"Our country, Zhao, is now considered to have a big business. We should not care too much about temporary gains and losses. We should take a long-term view. The winner will be the one who laughs to the end." Zhao Kuo said with a smile, but he was actually already cursing in his heart.
If Ding Ling hadn't been too far away from Zhao, he would have ordered Ding Ling to be hacked to death in the spring of next year.
How had he ever felt this angry in so many years? Even the Qin State didn't get any benefit from him, but Ding Ling dared to take advantage of him. I really don't know how the word "death" is written.
Zhao Kuo glanced at Liu Ping, who nodded slightly.
After following Zhao Kuo for so many years, even if Zhao Kuo didn't say it explicitly, Liu Ping understood what Zhao Kuo meant: send someone to find out Ding Ling's detailed information so that I can destroy it.
"Your Majesty is right. As long as we don't make any mistakes, both the Qin State, the Chu State, and the Qiang people, the Donghu State, will gradually disappear as our Zhao State becomes stronger." Lin Xiangru showed a kind smile on his face, and his gray beard trembled slightly.
Unlike Wei Wuji, Han Fei and others who both hoped to see the rise of Zhao but were also worried about the rise of Zhao, Lin Xiangru was not worried at all when he saw Zhao becoming stronger and stronger day by day, but was just happy. It doesn't matter to him that Wei and South Korea are destroyed, he is eager to do so.
To put it bluntly, Zhao's strength has already surpassed the other five countries. If it had not temporarily given up expansion for the sake of internal stability and turned to dealing with internal affairs, even if the remaining five countries united, they would not be Zhao's opponent.
What Zhao Guo is waiting for now is just a time for internal stability.
Chu State has always been complacent about regaining its homeland. It feels that Chu State and Zhao State, the two overlords in the south and north, can compete with Zhao State. However, they do not know that they have long been left behind by Zhao State.
However, South Korea and Wei were lucky. As long as Zhao did not attack them, they would not dare to attack Zhao.
In fact, because these two countries have always been in alliance with Zhao State, they are most affected by Zhao State and have even been economically tied up by Zhao State. If Zhao State is damaged, the two countries will also be harmed.
Not to mention Qi State.
Qin, the only country that has had a deep impression of Zhao's strength, is still half-dead.
In fact, after defeating Qin, Zhao had no enemies in the Central Plains.
Although Chu State was strong, it was only strong, and it was far behind Qin State.
"The situation in Yandi has not been stable recently," Yu Xin said.
"Isn't this something that has been expected for a long time? With Wu Anjun's ability to handle it, we don't have to worry." Lin Xiangru said.
Although the Yan State has lost the support of the people, there are still three pounds of nails left to break the ship. What's more, in a country with a heritage of 800 years, it is inevitable that some people support the Yan State and oppose the Zhao State. It is strange that no one opposes it.
Moreover, Zhao State's annexation of Yan State will inevitably cause some people to lose their interests, especially some deep-rooted nobles.
They usually hide in the dark and fight against the Zhao State. It is difficult for the Zhao State to find them out. Li Mu left the Yan State a few months ago just to let these people jump out and deal with them one by one after returning.
"Come on, let's go together. When we were in the army, we couldn't drink like this. We have to drink enough when we get back to Handan." Le Yi raised his glass and said.
"Although high-alcohol wine is good, it has a drawback: it is easy to become addicted. Now if I go back to drink the wine before, it is no different from horse urine." Yan Zhou stared at the smooth cup and said, "This cup is good, where is it made? ?」
"This is the second and latest batch of porcelain produced by the official kiln. The ones fired before were not up to standard and were destroyed." Zhao Kuo said.
"The second batch? What about the first batch?" Yan Zhou asked casually, and then realized that what he asked seemed a little inappropriate, but at this time, the words had already been spoken, and he could not take them back.
"Everything is given to the caravan and sent to the Western Regions." Zhao Kuo said, nothing is as important as making money. Even if you don't use it, you can't delay making money.
"..." Yan Zhou, this is indeed the character of our king!
Those scholars were not as relaxed as Yan Zhou. They only dared to talk in low voices and looked in the direction of Zhao Kuo from time to time, for fear of missing something. However, except for the three glasses of wine at the beginning, Zhao Kuo did not get up again until the banquet was over. Said
One word.
Early the next morning, Zhao Kuo led all the scholars to the Hall of Heroes, burned incense for the dead soldiers, and then personally sent them out of Handan.
"Let's go and walk around the area." Zhao Kuo said.
