I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 231 Wolong comes out of the mountain
In fact, the sale of white porcelain was essentially the same as Emperor Ling of Han's practice of "selling official positions and titles."

Money always ends up in the hands of the powerful and wealthy, and then it stops circulating.

Its only means of circulation is perhaps through the acquisition of farmland.

The concentration of means of production will further reduce the amount of wealth circulating in the market.

The emperor of the Han Dynasty devoted his entire life to figuring out how to make these people spit out the money they had in their stomachs!

Like Emperor Wu of Han, his methods were simple and brutal: he could punch a piece of gold and it would explode, and he eventually accomplished his mission.

Emperor Ling of Han lacked the boldness and resources of Emperor Wu of Han. He could only slowly extract money from aristocratic families by selling official positions and titles, which he then stored in his own treasury.

Although Liu Miao has now almost completely eliminated the powerful families in Yang and Jing, this does not stop him from wanting more.

Sichuan, Hanzhong, Central Plains, Hebei...

The powerful families in these places have amassed wealth that is unimaginable to ordinary people!
However, Liu Miao could not resort to military force to forcibly seize their money. Therefore, he could only do what Emperor Ling of Han did: sell some goods and slowly transport their wealth to the south.
Although "white porcelain" is certainly not as popular as "official positions" or "noble titles," it's still possible to make a little money!
After Cao Hong placed an order for white porcelain, the reputation of Jingzhou white porcelain gradually spread.

after all.

When rich people get a treasure, they'll definitely want to show it off!
If you hide it at home and can't let others see it, then you've wasted your money on this treasure, haven't you?
When Cao Hong entertained guests, he would "unintentionally" show off his white porcelain.

"Why is this object so dazzling? Could it be some kind of rare jade?"

"No, this is Jingzhou white porcelain!"

The guests were all greatly shocked, seemingly unable to believe that such a treasure could exist in the world.

Wang Can, praised as having "literary talent like spring blossoms, thoughts like a flowing spring, words that can be recited, and writings that can be composed in an instant. He is proficient in all subjects and arts." He even wrote "Ode to White Porcelain" in public, with its gorgeous and elegant language, which made scholars in the Central Plains praise Jingzhou white porcelain to the extreme!
Upon hearing this, Liu Miao slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "I completely forgot about advertising!"

The spread of written words is much faster than the spread of physical objects!
Liu Miao immediately praised Wang Can as "the foremost talent of Jian'an" and ordered someone to copy "Ode to White Porcelain" and send it to Shu, the Central Plains, and Hebei to further enhance the reputation of Jingzhou white porcelain, which attracted a constant stream of merchants to come and buy it!
Seeing the huge sales volume, the artisans in the workshop wanted Liu Miao to expand production, but Liu Miao resolutely refused.

"Things are valued for their rarity. If they become commonplace, why would people be willing to spend hundreds of gold coins to buy them?"

However, plain white porcelain was clearly not enough to make these aristocratic families wait anxiously.

So Liu Miao then asked these craftsmen to study whether it was possible to write on white porcelain.

"May I ask, General Liu, what characters do you wish to write?"

"Write 'Great Han Dynasty, Everlasting Prosperity' on one side, and write the surname of the person opposite on the other side!"

For example, names like the Cao family of Qiao County, the Xiahou family of Qiao County, and the Xun family of Yingchuan... are written according to the buyer's surname!
and so……

When Cao Hong excitedly presented Cao Cao with a white porcelain vase bearing the character "Cao," Cao Cao was overjoyed.

"Where does Zhongshan get so many ideas?"

But when Cao Cao learned that Cao Hong had spent a hundred gold coins on just this one jar, he was dumbfounded!

"How much??? One hundred gold???"

Although Cao Cao now possessed the wealthy Central Plains, he always lived a simple life. His daily expenses for food, clothing, and other necessities rarely exceeded ten gold coins a year. Yet, Cao Hong spent one hundred gold coins to buy a jar that was merely functional but utterly useless.
Cao Hong said aggrievedly, "It's not like I'm the only one who bought it."

"There are probably dozens of well-known powerful families in the Central Plains! Even if I wanted to buy another one, I would have to wait two years..."

Dozens of companies...

Cao Cao's lips twitched.

