I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

When Abdul's huge caravan left Luoyang, it was loaded with new silk cloth. Lu Fang became rich overnight and became a millionaire, which stunned everyone.

Especially in Luoyang city, some powerful and wealthy families with prominent family backgrounds were extremely jealous.

Why! ?
How old is Lu Fang?
Although he was born into a royal family, there are countless royal families in the world. Isn't Liu Bei also a royal family member?

But he was in his twenties and still so poor that he had to sell straw sandals on the street!
Lu was only sixteen or seventeen years old. He made his first fortune by improving the silk weaving loom, without relying on his family background or official position to gain power.

This is not a metaphor, he really made a bucket of gold!
And this is just the first deal. If production runs at full capacity, within a few years the wooden barrels containing gold may have to be replaced with large barrels as big as bathtubs.

This is a huge sum of money, even many so-called celebrities can't help but be tempted!

Cui Lie only spent five million yuan to buy the official title of Si Tu, which was one of the Three Dukes.

And what about Lu Fang?

Abdul spent 300 million to buy out all the inventory of Qiansifang. His profit for that day was only 200 Sangong?
Although the titles of the Three Dukes are powerful and cannot be bought with money, this simple conversion and comparison still shocks many people and makes them feel indignant.

Because what was happening before their eyes was completely contrary to their previous understanding of wealth.

You know, even for a big landowner, it is not easy to accumulate five million dollars.

First of all, you have to own a large amount of land, and then you have to spend time and energy to manage it patiently, wait for the crops to be harvested, and then take them to the market to exchange for money.

In order to make money, you have to spend time manipulating prices, so you have to make arrangements with people from all walks of life. After all the operations, you may not make much money, but your reputation will be ruined, and you have to spend money to hire someone to clean up the reputation. You also have to socialize and entertain on a daily basis, which is also a considerable expense.

But what about Lu Fang?

What did he do?
Lu Fang's life trajectory is not difficult to find, but it is precisely because it is too easy to find that it is hard to believe.

He was born into a carpenter's family and was the second son of the head of the family. His status was as lowly as dust and mud. If he had not become Wang Jing's housekeeper and been exposed to Mohism and study physics, how could he be where he is today?
It is not a shame to be born in a humble family. Only a man who can bend and stretch himself is a real man.

Not only has Lu Fang become one of the first engineers of the Imperial Academy of Engineering, having the right to participate in politics and government affairs like the Five Classics Doctors, but he has also improved the silk loom with the knowledge he has learned and earned a huge amount of wealth beyond anyone's imagination. With his own efforts, he has become one of the top richest people in the empire.

Moreover, this money is earned cleanly, not from speculation, so it is open and respectable.

Cui Lie had originally gathered a group of people with great difficulty, wanting to oppose the establishment of the Imperial Academy of Engineering and the granting of the title of Engineer. However, now, the number of people willing to support him has dropped sharply in an instant, and is even less than one-fifth of the previous number.

People are profit-driven, and when they oppose something, they usually do so out of consideration for their own interests. Few people really act out of passion.

Therefore, once huge benefits are placed in front of them, it is not surprising that people who come for profit are not determined enough and change their allegiance.

The example of Lu Fang is right in front of us. Should we continue to oppose and then have to eat coarse food, or join in and make money together?
How should I choose in this matter? Is there still any hesitation?
General Wei’s Mansion, Wang Jing’s study.

Guo Jia and Xun You gathered around Wang Jing, both with smiles on their faces, and a joyful atmosphere was floating in the study.

"Hahaha, I heard from the secret guards that Cui Weikao was so angry today that he vomited three liters of blood and fainted. We invited a famous doctor in the city to treat him, but he hasn't woken up yet."

Guo Jia had a face full of gloating and didn't give Cui Lie any words. Cui Lie had an extremely bad reputation. He liked to scheme for personal gain but had no real ability. Even the people of the Cui family in Boling disliked him, not to mention outsiders.

At the moment, Cui Lie is still determined to do something and is doing some shady things in secret, which is even more disgusting.

