billowing in the wind.

Guan Zhong stepped forward at the opportune moment, bowed, and said, “Your Majesty is absolutely right! The chaos of written language is a great calamity for the nation! I beseech Your Majesty to summon the most talented people in the world who are proficient in the languages ​​of various countries, to integrate the languages ​​of the world into one, and to create the Han script of our great Han Dynasty!”

"Minister Guan, isn't this move a bit too hasty?" said Di Renjie, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, his brows furrowing.

Guan Zhong's meaning is that he wants to create a new script now to replace the existing scripts.

Neither Di Renjie nor the other officials in the court thought Guan Zhong was wrong.

After all, more than a thousand years ago, when the Great Wu Dynasty was first established, it had already unified the written language. Although there were some obstacles at the time, the benefits that followed were obvious to all.

However, after the Great Wu Dynasty collapsed, it went through several hundred years of chaos. In particular, each of the major dynasties had a history of several hundred years, and the regional cultures of each dynasty were different. As a result, their respective writing systems gradually became different during their evolution.

The main reason is that the world has been divided for too long. If the Great Wu Dynasty were to be unified again soon after its division, then even if the written language continues to evolve, the world would still be unified.

They are simply doing the same things they did before.

The first time you do it, there might be a lot of obstacles, but the second time might be different, especially after the first time when the effects are already apparent, the resistance becomes much smaller.

It's just that I think we shouldn't be in such a hurry.

"In newly conquered territories, the people's hearts are not yet settled. Abruptly abolishing their written language, which they have used for hundreds of years, is like cutting off their heart; it will surely breed resentment! I fear there will be a risk of disloyalty and alienation!" Zhuge Liang, the magistrate of Henan, also stepped forward and said.

"Furthermore, how could our Great Han Dynasty stop at just one corner of the Eighteen Great Cang Roads!"

"In the future, obstacles may arise outside the eighteen Great Cang Paths!"

"Kongming, I know your worries!" Guan Zhong shook his head and smiled at this moment.

He certainly knew what Zhuge Liang was worried about. However, some things are more likely to encounter resistance if done later than if done earlier.

"However, if the world is unified, how many obstacles will there be if things change again?"

"Moreover, the Han Dynasty now has four scripts. In the future, when it enters Dawu in the west and Weiqian in the south, won't there be more than ten scripts?"

"At that time, local policies will be inconsistent, and the expansion of our Han army will likely be much less effective!" Guan Zhong continued.

(End of this chapter)