In the Qin Palace, a map hangs in the glorious hall.
Unlike many maps, this map is extremely simple, with most areas blank and only a few areas marked with place names.
"White Wolf Kingdom, Qiongdu Kingdom, Yelang Kingdom, Dian Kingdom... If it weren't for the opening of trade routes, who would have thought that there are so many countries in the southwest of our Qin Kingdom..." Qin Wangji's eyes slowly moved on the map. move.
Since the opening of the Hexi Corridor, countless businessmen have embarked on adventure journeys.
Since ancient times, businessmen have been some of the most adventurous people.
They are willing to take all risks for the sake of profit.
It is recorded in the ancient books of Bashu and the classics obtained from the Zhou Dynasty that as early as more than a thousand years ago, a group of people in the Xia Dynasty were exiled to the southwest, and then continued to migrate to the southwest, crossing the 100,000 mountains and disappearing without trace.
Therefore, the Qin State began to organize people to explore the southwest, looking for new trade routes, and also to find a new civilization.
Soon, the White Wolf Kingdom, the Qiongdu Kingdom, the Yelang Kingdom, the Dian Kingdom... one after another appeared in front of Qin's eyes.
Judging from the level of the Qin State, these countries are undoubtedly very weak in strength, and their cultural and technological levels are also very backward. Not to mention the current Qin State, even the Qin State in the Spring and Autumn Period cannot compare with them.
So Qin Wangji was excited!
What does Qin lack most?
Without a doubt, it’s the land!
As long as there is enough land, slaves can be pardoned, soldiers can be rewarded, and nobles can be rewarded.
Those conservatives chattered incessantly every day, buzzing in his ears like flies. For what reason?
To put it bluntly, isn't it because the benefits are not enough?
If each person is given a fiefdom, even if they lose the fight, this group of people will not fart.
But soon, Qin Wangji was disappointed.
The investigators came back and reported that these places were covered with mountains and forests, with all kinds of ferocious beasts and poisonous insects, dense miasma, and extremely harsh living conditions, making it difficult for the locals to survive, let alone the Qin people.
For Qin, land is a good thing, but land that cannot be cultivated is not a good thing.
Of course, Qin could also spend several generations transforming it, just like it did with the Chengdu Plain.
But this is impossible.
On the one hand, the geographical environment of these places is not as good as that of Chengdu.
Before the Qin State built Dujiangyan, Chengdu was the capital of the enlightened dynasty of the ancient Shu State. How could it be worse than the capital city of a country?
Moreover, during the hundreds of years of the Kaiming Dynasty, water conservancy projects and roads were constantly built to control floods.
Later, Li Bing built Dujiangyan and Wuchidao on the basis of his predecessors, gradually transforming Chengdu into a land of abundance.
The strength of those small countries is not even as good as the enlightened dynasty. Some countries' capitals are barely similar to the counties in the Central Plains, and some do not even have capitals. The plain area is even smaller, and the development value is not high.
On the other hand, Qin's control over Bashu and Bashu was not strong enough, and it was difficult for Qin to continue to radiate southward through the two places.
The Qin State occupied Bashu and Bashu for less than a hundred years, and initially adopted the method of using barbarians to control the barbarians. It was not until the Shu princes rebelled several times that the Qin State realized that the gentle methods were useless to the enemy, and then adopted tough measures to rule Bashu.
However, both Ba and Shu have their own cultural systems, and they reject the invader Qin from top to bottom. Unless everyone is killed, the people of the two places will still not identify with Qin.
Of course, this will slowly change over time.
After all, Ba and Shu have died, and not everyone is willing to live in the past.
As the new generation grows up, they identify more with Qin than the older generation.
In addition, the Qin State was very capable. On the one hand, it sent troops to suppress the tribes that were dissatisfied with the Qin State. On the other hand, it built water conservancy projects and rented farm tools for free, as long as it was repaid with grain in the coming year. Jin Guan was also established to purchase Shu Brocade at a guaranteed price. Build roads to strengthen exchanges between Shu and Guanzhong.
Unify the weights and measures of Bashu and Shu, etc.
Through various measures, Qin's control over Bashu and Bashu continued to deepen.
The remaining Bashu people who were dissatisfied with Qin and unwilling to submit to Qin could only continue to move south and hide in the Shiwan Mountains.
In recent years, the Qin State took advantage of the war between the Southern Barbarians and the Western Qiang to continuously recover the barbarians and drive them down the mountains to farm. Those who were unwilling to submit to the Qin State were basically destroyed by Wang Jian and Qiang Yu's army pretending to be Qiang people.
Only then could the Qin State truly complete its rule over Shu County, but it would still take some time for the people of Shu to truly identify with the Qin State.