Xun You was curious: "Did he really vomit three liters of blood?"

Guo Jia rolled his eyes at him speechlessly: "Gongda, what nonsense are you talking about? If you really vomit three liters of blood, can you still live?"

Guo Jia then changed the subject and looked at Wang Jing: "My lord, you are indeed very smart. You made a brilliant move, which directly hit the weak spot of the opposition. These stubborn conservative forces will no longer be able to make a difference."

In Guo Jia's view, the emergence of Lu Fang was equivalent to Wang Jing setting a benchmark for the new policy.

The meaning is quite simple and crude, that is, if you follow my rules and obey me, you will become rich and powerful. Otherwise, just wait to be eliminated by the times.

Improved technology or innovative inventions can generate economic benefits that are dozens or even hundreds of times that of traditional agricultural planting. The speed at which wealth is accumulated directly surpasses the so-called aristocratic families and wealthy clans.

If the people in power in the imperial court were conservatives themselves, perhaps they could still find ways to suppress and seize power and strike back.

But Wang Jing himself was the initiator and promoter of the new policy, which made these conservative aristocratic families very upset, because the means and methods they had been able to use in the past could not be used on Lu Fang.

With a ruler like Wang Jing personally protecting them, the rise of new forces has become inevitable, so the aristocratic families are left with only two choices.

Either join in and make a fortune together, or be swallowed up by the torrent of worldly affairs.

With a stick in one hand and dates in the other, it seems better to eat dates than a stick, right?

After all, engaging in industry and business can really make money, and now that the imperial court is so keen on technological innovation, the status of craftsmen is set to continue to improve. Many young students who originally had no chance to succeed are also willing to try a change of career.

Even if there are some stubborn people, they are a minority and cannot resist the overwhelming trend.

Wang Jing just made a light move, but the old chessboard was almost completely overturned by him, and even the rules of the game were forcibly modified by him.

Lu Fang himself was not important, nor was the new silk loom he developed. There were many other technical ingenuities in the pavilion that were more powerful than the silk loom. But the significance of this event was very important, as heavy as Mount Tai.

Guo Jia and Xun You both personally participated in this layout. They couldn't help but feel that they were manipulating the world's situation with one hand, as if they were in the clouds, looking down at all the creatures in the world.

"Now, the overall situation has been determined. Once the new class emerges, the old forces will be unable to resist no matter what."

Wang Jing had been planning and promoting this situation from the beginning to the end in order to create a surging momentum, whether it was the promotion of Mohism, the opening of academies, or the continuous protection and support for the development of industry and commerce. At this moment, everything has finally come to fruition, and he has everything under his control by taking advantage of the situation.

Guo Jia and Xun You also realized it later and only recently saw through Wang Jing's overall plan. They were immediately shocked and impressed by Wang Jing's far-reaching strategy.

Xun You suggested, "If we want a new class to emerge, it is not enough to rely on Zhengliang alone. We need to foster more forces. Even our former opponents can be won over and absorbed now."

If you want to win over allies and build up power, the most important thing is to distribute benefits.

In life, apart from the ways of the world, what we pursue is nothing but fame, fortune and status. On an individual level, there may be people with high morals and impeccable character.

But in essence, a noble family is also an organization bound by blood.

All organizations put profit first. No matter how great and glorious they appear to be, their core must be the pursuit of profit.

Because in order to survive and develop, we need tangible material benefits. This is the operating rule of human civilization and an iron law that cannot be violated.

Therefore, Wang Jing only needs to throw out some bait to gain a large number of political allies. I believe that many noble families and powerful clans would not mind turning enemies into friends with Wang Jing. Wang Jing said to Guo Jia and Xun You: "Next, you should sort out which forces are worth winning over and which ones should continue to be suppressed, so as to divide and disintegrate the opponents from within."

"My subordinate understands."

Guo Jia and Xun You nodded and accepted the order, as this was exactly what they were good at.

At this time, Jia Xu asked for a meeting.

