The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 750 Mercy
When he saw Zhu Ying and Kang Tai, Cao Mao finally understood why Wen Yang said that.

They looked at him with fear in their eyes.

Even his voice was trembling.

Cao Mao chuckled. "Why are you two so afraid of me? Is it because of my bad reputation?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying hurriedly said, "Your Majesty's achievements in civil and military affairs are unparalleled throughout history. Who in the world would dare not fear Your Majesty?"

Cao Mao immediately threw his head back and burst into laughter.

"You two, there's no need to be so afraid. Please take a seat!"

The two men thanked him again and then carefully sat down next to Cao Mao.

Cao Mao looked at the two of them, took out a book, and placed it in front of him. "Not long ago, I discussed overseas affairs with Lord Lu, and Lord Lu gave me this book. Lord Zhu, your book is well written."

Cao Mao smiled and said, "If we talk about knowledge and experience, you should be ranked first."

Zhu Ying and Kangtai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It turns out it was about something overseas. As long as it wasn't something like assassination or rebellion in the country, it would be fine.

Zhu Ying also hurriedly said, "I dare not."

"You don't have to be so modest. I've carefully read your book, and I've also taken a look at the memorial you originally submitted to Sun Quan, Lord Kang. You two have quite a wealth of experience at sea."

"I summoned you this time because of this overseas matter."

"I asked Lu Qing about Wu's voyage, and when he mentioned General Wei and General Zhuge, I was very dissatisfied. If they were under my command, such a thing would never happen!"

"Capture new islands for me. This is a journey to expand our territory, and you will be granted a title of nobility!"

"How can you say there is no merit?"

Zhu Ying shuddered upon hearing Cao Mao's words, but Kang Tai could not help but say, "Your Majesty, the great emperor is not a man who kills indiscriminately."

"Oh?"

Kang Tai explained, "The Emperor originally sent them out to Wo Island to contact the nations on the island and discuss a joint attack. However, these two men, with over ten thousand men, never made it to Wo Island, incurring heavy casualties. In the end, they only brought back a little over a thousand men from Yizhou."

Even though they have now become citizens of the Great Wei, they still respect the former emperor very much.

Now they all have to defend themselves in front of Cao Mao.

Cao Mao was not angry. The emperor at that time was sacred, and protecting his former master was a very normal behavior.

Cao Mao continued, "I will also send people out to sea to explore the many islands and establish relations with those small countries, so that they can come and pay tribute. Do you have anything to say?"

Cao Mao was asking them whether they were willing to cooperate.

It would be great if they were willing to cooperate and follow Cao Mao to accomplish great things.

But if they were unwilling, Cao Mao would not force them. It was not like his Wei State was without navigators, so he would not have to look at other people's faces.

Zhu Ying and Kang Tai exchanged a glance before saying, "Your Majesty, I am willing to serve you!"

Cao Mao was overjoyed.

He quickly ordered people to prepare delicious food and wine, then said with a smile: "I invited you all from Pingzhou just to hear this!"

"Don't worry, I will never treat meritorious people unfairly. If you can achieve meritorious service, I will never neglect to reward you."

"Now that I have completed the great unification, the nations overseas are still unaware of this fact. I intend to usher in an era of prosperity even greater than that of the Later Han Dynasty. How can the nations overseas not come to pay tribute?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying suddenly said, "Your Majesty, when I was in Funan, I met a man."

"This man is called Chen Song, and he is from India."

"I was very surprised at the time. I didn't know why an Indian like him would end up in Funan. Later I learned that India could be reached by sea."

"We once followed him on a voyage towards India and saw several islands. The people and customs on these islands were completely different from ours, and their appearances were strange."

Listening to Zhu Ying's words, Cao Mao couldn't help but nod and listened very carefully.

Zhu Ying looked at Kang Tai again, "Lord Kang has a book called 'Records of Foreign Countries During the Wu Dynasty', which records many small countries overseas, including the many islands in India."

Cao Mao looked at Kang Tai again, and Kang Tai also recalled this incident and truthfully talked about the many small countries he had seen overseas.

"In the past, there was a merchant named Qin Lun. He came from the great Qin Kingdom and came to pay homage to the Great Emperor."

"Daqin??"

Cao Mao was stunned for a moment. He really didn't know about this.

Sun Quan also met the Romans?
"Please inform me in detail!"

Kangtai quickly said, "In the fifth year of Huangwu, he arrived in Jiaozhi Commandery by sea, and the governor at the time hurriedly sent him to meet the Emperor."

"This man knew some elegant language, but he wasn't very proficient. He was no ordinary merchant; he had over two hundred slaves with him." "The Emperor once asked him about the customs and practices of the Qin State, and he answered them one by one. Later, he saw the Shanyue people and was very curious about them. He asked the Emperor for some, and the Emperor gave him some Shanyue slaves and sent officials to escort him back to his country."

