"My lords, if the Great Han wants to develop maritime navigation, relying solely on the imperial court may bring short-term benefits, but it will be extremely detrimental to the overall development."
Only when all the common people, merchants, families, and even the entire nation participate, and everyone in the Han Dynasty works together, can we achieve faster development and reap greater benefits.
"Your Majesty is quite right. The world at sea is vast and unpredictable, and the court is indeed unable to explore it fully."
Everyone nodded in agreement, approving the emperor's plan to develop maritime travel for all citizens.
At present, the court should focus on the Jiangnan region, the Western Regions, Liaozhou, and the grasslands. As for seafaring, it would be more appropriate to adopt a laissez-faire policy.
Subsequently, Liu Hong ordered his men to record what the Imperial Guards had seen and heard in the Dog Slave Kingdom and at sea, and handed it over to the editors of the Great Han Daily for polishing and adaptation, turning the tedious sea voyage into a vivid and interesting adventure story.
These dozen or so Imperial Guardsmen were also given the titles of navigators and pioneers, becoming the first people to plant the flag of the Han Dynasty on overseas lands, and were even called heroes who opened up new territories.
The stories of these Imperial Guards sailing at sea spread rapidly through newspapers, gaining immense popularity and praise from countless young people.
In particular, the story's depiction of the crew's courageous struggle against the storms at sea, their journey across the waves, and their experiences after landing are captivating and irresistible.
Such stories are incredibly appealing to young people with a pioneering and adventurous spirit.
This led to the growing popularity of seafaring, which was originally confined to aristocratic families and merchant classes.
The dozen or so Imperial Guard soldiers who were originally unknown suddenly became great heroes praised and sung by everyone.
Immediately afterwards, the Great Han Daily published the nautical chart in its newspaper. In addition to the court purchasing slaves from the island nation at high prices, it also announced a series of incentive measures for maritime navigation.
First, as long as you are the first to land anywhere overseas and plant the flag of the Han Dynasty on that land before anyone else arrives, then you will have the right to name that land.
Second, all the indigenous people and products on overseas lands belong to the discoverers.
Third, the imperial court would reward navigators who discovered new continents at sea according to their merits in expanding the territory.
Fourth, if the navigators are no match for the locals, they can seek help from the imperial army and receive half of the income.
In an instant, countless young people who longed for maritime adventures were excited. People cut out nautical charts from newspapers and began calling on their friends to head towards the coastal areas.
Those aristocratic families and merchants who originally planned to develop maritime trade also invested a large amount of money once again, heading to the Donglai Shipyard, ready to take the lead and go to the islands at sea.
As for the women presented by the Dog Slave Kingdom, Liu Hong lost interest in meeting them after hearing about their height.
After a moment's thought, Liu Hong ordered his men to send the women to the Taoist temple of the Taiping Sect, so that they could learn Chinese and some Taoist ideas at the same time.
In Liu Hong's view, these women might play a role in the Han Dynasty's rule over the island nation's slaves.
December 5th.
The imperial edict to purchase slaves reached various border regions.
Zhang Huan, who was stationed in Jiuyuan, then summoned Ding Yuan and the prefects of Yunzhong, Dingxiang, and Yanmen counties to discuss the purchase of slaves.
"General Zhang, the imperial court has launched the Grand Canal project, and there is an urgent shortage of slaves in various parts of the inner prefectures. I believe that we can appropriately increase some benefits on the basis of the slave purchase order to encourage the tribes on the grasslands to work harder to capture slaves."
Zhang Huan nodded: "Prefect Ding's words make sense. In the past, the Xianbei, Qiangqu, and Xiezhi tribes often plundered each other, but all the able-bodied men were taken back to expand their own strength. The slaves they sold to our Han were mostly old, weak, sick, and disabled, which is far from what the court requires."
Now we definitely need to add some more leverage.
The governor of Yunzhong frowned and said, "The price set by the imperial court is five shi of grain per person, which is just enough to ensure that they will not starve to death but will not be full either."
If we were to raise the price without authorization, wouldn't that be seen as aiding the enemy?
Zhang Huan thought for a moment and said, "This is easy to do. We can not add grain, but we can add silk, imperial wine, tea and the like."
Ding Yuan's eyes lit up: "General Zhang's idea is good. Those things are rare and precious in the eyes of the nobility of the grasslands."
Subsequently, after some discussion, the price of purchasing slaves was not increased; instead, the surplus value of slaves was increased.
Sell a hundred slaves to the Han people, and give them five extra cans of tea or a jar of strong liquor. They don't believe those tribal nobles won't be tempted.
Soon, a group left Jiuyuan and headed towards the Chanyu's court of the Southern Xiongnu.
At this time, the Southern Xiongnu suffered heavy losses after the last battle that destroyed the Jie tribe. They were ambushed and killed by the Left Wise King. In addition, they had been in constant conflict with the Left Wise King's tribe in the past two years, and their strength was not as good as before.
However, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Although the Southern Xiongnu had lost their right to dominate the grasslands, they could still gather 20,000 to 30,000 cavalrymen to raid.
Qiangqu showed great enthusiasm for the envoy sent by Zhang Huan, and warmly welcomed him in the royal tent.
After several rounds of drinks, the envoy explained his purpose to Qiangqu and the nobles at the banquet.
When they heard that selling slaves could yield tea and strong liquor, the eyes of the Southern Xiongnu nobles lit up.
Although they knew that the Han Dynasty was using another method to drive them to war, the benefits were enough, so Qiangqu and these Southern Xiongnu nobles were willing to comply.
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