"Where?"

"Back to Your Majesty, I have arrived in Chang'an."

The weather in March, Nanling is the season of spring rain, every year to this month, Nanling will rain for at least ten days or so, how big the rain is is a little unfixed.

Not only Nanling, but in fact, every spring, the Yangtze River basin basically rains, resulting in the water level of the Yangtze River always rising.

After three years of rectification, the Yangtze River basin completed its preliminary planning last year. The impact of the rectification is very large, in the past, both sides of the Yangtze River were basically messy waterwheels, but now they are more organized, and the industrial areas are no longer clustered, but are distributed in a planned manner.

In addition, because of the rectification of the Yangtze River, the residents on both sides of the river basically migrated, some to other counties, and some to move slightly.

In general, the fact that the Yangtze River was an industrial area of the empire was ironclad, not only because of the availability of water power, but also because the water transportation of the Yangtze River was fast and light. Industrially produced things always need to be transported and sold, so the waterway is actually the least expensive mode of transportation, and the carrying capacity of the ship is at least dozens of times that of the horse-drawn carriage.

Standing on the tallest building in Nanling, Lu Zhe looked at the Yangtze River in the distance, because it was raining, his vision was blocked by the rain, and it looked like a foggy patch, but in fact, he couldn't see anything on the Yangtze River at all.

Because of the continuous rain, the humidity in the air is very strong, and if you are used to staying in the north, it is estimated that you will not be able to stand the spring and autumn of Nanling throughout the year. In the south, it rains too much in the spring and autumn seasons, and the humidity of the air makes you breathe, and it is inevitable that you can inhale water vapor in your nasal passages.

The two main water systems in the land of China are the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and then they divide into one small and medium-sized water system after another. According to later generations, the Chinese civilization was actually a two-river civilization, in ancient times, because the water source was related to survival, and in the feudal era, it was related to the tilt of the center of gravity of the ruling area.

If there was no industrial civilization, the Huaxia would have used the two river systems as a natural defensive barrier, but under the rule of Lu Zhe, the two river systems have changed their use, and they will become the cradle of the industrial base.

On the edge of the Yangtze River Basin, there are currently seven industrial bases planned, and the slightly upstream industrial base is in Shuzhong, which is a rare plain in Shu near Chengdu; The second industrial base is in Wudong, which is close to Ba County, which is under the jurisdiction of Nanjun and is also a rare plain; The third is the former site of Gangneung on the edge of Namneung, which is a district of the capital and the largest industrial area in the country; The fourth industrial base is in Changsha County, quite close to Dongting Lake, it belongs to the jurisdiction of Luo County, not far from Lishui, which can be regarded as a fork in the road; The fifth industrial base is in Hengshan County, which is located in Yi County; the sixth in Jiujiang County; The seventh was in the Dantu in Huiji County.

There are also seven industrial bases in the Yellow River in the plan, and only one has been determined, that is, Nanpi, which is located in Julu County.

In fact, the reason why it was chosen next to the main water system is because water power is the only choice for the construction industry of the empire at present. It is precisely because of such restrictions that we can only choose locations with favorable water flows, and the unhealth of this development mode is not that no one mentions, but the problem is that there is no alternative energy source, and it is all nonsense to talk too much.

It has been five years since the first industrial base of the empire was completed. Don't underestimate the five-year time, although it is short, but the achievements are not low at all, such as before the use of water power, even the manufacture of currency is full of all kinds of troubles, after the use of water power, coupled with the development of new machinery, stamping machine operation, plus the assembly line, for the dilemma of lack of money in all dynasties can not trap the empire at all.

Well, the lack of money in the past dynasties is mainly due to the lack of copper, but the high investment in the production of coins is also one of the reasons, some dynasties and even the government feel that the money is too expensive, and encourage private production, the result is to produce all kinds of messy coins, the worst quality because of the high content of lead, as soon as it is broken, it will be broken directly.

"Fortunately, the gold coins have already been manufactured and entered the market, otherwise it would have been a big shame."

