Xuande

Chapter 24 Not enough time left for Liu Bei

Daitian method is a farming method promoted by Zhao Guo, an official during the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. It is conducive to maintaining soil fertility, resisting wind and drought, and can effectively increase agricultural production. If done well, it can even double the production of ordinary areas.

However, because the Daitian method has too high requirements for agricultural production tools and livestock such as cattle, horses, and donkeys, and the input costs are high, it is difficult for the scattered family-style small-scale farming economy to bear such costs, so the Daitian method has been difficult to promote from the beginning to the end.

Everyone knows that this is a good way, but most people can't afford the cost, so since the late Western Han Dynasty, there have been few places that can still use the substitution method for farming.

It is difficult for the decentralized agricultural production dominated by the small peasant economy to bear the cost of the land replacement method, but the clan manor-style agricultural production dominated by Liu Bei can bear such costs.

Liu Bei not only took the lead in investing in the purchase of farm cattle, but also took the lead in investing in the purchase of horses, donkeys, mules and other livestock for agricultural production, so as to drive family members to invest in the purchase of livestock.

In addition, because the Eastern Han Dynasty abolished the salt and iron monopoly policy, local tycoons could reasonably and legally own their own salt and iron production lines, as long as they paid taxes to the local salt officials and iron officials in a serious manner.

The Liu clan itself has its own production line, but the clan is too weak to become bigger and stronger, and the products it produces are barely enough for daily needs, let alone want to expand production.

Iron farm tools, which are very important to agricultural production, are also one of the important links of the Daitian method. Due to the limitation of iron smelting technology, the price of iron farm tools remains high, so it is difficult for ordinary farmers to let go of using iron farm tools to operate the field. .

This will not only reduce the yield of crops, but also prevent the insect eggs hidden in the ground from being frozen to death in winter because the soil cannot be turned over, which will easily lead to insect disasters after the beginning of spring, resulting in further reductions in grain production.

It is difficult for agriculture without sufficient capital investment to obtain sufficient yields. The poorer it is, the less it will be able to obtain sufficient yields, and it can only fall into a vicious circle and eventually go bankrupt.

After Liu Bei integrated the technicians of the Liu clan through his own prestige, he set up his own special iron farm tools production workshop within the Liu clan, and called on everyone to contribute to the production of a large number of farm tools for agricultural production, so as to meet the needs of the Daitian Law.

The resulting profits are shared by all investors, and those who do not invest cannot enjoy the dividends.

At the same time, Liu Bei demanded that each family with tenants in the Liu clan must control the production percentage of the tenants under their own management within a certain percentage and not exceed it. enthusiasm for production.

As a result, the tenant farmers in Liu's Manor no longer have to worry about famine, and can have enough food and clothing.

After completing the operation in many aspects, the foundation of Liu's Manor's implementation of the sub-field method has been laid. Since then, the sub-field method has been implemented, and a gratifying increase in grain was achieved during the harvest last year.

Not only was Liu Bei able to accumulate a large amount of grain, but he also acquired a group of technically remarkable blacksmiths, which in his opinion was also an important accumulation of wealth.

Not only that, because of Liu Bei, with the assistance of Han Rong, the Liu clan has also made very high commercial profits.

The salt and iron system of the Eastern Han Dynasty is very different from the salt and iron system of the Western Han Dynasty. It is mainly reflected in the fact that the salt and iron officials of the Eastern Han Dynasty are mainly officials in charge of tax collection, rather than the powerful officials who are fully responsible for production and sales in the Western Han Dynasty.

The Eastern Han Dynasty did not implement a salt and iron monopoly, and the salt and iron officials only levied taxes on the sale of salt and iron. On this point, with Liu Bei's current position, I really want to thank the Confucian disciples for demanding imperial power [no The excellent cultural tradition of competing with the people for profit.

It is precisely because of their repeated persistence that the violent salt and iron monopoly policy during the Western Han Dynasty did not continue to the Eastern Han Dynasty.

And at this level, the Central Committee of the Eastern Han Dynasty did not carry out specific control. The Central Committee insisted not to compete with the people for profit, and made a "high-spirited and honest" posture. The control of taxation was mainly in the hands of the county leaders.

Zhuo County had a salt and iron official in the period of Emperor Guangwu, but it was abandoned later. Due to the increase in income from salt and iron in the period of Emperor Hanhe, it was reinstated as a salt and iron official until now.

