Chương 655: , Plan 35

Many veteran officials were dumbfounded... More than ten years ago, when Liu Hong was still alive, the court's annual revenue was only a few billion. Now, a five-year plan dares to spend tens of billions? Only His Majesty would dare to do such a thing!

Shen Wansan paused for a moment while working on the abacus, then gritted his teeth: Fine, anyway, the Second Five-Year Plan made a lot of money from maritime trade and state-run factories, so my wallet is full enough to afford it!

Liu Ce counted on his fingers as the six major projects were announced one by one, each one sending shivers down people's spines:

"The first project was the popularization of the steam industry."

"In the past, workshops relied on water power and could only be built along the river; relying on manpower, there was always a limit to efficiency. From now on, the three core industries of coal mining, iron smelting, and textiles will be fully equipped with fixed improved steam engines. Coalfields, industrial zones, and textile clusters in various places will be the first to implement this...

Mines will be fully equipped with steam pumps, and irrigation areas will be equipped with steam-powered keel cars, directly doubling the efficiency of mining and irrigation."

His gaze fell on the head of the Ministry of Works: "Song Yingxing."

"Your subject is here!"

Song Yingxing quickly stepped forward.

"I hereby order you to take charge of the promotion of steam power. Craftsmen and materials shall be uniformly allocated by the Ministry of Works and the Royal Academy of Sciences. Any provincial government that dares to obstruct me shall report directly to me. In addition... the Luoyang-Changsha Railway has been tested for more than half a year and is very stable. Now, with Luoyang as the center, four main lines will be built: Luoyang to Fanyang, Luoyang to Kaifeng, Luoyang to Jinling, and Luoyang to Chengdu."

Liu Ce paused, then said solemnly, "This is the first batch of railway trunk lines of our Great Han Dynasty, the starting point of the future railway network spanning thousands of miles. It must succeed, it cannot fail. Especially the section from Luoyang to Chengdu—the Shu Road is difficult, we'll flatten it with railway tracks!"

"Your subject obeys! If I fail, I will accept the punishment!"

Song Yingxing bowed and clasped his hands in greeting, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.

The ministers below whispered among themselves, "To Chengdu? How many mountains would we have to carve out and how many bridges would we have to build!"

"What's there to be afraid of? The ancient Xiaohan Road has been completed, what's the Shu Road compared to that! If His Majesty says it can be done, then it definitely can!"

Cheng Yaojin shouted at the top of his lungs, "Your Majesty! If there's a shortage of manpower for the railway construction, our army will all lend a hand! We have plenty of strength!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the hall, and Liu Ce chuckled as well: "Alright, we'll have soldiers from each war zone send over to help. They'll provide meals, meat at every meal."

"The second project is the integrated provincial-level project."

Liu Ce's tone became more serious, and the hall fell silent instantly.

"Although provinces have been established in Hanhai, Anxi, Beiting, Songmo, Yingzhou, Rinan, Yongchang, and Lancang, the old tribal systems have not been completely eliminated, and their laws, taxes, and education are not in line with those of the interior."

The hereditary system of local officials and the existence of private armies will inevitably become a hidden danger if this continues. My mind is made up: within five years, the hereditary system of tribes will be completely abolished in the eight provinces, the entire empire will uniformly abide by the "Great Han Law," all policies will be aligned with those of the interior, all officials will be appointed and dismissed by the central government, and all tribal private armies will be disbanded and reorganized.

"We will fully promote Sinicization in eight provinces, establish official schools, promote the Chinese language, change clothing, and encourage intermarriage between Han and non-Han peoples. What I want is not nominal submission, but the hearts and minds of the people... May all the people of the world be proud to be subjects of the Han Dynasty."

He assigned tasks in a clear and organized manner: "Minister Xun Yu will be in charge of overseeing the system integration, and you will be responsible for coordinating the personnel and legal implementation in the province; Fang Xuanling will be in charge of immigration to the border areas, relocating 300, 000 landless farmers and demobilized soldiers from the interior to eight provinces within five years, providing each household with 100 mu of land, oxen and farming tools, and exempting them from taxes for five years, so that they can settle down and live there; Lu Bing and Tian Feng will be in charge of supervision and rectification."

