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

Chapter 713: Nanzhou Wu Kingdom

Xu Aimin was willing to listen to Zhang Pijiang's words. He immediately issued an order to recruit the eldest prince Xu Shao and the second prince Xu Sheng back to the Han Dynasty. Among all the kings, Wu and Xiyan had developed the best, so he was most optimistic about these two sons.

It's not that Xu Aimin's other sons didn't work hard, but they couldn't keep up with their two elder brothers who had cheats. One owned the world's highest quality iron ore, and the other owned the world's easiest to open gold mine. In terms of development, if the difference in IQ and talent is not big, the one with resources will naturally be stronger than the one without resources.

Although many princes felt that it was unfair, Xu Aimin did not think so. Being favored by God was the biggest advantage.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, who could have thought that the powerful and tyrannical Qin would be overthrown by his father and 800 prisoners? Who could have thought that a secret passage would suddenly appear in Hangu Pass, a pass that blocked countless heroes of the Warring States Period? Because this kind of thing is too magical, even if Xu Fan has been promoting science for decades, in the eyes of the Han people, he is favored by God and is the son of destiny. Therefore, after the founding of the Han Dynasty, it has been prosperous for so many years and created an unprecedented prosperity. The theory of destiny is still very popular in the Han Dynasty.

The appearance of huge iron and gold mines on the fiefs of the eldest and second princes showed, in Xu Aimin's view, that his two sons were favored. When all the princes performed almost the same, he naturally tended to favor the favored princes.

On May 62, the 5nd year of the Han calendar, Lin'an City, Wu State, Nanzhou.

Because Nanzhou is influenced by the westerly wind belt, only the eastern region has fertile plains because of the mountains blocking the flow of water vapor. Therefore, when the country was founded, Xu Shao built his capital in a bay in the east of Nanzhou.

A warm and humid air current from the Pacific Ocean brought an autumn rain to Lin'an City, making the entire city even colder. Because in different hemispheres, all parts of the Han Dynasty are about to enter midsummer, while the Wu Kingdom in the southern hemisphere is about to enter winter.

Although Lin'an City is only a small city with a history of only a dozen years, because of the wealth brought by high-quality iron ore, Xu Shao spends hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars every year to build this capital of the Wu State.

He replicated the architectural style of Chang'an City almost one-to-one, including the core palace, magnificent government offices, prosperous neighborhoods, academies with fierce debates, teahouses for people to relax, pubs, libraries, cinemas, football fields and other entertainment facilities, as well as a huge sewer system, etc.

Such a large-scale investment also achieved remarkable results. After the autumn rain, the sewage was quickly discharged from the city, and there was no phenomenon of sewage backflowing into the city as in later generations.

Lin'an City also became the kingdom of God for the indigenous people of Nanzhou. Whenever the local indigenous leaders saw this city, they were all conquered by this city of light and stayed in the city. Their tribes became part of the people of Wu State. Now Lin'an is home to 200,000 people, making it the most populous and prosperous city in the entire Wu State.

Xu Shao did not resist his conquest of Nanzhou. Basically, wherever the cavalry led by generals like Li Guang rushed to, the local tribes would kneel down and beg for mercy when they saw the god-like Han cavalry. When they saw the prosperity of Lin'an City, they surrendered both physically and mentally.

The local indigenous people are also yellow people. They even came to this strange continent from Kuaiji County tens of thousands of years ago and have blood ties with the Han people. Naturally, the Han people did not need to slaughter the local people like they did the white people, but instead educated them and made them part of the Han people.

At the beginning, Xu Shao was very enthusiastic about such military operations and even commanded several battles personally. However, the gap between the local barbarians and the Han people was too big. One held a musket and the other held a stick, which was two levels apart. Such military operations were equivalent to playing a game on the easiest difficulty and using cheats. Soon Xu Shao lost interest in such boring battles.

Instead, he devoted his interest to exploring this wild land, and at the same time, he also developed a complete feng shui map for his country.

As a result, the expedition team brought him an unexpected harvest in the second year. They discovered an unprecedented hematite ore with very high quality. It could not be seen in Dahan at all, and it was an open-pit iron mine.

