I, Altria, only want to rule China.

If too much Baochao is issued, it may damage its own value and cause inflation.

In addition, whether the barbarians are willing to accept Wuguo Baochao as the settlement currency for international trade is also a very troublesome problem.

In short, there are a lot of problems at the moment. Let the locals get used to it first. As for the foreigners, we will see what happens when the time comes.

Chapter 141 Rome's Rivals Are Here

half year later

Luo Lin, a merchant from Sassanid Persia, looked at the Wu Kingdom banknotes and coins he exchanged from the Wu Kingdom Bank. After looking at them over and over for a long time, he looked at the bank staff with a confused face and asked, "These small ones look like coins? These papers, are they the currency currently promoted by the Wu Kingdom?"

The bank staff heard this, smiled and nodded, and said: "That's right, the smallest and thinnest coin has a face value of one cent, which is equivalent to one cent in the past... The banknote with a face value of 1 yuan is 100 cents. The value of these things is relative to silver."

"Can this money really be used?" The merchant from Sassanid Persia felt a little embarrassed when looking at the coins in his hand.

"Of course you can. These coins have been in circulation in Wu State for two months. Just go to any store or stall outside and they will take them."

However, even after the staff explained, the other party was still skeptical.

The staff had no choice but to continue explaining:

"At first, merchants and people in Wu State didn't really want to use these, but after merchants started using them, they gradually became popular. After everyone accepted them, they found that these coins were easier to carry, so now people and merchants in Wu State are officially using the new treasure notes instead of the original silver and copper coins."

In fact, silver and copper coins are still in use, but once these things enter the bank, there is no way they can go out. In the days to come, these things will only become less and less, and in the end only the Wu Kingdom's treasure notes will remain.

After the bank staff's explanation, the merchant from Sassanid Persia finally accepted this thing reluctantly. When he took it to use, he found that it was true.

The treasure notes of the Wu Kingdom are no different from those copper and silver coins, and most importantly, they are very convenient!

You should know that in the past one tael of silver was worth 1000 copper coins. If you spent one copper coin, you would have to hold 999 copper coins in your hand, which was not only heavy but also very troublesome.

Now it's easy, it can be solved with just a few coins. The Wu Kingdom's treasure note is indeed convenient. No wonder it was accepted by the merchants and people of the Wu Kingdom so quickly.

However, looking at these Wu Kingdom treasure banknotes, the Sassanid Persian merchants felt a little regretful, because these things can only be used by Wu Kingdom at present. Once they leave Wu Kingdom, these things will become waste paper.

Luo Lin shook his head and threw these thoughts out of his mind. The reason he came to Wu State was not about the currency issues, but about the firearms issues of Wu State.

Half a year ago, the Sassanid Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire were fighting fiercely, with both sides winning and losing. However, it was unknown where the Roman Empire got a bunch of terrible weapons from.

The Sassanid Empire was forced to retreat step by step. Fortunately, the enemy's terrible weapons only lasted a few battles before they ran out of ammunition, allowing the Sassanid Empire to take back the territory it had lost before.

After making inquiries from many sources, the Sassanid Empire learned that the thing used by the Roman Empire was called a firearm, which came from the Huaxia Empire in the East.

The Chinese Empire and Sassanid Persia are known, isn't it the Han Dynasty? But when did the Han Dynasty produce such terrible weapons? And they even sold them to the Roman Empire.

In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, the Sassanid Empire sent envoys to the Chinese Empire, hoping to get some firearms from the Han Empire to use against the Roman Empire.

Otherwise, if this continued, their Sassanid Empire would be defeated by the Roman Empire and would be forced to retreat again and again.

When Luo Lin came to China for the first time, he was stunned.

Isn't this country too prosperous? The streets are full of people, and all kinds of shouting can be heard.

Not to mention the endless roads or the houses made entirely of cement, all the things he had never seen before deeply shocked him.

This Chinese country is so terrifying!

However, he was here to meet the Emperor of Wu State and did not have much time to appreciate these things. Unless he completed his mission, he could come back to appreciate them slowly.

