Number of People

Chapter 2801 Finale (Thank you to all the brothers and sisters who have supported you for the past three years, Lao Rui bows!)

When the news came out that the Senate and the National Congress would jointly discuss the "Imperial Throne Succession Act", people in the palace knew that the person next to them would have to decide on the candidate for the crown prince.

As for the need to formulate a law to determine the candidate for the crown prince, neither the three daughters of Shen Xuelin nor the daughters of Tanchun and Xiangyun dismissed it.

I know the person next to me too well. This so-called law is just a cover-up, or a cover. Maybe the next prince and emperor may use this law to determine, but this time it is absolutely impossible. If so, then It should be the intention of the person next to me.

 But all the women could not find a suitable reason to question it.

 When the imperial court is discussing affairs, where does it take the imperial palace to comment?

Not to mention that the Metropolitan Procuratorate is eyeing him, even the person next to him will not allow it, and it may even be counterproductive and cause his own son to suffer.

Along with the "Imperial Succession Act", there is also the "Overseas Territories Act". According to "Today's Observation" mentioned, there should be a new continent thousands of miles east of the East China Sea, and thousands of miles south of the Nanyang. There are also new continents, named the Eastern Continent and the Southern Continent, which have already been set foot in by the Westerners. Now it is time to encourage the people of the empire to further integrate these lands into the empire.

As early as the twelfth year of Daguan, the Eastern Continent has been proved to be the so-called Eastern Continent, following the Kuwu line to the north, passing through a series of ice-covered islands and land, and crossing a strait filled with floating ice.

Since the 15th year of Daguan, adventure teams funded by Shanshan Chamber of Commerce, Dongting Chamber of Commerce, Anfu Chamber of Commerce, Longyou Chamber of Commerce, Guangdong-Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce, Liaodong Chamber of Commerce and other business gangs have begun to move north along the line of Ezo and Kuwu. Explore along the coastline.

In the summer of the 22nd year of Daguan, an expedition team finally returned from the Eastern Continent, proving that after crossing the ice-floe strait along the coastline and continuing southward along the coastline, bypassing a peninsula and several islands, all the way south, it was possible to They arrived at an area with a mild climate, similar to Liaodong and Shandong. It might even be warmer further south. However, the expedition team was unable to go further south. Instead, they settled in a harbor and began their return journey.

At that time, Feng Ziying carefully reviewed the species brought back by the expedition and the maps produced, and initially judged that the expedition should have reached Vancouver, and further south should be the Coast Mountains all the way to San Francisco.

After confirming that the western part of the North American continent had not yet been controlled by European colonists, Feng Ziying issued the famous "Regulations on the Development of the New World", actively encouraging everyone to participate in the exploration of the New World, and the empire issued a reward policy, in terms of funds, policies, Insurance and other aspects are encouraged.

In the autumn of the 28th year of Daguan, the joint expedition team from the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce and the Dongting Chamber of Commerce finally arrived in Mexico and the Central American isthmus, and began to border the sphere of influence of the Franco people, which meant that the exploration of the entire American continent entered a new stage.

Thinking that the fertile and vast American continent was finally unfolding before her eyes, Feng Ziying finally let go of a stone in her heart.

The battle for the throne will soon come to an end, and the research and development of steam engines has also entered the practical stage. Steam ships have already appeared. Of course, they are still paddle wheels, but it is not complicated to improve them into propellers. Feng Ziying estimates that they will begin to be used on a large scale within three to five years. On an ocean voyage.

If mature marine steam engines can really enter the stage of full practicality in the next three to five years, crossing the Pacific will no longer be a problem.

 Perhaps this can be an opportunity for his many sons to expand their territory and build a new empire?

The British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch have all started to take action on the American continent. Of course, the empire cannot lag behind others. Now the vast areas in the central and western parts of the North American continent are still unattended. This is due to the increasing population and the An opportunity to come to an empire that is increasingly under pressure.

In later generations, this area of ​​northern Canada and Alaska is still uninhabited and not suitable for human habitation. However, further south, many places actually have much better conditions than the northwest and southwest regions of the empire. There is no reason why the empire should not control it. this area.

Across the Pacific, Feng Ziying is not sure whether large-scale immigration is a good idea now. Even if the large-scale use of steamships can solve the problem of crossing the Pacific, the centrifugal tendency caused by long distances is inevitable. The British Thirteenth North America The state became the United States as evidenced by this.

