Chapter 108: Meeting in Lanzhou
Lanzhou City has been cleaned up.
After Mei Yin came back, he took Lanzhou City with almost no effort.
Immediately after Mei Yin cleaned up, King Yan and He Xi also arrived in Lanzhou.
There is no need to say more about the welcome.
As far as the scene is concerned, the real negotiations take place in private.
He Xi said: "Your Highness, if you have something to do, you have to see me. You also know that I can't leave in Beijing."
King Yan said: "It's very simple, the Western Region Railway."
He Xi was stunned for a moment, with words of rejection brewing in his heart.
Without him, building railways consumes too much national power. Now the railway from Beijing to Dongshengwei consumes too much money. If finances become more abundant in the future, He Xi is determined to build railways. Even if King Yan doesn't want to build it, He Xi still has to build the railway to the Western Regions.
Not now.
The most important thing now is to go south. It is to dominate the world. All other things should be put aside.
Even He Xi would regret starting the Northwest War.
Without him, before the railway to the Loop was repaired, many people were secretly slandering He Xi for doing a useless job. He Xi was under a lot of pressure inside and out. This pressure was relieved after the Battle of Yulin.
At this time, Beijing’s manpower and material resources were allocated to build railways.
No matter how you look at it, this is not a cooperative approach.
King Yan didn't wait for He Xi to speak, smiled slightly, and said, "Look, if I don't talk to you personally, can this matter be discussed?"
He Xi said: "Your Highness, this is really not possible. When the world is settled in the future, can we build the Western Region Railway as the first railway?"
King Yan said: "You call me fourth brother. Now I am not King Yan, and you are not the chief minister. I am just your brother-in-law, and you are just my sister-in-law. I am saying something that speaks to your heart. Do you think it makes sense?"
He Xi said, "Fourth brother, please speak."
King Yan said: "I am actually very sad that the old man's property has become what it is today. But there are many things in it that I don't want to deal with, and I don't want to know what is right or wrong. But most of the property I have been allocated is I won it, and I don’t want to give it to others. Do you understand this thought?”
He Xi said: "I understand, I have never thought about reducing the vassal status."
King Yan said: "Is it okay if you haven't thought about it? Someone will think about it one day. When the time comes, those people will talk about this and that."
This sentence left He Xi speechless, because King Yan was right.
Even if there is no feudal king, the contradiction between the central and local governments will always exist, and the contradiction between the central government and the feudal king has another layer on top. It is very complicated and will cause problems in the future. This is inevitable.
Even He Xi didn't know whether King Yan expressed distrust of Zhu Xiongying in these words.
Moreover, He Xi also felt that Yan State was too big.
If Yan is divided into two or three vassal states, He Xi will have no idea at all. But now Yan State has put a certain amount of pressure on the northern defense.
Now the timing is just wrong. If the timing is right, He Xi himself will take action and prune the Yan Kingdom to a certain extent.
What King Yan said was the truth. Only the truth leaves people speechless.
King Yan said: "Some things that can be done now may not be able to be done in the future. If you do it now, the conditions for many things will be different. Just like this railway. If the railway is built in the future, who owns the right to operate the railway?"
He Xi sighed and said, "I admire you."
King Yan had everything figured out.
He just wants to take advantage of this moment. There are some benefits here that will be discussed later. But there are some benefits that King Yan will not want to give up in the future. That's why I came to talk to He Xi.
King Yan has already explained.
There were certainly many reasons why he wanted to build the railroad.
For example, he needed more support when facing pressure from Timur. But it makes sense when you think about it. Although Beijing’s production capacity is sufficient. But now there's the Civil War, and the front lines
They are all urging for arms. Even if the King of Yan buys them with money, there will be a very high premium. If the King of Yan can wait for a few years and the North-South War is over, there may be a large amount of surplus arms, and the price will be very low. .
It can save King Yan a lot of money. King Yan will not know this truth.
