I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 275 Differences between North and South
Liu Miao returned to Jinling, and Zhen Yan and Zhen Yao also went to Jiangdong with him.

same.

In Hebei, not only was Liu Miao demonized, but Jiangdong was also demonized, and the same was true for Nanjing.

Before their arrival, the two had heard rumors about Jinling, all of which were negative.

What do you mean by every family being poor and everyone being in distress?

Many people, after having their property taken away, didn't even have trousers to wear and had to go out naked in the streets...

But when the two of them actually arrived in Jinling, they were both shocked and their eyes widened.

"This...is this really Jiangdong?"

Even without those slanderous remarks about Liu Miao, in the traditional understanding of northern scholars, Jiangdong should have been a barren land!
But now, what do they see?
The city was even more prosperous than Ye City, with the West Market located near the Huai River, which made people dream of Luoyang in the past!
Merchants from Jingzhou, Shu, and Jiaozhi all came here to trade. Jingzhou's white porcelain and textiles, Shu brocade, copper and iron from Shu, and Jiaozhi's ivory and pearls—all extremely precious goods in the north—were piled up like small mountains in the markets of Jinling.

It would be fine if there were just enough goods.

Zhen Yan and Zhen Yao soon discovered that the people and scholars of Jinling were quite different from those in the Central Plains and Hebei.

Because of the implementation of the equal-field system, and the strong suppression of powerful clans in the south to curb land annexation, the government was able to directly impose lighter taxes based on the amount of land owned.

Lower taxes mean that people have a surplus.

These surpluses can then encourage people to buy more goods.

The result was that the lives of the people in Jinling were significantly better than those of the people in Yecheng.

Lu Su had previously visited Ye City and thought that the people of Jinling were not as well-off as the people of Ye City.

But in just a few years, the living standards of the people of Jinling surpassed those of the people of Yecheng.

The two brothers witnessed firsthand the endless stream of people selling meat and fish in the markets and on the docks.

Especially at the docks, boatloads of large fish would be transported from the eastern sea and then shared among the people of Nanjing.

With the nourishment of meat, these people naturally had rosy cheeks, showing no signs of chaos whatsoever.
If they could accept the common people's situation, the "scholars" of Jiangdong were a completely eye-opener for them.

Scholars were originally people who sat between high-ranking officials and commoners.

Their wealth and power were not as great as those of aristocratic families, but their knowledge set them above the common people, and they gradually developed their own pride and influence.

But now, at least in Jiangdong, the pride of the literati has been shattered by Liu Miao!
With the widespread establishment of schools and academies in Jiangdong and the imitation of the "Wenchangmen School" in Xiangyang, the academic hierarchy in Jiangdong became extremely chaotic!
Whether they were from aristocratic families, commoners, merchants, or artisans, as long as they could afford a string of copper coins, they could enter the academy to study.

Zhen Yan and Zhen Yao observed that some scholars, having just left the academy, would immediately return to the marketplace to help their parents kill fish and sell meat.

"The world is going to the dogs, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be!"

Although scholars advocated "education for all," these two scholars from Hebei were actually disarmed when such "education for all" actually came into being.

Literacy is a privilege.

The status of scholars was precisely based on their knowledge and ability, which allowed them to rise above the common people.

But now, if knowledge can be acquired simply by money, how can the privileges of scholars be preserved in the future?

"If General Liu is like this, he will surely bring disaster upon himself."

The two were especially heartbroken when they learned that what was taught in this school was only the most basic introductory education for children.

"What's the use of being literate if one doesn't learn the great principles of sages?"

Zhen Yao even barged into a school and asked the teacher who was imparting knowledge and resolving doubts: "You accept money and treat them as your students and disciples without carefully discerning their character. Can this be called a good teacher?"

When the other party heard that Zhen Yao spoke with a northern accent, they were not surprised.

Xunzi said: Human nature is inherently evil.

Mencius said: Human nature is inherently good.

"Human nature is something even sages cannot see through, let alone me?"

"Besides... all I need to do is teach them to read; how can I manage anything else? If a disciple's mistake implicates the teacher, then I doubt anyone in the world would be willing to teach disciples."

At the same time, the schoolteacher also saw through Zhen Yao's intentions.

"Accepting money is already the greatest fairness in the world."

"Could it be that, like before, one has to present a petition to the teacher and state one's background, and that's the proper way?"

"Or is it that some people are afraid and therefore hate that such things are happening?"

The schools in Nanjing were also different from the "elite education" in other places.

On the contrary, a school has five or six rooms, and each room can even accommodate fifty or sixty students.

Now, all the hundreds of students were drawn to the argument between the two, and couldn't help but look curiously at Zhen Yao.

