Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 844 Granting fiefdoms and expanding across the five continents
Liu Huai looked at Xin Qiji with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, not expecting that this fellow would once again push the solution onto him.

"If I had a solution, I wouldn't be worrying here."

Liu Huai forcibly pressed Xin Qiji back into his seat, shook his head and said, "The so-called trend of the world is mighty and unstoppable; those who follow it prosper, and those who oppose it perish."

This is a limitation of our times, and it cannot be changed by individual effort alone.

Because he often interacted with Liu Huai, Xin Qiji was able to keep up with Liu Huai's train of thought, but he was still a little curious due to the limitations of the times: "Brother, what do you mean by the limitations of the times?"

Liu Huai sighed and said, "Let me give you an example. Why did the Zhou Dynasty enfeoff the son of Duke Shao as Marquis Ke of Yan, instead of directly controlling him?"

Xin Qiji was certainly not an unlearned person, and immediately replied: "Lord Boqin of Lu resided in Qufu, and the Xu and Yi tribes rose up together, but the eastern suburbs remained undeveloped. He composed the 'Oath of Fei'."

At that time, the land of Yanzhou was entirely the territory of the Dongyi people, and the roads were difficult to traverse. Therefore, the only recourse was to enfeoff feudal lords to govern, and the Zhou emperor was unable to control the entire realm.

Liu Huai nodded: "Later, after the official roads and imperial roads were established and the post station system was improved, messengers could ride warhorses and relay orders from the central government to all directions within a month."

The army could also travel in all directions via canals and official roads to quell rebellions, thus truly bringing the lands granted by the Zhou emperor back into the Han people's homeland.

"However, official roads were not built in a day, nor were canals dug in a day. It took eight hundred years from the Zhou Dynasty until the Qin Dynasty to complete the initial construction. Even so, in the early Han Dynasty, the Guandong region still needed to be enfeoffed."

This is the limitation of our times.

This is not just about science, but also a combination of factors including human morality, human nature, reality, and law.

Xin Qiji seemed to understand something and nodded slowly.

Liu Huai then continued, "Let's assume that there are no horses in the world, and the fastest means of transportation that people can find is their own two legs. It would take two months to transmit an order to Youyan. In that case, the emperor in Luoyang could never dream of directly governing Yanshan."

But if times continue to advance, and information can be exchanged between people all over the world in just one second, then the Zhou emperor's rule over the far south and far north would be no problem at all.

Xin Qiji struggled to understand what Liu Huai was saying, and after a long period of contemplation, he finally said, "Does my eldest son mean that morality, people's hearts, laws, and even science... science are all developing in a positive direction?"

Liu Huai drew a spring shape beside him: "Sometimes it moves forward, sometimes it moves backward, but generally it develops in a positive direction. I call it a spiral ascent."

"Take slavery for example. It was most common during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Slaves were not even considered human. But now, the State of Song has abolished slavery. It can be said to be a great development."

"Of course, there may be dynasties that later introduce slave systems such as the Law on the Submission of Slaves, the Law on the Escape of Slaves, and the Law on the Enclosure of Land. But as time goes on, someone will surely eliminate them and bring the era back to a state of progress."

Xin Qiji remained silent for a long time, then smiled and shook his head: "Does my eldest son have such trust in the people of the world, and such optimism about the future?"

Liu Huai smiled and said, "Of course I have unwavering faith in the people of this land, because they have proven their resilience throughout history. I am willing to believe that they can create the future and a better era."

Xin Qiji shook his head repeatedly, seemingly disbelieving: "It still requires a hero like Dalang to step forward for it to work."

Liu Huai pointed to himself, smiling broadly: "Am I not one of them?"

"If the world were without me, the Han dynasty would merely continue its decline for another century. Heroes would eventually rise from among them and restore order to the land."

Xin Qiji laughed, then sighed: "A century of decline, how many good people will die, and how much literature will become worthless paper?"

Liu Huai said solemnly, "Therefore, we should do our best."

Xin Qiji got up, carried a chair to the other side of the table in front of Liu Huai, picked up a teacup from the table and said, "Brother, this is what I wanted to say. You are the wisest person I have ever met, so in the end, such a shocking problem can only be solved by you."

Just as Liu Huai was about to speak, he saw Xin Qiji place an upside-down teacup on his left: "This is the starting point for breaking away from the reliable history of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, which is the Zhou Dynasty."

Xin Qiji picked up another teacup and placed it on the other side of the table: "This is the world that Dalang described, the world that has developed to the limit that I can imagine. It is a world where everyone is like Confucius and Mencius, everyone respects the elderly, everyone loves the young, there is no inequality anywhere, no one is hungry or cold, and the world belongs to everyone."

As he spoke, Xin Qiji hesitated for a moment, then pushed the teacup further away.

Then he picked up a teacup and placed it in front of him: "This is the era we live in."

The fourth and final teacup was placed on the far right: "This is the next era."

Xin Qiji said solemnly, "I don't know what the next era will be like, or what it will look like. I have no idea what people's hearts, morality, technology, and laws will become."

"Only your insightful perspective, Brother Da, can see these things."

"Brother, no one is asking you to build a utopian world in a single day. Even the most foolish men and women know that this is absolutely impossible."

But, my dear brother, I refuse to believe you can't push things forward into the next era, even if it's just a small step. I'd be willing to go through fire and water for you.