But Feng Ziying doesn't care about this. In any case, it is a good thing for the Chinese of the same race to occupy a place on the North American continent. They can be equally divided with Westerners. The east belongs to them and the west belongs to the empire. This should be a situation that everyone can Accept the result.

Feng Ziying thought about fighting the Europeans in Nanyang and the New World in the next step. She felt that she was born to have trouble with the Europeans. This was probably her destiny after traveling through time.

However, the Southern Continent should not have been discovered by Western colonists yet. This is the empire's best opportunity. The Eastern Continent may only be equally divided, but in the Southern Continent, which is the Australian continent, there is no reason not to have exclusive access.

In the past ten years or so, after the empire solved the Mongolian problem, it has further intensified its efforts to develop the north. However, the two special governor-general areas of Beihai (Eastern Siberia) and Beiting (Central Siberia) are too large, and the climate is harsh. , which greatly restricted the empire’s expansion into the northern region.

The conditions in Liaobei Province (the coastal border area north of Heilongjiang and the Kamchatka Peninsula) are already harsh enough, but Beihai and Beiting are even worse.

No matter how many policies the empire promulgates and how much support it provides, the population growth of these two special governor-general areas is extremely slow, far less than the population growth rate of the Western Regions and Nanyang.

As of the 27th year of Daguan, the immigrant population of the Beiting Special Governor-General Region was less than 200,000. Even if the local indigenous and mixed-born people are included, the population of the region is less than 500,000. The Beihai Special Governor-General Region The situation of people is similar, about 400,000.

The population of the newly established Xijiang Province has exceeded 400,000 in the ten years since its establishment in the 15th year of Daguan. In particular, the completion and opening of the Hexi Corridor Mara Railway section has greatly promoted the problem of population migration and material supply. solve.

The situation in Nanyang is even better. In the nine years from the 18th to the 27th year of the Daguan Period, the number of immigrants from Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and other provinces exceeded 900,000, and the average number of immigrants per year exceeded 100,000. Thousands, the craziest thing is that in the 21st year of Daguan, there were 180,000 immigrants in one year. On average, more than five immigrant ships were on the sea heading to Southeast Asia every day.

At present, the entire Nanyang, plus the population that has immigrated one after another in the 18th year of Daguan, has exceeded 1.6 million, but this is far from the end. Nanyang is still in urgent need of a large number of people. Every year, people from the mainland come to Nanyang to make a living and move to start a business. The population remains at around 120,000, which is quite successful compared to less than 10,000 people who go to the two special governor-general areas of Beihai and Beiting every year, and less than 30,000 people to Western Xinjiang.

"Jun Yu, what's wrong, you don't want to do it anymore? I haven't even said that I'm giving up, and you don't want to do it yet?" Feng Ziying placed the first drafts of the two volumes of the "Imperial Throne Succession Law" and the "Overseas Territory Law" on the imperial case, and Feng Ziying calmly Xi leaned back in the chair and said with a smile: "We are monarchs and ministers. We have cooperated for more than 20 years and you want to give up your choice first. This is not kind."

"Your Majesty, I am not young anymore and my body can no longer bear it." Lian Guoshi said solemnly: "I plan to let Yaocao take over as soon as possible. It is his turn. He is ten years younger than me. He can retire with peace of mind after serving two terms. Come down, then it’s time for the other young people.”

Feng Ziying did the math, and it was almost the same. Ma Shiying was indeed nearly ten years younger than Lian Guoshi, and was in good physical condition. It would not be a big problem if he worked for ten years. It was hard to say who would be next, and Lian Guoshi probably wouldn't give any advice, but Lu Xiangsheng , Chen Zilong and others should be among them.

"As for the emperor, you didn't choose the prince, it's your own fault. Who keeps you undecided on the prince? I have already found a successor, so I can go and rest with peace of mind."

 There are only two monarchs and ministers, so they can practice state affairs very freely.

Especially as soon as the first draft of the "Imperial Throne Succession Law" came out, he felt at ease. In any case, he was finally on the right track. He had a strategy for who would succeed the throne, so that there would be no chaos.

Feng Ziying knew the sarcasm in Lian Guoshi's words, and he didn't care. It was originally his own problem, but now he finally has a general result.

"Now that the "Law of Succession to the Throne" has come out, Jun Yu, please tell me the truth. What do you think?" Feng Ziying looked at this old friend and asked.