After being exposed, Zhen Yao was furious and embarrassed. It was only by Zhen Yan forcibly pulling him out of the school that they were spared further ridicule. Zhen Yan took Zhen Yao to a secluded place before scolding him: "We came to Jiangdong to seek refuge, how could we attract so much attention?"

Before Zhen Yao could say anything more, Zhen Yan stopped him: "Without a doubt, although Hebei and Jiangdong are not far apart, their situations are completely different!"

"What we need to do is not to turn this place into Hebei, but to adapt as quickly as possible, understand?"

Zhen Yao's resentment gradually subsided, but he was still somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, saying, "Adapt? How do I adapt?"

“We are all in the north, and we are all of the same blood. As long as we send a card to visit, we will naturally have contact with each other.”

"Now that we are in the south, we have neither connections nor money or food. How are we supposed to survive? Do you really want to get a few acres of land and then cultivate it?"

They were scholars! Proud intellectuals! And even more so, wealthy and powerful families! Landlords!

Asking them to carry hoes and till the land? Sorry, they simply cannot do something so shameful to their ancestors!

Zhen Yan comforted him, saying, "Don't be impatient."

"Even if Jiangdong is different from Hebei, there should still be a way for us to survive!"

Zhen Yan was eager to settle down in Jiangdong as soon as possible, and his first thought was to use money to buy land.

However, under the Three Chiefs System, Liu Miao's regime's control over land was clearly unmatched by Hebei. After searching extensively, they couldn't acquire much land. Even when they could, the prices were far above market value, effectively preventing the emergence of large landowners.

but it does not matter!
Zhen Yan was used to such things.

There will always be an opportunity!

The opportunity Zhen Yan mentioned was "agricultural loans".

Agricultural loans have existed since ancient times and are something that people fear most.

A natural disaster or man-made calamity can force many people to borrow money, which then accumulates into interest, ultimately leading to the loss of their land and property.

This kind of thing is commonplace and unavoidable.

Even though Jiangdong has not experienced major natural disasters in recent years due to water conservancy projects, "man-made disasters" are not something that can be avoided simply by wishing to.

Especially now, in these chaotic times.

In chaotic times, every speck of dust feels as heavy as Mount Tai when it falls on an individual.

Zhen Yan's goal is to find such a person, then go into the loan business, and once again become a landlord and a powerful family.

Although Jiangdong is now protected by policies, Zhen Yan believes that there will always be people who have nowhere else to turn!
This is bound to happen. No matter how perfect Liu Miao made the laws and systems, there would still be some who slipped through the net.

Perhaps at first these people were just insignificant nobodys, but as time went on, their numbers would only increase. Then these people would once again become tenants and servants, giving rise to another group of landlords and powerful families.

This was unavoidable!

But just as Zhen Yan was confidently heading to find such a person, reality in Jiangdong once again dealt him a heavy blow.

"Only a fool would borrow money! Get lost!"

Zhen Yan then discovered that there was another "safety net" mechanism in Jiangdong!
With the development of trade and the popularization of things like "Wenchangmen School", "Yecheng", and "near-shore fishing", people who were originally desperate had new choices.

If a family encounters any difficulties, there is absolutely no need to ask merchants for loans; instead, they can simply turn around and "go to the factory."

As the demand for ironware and cloth surged, the wages of artisans also rose accordingly.

In the past, it would have taken months or even years to train a craftsman.

However, with the "assembly line production" of the "Wenchangmen School," people only need to master one step to go to the workshop for production.

This greatly reduces the learning cost for artisans.

Even if the people of Jinling were in real trouble, they would immediately go to the workshops to do short-term work and earn money.

After all, most of the people in Jinling were refugees who had followed Liu Miao across the river from the north bank.

No one understands the feeling of losing land and becoming tenants better than them, so they would never ask wealthy merchants and noble families for loans or mortgage their land to them unless they were beaten to death.

Moreover, throughout history, the government has had policies in place to provide low-interest agricultural loans to the people.

Liu Miao's regime was newly established, and he had not yet been tainted by bad practices such as high-interest loans and treasury deficits. This left no fertile ground for wealthy people like Zhen Yan to survive.

after all.

One was Liu Miao, a general of the Flying Cavalry and a member of the Han imperial family, who had just forced Yuan Shao to sign the Langya Alliance; the other was just an unknown man from Hebei. Even a fool would know which one to choose!
With these two layers of protection, there are basically no "desperate" people like Zhen Yan imagined.

Even if such people did exist, they would have been absorbed by local merchants, so how could an outsider like him have a chance?
Some other merchants who also lent money heard that Zhen Yan dared to steal their business, so they simply had him beaten up and told him to get lost!
Zhen Yan and Zhen Yao never imagined that they, who were doing so well in Hebei, would end up like this in Jiangdong!

With his dark eyes wide open, Zhen Yan said helplessly, "Now, we can only ask my little sister... to inform General Liu!"

(End of this chapter)