When Xin Qiji was halfway through his story, Liu Huai was already holding his forehead and laughing self-deprecatingly. He always talked about how a modern person who had transmigrated to feudal society should be able to do this and that, but he never thought that he would also be corrupted by feudal society.

Liu Huai had forgotten that dealing with a class never relies on individual struggle, but on another class.

Thinking of this, Liu Huai couldn't help but stand up, pat Xin Qiji on the shoulder, and laugh loudly: "Fifth Brother is truly a lucky general of mine, and he deserves to be called a wise man of the world. With just one word, he enlightened me, like seeing the moon after the clouds have parted!"

Xin Qiji was immediately stunned. He had only come to encourage Liu Huai so that his lord would not fall into a state of despondency where he could not do anything. He did not expect the effect to be so outstanding, and he felt a little uneasy.

"Brother, what plan have you come up with? Could you tell me about it first?"

Liu Huai immediately got up and ran to the backyard of the military governor's mansion, only leaving behind the words, "Wait a moment."

Seeing Liu Huai so excited, Wei Rujun, who had already styled her hair in a woman's bun, couldn't help but smile and ask, "Brother, what are you looking for?"

Liu Huai pulled a huge scroll from the bottom of the bookshelf in his study, tucked it under his arm, then leaned forward and gently kissed Wei Rujun's lips before turning and striding away: "Little sister, I'm happy today, so go and open a jar of good wine for me, and prepare some side dishes. Xin Wulang and I will have a good drink!"

Amidst Wei Rujun's exasperated and reproachful cries, Liu Huai carried the scroll to the main hall of the governor's mansion. Only after personally putting several tables together did he unroll the scroll.

"This is...this is a map?"

Xin Qiji looked at the picture on the scroll and asked with some hesitation.

Liu Huai crossed his arms and nodded with satisfaction: "It is indeed a map, but it is not just a map of Shandong, or even just a map of China."

Under Xin Qiji's incredulous gaze, Liu Huai slowly said, "It is this world."

Xin Qiji quickly moved closer and carefully examined the half-drawn world map that Liu Huai had meticulously created, which still lacked place names. He didn't speak immediately, but after a moment, he looked up blankly and asked, "Where are we?"

Liu Huai stepped forward with a smile and pointed to the Shandong Peninsula on the world map: "This is the two routes of Shandong."

Xin Qiji was a talented young man who had served as a clerk for his grandfather when he was a teenager. He had drawn up maps of the terrain of Youyan and Yan, and he quickly determined the location of Hebei by understanding the topography of Shandong and several rivers.

His fingers then gently traced the Yanshan and Taihang Mountains, pausing briefly in Guanzhong before continuing downwards into Sichuan and Chongqing, then flowing south along the Yangtze River. After a brief stop at Chaohu Lake, his fingers stroked the coastline, his expression a complex mix of sorrow and joy.

"Our world...the world of China, is it really only this big? Brother, where did you get this map? Is it real?"

Liu Huai's smug expression faltered slightly, then he casually made up a reason: "This is information I gathered from maritime merchants, so it's naturally true."

Xin Qiji's hands trembled slightly.

The origin of this world map was completely unimportant to Xin Qiji. As long as Liu Huai was certain it was real, Xin Qiji would believe him even if Liu Huai claimed it was a dream or a gift from the Heavenly Maiden.

"These places... don't even belong to the Han people. Is there no law left?"

Xin Qiji stroked Australia, then, with an excited expression, slammed his hammer heavily onto the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

He immediately realized his lapse in composure, but instead of apologizing right away, he carefully examined the parchment scroll and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that it was intact.

Liu Huai laughed and said, "This is not finished yet. After I record the names of all the mountains, rivers and countries, I will have someone make a copy for Wulang."

Xin Qiji nodded with delight, but then pointed to the two continents on the far right: "What is this place?"

Liu Huai was about to blurt out that this was North and South America, but then he thought again that Columbus's ancestors were probably still struggling in the filth of the Middle Ages, so why should he be given the right to name it?
"We haven't decided yet, so we'd like to ask Goro to name these places."

Xin Qiji was overjoyed, but he put his hands on his hips and laughed, "Why do I need to name them? Aren't they all ready-made?"

"Northern Julu Continent, Eastern Sheng Shen Continent, Western Niuhe Continent, Southern Zhanbu Continent." With a wave of his hand, Xin Qiji renamed Siberia, North and South America, Africa and Europe, and Oceania. Then, pointing to the location of China, he said, "Here, we are in the center of the world, in the Central Plains, in the Central Land, in China!"

Liu Huai smiled as he looked at Xin Qiji's spirited demeanor, and then said, "My method is very simple."

As he spoke, Liu Huai pointed to the area surrounding China: "Those who want feudalism, go and expand your territory to become kings."

"If you want to go to the next era, come with me to conquer Middle-earth. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"

Xin Qiji felt as if his heart was about to explode. Upon hearing this, he nodded sincerely and said, "My eldest son, Tiezhu, will serve in the court with me. Could my one-year-old second son, Tieniu, become a king in the Southern Continent?"

Liu Huai nodded with a smile.

What neither of the two people in the hall knew at that moment was that, in the history books a thousand years later, the 'Second Enfeoffment and Expansion,' which was on par with the Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment, began on this very day.

(End of this chapter)