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

Chapter 331 Agricultural Strategy
Between May and August, Liu Bei continued to expand papermaking and printing production capacity.

Because we need to print "Agricultural Policy," which has many pages, a large quantity is required.

Currently, the printing industry has formed a production chain of a certain scale.

After the Fu family's papermaking workshop was taken over, technicians were selected from it, and based on these people, more than thirty new workshops were built, spread throughout the counties of Qi Prefecture.

Moreover, traditional papermaking methods are easy to imitate. Liu Bei bought paper with money, and if it was profitable, people would naturally continue to do it.

The woodblock printing workshop has always been located within Zhang Fei's academy, and it has grown to over three hundred people. Moreover, Zhang Fei's art academy is under military management—Zhang Fei believes that if you can use a carving knife well, you can use a crossbow well...

The ink and glue factory was located in the Jixia Academy, a place where there was no shortage of manpower.

The printing plant was located in the military academy personally overseen by Liu Bei, and all those responsible for printing were soldiers. Cultural warfare tactics were also one of the subjects taught at the military academy.

The recruitment of new soldiers was ongoing, and the selection process was quite rigorous, with the vast majority of recruits coming from various military settlements.

Liu Bei now only recruits from households that have settled in villages to serve as his own troops, which is also an important reason for attracting more people to join the village households.

The soldiers under Liu Bei's command were indeed well-treated, being professional soldiers after all. Liu Bei provided equipment, their pay was never withheld, meals were plentiful—meat when available, fish when not—military merit was rewarded without question, promotions were transparent, and they even had regular rest days…

In fact, in order to promote agricultural development, Liu Bei had drawn up a design for the curved plow for the Agricultural Academy a long time ago, and also made some samples for the Agricultural Academy to improve - mainly by improving the plow scale (also known as the plow gauge), which is a component used to control the depth of soil turning.

However, Liu Bei discovered that simply creating more technologically advanced tools was not enough to increase productivity.

Technological innovation and technological application are two different things.

Technology must be effectively disseminated in order to be effectively utilized in a suitable environment.

These days, without the internet, it can take decades to spread new technologies.

Moreover, the environment may not be suitable.

Compared to the straight plow, the curved plow was undoubtedly a revolutionary advancement.

A straight plow requires two people and one ox to work together, while a curved plow only requires one person and one ox, and is more efficient and can precisely control the depth.

But the problem with the Han Dynasty today isn't with the plow...

The problem lies with the cattle—on average, there is only one cow for every ten households, and this is in the relatively stable Qingzhou. Liu used the logic of pyramid schemes to acquire a lot of cattle, and the people brought their cattle all the way south. There are far more cattle on the plains than in other places.

The greatest value of the curved-shaft plow is to reduce human labor, but now the problem isn't a lack of people, but a lack of oxen.

So Liu Bei drew a foot-operated sled and a ploughshare sled—these two types of sleds were magical tools for mountainous terrain, requiring no oxen or horses, and could be cleared by human labor alone.

These two things were accepted very quickly, but the problem is...

Both types of plows require about ten pounds of iron. Since the plow blade is angled and also serves as a lever, it must be made of steel for durability and practicality.

In those days, steel was much more expensive than copper coins of the same weight.

It's really difficult these days to ensure that every worker has a ten-pound steel tool.

Keep in mind that a spearhead weighs only one and a half pounds, a regular Han sword or ring-pommel knife weighs only about two pounds, and even heavy weapons like halberds and axes weigh only about five pounds.

A single pedal plow requires the steel equivalent of five steel blades, making it extremely difficult to promote. It's not a lack of money, but a lack of steel.

Moreover, pedal sleds and plough sleds are more suitable for small areas of mountainous terrain where oxen cannot be used.

In plains areas, oxen combined with existing straight plows make plowing several times more efficient than foot-operated plows.

Ultimately, cattle and horses are the true productive forces...

Tool improvements are based on the environment; whether productivity has improved depends on actual capacity increases, not on the level of technology.

At present, what the Han Dynasty lacks is actually various material resources—long-term wars and disasters have made the entire Han Dynasty lack cattle, horses, steel, and good breeds.

But these things can't be conjured up; they can only be accumulated over a long period.

Therefore, Liu Bei changed his mind—to use comic strips to depict various tools and new farming methods, allowing the working people to choose the appropriate method based on their actual situation.

Northern plains are mostly dryland farming, with millet being the primary crop. The plains have large, contiguous tracts of land, making them suitable for using curved plows and implementing the alternating field plowing method.

The south has many waterways and relatively soft soil, and most of the land is used for rice cultivation. It is suitable for using traditional Chinese plows and implementing dike-based irrigation systems to protect the water supply.

Mountainous and dry lands are more suitable for growing millet, also known as yellow millet, and are also more suitable for using foot-operated plows.

At the same time, a reward was offered for high-yield crops, with those who contributed high-yield new grains to be granted titles of nobility or lord.

Once the methods are passed on, the working people will adapt them to local conditions.

The book also included illustrations of various methods for crop succession or rotation to fertilize the fields. Liu Bei didn't understand these methods, but the agricultural college did; that was what they were researching.

