I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 369 The Agricultural Revolution and the Commercial Revolution are inseparable

In December of the third year of Yanxi's reign, Li Heng landed at Jiangling Ferry.

Paper money has been tried in Guanzhong. Facts have proved that businessmen are willing to use paper money when the money bank has sufficient reserves.

Businessmen are the most flexible group and the most willing to accept new things.

At this time, the Yangtze River water had receded, and the river surface became blue and calm.

It is getting late and the light snow has not stopped.

"General." Du Yu strode forward to greet him, "You are finally back."

Du Yu was in a good mood when he saw Li Heng coming back.

"Yuan Kai, have you been waiting for a long time?"

"We have just arrived." Du Yu said, "General, please come this way."

Li Heng smiled and said: "Sun Quan can do it, but are he afraid of others scolding him?"

"Last month, Wuchang blocked the Yangtze River waterway, and all merchants were not allowed to go up the river to Jiangling." Du Yu said, "I sent people to Wuchang to ask, and the reply from Wuchang was that there were bandits on the Yangtze River. Robbery and murder, now Sun Wu must adopt necessary protection strategies. "

Du Yu and Zhuge Rong on his side were stunned for a moment.

"So, Sun Quan treats the agreement with us as a piece of shit again?"

"I know." Li Heng said, "When I was still in Guanzhong, the Prime Minister had already confirmed this matter."

"Isn't that right?"

"That's right, but it's not very elegant."

When they returned to the house, the people below set up a fire and prepared broth and wine.

"How is the Prime Minister doing now?"

"It's nothing serious."

Li Heng laughed dryly. The stupid politicians have been telling the same story for thousands of years. They are telling lies with their eyes open, right?
"Where's the land route?"

"The news came back yesterday that all major roads have been protectively blocked."

"Pepper?" Zhuge Rong suddenly became curious.

The evening wind blew from the river, which was quite chilly. Everyone followed Li Heng back to the city.

"Okay, Sun Quan and Lu Xun are having fun, and they will break up with us completely."

"What's going on in Wu State?" Li Heng asked.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"General, we have found out that Cao Wei has indeed mastered the new salt."

"I brought back some pepper from the General's Mansion in Chongqing." Li Heng ordered someone to take it out. "Sprinkling it on the barbecue will make it more fragrant."

Zhuge Rong said: "The description of the general is..."

Du Yu said: "The envoy from Wei arrived in Jianye. It is not known exactly what they discussed, but the number of ships in Ruxukou has increased a lot in the last month."

"It's a spice from the Western Regions," said Huan Fan, who had been silent.

Huan Fan was getting older and it was impossible for him to go to the ferry with everyone to meet Li Heng, so he stayed at home and felt comfortable.

"It seems that Luoyang has a lot of pepper." Zhuge Rong said with a smile.

"It's indeed a lot." Huan Fan took a sip of the hot soup. Some pepper powder floated on the broth, making it more fragrant.

He said: "The trade route between Luoyang and the Western Regions has never been interrupted, but after this year, it may be interrupted."

What he meant was that Ji Han had obtained Guanzhong, which was the only way from the Western Regions to Luoyang.

"This Westerner has a lot of good stuff!" Zhuge Rong also took a sip and felt his taste buds suddenly blooming.

Zhuge Rong said: "General, if we can master a lot of this kind of pepper, we are not afraid that Cao Wei and Sun Wu will not do business with us."

"The Western Region is far away, and I heard that pepper can only be grown in Jiaozhou further south." Li Heng shook his head.

When Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions as an envoy, he did bring back pepper, but he did not bring back the method of cultivating it.

Otherwise, with the wisdom of ancient Chinese people, they would have been planted everywhere.

It’s not like in this era, only a few people have eaten it.

Even in the Tang Dynasty, pepper was a luxury product only available to the nobles.