In addition, the road to the southwest is also on the one hand.
The road between Qin and Shu was difficult enough. In order to destroy Shu, the State of Qin used a trick to deceive the King of Shu by saying that the State of Qin had a stone cow and the dada it pulled out was gold.
The State of Qin was willing to give this stone ox to the State of Shu, but the road from the State of Qin to the State of Shu was too difficult, and the stone ox could not be transported to the State of Shu. In order to obtain the stone ox that could pull gold, the King of Shu sent people to dig into the mountain and cut the stone. , built a road.
After the road was repaired, the King of Shu did not wait for the stone ox, but instead waited for the Qin State’s tens of thousands of troops...
The road from Chengdu to Southwest Yi is even more dangerous. Most of the road sections are only five feet wide, so it is also called the five-foot road. Horses walking on it may fall off the cliff at any time, making it impossible to march and transport food and grass.
"It's a pity that such a big place cannot be owned by Qin!" Qin Wangji sighed.
"Your Majesty, these places are not completely worthless. According to the news from the caravan, these small countries combined still have many places suitable for living and farming... If a road can be built at a small cost, I, Qin The country can easily occupy these places." Fan Ju slightly cupped his hands and said with a smile.
As long as a road can be built, the Qin State can sweep through all the countries in the southwest with only a few thousand people.
"What's the prime minister's clever plan?" Qin Wangji looked at Fan Ju.
"Five years ago, there were only small roads connecting from Xianyang to Longxi. The west of Longxi was even more desolate. But since the opening of the Hexi Corridor, the road from Xianyang to Zhangye has been smooth. Some time ago, our Qin noble businessmen even wrote to the imperial court to request the construction An official road from Xianyang to Zhangye. But it was rejected by the king. Dare I ask the king if this is possible?" Fan Ju asked.
"Not bad." Qin Wangji nodded.
He knew that the Silk Road was profitable. If a road could be built from Xianyang to Zhangye, or even to the Western Regions, the time on the round trip could be greatly shortened. Merchants could make more profits, and Qin could also get more business. Tax.
In addition, Qin's officials and businessmen can also make more money.
However, building roads requires a lot of manpower and material resources. All the money and food currently in the Qin State are used to support the front line. Even Xianyang City has not been expanded, so there is no money to build roads.
"If this road does not require money from the court, will your Majesty build it?" Fan Ju looked at Qin Wangji with a smile.
"If the court doesn't pay, then who will?" Qin Wangji frowned.
"Businessmen. Businessmen have made a lot of money through the Silk Road, and they want to make more money, so they won't be stingy with this money. It's just that they didn't get the cement production method from Zhao Guo, and Zhao Guo didn't want to Sell it to us. It may take us a little long to build this road," Fan Ju said.
Without cement, Qin had to use the old methods to build roads. Although it is still possible to build a wide and flat road, the efficiency is not even the slightest bit worse.
"Whose road is it after it is repaired?" Qin Wangji asked in a deep voice.
This road is related to national strategy. Even if it is not repaired, he cannot hand over ownership to businessmen.
The Qin State does not need to suppress merchants, but if the merchants try to test Qin's bottom line through Fan Ju, then Qin Wangji will let these merchants know what Qin's laws are.
"Of course it's from the imperial court." Fan Ju said with a smile. He was not ready to serve as a pawn for a group of businessmen.
Qin Wangji breathed a sigh of relief and asked with a smile, "This is from the Hexi Corridor, what about the Southwest?"
"According to the latest information from the caravan, they followed the Lingguan Ancient Road from Chengdu all the way south, crossed Minishui, Ruoshui, and Heishui to a small country called Yeyu, and then went west over the Shiwan Mountains. Thousands of miles away, there is a powerful country called the Maurya Dynasty.”
"They like the colored glaze and silk we brought there very much. As long as we can establish commercial relations with the Mauryan Dynasty, the value of this ancient road in the southwest is no less than that of the Silk Road, and it can bring a steady stream of money to our Qin State. Wait until the Hexi Corridor After the road is built, it will be easy to recruit businessmen to build the southwest road." Fan Ju said slowly.
With Qin's strength, it was enough to build two roads at the same time. However, if the court does not contribute money or effort, merchants and nobles alone can build at most one road at the same time.
As for whether they have this technology, Fan Ju is not worried. The merchants didn't, but the nobles certainly did.
What's more, many nobles are businessmen themselves, relying on the Silk Road to make money, and will not give up this opportunity.
Besides, the State of Qin will definitely send someone to take charge of this matter.
"The Peacock Dynasty..." Qin Wangji pressed his left hand on the map and murmured in his mouth.