Because of Han Rong's power in salt and iron, the Liu family's cost of obtaining iron ore in Zhuo County was very low, so the Liu family could not only produce large quantities of iron farm tools for their own use, but also sell them throughout Zhuo County. own farm tools.

On the other hand, under the protection of Han Rong, the iron tax collection of the Liu family by the Zhuojun iron official system is also in a very reasonable state.

Ever since, from obtaining raw materials to production and sales, the Liu family has been able to keep the cost to a minimum. Therefore, not only the product quality is good, but the selling price is not high. Sales of Liu's iron tools are booming.

With multiple sources of property, before Liu Bei arrived in Luoyang and officially became an official, he had already laid a rich family background and a solid foundation for the Liu family in Zhuo County, Zhuo County.

So after he left, Jian Yong, Guan Yu and other left-behind personnel only need to follow the rules he set and continue to implement them. Xiao Gui Cao Sui, don't increase or decrease operations at will, and the current situation can be maintained.

But compared with this family business, Liu Bei's future is more important.

As long as Liu Bei can do well in Luoyang, Liu's family business will be solid and no one can move it.

But if Liu Bei does not do well, or his life is not guaranteed, once he falls, then the Liu family's property can be recast even if it is made of iron.

There is not enough time left for Liu Bei, he must seek a higher political status and power for himself before all the dust settles.

Before the protective umbrella named Lu Zhi expires, he must gain certain political power and protect himself.

After Liu Bei made his decision, he informed Gongsun Zan and Han Rong of his decision and itinerary, and received their care and support.

In addition to the thirty Liu family knights led by Liu Bei himself, Gongsun Zan also asked five knights around him to follow Liu Bei to protect Liu Bei, and Han Rong also arranged ten county knights to protect Liu Bei.

At the same time, the two of them also gave Liu Bei sufficient guarantee in terms of materials. Once the equipment Liu Bei prepared by himself was not counted, the two of them also sent a lot.

Liu Bei is no stranger to the road from Zhuo County to Luoyang. At that time, he took this road to Luoyang and studied under Lu Zhi. But this time, he needed to bring his family, Han Ning and Han Xiaodie. Of course, I should be a little more cautious than before.

The world of the Han Dynasty is unstable, the roads are difficult, and there is a political division in which the county is the country. Going out of the county is like going abroad. For ordinary people, it is infinitely close to going to the funeral.

Even in a place like Liu Bei with strong armed forces, traveling far away is equivalent to taking an adventure in an unfamiliar dungeon. Bandits and bandits may pop up anytime and anywhere, which is a robbery of wealth and sex.

The last time Liu Bei and his brother Liu Hui went south to Luoyang to study together, they ran into robbers blocking the road three times. Liu Hui, who was weak in force, turned pale with fright, and hid in the car shivering.

Fortunately, Liu Bei drew his sword and fought with the guards, killed two bandits and saved the team.

This time, because he brought his female relatives, he needed to pay more attention to safety, so compared to the last time Liu Bei only brought ten people with him, this time there were a total of 45 armed knights, all of whom had combat experience and were full of murderous aura.

In addition to Liu Bei's own 15 armed knights, the other [-] are also good fighters.

Not to mention that the knights around Gongsun Zan galloped with Gongsun Zan for many years, as if they were stuck on the horse's back. They were superb in riding skills and good at riding and shooting, but the ten county knights sent by Han Rong were not fuel-efficient lights. .

As the prefect and the lord of a county, Han Rong still has some private parts to protect his own safety.

The total number of these people is about 100 people, all of them are good players, they are usually private guards, housekeepers, nothing special, but if there is a war, they will be Han Rong's personal soldiers, living with the general The kind that dies together.

Moreover, Liu Bei has also been on the battlefield, and he can feel that these people have all been on the battlefield and killed people.

Of course, Liu Bei guessed right. Later, Han Rong told him that he had been on the battlefield in his early years and had contributed in the Han-Qiang War.

This skill is great. In the Hundred Years Han-Qiang War, Liangzhou was a meat grinder. Being able to survive this battlefield and get out of the body is not ordinary.

So Liu Bei has always been jealous of these guards, but he had no chance and no excuses before, but this time, Han Rong took the initiative to send ten of them.

To put it bluntly, this is called meat buns beating dogs and never returning. Since these ten people have come, will Liu Bei return them?
(End of this chapter)