Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 331 Business Atmosphere
187 BC was destined to be an extraordinary year.

In the spring of this year, the Han Dynasty took the lead in launching an attack, conscripting 50 infantry and [-] cavalry to conquer Hetao. After several months of fierce fighting, the Huns were finally expelled, and Jiuyuan County, which was rich in water and grass, was recaptured.

When the Han army marched northward against the Huns and was unable to go south in a short period of time, the Chu army pretended to be in Linjiang and suddenly sent troops to surprise the two counties of Bashu. The momentum was like a broken bamboo, and it swept through more than [-] counties in the two counties of Bashu in less than two months.

However, when the Chu army took advantage of the situation and went northward to attack Hanzhong County, they were hit head-on by the Han army. Bai Mo, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, successfully slowed down the progress of the Chu army by virtue of the steep Jinniu Road. The arrival bought time, and in the end, the Chu army could only reluctantly give up Hanzhong County.

In addition, Han Xin returned without success in Huainan, but the Chu army wiped out Linjiang Kingdom on the way back to Jiangdong.

A few days after the destruction of Linjiang Kingdom, Xiang Zhuang issued an imperial edict to demote Lin Jiang Wang Gongwei to Wushangtinghou, who lived in the town of three hundred stones, and moved his family to Ziling to be raised in captivity. Since the establishment of the noble title system, the nobles of the Chu state have lost their feudal status. As for the food towns of the title, such as the three hundred stones of Wushangtinghou, they are uniformly distributed by the Lingyin Mansion.

Don't underestimate Xiang Zhuang's move, there are at least two invisible benefits.

The first advantage is to kill possible splits invisible. It is foreseeable that with the deepening of the unification war, more and more nobles will obtain titles by virtue of their military exploits. When the world is unified, the number of nobles in Chu will reach a peak However, if they were given a real seal of state, thousands of states within states would appear on the territory of the Great Chu Empire!

At that time, Xiang Zhuang will have to be like Liu Bang in history, working hard to eliminate the threat of the major feudal states, and in the end, like Liu Bang, he will kill his ministers one by one without conscience. If the ministers resist, then another small-scale unification war will have to be fought, and the people of the world will still have to suffer.

Moreover, even if these ministers are killed, the matter is not over.

When the central government is strong, most of the remaining countries within countries will not be able to achieve much success, but once the central government is weak, these countries within countries will immediately become a serious problem. This has been repeatedly proved by history. Whether it is the Western Han Dynasty The Seven Kings Rebellion in China, or the Eight Kings Rebellion in the Western Jin Dynasty, the root cause was the enfeoffment system.

Xiangzhuang abolished the feudal state, and then converted the aristocratic food towns into money and food and distributed them uniformly from the treasury, which fundamentally eliminated the possibility of the country being split due to the enfeoffment system. Will be richer than the nobles in history, but they have no one in their hands, so why do they rebel?

The second advantage is to promote the development of industry and commerce in Chu State and alleviate the phenomenon of land mergers.

Throughout the history of China, from the Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, except for the Song Dynasty, which perished due to foreign invasion, every other Han dynasty died due to mob resistance caused by land annexation. The Song Dynasty was an exception. Whether it was the Northern Song Dynasty or the Southern Song Dynasty, Few large-scale mob uprisings occurred.

The reason why there was no mob rebellion in the Song Dynasty was because land annexation was not serious, and the fundamental reason why land annexation was not serious was that the developed industry and commerce swallowed up a lot of gentry hot money. Compared with buying land and becoming a landowner, the Song Dynasty’s The gentry class is more willing to spend money like water and live that kind of elegant and luxurious life.

Applying modern terminology, thousands of gentry gathered in Bianjing are like a huge domestic demand-pull engine, leading the industry and commerce of the Song Dynasty to develop vigorously and vigorously. At the same time, it also brought extravagant enjoyment to the gentry class of the Song Dynasty, which formed a benign royal ring.

So some people say that the Great Song Dynasty was the wealthiest and most prosperous dynasty in Chinese history.

