People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 399 Merchants’ Holy Land
"Brother, I heard that the emperor of the previous dynasty is now doing business in Xuanxia. Do you want to go and take a look? I never thought that the emperor of the Han Dynasty would sit at the same table with you and me today. This is really a rare event in the history of the world."

The carriage was moving slowly and swaying, with two adult men sitting in it, one in his thirties and the other in his twenties. They looked similar and it was obvious at first glance that they must be brothers.

Although they were exhausted from the long journey, they were all young and strong and did not look tired. Instead, they became more energetic as they got closer to their destination.

One of the young men was so excited that he lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked into the distance, while he started to tell jokes about the former Han emperor Liu Xie.

When Mi Zhu heard his brother Mi Fang's casual words, he was a little dazed for a moment.

The world is really different now. If it were in the past, even if the Han Dynasty declined, people in the world would not talk about the Liu Emperor so frivolously. But now, his younger brother is completely unscrupulous and has no concern for Liu Han at all.

The emperor's surrender and the collapse of the country is not the most terrible thing. In fact, if the princes are willing, they can find another relative of the Liu clan to put up a signboard. As long as people's hearts are still there, this mess can still be maintained.

But now it seems that Liu Han has completely lost the support of the people, and this big man can be said to have died in the true sense of the word.

But after hearing what Mi Fang said, Mi Zhu really felt itchy. Just as Mi Fang said, this was indeed a miracle throughout the ages. If he could see the emperor falling into the mortal world, it would really satisfy his curiosity greatly.

Especially Mi Fang's words about joining the same table made Mi Zhu burst out laughing.

In the past, agriculture was always emphasized and commerce was suppressed. In theory, the poor farmers had a higher social status than the merchants. But now, the great emperor of the Han Dynasty has become a lowly person by engaging in business. This is really ironic.

"Having said that, Xuanxia does adhere to the principles of industry and commerce, and advocates the concept of equality for all. Merchants here are still much more respectable than those in the Han Dynasty. It's okay to say jokes, but to belittle Liu Xie is also to belittle ourselves." Mi Zhu shook his head and smiled, but gave a warning.

Mi Fang straightened his expression after hearing this, and also put away some of his frivolousness, and then he also sighed: "Speaking of which, it is not a lie that Xuanxia Heavy Industry is beneficial to business. We have seen along the way that all the counties and towns are prosperous businesses, and all kinds of factories are even in clusters. This kind of scene has never been seen in the Han Dynasty. Perhaps this place is really a place where merchants thrive."

Mi Zhu shook his head disapprovingly, fanning himself, "The prosperity of factories and markets is only superficial. What is really good for business is the business environment created by Xuanxia. Merchants in various parts of Xuanxia do not see the roadblocks and miscellaneous taxes commonly seen in the Han Dynasty. The government is even more upright, so merchants do not have to work hard. They only need to consider the laws and regulations when running their businesses. This is the real benefit."

Hearing this, Mi Fang suddenly came to his senses. After thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be true.

As a family of wealthy merchants in Xuzhou, no one understands the pain of doing business better than them. The most terrible thing for businessmen has always been a bad business environment.

As long as merchants travel through states and counties, there will be government checkpoints to collect fees in every county. Moreover, if they want to do business safely, they must make arrangements with people from all walks of life. If they encounter some ruthless people who want to extort money, they will be lucky if they can make no loss, let alone make any profit from a business deal.

Compared with the style of the Han government, Xuanxia's government office can only be described as an honest and upright one.

Not only were the tax systems in various regions unified, completely eliminating the endless tolls, but all kinds of miscellaneous taxes on business were also abolished, leaving only a few basic commercial taxes. Moreover, the government never caused trouble, and the only requirement for merchants was to abide by the law.

Even under the guidance of the court's policies, small and medium-sized merchants may be able to obtain loans from Xuanxia Money House to help them overcome operational difficulties or start a business. Local government offices also have tax reduction policies to attract merchants to open factories, which can be said to be sufficient care.

After thinking carefully about everything he had seen along the way, Mi Fang suddenly realized that this place could be said to be a paradise for merchants.

In addition to the fact that the social status of merchants has been recognized, the convenience of the overall business environment is simply unbelievable. Mi Fang and Mi Zhu were almost moved to tears.

But at this time, Mi Fang sighed slightly: "Just as my brother said, Xuanxia is really good for merchants, but there is only one thing that makes people uncomfortable. The Xuanxia court supports industry and commerce, but it still puts workers first. Their protection of workers is too strict, which is the biggest restriction on the merchant group."

Mi Zhu paused while waving his fan, raised his eyebrows, and said, "That's true, but this place is still the dream of merchants like me. Xuanxia is the future. Here I see the era that belongs to us merchants!"