So Luo Lin asked someone for a while and found out where the government office was. So he took his entourage to the local government office, expressed where they came from, and wanted to meet the great Saint Queen Arthur!

Not long after, Leah heard from the ministers below that an envoy from the Sassanid Empire wanted to meet her. "Sassanid? Isn't that the dynasty after the Parthian Empire?" Leah thought about it for a moment and agreed to the meeting.

The Sassanid Empire was very powerful, also known as the Second Persian Empire. Its territory inherited the previous dynasty, the Parthian Empire. It basically fought against Rome and was also the most powerful country in the East that Rome encountered.

It lasted for a total of more than 400 years before the country perished during the Tang Dynasty.

Although Emperor Leah agreed to meet Luo Lin, it was not as easy as Luo Lin imagined to actually meet Leah.

After all, Leah is now the emperor of Wu State. If foreign envoys want to see Leah directly, unless Leah takes the initiative to summon them, otherwise, if they want to see Leah, they must follow the Chinese audience rules.

Even though Leah herself hates these things, as the queen, she still has to take the lead.

Otherwise, people from other countries might see it and think that this is a barbaric country.

This etiquette itself is an indispensable part of the Chinese heritage to this day.

Although Confucian culture is not good in some aspects, it is undeniable that it is also because of those complicated cultures that the inheritance of China has not been interrupted until now, unlike the other three ancient countries, which have to have the word "ancient" in front of them.

Therefore, if the envoy of the Sassanid Empire wanted to meet Leah, he had to follow the rules of audience.

Nowadays, the most important etiquette for an audience with the Queen in China is to bow five times and kowtow three times, then stand up, clasp your hands and wait for Her Majesty the Queen to ask questions.

Of course, under normal circumstances, even an ordinary civilian would just bow his head, kneel and kowtow, and then stand up and serve the empress.

As for things like the initial submission of foreign countries, sending envoys to present tributes and offering local products, etc., there are corresponding etiquettes and there is no need to explain them one by one here.

Fortunately, the Sassanid Empire was not too far away from China, and he had some understanding of the rules between China, which was also a great Eastern country, and the difference between kneeling and bowing. Otherwise, he would have thought that the Wu Kingdom was making things difficult for him.

Chapter 142 You Fight, I Make Money

After the envoy learned the etiquette of the Chinese country for a few days, Leah summoned the envoy from the Sassanid Empire.

The Sassanid Empire was also very interesting. They first gave Leah two little lions, a local specialty, as a gift. One was male and the other was female. The little lions looked very cute, which made Leah like them very much.

After all, people in later generations cannot keep such big cats and can only see them in zoos. Unlike in ancient times, only wealthy nobles could keep such big cats.

Then he gave her some various gems from their empire, and then told Leah the purpose of his visit to Wu Kingdom.

"Your Majesty, Queen Wu, on behalf of the Sassanid Empire, I hope to buy some firearms from you. I wonder if you can sell some to me."

Hearing that the other party wanted to buy firearms from her, Leah thought for a moment and agreed directly.

After the transaction was completed, Liya was also very curious. Although her Wu country had mastered firearms, had it spread to such a far place?

The other party answered truthfully. They originally fought against Rome in Europe, but they didn't know where Rome got the firearms from. They were beaten and fled in panic. Finally, they found out that these firearms came from the Wu Dynasty of China.

So in order to avoid further oppression from Rome, they sent people to the Wu Dynasty to see if these rumors were true, so he was sent as an envoy of Sassanid Persia.

Isn't this just a coincidence?

Liya was planning to sell arms to other countries in the future, and these two fighters came directly. It is destined that her business will be bigger in the future.

After the two parties reached a deal, the other party quickly left with the firearms given by Leah. It seemed that he was really in a hurry.

Watching the other party leave, Leah suddenly felt that this was a good thing. The Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire were hurting each other, while she was selling firearms there and making a fortune in silence. It was simply too beautiful.

No wonder the Eagle Sauce of later generations likes to do this kind of thing so much, it is really easy to get addicted

After all, the Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia had been fighting, which was not only not harmful to her Wu Dynasty, but also beneficial.