If it was in the Han Dynasty, it would be a red gold mine. However, it was a problem in the Wu Kingdom. The Wu Kingdom was sparsely populated, occupying three times the size of the Central Plains. The population was only a few million, and most of them were concentrated in the east. The population in the west was even smaller than that in the desert plateau, and there was no infrastructure at all. At that time, the human, financial and material resources of the Wu Kingdom were not enough to develop this iron mine. In order to raise money to develop the iron mine, he went to the Kuaiji County Stock Exchange and formulated a listing plan.

When the news about the iron mines was known to the wealthy businessmen in Kuaiji County, it caused a sensation in the entire Kuaiji County. Shares of the Wu State Iron Mine Company were in great demand. The value of the stock doubled on the first day of listing, and continued to rise in the following days.

Of course, after Xu Shao raised 12 billion yuan, he immediately purchased machines and recruited craftsmen to build docks, railways, and mines in the mining area. A year later, the first batch of iron ore from Wu State landed on Han territory and was warmly welcomed by local steel mills.

It just so happened that the Han Dynasty had begun its second technological revolution, and the demand for iron ore increased greatly, especially high-quality iron ore like that of Nanzhou. This was almost a plug-in for the Han Dynasty's coastal county steel mills to catch up with local old-fashioned steel mills such as Chenjun.

Similarly, when it comes to iron smelting, even if the technology is inferior, it is still possible to produce high-quality and low-cost steel using Nanzhou Iron Mine. This is the crushing of raw materials. With the supply of Nanzhou Iron Mine, Kuaiji County has increased its steelmaking capacity at a rate of 20% to 30% per year.

In order to increase the supply of high-quality iron ore, the six coastal counties, led by Kuaiji County and Linzi County, sent craftsmen to inspect the Nanzhou Iron Mine and jointly invested 3 billion yuan in the State of Wu to expand the production capacity of the Nanzhou Iron Mine.

As a result, in just less than ten years, the production capacity of Nanzhou Iron Mine exceeded tens of millions of tons. A large amount of high-quality and low-cost iron ore entered the Han mainland, directly causing Han steel to shift from the northwest to the southeast. The Bashang Steel Plant even moved directly out of Guanzhong in order to survive.

The iron ore brought wealth to the State of Wu, and King Xu Shao of Wu used this wealth to build ports, railways, roads, and towns. After ten years, the State of Wu already had 15 towns. Of course, most of these towns were located on the coast and connected by sea transportation. The population of the State of Wu reached 150 million, but unfortunately there were only a few small towns scattered across the vast South Continent.

The various welfare benefits of the Wu State were also maximized. In order to solve the medical problem, King Xu Shao of Wu hired excellent doctors at high prices to build clinics and medical schools in the Wu State. After more than ten years of high investment, every township in the Wu State was equipped with a barefoot doctor-level doctor who could provide the most basic medical care to the local people, educate them on health knowledge, and reduce the number of diseases.

The education in Wu was also very complete. Every town had a primary school, and every city had two or three middle schools. Those who were demoted to Wu were basically people with a certain level of knowledge, so there was no shortage of talents with basic education in Wu.

Although the State of Wu was established only a short time ago, due to its vast territory and abundant resources, as well as the existence of a giant iron mine, its annual exports reached 300 billion, making it a wealthy country quickly. The local people lived a prosperous and healthy life, and even the local indigenous people rarely resisted the rule of the King of Wu. Before the King of Wu came, they lived a life of eating raw meat and drinking blood, and fighting wild beasts in the wild.

But now they live in houses, wear clothes, eat hot food, and although they have to work every day, they don't have to worry about being hungry. For the local natives, being able to eat is the most important thing in the world. The King of Wu who can do this is a patriarch like a god, so Xu Shao has a very high prestige in the hearts of the natives of Wu. Xu Shao even saw in the eyes of these natives the look of the Han people looking at his grandfather, which made him very proud.

Because of the rain, the people in Lin'an city were a bit lazy. Most of them hid in teahouses, pubs, theaters, etc., listening to operas while hiding from the rain.