Before this, he had been handling internal affairs in Luoyang. It was precisely because of this old scoundrel like him sitting in the capital that Wang Jing could go to Yanzhou to fight without scruples and create a peaceful external environment.

"Wenhe is here, please sit down."

Wang Jing smiled and looked at Jia Xu: "Why, you took the initiative to come to my house to ask for an audience today? This is really rare. What happened?"

Jia Xu bowed and sat down before answering, "It's not a big deal. I just observed the current situation and wanted to confirm whether there will be any big moves next."

"You are quite well informed."

Wang Jing did not hide anything and directly said that the technological blockade of many industries might be lifted in the future, such as the textile industry and other light industries. These industries have small investment amounts, fast capital turnover, and very obvious economic benefits, so they are particularly suitable for investment by newcomers.

If you want to win over the wealthy and powerful families who are unwilling to do anything without benefits, and make them transform from the landlord class into entrepreneurs and capitalists who invest in industrial and commercial industries, you have to give them some visible and tangible benefits, otherwise it will be difficult to mobilize their enthusiasm for investment.

You can't really learn from Dong Zhuo and rob with a knife, right?
Murder and arson can certainly make money quickly, but once the production system is destroyed, it will be extremely difficult to repair it.

Wang Jing's goal is to conquer the world, not to be a bandit who would run away after having a good time. Naturally, he cannot do things so roughly. Therefore, he opens up some industries and allows aristocratic families and wealthy families to participate and share the money. This is the long-term solution.

As for downstream enterprises such as the textile industry, it does not matter if they are thrown away, as it can also revitalize the private economy and increase employment opportunities.

Wang Jing's Qiqiao Pavilion only needs to firmly control upstream high-end industries such as machinery manufacturing, steel smelting, and snow salt. After all, these are the bulk of the profits. It can also clamp down on the downstream of the industrial chain through these upstream industries.

This is equivalent to tying all the noble families and powerful families who have joined in to his chariot. If they want to make money, they can only follow him to the end and completely break away from the old aristocratic system.

Jia Xu had expected this, so after getting the answer from Wang Jing, he did not look surprised. Instead, he thought for a while and reminded, "My lord, with this layout, I'm afraid we will have to start a large-scale construction to build a workshop, right?"

Wang Jing nodded: "Yes, once the relevant industries are opened up, it is estimated that there will be a construction boom."

A large number of aristocratic families and wealthy families invested money in the production field, which naturally required the construction of a large number of factories, which required the consumption of huge amounts of construction materials.

Jia Xu knew what was going on, so he said to Wang Jing, "In that case, I will go down and arrange production immediately."

"Well, go ahead. I trust you to do the job."

Although he was known as a poisonous scholar, Jia Xu was essentially a strategist who lived a rather cowardly life. Unless necessary, he seldom did anything to offend others.

After getting along with him, Wang Jing realized that Jia Xu was more inclined to become a civil servant and take the promotion route, and that he did have the talent to be a prime minister.

So now Wang Jing basically handed over many internal affairs to him, and Jia Xu did not disappoint Wang Jing. In Luoyang, the rear base, all the work, whether it was industrial production or military farming, no matter how complicated it was, was handled step by step by him in an orderly manner, allowing Wang Jing to get away from trivial matters and have more time to do other more important things.

After leaving the General Wei's Mansion, Jia Xu went back to summon his subordinates and contacted the chief architect Zhai Jie, asking him to adjust the entire industrial chain and speed up the production of a batch of building materials to avoid being in a hurry when the time comes.

Upon learning that this was something urgently needed for the upcoming large project, Zhai Jie immediately assigned all of his labor teams to the construction team to specialize in the production of bricks, the raw material for construction.

Today, Qiqiaoge has brought together many industries, including manufacturers of building materials.

Later generations of buildings have gradually shifted from bricks and tiles to the use of reinforced concrete, but at the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, fired clay bricks were the most widely used and economical material.

Even clay bricks are high-end materials. The thatched houses in the countryside are made of mud and cow dung is used as adhesive, which makes them very comfortable to live in.