The opening of the Silk Road made many people, including Qin Wangji, realize that there is more to the world than just the Central Plains. Although there is currently no country that can rival the splendid civilization of the Central Plains or be more powerful than the Central Plains.
But no one can guarantee that it won’t happen.
According to the information from the caravan, the strength of the Maurya Dynasty is no less than that of any country in the Central Plains, and may even exceed it.
This is only what the caravan can come into contact with in a short period of time!
This news gave Qin Wangji an unprecedented sense of urgency.
Only by unifying the Central Plains could Qin compete with such a country.
"Let's just build the Hexi Corridor first. The imperial court will arrange for officials to supervise it. The money and food needed will be voluntarily donated by merchants and nobles. After the road is built, a stone monument will be erected at both ends of the road to collect all donated money and food. Or the names of those who contributed manpower and material resources are engraved on the stone tablet for future generations to admire. The order is based on the amount of money and food donated." Qin Wangji said.
"Your Majesty is wise, now that you have done this, you are not afraid that some nobles will not donate." Fan Ju cupped his hands and said.
The road is for everyone to walk, but if a big businessman donates nothing, or donates very little, but makes a lot of money relying on this road, the businessmen on the entire business road will exclude him.
The most important thing for businessmen is to make connections and make money by being friendly, and they will not dig their own graves.
"Your Majesty, urgent news." At this time, Qin Liu, commander of the Black Bird Division, hurried in from outside.
"What's the matter?" Qin Wangji asked.
"Someone found a city north of Longxi, which is suspected to be occupied by Zhao State." Qin Liu said quickly.
"What! The north of Longxi is occupied by the Zhao State? Have you sent someone to verify it?" Qin Wangji's face suddenly changed.
Longxi is Qin's rear area, and it also guards the economic artery of the Hexi Corridor. Just now, he planned to build an official road in the Hexi Corridor.
If Zhao really occupied a large area of land north of Longxi and could achieve self-sufficiency. When the Qin State was fighting on the front line, they sent an elite force from Longxi directly into the Qin State. They were able to cut off the Silk Road without any effort and even hit Xianyang, dealing a heavy blow to the Qin State.
At that time, all the energy of the State of Qin was focused on the east. As a result, King Wuling of Zhao went south from Heshang and entered Xianyang, the capital of Qin. King Ji of Qin was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and immediately built the Great Wall on the northern border to resist Zhao's cavalry.
Now Zhao State is running directly behind Qin State. How should Qin State resist?
"People have been sent to verify it, but it will take some time for the news to come through." Qin Liu said with cupped hands.
"Inform me immediately if there is any news." Qin Wangji paced back and forth in the hall, his old face showing a bit of worry and a bit of happiness.
Fortunately, it was discovered in time. If Qin had not discovered Zhao's conspiracy, hundreds of thousands of troops were on the front line. At this time, Zhao sent an army to sneak attack Qin from the rear... The consequences would be disastrous.
"promise."
"What does the Prime Minister think of this matter?" Qin Wangji looked at Fan Ju. At this time, only the other party could reassure him.
Even if something big happens, as long as Fan Ju is around, Qin Wangji believes that the other party can solve it.
"A few years ago, our Qin State destroyed the Yueshi and defeated Qu Yan, who fled north. Later, news came from Zhao State that Qu Yan had been destroyed. At that time, I didn't take it seriously. But since then, our Qin State's north There is no more Rongdi intrusion. Now that I think about it carefully, the news back then is probably true." Fan Ju said.
There is one thing he did not say: the Qin people who reported the news could not lie because it was meaningless. Such lies can be easily exposed and punished.
"If it's true, I'm afraid there will be a big war between Qin and Zhao." Qin Wangji murmured.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to be alarmed. Even if the State of Zhao really expands its territory to the north of Longxi, it is not certain whether it will be able to send troops. As far as I know, from Guanzhong to the north, the terrain gradually increases, with mountains and rivers crisscrossing it, which is not suitable for farming, let alone North of Longxi. It is impossible for Zhao Guo to transport grain from Hebei." Fan Ju said with a smile.
The reason why Qin State's expansion to the northwest stopped at the upper reaches of Jingshui River and Luoshui River was because it was no longer suitable for growing grain further north.
And there are high mountains blocking it, making it difficult to cross.
It is difficult for the Qin State to pass, which means that it is also difficult for the Zhao State to pass.
Moreover, in places where farming is not possible, the population cannot be large. In addition, Zhao's occupation period was short and the people's hearts were not yet attached, so it would not pose a threat to Qin.
"Thank you for your advice, sir." Qin Wangji leaned over and saluted. He was indeed a little impatient just now. After listening to Fan Ju's analysis, he realized that the matter was not that bad.