Liu Ce's voice turned colder: "Anyone who dares to obstruct the reform, conceal land, or gather a crowd to plot rebellion, whether they are tribal nobles or powerful families, will be treated as treasoners and their property will be confiscated... I will show no mercy."

"I obey your decree!"

Lu Bing and Tian Feng stepped forward and bowed. Lu Bing's black flying fish robe made his face appear even more stern, and the temperature in the hall seemed to drop several degrees... Everyone knew that when the Embroidered Uniform Guard was involved, there was nothing they couldn't uncover...

Liu Ce softened his tone again and added a sentence about people's livelihood:

"In addition, all provincial governments should establish orphanages and nursing homes to take in the elderly and abandoned infants who have no one to rely on; all prefectural and county hospitals should add disease prevention departments to promote the treatment of typhoid fever, dysentery, etc., so as to raise the average life expectancy of the people by a few years. In a peaceful and prosperous era, there should be no passers-by who freeze or starve to death, and no children who die young."

Everyone accepted the order, nodding inwardly: No matter how much His Majesty develops industry and expands territory, the lives of the common people are always his top priority, and he has never let his guard down on this.

"The third item is maritime power and colonization projects."

Liu Ce's tone softened slightly, yet it carried a grand ambition: "Constantly trading near the coast is too narrow-minded. I intend to build three major naval forces—the Beiyang, Dongyang, and Nanyang—and construct ten thousand-ton-class steam-powered and wind-powered warships to firmly grasp control of the 'Western Pacific.' Coastal ports and fortresses will be equipped with heavy anti-ship artillery. With the fleet and fortresses combined, our coastal defenses will be as solid as an iron barrel."

"At the same time, organize two ocean expeditions. One will head west, crossing the Indian Ocean to reach the Persian Gulf and the East African coast; the other will head east, crossing the ocean to explore the legendary Americas, a land of gold and silver. Along the way, establish supply stations and colonial outposts, mine gold and silver, transport spices, and expand territory. The imperial court will set up a Colonial Affairs Bureau under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Trade Bureau.

Private merchant groups willing to go to sea for colonization will be granted franchises, and profits will be shared according to shares. The imperial court will not compete with you for profits."

He looked at the tall, upright young general at the end of the military officer rank:

"Zhou Yu".

"Your subject is here!"

Zhou Yu strode forward, his armor clattering softly, his brows furrowed with sharpness, a man in the prime of his life.

"I hereby appoint you as the admiral of the three major naval forces and concurrently as the head of the Colonial Affairs Bureau. Five years from now, I want to see at least three stable overseas colonial outposts, and I want to see the warships of my Great Han sailing on seas farther than the Persian Gulf. You are young, so you can be bolder and go further. Don't be afraid of anything going wrong; I will cover for you."

"Your Majesty, I obey! I will certainly not fail in your trust!"

Zhou Yu's voice was booming, and his eyes gleamed as if he could already see the distant waves.

The officers were all excited... Expanding the territory on land and opening up sea routes to all nations—this is the achievement a true man should make!

Cheng Yaojin grew anxious and took half a step forward:

"Your Majesty! I also want to go to sea! I'm strong, I can carry cannons!"

Liu Ce chuckled: "You should stay on land. There are plenty of battles to fight on land. Let Gongjin and the other young men go out and explore the seas."

Cheng Yaojin pouted, looking a little aggrieved, which made Zhang Fei secretly laugh, his shoulders shrug.

"The fourth project is the agricultural commercialization and capacity enhancement project."

"We must never lose our basic food supply. Within five years, the total national grain output... will be enough to eat and store. Various regions will develop industrial belts tailored to their local conditions: the Central Plains and North China will focus on grain and forage, the Jiangnan region on rice and cotton, Anxi and Beiting on agriculture and animal husbandry, and Liaodong on soybeans and wheat. Steam irrigation, high-yield and improved varieties, and green manure composting will be fully implemented..."