I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 230 Aristocratic Families Are Actually Quite Cute!
"The Wenchang Gate School... So this is what General Liu is planning to do?"

The scholars of Jingzhou quickly connected the "Wenchangmen School" with the "Hongdumen School" during the reign of Emperor Ling.

This made them somewhat apprehensive: "Does General Liu intend to follow Emperor Ling's example and appoint these craftsmen as officials?"

When Emperor Ling appointed some literary figures to official positions, it was already unbearable for the scholars who studied the classics... Now, if Liu Miao wants to appoint artisans to official positions, wouldn't that be scorning these scholars to death?
Fortunately, the scholars of Jingzhou soon discovered that the scene they had imagined of artisans becoming officials did not happen in Jingzhou.

in contrast.

The markets in Jingzhou seemed to have become much more lively overnight.

Due to the war, prices in Jingzhou have been fluctuating.

Even though Jingzhou under Liu Biao's rule was relatively stable, its insufficient productivity meant that Jingzhou's economy was weak and extremely vulnerable to external shocks.

But now, a large number of goods have appeared on the market, making prices almost completely unchanged, as solid as a rock!

Pottery, such as bowls, plates, cups, jars, pots, bottles, boxes...

These things suddenly appeared in large quantities. Although it was strange that their shapes and even patterns were almost identical, their quality was not uneven, but rather stable at a medium level.

Also.

In addition, the production of bamboo weaving, paper, shoes, lacquerware, agricultural tools, etc., has increased significantly, and their prices have decreased to varying degrees, which has also promoted the development of commerce and trade in Jingzhou.

However, not all industries are so successful.

For example, iron smelting and textiles.

These two tasks are inherently high-skilled jobs, and generally require the use of appropriate tools to complete.

For example, forging furnaces for iron smelting and textile machines for textile production.

To improve the efficiency of these processes, it is no longer possible to simply use "assemblies" or "modular assembly"; rather, it is necessary to improve the efficiency of the machinery itself.

After exploring on his own, Han Ji abandoned the labor-intensive and inefficient horse-drawn and human-drawn pumps, and improved and promoted the use of water pumps, which increased the efficiency of iron smelting in Jingzhou by more than three times!
Upon hearing of this, Liu Miao immediately and personally arrived at Han Ji's gate with a grand display of one thousand taels of gold and three hundred bolts of Shu brocade. Surrounded by a large crowd, he presented the gold and brocade to Han Ji and made an agreement on the spot—

"If someone can improve the spinning machine, they can also earn a fortune!"

Shang Yang's act of moving a log to establish trust made the people of Qin believe in Qin law.

Liu Miao's reward of a thousand gold pieces to Han Ji has also sparked great interest among the people of Jingzhou in these already common tools.

Certainly, some scholars lament that "the world is going downhill, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be," and that "instead of studying the classics, they study strange and frivolous skills."

Despite the criticism, these scholars were the ones who studied it most deeply!

When Yi Ji explained the Hongdu Gate Academy to Liu Miao, he only said that "gentlemen and virtuous men are all ashamed to be among them," but he did not mention another thing, namely, "students competed for profit, and the writing was in an uproar"...

It was all too common among those scholar-officials who pretended to be modest, yet still desperately tried to get in while shouting "It's an insult to culture."

Although Xu Shu, Shi Tao, and others did not look down on the craftsmen, they were very interested in the rewards offered by Liu Miao.

A thousand taels of gold is not a small amount anywhere.

Xu Shu, Shi Tao, and others were not officials who accepted bribes. With their meager salaries, it would take them a long time to accumulate enough gold. It would be a lie to say they weren't envious.

"Unfortunately, we know nothing about this stuff."

"Alas, this daughter is probably not meant for us!"

"..."

suddenly!

Xu Shu's eyes lit up!
"We are not familiar with these things, but someone is!" "Quickly write a letter to Kongming! He's idle anyway, so why not find a way to study these things!"

Xu Shu immediately wrote a letter, which soon fell into the hands of a young man in Longzhong...

……

In addition to these things related to people's livelihood, Jingzhou also began to study some "luxury goods".

For example, porcelain.

Porcelain has existed since ancient times, but none of it has ever been considered exquisite.

It was within this century that Yue ware gradually became able to produce exquisite celadon, and thus slowly became utensils for the nobility.

Today in Jingzhou, through the continuous efforts of artisans, a type of white porcelain that is completely different from celadon has been produced!
Although this white porcelain is still extremely rough... just imagine, if other people can display some vulgar goldware, bronzeware, and common lacquerware and celadon in their homes, but you have a piece of white porcelain that looks like jade in your home, wouldn't that make you look very prestigious?

Liu Miao understood those wealthy people.

Ordinary objects, even gold, are no different from slightly shiny weeds in their eyes.

Unique and innovative – that's what these wealthy people are after!
The first person Liu Miao set his sights on was naturally Cao Hong, the "extremely wealthy" man who had been sent to Nanyang by Cao Cao.

Liu Miao had someone deliver the fired white porcelain to Cao Hong, who was indeed greatly shocked when he saw it!
"Why can this soil be fired to produce the color of white jade?"

"However, Liu Biaoqi obtained it by chance. This item is extremely precious. Sometimes, even after several years of firing, it is difficult to produce such a fine piece!"

Cao Hong was immediately alarmed: "How could General Liu so easily give away something so valuable?"

"Since General Liu has married Xiahou Yuan's daughter, we are practically family. Why make such formalities?"

"Moreover, General Liu has some precious white porcelain that he wants to sell, so giving him one would not be a big deal."

"Oh? General Liu is actually selling such a treasure?"

Cao Hong rubbed his little hands together!
"Why not sell it to me instead of someone else?"

"This... is actually very expensive."

Do I look like someone who's short of money?

Cao Hong told Liu Miao, the envoy, "Rest assured! I'm willing to pay a hundred gold pieces for this piece of white porcelain!!!"

When Liu Miao heard about this, he almost wanted to go to Nanyang and hug Cao Hong's leg and have a good cry!
They truly are family!
You're spending a hundred gold to buy something that costs less than one gold?

Liu Miao couldn't help but sigh, "Damn, it's so much easier to make money off the rich!"

To satisfy Cao Hong, Liu Miao also ordered that all white porcelain produced from now on must be of the highest quality!

All the other inferior white porcelain was smashed!

Otherwise, if a fool like Cao Hong were to discover that white porcelain was everywhere, how would Liu Miao make any money?

"One white porcelain piece costs one hundred taels of gold, ten pieces would cost one thousand taels of gold."

If we could find ten incredibly wealthy men like Cao Hong, wouldn't it be easy to get tens of thousands of taels of gold?

unfortunately!

The land of Shu... is teeming with immense wealth!
And then there are the powerful families in Hebei and the Central Plains, who know how much wealth they have accumulated!

This was the first time Liu Miao had ever felt that those aristocratic families were actually quite lovable!
(End of this chapter)