I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 182 Opening up trade routes

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the State of Song was located in the Central Plains.

Thanks to its unique geographical advantages, the State of Song, though not as militarily powerful as the States of Jin, Qin, and Chu, was extremely wealthy and could be considered a major power in the Central Plains.

They relied on traveling merchants from all directions.

Xiaopei, where Liu Bei is now, was formerly part of the State of Song. It is bordered by Hebei to the north, Qing and Xu to the east, Huainan to the south, and Yan and Yu to the east. Although it is a place of constant warfare, it is also a transportation hub.

If Liu Bei wanted to quickly recover his strength, the small territory of Pei was clearly insufficient to meet his needs for money and provisions.

Moreover, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang came from extremely wealthy families, so they naturally understood that farming was far less profitable than trading. Therefore, it is not surprising that they came up with the idea of ​​having Liu Bei leverage his advantages and become a transit hub on the trade route to earn commercial taxes.

Liu Miao was surprised: "Why Yuan Shao?"

“Xuande was also present at the last banquet on the high platform. He must have known that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were not on good terms and that a war between the two sides was very likely.”

"At this time, if you go to do business with Yuan Shao, aren't you afraid that Cao Cao will hold a grudge?"

Mi Fang cupped his hands in greeting: "That's why I've come to inquire of General Liu!"

Whether the deal goes through or not is not up to Liu Yuzhou; Liu Biaoji is the key!

Liu Bei's territory is small and his people are poor; he is simply not qualified to do business with Hebei or Jiangdong.

Liu Bei's group's demands were clear: they wanted to get a share of the spoils from Jiangdong and Hebei, two powerful regions that were both for Liu Bei, rather than trying to get a piece of the pie.

Their goal was to earn some taxes from the passage of goods, allowing Liu Bei to quickly recover his strength.

As Mi Fang said, the decision to achieve this goal was not made by Liu Bei, but by Liu Miao and Yuan Shao!
Liu Miao asked Mi Fang, "So how did you persuade Yuan Shao?"

"Liu Yuzhou has already recommended Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan, as a distinguished scholar!"

Ok!

Liu Miao never expected that Liu Bei would present Yuan Shao with such a generous gift!
Although the concept of filial piety and integrity in the Han Dynasty is abstract, it remains highly valued.

Liu Bei's recommendation of Yuan Tan as a candidate for the civil service examination was indeed able to greatly improve his relationship with Yuan Shao, so this trade deal might not necessarily be impossible!

Therefore, the only one who needs to make a decision is Liu Miao...

After a moment of contemplation, Liu Miao immediately had his answer.

Although Yuan Shao and Cao Cao now have conflicts, they have not completely broken off relations, and there is no psychological burden in trading with Yuan Shao.

And it's a fool not to make money when you can!

That's Hebei!
Jizhou alone has a population of over five million!
If the trade routes between the two sides are truly opened up, who knows how much tax revenue it will generate for Jiangdong every year!
Not to mention...

Jiangdong is truly lacking in warhorses!
If there were a stable channel for obtaining warhorses, even if it was only two thousand warhorses per year, it would be a great benefit to Jiangdong!

Moreover, the pointed-bottom ship is still in the early stages of development, and it will take at least one or two years to fully prepare the sea routes. The one or two years of delay will cost a lot of money!

Moreover, giving Liu Bei some soup during this time would allow him to recover his strength more quickly and truly serve as a shield, so why not do it?

As for Cao Cao...

In any case, the gap between him and Yuan Shao could not be bridged by opening up trade between them, so Liu Miao had no psychological burden at all!
The ship of friendship capsized so easily, and Liu Miao immediately agreed to the matter.

"Can!"

Trading with Yuan Shao would undoubtedly be a lucrative business.

Liu Miao directly entrusted the task to the Lu family, and Lu Kang's eldest son, Lu Jun, readily accepted the assignment.

"Leave this matter to me, and Zhongshan can rest assured!"

Lu Jun didn't want to stay in the army for even a day longer.

It wasn't that Lu Jun was disgusted; it was just that comparing people is infuriating!

Lu Jun spent all his time with military geniuses like Zhou Yu, Lu Yi, and Lü Meng. Sometimes, after finally figuring out a bit of military strategy, he would try to show off to everyone, only to have them immediately reveal even more difficult and obscure military strategies. How could Lu Jun bear this?

Lu Jun had considered pursuing a career in politics, but Lu Kang privately stopped him.

“I am now one of the five generals of Jiangdong, and Boyan will certainly establish himself in the military in the future. How can you get involved in political affairs?”

Old Master Lu's words also made Lu Jun give up the matter of the prefecture. He thought that this was probably how his life would be, but now that the opportunity was right in front of him, how could Lu Jun let it go?

"Zhongshan, just wait! This time, we'll definitely succeed!"

Copper, iron, salt, silk, animal hides, silkworms, tea, and tofu from the Wu region were all scarce commodities in the north.

The same reason.

The cattle, horses, vinegar, pottery, lacquerware, bronzeware, and spices from Hebei were all things that Jiangdong longed for but could not obtain.

Coupled with the chaos of war in the Central Plains and Yuan Shu's occupation of Huainan, which cut off the roads between Jiangdong and the north, goods were in extremely short supply on both sides. Now that the roads are reopened, the profits will surely be substantial!

Just as Lu Jun had prepared dozens of boatloads of goods and was about to leave Jiangdong with Mi Fang, an uninvited guest suddenly arrived.

Chen Yu.

