Chapter 1402: Quick, Drag the United States Into the War!

Of course he trusted Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi... The Tycoon King was not a "wise ruler" raised inside the palace. He was a "wily old king" who had attended primary school, middle school, and the Military Academy with the noble sons of Yingtian, who had served in the army as a platoon leader, company commander, and staff officer, and who had been a County Magistrate in the localities. Moreover, the "island lords" who had gone with Zheng Xi to found the United States of Xinzhou were basically all his schoolmates, and a few were even his classmates.

What did he have to worry about with this bunch of academic underachievers?

What truly worried him were the hundreds of thousands of armed mobs in the United States!

So he still needed to unite the island lords and together suppress the mobs. If he really got all the island lords killed and dissolved the United States' Deliberative Government, then, as a lone man facing so many armed mobs, could he still sleep soundly?

As for confiscating all the armed mobs' guns — that would not work either! To the east, in the great mountains and plains, there were still millions of Indians, people who had fought the Spanish and the English for over a hundred years and had still not been wiped out. That alone told you what kind of tough characters they were.

Besides, the hostility of New Spain and New France toward the United States of Xinzhou was plain to see! War could be said to be on the verge of breaking out, and Zhu Hehao still needed the mobs to help him fight!

Of course, his being at ease about the "island lords" did not mean he would let the island lords sideline him... those were two different matters!

He held 30% of the "shares" in the United States of Xinzhou and was the largest "shareholder." He could not be absent and act like a hands-off boss.

Moreover, as an "old hand," he also knew what human hearts were like... subjects were all very cunning. No one was wholly devoted to the public good. Most subjects, especially the island lords who held "shares," would not be bent on dismantling the great enterprise of the United States. Without the United States, where would they go to be island lords? To be councilors?

What everyone sought was no more than a balance between public-mindedness and self-interest.

And the main business of this king, Zhu Hehao, was maintaining balance.

He had to maintain balance not only between the island lords and the royal power of the United States, but likewise between the upper and middle-lower strata of the United States...

The Tycoon King was already standing on a high platform, ringed by circles of old guardsmen and "sister-in-law soldiers." The old guardsmen at the gate had also opened the great iron-barred gate and let in several hundred United States citizens who had been blocked outside, allowing them to gather around the platform where the Tycoon King stood and listen to him speak.

Seeing this scene, Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi were even more dumbfounded — what did the Tycoon King mean? Why did he want to speak directly with the common people? Was he going to institute citizen deliberation?

The United States had no such custom... The United States' Deliberative Government was "island-lord deliberation," not citizen deliberation!

The Tycoon King shot a glance at the two "island lords," whose faces were growing greener, then cleared his throat. The old guardsmen around him pulled out whistles and blew them furiously. The citizens, who had been buzzing with discussion, immediately understood that their king had something to say, and all fell silent.

The Tycoon King said in a loud voice: "Fellow citizens, We are Hehao, King of the United States. By Our Imperial Father's express edict, We have come to take up Our state in Xinzhou, to open up land together with you on the vast territory of the Pacific's eastern coast. It is truly a fortune of three lifetimes. Those who came with Us, the King, also include tens of thousands of Sichuan military households, 2,000 households of the old guards, and 500 Japanese retainers, all of whom came with their families.

When We were in Ming territory, We heard that in Xinzhou there are many men and few women, and that many fine men have no wives to keep them company, cannot raise sons and daughters, and cannot spread their branches and leaves. Therefore We selected 600 beautiful, well-bred, and courteous young women from the Sichuan military households and Japanese retainer families, and bade the princess consort become sworn sisters with them and bring them to Xinzhou, and then choose good husbands for them among the men of Xinzhou... These 600 young women are only the first batch. In the future We will do everything in Our power to arrange for more women to come to Xinzhou to marry. No matter what their origins were before, once they arrive in Xinzhou they are the princess consort's younger sisters, and Our sisters-in-law. We hope the men fortunate enough to marry them will join hands with them, grow old with them, and never abandon them!"

