Time flies, and unknowingly it has arrived on the 13th day of the first lunar month. Yang Ji’s three wives all gave birth within a few days. Perhaps it was because they were giving birth to their second children, and they all gave birth very smoothly, not as hard as the first child. difficult. Last time, Xiao Ying and Pei Shuying gave birth to the eldest child, Yang Hao, and the second child, Yang Ming. This time, Xiao Ying gave birth to the fourth child, Yang Hui, in the afternoon on the eighth day of the first lunar month, and Pei Shuying gave birth to the fifth child, Yang Yao, at night; while Liu Rumei gave birth to the fourth child. Still at the back of the queue, she gave birth to a daughter in the early morning of the eleventh day of the first lunar month.
Yang Ji was extremely rare for his only baby daughter, and he was much more serious about naming him than the previous two. After much deliberation, he finally named his daughter who was born in the early morning Yang Xi.
These three children had the same good fortune as their father and elder brother. Not long after they were born, their uncle's reward came. Yang Hui was granted the title of Duke of Kaijiang County, and Yang Yao was granted the title of Duke of Hongde County. Although Yang Xi was the youngest, she was Yang Ji's eldest daughter after all, so she was granted the title of Princess of Changping County.
Judging from Yang Guang's three canonizations, it can be said that he has placed good expectations on his nephews and nieces, as well as the blessings from the elders to the younger ones.
With the addition of three new lives to Prince Wei's mansion, the atmosphere was naturally different from before. The three older ones stayed beside the three younger ones all day long, perhaps because they had three younger brothers and sisters, so it was much quieter.
Dugu Min couldn't stop praising them all day long for being an elder brother who has a sense of responsibility and can take care of his younger siblings. However, although Yang Ji did not dare to refute, he believed that they were rare new toys and would definitely stay away after waiting for a while.
With his daughter, Yang Ji has a clear mind.
As for state affairs, the Sui Dynasty still focused on development and hard work on internal strength. Only with the support of strong national power and only when major internal dangers were eliminated, could the Sui Dynasty be able to expand and plunder unscrupulously.
Yang Guang is quite qualified as an emperor. While he was strict in governing officials, he was lax in corvee and paid little in taxes, encouraged farmers to teach farming, and built water conservancy projects. What's rare is that after he gained the reputation of a wise king who loved his people like a son, he became very fond of feathers. He even ordered not to build palaces and forbade local officials from paying tribute to rare treasures, flowers and plants, so as not to disturb the people and add unnecessary trouble to the court and the people. necessary expenses.
The officials governed the Qingming Dynasty and the people's lives were stable. The Great Sui Dynasty also experienced a qualitative transformation. In the early and middle periods of the founding of the Emperor, the country was rich and the people were poor. The rich were extremely rich and the poor were extremely poor. However, from the middle to the later period, we have slowly realized the goal of hiding wealth among the people. Conception. Although the people are not very rich, the problem of food and clothing has been solved. Most families have a surplus of food. This naturally brings support for the imperial court.
Consolidating the foundation and condensing national strength is only the first step. If you want to develop further, you must have a clear goal. Otherwise, you will lose your guiding light and do many thankless things that waste people and money.
Regarding the choice of this goal, Yang Guang discussed it with important ministers in Tongming Hall as always.
"Sage, in my opinion, the Sui Dynasty should pay more attention to the development of foreign trade." After several seniors expressed their opinions, Yang Ji stood up and said: "The Sui Dynasty is a big agricultural country and has innate advantages in crops. As long as there is no major disaster, There is no problem with being self-sufficient. Even if a disaster occurs somewhere, as long as the debugging is done well, it can be easily dealt with. However, our Sui Dynasty has a large population, and the people in the Sui Dynasty used their free time to produce silk, cloth, embroidery, porcelain, jade and other specialties. But it is because of oversupply that many workshops and shops cannot make ends meet and are in danger of going bankrupt. If we sell these things to other countries and then buy what the Sui Dynasty needs from other countries, our Sui Dynasty will not only meet our needs, but also It can provide various handicraft workshops and people with ways to get rich."
There are people who see this clearly, but every household has its own foreign trade business and caravans. They have basically benefited from the surplus in the country and can buy excellent handicrafts from the people at extremely low prices. , and then sell them abroad for high profits. The common people think that it is better to sell some goods for a little money than to leave them moldy and rotten, so they basically sell the goods at a low price. If the labor costs and labor costs are included, they will basically suffer a serious loss.
