Chapter 949: Should I join the Han Tribe?
The eight northern counties of the Han Tribe continuously transport various resources to the south. Fleets carrying iron and building materials come and go. Every day, at least one ship passes by the docks of Takuhai County and Tang Tribe, and then continues to move towards the sea.
This situation makes every citizen of the Tang Tribe living along the Liuyang River yearn for it. The Han Tribe is so rich. If they don’t have so much output, how can they have so many transport fleets? !
"Tang Yao, do you know where those ships are going? Seeing them rushing to the open sea one after another, could it be that the Han Tribe is transporting production tools to the newly occupied island?
"If that's the case, I think the Han Tribe is too worthless. They occupied such a tribe of 100,000 people, not only did they not get any benefits, but they also had to take out so many things to support them.
"Even if we can really get a reward in the future, the initial investment is too huge. If it is our Tang tribe, even if we can defeat the other side, I am afraid we can't afford so much money and supplies. Occupying a tribe with such a large population will only drag ourselves down."
Tang Ji and Tang Yao stood on the dock of Tangcheng County, watching the ships coming and going of the Han tribe and said.
"Empress Ji, what are you thinking about? It's just a small Qiongzhou Island. A population of 100,000 can't have any impact on the Han tribe at all.
"The current Han tribe, or Luo Chong, thinks differently from us. If we suddenly increase the population by 100,000, it will definitely be difficult to digest. Just like what Empress Ji said, it will drag us down. But Luo Chong is worried about not having people. If there are enough people, even if the population of the Han tribe is doubled immediately, Luo Chong will not think it is too much.
"And those fleets you mentioned are not transporting supplies to Qiongzhou Island." After hearing Tang Ji's self-righteous speculation and analysis, Tang Yao immediately explained with a smile.
"Hmm? Aren't they transporting supplies to Qiongzhou Island? Does the Han tribe have any other territories on the sea? So many ships, and they are transporting supplies every day. How many things do they need? What kind of territory needs so many supplies?" Tang Ji couldn't help but ask curiously after listening to Tang Yao's explanation.
"Oh, I said that they are not production supplies. In fact, those ships are transporting construction materials.
"Luo Chong wants to build a cross-sea bridge between Qiongzhou Island and the grassland to connect Qiongzhou Island with the mainland. After the bridge is built, people from Qiongzhou Island can drive a carriage over the bridge when they want to come to the Han tribe.
"By the way, I heard Luo Chong say that it is also a railway bridge. In the future, a railway will be built from Qiongzhou Island to the capital of the Han tribe." Seeing that her aunt was still guessing, Tang Yao immediately explained again.
"Railway bridge? What is that? A bridge made of iron? Are these sailboats transporting the steel they produce every day?" Tang Ji asked in surprise after hearing this new term.
"Well, it's about the same. I heard that the bridge must first use steel bars to make the skeleton, and then use cement to make the bridge body. Well, cement is a kind of sticky stone powder. Once this thing dries, it will become as hard as stone. The sailboats that Madam Ji saw are actually transporting cement and steel bars."
Tang Ji: ""
"No wonder the Han tribe has to transport so many things over there. My God, using steel to build a cross-sea bridge, I really don't know what Luo Chong is thinking. Is it that the Han tribe has too much steel to use up?"
This, in fact, Tang Yao really wanted to tell her aunt that the Han tribe really had too much steel to use up, otherwise they would not have made things like railways and trains.
"Madam Ji, let's go back. This time when I came back from the Han tribe, I brought a lot of photos. Let's go back and take a look together?" Tang Yao immediately invited her aunt. She decided to let her aunt have a good experience before she could mention the matter of passing on the throne.
"Well, okay, then let's go back." Tang Ji nodded, and the two quickly got on the carriage and rushed back to their home in Tangcheng County.
It was still Tang Yao's garden. Although she had been in the Han tribe for the past two years, the garden was still well maintained. Many medicinal herbs were growing vigorously. Some plants and flowers unique to the Tang tribe were also blooming beautifully in the midsummer.
At the wooden table under the pavilion, Tang Yao took out a delicate little wooden box, took out a thick stack of photos from it, and spread them on the table for Tang Ji to see.