"Nuo." Ben said. Because Zhao Kuo did not specify the direction, Ben chose the opposite direction to most of the scholars, turning around and heading east.
After driving for a while, a row of low earthen houses came into view. In front of the houses was a small vegetable garden. Several mulberry trees stood tall and tall, with scattered yellow leaves swaying on the treetops. From time to time, a few cock crows could be heard. and barking.
Every household can afford to raise chickens and dogs, which shows that the family conditions in the entire village are pretty good. Only the villages around Handan can see this kind of scene, and most places cannot.
Handan is surrounded by almost all the important industries of Zhao State, including paper mills, breweries, cement factories, ceramic factories, textile factories, breeding farms, etc. It is not difficult to find a job here and support a family.
Several women were squatting on the shore, chatting and cleaning the woks. There is a saying that "leeks are early in the spring and late in the autumn." That is to say, the leeks in early spring and the woks in late autumn are the most tender and delicious, and are the best vegetables. .
Siam is the cabbage of later generations, but it is not that big. It is one of the few vegetables that can be eaten in winter.
However, it can be understood from their conversation that they obviously do not intend to keep the rice for themselves, but to clean it and sell it in the market.
Not far away is Zhao's largest pickle processing factory, which mainly processes pickled radish, soybeans, rice, etc., which are basically supplied to the army and sold to other factories and workshops as side dishes for lunch, and are not sold for retail.
On the one hand, few people will buy it in retail, so you can’t make much money and it’s a waste of labor.
In the agricultural era, farmers dug food from the fields and focused on self-sufficiency. If they could spend less money on things, they would buy them as little as possible. Even if they spent money, they would buy some necessities, not things that could be made at home. .
On the other hand, some farmers would sell pickled vegetables at the market to earn a meager amount of money. The court could no longer squeeze out their meager income.
Zhao Guo mainly sells salt, iron, and coal. It has also recently developed cotton clothes, woolen clothes, ceramics, etc. These can make more money and will not affect the livelihood of the lowest level.
"Old man, let's come in and ask for a drink of water." Zhao Kuo saw the door of a house open and went up to knock on it.
"Come in." An old voice came from the back room, and soon, a lame old man came out, holding a three or four-year-old boy in his right hand.
The old man gave Zhao Kuo a careful look, then looked at Ben and Gai Nie behind Zhao Kuo, but still let the three of them enter the house.
"Excuse me." Zhao Kuo nodded and led Ben and Gai Nie into the room.
The room was not big, so it seemed a little crowded when so many people entered at once. The old man and the children stood beside him and gave up the bench to Zhao Kuo.
"Old man, you sit down." Zhao Kuo handed the stool to the old man and looked at the half-eaten millet balls on the table. Judging from the color, it was obvious that it had been sinking for several days, and there was no trace of heat. It was cold.
Civilians who have experienced hunger and cold are the most economical on food. It is impossible to deliberately make so many rice dumplings at one time and leave them uneaten to waste.
Before Zhao Kuo entered the house, he noticed that the yard and the vegetable garden in front of the house were in good order, and the house was also very clean. It was not possible because of laziness.
The only explanation is to save firewood.
In addition to two wooden bowls and two half-eaten millet balls, there was also half a plate of pickles, like pickled beans.
"Here, noble man." The old man brought a bowl of water and handed it to Zhao Kuo. He took a step forward and blocked it in front of him. The water the old man brought didn't have any heat at all. It was obviously cold. Combined with the food they ate, the water was eighty percent. It has not been boiled, and it is possible that it is even river water.
"You..." The old man looked at Ben in horror.
"Ben, stand behind." Zhao Kuo said in a deep voice.
Ben quickly returned behind Zhao Kuo.
Zhao Kuo took the water, took a sip, put it on the table, and asked: "My father-in-law and his children are the only ones at home."
Two people? "
"I have a son and daughter-in-law, husband." The old man glanced at Ben fearfully and replied.
"Why haven't you seen me at home?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"I work in the fields and can't come back until night," the old man said.
"I think our family's conditions seem to be very difficult. Are the government's taxes very heavy?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"The taxes are still heavy now? Young man, you really don't know the blessings in the midst of blessings. In the past, the court could apportion taxes four or five times a year, which was considered heavy. This is how my eldest brother starved to death. Some time ago, I, the State of Zhao, have been fighting with When the Qin State went to war, the imperial court did not allocate taxes." The old man said that the imperial court did not allocate taxes when it was at war with other countries. This still makes him feel incredible.
"Then why..." Zhao Kuo looked at the table.