Some of the strong men who were wearing gold and silver but dressed in Confucian clothes complained: "The natives are too lazy. Nanzhou has such good pastures, but they are unwilling to take good care of them. Every time the salary is paid, they disappear. Instead, they come back drunk a few days later and sleep in the stable. If there were not so few people in Nanzhou, I would not be willing to hire these natives."

The people who dressed in this strange way were the Huns. Confucianism was the religious leader in the desert, and capable Huns liked to wear Confucian clothes. Wearing gold and silver was their custom in the grasslands. They were used to wearing their possessions on themselves, and this habit did not change even after they were integrated into the Han Dynasty. The fusion of the two cultures formed the current strange appearance.

Another Hun said angrily, "The King of Wu said last time that if the natives are disobedient, they can be educated. They cannot be beaten or punished, and they must not be injured. However, not only are these natives disobedient, they make mistakes even in the simplest grazing. They shear the wool in a mess. There is an old saying that a filial son is born under the stick. Without beatings and scolding, how can these natives become successful? If they were in our Han Dynasty, they would be waste. If it snowed in the desert, they would be frozen into popsicles. It is only because our Wu is rich and the King of Wu is kind that we give them food to eat." Among the 150 million people of Wu, more than one million were local natives. As the King of Wu, he had to take care of the interests of the local natives. He could educate them and beat or punish them, but at least he should not do so in crowded places.

The older Hun Jin Shang chuckled. If this statement had been made decades in advance, it would not have been an exaggeration to apply it to them. However, he was also sighing in his heart that he had caught up with a good era.

In his childhood memories, his family was very poor. Later, life gradually improved and he was able to go to primary school. His father often told him gratefully that this was all the good life brought by the Holy Son of Heaven, and he should remember to be grateful. He was still young at the time and did not understand what this meant, but he remembered this sentence.

After the autumn harvest every year, his father would drive the livestock to Dahan to sell, and then bring back all kinds of food and delicious food. Although the weather was cold, he didn't feel cold because he had a brick bed at home and cotton clothes on. There were also delicious food at home. For him, that was the happiest time of the year.

But as the number of younger brothers in the family increased, and his parents had five siblings including himself, it was difficult for them to maintain a relatively wealthy life relying solely on their ranch. Especially his fourth and fifth brothers were actually good students. The teacher said that they might be admitted to the Han Dynasty's institutions and should be trained intensively.

After his parents thought about it for three days, they began to separate the family. His eldest brother went to Tang State to make a living when he grew up. He wrote back a few years later, saying that his eldest brother was living a good life in Tang State and had become the owner of a 5-acre ranch. His second sister married a Han Chinese. When he became an adult, he heard that there was a gold mine in Nanzhou, so he took 5000 coins and a sword given by his parents and boarded a ship to Nanzhou.

This was also the most terrifying experience in his life. He sailed on the sea for more than a month and vomited a lot. Several times he thought he would die on the ship, but he finally set foot on the land of Nanzhou alive.

Then, relying on the fierceness of the Huns, he not only survived the fierce gold rush, but also earned his first million in his life. He then used the money to buy a 20-acre pasture in the wilderness outside Lin'an, married a beautiful wife, hired 30 native herdsmen, and lived the life of a small tribal leader. Soon, his fortune turned. Ten years ago, the King of Wu was enfeoffed and the capital was set in Lin'an. His pasture became valuable. Now, he can earn yuan a year just by providing milk and fresh beef and mutton to the people of Lin'an. He has become one of the wealthy people in Wu and was elected as a wise man of Wu. Represent the herdsmen to fight for their interests.

The power of the Huns in Wu was extremely large, almost equal to that of the Han people. The reason was very simple. The desert was the poorest area in the Han homeland, and the proportion of Huns among immigrants had always been very high. The Wu Kingdom was vast and sparsely populated, and even lacked farmers. The local indigenous people traditionally made a living by hunting and gathering. They were a nomadic population. It was very difficult for the Han people to teach them how to farm, but when the Huns taught them how to herd, they could quickly get started and become qualified herders.