There is also good news. In March last year, Hua Mulan and her army led an army to the Rouran. Relying on the guidance of a hot air balloon, they went deep into the northern desert. By March of this year, after a year, they had defeated the Rouran.

They also obtained countless cattle and sheep, captured tens of thousands of Rouran people, and drove them out of the grassland directly to the area that later belonged to Siberia in Russia.

After this battle, the Rouran people were severely damaged and no longer had the strength to move north. The Wu State also incorporated the territory that originally belonged to the Rouran people into its own territory.

After thinking for a moment, Liya asked Hua Mulan to bring back all the male Rouran people and leave only the female Rouran people.

Then she arranged for some Han men to go there, get married and have children, and start construction. She also announced that this place would belong to the ruling territory of the Wu State in the future.

As for the original male Rouran people, Liya directly arranged for them to go to Qinghai and Tibet to reclaim land.

For these Rouran people, Liya made the same arrangement for them as for the slaves. As long as they worked for ten years, they could be freed from their slave status and then marry local women. They and their descendants could become Han citizens.

Since these people were captured, they were spoils of war. Naturally, they could not be counted together with those who surrendered voluntarily. They should be sent to do hard labor first.

Presumably, with the addition of tens of thousands of Rouran fresh troops, she would be able to control Qinghai and Tibet in less than a few years. At that time, she could immigrate some people over there and completely control Qinghai and Tibet.

After the Rouran people were defeated by the Wu Kingdom, the Dayuan Kingdom and the Yueban Kingdom, which had previously not expressed any sentiment, also took the initiative to submit to the Wu Kingdom and voluntarily gave up their status as small countries to become part of the Wu Dynasty.

They have no choice but to admit it. Now that their elder brother Rouran has been almost destroyed by the Wu Dynasty, it will be their turn next. It would be better for them to take the initiative to submit.

Moreover, it is not shameful to be a part of the Wu Dynasty. After all, the Wu Dynasty is so powerful now. If other countries want to bully them, they have to consider their own strength.

In 10 AD, the territory of the Wu Dynasty increased suddenly, almost reaching the maximum territory of the later Tang Dynasty. However, it is hard to say whether there was a Tang Dynasty in later generations. In short, the current Wu Dynasty was already the most powerful dynasty in China since ancient times.

No matter whether it is the common people or the ministers and officials, when they mention the Wu Kingdom, they will puff out their chests with pride. This is the confidence that the Longwu Kingdom gives to its people.

In a few years, when Liya completely conquers Qinghai and Tibet, no one will be able to shake the territory of Wu State.

Now the northern territory directly reaches the inland sea of ​​Russia in the past, the Cherkissian Mountains. The western territory reaches Astana, the eastern region of Kazakhstan in the future. As for the east, after Liya's continuous immigration, the three northeastern provinces in the future have been demarcated.

As for Goguryeo, which was stuck in the middle, that guy had already surrendered to the Wu Dynasty and became a vassal state of the Wu Dynasty, so Liya couldn't touch him. However, if she had the chance, she would destroy this country directly and make it a part of the Wu Kingdom, not a vassal state.

The last area is the southern region, which is basically composed of islands. After thinking for a moment, Leah decided to give up those islands for the time being.

It would be much easier to take over Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, etc. than to attack those islands. These places are basically uninhabited, with only some indigenous people. It is questionable whether they have a country or not.

In fact, in this era, there were not as many countries as in later generations. Large tracts of land were empty. As long as people were sent to live somewhere, a large piece of territory could be immediately acquired.

Just like Qinghai-Tibet, these two places are big, but there are actually not many people there, because the climate in these areas is not very good, so not many people are willing to go there.

The places where there are countries now actually all have particularly good living environments, so there is so much competition.

The current world population is estimated to be only a few hundred million people, and there is no need to use such a large piece of land. Just like in later generations, although Russia has such a large piece of land, there are actually very few people.

The places he occupied, such as Siberia, were places where humans could not live normally.

Therefore, there is actually not much significance in constantly expanding the territory. Moreover, this kind of continuous immigration is also a waste of money and labor, and increases the burden on the country. For this reason, ministers constantly advised against it.