Lu Zhe said and took two steps back, it was one thing for the rain outside to be heavy, the wind direction suddenly turned around, if he didn't retreat, he should become a soup chicken, what effect did he have on his body when he got wet was one thing, and those attendants would have to be unlucky.

“……”

As an archon and the leader of the first position of civil officials, Xiao He didn't understand what the emperor meant by those words.

The gold, silver, and bronze tridental is a very good financial system, and Xiao He is also a consul who manages civil affairs, how can there be a reason not to understand?

In the past, only copper coins were used as the currency in circulation, and there was no problem with small transactions, but in medium transactions, because coins in the last five years no longer have holes, it is definitely not a humorous joke to carry a basket full of copper coins to buy things, and transactions with large amounts are really funny. Have you ever seen hundreds of cars full of copper coins and then rushed to place an order? Xiao He has seen it with his own eyes.

When the order is placed and waiting for the real deal, it is not just hundreds, but thousands. That scene was seen by almost all the citizens of Nanling, and the Wusun people who drove thousands of cars to buy weapons also became the object of laughter of the people in the imperial capital, either laughing at anything, or laughing at the number of one after another is too stupid, and the weight of each piece of the imperial coins is equal, like the large-scale transactions of the merchants of the empire are weighed, and no one uses them to count one by one.

Lu Zhe would say that, because he vaguely remembered that there was one thing, whether it was reliable or not, it was probably who asked who Byzantium or Sassanid which country was stronger, and the person who was asked took out a Byzantine silver coin and a Sassanid gold coin, saying that "the national strength is clear at a glance". This means that the country that uses gold is stronger.

Of course, that's absolutely nonsense, which country has only one metal currency? It's like in modern times, take out a soft girl coin with a face value of 100,000 and a VND with a face value of 500,000, and then compare the national strength or who is stronger, do you think that Vietnam with a face value of 500,000 is stronger than the sky ~ Dynasty? Is this nonsense?

In fact, any country has a carry model of currency, for example, copper coins have become the basic unit currency of all countries in the world since 200 AD. In addition, the world's great powers are basically gold, silver, and copper triple monetary systems, but the weight of coins and the content of precious metals in each country are inconsistent, and the names of currencies are different.

For Lu Zhe, the gold, silver, and copper triadic monetary system is not the end, it is only the starting point of creating another financial system.

What is the starting point of the financial system? Paper-based money is undoubtedly it!

Of course, Lu Zhe will not change the monetary system in the short term, that is, the transaction quota has risen again and again, and the old system has not adapted to the current situation of financial development, and then new reforms will be carried out.

I have to tell the truth, before there is no way to do anti-counterfeiting, any paper money is self-destructing the Great Wall, and the implementation of paper money by the government will only evolve into a bureaucratic shearing of the people. This kind of thing happened in the Song Dynasty, which was extremely powerful in financial power, and it happened three times in a row, the first two were the products of the reform, which directly led to the collapse of national strength and opened the door to the loss of the north of the Yellow River.

Originally, Lu Zhe was supposed to promote the establishment of a state-owned bank, but in the end, after thinking about it, he only did a few experiments, and he knew very well that before the time was ripe, even the right decision would turn into a bad move, and even if it was the right thing, it would take the right time.

"Your Majesty." Xiao He didn't come here today to watch the rain with the emperor, in addition to mentioning the itinerary of the Roman envoys, he had another important matter: "The ruling government's procedures for moving the office to Chang'an, Xijing, have been prepared. ”

Chang'an was built on the basis of the Afang Palace in the seventh year of the imperial calendar, and nearly seven years have passed, because there is no need for the city wall, only the emperor's palace city has not been completely built, and the rest of the people's square has actually been completed.

By the way, Chang'an will be the Xijing of the empire, and she will become the administrative center of the empire in Guanzhong, about fifty miles away from the old Xianyang City, separated by a Weishui on both sides.

After the establishment of Chang'an, Xianyang's status was attacked from all sides, not only the population migrated to the new city of Chang'an voluntarily and voluntarily, but also a large number of merchants left Xianyang to run to Chang'an.

