Go to ancient times and engage in construction

As soon as Zhao Xuan entered King Zhao's palace, his heart sank. The Wu country supplies that had been replaced in the palace were rearranged again. Those exquisite utensils were shining brightly on the wooden shelves.Zhao Wang was still half lying on the soft bed, holding the copper stove made by Wu Guo in his arms.

"Father!" Zhao Xuan slowly walked to the front of the cave, bowed to his father and asked to press.

"Xuan'er, come up on the soft bed." Zhao Wang squinted his cloudy eyes to look at his son, and found that his son was a little thinner, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"What do you want the father to call the child?" Zhao Xuan lifted the corner of his black dark robe and sat next to King Zhao.

"Xuan'er, I've lost weight recently." Wang Zhao patted his son on the shoulder. "Actually, the happiest thing about being a monarch is that his words are supreme and no one disobeys them. But this will make the king's incorrect orders unremonstrated. If things go on like this, the country will be in danger."

"Father King..." Zhao Xuan knew that there must be many nobles complaining in front of King Zhao, but he didn't expect King Zhao to speak so seriously.

King Zhao interrupted Zhao Xuan's argument with a wave of his hand. He leaned back, closed his eyes slightly and remained silent for a while before opening them to speak.

"I think when Gu was not the prince, your grandfather had already realized that the enfeoffment system was not appropriate. If Zhao Guo wanted to be strong, he had to cancel the enfeoffment system and weaken the power of the lord. For this reason, your grandfather has been secretly slowly Reduce the power of the big feudal lord, support the small nobles to enter the royal court to take power, and it will take another 20 years until Gu inherits the throne, before the fiefs can be taken back one after another. Five years later, when the time is right, Gucai officially issued an edict to abolish the feudal system From then on, the state of Zhao gradually became stronger, and this strategy was implemented, and it took more than fifty years for the two generations of kings to complete it."

When Zhao Wang said this, Laohua's eyes shone with pride.

"Father!" Zhao Xuan was ashamed.

"Xuan'er, governing the country is like cooking fresh food. A good cook's cooking is neither too salty nor too bland, because they are good at adjusting the seasoning. Governing the country is like cooking. You can neither rush nor slack, only just right. to get things done.”

King Zhao has several concubine sons, Zhao Xuan is his favorite, and he has been trained as his successor since he was a child. After Zhao Xuan was named the prince at the age of 12, King Zhao has always strongly defended his heir status, so that the other sons grew up without anyone. Dare to have any idea about the position of succession.Five years ago, Zhao Wang felt that his energy was not enough, so he directly handed over the power of the country to the prince, and he cultivated and enjoyed life in the palace.

"Father! Xuan understands, Xuan is too eager to do things." Zhao Xuan was grateful for his father's honest teaching to him.

"Gu knows that you are right, just like your grandfather Wang looked at the issue of enfeoffment, Gu believes that as long as Xuan'er is patient, he will solve this problem." King Zhao felt relieved to see that Zhao Xuan immediately understood what he meant.

"My child will definitely make Zhao Guo the head of the princes." Zhao Xuan swore in front of his father. "The reason why my boy is so anxious is that the rise of the Wu Kingdom is too fast. Thinking of the strong country in the future, my boy is anxious."

"Haha, Xuan'er doesn't need to worry. Thinking about whether the king of Wu is not the king or the minister is not the minister, there will be a big hidden danger sooner or later. Zhao just waits for the opportunity." King Zhao doesn't look up to the state of Wu like his son does. In his mind, Wu The country's current administrative method is tantamount to emptying the power of the king, and the power of the courtiers is greater than that of the king, and there will be serious consequences sooner or later.

"Father has far-sightedness." Zhao Xuan looked at his father with a look of admiration. To him, King Zhao was both a father and a teacher, and of course also a king. Zhao Xuan's skills of governing the country were all taught by King Zhao.

After the Spring Festival, the heavy troops stationed by Zhao State on the border withdrew. In early January, Wu Xian visited Wu State as a special envoy of Zhao State. The purpose of the mission was based on the friendship between the two countries.As soon as Wu Xian's special envoy arrived at the throat, Wei Qing and Huo Sizhong passed the news to the capital.

When Zheng Yuming received the news, he immediately summoned Wu Mu and asked him to prepare to negotiate with Wu Mian, and he must gain some benefits for Wu Guo from Wu Mian's mission.

The special envoy headed by Wu Xian stayed in King Wu for five days before leaving. Wu Xian returned to Zhao State at the end of the month. At the beginning of February, the bazaar at the throat and border resumed, and the trading volume of the restored bazaar increased compared with before. Merchants from Wu State or other countries, when they trafficked goods into Zhao State, the variety was no longer restricted, and the restrictions on luxury goods that were not allowed to enter were removed, but the checkpoint tax charged by the Zhao State checkpoint was [-]% higher than before, and luxury goods were increased by [-]%. [-]% of customs duty is required.

At the same time that Zhao Xuan reopened the border checkpoints, he reformed the domestic land tax. The tax on the fields that grow food has been reduced from the original 20.00% to 20.00%. The tax on the land that grows cash crops has not been reduced and is still [-]% .

Zhao Xuan's substantial reduction in farmland taxes made the people of Zhao State rejoice. In addition, Zhao Xuan let the local officials inform the village elders of the farmland management knowledge he stole from Wu State, which increased the yield per mu of land.

These measures to benefit farmers have increased the enthusiasm of the people in the country of Zhao, and the number of Zhao people who smuggled into the country of Wu near the throat is becoming less and less. Like Wu State, the people of course choose to stay in their homeland to farm. As for the news that the farmers in Wu State do not bear other chores except paying taxes, the people of Zhao State do not know because of the lack of information. Same.

