The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 814: Seven Years of Ganlu
If we talk about the richest place in Shazhou today, it must be Dunhuang.

When Zhuge Xu arrived in Dunhuang, he was really shocked.

If he could still recognize places like Kucha, the changes in Dunhuang were truly astonishing.

On the roads around Dunhuang, you can often see groups of merchants, and once you enter the city, you will see huge crowds of people. Most of the wealthy families who originally migrated from Bashu have settled in Dunhuang.

The population of Dunhuang increased rapidly, and in the years after Zhuge Xu left, Cao Mao also moved many people here.

Coupled with the exemption of the head tax, Dunhuang was extremely lively and bustling.

All you can see on the streets are children running around barefoot.

It seemed as if the whole city was packed with children.

The further you get towards Luoyang, the greater the changes.

The streets are so busy that there is a long line of merchants blocking the city gate.

The city was packed with people, and both sides of the city were lined with tall shops of all kinds, selling everything, and the streets were full of vendors shouting.

Zhuge Xu was stunned.

In his opinion, this was the most prosperous era he could imagine.

Even the Later Han Dynasty was no more than this, right?
How many years has it been?
The shock Zhuge Xu felt along the way was even greater than when he went to Kushan.

People who have been here for a long time may not be aware of this change, but people like Zhuge Xu who have been away for a long time and suddenly come back can find the huge changes.

He couldn't describe it, but the Wei Dynasty was definitely not like this before he left, and now it was the seventh year of Ganlu.

At this moment, Cao Mao was at Lu Zhi's house.

This year, Shangshu Lu Zhi will also officially resign from his official position and begin his retirement.

Lu Zhi is already very old.

In the past few years, his contribution has been enormous, and the entire Secretariat is impressed by his achievements.

Cao Mao sat in the upper seat, looking at Lu Zhi beside him, who was seriously discussing the financial situation of the national treasury with him.

Lu Zhi's face was full of pride.

Most of the old ministers today are like this.

They never imagined that they would be able to live to see such a scene.

As the prosperous era gradually emerged, everyone felt incredible, and at the same time, they felt a special kind of pride and satisfaction in their hearts.

They really didn't expect that they could achieve such success in their later years.

When talking about the Ganlu Reign in the future, who would not mention them?

Today's national treasury has not collapsed as originally expected.

In the continuous work of eliminating the powerful families, the national treasury has made profits year after year. Facts have proved that as long as you can collect taxes, the head tax is not necessary.

If, as in the late Ming Dynasty, the income of the gentry is greater than that of the national treasury, then collecting more head taxes will be useless and will only force countless postmen to rebel. If the emperor is powerful and dares to take action against the gentry of the big families, then the money will be enough without paying the head tax.

The migration order has been carried out twice so far.

The effect is remarkable!

A large amount of hidden arable land and population returned to the hands of the temple, and coupled with the increased production enthusiasm of the people, the temple's annual income continued to increase.

During these days, Cao Mao no longer continued to fight foreign wars, the army was constantly being downsized, the national treasury became increasingly rich, and many policies were implemented.

The most fundamental issue is food production.

There has been a great improvement recently. Lu Zhi himself did not expect that those alchemists actually have a way to do this.

Although the output of fertilizers is still low, it has increased significantly compared to the past.

Special factories were set up in various places for production. At the same time, Cao Mao also implemented several other refining methods to continuously increase grain production.

As Lu Zhi talked about the grain production and the amount of arable land in various places, his expression became more and more excited.

Cao Mao listened to his story with a smile.

"You're right."

Cao Mao's face suddenly showed some embarrassment. He sighed and said, "I don't know if Xun Xu can do a good job. I am very worried about you leaving so suddenly."

Lu Zhi hurriedly advised, "Your Majesty, do not worry. Xun Xu may be a flatterer, but he is quite talented. His Youbei Mansion has performed quite well in recent years. It was thanks to Your Majesty that he established the Youbei Mansion in advance to prevent several major disasters in the north."

When an important official like this retires, he certainly cannot be allowed to feel that he is no longer capable and will be replaced by a younger person.

You have to make him feel that you have no choice but to support him in his old age and show that you are reluctant to leave him.

Even though Lu Zhi knew what the emperor was thinking, she was still very moved.

After all, with Cao Mao's current status, he can still pretend to be impressive in front of the old ministers, which really shows that he respects them too much.

Cao Mao completed the great unification and led the country to gradually transition to a prosperous era.

Although many people do not agree with this, until now, many scholars still miss the beautiful and romantic era of the past.

Although the people now have food and shelter, they are less free and easy than before. In short, their lives are not as good as before.

