I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 308 The Wise Old Man Ma Chao
Defeating Yuan Tan and seizing Hedong not only meant recovering the territory, but also meant that the strategy previously formulated by Lu Yi had fertile ground for implementation.

If Liu Miao were to cause some major trouble in Hedong, would Yuan Shao really disregard the fact that he himself is in danger and launch a full-scale attack on the Central Plains?
The fact that they ultimately failed to capture Yuan Tan angered Liu Miao.

But Liu Miao soon discovered that someone was even more annoyed than he was!

Ma Chao!

Ma Chao stared at his hand in disbelief, muttering to himself, "How could it be just an inch or two short? If I had used a little more force back then, I could definitely have killed Yuan Tan."

At the same time, Ma Chao looked at Liu Miao with a troubled expression, clearly still quite concerned about the matter.

Seeing Ma Chao's bewildered look, Liu Miao waved to him, led his personal guards out of the camp, and then plopped down on the edge of the field.

"Come here, sit here!"

Following Liu Miao's instructions, Ma Chao obediently came to Liu Miao's side.

"Sit down! Are you afraid I'll eat you?"

Ma Chao quickly shook his head: "This humble general is ashamed that I could not kill Yuan Tan..."

"What's there to feel ashamed of? It just means that Yuan Tan was destined to survive. Come, sit here!"

Liu Miao patted the edge of the field, and when Ma Chao sat down, he patted his muddy hands on Ma Chao's knees.

"Mengqi, do you believe in fate?"

"what?"

Ma Chao never expected that Liu Miao would discuss metaphysics with him.
Influenced by the Qiang people, Ma Chao dared not say he did not believe in fate.

However, Ma Chao ultimately dared not speak frankly in front of Liu Miao, so he cleverly used a quote from the Tao Te Ching to reply to Liu Miao—

"The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven evolves into forty-nine, and humanity escapes one."

"Therefore, I do not believe in matters of fate."

……

"I believe."

"Ugh?"

Ma Chao's gaze toward Liu Miao grew increasingly astonished.

Could it be that Liu Miao really wanted to talk to him about prophetic texts?

But what he asked Liu Miao before was how to make Xiliang rich and powerful!
I believe in fate.

Liu Miao gazed leisurely at the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains not far away.

"A person's parents are determined at birth. At the same time, the place where he/she is born is also determined."

"For hundreds of years since the Qin Dynasty, except for the end of the Qin Dynasty and the time of Wang Mang, people did not travel freely. This meant that a person was born as he was."

"If he had been born in Hedong, he would at least have come from a well-off family. After all, Hedong is a fertile land with a treasure trove like the salt lake, so his life would never have been bad."

"On the contrary, if he had been born in Liangzhou, Youzhou, or even Jiaozhou, he would never have been able to reach the living standards of the people of Hedong, even if he spent his whole life doing so. At the very least, he would have spent more on salt every month than the people of Hedong."

"While other factors such as birth and social status may have an impact, the greatest constraint is the mountains, rivers, and lakes that have already been determined by Heaven."

That's why I say I believe in fate!

Geography determines the economy.

Economy determines politics.

Politics determines culture.

No matter how carefully the land of Xiliang is cared for, it can never compare with Guanzhong, Hedong, or the Central Plains.

No matter how prosperous trade was in the Western Liang region, it was always limited by the lack of major rivers, making it difficult to reduce transportation costs and thus deterring merchants.

These things, which are predetermined, cannot be changed, at least not now.

Otherwise, where did the phrase "chasing the deer in the Central Plains" come from?
Upon hearing Liu Miao's response, Ma Chao was initially angered.

He fought tooth and nail against Yuan Tan, only to be met with a "fate" as his answer?
However, Ma Chao soon fell into deep disappointment.

Does Liu Biaoqi mean... that Xiliang will never be prosperous?

"of course not!"

How could this turn into a turning point?
Ma Chao stared wide-eyed at Liu Miao: "But didn't General Liu say he believed in fate?"

"Of course I believe it!"

Liu Miao chuckled: "Mengqi, have you read the story of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains in the Liezi?"

Ma Chao looked somewhat confused, then shook his head.

Guanzhong has always been the stronghold of the New Text School of Confucianism, producing great Confucian scholars such as Yang Zhen and Ma Rong. How could ordinary people possibly come into contact with anything other than the Confucian classics?

"Don't know? Oh! Let me tell you."

Liu Miao stretched out his hand and pointed to the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains.

"Legend has it that the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains were not located here before, but rather south of Jizhou and north of the Yellow River."

"Later, a man named Yu Gong found these two mountains in the way and wanted to level them."

Liu Miao asked Ma Chao, "Does Mengqi think it is possible to move the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains by manpower alone?"

Ma Chao naturally shook his head!

"Both of these mountains are majestic! Especially the Taihang Mountains, which are an insurmountable barrier! Even if the entire nation were to mobilize the resources to move them for a hundred or a thousand years, it might not be possible to move these two mountains!"

"Meng Qi is truly intelligent!"

Liu Miao chuckled.

“At that time, there was a man as intelligent as Mengqi, named Zhisou. He mocked Yugong, saying that he was like an ant trying to shake a tree, and it was impossible for him to move the mountain.”

"Mengqi, why don't you guess how Yu Gong did it?"

After a moment's thought, Ma Chao gave a very Ma Chao-esque answer—

"Perhaps he couldn't win an argument with the wise old man, so Yu Gong beat him up?"