So he was going to hand out wives!

The United States citizens gathered around Zhu Hehao, having heard their king's speech, all felt their hearts burn with excitement!

So the King of the United States was a wise ruler after all!

"The King is wise! Long live the King..." Someone had already taken the lead in cheering, and then more and more people joined in.

Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi, standing below the high platform, glanced at the man who had led the cheering. It turned out to be one of the two Wang brothers who had been daydreaming... It was just handing out wives — was there any need to be that happy? Besides, there would still be an examination! The two of you don't look very clever. Do you think you can pass?

Zhu Hehao raised his right hand and waved it once.

The old guardsmen blew their whistles again, and the cheering crowd below gradually quieted down.

Zhu Hehao continued: "Everyone, the daughters of the military households and retainer families who came with Us number only a mere 600, while here in Xinzhou there are at least 100,000 unmarried men... Therefore We can only use an examination to select good husbands for these 600 women. Any citizen of the United States of Xinzhou, under the age of 40 and never married, may come to take the examination. The top 600 will be selected to participate in the matchmaking. If you do not pass this time, do not be discouraged; there will be new marriage-selection examinations in the future..."

As a citizen of the United States, there were three things one could not escape: first, paying taxes; second, death; and third, examinations!

Wang Shanyou, who had just led the chanting, suddenly asked loudly: "Your Majesty, what will the marriage-selection examination test?"

Zhu Hehao smiled: "Of course it will test both civil and military talent! For civil, the Confucian classics and mathematics; for military, target shooting and the long spear!"

Wang Shanyou and Wang Liangyou both breathed a sigh of relief at the same time — they could finally get wives. Although it was 100,000 men competing for 600 slots, and the admission rate was surely very low, they were still confident.

Because the two of them could be considered men of both civil and military talent. The Confucian classics and mathematics were no problem... they were teachers at the Washington Academy! As for target shooting and the long spear, they could also manage a bit of both. The Washington Academy had military classes, and as teachers, they naturally had to learn a thing or two as well.

Zhu Hehao then continued: "But relying on Us to select daughters from military and retainer households a few hundred at a time cannot allow all the many wifeless men here in Xinzhou to marry and establish themselves... If we want every man to have a wife, we must find ways to bring in Ming farming households that have daughters. And to bring in farming households in large numbers, we must open up more land that can be granted. But now the land around the Gulf of America and in the Bo River valley all has owners. If we want to grant out more land, there is no choice but to advance eastward!"

Advance eastward?

Did this mean war?

Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi were even more astonished!

This was not right!

War was a great matter of state and the military! The King of the United States did not need to go to the Deliberative Assembly to marry off his sisters-in-law — the Deliberative Assembly did not discuss the question of whom the sisters-in-law would live with. But opening up new territory to the east was different.

Zhu Hehao glanced at his two loyal ministers, then suddenly raised his voice: "Gentlemen, at present the greater part of the great river basin to the east is still in the hands of the barbarians, and many rich valleys and river valleys in the Great Stone Mountains are also in barbarian hands... Our United States, with a population of a million, is squeezed into the gulf region, the Bo River valley, the Flood River valley, and the Pacific coastal region. Can this be allowed to continue?"

"No!"

"We will not accept it!"

"Punish the barbarians..."

The citizens were indeed stirred up, and let out loud shouts.

The Tycoon King nodded with satisfaction. He wanted war!

Because once war broke out, war required centralization of power! Once war began, the Tycoon King's power would surely increase. And once the war was won, his prestige would also greatly increase.

And the targets the Tycoon King had chosen for war were in fact all soft persimmons — not New France, nor New Spain, but the Indian tribes in the great river basin to the east and in the Great Stone Mountains.

The great river basin had in fact already been "drawn" into the United States of Xinzhou, but actual control still belonged to several Indian tribes. As for the Great Stone Mountains, even more Indians lived there... These Indians looked like soft persimmons and should be relatively easy to deal with.