Whether they recognized it or not, Cao Mao was firmly on the throne. From top to bottom, everyone addressed the emperor as a saint.

In the past, the term "sage" referred to Confucius and other ancient sages, but now it has become a term exclusive to Cao Mao.

This shows how terrifying his prestige has become. The two talked for a long time.

Lu Zhi inevitably talked about the big families of today.

Migration was very useful. After Cao Mao forcibly migrated the powerful families from all over the country to different regions, the lives of the people improved a lot and the income of the national treasury also increased.

But this is only a blow at the economic level. The real foundation of the big families lies in their monopoly on knowledge.

Lu Zhi said seriously, "Your Majesty, although land annexation and other problems have been curbed, the situation will not truly change until the situation where all talented people come from powerful families is improved."

"The Ministry of Rites still needs a more decisive person to take over."

Lu Zhi added, "Pei Xiu is not without talent, but he may not be able to help you wholeheartedly."

Cao Mao nodded to indicate that he understood.

Cao Mao then stood up and ordered his sons and daughters to take good care of Lu Zhi before he said goodbye and left.

When we walked out of here, Yang Zong was already waiting for Cao Mao's arrival by the carriage.

The two of them got into the car together and drove towards the palace.

"How's the imperial examination going?"

"As Your Majesty expected, Liu Yuan is indeed the first in this exam."

Cao Mao couldn't help laughing.

Many people believed that this year's spring exam would be very intense, because Zhong Hui had announced early on that he wanted to see whose disciple was the better one.

He just wanted to compare Liu Yuan with Zhang Gui.

However, Zhang Gui did not participate in this assessment at all. Zhang Hua thought that he was too young and needed more training, so he kept him.

Liu Yuan participated alone.

But for some reason, this guy who usually doesn't study classics much performed excellently in the first two exams.

The first exam is Mingjing. To put it simply, it is a classic fill-in-the-blank test. You are given the first half and you continue to write the second half.

The second exam will test your understanding of the essence of Confucian classics, and it must be combined with current or historical events.

When Cao Mao learned that Liu Yuan had performed extremely well in the first round, he knew in his heart that Liu Yuan was going to be in the limelight this time.

For Liu Yuan, the most difficult part was probably the first exam, which involved filling in the blanks.

After all, Zhong Hui's teaching method was not to teach his disciples to memorize the classics, but to let them understand the classics.

After passing the exam for the first time, the rest will not be a problem for Liu Yuan.

Just as Cao Mao expected, Liu Yuan won first place.

And next, he would have to face Cao Mao.

Cao Mao would select the first one and assign them official positions according to their answers.

This guy Liu Yuan is only sixteen years old this year.

Although some people start becoming Shangshulang when they are just over ten years old, it is still quite scary that this guy got in through the exam on his own.

Given the level of training Zhong Hui had given his disciples, Cao Mao felt that no one would be able to defeat him in matters such as governing the country.

Cao Mao was thinking about how to ask the questions.

Yang Zong then said, "Your Majesty, Zhuge Xu has returned to Luoyang."

Cao Mao was stunned. Has Zhuge Xu returned?

This guy walks fast.

I thought it would take at least another year.

Cao Mao immediately returned to Taiji Hall and ordered Zhuge Xu to come and pay a visit immediately.

When Zhuge Xu appeared in front of Cao Mao again, he kowtowed to Cao Mao and almost cried.

This is the case with going out at this moment. Every long journey is a gamble with life. Zhuge Xu never thought that he could come back alive.

Looking at Zhuge Xu in front of him, Cao Mao was also quite moved.

In just a few years, Zhuge Xu seemed like a completely different person, and Cao Mao almost didn't recognize him.

After experiencing the wind and rain of these years, he looks no different from a Qiang person.

"Please sit down, Mr. Zhuge."

Cao Mao asked Zhuge Xu to sit next to him, then took his hand and said, "I'm afraid you must have suffered a lot on this journey."

Zhuge Xu hurriedly shook his head, "How dare I work so hard for the king?"

"Your Majesty, I have already had a record of the situation along the way compiled and sent it to you, and it is now in the hands of the eunuch."

"The Kushans' situation is truly difficult to describe. They have long been divided and no longer possess the splendor they once possessed. I believe that if we are to establish trade routes, we will still have to interact with the Persians, and the Kushans are no longer capable of shouldering such a responsibility."

Zhuge Xu slowly recounted what he had seen and heard.

Cao Mao listened even more carefully.

The era of the four great empires is finally over.

Cao Mao knew that the Kushan Empire was also declining, but he did not expect that the once glorious empire would be in such a miserable state and even beg for help from the Wei Dynasty. How could he not have the heavenly soldiers to send down to earth?
How can this be saved??
(End of this chapter)