"As long as there are rules and regulations, no matter which prince succeeds to the throne, there will be no big problems. The key is to have open, fair and fair rules. No one can say anything about who comes up and who comes down. And you are still in charge, right? ? As long as you firmly support doing things according to the rules, there will be no problems." Lian Guoshi's tone was definitely relaxed.

"Your Majesty, you have to believe that after these rounds of court nominations and representative meeting votes, everyone has become accustomed to this rule. It is just copied to the succession of the prince. You only need to select a few suitable candidates and pass the responsibility. Give us the cabinet. Isn't the cabinet here to take the blame? The last two candidates are screened out and come to the Senate and the People's Congress for a vote. No matter what the result is, the cabinet always resigns and everything is reshuffled. What a perfect scene. ,…”

According to the "Imperial Succession Law", the preliminary list of candidates is submitted by the emperor to the cabinet. The cabinet conducts a re-election and selects two candidates to submit to the Senate. The Senate and the House of People's Representatives jointly vote. If more than half of the candidates are elected, the candidate will be elected. If more than half of the votes are obtained, a second round of voting will take place, and a simple majority will win the election.

 In fact, under this election law, the most critical list of primary candidates is still controlled by the emperor, but the list of personnel must not be less than two, unless the emperor only has two heirs.

Feng Ziying even proposed whether women could be included in the candidate list, but met with collective opposition from the top and bottom, and had no choice but to give up.

　　It was easy to hear Lian Guo Shi talk about it, especially when the cabinet resigned as the general secretary to express that it would bear all the consequences. This action indeed has a very modern meaning.

 On the surface, it allows the newly succeeded emperor to have free time to find suitable candidates for the chief minister, but then again, as the new emperor, can you directly break away from the constraints of the Senate and the People's Representative Council and do whatever you want? Obviously it's impossible, unless you kill everyone, but the Privy Councilor is also a member of the Senate. What can you rely on to support him?

There is a reason why Lian Guo Shi is so easy to talk about. Anyway, he is about to come down this term, so taking all the responsibilities means becoming an official and retiring. What's more, does the newly succeeded emperor think that the succession is not a matter of Lian Guo Shi's cabinet? Is it supported?

As for the next time the "Imperial Succession Act" is used, that is another matter.

"Okay, let's put this matter aside. What about the Overseas Territory Law? Well, and how to promote our plans in the Southern and Eastern Continents? I feel that there is still a lack of some official systematic planning. The push is too slow, I don’t think it can be done like this, and a stronger move is needed to push it.”

Feng Ziying's serious attitude made Lian Guoshi realize that this was Feng Ziying's intention to find him today.

"Your Majesty, if you have anything to say, just say it. I might be able to hear something about it. I heard about the steamship. Three experimental ships were built in one go. One of them can already sail directly from Songjiang. Traveling to Dongfan, there are also the Oriental Pearl Islands (Hawaiian Islands), which have become the empire's most important transit hub on the ocean. If a coal supply base is established on the Pearl Island, it can greatly solve the problem of steamships traveling to the Eastern Continent, Dongdu ( San Francisco) supply problems,…”

Oriental Pearl Islands were discovered in the 19th year of the Grand View Garden. In the 22nd year of the Grand View Garden, Feng Ziying personally ordered the establishment of the Oriental Special Governor-General. This year, the Oriental Palace is expected to be officially established.

The population of the entire Oriental Pearl Islands has exceeded 10,000, and the population of Pearl Island (Oahu) alone has exceeded 8,000. The North Sea Navy has also established a naval base on Oahu. He knew the elegant meaning after hearing the string song. The two had known each other for decades. Basically, the other party would know what he was thinking if he revealed it a little bit. Feng Ziying nodded and waited for Lian Guo Shi to continue talking.

"Once the Dongfang Mansion is established, if the so-called experiment of combining sailing ships and steamships is successful, then the route from Songjiang or Guangzhou to Dongdu across the ocean will not be a problem. I have asked people at the Imperial Gakushu Academy, and they initially estimate that if If everything goes well, it will take about fifty days to cross, and except for typhoon season, one ship can basically make three round trips."

