Seven years of Great Zhou Longdao.

The Chinese Empire was republicned in 1790.

A long history, a new era.

When the Chinese Empire first appeared in front of the world, she was such a country:

It actually controls the five provinces of Qi, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, as well as the areas north of the Huai River in the three provinces of Jiangsu, Henan, and Anhui, with a total territory of about 1.2 million square kilometers.

According to current statistics, there are 2.7 million households and about 12 million people living in the country above the civilian level.

There are 350,000 households and a population of 1 million.

Slaves could not open an account, and the population was about 800,000.

With a total population of 13.8 million, it ranks second only to Jiangnan in Da Zhou, which is currently known.

The annual fiscal revenue is S$80 million, the expenditure is 72 million taels, and the fiscal surplus is 8 million taels.

The people lived a prosperous and stable life, because the Chinese Empire had a strong army that was beyond this era.

All the forces around them, whether it was the Great Zhou in Jiangnan or the Great Xia of the Dangxiang people, whether it was the Muguls or the Fusang Wakos, no one dared to harass the territory of Huaxia.

Because this army has been without fighting since the moment it was founded.

So far, in just 12 years, they have fought bandits, Japanese pirates, Goryeo, Jurchens, Jurchens, Shihou, Mengwu and Da Zhou.

They have never suffered defeat in a war, and they have won every battle.

Those enemies that once seemed invincible have been defeated, and the rest of the people naturally no longer dare to provoke such a country.

At the same time as the war, the Chinese Empire did not mind doing business with anyone.

The Jurchen tribe exchanged ginseng, mink, and deer antler velvet for cotton, iron, and salt from China; The Koreans exchanged grain, women, ginseng, and pearls for cloth, sugar, glass, and spirits; The Muguls exchanged sheep, cattle, horses, and wool for cotton, salt, and tea; The Fuso exchanged copper, sulfur, and gold and silver for weapons, gunpowder, and sugar.

Even the merchants of the Great Zhou and overseas had to transport a large number of goods from the Qi State every year, bringing in various raw materials needed by the Chinese Empire.

In this huge international import and export trade, the customs absorbed a dazzling wealth for the empire.

This wealth, in turn, was used for the economic development of the empire – investing in new industries, new factories, water conservancy, and roads.

And these will create more job opportunities, and under the protection of the minimum wage limit and the Labor Protection Law of the Chinese Empire, the remuneration of all jobs, whether public or private, is quite generous in this era.

Whether it is a factory worker or a yeoman farmer, when people's incomes increase, they naturally want to pursue a higher quality of life.

This, in turn, has expanded domestic demand, which has led to skyrocketing sales and profits at various factories.

Profitable factories in turn would bring higher taxes to the imperial government.

It's a gratifying positive cycle, from which the newborn empire continues to gain more power.

Now no one can doubt that the country will grow into an empire that has never been stronger.

That's right, the rising empire is so opulent that it is so dazzling that any onlooker will quickly become intoxicated, and it is impossible to find out that such an empire actually has its own dark side.

Of course, it doesn't matter, and our story isn't about the squalor of an ascending empire — the kind of thing that no one cares about.

What people really care about is whether such a powerful and wealthy empire is friendly to them, whether they can live in this empire, and whether they can enjoy the richness and power of this empire.

The answer, of course, is: yes.

The premise is that you have to be a Han Chinese.

……

On the official road 40 miles west of Yangwu County, Henan Province, a group of young men in fresh clothes and angry horses are singing military songs and galloping eastward.

They are the 7th grade cadets of the Chinese Imperial Intermediate Junior Soldier School (6 years for the junior level, 6 years for the intermediate level, and the 7th grade is just enrolled in the intermediate military academy), and they are taking the entrance examination.

The content of the exam involves written tests and practical exercises, the hardest of which is today's remote training assessment.

In this kind of assessment, a team of 10 people, each team of 12 horses, carrying 10 days' worth of grain and grass and basic weapons, set off from Fengqiu County, marched west along the Yellow River to Wuzhi County, and returned after receiving the red flag indicating arrival.

The whole round trip is about 220 miles, and as long as the 7th grade military cadet can return without falling behind or falling off his horse within 72 hours, he will pass the grade, and he will get one more point for each hour earlier after that.

It was a very hard test, and although there were supply points and patrols set up by the instructors along the way to protect their lives, the instructors would not interfere with their examination process until it was too late - points were deducted for obtaining supplies from the instructors.

Also, so far, the three provinces of Yu Province north of the Yellow River were the last to be incorporated into the Qi state, and these places have not yet recovered from the war, so they are very desolate along the way, and it is not easy to get supplies from the people (but not completely).

In fact, this is also the reason why the military academy has placed this kind of large-scale training examination in Henan Province -- there are few people in this place, and it is not easy to delay agricultural production by galloping on horseback.

"Huh~~~"

One of the leaders of the group called out to his mount, and then shouted to his companions, "Almost! Dismount and walk, rest your horsepower! ”

"But we're already behind!" Another person objected loudly: "We have to rest in Yangwu today, otherwise we will be far behind those in the third and fifth teams!" ”

"Not necessarily." The young man who led the team smiled: "Don't forget that the standard of our exam is not allowed to give up horses, they don't spare horsepower, and it won't be long before there will be a big loss." ”

"When the time comes, I'm afraid it won't be them who ride their horses, but horses that ride them!"

"Hahaha!" The teenagers laughed uncontrollably.

After a while, everyone dismounted, and then carried the weight of the pistol, sabre, and grain bag on their backs, and led the horse forward on foot.

"Trust me, I want to win more than you do." The young man in charge said: "For you, as long as you can meet the assessment standards, you will complete the task, but for me, if you can't even get the first place once, you will definitely be laughed at." ”

The reason is very simple, this young man is Xu Daizhuo, the eldest son of the imperial prince.

Perhaps in other countries, the eldest grandson of the emperor (for the royal family, the significance of the concubine is no longer great) should be pampered, respected, and no one dares to be disrespectful.

But in the Chinese Empire, at least for now, this is simply not possible.

The reason is very simple, Xu Shiyang has always encouraged competition in military schools, and likes to personally give awards to the first place in various examinations in military schools.

Therefore, in the eyes of Xu Daizhuo's classmates, defeating this imperial grandson in the exam will not cause dissatisfaction with the royal family, but it is enough to prove his strength.

"I know you all want to win me, and I want to win you too."

Xu Daizhuo led the horse forward, and said helplessly:

"But we must scientifically distribute horsepower and physical strength, otherwise it will not be a victory, but a shame."