Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 243 Blockade
The reconstruction of the Jixia Academy generated a tremendous response.

Upon hearing this, Mi Zhu also rushed to Pingyuan and asked Liu Bei if it was possible to establish a business school.

Of course, Liu Bei wanted to establish any kind of academy. As long as someone took the lead in setting up a school, Liu Bei was very generous in providing land and resources.

Mi Zhu used his own money to establish a business school in Linzi.

Since Mi Zhu could not stay in Qingzhou for long, Liu Bei had Guan Hai get involved and cooperate with Mi Zhu. Guan Hai used his clan's property to set up a school for Mi Zhu, so there was no need to rebuild the buildings, and the academy could open almost immediately.

Guan Hai then established the Yi Wu Academy, an introductory school for business studies, in the name of his ancestor Guan Zhong.

Yi Wu Academy only admitted children to elementary school, starting with literacy and math. It was an affiliated primary school of the business school, and the building it used was the original clan council hall of the Guan family.

Mi Zhu, on the other hand, took in boys who could read and do arithmetic.

Moreover, the business school and Yiwu Academy do not charge tuition fees and even provide meals. All you need to do is participate in practical activities—both of these institutions are well-funded, and this is essentially equivalent to having those students work for a few years, so it's not a bad deal.

Sun Qian also returned from the State of Lu, and he successfully brought Guan Hai's son back, because Guan Ning had also gone to the Kong family—Guan Ning went there to curse people, and he cursed them very harshly.

All the officials of Donglai County witnessed Kong Zan killing Qin Zhou, and there's no way to deny it. After Kong Zan died, no one mentioned anything else. It seems that the Kong family admitted defeat and stopped using any more tricks.

Guan Hai was reunited with his young son and saw hope that Guanzi's scholarship would be accepted by the public again. He came to Pingyuan and respectfully bowed three times to Liu Bei's official residence in the street.

He still did not take up an official post, nor did he mention any favors or kindnesses; he simply married his cousin, Guan, to Jian Yong.

Guan Hai probably thought that Liu Bei might not be interested in his sister, but Jian Yong would definitely be, and Jian Yong had no reason to refuse the marriage proposal...

Although Jian Yong had a junior sister and two other concubines, they had not had any children, and he had not refused them.

But Guan Hai probably didn't expect that Liu Bei, such a benevolent and virtuous gentleman, was actually a common man, as was Zuo Yuan...

If he really sent his sister to Zuo Yuan, Zuo Yuan would most likely have Liu Bei take her as a concubine.

Zuo Yuan has already given birth to Ali and A Dou. She is no longer worried about Liu Bei taking concubines. On the contrary, she is afraid that Liu Bei will not take enough concubines.

Mi Zhu was much more direct; he simply gave Liu Bei two thousand servants.

If it weren't for the fact that her younger sister, Mi Zhen, was only ten years old, Mi Zhu would have planned to send her along as well...

However, Liu Bei refused these people: "My master has taught me not to use people as goods. I appreciate your help, but these people cannot be given as gifts... If they are willing to serve me, it must be based on their own willingness."

Of course, it was possible to volunteer. On that very day, Mi Zhu freed the two thousand servants and had them all 'voluntarily' become auxiliary soldiers.

As a result, Mi Zhu was scolded by Liu Bei: "Your business school is newly established, but none of the people who come from your family have any business acumen. How can you win people's respect? Take them all back to Xuzhou and teach them properly. I need talented people, not mediocre servants! Get out!"

Mi Zhu was actually quite pleased after being scolded. He privately told Mi Fang, "The governor is farsighted and talented, and is certainly not just a ruler of a prefecture. You should follow the governor closely and do your best in your duties. Do not lose sight of the greater good for the sake of petty gains."

……

Late May.

Various colleges have begun recruiting professors and students.

Since a notice had been issued to various places more than two months ago, and the name of Jixia Academy itself has great appeal, scholars from all over the country, from Youzhou to Yangzhou, are now coming from afar, and people from Liaodong are also crossing the sea to come.

Calling these people scholars might be inaccurate, as they also included merchants, pirates, salt traders, swindlers, and so on...

But in any case, they are all rich people.

Moreover, there are no airplanes or high-speed trains these days, so it's not easy to come here. Even if you don't enroll in the academy, you'll still have to stay for a long time.

Since we're already here, why not just go and see what's going on?

With the movement of people, the previously dormant business has become more vibrant.

Most importantly, as long as commerce continues, the role of money will become increasingly important.

If you were to ask Liu Bei what he fears most—it would be that money, as a general equivalent, loses its value.

Because Liu Bei had a large amount of money he brought back from Lulong Pass, but not much else.

In recent years, Qingzhou has been too chaotic, so money has played a very minor role; grain and cloth are the hard currency of Qingzhou.

However, there is a severe shortage of food and cloth at present, which means that Qingzhou is actually very poor, every family is poor, and Liu Bei is also very poor - even though Liu Bei has a lot of copper coins, he is still essentially penniless.

After all, money that doesn't circulate isn't money; it's just a pile of copper.

Giving money to locals to stimulate consumption is useless because if market demand is not stimulated, the money simply cannot circulate.

Stimulating the market means stimulating people's needs, such as basic living needs like settling down and buying a home, or more ambitious goals like improving the quality of life and pursuing upward social mobility. Commercial activities will only occur when people have needs.

Otherwise, they only needed to forage in the fields and spin hemp and weave cloth at home—basic food and clothing could be provided from the fields, and men farming and women weaving were the tradition.

If the market structure and personnel composition remain unchanged, no amount of money can stimulate domestic demand; it will only add more burial goods to people's graves.

