The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 863 Infinite Future [The Finale]

Time flies, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

After a full ten years of recuperation, the population of the Sui Dynasty had exceeded 25 million households, with a total population of 87 million, and the average life expectancy had also exceeded 60 years.

This was also related to the widespread promotion of many high-yield crops during the Sui Dynasty. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts were grown in the south, while corn, cotton, and sunflowers were grown in the north. Millet, which had a lower yield, was gradually replaced by corn.

Of course, kapok did not give up. It was used as stuffing for warmth, while cotton was used to weave cloth. Cotton cloth basically replaced linen cloth, but linen cloth still existed, mainly used in industries such as transportation, for example, burlap sacks were needed to pack grain, etc.

As the population increased, cities grew larger and larger. Both Luoyang and Chang'an surpassed three million people, and the Sui Dynasty had as many as eight cities with populations exceeding one million.

Moreover, the population is widely distributed, extending from the Heilong River in the north to Qiong County, Jiaozhi County, and Rinan County in the south, to five counties in Liuqiu County in the east, and six counties in Rehai Prefecture in the west.

There are also a large number of overseas territories, which are divided into two types. One type is overseas counties, such as Kyushu County and Honshu County on the Japanese island, as well as Lugong County in the south, seven counties on the southern mainland, and Nandao County and Beidao County in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, which is New Zealand. During the Sui Dynasty, there were no natives here.

In addition, there is Dong'an County on the west coast of Beiyin Prefecture and its three subordinate counties, which already have a population of over 200,000.

Another type of overseas territory is a vassal state, such as the Lu Kingdom established by Lu Mingyue, the Ceylon Kingdom established by the Li family, the Dugu Kingdom established by the Dugu family in the south of Pyu, and the Wei Kingdom established by the Yuan family in the south of Southeast Asia, etc.

Because the Sui Dynasty had so much land, land was very cheap in all areas except Luoyang and Chang'an. Investing in land yielded very low returns, so a large amount of capital was invested in industry and commerce, which made the Sui Dynasty's industry and commerce very innovative, with various inventions emerging one after another, and overseas trade was very prosperous.

In the West, the silk, porcelain, tea, spices and tobacco of the Sui Dynasty were popular throughout the Western Continent, but the potato had the greatest impact on them. Sui Dynasty merchants brought potatoes to the West and they took root and sprouted. Various countries planted potatoes from the East, which also led to an increase in the population of the West.

Seventy percent of the gold and silver in the world flowed to the Sui Dynasty, and students from various countries flocked to Chang'an and Luoyang. In Luoyang alone, there were as many as 200,000 students studying abroad.

Learn the language, culture, system, and various technologies of the Sui Dynasty.

Of course, only low-end technologies were transferred out, mainly in agriculture, animal husbandry, textiles, winemaking, oil pressing, papermaking, and other livelihood technologies.

The Sui Dynasty had extremely strict technology control, making it impossible to learn truly advanced technologies such as shipbuilding, metallurgy, firearms, and weaponry.

Three years ago, Emperor Xiao Xia formally established the system of Grand Scholars, creating the Xuan Ying Hall Grand Scholars and Scholars to assist the emperor and be responsible for drafting imperial edicts, which were distinct from government decrees.

Imperial edicts were only responsible for promulgating laws, appointing and dismissing high-ranking officials of the third rank and above, major troop movements, and various pacification efforts. In short, imperial edicts were responsible for top-level design.

There were many government decrees, various administrative orders, to maintain the operation of the entire Sui Dynasty.

The Council of State Affairs currently has seven chancellors, with the addition of the Privy Councilor representing the military and the Crown Prince's Chamberlain representing the Eastern Palace. The Right Chancellor and Grand Secretary is Wei Zheng, the Left Chancellor is Fang Xuanling, Liu Wenjing has been reassigned as Grand Secretary of the Xuan Ying Hall, Cui Hongzhou and Xiao Yu have both stepped down, and a group of capable and energetic high-ranking officials have been promoted.

To ensure the smooth operation of the system of separation of powers between the emperor and his prime minister, Xiao Xia ordered the carving of an iron stele inscribed with the separation of powers between the emperor and his prime minister, which was erected in the Imperial Ancestral Temple to ensure that his descendants would never overstep the bounds of the rules.

Xiao Xia also issued an edict that members of the royal family could only be granted fiefdoms overseas, not in the homeland, in order to prevent the emergence of separatist forces such as local vassal kings.

In the seventh year of Pingkang, which was also the sixteenth year of Xiao Xia's reign, Xiao Xia had a major plan, a plan he had been looking forward to for ten years: a circumnavigation of the Pacific Ocean.

Inside the Yan Ying Hall of the inner palace, Crown Prince Yang Chu knelt down and respectfully kowtowed to his father and mother, saying, "Your son is unfilial for not being able to serve you by your side!"

Xiao Xia waved his hand and smiled, "There are many ways to be filial. You treat all officials and the people well, care for your younger siblings, diligently govern the country, and share the burdens of your father. This is the greatest way to be filial. You don't need to be by my side."

Xiao Xia was very satisfied with his eldest son, who was kind, generous, and strict with himself. Two years ago, he married Zheng Ming'er, the daughter of Imperial Censor Zheng Ji. The couple were very loving and had a son last year, whom Xiao Xia named Yang Zhu and also bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Ande.