And those who have benefited greatly are, firstly, unwilling to change the existing structure, and secondly, it is too complicated and troublesome. Of course, Yang Ji also benefited from this, but unlike his ministers, his interests were based on whether the Sui Dynasty was strong or not, so he hoped that the Sui Dynasty would be better and that the people would be better. richer.
But he doesn’t want to interfere with the transactions between merchants and people. After all, that is the freedom of buyers and sellers. As long as it is not plundering or buying and selling by force, it is a normal business exchange model. No one can interfere. If The government's over-involvement only breeds all kinds of corruption. However, once foreign trade becomes the mainstream of commerce, domestic surplus goods will become in short supply. In order to obtain more goods and make more money through foreign trade, businessmen must purchase goods through mutual bidding. In this way, Come on, people who have goods in their hands can still make money.
“The first route of foreign trade is the Silk Road. In the future, we will not only extend the Silk Road further, but also open up a few more routes to promote the development and exchanges between the East and the West. As long as the Silk Road is open, the goods traded between the East and the West will This will activate the economic vitality of Sui Dynasty, and at the same time, open more border markets on the border. Foreign trade will drive the local economy."
"Take Liangzhou for example! The border counties of Liangzhou are vast and sparsely populated. Not only do they not have any special products, but many people live a nomadic life. However, the livestock and leather they raise are different from those of the Turks and Tiele people. , Sogdians, and barbarians from the Western Regions overlapped, so they could not be sold. If they were sold to domestic merchants, the price would be serious, so the people would never get rich. But the biggest advantage of Liangzhou Border County is that it borders all countries in the Western Regions. When he became an official in Liangzhou, he regarded the border county as a place for commerce between the East and the West. The arrival of a large number of merchants caused food, clothing, housing, transportation and other businesses to flourish in the local area and along the caravan route. stand up."
"Since Liangzhou can succeed, I believe that Wuyuan, Yulin, Dingxiang, Mayi, Yanmen, Zhuojun, Anle, Liaodong, Mozhou and other border counties bordering the foreign tribes can also succeed. Although these border counties have not gone far. The advantages of the Western Region, but as long as it is opened to the outside world, it can at least attract the nearby barbarians to trade, and the people can also get a certain income from food, clothing, housing, and transportation."
As Yang Ji finished speaking, everything fell silent in the Tongming Palace, and the ministers silently weighed the pros and cons. After a while, Su Wei came out. He bowed his hands to Yang Guang and said, "Sage, I have something to ask King Wei, is it okay?"
Everyone looked at Yang Guang, and Yang Guang said in a calm voice: "Su Qing can speak freely!"
"Here!" Su Wei responded, turned to Yang Ji and bowed his hand, and said: "The king has a good idea. If the northern border counties adopt Liangzhou's method, the people in the north will definitely get certain benefits from the mutual trade. . But I have a question and I want to ask for advice."
Yang Ji returned the gift and said, "Xiang Su, please tell me if you have anything to say!"
"The countries in the Western Regions that Liangzhou faces are small and have few people, and they are constantly fighting with each other. No matter what items they get, they will not pose a threat to us in the Sui Dynasty. And what they face in the north is the Turks, whose overall strength far exceeds that of the Western Regions. If the sum of all countries opens their doors to them, will it not make them stronger?" After Su Wei and the Soviet Party suffered a heavy blow last year, he was silent for a long time. When he realized that Yang Guang needed to lead the Guanzhong gentry to restrain Guanlong The intention of the nobles was to readjust their mentality and focus on state affairs. However, at this time, Su Wei no longer dared to rely on his old age and spoke very cautiously and politely.
"I have also thought about Su Xiangzhi's concerns." This was a normal discussion. Yang Ji naturally did not bite people like a mad dog. He said matter-of-factly: "Trade is a matter of mutual benefit. Only when both parties can benefit, can trade Only then can we continue. If we open the door to the northern Sui Dynasty, the Turks will definitely gain and the situation will be better than now. This is beyond doubt. "
"But if the imperial court had not opened up border trade, the Turks would still have been able to obtain what they needed from illegal traders in the Sui Dynasty and from various countries in the Western Regions. It would just be more troublesome. Therefore, whether the imperial court opened it or not would not actually have a big impact on the Turks. In addition, although the border counties have been cracking down on illegal traders, there are always some border officials and generals who cannot withstand the temptation of money. When merchants give them a certain amount of money, they will still let the illegal traders pass, which causes another problem. Officials and businessmen colluded and acted in collusion."