"..."

Liu Miao looked at Ma Chao helplessly. He was acting like a good kid just now, how come he's become a brat now?

"Of course not." "Yu Gong said to Zhi Sou: If I cannot complete it, my son will complete it for me; if my son cannot complete it, my grandson will complete it for my son. Even if I die, my son will remain; my son will have grandsons, and my grandsons will have sons; my sons will have sons, and my sons will have grandsons; generation after generation will be endless, while the mountain will not increase in size. Why should it not be leveled?"

Ma Chao opened his mouth wide; the answer from the Foolish Old Man was clearly beyond the imagination of this "clever man."

Ma Chao swallowed hard: "And then? And then?"

Liu Miao frowned slightly: "Then, Yu Gong moved the Heavenly Emperor, so the Heavenly Emperor moved Taihang and Wangwu Mountains to their current locations."

Seeing Ma Chao's delighted expression, Liu Miao, unusually serious, said, "But I don't like this ending."

"If I were to write it, it would be Yu Gong who invented it... Never mind!"

Liu Miao stopped in time.

"So, Mengqi, do you understand?"

"Understand what?"

"I believe in fate, but I also believe that I can change my fate."

A confident smile spread across Liu Miao's face.

"Actually, when I first arrived in Jiangdong, Jinling was still called Moling, and at that time Jinling was just a small earthen city without even city walls, it was very shabby."

"But now, some people are already praising Nanjing as surpassing Luoyang of the past!"

Liu Miao turned to look at Ma Chao, a hint of ill intent flashing in his eyes.

"Does Mengqi want to know how I did it?"

"That's exactly what I asked before!"

Ma Chao seemed to have grasped at the last straw, and one hand had already grabbed Liu Miao's sleeve!

"It's very simple..."

Ma Chao had already prepared, and Liu Miao had instilled in him incredibly complex content!
Ma Chao was prepared to be bombarded with all sorts of ideas, including amending laws, reforming systems, governing the country, and managing wealth!

"The answer is just one word—grab!"

"Ugh?"

Ma Chao looked at Liu Miao with a bewildered expression, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

"Yes, it was robbery."

Liu Miao held nothing back.

“Seize the land of those powerful and wealthy families and distribute it to the landless people. This will give the people surplus grain. Once the people have surplus grain, they will naturally think about doing other things, such as buying a new piece of clothing, raising a litter of piglets, or building a new house.”

"In this way, the people will have needs, and other people will try to satisfy their needs in order to make money. By stepping on one foot while stepping on the other, it will naturally make Jiangdong and Jingzhou prosper rapidly."

Liu Miao originally wanted to explain to Ma Chao how to carry out industrial upgrading and the importance of technological innovation, but Ma Chao impatiently interrupted him.

"General Liu, Xiliang is different from Jiangdong!"

"In Xiliang, everyone is poor!"

Ma Teng's family was poor in the past, and he even made a living by chopping firewood, so Ma Chao knew about the situation in Xiliang.

In barren lands, even landlords have no surplus grain!
Even if all the landlords in Xiliang were killed, the lives of the people in Xiliang would still be far inferior to those in Hedong and even the Central Plains!

Therefore, Liu Miao's theory simply wouldn't work against Ma Chao!
"I didn't tell you to steal from your own people!"

Liu Miao casually flicked Ma Chao's forehead with a flick of his wrist.

"Mengqi, do you know why dynasties throughout history have emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce?"

Ma Chao knows this!

"Merchants do not engage in production! Moreover, they often acquire vast wealth through trade, making them no different from robbers... Sigh?"

"Hahahahaha!"

Liu Miao stood up and patted Ma Chao on the shoulder.

"That's right! The reason for emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is that sometimes merchants are no different from bandits!"

"However, the merchants aren't robbing their own people, they're robbing others!"

"If Meng Qi were to engage in this 'bandit' business in Xiliang, would Xiliang not become prosperous and powerful?"

However, Liu Miao clearly overestimated Ma Chao's intelligence.

Ma Chao tilted his head, somewhat embarrassed: "But goods from the Central Plains are extremely expensive, especially the white porcelain from Jingzhou. Because it is so expensive, merchants only take a tiny bit with them to Xiliang to sell each time, and even then, they sometimes can't sell it all."

"If we follow their example, wouldn't that drain the wealth of the people of Xiliang?"

"..."

"fool!"

Liu Miao finally couldn't hold back and cursed out loud.

"If the people of Xiliang can't afford it, isn't there anyone else who can?"

other people?
Ma Chao immediately thought of his poor relatives—the Qiang people!
But these people are even poorer!

Forget about white porcelain, we can't even afford cloth! Rely on them? Ha!
Liu Miao suppressed the urge to kick Ma Chao and tried to remain calm, saying, "Meng Qi, have you forgotten that Xiliang was once wealthy?"

"Ok?"

Ma Chao was puzzled.

"when?"

"Naturally, it was during the time when Zhang Qian opened up the Western Regions and traded with the various kingdoms of the Western Regions and even further afield, with Parthia, Kushan, and Daqin!"

Liu Miao pointed out the right path for Ma Chao—

"The Western Regions!"

"Open up the roads between the Western Regions and the Central Plains!"

"In this way, Xiliang can properly 'rob' the money of passing merchants!"

"Mengqi! Let us rebuild for the Han Dynasty and for Liangzhou, and open up the Western Regions!"

(End of this chapter)