In addition, Xiao Xia's eldest daughter, Yang Junjun, married Liu Wenjing's youngest son, Liu Ting, and Yang Qian'er married Wei Zheng's son, Wei Shuzhen. Both of them became mothers.

"How long will Father and Mother be gone this time?"

"I don't know either, but I estimate at least half a year! I still need to inspect the Nanji Iron Mine, visit Beidao County, and visit several small countries in Nanyin Prefecture. In short, this isn't my first time traveling. You will continue to oversee the country as usual!" The power of the regent is different from that of the emperor. First, the regent has no power over officials; he cannot appoint or dismiss officials of the third rank or above. Second, he has no military power; if there is a major event requiring the mobilization of troops, he needs the unanimous consent of the Council of State, and the maximum number of troops that can be mobilized cannot exceed ten thousand.

Furthermore, the regent could not use the funds of the imperial treasury, which contained approximately ten million strings of cash. This was the emperor's financial power, mainly used for royal expenses and rewards for meritorious officials.

Xiao Xia handed the imperial seal and vermilion brush to the Crown Prince. Yang Chu kowtowed three times and respectfully accepted the imperial seal and vermilion brush from his father.

Two days later, Xiao Xia's 50,000-stone ship set off from Longchi. This time, there were a total of fifty 20,000-stone ships traveling together, along with Xiao Xia's empress and dozens of concubines, seven princes and princesses, five hundred palace maids and female guards, and two thousand soldiers for protection.

"Woo——"

A long blast of the ship's horn sounded, black smoke billowed from the chimney, the steel propellers turned, and the large ship started moving.

All fifty large ships were steamships. The steam engines were developed five years ago by a group of craftsmen in the Imperial Workshop. After five years of refinement, the technology was very mature and they were now mainly used for ocean voyages.

Seven years ago, shipping routes were established to the Southern Continent and to Nan Yin Prefecture. Several kings of small countries in Nan Yin Prefecture also came to pay homage to the Sui Dynasty. There were many trade ships coming and going. With the various high-quality products of the Sui Dynasty, they earned a lot of gold and silver in Nan Yin Prefecture.

Looking at Crown Prince Yang Chu and the officials bidding him a reluctant farewell on the shore, Empress Cui Yu sighed and asked with concern, "Your Majesty, Chu'er is too kind and benevolent. Can he govern the country well?"

Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "I understand. That's why I established a system to govern the country, not by individuals. Whether someone is kind and benevolent or cruel and ruthless, if their actions do not conform to the system, the system will correct them. So, to paraphrase my New Year's address, the system is the emperor. I and the Prime Minister are both people who maintain and continuously improve this system. I will not allow anyone to be above the system, including myself."

Zhang Qiao, standing to the side, laughed and said, "Your Majesty just mentioned cruelty and inhumanity, but I remember Your Majesty telling me that there will never be a cruel monarch!"

Xiao Xia nodded. "This requires designing a system, such as having the emperor nominate four or five candidates for the crown prince, and then having officials of the fifth rank or above vote to decide. The advantage of this is that the emperor is still my descendant, but the officials can choose the best one from among them, thus preventing the emergence of a tyrannical monarch."

Cui Yu and her sister Cui Mei exchanged a glance, and the concubines said in unison, "We understand!"

The fleet entered the sea from the Yangtze River. After resupplying in Nanhai County, it began its journey to Southeast Asia. Xiao Xia inspected Liuqiu County and Lügong County. A month later, it arrived at the Nanyang Pacification Commissioner's Office at the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula. It rested there for three days and comforted the three thousand garrison troops. The fleet also carried out its second resupply at the same time.

The fleet set sail amidst the sound of cannon salutes, then passed through the South Pacific islands and headed towards the southern mainland.

Half a month later, the fleet sailed along the eastern coastline of the Southern Continent. That morning, Xiao Xia saw the harbor and huge warehouse complex by the sea. They had arrived at the Nanji Iron Mine, the largest iron mine in the Great Sui Dynasty. Two hundred thousand Indian laborers were mining iron here. It was also the best iron mine in the world, with an iron content as high as seventy percent.

The Sui Dynasty established Nanji County here, with about 50,000 Han people, mainly engaged in smelting. However, the population on the west coast and the North and South Islands, two thousand miles away, was slightly larger, exceeding 200,000 Han people.

"Woo——"

The ship's horn sounded, and a huge red flag with a yellow dragon fluttered in the wind on the coast.

This is a land that our ancestors should have discovered long ago, but they never did.

Perhaps they discovered it long ago but failed to acquire it, causing their descendants to suffer centuries of humiliation and pain.

At this moment, I have already acquired it before my ancestors.

An indescribable sense of pride welled up in Xiao Xia's heart; he seemed to see the boundless future of the Great Sui Empire. [The End]

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This book didn't do well and flopped right from the start. Without everyone's support, I definitely wouldn't have been able to persevere. It was thanks to the strong support of all you readers that I was finally able to grit my teeth and finish writing it. I bow again to thank you all; you are my bread and butter.

But Lao Gao wasn't at all relaxed, because there was another book waiting for him to update. He still had many ideas for his new book, *Tiger and Owl*. He was also planning to turn *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* into a four-part story. Enough said, everyone grab a seat and head over to another page. Lao Gao welcomes you all to his new book! Three updates a day for now.

(End of this chapter)