Lu Zhe had already made a decree that he would go to Chang'an, Xijing, from Zhongjing Nanling in April, and this time he would stay there for at least three years. In this way, the military and political management system of the empire must have moved to Chang'an, and the original only capital, Nanling, became the accompanying capital, and she also became the accompanying capital with Tokyo Jicheng (in fact, Beiping), Nanjing, Kunming, and Beijing Jiuyuan.

The empire is vast, to put it bluntly, it is incomparably huge, so the coordinates must be different from those of various dynasties and generations, the original north has become not the north, and the south is not the south.

When formulating the five major capitals, Lu Zhe was not without difficulties, and it still makes sense that Chang'an is Xijing, because Guanzhong is really west on the territory of the empire. But what should Beijing do?

At this time, Jicheng (Beijing) is clearly in the east of the empire, how can it be in the north of the empire! Is it good to call Liaodong according to the location of the empire's territory?

The other is Nanjing, oh...... The current name is Jinling, no matter how she looks at it, it is not in the south, the position on the territory is in the southeast, and Jinling is in the radiation range of Zhongjing Nanling, and the significance of building the capital is infinitely reduced. In the end, he was selected to the Lingnan side, Lu Zhe pointed to the map and said Kunming, and then Kunming appeared, sometimes the emperor is like this, right?

As for Jiuyuan as Beijing, it is really an undisputed place, Jiuyuan is located in the Hetao, and the importance of strategic significance does not need to be repeated. The establishment of a capital there represents the importance that the empire attaches to the grasslands, and signifies the determination of the empire to defend the vested interests of the grasslands. Jiuyuan was selected as the capital of the north, and those who had already migrated over were rejoicing, and the number of people who voluntarily migrated also multiplied, and the Xiongnu, who were still lucky, cried completely.

The capital, what a high-end and high-grade title! The emperor's plan for the five capitals is not so simple, in addition to being divided according to geographical location, it actually involves the focus of future development.

Lü Qi produced the first qualified steam engine in the ninth year of the imperial calendar, and from that time on, the construction of the empire track route has been put on the agenda of development. However, it needs to be said that the construction of the track road is not simple, and it is also a great test for the smelting of the country, because it is not modern times, it is 202 BC.

As far as the countries of the world are concerned, no one knows how many tons of pig iron can be smelted by other countries every year, and the annual pig iron of the empire is about 400,000 tons, which is equivalent to about 800 million catties of pig iron, but these 800 million catties of pig iron cannot all be used to make rails, and all other aspects need to be used.

The answer given by the ruling government is that, with the current production efficiency of pig iron, a series of problems faced by the construction of the railway from Zhongjing Nanling to Xijing Chang'an, including the necessary Pingshan Road and the production of rails, will need to be solved in about 15 years. Therefore, building the railway will be a long process.

The annual production of forty tons of pig iron may seem like a small amount, but Lu Zhe is already extremely satisfied. Again, it's 202 B.C., not modern times, and Britain, known as the world's factory, only reached an annual output of two million tons in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The difference is almost 2,000 years, it is one-fifth of the production, that is a gap of 2,000 years!

The ruling government has set out a development plan to increase the annual production of pig iron to 1.5 million tons in the next decade. In addition, the annual output of steel will increase from 40,000 tons to about 350,000 tons.

For it will take about fifteen years to build the railway from Chang'an to Nanling, Lu Zhe has nothing to be dissatisfied with, he is very clear about the characteristics of the difficulty at the beginning of everything, as long as the first railway can be successfully built, after accumulating enough experience, it will be relatively easy to build it in the future, as if the construction of the first steamship has been carried out for four years, and it has been changed again and again in four years, but there are three more months to carry out the first sea trial.

The first steamships were still made of wood, with only a few places using metal.

The use of wooden structures is not that the Empire cannot build ironclad ships, it is that there is no need for that kind at all. The empire is currently invincible on the oceans, so what is the purpose of building ironclad ships? With so much money, it's not good to invest in the second five-year plan for people's livelihood! (To be continued.) )