Cao Mao couldn't help but sigh.

The Romans came by water.

This is also amazing.

This further strengthened Cao Mao's idea of sending people out to sea.

When Cao Mao asked how to establish more contact with these foreign states, Zhu Ying smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, there are actually many merchants in Wu who want to go out, but they were originally forbidden to do so. If Your Majesty were to order these merchants to go out, they could travel to all parts of the world and spread the power of the Great Wei."

"But why did your Majesty do this?"

Zhu Ying immediately began to explain.

It turned out that the Wu State prohibited its people from going out to sea without permission, and Sun Quan himself did not care much about those deserted islands.

The State of Wu itself owned a large amount of land, which had not been fully developed. How could it care about the islands overseas?

Moreover, the population of Wu was small, and Sun Quan believed that if they were allowed to go out to sea, a large number of people would flee.

Especially the merchants, they might sell some important domestic resources, which is something Sun Quan cannot tolerate.

Merchants have never been favored by feudal rulers. Not only Sun Quan, but many kings believed that merchants were unscrupulous, that they did not engage in production and could not bring any benefits to the country.

Of course Cao Mao knew this was wrong.

Commercial activities should be protected by the government, and private commercial activities can also promote the development of the government.

Where merchants can go, the temple can also go
Besides, merchants are selling out the interests of the government. There must be someone around the Wei Dynasty who can make the merchants sell out their interests. Who should they sell to? Yamatai?

Or the Funan Kingdom with its 10,000-strong army?

Or is it in the Qin Dynasty thousands of miles away?

Given the nature of Chinese merchants, even if they go out to do business, they are probably just going to fleece others and then run back with the money.
Cao Mao started chatting with these people again, and the more they talked, the more they got along.

Zhu Ying and Kang Tai had never met Cao Mao. In their impression, Cao Mao was a cruel and ruthless tyrant who would go crazy from time to time and kill people along with their entire clan.

But after chatting with him, they were surprised to find that the emperor was very kind and friendly.

He even has some understanding of what's happening overseas.

When talking about overseas human geography, he can express his own understanding, and he does not talk to himself. He is very willing to accept new knowledge.

At this moment, they both finally understood why he would be the one to accomplish the great unification.

Facing such an emperor, it was not unfair for the Wu Kingdom to lose!
The atmosphere immediately became harmonious.

Zhu Ying and the other man gave a lot of advice on how to go out to sea correctly, and Cao Mao accepted all of it.

He attached great importance to these navigators and the entire maritime industry.

At this time, Zhu Ying became a little conflicted and hesitated to speak several times.

Seeing his expression, Cao Mao smiled and said, "You can speak freely in front of me. I will never convict anyone for their words."

Zhu Ying then said, "Your Majesty, I want to talk to you about the affairs of the great families of Wu."

Kangtai was stunned, and quickly lowered his head, tugged at Zhu Ying's sleeve, and signaled him not to say anything more.

Cao Mao said calmly, "Okay, what do you want to say?"

Zhu Ying then said, "Your Majesty, since Wu has surrendered, Your Majesty should treat the people of Wu as your own people. Why did Qin lose the world and Han gain it?"

"It was because the Qin people treated the six states as captives, oppressed them, and humiliated them, which eventually led to their rebellion. However, Emperor Taizu of Han treated the states with benevolence, allowing them to recuperate and treat them all equally. This is how the Han Dynasty came to be."

"You have defeated Shu and Wu, but you follow the example of the First Emperor and treat everyone equally. Is this the policy for governing the world well?"

Cao Mao was somewhat surprised and said, "How can I not treat them equally? After I defeated Shu and Wu, I exempted them from corvée and taxes, and used vast sums of money and grain to build canals, develop water conservancy projects, and reclaim farmland. Now the people of both countries have settled down in peace. Could this be considered harsh governance?"

Zhu Ying said helplessly, "Your Majesty, you forcibly relocated the wise men of the two places. After we arrived in Pingzhou, we were starving, poorly clothed, and even had to work the land to feed ourselves. We were displaced and many died. We all complained about this policy. Isn't this persecution of the wise men of the two places?"

"We are all willing to assist Your Majesty and serve you. Please consider this matter carefully."

When Cao Mao heard this, he immediately laughed.

"I once discussed the Qin and Han dynasties with Zhong Hui. I asked him why the Qin lost the world and why the Han gained it."

"Zhong Hui said: This is because the Qin State did not relocate the great clans of various countries, which led to the great clans of various countries rising up to restore their countries. However, the Former Han State relocated the great clans from various places to the northwest, and only then was it able to gain control of the world."

"What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)