As for the waterwheel (dragon bone waterwheel), water mill, seed drill (row seeder, which can sow three to five rows at a time), and hand-cranked windmill, these technologies were also spread.

Apart from the hand-cranked winnowing machine, the other items already existed in the Han Dynasty, but they were not widespread.

The accident was actually orchestrated by Liu Hong and Zhang Rang with the support of Bi Lan, the magistrate of the Imperial Household Department. Of course, the initial purpose was not for agricultural production, but to divert water to the moat and the West Garden canal to ensure that the West Garden would never lack water.

Therefore, the initial overturned vehicle was placed next to the main road bridge in Luoyang, and the spilled water could also help to remove dust from the main road leading in and out of Luoyang.

Although it wasn't used for agricultural irrigation, the effect of this official advertisement placed at the capital's gates quickly led to imitations of the car accident, though it didn't spread widely due to the war.

The comic book "Agricultural Strategies" published by Liu Bei was the most powerful official promotion method of the time—comic books were the only books that illiterate ordinary people could understand, and they also included illustrations of peasant women working hard with their clothes half-exposed and sweating, incorporating various farm tools...

Whether out of respect for books, a yearning for life, or simply for matters between men and women, these comic books could become wildly popular in the Han Dynasty at the fastest speed.

Of course, this will allow other forces to acquire these technologies as well.

But it doesn't matter; enabling everyone in the Han Dynasty to master this knowledge is more important than winning or losing.

After all, these technologies can only be monetized in an environment where they can be truly applied.

In a serfdom environment... what good is mastering the most advanced technology?
Whether the harvest is one bushel or ten bushels, the entire harvest is taxed. Ordinary people receive no benefit; who would be willing to change their existing habits?

If you want ordinary people to use advanced technology, you should at least ensure that they can gain more benefits after using better technology, right?
and……

By issuing the "Agricultural Strategy," Liu Bei was essentially demonstrating to the world what constituted legitimacy.

Each painting bears the names of the people involved, including officials and scholars such as Liu Bei and Jian Yong, as well as students who drew the designs, and many more commoners, tenants, or displaced serfs.

Following Liu Bei's rough design, Zheng Chuyi, an ordinary carpenter, made the first hand-cranked winnowing machine; Fang Alao, an ordinary blacksmith, made the first pedal plow; and Hei Tu, an ordinary tenant farmer, made the first curved plow...

These people were tinkering with these objects in Zhuge Liang's mechanical workshop—the machinery didn't refer to anything high-tech, just these ordinary but practical mechanical devices. Zhuge Liang simply wanted to try to make things that Liu Bei had told him or drawn.

There was also Jiang A-Zi, the first ordinary villager to adopt the dike-enclosed-field method on the riverbank...

More than 300 people participated in the revision of the agricultural book. Most of them were ordinary people who had not done anything great and would not have appeared in any records.

But they have practical skills and they've chosen the right people to follow.

Most of them were seeing their own names for the first time, but they were destined to be remembered for it.

The name that appears most frequently is, of course, Liu Bei's; it appears under almost every illustration of a new farming tool and method.

People who are illiterate may not recognize the names, but eventually someone who can read will tell them.

……

Early August.

The first copy of "Agricultural Strategies" was printed.

This can barely be considered a real paper-bound book, with over two hundred pages.

Apart from the names of the people involved and the names of each object or method, there is no other text; it is all flowcharts.

The paper is of very poor quality; it's cheap, handmade paper that tears easily.

But everyone who has seen it considers it a treasure.

However, it was not officially released yet, and large-scale printing still had to wait, because Liu Bei had run out of money.

Purchasing military supplies is inherently expensive, but the large-scale procurement of various materials has revitalized the overall market and brought new life to Qingzhou's commerce.

After the autumn harvest was completed at the end of August, it was time to collect taxes, so Liu Bei wasn't in a hurry.

Making money... Liu Bei was once a billionaire.

In the past few days, high-ranking officials such as Cao Cao, Dong Zhuo, and Tao Qian have arrived in Linzi one after another, as have many officials from various places, and heroes from all walks of life who are preparing to participate in the bidding for tax collection business.

Cao Cao, Tao Qian, Mi Zhu, and others came to report on their duties and to discuss how to deal with the possible backlash from the major clans—currently, they were true allies with Liu Bei, that is, the 'Emperor's Party'.

Dong Zhuo probably wanted to talk to Liu Bei, but they didn't have a formal discussion because he was busy building his own faction these days—basically, a 'faction of relatives of the emperor's family'.

Many officials were also colluding with each other, and Yang Xiu even stayed at home to avoid suspicion. The "powerful family faction" was also active.

Turning a large-scale war into partisan strife is actually a good thing.

Right now, everyone, like the other gangsters and outlaws, is waiting to see what Liu Bei will do at the grand court assembly on the fifteenth of August.

After all, they had never seen Liu Bei publicly issue a tender in the court to hire people to collect taxes...

With more and more wealthy people, Liu Bei decided to start his own small business.

For example, you could open a bank to attract deposits and then liquidate your unsecured government bonds.

When doing business, you can't target the poor; the richest tycoons are the best customers.

(End of this chapter)