Tiger Owl

Chapter 327 The Showdown Behind the Scenes
The contest of soft power is not only about culture, but more importantly about the economy. The ancestral saying that people die for wealth is not just a saying. The reason why so many craftsmen were willing to come to Western Chu to develop their careers was ultimately because of the generous treatment they received.

Even many mid-level talents, when they learned that being a professor at an official school meant a monthly income of ten strings of cash and housing, compared to their own hard-working income of only two or three strings of cash a month, the stark contrast made everyone flock to Chaisang.

But such high salaries must be backed by strong financial resources.

The economy of an agricultural society is naturally supported by agriculture, and grain output is the primary economic indicator. The northern plains are still the largest grain-producing area in the world, but decades of struggle and war have led to a sharp decline in the population of the north, and the current grain output is far from what it was during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Conversely, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River began to rise, with the emergence of agricultural technologies such as the curved plow and waterwheel, the popularization of oxen, the introduction of Jiaozhi rice, and a large number of farmers migrating south. More and more land was developed, and the grain yield per mu increased significantly.

Currently, the total grain output of Western Chu has surpassed that of Jiangdong before, and is now equivalent to half of the grain output of Cao Cao's territory. Although it is only half, two years ago, the grain output of Western Chu was not even 30% of the grain output of Cao Cao's territory, which shows that its development has been extremely rapid.

Besides the most important indicator of grain production, economic strength also includes many other indicators, such as pig iron production, salt production, livestock reserves, and the number of various means of transportation.

Although geographical differences meant that Western Chu could not match the North in terms of livestock numbers, it possessed far more ships than the North, on a completely different scale.

Of course, there is also financial strength, which is the stock of currency in the market and the annual increase. Of course, this currency is not inferior money or large coins that are worth ten or fifty times the value of one, but real, qualified copper coins, or rare silver and gold. This is actually supported by a strong mining, smelting and minting industry.

What Cao Cao probably couldn't have imagined was that Western Chu's copper production and annual coin minting volume both surpassed those of the Central Plains. Not only copper production, but also gold and silver production far exceeded that of the Central Plains. This was also an advantage of the South, as almost all of the large copper and gold and silver mines of the Eastern Han Dynasty were located in the South.

It was precisely because of these advantages, and after years of perseverance and hard work, that Western Chu's financial strength eventually surpassed that of Cao Cao, who was only superior in terms of copper coin reserves, with annual copper coin increases only 30% of Western Chu's.

Inside the official residence, Jiang Wan handed a document to Gan Ning, "The new coins of 300,000 strings of cash have been minted. Should we still use them to purchase supplies in Sichuan and Chongqing as originally planned?"

Gan Ning tapped his index finger on the table, pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head, saying, "If we reach a ceasefire agreement with Cao Cao, Liu Bei will definitely be extremely dissatisfied with us. If we go to Bashu to buy supplies, we are likely to be detained. Instead, we should go to Jiangdong to purchase cloth, oil, ironware, and ship materials."

"What about Jiangdong?" Jiang Wan was a little worried.

"will not!"

Gan Ning shook his head confidently, "We only signed the ceasefire agreement two months ago. If they dare to seize my supplies, it will give me an excuse to send troops. So we should buy them openly and legitimately."

In recent years, Gan Ning used the copper coins they minted to purchase a large amount of various civilian and strategic materials in Nanjun, Bashu, Zhongyuan and Jiangdong. In particular, they bought up almost all the military-grade ship materials produced by the hundreds of shipyards in Kuaiji, which enabled their warships of all types to appear like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

The essence of finance is to use the created currency to purchase goods. Although they also pay with copper coins of real value, if these excess copper coins appear in their market, it will inevitably cause prices to skyrocket, severely damaging their foundation of rule.

Gan Ning was very clear about this. He used the enormous amount of copper coins he minted to buy all kinds of supplies. The copper coins were left in the local area, and the supplies were transported back to Chaisang. He built one warehouse after another, and each warehouse was filled to the brim.