Four miles away from Mengjin Port, Zhai Jie came to a brickyard that looked a bit old.

This is a typical traditional brick and tile yard of the Han Dynasty, with three round earth kilns. Workers dug moist clay from the river beach and then fired it into bricks and tiles here to build high-end houses.

It is said that it was originally Zhang Rang's property. After being "confiscated", it was bought by Wang Jing from the court. After transformation, it can now be put into production. The products produced, both in quantity and quality, surpass all peers.

Around the brickyard, you can see bricks drying in the shade and a lot of "cooked soil", which are neatly stacked.

The process of firing bricks and tiles is quite cumbersome. First, the raw soil, that is, clay without organic matter, must be mined, dried and crushed, and then water is added and repeatedly treaded to make it mature soil, which is then made into bricks.

This is not the end. The bricks cannot be put directly into the kiln for firing. If there is too much moisture, they will crack and deform in the kiln. Therefore, they have to be dried in the shade for ten days or half a month. During the drying period, they cannot be exposed to the sun, strong winds, or cold weather.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, bricks and tiles cannot be fired in winter. Only bricks that have been dried in the shade can be put into the kiln for firing.

After a period of research, Zhai Jie felt that the production efficiency of the earthen round kiln was too low, and that loading the kiln required skilled craftsmen, making it difficult to expand the scale. So he found several disciples of the Mohist school to study and think together about how to improve the production process.

Fortunately, there are a lot of ready-made bricks available here, so they can try whatever they want. Finally, they found a way and completed the project a few days ago, building a new rotary kiln here.

The wheel kiln is a continuous production kiln that can load, discharge and clean up at the same time. The kiln is composed of many interconnected chambers, like a circular tunnel, with many kiln doors around it, and all the flues are connected to the main flue in the center of the kiln.

The fuel is added through the feeding hole on the top of the kiln. The technology has surpassed the entire era, and the improvement in production efficiency has left the old masters involved stunned and saying they can't stand it.

The work results of Zhai Jie and others are very significant. They have obviously integrated the knowledge systems of physics, chemistry and other subjects taught to them by Wang Jing, and can now apply them flexibly in production and life.

The design of the entire rotary kiln is very ingenious. It combines physics with Mohist mechanical techniques and successfully divides its operation into four working zones: drying, preheating, calcination and cooling, reducing a large number of intermediate links.

For a one-chamber kiln, the first chamber is producing bricks, the sixteenth chamber is being cleaned, and the fifteenth chamber is being loaded with blanks. Then the second chamber starts producing bricks, the first chamber is being cleaned, and the sixteenth chamber can be loaded with blanks.

Once ignited, it can produce continuously for 24 hours without interruption, which is far beyond the reach of traditional kilns in terms of work efficiency and heat energy utilization.

An ordinary rotary kiln can produce more than 50 million bricks and tiles a year. This number makes the old craftsmen who are not good at math dizzy and their scalps tingle.

After all, they barely know how to read and write, and their work relies entirely on experience. But how can human productivity be compared with that of machines?
After the technological innovation, what might be waiting for them is unemployment. Fortunately, Zhai Jie and others are not black-hearted capitalists. Most of the Mohists of the Mohist School came from the artisan class, so they were very kind to the common people of the same class.

The bonuses that were agreed upon were all given, and their children were allowed to study at the Mohist Academy. They were also planned to be hired to participate in the improvement of clay bricks. Therefore, these masters did not have to worry about losing their jobs. In fact, because their income increased and their children had hope, they were all very happy and supported Wang Jing's rule even more.

Zhai Jie has no time to care about the feelings of these old masters. After receiving the production task from Jia Xu, he is now busy moving bricks as ordered.

In order not to waste time, while installing the machinery and building the rotary kiln, Zhai Jie decided to first burn out the bricks and tiles that had been dried in the shade. However, loading the bricks into the earthen kiln is a technical job, so the workers still need to be trained first. (End of this chapter)