There was some thought in Lian Guoshi's tone, "I know that the emperor feels that time has not waited for us. The Xiyi people are now making aggressive moves on the Eastern Continent, but according to the feedback, they can only move along the easternmost coast of the Eastern Continent. The mainland area is still blank. Our advantage in the western coastal area has basically been established. The distance between us and them is at least six thousand miles. Well, even if the conditions in the eastern mainland are not as bad as Beiting and Beihai, the uninhabited interior In the mainland area, we need to cross over to the area of ​​interest to hand over. I am thinking that this may not be achieved in three to five years, or even ten or twenty years."

Feng Ziying knew that what Lian Guoshi said was right. The British lingered on the east coast until after the founding of the United States. It can be said that it was still very early. But for herself, knowing that such a large piece of land was placed there, it was like It is so uncomfortable to have no one to pick the ripe fruits.

Moreover, he has so many sons and a large population under his rule. Now that the imperial court has relatively abundant financial resources, why can't it go a little further and help the sons who are willing to "start a business"?

The American homestead law can give individuals great stimulation. Now I can also follow the same example for my sons, each taking people to race and enclose the land. I and even the next emperor fully support it. As for these sons on the Eastern Continent in the future Even what happens to their descendants is beyond their control.

In a few decades, if there are a million people in a land of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, what will happen to the establishment of a country?

It is not impossible to have more Qin, Zhao, Jin, or Chu.

"Jun Yu, if you can understand my thoughts, once the "Imperial Throne Succession Law" comes out, I'm afraid I won't even dare to return to the palace." Feng Ziying smiled bitterly, "Everyone is watching eagerly, and I have to weigh it. Am I partial to someone, but they are all my sons, who can I be partial to?"

Lian Guoshi looked sympathetic. He could understand that he had not dared to establish a reserve for so many years. This was probably the main reason.

"It's fine if you don't want to go. If you are willing to go and work hard, learn from the way I started my own business, I will naturally support it, but there must also be suitable opportunities. The Eastern Continent, the Southern Continent, and the Western Xinjiang Yixi, I will give them a chance and give them my full support..."

Lian Guoshi understands that this one is really ready for a showdown. After deciding who will be the prince, others who still have ideas will have to find their own way out. The empire will give the greatest support, and Feng Ziying herself will Be the best counselor you can be.

 After understanding Feng Ziying’s thoughts, Lian Guo was determined. This should be the best result.

  ****

"Is it settled?" Daiyu looked at her son and suddenly felt relaxed, "Are you feeling disappointed?"

"That's not true. My son also knew that he was not the most suitable one. To be honest, my son may feel that three to five years would be fulfilling if he worries about me like his father all day long, but it would be too tiring to do that for the rest of his life." He looked a bit combined. King Chu, who understood the advantages of Daiyu and Feng Ziying, said calmly: "So I was a little disappointed, but I soon became relaxed and even thought about what I can do next."

"What about the others?" Daiyu looked at her son carefully, and she felt relieved after seeing that his son did not pretend to be happy, "You know your brother is very sorry..."

King Chu laughed, "If you really want to start a business, you might as well go to the Eastern Continent or the Western Regions, but my son doesn't think too much about it. He thinks there are more things he can do if he stays in the Central Plains. As for the others, well, Maybe the taste is mixed, the King of Qin, the King of Wei and the King of Jin will most likely go to the Eastern Continent and the Western Regions."

 Daiyu was also a little regretful, but she felt relieved when she thought that all the popular candidates had failed. Presumably Sister Shen and Sister Bao felt the same as herself.

On the first day of March in the 29th year of Daguan, Feng Ziying submitted a list of names to the cabinet. The cabinet was re-elected, and King Zhao and King Yan became candidates.

On the third day of March, the Imperial Senate and the People's Representative House jointly voted to make King Zhao Feng Zhisong the crown prince. Feng Ziying immediately signed a decree declaring King Zhao to be the crown prince.

 This result shocked countless people.

The three most popular candidates, King of Jin, King of Chu, and King of Qi, did not even make it into the check-list, leaving only two dark horses in the PK. The result was that King Zhao won.

Later, many historians carefully analyzed and studied this result. Why did the cabinet select these two candidates? It is said that the cabinet ministers also received pressure from all parties, and finally decided on these two candidates. The joint vote to determine King Zhao is already an unsuspicious result.

When historians study this result, they basically tend to believe that it is the result of the balance of forces among all parties. One of the important reasons is that King Zhao's other conditions are relatively balanced, and his personality is also the most suitable. In addition, he attaches great importance to the investigation of things. , and another key factor is that King Zhao's mother, Jia Yingchun, has the most honest and simple character and the weakest matrilineal power.