Mi Fang agreed with this. He believed that wealthy businessmen of their level were actually close to the gentry, and their knowledge and wisdom were naturally no less than that of the gentry elites.

This time, when they came to Xuanxia in person and saw everything, they clearly felt that this was a completely new society, and this new society was obviously more conducive to the world of industry and commerce, which was absolutely incomparable to an empire like the Han Dynasty.

The essential difference between the two sides is that an agricultural empire will inevitably pursue the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, while a country moving towards an industrial society will inevitably begin to focus on the development of industry and commerce. This tone determines everything.

Mi Fang had a complicated expression, and seemed a little hesitant when he spoke: "Although we are here to investigate the truth, it is not so easy to decide whether to bet completely on Xuan Xia. What if Xu Chen fails in the end, then we will be finished too?" "There is no such thing as a risk-free bet. If we don't bet on Xu Chen today, can we bet on Cao, Liu, and Sun?" Mi Zhu disagreed. Obviously, he had already made up his mind. He stretched out his fan to lift the curtain, and saw the appearance of Beiping City in the distance: "Of course, before placing a bet, we should go to the capital to take a good look!"

Mi Fang fell silent for a moment. It seemed that he could only bet on Xu Chen. After all, apart from Xu Chen, the rest of the princes looked even more shabby.

Thinking of this, he perked up and looked towards the city of Peking in the distance.

In that case, let’s see what the capital of Xuanxia is like!
The carriage drove slowly all the way and soon arrived at the city gate. Mi Zhu and Mi Fang did not sit in the carriage but jumped out to look around. Soon they were stunned by the hustle and bustle of the city gate.

This long caravan was truly astonishing to look at. With the professional vision of the two brothers, they naturally understood what kind of terrifying industrial and commercial scale was behind it.

But before they could marvel too much, a quarrel between a group of pedestrians nearby attracted their attention.

They turned around and saw a young student and a businessman arguing with each other. Both sides were arguing with each other until their faces turned red and their necks became thick. However, at least the war was limited to words and no actual physical fight broke out.

Quarrels are certainly not uncommon. What really attracted the two brothers of the Mi family was the content of their quarrels.

Amid the onlookers, the businessman was not at all stage-frightened. On the contrary, he had more aura than the young and immature students. He took the initiative in the debate and started talking eloquently.

"Xuanxia has nearly a hundred counties and countless villages. If the government wants to extend medical care, education, roads and other services everywhere, how long will it take to fully cover them?
Ten years, twenty years, or even a hundred years?

In this case, the government will have to set up countless clerks for various businesses. By then, the bloatedness of the departments will be unimaginable. I believe in the ability of our Xuanxia court, but no matter how capable it is, can it manage such a huge plate?
Such a thankless task will only delay the people's livelihood and bring unnecessary trouble to the court!"

Having said that, the businessman looked at the student with a confident smile, then he stood with his hands behind his back, straightened his chest, and continued speaking with a rather proud expression.

"But if we hand these businesses over to merchants, it will be very different. My Xuanxia has distributed its wealth among the people. The huge merchant group can gather enough wealth. As the saying goes, many hands make light work. If we merchants run and develop our own businesses, won't we have everything we need?

We businessmen are good at business, and we are professionals in such matters. Compared with the rigid and inefficient court, shouldn't these matters be left to us?
Roads, schools, hospitals and everything else. The court needs them and the people need them too. We businessmen can do it and we will definitely do it better and faster than the court.

In this case, the imperial court should not hold all these affairs in its own hands, as this will only harm the people's livelihood and the country!"

At this time, the merchant looked at the people around him and shouted, "Fellow villagers, do you think this makes sense?"

All of a sudden, there was applause from all around. Although the student wanted to refute, he scratched his ears and cheeks and his face turned red, not knowing how to answer. His anxious look made those around him feel embarrassed.

Only Mi Zhu and Mi Fang next to them looked at each other in astonishment, quite surprised by the scene before them.

They were surprised at the profoundness of the content of the discussion and even more surprised at the boldness of the topic.

This kind of discussion about court affairs would never be seen in the Han Dynasty, at least it would never happen in such a blatant and high-profile manner. Especially since the merchant's words openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the court, which was even more exaggerated.

In the past when the Han Dynasty was still authoritative enough, or even in the various vassal states today, if something similar happened, the person would most likely be charged with the serious crime of making irresponsible remarks about state affairs and slandering the court.

The two were not in a hurry to go into the city. They just watched the entire debate in the crowd. Their thoughts kept running along with the content of the discussion. They didn't come back to their senses until the debate was over.

The result of this debate was obviously that the businessman won. This does not mean that what the businessman said is definitely right, but it only means that the businessman's level is higher than that of the students. However, this still makes the Mi brothers quite excited.

"This Xuan Xia is really interesting."

(End of this chapter)