"However, once a border market is opened, everything is under the control of the government, so I think that instead of letting illegal traders and lawless generals benefit, it is better to let the court and the people benefit. And establishing a market in a border county is tantamount to They have the initiative in their own hands. The imperial court has the final say on what can be traded and what is prohibited. And since the Turks have upright trade channels and trading places, they will naturally not be afraid of dealing with unscrupulous traders. Trade. Unscrupulous traders have lost buyers and can only do things according to the court's requirements. This is much easier than sending troops to search for illegal traders. "
After a pause, Yang Ji said very domineeringly: "What's more, our Sui Dynasty has strong soldiers and countless elite soldiers. What the soldiers fear most is not fighting, but not fighting. If the Turks gain momentum, then give them a beating." , let it obediently spend money to eliminate disasters, and weaken; after that, if it becomes strong again, we will fight again. In short, we must not let its strength exceed our psychological limit. "
The territory of the Sui Dynasty was so huge that no one even developed the fertile Yizhou and the southern areas of Liangzhou, Jingzhou and Yangzhou, as well as the entire Jiaozhou and Andong Protectorate. How could there be any spare energy to occupy the territory north of Yinshan Mountain? Grassland area? If the Sui Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Turks but did not occupy it, the Tiele people would definitely take the land there as their own and become a new powerful enemy like Xue Yantuo in history. In this case, it is better to keep the Turks who are as afraid of the Sui Dynasty and compete with various ministries.
The strength of the Eastern Turks seems to be very strong, but in fact, their backbone has been broken by the Sui Dynasty, their bravery has been wiped out by the Sui Dynasty, and even their talents and young people have been killed. By now, he had lost the courage to become an enemy of the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, Yang Ji felt that the existence of the Turks was far easier to deal with than the new forces that had emerged on the grassland. It was necessary for the Sui Dynasty to let them continue to live, and when they became stronger, they would cut them like leeks.
The monarchs, ministers, people, and soldiers of the Sui Dynasty were more warlike, and they all tasted the benefits of using war to nourish the people, the army, and the country. Even if there is a dispute between war and peace in the court, it is an internal power struggle, not that the peace faction is timid or afraid of war. Therefore, no one felt uncomfortable with Yang Ji's domineering declaration. On the contrary, I feel that the country's great plan should be based on the army taking the lead and fighting.
Yang Guang nodded and said: "Keep talking!"
This sentence can be regarded as recognition of Yang Ji's ideas and making a final statement.
"The above is the land Silk Road, and the next is the maritime Silk Road." Yang Ji said: "The Han Dynasty was able to open the land Silk Road. During the Three Kingdoms period, Soochow sent merchant ships to sea and explored a lot in the south. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the country even opened up a coastal route. This Maritime Silk Road started from Nanhai County, passed through the sea east of the big island where Zhuya is located, went straight to the southern countries, and then sailed to Persia. I am the Sui Dynasty. The navigation industry and shipbuilding technology are far ahead of the past. It is completely possible to form a fleet to explore unknown areas on the sea and establish diplomatic relations with unknown countries. This will not only spread our Sui culture, but also make enough profits. The key is the manpower and material resources of shipping. Far inferior to land transportation.”
Regarding the Maritime Silk Road proposed by Yang Ji, the emperors and ministers of the Sui Dynasty were cautious. After all, the sea is different from the land route. The sea is very windy and rough. If you are not careful, you will lose people and money. Secondly, if you travel by sea, you will need to repair and supply supplies in the countries you pass through. If there are not enough guards, it is easy for people to eat everything.
After an hour-long discussion, it was finally recognized by Gao Jiong, Pei Ju, Su Wei, Xiao Jue and other political wizards. However, everyone did not want to get there all at once, but decided to explore southward step by step along the coastline, first establishing diplomatic relations with nearby countries, and then extending further.
At the same time, Yang Guang allocated a huge sum of money from the national treasury and handed it over to the Ministry of Industry to improve the compass. At the same time, he ordered officials from all over Jiaozhou to offer rewards and recruit people who knew the navigation route.
Yang Ji was satisfied when he got such a reply. He was unable to give wise suggestions, but he knew that the Tang Dynasty had a mature maritime route leading to Southeast Asia, the northern countries of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea coast, Northeast Africa and the Persian Gulf, called the "Guangzhou Tonghai Yi Road". On the route there are the Ring Kingdom, the Mendu Kingdom, the Guda Kingdom, the Dragon Yamen Kingdom, the Luo Yue Kingdom, the Sri Lankan Kingdom, the Haring Kingdom, the Guluo Kingdom, the Goguluo Kingdom, the Shengdeng Kingdom, and the Polu Kingdom. The Lion Kingdom, South Tianzhu, Brahman Kingdom, Xindu River, Tiroluhe Kingdom, Ula Kingdom, Dashi Kingdom, Moro Kingdom, Sanlan Kingdom and other countries.