These migrants were not numerous, and their living expenses in Pingyuan, Linzi, and other places were not high. However, they were able to make copper coins the main commodity in the Qingzhou market again, and also enabled a small number of people to start engaging in commercial activities.

The consumption of migrant workers consists of essential expenses such as food, accommodation, and transportation. Although the transaction volume is not large at present, it will enter a positive cycle as soon as the currency begins to circulate.

The wealthy families will reopen their shops, which will create more jobs once they have customers.

The newly created industrial and commercial jobs will lead to a small number of tenant farmers working as laborers during the off-season.

With the money they earn from working, they'll buy household items; at the very least, the time spent weaving will be used to buy clothes… and for the convenience of their work, they'll also purchase other tools. To continue earning money, migrant workers will generate new consumption demands—such as renting or buying a house in the city, buying a donkey for transportation, or even trying to open their own small shop.

These demands actually stem from a 'new lifestyle'.

Meanwhile, the various colleges began enrolling students.

Regardless of who they are, most people will do their best to send their children to school in order to achieve upward social mobility.

Children from aristocratic families might look down on other academies and would most likely enroll in the schools of famous scholars and Confucian masters.

But if the great Confucian scholars don't accept the children of tenant farmers, merchants, pirates, etc., they will mostly study at other academies.

There's no need for special publicity, because children can receive subsidies and rent refunds when they go to school... and everyone knows that it's much better for children to learn a skill than to have no skills at all.

When children need to go to school, the demand increases even more.

As migrant workers have their own needs and earn some money, they become a new consumer group, which naturally attracts new business practitioners.

Consumer demand will continue to increase, and all industries will be able to operate as a result.

Originally, there might only be a few thousand migrant workers, but they can stimulate tens of thousands of people to engage in business activities and generate consumer demand for hundreds of thousands of people, thus revitalizing stagnant businesses.

That's how domestic demand was stimulated.

Linzi, in particular, saw a surge in the number of scholars traveling there, leading to a greater demand for entertainment services and a rapid economic recovery. This also boosted commerce and service industries in Pingyuan, Jinan, Beihai, and other areas along the route.

With the addition of Donglai's maritime trade, Qingzhou will surely become a prosperous place in time.

However, with the arrival of the summer flood season, a series of problems have also arisen.

First, there was the disaster along the Yellow River. Just as Zhuge Xuan had said, the Yellow River flooded almost the entire length of the river, from Hongnong and Hedong to Yanzhou and Jibei.

In the waterways within Qingzhou, floating corpses can be seen almost every moment, drifting down from upstream.

Strangely, however, no large number of disaster victims from Yanzhou poured into Qingzhou.

This is not a good thing. In the face of a major disaster, there will inevitably be refugees fleeing. Not many people are coming to Qingzhou, which actually means that the roads are blocked.

Liu Bei immediately issued a notice prohibiting the use of raw water and sent people to the Yellow River and Ji River to prevent the spread of disease. He also ordered Zhang Fei to send troops to the Yanzhou area to investigate.

Meanwhile, no news has come from the imperial court in the past six months.

After Taishi Ci destroyed the memorial, Liu Bei submitted another memorial, but apart from the official vehicle administration's receipt indicating that the memorial had been retrieved, there was no response whatsoever.

Both Yue Yin and Qian Zhao were in Luoyang, yet Liu Bei received no news from them, which clearly indicated that someone was deliberately intercepting them.

Moreover, the imperial court has yet to send new prefects or chancellors to the various prefectures of Qingzhou.

Liu Bei felt that someone in the court was plotting against him.

The reason is simple: Qingzhou has been pacified, but at this time it is a time of poverty and scarcity, which is the best time to reap the rewards.

Kong Rong had this plan before, and now there are certainly more people with this idea.

However, information is currently blocked, and we have no idea what methods the enemy has, or even who the enemy is.

"My lord, why not first seal off all the passes and key roads, and block all incoming and outgoing documents..."

Zhuge Xuan suggested.

He could also tell that Qingzhou had been deliberately cut off from news, which was clearly a sign that something bad was about to happen.

But this proposal has a somewhat separatist connotation.

“No, how can we be so rebellious… Let’s send envoys to the court instead. Your Majesty might recommend Mr. Zheng, along with other great Confucian scholars such as Guan You’an and Hua Ziyu, as the chief officials of the various prefectures of Qingzhou. No matter what the officials of the court want, they must consider whether the people they send are as renowned as these men… No matter who blocks the way, they cannot stop Mr. Zheng.”

Jia Xu shook his head and offered a more reliable suggestion.

This is indeed a good idea. Whoever wants to reap the benefits must first pass the test of the famous scholars of Qingzhou.

"This matter may require Mr. Wenhe to personally make a trip to Luoyang..."

Of course, not just anyone can be recommended as a prefectural official.

Liu Bei was an envoy traveling abroad, and he could not enter Luoyang without an imperial edict. Only his two assistants, Jian Yong and Jia Xu, were qualified to do this; no one else was qualified to enter the court to discuss matters.

Especially now that Liu Yu is no longer in Luoyang, we need someone with a sharp mind to go to Luoyang.

Jia Xu also realized that he seemed to have found himself a difficult task, and shook his head with a wry smile: "I will set off now. Does the magistrate have a letter to deliver to Mr. Yue?"

"If the Emperor falls ill, then Qian Zhao will escort my teacher back to Qingzhou immediately..."

Liu Bei frowned as he spoke.

"The Emperor..."

Jia Xu also frowned.

(End of this chapter)