Chapter 143: Unify the World?

Liya knew this in her heart, but she knew how the future would be formed. By then, every piece of land in the world would be occupied by various ethnic groups. So for the sake of future generations, even if it was a waste of money and labor, Liya felt that she had to do it.

After all, the country has a large land area, abundant resources, and stronger national strength, so let’s just accept the difficulties now.

When technology is further advanced in the future, she will even incorporate all the territories that originally belonged to Russia into the territory of the Wu Dynasty. If there is a chance, she wants to take over the whole of Asia.

As for unifying the world, Leah gave up after thinking about it.

Because she thought of Qin Shi Huang in the 2.3 Lostzone. Although he unified the world, the result of doing so was world peace, and he became an emperor who remained unchanged for thousands of years.

Although this feat is amazing, the disadvantages are also very obvious, that is, world peace. Without enemies, there will be no potential threats.

The result of this is that everyone has lost motivation and chooses to just lie down. The world's development has become backward, and after 2000 years, it is still in the feudal era of the Qin Empire.

Eventually this world lost its potential for evolution and was judged to be a Lostbelt that needed to be cut off.

In other words, it is not just the 2.3 Lostbelt, almost all Lostbelts have this characteristic, it's just that 2.3 is the most serious.

Therefore, Leah would naturally not allow such a thing to happen in this world. Only when everyone has the idea of ​​potential crisis, the world will continue to progress.

What she wants to do is to make China the most powerful country in the world and the only hegemon in the world today.

The surrounding small countries will feel a sense of crisis of being annexed because of the existence of China. In order to avoid being annexed by China, they will constantly research new technologies to fight against China.

In order to maintain its position, China will continue to research new technologies. Only in this way can both sides make progress and move towards an unprecedented path.

Of course, if China is surpassed while maintaining the large amount of land she has conquered, then she will have no choice but to say that her teammates are useless and she can no longer lead the team.

The first half of the year 10 AD passed as Leah continued to release policies. What made Leah happy in this first half of the year was that during the continuous trade with Western countries, the Ministry of Industry finally found something called insulators.

You know, the problem of electricity has troubled the Ministry of Industry for several years. Electricity was developed several years ago, but there was no insulator, so electricity could not be put online.

Now, once the wires are covered with insulators, it can effectively prevent people from being electrocuted or killed. Things like engines can also be made, allowing Wu to truly embark on the industrial revolution.

It is now October, and the climate in Chang'an has completely gotten rid of the last bit of warmth in summer. The weather has become noticeably cooler, and people have begun to put on more clothes.

There are many maple leaves planted on both sides of the streets in Chang'an, and red maple leaves fall from the trees from time to time.

Not far away were a few middle-aged women in their forties or fifties. They had gotten up early and were sweeping the fallen leaves on the street with brooms.

This morning, Leah came to the R&D institute of the Ministry of Industry. She didn't want to conduct a sudden inspection, but the steam engine has become very good after so many years and can be used for other purposes.

Because Leah didn't have any ceremonial team, she went out alone this time.

When Leah arrived at the Ministry of Industry, the people there were a little flustered when they saw Leah coming alone. They quickly put down what they were doing and saluted Leah.

This action also awakened Gongsun Zhi and his master Lu Shan, who were still doing research in the Ministry of Works. The two hurried out of the Ministry to greet them.

"Your humble servants Gongsun Zhi and Lu Shan pay their respects to Your Majesty." After seeing that the person outside was truly His Majesty, the two of them hurriedly saluted.

Leah waved her hand and asked the two to stand up.

"Your Majesty, I wonder why you come here alone this time?" Gongsun Zhi stepped forward and asked.

"Don't panic, I'm not here to check you, but I have an idea and want to see if you can realize it." Leah smiled.

"Idea? I wonder what your majesty wants us to do?" After hearing what Liya said, Gongsun Zhi understood that his majesty wanted to find something for him to do.

However, the things His Majesty told them were indeed very interesting. Whether it was the hot air balloon, steam engine, electricity, or other gadgets, they all felt very fresh.