Therefore, a large part of the immigrants to the State of Wu were Huns from the desert and Qiang people from the plateau. They set up ranches to provide meat for the State of Wu. Now the State of Wu has become the largest provider of beef and mutton in the entire Nanyang. The herdsmen of the State of Wu are economically wealthy and are also middle-level managers who educate the natives. Xu Shao must also give them a certain political status.

At this moment, a group of knights walked towards the King Wu's palace from the street.

Jin Shan was surprised and asked, "Is this General Li Guang?"

When the other Xiongnu heard this, they poked their heads out to look at Li Guang's cavalry, and then said enviously: "What a great man."

Li Guang was tall, sturdy and strong, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and a calm and dignified expression. Both his figure and appearance were what the people of Wu liked, and they conformed to the mainstream aesthetic, which believed that people like him were real men.

Of course, Li Guang himself also had outstanding military achievements. In the past ten years, he had pacified hundreds of tribes, large and small, in Nanzhou. He was the general who had fought the most battles in the entire Nanzhou. Moreover, he could bring them a large number of young and strong laborers every time. He had a good figure and appearance, and every battle he went to could bring them wealth. Naturally, Li Guang had a good reputation in Wu State and was worshipped by the people of Wu State.

Not long after, they saw a number of horse-drawn carriages slowly driving towards the Wu Palace. Almost all of them were carriages of Wu's high-ranking officials. Everyone was shocked. Was something big going to happen in Wu?
Lin'an City, King Wu's Palace.

After the high-level officials of Wu State gathered, King Xu Shao of Wu entered the conference room and sat in the first seat.

Then he looked at his confidant and said excitedly: "The court sent a telegram, saying that my father wants me to return to the Han Dynasty. After ten years, I have finally waited for this day."

Although Lin'an City is good, it is just a copycat. The reason why Xu Shao named his capital Lin'an is to express that this is just a temporary resting place, and also to express to his confidants that he will return to Chang'an in the future, in order to calm people's hearts. Nanzhou is too remote, and if there is no goal, people's hearts will easily be complacent and scattered.

The high-ranking officials of Wu were also very excited when they heard the news. They stood up and said to Xu Shao, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, you have got what you wished for."

At the same time, they are also happy for themselves. How did they get through these ten years?

In order to open up the wilderness, build cities and towns here, and turn the wild lands into civilized places, the poisonous insects, wild beasts and diseases in Nanzhou would take their lives. They have experienced all the hardships of opening up the land for the princes.

Having been dealing with the savages in the wild South Continent, they felt that they were about to become savages. These savages were so stupid that they couldn't even do the simplest farming and needed them to teach them step by step. They had no sense of propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame. They also had to teach these natives the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues and family ethics. For this purpose, the Wu State even introduced a group of Confucian scholars from the Xiongnu State to teach them.

Although they all knew that the journey would be difficult, they did not expect it to be so difficult and take so long. For ten years, all the princes had to be established as fiefs outside the Han mainland. This is something that only happens in our Han Dynasty.

Fortunately, all this is finally over, and they have reaped the most generous reward. When King Wu returns to the Han Dynasty, he will surely ascend to the throne of Crown Prince, and then succeed the Emperor. They can become the new generation of high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty. Thinking of this way, the ten years of hardship are worth it.

Wu's Prime Minister Wei Wan hesitated and asked, "Is there no other information in the telegram, such as arranging a position of Internal Affairs Minister for the king?"

Xu Shao finally reacted and said, "No?"

This is unreasonable. His father first became the Right Secretary of the Interior and managed the Interior History to accumulate experience. But he did not say that he became the crown prince, nor did he say that he became the Secretary of the Interior. This is indeed unreasonable.

Ji An, the governor of Lin'an, said, "Please send a telegram to inquire about this matter, so that we can prepare to return to the Han Dynasty."

Xu Shao also had connections in the Han Dynasty. He soon smiled bitterly and said, "Father has also asked my second brother to return to the Han Dynasty."

"Hi!" The atmosphere in the hall weakened significantly for a moment. They thought they had won, but they didn't expect the referee to suddenly blow the whistle and say that an overtime game would have to be played. This was a big blow.

(End of this chapter)