I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 41 I’ll make a price: these papers cost three thousand stones, not even a grain of rice!

"Wonderful!" Zhao Yu stared at the paper without blinking, showing an expression of obsession, and touched it carefully.

"How many pieces of paper Dujun are there?"

"Tens of thousands."

Zhao Yu suddenly stood up, looked at Du Yu in disbelief, and blurted out: "Don't joke!"

"Don't dare to deceive Mr. Zhao."

The two Zhao brothers looked at each other, each seeing excitement and shock in each other's eyes.

Think about the first time a human sent a telegram, the first time he made a phone call, the first time he saw the first computer, the first time he saw the first smartphone, how would he feel?
These are epoch-making products in the history of human science and technology.

Think about it again, when a group of primitive people wore animal skins and hunted in the forest, how many people could they have at most?
In that era when there was no written language, the only way to organize everyone to hunt together was through language.

How many people can be organized at one time with just language?
If a student in class does not take notes and is very confident in his or her brain at the time, how much will he remember later?
In ancient times, how to bring more people together?
I can only draw some patterns on the animal skin.

When everyone sees that pattern, they know it is their place.

But at this time, there are no more symbols for people to see. To manage everyone by talking, they can only manage a hundred people at most.

Later, more symbols appeared, and the number of people in the tribe who knew these symbols slightly increased, and they became the communicators of the meanings expressed by the symbols.

Those who did not recognize the symbols believed their words and gathered around.

Those who didn't believe what they said still acted alone, so the people who acted alone disappeared into the vast jungle.

More people joined in production, and tribes turned into city-states.

Symbols have a prestigious name: words.

It is the symbol that explains all things, and only the wise can recognize it.

How to keep a small kingdom functioning normally in ancient times?

Invite some knowledgeable people to write books and biographies, and use the words in these books to tell the people: universal love rather than aggression, Taoism is natural, order of superiority and inferiority, clear laws and prohibitions, etc.

Later, another man told everyone in writing: If you receive orders from heaven, you will live a long and prosperous life.

For the first time, the empire's territory was unified.

More than 100 years later, another man also told everyone in words: Only Confucianism is respected, and heaven and man are connected.

Next, the empire finally reached a consensus on the supreme power for the first time and began to evolve towards a unified order.

Later, on the other side of the world, someone wrote a manifesto in words and printed it in large quantities, telling everyone that private property is sacred and inviolable.

A new flood of knowledge began to spread around the world.

Then, humans used countless words to accumulate scientific theories, established schools, and recorded the theories in books for more people to absorb.

In the era of the Industrial Revolution, "The Wealth of Nations", "Evolution", "Das Kapital" and other books were published.

Different countries are getting closer and closer, and trade has prompted contracts.

The world needs more trade.

So, someone began to tell all mankind in words: Go consume!

This special symbol invented by humans has played a role in allowing more people to quickly reach a cognitive consensus at every stage of the development of productivity.

For example, a unified dynasty requires Confucianism. Confucianism did not choose to unify the dynasty, but the dynasty chose Confucianism, so hierarchical order became a consensus.

What happens if there is no consensus?
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were fought for hundreds of years because there was no consensus.

The larger and more complex an organization is, the more consensus it needs and the more cumbersome text it needs to present to maintain unity.

Naturally, more convenient carriers are needed.

Therefore, in ancient times, the court had to control two poles: one was the barrel of the gun, and the other was the barrel of the pen.

The reason why powerful people are powerful is because after their ancestors got the opportunity to make a fortune, they began to accumulate wealth from generation to generation.

They have mastered huge resources and stood at a height that ordinary people cannot reach. Their perspective on things is naturally incomprehensible to ordinary people.

The Zhao brothers would be surprised when they came into contact with such paper for the first time, but when they heard there were tens of thousands of them for the first time, some ideas in their minds began to change.

"Where is the paper?" Zhao Yu couldn't help but ask.

"At my place." Du Yu said.

"Where did Du Jun get so many pieces of paper like this?"

"Please forgive me, Duke Zhao. This matter cannot be explained for the time being."

"Then what is Mr. Du's purpose for looking at this piece of paper and me?"

Du Yu glanced around, and the Zhao brothers immediately understood.Zhao Jun said to the people around him: "You guys, please step back first."

People around him resigned one after another.

The two of them stared at Du Yu expectantly.

Du Yu looked at Zhao Yu and asked, "Does Mr. Zhao want this paper?"

Zhao Yu was stunned and said, "But I have an idea."

"You can sell it to Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Jun asked, "Why did you sell it to us?"

"make money."

Zhao Jun asked again: "Just making money?"

"If Mr. Zhao has other concerns and is inconvenient to ask for these papers, I dare not force him."

"If you want, give me a price for these tens of thousands of pieces of paper."

"Three thousand stones of grain."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "Is Du Jun joking?"

"I'm not joking."

"How many thousand pieces of paper do you have?"

"Forty thousand."

"Why do you think it's worth three thousand shi of food?"

"If Mr. Zhao thinks this price is too high, he will give up." Du Yu said, "Let's talk about the sale of silk again. The silk can be purchased at the previous price."

"Then what do you plan to do with this piece of paper?"

"Of course I will send someone to transport it to Longxi County."

Zhao Yu and Zhao Jun looked at each other.

Zhao Jun said: "Is two thousand stones feasible?"

"Mr. Zhao." Du Yu stood up and bowed politely, "Let's talk about the silk business."

There was a slight displeasure in the eyes of the two of them, this little guy was obviously not getting enough of him!
Zhao Yu asked: "If we run out of [-] pieces of paper, will there be any left?"

"A steady stream."

"really?"

"You can send someone to Duling County, Jingzhao Prefecture at any time to look for me."

"The Du family in Jingzhao is a famous family. We naturally believe what Mr. Du said, but three thousand stones of food is too much. You have to give us some time..."

"Forgive me, Mr. Zhao. I'm in a hurry this time and don't have much time. Why don't we talk about the silk trade?"

Zhao Yu and Zhao Jun's faces were bruised and white.

They are all from a distinguished family, so what are you pretending to be?

Three thousand stones of grain is indeed a lot, but is it also a lot for you, the Tianshui Zhao family?

During the Han Dynasty, a prefect earned two thousand dan per year.

The Zhao family in Tianshui began to be granted the title of marquis during the reign of Emperor Xuan, and they have been serving as officials for generations.

Especially in the Eastern Han Dynasty, powerful powers emerged, and the manor and fortress economy emerged.

The tyrants have further grown in size, encircling their fields and encircling people, developing private armed forces, and controlling finance, personnel, and public opinion.

At the beginning of the founding of the Cao Wei Dynasty, it was known as one large county in the Han Dynasty with the population of the whole country.

The total population of Jihan was not as large as that of Shujun in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Soochow is even more exaggerated. After decades of development, the book population has experienced direct negative growth.

The most famous saying is that the total population during the Three Kingdoms period was less than 800 million.

After the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, an accounting showed that there were more than 600 million.

Excluding unregistered military households, etc., the population data gap is too big.

There were still many powerful locals in the Western Jin Dynasty. Is this population accurate?
This shows how powerful the powerful men of this era are.

(End of this chapter)