"Gongwei, you're finally back! Why didn't you go to Jinling City to see Zhongshan? Why did you come to me?" Lu Jun greeted Chen Yu, but Chen Yu asked Lu Jun, "I heard you're heading north?"

"Exactly."

Would you be willing to give me a ride?

Lu Jun nodded: "That's fine, but why does Gongwei want to go to the north? Does Zhongshan have something to ask of him?"

"No."

Chen Yu, carrying his luggage, said, "I did not inform Zhongshan before coming here directly from Kuaiji."

"Initially, I went to Kuaiji with Jingxing to compile the classics of the ancient sages and make them the essential knowledge for people's livelihood. However, we worked behind closed doors and eventually encountered many difficulties."

"When Sima Qian was twenty, he traveled south to the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, ascended Mount Kuaiji, explored the Yu Cave, glimpsed Mount Jiuyi, and floated on the Yuan and Xiang Rivers; he traveled north to the Wen and Si Rivers, studied in the capitals of Qi and Lu, observed the legacy of Confucius, and participated in archery competitions in Zou and Yi; he suffered hardships in Poyang, Xue, and Pengcheng, and returned via Liang and Chu, only then was he able to write the Records of the Grand Historian. My talent and knowledge are far inferior to Sima Qian's, so how could I possibly create such a masterpiece?"

Chen Yu made up his mind: "Therefore, I must eventually go out and travel, make friends with many learned scholars, seek out truths, and see all living beings. Only in this way can I achieve my goal!"

Lu Jun couldn't help but admire him, so he stopped trying to dissuade him and instead invited Chen Yu to board the ship together.

Sailing out of the Qin Huai River west of Nanjing and heading east along the Yangtze River, you will reach Ruxukou.

After verifying your identity here, continue north to reach Chaoxian County. You can then cross Chaohu Lake, enter the Feishui River, pass through Hefei, reach Shouchun, and enter the Huai River.

Now that spring planting is over, Chen Yu can see seedlings sprouting from the soil in the fields as he looks across the two banks of the river.

"The land of Huainan has also fully implemented the equal-field system."

Chen Yu sighed, "I wonder how long it will take before Huainan returns to its state before Yuan Shu arrived."

Lu Jun had been in Huainan before, so he empathized with Chen Yu's feelings: "It will take at least three to five years, and at most seven or eight years."

“Cultivating the land is secondary. In the past, Huainan was a vital transportation route between the north and south, and trade flourished. Merchants and scholars often passed through here, which is why Huainan was so prosperous.”

Land can be quickly restored to arable land in one or two years, but it is difficult for those who have left to return in a short period of time.

Chen Yu nodded, clearly agreeing with Lu Jun's words.

Some things, if they don't happen, you'll never understand.

If it were during the prosperous Han Dynasty, when people were everywhere, everyone cared about the few arable lands available, and no one would care about the role of the people in it.

It wasn't until the chaos of war descended, leaving vast swathes of land desolate, that people finally realized that without people, the land would be worthless.

On the boat, Chen Yu recorded his thoughts daily, sometimes discussing them with Lu Jun and Mi Fang.

"If every farmer in the world owned land, perhaps the world could be at peace?"

"Everyone who tills the land? How easy is that? Moreover, the population is endless, but the land is finite. What about those who cannot till the land?"

"Could he be a merchant? Or a government official?"

"If these people don't engage in production, won't they end up the same way anyway?"

"If we want every farmer to have land, we will probably need to continuously reclaim wasteland."

"Where should we cultivate the wasteland? Jiaozhou? Liaodong? The Western Regions? These places are all quite far from the Central Plains. How should we manage them?"

"Why restrict them? Wouldn't it be better to follow the example of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and enfeoff many feudal lords?"

"It's not that easy! Besides, didn't these vassal states eventually stop obeying the Zhou emperor's orders?"

"..."

The three discussed the matter, and although they did not reach a consensus, Chen Yu gained a lot from the discussion. At the same time, he became more determined to travel around the north and not work in isolation in Jiangdong.

Upon arriving in Shangqiu, Chen Yu immediately bid farewell to the two men.

"Among the court officials, there are countless people whose knowledge surpasses mine, and I wish to go and learn from them."

Lu Jun was somewhat worried, fearing that Chen Yu would be harmed by bandits, so he wanted to write to Liu Miao and ask him to send some armored soldiers to escort Chen Yu.

Chen Yu stopped Lu Jun's actions: "Zhongshan needs to concentrate on the war in Jingzhou now. How can he be distracted by my affairs?"

"Besides, don't forget, I am the descendant of three dukes, and my father is Chen Qiu. We still have some reputation. How could we be so easily harmed by thieves?"

Chen Yu bid farewell to Lu Jun, saying, "And why must we rely on Zhongshan for everything, no matter where we are?"

"To pacify the world and restore the Han Dynasty is the aspiration of all of us! If we leave this task to Zhongshan alone, wouldn't that be too unfair to him? Does the Han Dynasty belong only to Zhongshan?"

"Whether it's the common people cultivating their fields, the two of you opening up trade routes, or my current efforts to visit renowned scholars, aren't we all pursuing peace and tranquility ourselves? Since it's our own business, why should we rely on others?"

Chen Yu had a premonition: "If we all did this, perhaps the world would be more stable when we meet again next time!"

Lu Jun and Mi Fang both bowed to Chen Yu in farewell, saying, "Gongwei is absolutely right!"

Whether it's farming, trade, war, or writing books, they all ultimately lead to the same goal.

What the people and you all desire is ultimately nothing more than a world where everyone works for the common good and there is universal harmony!

　Tonight's episodes will focus on the Jingzhou storyline, so updates might be a little late.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)