The aristocrats in Zhao State who planted cash crops did not switch to grain because of tax cuts. For them, planting cash crops is still more rewarding than growing grain.

"You said King Wu has changed a lot?" After Wu Xian returned to China, Zhao Xuan immediately met him and asked Wu Xian to tell him what he saw and heard in Wu Country.

"Not only has the king of Wu changed drastically, but what I saw along the way is different from what I saw two years ago."

The first thing to change is the road. From Yanhoukou City to Qucheng, a road can be built for five riders side by side. The road is paved with gravel and hard yellow sand, which is very flat and not too muddy in rainy days.Trees are planted on both sides. These trees have just come to life and will grow taller in the future. Riding on the road is not afraid of the scorching sun.

Horses and carts must pay a small road maintenance fee to drive on this kind of road. It is said that these road maintenance fees are used to recruit workers to maintain the road. The workers recruited are usually villagers near the road. Whenever there are potholes on the road, these workers have to pay. To fill in the potholes.

Not only was the throat built a road to Qucheng, but Qucheng also built new roads to the east and southeast. To the east is the coast of the East China Sea and Southeast County, and to the southeast is Kangcheng, the capital of the king.These two roads are too long, and only more than half of them have been repaired. They will all be built and passable, and they will be available next year.

"Wu people build so many roads at the same time, it's too much work and waste of money." Zhao Xuan shook his head, adding up thousands of miles of roads, how many people have to be called to serve?The best laborers are diverted to build roads, and the fields will be laid waste.Although Zhao Xuan knew that transportation was very important, he would never do such a large-scale project, it would be too much of a waste of people's power.Zhao Xuan tried his best to think about it, but he couldn't think of Wu Guo's construction of roads. He didn't ask the slaves to build roads for free, but recruited labor to build them with wages.

"Yeah, Weichen thinks so too."

The road from Qucheng to Kangcheng was started at both ends at the same time. A quarter of Qucheng’s side was repaired, and Kangcheng’s road to the northwest was half completed. What is clear is that the road repair workers are actually working hard without the supervision of a whip, as if they are working very hard.Wu Xian was accompanied by the guards of Northwest County, so he could not go to the road construction site to discuss the reasons in detail with Lao Li. Only once did he see the road construction labor having lunch, each of them holding yellow buns in their hands and eating pickles. Lao Li must be coveting a good meal, so he worked so hard, because the yellow buns are free to supply.Wu Xian went over and smelled it, and it was very fragrant. Later, he saw it at the post station, ordered a portion to enjoy it, and found that it tasted good. This kind of yellow corn bun is called corn bun.

Wu Xian's envoy to Zhao State this time was much more comfortable than the first time because there were post stations along the way.In addition to the function of a post station, the post station is also a place for Wu Guogong to board and change horses on the way. There is a private inn next to the post station. You can see one of these post stations and inns after walking for half a day.

Both the post station and the inn are very lively. The post station is a guest house for tolerance and postmen, and the inn is a place for businessmen and pedestrians to stay and rest.What surprised Wu Milling was that tolerances and postmen had to pay for staying at the post station. After inquiring with the steward of the post station, Wu Milling found out that the accommodation expenses of those tolerances and postmen could be reimbursed back home, and there was a subsidy for food. This kind of subsidy was called travel expenses.

As the special envoy of Zhao State, Wu Xian entered Wu State and stayed at the inn for free. You don’t have to worry about accommodation along the way. The room is clean, the food is exquisite, and the hot water pipes are enough. You have to be happy. You can take a hot bath every day at the inn.Compared with two years ago when I was on the mission, I couldn't meet villages on the road, and I had to sleep in the wild, and the treatment was very different.

"Weichen went to King Wu's capital two years ago. On the way, I saw dilapidated villages and people's faces were all disheveled. But this time, the villages on both sides of the road became denser, and most of the people's faces were rosy. The closer you are to Cangcheng , the denser the population density, the more pedestrians on the road.”

"It's just that Mr. Ming is implementing the same recuperation strategy as Zhao Guo." Zhao Xuan believes that Zhao Guo implements the same agricultural tax policy as Wu Guo, and the people of Zhao Guo will live better than Wu Guo in two years.

"The city of Cannes has changed the most. After I entered the city, I thought I went to the wrong place." Wu Xian entered from the city gate, and the first thing that came into his eyes was no longer the potholed streets dug two years ago, but the wide streets.The streets of the whole city of Cannes are straightened to form straight intersections. There is a kind of two-horse carriage in the city, which can carry more than ten people. You only need to pay a small dime, and you can go up and down along the way. .

"Cannes is divided into several major districts, including Wangting administrative area, living area, school area, commercial area, and industrial area. The Wangting administrative area is the royal palace and the minister's office, and the living area is the residence of city residents. There are several such areas. , occupies the largest area. The Xuefu District has North College, a middle school, two primary schools, and a technical college. This technical school is a school for training craftsmen. The commercial area is a concentration area for merchants and shops, and the industrial area is a gathering place for workshops .”

"Separating students and craftsmen together is only what Young Master Ming can think of." Zhao Xuan laughed at Zheng Yuming's disrespect for students.Students will be the pillars of society in the future, how can they live in the same area as craftsmen with low status.

Wu Xian originally wanted to talk more about the students of the North College, but when he saw that his lord belittled Zheng Yuming, he immediately shut up and talked about other things.

"It seems that I have to go there alone."

After Wu Mian left, Zhao Xuan stared out the window in a daze. Wu Mian's spies in Cannes sent back some of the changes in Wu Mian that Wu Mian told about, but none of them were as vivid and detailed as what Wu Mian saw with his own eyes. The great changes in the country made Zhao Xuan anxious. Under the anxiety, Zhao Xuan decided to take time out to visit the country of Wu in secret.