The amount of cloth purchased from Jiangdong alone exceeded one million bolts. This cloth was used to reward meritorious soldiers and to stabilize prices along with grain, laying a solid foundation for his future Northern Expedition. After a pause, Gan Ning added, "Our truce agreement with Cao Cao includes provisions for free trade. Don't worry, just go ahead and do it."

"Follow the order!"

Jiang Wan bowed and left. Gan Ning sat in the large chair in the official room, still pondering the strategy for taking over Jiangdong. He considered the economic strategy: monetary invasion to severely inflate prices and weaken Cao Cao's rule in Jiangdong; using the imperial examination system to win over the powerful families of Jiangdong; and finally, a complete blockade. Once all of this was done, the ceasefire agreement would expire, and the time for war would come.

Thinking of a complete blockade, Gan Ning suddenly remembered Cao Cao's 180 ships. He had received information that these 180 ships were continuously transporting grain from Jiangdong to the north. This was a loophole, and he had to find a way to destroy these ships and plug this loophole.

Before we knew it, it was May. Many scholars appeared on the streets of Chaisang. They came from all over the country and spoke with accents from all over the country. Many of them were visiting Chaisang for the first time and were full of interest in everything about Chaisang.

These scholars were there to participate in the autumn imperial examination. Although there were still five months until the examination, it was the first time the examination was held, and no one knew what the exam would be about. So they had to register early to find out the scope of the exam.

Moreover, after registering, you can take the opportunity to travel to various places for a few months, and then take the exam when you come back, which is a win-win situation.

Although there is an old saying that "the poor study literature and the rich study martial arts," this was actually something that only became possible after the Tang Dynasty. Woodblock printing became widespread, and books went from being expensive treasures to being accessible to ordinary people. In addition, with the popularization of government-run education, it became a reality for the poor to study.

Now it is the late Eastern Han Dynasty. A single volume of books costs several strings of cash. Without thoroughly reading thousands of volumes, one can forget about becoming a learned scholar. Moreover, there are various expensive expenses for education. If you want to study under a famous teacher, you have to spend a lot of money. Therefore, in this era, the saying "poor scholar, rich warrior" does not exist. It is more like "rich scholar, rich warrior".

If someone has exceptional talent, possessing the strength to lift a thousand pounds in their arms, a poor person might be able to rise to prominence through martial arts, but it's absolutely impossible to succeed through literature.

Therefore, the scholars wandering around Chaisang City are mostly from prominent families in various places. In just one month, more than a thousand scholars have signed up, and in the next few months, a large number of scholars will come.

Lu Xun invited his friend Gu Shao to drink at a restaurant. Also present were Zhu Ju, a member of the Zhu clan of Wu County and a cousin of General Zhu Huan, and a slightly older scholar, who was Lu Xun's paternal uncle, Lu Ji.

Lu Ji's father, Lu Kang, died at the hands of Sun Ce. Later, in order to avenge his family, Lu Ji persuaded Liu Yao to attack Sun Ce's mother and brothers, which led to Sun Ce borrowing the imperial seal to send troops to Jiangdong to rescue his relatives. In the end, he swept through Jiangdong and established the Eastern Wu regime of the Sun family.

Because of these grudges, the relationship between the Lu family and the Sun family has always been strained, and they have even become enemies.

When Sun Ce was in power, the Lu family was absolutely not loyal to the Sun family. After Sun Quan came to power, the relationship between the Lu and Sun families improved slightly, and Lu Ji entered officialdom. However, because Lu Xun was loyal to Gan Ning, Sun Quan was dissatisfied, which naturally affected Lu Ji's career. He was never given important positions. On the eve of Cao Cao's army destroying Jiangdong, Lu Ji resigned and fled back to Wu County.

Although Lu Ji was Lu Xun's cousin, he was only a few years older than Lu Xun, just over twenty years old. This time, Lu Ji also came along to slack off in the Western Chu imperial examination, hoping to find an opportunity.

(End of this chapter)