When Cao Cao was short of money and food, these powerful clans completely ignored his plight. Each time, Cao Cao had to beg and plead to scrape together even a few thousand gold coins.

But how come a simple porcelain jar that Liu Miao makes can now fetch tens of thousands of gold coins from a powerful family in the Central Plains?

Cao Hong was still trying to persuade Cao Cao that the white porcelain was a worthwhile purchase!
"I heard the craftsman who made this white porcelain was the one who previously made porcelain for the royal family in Luoyang... Hey? Mengde? Why are you glaring at me?" "Glaring at you? I'll hit you!!!"

These artisans who make white porcelain were all personally sent by Cao Cao to Liu Miao!
Although the money Liu Miao has earned now belongs to the aristocratic families and Cao Cao can't actually get his hands on it, Cao Cao still feels inexplicably heartbroken!

"Liu Zhongshan, oh Liu Zhongshan!"

As the ancestor of tomb raiders, Cao Cao's professional ethics were not much better.

After seeing how profitable white porcelain was, Cao Cao immediately summoned artisans from the Central Plains and asked them to replicate it.

However, just before Cao Cao's replica was successfully completed, Cao Hong appeared again!
This time, although Cao Hong was still holding a white porcelain piece, a colorful painting had appeared on it!
"Mengde! Look! This painting depicts Xiao He chasing Han Xin under the moonlight!"

"..."

"Oh!"

Upon seeing the lifelike painting on the Jingzhou white porcelain, Cao Cao immediately smashed the crudely made local white porcelain in his hand!
"Fine, let him do whatever he wants!"

Seeing that piracy was rampant, Cao Cao resorted to underhanded tactics, increasing tariffs on Jingzhou white porcelain...

Thus, although he ate less than Liu Miao, he at least drank some soup to soothe his stomach.

------

"Cao Mengde! You son of a bitch!"

Knowing that Cao Cao had increased tariffs, Liu Miao cursed Cao Cao from the bottom of his heart!
The Zhongyuan aristocratic families only have so little money in their pockets!

The more Cao Cao takes a bite, the less Liu Miao takes a bite!
Watching Cao Cao's greedy little hand reach into his money bag, Liu Miao couldn't help but feel nauseous!

Pang Tong spoke a fair word for Cao Cao—

"Liu Biaoqi, don't forget, the money you're making originally belonged to the powerful families of the Central Plains!"

"Bullshit! Why didn't Cao Cao go and make money before? The money was just sitting there; he was just incompetent at making it. What does it have to do with me making money from someone else?"

Liu Miao glanced at Pang Tong and said, "I just released you, and you're already siding with someone else?"

Upon hearing this, Pang Tong immediately shut up.

Having finally gained his freedom, Pang Tong had no desire to be imprisoned back in Xiakou by Liu Miao and have to argue with the soldier who humiliated him every day.

What brings you here today?

Liu Miao was still angry, and took it out on Pang Tong as well: "What? Have you become mute?"

Pang Tong then said, looking aggrieved, "Didn't you, General Liu, call me here?"

"Oh~~~~"

Liu Miao suddenly realized what was happening, then burst into laughter, completely forgetting what had just happened, and patted Pang Tong hard on the back—

"I almost forgot! Look how angry I am at Cao Cao! Hahahaha!"

"Today, someone has finally come to claim the thousand gold coins I offered as a reward!"

Pang Tong knew that Liu Miao was offering a fortune for a way to improve the spinning machine, and his eyes lit up: "Who is this great talent?"

"It is none other than the Crouching Dragon, Zhuge Liang, who is as famous as you!"

　The disastrous month of June is finally over! Whew... how to put it? June felt like a complete nightmare. First, I had a bout of irritability for almost half a month, feeling groggy every day. Thankfully, I have the good habit of outlining, otherwise I feel I wouldn't have been able to keep going for a while. Even so, I can clearly feel that some parts could have been written much better, providing a better reading experience for all of you readers. Then, the heavy rain triggered a gout attack, keeping me up at night and leaving me with no energy during the day. And then, my house started leaking a bit these past few days. Because my house is about 30 years old, the pipes are quite thin. Today, the plumber came to fix it, but he couldn't find many of the parts. He spent the whole afternoon finding the right parts and fixing the pipes, which resulted in today's update being rushed again... Sigh, I hope July will be kinder to me! I also wish all of you readers a happy and healthy life!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)