"Empress Ji, look, this is the railway of the Han tribe. These two things that reflect light on the ground are rails, a kind of road specially for trains to run on.
"This is a train. The one in the front is the locomotive. This locomotive can pull twenty carriages. Each of the carriages behind can carry more than a ketch. That carriage is twelve meters long.
"And this is a photo we took in the train carriage. If both sides of this carriage are full, it can accommodate fifty people. If we squeeze in, seventy or eighty people can also be squeezed in."
Tang Yao took out the photos one by one and introduced the contents on them to Tang Ji, which made Tang Ji stunned.
"Is this the railway you mentioned? Does the Han tribe already have such a magical thing? What is this locomotive made of? How many cows are put inside? Can it still move with so many things?" Tang Ji asked in surprise as she looked at the train in the photo.
"There is not a single cow inside. How can a cow pull such a heavy car? There is actually a stove inside. I don't know much about it, but I heard from the people in the Han tribe that as long as you keep boiling water, the train can run." Tang Yao explained speechlessly. She didn't know why she suddenly felt that her aunt was a little old-fashioned and didn't know anything.
"Oh, I know this. A steam engine can rotate as long as you boil water. I have seen it in our shipyard. Before you came back, the Han tribe carried out some equipment modification in the shipyard and got a few machines like the ones you mentioned. As long as you boil water, you can drive the saw to rotate and cut wood. I have seen it." When it comes to steam engines, Tang Ji has an impression. Although she doesn't know about trains, it doesn't prevent her from knowing steam engines.
"So this thing called a train is pulled by a steam engine. So that's why. No wonder it's so powerful."
This time it was Tang Yao's turn to be surprised. She didn't expect that her aunt Tang Ji even knew about steam engines!
"Yes, yes, yes, it's a steam locomotive that pulls the car. I've sat in this car once. It's more comfortable than a horse-drawn carriage for loading goods, but it's noisier and makes a lot of clanging noises when it's running. But this car can really pull a lot of things, and it runs very fast.
"Before I came back, Luo Chong was in the car and told the car makers in the Han tribe that at least a dozen of these cars should be made in the future. By next year, even Takumi County across from us will be equipped with this kind of car. The number of trains and railways in the Han tribe will only increase.
"He also told me that as long as our Tang tribe joins the Han tribe, then next year we will also be able to use this kind of train." Tang Yao reminded Tang Ji.
"So many trains, it will require a lot of iron, right? Not only does it take iron to lay the railways, but also the bridge you mentioned. Didn't you say that it would require a steel frame? It must also require a lot of iron, right?
" "The Han tribe is building bridges, laying railways, and building so many trains. They also need to prepare production tools and farm implements for the 100,000 people on the newly conquered Qiongzhou Island. Can they come up with so much iron?" After hearing Tang Yao's introduction, Tang Ji raised related questions again.
"Of course, Madam Ji, I've said it just now, the Han tribe is short of population, but they never lack iron, let alone other supplies.
"Look, Madam Ji, this is the steel mill in Xingang County of the Han tribe. The bright white objects in the photo are the big iron blocks that glow red. This one weighs several thousand pounds. And the rails and steel bars piled outside are all produced by them. The Han tribe has only this one ironmaking place. The iron produced every day is more than all of us in the Tang tribe can produce in several years, let alone the shape they want."
Hearing that Tang Ji didn't believe the steel production of the Han tribe, she immediately took out a photo taken at the steel mill and showed it to Tang Ji. The mountains of rails and bundles of steel bars all showed the wealth of the Han tribe.
Seeing Tang Ji's surprised look when she held the photo, Tang Yao added again.
"This is not all the steel of the Han tribe. It's just the rails they use to pave the road and the steel bars for building bridges. The rest of the iron used to make daily tools and the iron used in the shipyard also come from this steel mill."
Just then, listening to Tang Yao's introduction, Tang Ji asked for no reason. How much iron ore is needed to produce so much iron a day? There must be a lot of people in the steel mill of the Han tribe, right?
"Empress Ji guessed right. There are indeed a lot of people in this steel mill, but there are not many people in the factory. Most of them are people who dig in the mines. They are professional miners. In addition to digging in the mining area, they don't need to grow food. They live on the wages paid by the tribe. In the whole Xingang County, there are probably 20,000 to 30,000 people like this." Hearing Tang Ji's question, Tang Yao explained again.