"Young people look like they belong to a wealthy family. It's good for people like us to have such food. We can still have enough to eat now. We can buy winter clothes for our children during the Chinese New Year. A few years ago, we didn't even have food. You noble people You won't understand." The old man waved his hands with a look of disgust on his face, not wanting to talk to Zhao Kuo.
At first glance, they look like people who have never suffered. They think that no matter how hard they suffer, they, the common people, will not have enough to eat or wear clothes. Little do they know that there are many such people.
However, Zhao Kuo did not leave because of this, but continued to talk to the old man for a while, and even said a few words to the child before leaving.
"What do you think is more important, a strong country or a prosperous people?" Zhao Kuo looked at Ben and Gai Nie on the left and right.
"Let the country be strong," Ben said.
"I think so too," said Ge Nie.
"If the people are not rich, what's the use of the country no matter how strong it is?" Zhao Kuo asked rhetorically.
"But... if the people are rich but the country is not strong, other countries can come over at any time and steal the people's wealth." Ben said hummingly.
"Hahaha, what you said makes sense, so the country must be strong and the people must be rich." Zhao Kuo laughed.
"Your Majesty, shall we go back?" Ben asked.
"Keep walking forward, let me take another look." Zhao Kuo said. He came out to wander around not on a whim, but to determine the details of Zhao's next development. Only after a true in-depth understanding can he make the right choice.
It's a pity that Zhao's population density and productivity level have always restricted him, leaving him with a lot of things that he couldn't come up with.
Zhao State is based on agriculture. Some factories or workshops will have holidays during the farming season, allowing everyone to go back to harvest the crops, plant them, and then come back to work. The remaining part are temporary workers recruited directly. You will be paid a day's salary every day you come, and you will be paid if you don't come.
Therefore, the scope of work that everyone can do is limited to this county. Coupled with the population density of Zhao State, many factories will lose money when they are built.
Zhao Kuo could accept not making money, just to improve the living standards of the people, but he could not accept losing money. This was against economic rules and could not be sustained for a long time.
Zhao Guo did not have that much money to support it.
It was not until evening that Zhao Kuo looked around all around before returning to the palace.
"Dad, can I not study in the future?" When Xiao Ponu saw Zhao Kuo, he rushed over and hugged Zhao Kuo's thigh.
During this period, his study tasks became much heavier, which made him miserable.
"Want to be beaten again?" Zhao Kuo said in a deep voice with a straight face.
The little ponu's face suddenly dropped, and he was dejected.
"What's the matter with the injury on the forehead?" Zhao Kuo noticed that Xiao Ponu had some bruises on his forehead.
"Meng Tian beat him." Xiao Ponu whispered. He was one year older than Meng Tian, but he couldn't beat Meng Tian.
"In the future, add half an hour to the martial arts training time, and fight back next time." Zhao Kuo said.
"Brother Bin has already beaten me back." Xiao Po Nu said quickly.
"Can Bin'er fight back the same as you fight back? A man has to fight back on his own." Zhao Kuo glared, then looked at Bin, "Meng Tian is five or six years older than you, so you have the nerve to bully others? "
"He bullied the third brother first, and besides, I gave him
After punching him, I stopped punching him when I saw him crying. "Bin said with his face raised.
"He is so many years younger than you. He will definitely cry if you beat him. Don't bully Meng Tian again." Zhao Kuo said angrily. Meng Ao and Meng Wu were both out of town, leaving a child to study in the academy. There was a hint of protonism, although he didn't care at all.
If Meng Tian was bullied every three days in the college, he would not be able to see Meng Ao and his son in the future.
"I know." Bin said with a pout.
"Let's go and eat. What are we going to eat today?" Zhao Kuo said.
"Dumplings." Bin said happily. He especially likes eating dumplings.
When the dumplings first came out, Zhao Kuo specially gave one to all the officials in the capital. Later, after everyone learned how to make dumplings, Zhao Kuo stopped giving them away.
"I wonder how the people in Yandi are doing?" Mother Zhao sighed while eating.
"Don't worry, mother. Whether it's the land of Yan or the land of Zhao, they are all common people of our Zhao country. They will be treated equally. Besides, with Li Mu here, he will definitely manage the land of Yan well." Zhao Kuo promised.
"Can ordinary people in our Zhao country eat dumplings once a year?" Zhao's mother asked.
"..." Zhao Kuo didn't answer. Let alone eating dumplings once a year, it would be nice if you can eat the thin noodles used to make dumplings...
"If mother wants, she can still do it." Zhao Kuo thought for a moment and nodded solemnly.