But King Yan still wanted to do this because he saw the military role of railways. Beijing suppressed Nanjing in the northwest. Although there was a problem of military strength, in essence, the strategic significance of the railway was brought into play by He Xi.
It seems that the logistics line in Beijing is far away, but in fact, it is much closer than Nanjing.
This advantage was transferred to strategy, making it difficult for Nanjing to resist.
The State of Yan needed railways. Without railways, it would be difficult for the King of Yan to successfully conquer the West. Even if it succeeds, it will be difficult to maintain. This is why the great empires that have arisen in Central Asia since ancient times have been easy to split.
But King Yan was also afraid of railways.
Because the railway greatly extended the empire's line of control, King Yan became close to He Xi and understood many of He Xi's thoughts and theories. Among them, I understand the rationale behind the national policy of enfeoffing overseas countries.
It was He Xi who proposed that some places that were difficult for the central government to control were divided into clans, ruled indirectly, and protected the royal family.
This policy is that the original Han territory was not enfeoffed.
But in essence, it is not that the Han areas will not be enfeoffed, but that the areas that the imperial court can actually control will not be enfeoffed.
There is a difference between the two. And the difference is huge, because now the place that the imperial court can actually control is the traditional Han Dynasty, but it will be different in the future.
Especially with the bonus of railways.
The railway can travel hundreds of miles a day. The journey from Beijing to the Western Regions is said to be thousands of miles, but many places are not that far. Even if it is thousands of miles, it only takes more than a month.
The previous communication time from many places to the capital was this time, not to mention that railways could transport troops.
This is what makes King Yan even more uneasy.
If the railways in Yan State cannot be controlled by Yan State, then Yan State will have no sense of security at all. Once the court is interested, tens of thousands of troops can rush to Yan State in more than a month.
What a terrifying thing.
He had to correct this one thing.
King Yan also understood that the court could not easily give up the right to operate the railway. Just because King Yan understood the role of railways, how could He Xi not understand it?
Moreover, King Yan felt that even though he was in the center, he would not give up this grasp. Even if there is no intention to reduce the vassal, the imperial court is determined not to do so, as it has no control or influence over the vassal kings below.
If the world is unified in the future, it is impossible to negotiate. Even if it can be negotiated, King Yan will pay a lot of price.
Now that Beijing is bound to compromise with him, this matter will be easier to negotiate. Or the cost will be smaller.
King Yan said, "I've said things that come from the bottom of my heart, so why don't you come up with something practical? Can this be done?"
He Xi said: "Fourth brother, I have to be honest. I really don't have any money. Even if I had money, I wouldn't use it here."
King Yan said: "I believe half of what you say. The imperial court really has no money, but you have a way to get money. Who doesn't know that you are the Midas Touch?"
He Xi only felt that fame was tiring, and he said with some helplessness: "There is a way to make money. But it cannot be done in two ways, and it is very likely to lay hidden dangers for future generations, just like Nanjing Ding Xian. He did Fourth brother should have heard about it, he will lose it sooner or later."
King Yan nodded and said, "You are right." King Yan just dealt with it casually, but then he became serious and said, "Tell me what conditions you need before I agree."
He Xi was stunned, with a bit of a wry smile. King Yan was clearly a dead Taoist friend but not a poor Taoist. What kind of hidden dangers did he care about? If something really happened, it would be something wrong with the imperial court. What does it have to do with the Yan Kingdom?
It was He Xi who needed to wipe his butt, not Zhu Si.
No matter what you do, just take care of the things in front of you.
He Xi secretly thought: "It seems that today's matter is inevitable. It will be inevitable.
An answer must be given to King Yan. "
Although he deliberately tried to avoid it. But King Yan is not an easy person to fool. The King of Yan has made such a big splash today, but he is not letting go of the eagle when he sees the rabbit.
He Xi thought for a moment and said, "Let me tell you the truth. This matter can be discussed, but it can only be discussed. Whether it can be done or not is not up to me, but to you, fourth brother."