The main commodities exported by the Tang Dynasty through this passage were silk, porcelain, tea, and copper and ironware; the main commodities imported back were spices, flowers, and rare treasures, and each trip made a lot of money.
Judging from the content recorded in "History of Chinese Machinery", the shipbuilding industry of the Tang Dynasty actually regressed compared to the Sui Dynasty; since the Tang Dynasty, whose shipbuilding industry regressed, could reach Persia from the "Guangzhou Tonghai Yi Road", Why couldn't the Sui Dynasty? So the key is for someone to take the first step.
The Maritime Silk Road is a long-term plan that cannot be accomplished in a day, but it can be started immediately on land. Yang Guang turned around and said: "Lingluo silk and satin, porcelain, vinegar sauce, fine wine, gold, silver and jade are mainly sold to Turks. Nobles, chiefs, the demand for this group is not large, but ordinary people cannot afford it or use it. Even if we open border restrictions, we can't make much money from these dispensable things. What can we do to make money? Get big money?"
Yang Ji said without hesitation: "Weapons and armor."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone objected: "It's easy to say anything else, but weapons and equipment must not be sold to the Turks."
Yang Ji said: "The Ashina family used to be Rouran's iron-smelting slaves. After Ashina Tumen replaced Rouran, the Turks absorbed a large number of craftsmen from the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, and Northern Zhou. This made the Turks possess extremely mature smelting techniques. , knife-making skills. However, the Turks have a small population and low food output. The whole country focuses on providing food and clothing and fighting, and does not invest the limited population in mining and smelting."
"If the Great Sui Dynasty completely banned pig iron, weapons and armor from flowing into the grasslands, they would be able to make it themselves and form a very mature system. This would actually be more harmful and have a far-reaching impact on our Great Sui Dynasty. The Great Sui Dynasty should sell some to them. , they would not start a smelting industry with high manpower and low production capacity. When those who are proficient in smelting and knife-casting grow old, sick and die, the technology will be forgotten. In the end, in terms of weapons and equipment, we formed a comprehensive dependence on the Sui Dynasty. When we If the supply is cut off, their weapons and equipment will not be able to last for more than a few wars."
There was a sound of air-conditioning sucking all around. This method was so cruel that it simply cut off the foundation of the Turks. However, everyone felt relieved when they thought about Yang Ji's "privately" selling obsolete weapons in the Western Regions.
The Western Turks' Ni Chuluo Khan's tribe and Shekui Khan's tribe fought back and forth for so many years. Both sides used equipment that was eliminated during the Sui Dynasty. Until now, they seem to have made their own weapons and equipment. Once they have fought, If it was not enough, he would collect money and buy it from Yang Ji.
It would be the same if the Sui Dynasty sold it to Dong/Tujue, Xue Yantuo, Xue Hubu Alliance, Qi Gu, Nan Shi Wei, and Bei Shi Wei, who were in great need of weapons and equipment.
And as Yang Ji said before, if the court didn't sell it, there would be unscrupulous traders selling it. In this case, it is better to let the court handle it.
Now that buyers have formal purchasing channels and the court is putting pressure on them, who dares to buy from unscrupulous traders?
"Where's the pig iron?" Gao Jiao asked.
"The pig iron must not be sold, lest their sword-making and armor-making skills be preserved." Yang Ji shook his head, and then said: "And the finished weapons and equipment can be sold at a high price, and the money earned can be used , Cultivate a large number of craftsmen with exquisite craftsmanship. Once there are more mature craftsmen, our Sui craftsmanship will be improved. It can be said that we can achieve multiple goals with one stone."
Seeing that everyone was speechless, Yang Guang smiled and asked, "What do you think of King Wei's opinion?"
"I have no objection!" Yang Ji explained the pros and cons clearly and clearly, and with the successful experience of the two Western Turks, everyone had nothing to object to.
Pei Ju said: "Sage, since this decision has been made, I suggest that we use the name of the Sui Dynasty to communicate and trade with various khans and chiefs, instead of authorizing it to border counties; otherwise, there will be chaos."
"Yes!" Yang Guang thought for a moment and said, "Let the Ministry of Rites be responsible for negotiating with all tribes and making decisions in the council, and the Ordnance Supervisor will be responsible for the delivery."
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Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: Shukeju