On the first day of October in the 29th year of Daguan, the "Overseas Territory Law" was officially promulgated. The empire encouraged the people to expand overseas, and determined that the kings of Jin, Qin, and Wei would lead the development strategies in the Eastern Continent, the Southern Continent, and the Western Regions respectively.

On the third day of March in the 30th year of Daguan, Feng Ziying abdicated the throne, and Prince Feng Zhisong ascended the throne. The reign name was changed to Yuan Dynasty, and he was known as Taizong in history.

In the third year of the Yuan Dynasty, the King of Jin established the shogunate in Dongdu (San Francisco). With Dongdu as the center, with the strong support of the empire and the widespread use of propeller-driven sailing ships, he began to introduce immigrants from the empire on a large scale.

 From the third year of Zhiyuan to the twelfth year of Zhiyuan, the initial scale of no more than 30,000 people per year gradually increased to nearly 80,000 people per year.

 In the thirteenth year of Yuan Dynasty, King Feng Zhibai of Jin established the Jin Kingdom in Dongdu.

By the time Taizong died in the 18th year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Jin State had introduced more than 900,000 people from Dahua, and the Jin State's population also rapidly expanded to about 1.2 million.

In the fifteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, one month before Feng Ziying died of illness, Feng Zhibai proclaimed himself emperor in Dongdu and established the Jin Dynasty.

 In March of the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, the southern continent was discovered.

In July of the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, King Feng Zhifeng of Chu established the shogunate in Nanzhou (Darwin Port) and began to organize the arrival of immigrants.

In March of the seventh year of the Yuan Dynasty, Feng Zhifeng moved the shogunate to Chuyang (Sydney) and went all out to build the eastern coastal area with Chuyang as the center.

By the time Feng Zhifeng formally established the Chu Dynasty in the 16th year of the Yuan Dynasty, the number of immigrants from the southern mainland had reached 1.3 million, forming a major economic belt with Chuyang, Nanzhou, and Haijiao (Perth) as the three central cities. , Chuyang became the capital of the Chu Empire.

In the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Wei King Feng Zhihua, with the support of the empire, formed the Western Frontier Corps, based in Turpan, and began a large-scale expedition to the west for eighteen consecutive years.

From the eighth to ninth years of the Yuan Dynasty, Feng Zhihua successively captured Hohan on the Andiyan River and continued to attack westward.

By the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the entire Bukhara Khanate had been captured and occupied, and the army was directed towards the Khiva Khanate.

 In the 18th year of the Yuan Dynasty, Feng Zhisong died of illness and was passed down to his second son, Feng Yuanxi, who was known as Gaozong in history and had the reign name of Hongtai.

In the second year of Hongtai, Feng Zhihua conquered the entire Khiva Khanate and formally proclaimed himself emperor in Daliang (Sarmahan), establishing the Wei Dynasty.

In the seventh year of Hongtai, Feng Zhihua died of illness. Since he had no children, he was passed down to his half-brother Feng Zhiyu (son of Yunshang) who followed him to conquer the world. Feng Zhiyu continued the system established by his brother and still vigorously attracted immigrants from the Central Plains to Central Asia. .

In the fifteenth year of Hongtai's reign, Feng Zhiyu died of illness and was passed down to his third son Feng Yuanhe, who was known as Emperor Wu of Wei in history.

Feng Yuanhe continued the system established by his uncle and father, encouraged ethnic intermarriage, strengthened the promotion of Han culture, and continued to conquer the west, fighting the Ottoman Empire between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea and winning, and advanced his troops to the Caucasus Mountains. and the Black Sea coast, and secured an important stronghold at Sihanoukville (Sukhumi) on the east coast of the Black Sea.

In the 22nd year of Hongtai, more than 1.5 million people immigrated from Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Shanxi from the Central Plains in the past 15 years. In addition, nearly 500,000 Han people were brought from the Central Plains by the Western Frontier Corps in the early stage. The Han people in the entire Wei Empire And the population after mixing and assimilating with the Han people has accounted for more than 60% of the Wei Empire.

On the third day of March in the fifteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Feng Ziying died of illness in the Wanshou Palace in the capital.

Before her death, Feng Ziying held the hands of the women, choked speechlessly, and passed away with a smile on her face.

Thousands of reds are blooming, and the flowers are withering and flying.

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 (End of this chapter)