If you're lucky, you might be able to have a bite at one of Chang'an's top restaurants.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a prime minister named Yuan Zai who embezzled 8 tons of pepper. The emperor was shocked after reading the report of confiscation of his house. "Now Sun Wu has made it clear that he will work with Cao Wei to deal with us." Du Yu said, "The Wei army has also deployed heavy troops in Nanyang, making the trade roads even more difficult to pass. There are a small number of merchants who come through the trails, but in the end it is only a drop in the bucket!"

"It doesn't matter, we have a solution."

Li Heng then stated Guanzhong's current strategy to everyone.

By the time he was halfway through speaking, Zhuge Rong couldn't help but stand up: "How can this be done!"

When Li Heng finished speaking, the scene was completely silent.

Like Fei Yi, Du Yu and others also asked many questions, and Li Heng answered them one by one.

Finally, Li Heng said: "The money shop in Jingzhou is now in charge of Duke Lao Huan."

Huan Fanliang stood up and saluted excitedly: "The general trusts me, and I will do my best to subordinate you!"

Before Huan Fan came here, he was the chief minister of Wei State and was in charge of finance.

What this person is best at is settling accounts.

"Guanzhong has made the first piece of paper money, and I brought the craftsmanship back." Li Heng took out the document and handed it to Du Yu.

"Let Xue Liang come and make it." Li Heng added, "His craftsmanship can help us complete this matter quickly."

"Here."

"What trading companies are there currently in Jingzhou?"

"Logistics, textiles, refined salt, paper making, copper and iron mining, and copper and iron forging."

"It's already very comprehensive. The foundation of Jingzhou is better than that of Guanzhong. Just add another road. Move all the laws from Guanzhong and use them directly. I have brought back all the laws I wrote in the past two months."

Then Li Heng asked Du Yu: "How many households are there in Jingzhou now?"

"If you include the barbarians in the south, there are 80,000 households in Jingzhou. If you include the counties currently controlled by Sun Wu, the total number of households in Jingzhou should be 130,000."

Based on an average of six people per household, there are approximately 800,000 people in Jingzhou.

At present, Ji Han has broken up the big families and naturalized everyone except the barbarians.

Wuchang, Jiangxia, Changsha, Guiyang and other counties have a large number of aristocratic families. The number of registered households is almost the 50,000 households Du Yu mentioned, and the rest are controlled by wealthy families.

If all are counted, Jingzhou's total population should be nearly two million.

Sun Wu clearly recorded in historical materials that the number of registered residents was more than 2.5 million, which meant that all people were included in the household system.

But the total number, some predict, may be around eight million.

This era was a manor economy.

What is the estate economy?

It is the aristocratic family who built an unprecedented scale of manor to surround the population, just like the Wubao in the northwest.

This is determined by productivity.

The vassal states were completely disintegrated during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The backbone of the people was still blank, and the aristocratic families had not yet grown up. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could quickly centralize power and mobilize the power of the whole country to deal with the Xiongnu.

But as powerful people among the people continued to annex land, aristocratic families gradually formed.

The economic model of the family is the manor economy.

Because productivity is limited, it is more efficient to concentrate the population on production and farming.

As for the disintegration of aristocratic families after the Tang Dynasty, it was actually partially related to the emergence of Qu Yuanli.

Because productivity has increased, individual small farmers can survive and no longer need to be concentrated together.

By the Song Dynasty, there were unprecedented breakthroughs in iron smelting technology and iron smelting volume, and agricultural technology was further improved.

As the population moved southward, rice production expanded. Due to climate reasons, the yield in the south was high. During the Zhenzong era of the Song Dynasty, Champa rice was introduced, and grain output increased significantly.

The small-scale peasant economy is even more developed.

Supporting the small-scale peasant economy was the comprehensive rise of the imperial examination system.

Therefore, the economic base determines the superstructure.

Of course, Li Heng had made the Quyuan plow a few years ago, and grain output had increased.

But it will take time to complete the changes in the superstructure.

In fact, we are now in a period of changing times.

(End of this chapter)