"The world does not belong to clans and powerful families, but to the common people. They are merely a minority, and the march of time cannot be stopped by them." Hearing this, everyone pondered deeply, wondering what Wang Han's true purpose was. Was he, like others who had said similar things before, seeking to dominate the world, or did he genuinely intend to do so?
Cao Cao felt a lingering fear; no matter the outcome, it would be detrimental to him.
Only Xi Zhicai was shocked, staring at Wang Han in astonishment. He thought of more things. He could understand the meaning of these words. There were even people who had said similar things before, including those who had once fought for supremacy over the world, but now it was still the emperor's world, the world of clans and powerful families.
But now, these words, spoken by Wang Han—the most likely to gain the world yet the least willing to contend for it—shaken him deeply. He understood Wang Han, recalling Wang Han's past actions, their shared plans, and his current desire to promote education. He began to speculate about Wang Han's ultimate goal. Perhaps Wang Han's plan—to act as a behind-the-scenes manipulator to end the struggle for supremacy as quickly as possible, to find the most suitable ruler for China, to prevent the foundation of China from being damaged, to weaken and deter foreign tribes, to weaken or even eliminate them, to solve the problem of foreign tribes that had plagued China for thousands of years, and to ensure China's permanent prosperity—was not Wang Han's ultimate objective, but merely a process or a part of it.
Wang Han's ultimate goal was probably to truly return the world to the people, making it a world truly belonging to the people. And it's possible that Wang Han had other plans he hadn't even considered. All the things Wang Han did—solving the problem of foreign harassment, distributing grain, popularizing knowledge, and providing compulsory education—were also aimed at improving the people's knowledge and understanding, encouraging them to have their own thoughts, and preventing those in power from fooling them. These were likely all laying the groundwork for this goal.
Wang Han wants to fundamentally change the world by changing the mindset of the people.
But this was simply impossible, and he couldn't even imagine what the world would be like in the future. Moreover, after the world was returned to the people, who would decide the affairs of the world, and who would maintain order? He couldn't think of how Wang Han would solve this problem.
Xi Zhicai remained deeply silent, deep in thought. He couldn't believe that Wang Han's plan was so indescribable and unbelievable. He wanted to find reasons to overturn his own thoughts, but the more he tried to find reasons to deny it, the more certain he became of his guess.
If that's really the case, it probably won't be long before Wang Han's true intentions become clear.
"That's the first thing," Wang Han interrupted everyone's thoughts as he quickly hung up the phone, taking in everyone's expressions. "The second thing is to repair the road."
"Road repair?" Everyone looked at Wang Han again. They could clearly understand this.
“That’s right, building roads,” Wang Han said. “I don’t need to elaborate on the importance of roads. Whether it’s communication, military operations, transporting supplies, or trade, having a convenient road is very important. The same applies to the road of life.”
Wang Han said, "I plan to first build roads on a large scale in Bingzhou. Not only will I widen and repair the roads between all the major cities in Bingzhou within three years, but I will also connect the major cities with the nearby small cities. Within ten years, I will build roads from villages to small cities."
"My lord," Xi Zhicai said again, "this road construction project is far too massive, requiring a huge amount of manpower and resources. Add to that the need to build numerous schools, and Bingzhou simply doesn't have the manpower to handle it all." The workload was simply too much. "Perhaps we should postpone the school construction for now?"
“There’s no need to delay.” Wang Han shook his head and said, “We can call on the people, regardless of gender, to join. They can contribute money and provide food. I believe many people will be willing to participate. Moreover, the grasslands are in chaos right now. We can provide money and supplies to get a large number of prisoners from them to serve as laborers. I believe they will be happy to send prisoners over, and others will be happy to contribute more money and supplies to buy back prisoners.”
"This... is a good deal." Xi Zhicai looked at Wang Han in surprise, not expecting Wang Han to have the mind of a businessman, not only gaining labor but also making a profit. Those nomadic tribes were happy to exchange prisoners for supplies, and also happy to buy back their own people to continue the war. They had no choice but to buy them. In this way, they not only got supplies but also labor. As for confronting Wang Han, they couldn't win against him and could only accept it reluctantly.
Cao Cao looked at Wang Han in surprise. If he had known there was such a method, he would have gone to the foreign tribes to stir up trouble in secret long ago. Why bother with money and engaging in tomb raiding in secret? He was confident that he could deal with the foreign tribes.
Seeing that no one objected, Wang Han made the decision: "Since there is no objection, then proceed with this plan."
"Lord Dingshan, about the matter of popularizing reading," Cao Cao said, seeing that Wang Han seemed to have finished speaking but had not mentioned himself. He quickly brought up the matter of buying and selling prisoners of foreign tribes.
“I am naturally happy that Lord Cao is willing to contribute to this matter. With Lord Cao’s participation, my plan can be implemented more quickly,” Wang Han said. “How about this, I can share some of the books with Lord Cao, and I can also provide Lord Cao with some money and food. However, Lord Cao, you have to do something for me.”
"What is it?" Cao Cao asked upon hearing this.
"I will soon call on all the lords to stop fighting each other and unite their forces against foreign tribes. Lord Cao needs to be the first to respond and take the lead in stopping the civil war," Wang Han said.
"..." Cao Cao pondered carefully for a while, weighing the pros and cons. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Alright."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com