Tang Ji nodded, "As expected, only the Han tribe has this strength to support tens of thousands of young and strong laborers who don't need to farm, but only need to mine and smelt iron. If it were us, we would definitely not be able to do it. Even if we could barely do it, we would have a very hard life and wouldn't be able to save any surplus food at home."
After the two discussed the various production capacities of the Han tribe for a while, Tang Yao took the initiative to reveal it.
"Empress Ji, Luo Chong agreed to marry me, and he also said that as long as our Tang tribe merges with the Han tribe, he can immediately send the things I just mentioned to us."
"Humph, you little girl, you really have this idea. If you weren't going to get married, I'm afraid you wouldn't come back to see me." Tang Ji looked like she had expected it, pointing at Tang Yao's forehead and complaining.
"Then, aunt, do you agree?!" Tang Yao also quickly dodged her hand, and Empress Ji stopped calling her, and directly called her aunt to act like a spoiled child.
"Look at you, what are you in a hurry for? Let me think about it first." Tang Ji responded again, and then fell into deep thought.
As she paced in the garden, she thought about the possible consequences of joining the Han tribe.
At present, the Tang tribe has implemented a certain degree of sinicization reform. Although the Tang tribe has not joined the Han tribe, the Tang tribe now uses the currency system of the Han tribe, the same currency used by the Han tribe, and the currency between the two tribes can be circulated. From this point of view, there is no difference between the Tang tribe and the Han tribe.
Secondly, the farming method. The Tang tribe used to only grow wheat, but now it has introduced the grain seeds of the Han tribe, and has planted corn and rice, as well as the advanced agricultural tools of the Han tribe, as well as advanced farming methods such as composting and strip sowing. From this point of view, there is no difference between the Tang tribe and the Han tribe.
In addition, there are other production technologies. At present, the Tang tribe has also introduced shipbuilding technology from the Han tribe, including wood processing technology, cloth weaving technology, and advanced production methods such as fishing at sea.
The management system of the entire tribe has also begun to learn from the Han tribe. For example, the Tang tribe was previously divided into eight counties by Luo Chong, and there are also several county towns.
The people of the Tang tribe also began to have a household registration system, but compared with the Han tribe, it was still a bit sloppy. Although the Tang tribe was divided into counties and opened the household registration system, it had not yet been divided into the ten-five system, nor had it clarified the ranks of the people, and there was no regulation on what kind of people would be allocated how much house land, which was still quite unreasonable.
Now the people of the Tang tribe can plant land at will, as long as you can plant it, you can plant as much as you want.
This is very unreasonable and inconvenient for future development and expansion.
If everyone is not restricted, then everyone will be a landlord in the future, and there will be no land for the people to share.
Moreover, it is not convenient to collect taxes in this way. Even the cultivated land area and the tax system are not clear, so it is difficult to develop.
However, compared with the previous Tang tribe, the lives of the people of the Tang tribe are getting better at a visible speed. The people have begun to have clothes on their bodies and shoes on their feet.
Cultivating cash crops, planting sweet sorghum, and squeezing brown sugar for two consecutive years also gave the people of the Tang tribe extra money in their pockets.
Some people began to build brick houses like the Han tribe. Going to Takumi County across the river to buy a calcium carbide lamp would make them happy for half a month. Learning one or two words of Chinese was enough to make them proud. Having worked in Takumi County, such people were envied by their fellow tribesmen.
Given the current situation of the Tang tribe, if the people were told that they would be taken to join the Han tribe collectively, there would be absolutely no one in the Tang tribe who would not be willing. Everyone wished that they were born in the Han tribe. The only ones who might have trouble were the clan leaders of the Tang tribe.
They were all real beneficiaries in their respective clans. Joining the Han tribe meant integrating into the management system of the Han tribe. The clan leaders no longer had the power to govern the clan members. All the people had to be uniformly managed by the tribal merit system, pay taxes uniformly, and accept the jurisdiction of the court officials uniformly.
Once they joined the Han tribe, they would be the ones who needed to be sacrificed, so would the clan leaders of these clans agree?
(End of this chapter)
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