The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 859 Wei Zheng's Worries
As the year drew to a close, many other significant events occurred. However, compared to the return of Shen Guang and his entourage from their voyage, the people of Luoyang were clearly more interested in another major event.

The first rail transit system of the Sui Dynasty appeared: a horse-drawn train that ran through the east and west gates of Luoyang.

There are eight carriages in total, pulled by three horses. Each carriage can seat more than twenty people. The carriages are made of wood, but the wheels, rails, and chassis are made of iron.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to watch. The carriage was faster than a normal horse-drawn carriage. Everything else was fine, and the brakes were relatively stable. The only problem was that it was a little noisy, but the passengers were still eager to ride in it.

More importantly, the ticket price was cheap, only five coins, much cheaper than the normal 20 coins for an oxcart.

The rail transit system has two lines, one running from east to west and the other from west to east, which is clearly a form of public transportation.

In fact, this is a test line. Many new things cannot be done on paper alone. They must be made into physical objects and continuously improved in practice. The next step is to solve the noise problem, then the effective braking, and solve various problems step by step.

Next year, rail transit will also appear in Chang'an. After two years of operation and more experience, the track will be extended to install intercity rail transit between Luoyang and Yique.

Once the principles and inspiration are grasped, with the ingenuity of Han Chinese craftsmen, steam power will gradually emerge in bellows technology, and rubber will also appear on wheels.

.........

That morning, Xiao Xia led several prime ministers to the agricultural college in Yique County. As soon as they entered the gate, they could see several huge glass houses. The previous open-roof greenhouses had been demolished and replaced by three large glass greenhouses covering more than ten acres.

The three greenhouses are planted with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. By February next year, they will also start planting corn, cotton, sunflowers, tomatoes, tobacco, peppers, and pumpkins. Rubber trees will also be planted in the south.

Zhang Wei, the Minister of Agriculture, Sun Shaonian, the Academic Director of the Agricultural College, and other officials and professors greeted the emperor at the gate.

Xiao Xia waved his hand and smiled, "I won't disturb the teachers and students. Today I just want to see how the crops that were just transported from Yinzhou are growing in the greenhouse."

"Your Majesty, the seedlings have already sprouted and grown, which is better than we expected. We have experience in cultivating yams, and the methods are basically the same."

"Go and see!"

The crowd escorted the emperor toward the first heated room. Upon entering, the temperature immediately rose noticeably. Outside, it was bitterly cold, but inside the heated room, the temperature had increased dramatically, making it feel like springtime.

The sunlight was very strong, streaming through the glass and making the entire greenhouse exceptionally bright.

The first greenhouse covers about five acres and is divided into five small greenhouses. The potatoes are cultivated in the third greenhouse, and they are cultivated in the same way as yams.

The land was divided into rows, with just the right amount of water, fertilizer, and temperature. Two professors, along with a dozen students, were specifically responsible for cultivating three types of crops.

Sure enough, the potatoes sprouted into inch-long seedlings, a lush green expanse, cultivated using only a small plot of land. The professor in charge of cultivating the potatoes, Li Kuan, bowed to Xiao Xia and said, “Your Majesty, these potatoes from thousands of miles away are easier to grow than we imagined. They are highly adaptable, and I sense that this crop will yield a very high harvest, similar to yams, and will surely be a boon to the people.”

Xiao Xia nodded, "With the seeds, we feel more at ease. There's no rush. We'll test them for two years before large-scale promotion."

"Your Majesty, what is tobacco?" Sun Shaohua asked, puzzled.

Xiao Xia said slowly, "Tobacco, like tea, is a kind of addiction. Therefore, tobacco must be monopolized by the court as a source of tax revenue. There is no rush. We can plant and store seeds and plant them later. I plan to plant it on the islands and then sell the finished product to the Abbasid Caliphate. It will definitely bring a lot of money to the court."

Xiao Xia then visited the sweet potato greenhouse and the peanut greenhouse. Like the potatoes, they had already sprouted and were growing lushly.

Xiao Xia then said to Sun Shaohua, the academic director, and the Minister of Agriculture, "Next year, the top priority for the Agricultural Academy and the Ministry of Agriculture is to cultivate the crops brought from Yinzhou in our own land. All the expenses will be covered by the treasury. Once the cotton is successfully cultivated, it can be promoted on a large scale to replace the planting of hemp. I have already instructed the Imperial Workshop to ensure that the cotton spinning technology is up-to-date."

Xiao Xia raised his voice and said to everyone, "Everyone, the planting of this batch of new crops is related to the increase of our Great Sui population. I hope that in twenty years, the population of the Great Sui will exceed 100 million, and then we can expand overseas. Under the whole sky, all land belongs to the king, and this ocean spanning thousands of miles will eventually become our inland lake."

It was noon when they returned to Luoyang. Everyone dispersed, and Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling went to the Luoshen Restaurant. The two sat down in a private room by the window, with the shimmering Luo River outside.

Wei Zheng poured Fang Xuanling a full cup of wine and said with concern, "His Majesty is a little too obsessed with expanding the territory. The land territory has already expanded to the Yibo Sea. In the north, it is said that a military city has been built on a distant peninsula. In the south, he is preparing to establish a Pacification Commissioner's Office on an island in the South China Sea. Now he is searching for a new continent in the sea thousands of miles away. He doesn't pay much attention to the internal affairs of the Sui Dynasty."

Fang Xuanling downed his wine in one gulp, smiling broadly, and said, "What we found was also wealth! This time, we plundered 20 million strings of cash from Japan, equivalent to our annual fiscal revenue. Our disaster relief expenditure was only a little over one million strings of cash. We also seized tens of millions of sheep from the Western Turks, which would amount to countless riches in exchange. Prime Minister Wei, expanding our territory is not a losing proposition. Our trade with Southeast Asia and the Abbasid Caliphate brings us millions of strings of cash in net income every year. This time, we even exchanged silk, porcelain, and glass for hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and gold."

The emperor's original intention was not to be ambitious, but to build the Sui Dynasty into the most powerful empire in history, with a population of over 200 million and a territory of tens of thousands of miles. In this way, we could avoid the various crises that occur at the end of a dynasty.

The demise of dynasties is simply due to insufficient resources. Our Shang Dynasty lasted for six hundred years, and the Zhou Dynasty for eight hundred years. The reason for their longevity was their small population and abundant resources.

The same will happen in the future for the Sui Dynasty. When powerful officials seize land, the common people will flee overseas to live, rather than rebelling due to starvation. If foreign tribes invade, we will have the powerful military to destroy them. As long as there is no internal strife, the Sui Dynasty will last for over a thousand years.

After a pause, Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "Now the Great Sui needs to recuperate. As long as the Emperor doesn't cause trouble within the Great Sui, let him cause trouble on the overseas frontiers as he pleases!"

Fang Xuanling's last words moved Wei Zheng: "Yes! The people need rest and recuperation, and it may not be a bad thing for the emperor to focus his energy on expanding the territory."

Wei Zheng raised his cup and sighed, "The territory is too vast; it would take several years to tour it! Next spring, the Emperor will be going to Liaodong and Liaoxi for inspection, which will take several months. If there is anything important, we should prepare quickly!"

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(End of this chapter)