Unfortunately, since Song Taizu, the Great Song Dynasty has pursued the national policy of using culture to control military affairs. Although this has eliminated the dangers of military interference in politics and armed separatism to a certain extent, it has also fundamentally weakened the combat effectiveness of the Song Army. Think about it Look, let a scholar who doesn't know the grain and doesn't work hard go to lead the army and fight, is that okay?
In the end, the richest Han dynasty in history fell under the iron hooves of the Mongols!

Xiang Zhuang now wants to follow the example of the Song Dynasty and give Da Chu Nong such a strong domestic demand engine to stimulate the vigorous development of industry and commerce in the entire Chu State. This domestic demand engine is the nobles gathered in Ziling City. To put it simply, it is the huge financial resources in the hands of these nobles.

From the current point of view, the effect is still quite good.

Especially after the victory of the Chu army and returning to the country, the country was poor, and half of the wealth accumulated in ten years went away. The mountains of gold, silk, and cotton cloth in Taicang were almost emptied. Get rich overnight, especially the soldiers of the Chu army and their families who went on an expedition to Bashu, their pockets bulged at once!

Merchants in Ziling ushered in an unprecedented golden age!

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On Ziling Street, Mrs. Qin, Tang Tong and dozens of Bashu tyrants were strolling.

The Chu army's expedition to Bashu received the full support of hundreds of Bashu tyrants, but the most powerful ones were dozens of tycoons headed by the Qin family and the Tang family. When the Chu army returned to Jiangdong, these dozens of Bashu tycoons They were also invited to go with them, and Xiang Zhuang hoped that they could experience the business atmosphere of Ziling.

Xiang Zhuang knew very well that if Chu State wanted to digest Bashu, it could not do without the full support of these Bashu tycoons.

In order to get the full support of Bashu tycoons, it is necessary to strengthen the commercial connection between Jiangdong and Bashu. Then, the dozens of Bashu tycoons headed by Mrs. Qin and the Tang family will be the bridge between Jiangdong and Bashu.

Walking among the bustling crowd, feeling the hustle and bustle of peddlers, looking up at the row upon row of wine houses, chess houses, restaurants and even prostitute villages, Tang Tong and other Bashu tycoons felt that they had entered heaven. Even the eyes are not enough to look at it. Needless to say, this Ziling City is really too prosperous and lively.

However, Mrs. Qin, who was tall and graceful, also attracted a lot of attention.

When passing by a restaurant, the dozen or so soldiers who were drinking in it suddenly beamed with joy, and whistled at Mrs. Qin and her party who passed by outside the window. A few bold people even said some gossip, but Mrs. Qin didn't get annoyed. He even cast a wink at more than a dozen big-headed soldiers, which immediately aroused boos.

A big soldier actually chased him out of the wine house because of his drunkenness. He wanted to touch Mrs. Qin's pretty face, but was kicked by Madam Qin. The big soldier in the wine room and the people on the street The passers-by burst into laughter immediately, Mrs. Qin clapped her little hands, and said in a flattering voice, "You're not tough enough, kid, if you want to trick my old lady."

Datoubing blushed with embarrassment, and ran away with his head down.

After the turmoil passed, Mrs. Qin and her party continued to swindle, and within two streets, there were several groups of drunk Chu soldiers one after another. Smelling a strong business opportunity, Tang Tong turned to Mrs. Qin and said, "Madam, have you found out?"

"I found it." Mrs. Qin nodded and said, "After winning the battle, one of the things that the generals and soldiers of the Chu army did the most was to drink, drinking like crazy! More than half of the bounties they received went in. In the wine house, I heard people say that the baijiu in Ziling City has already been sold out, even the newly brewed water wine is almost in short supply."

Speaking of this, Mrs. Qin's beautiful eyes suddenly lit up, and she thought of an excellent way to make money, that is to set up a winemaking workshop in Bashu, brew a large amount of liquor, and then transport it to Ziling for sale!Liquor is expensive, a jar of ten catties of liquor can be sold for two gold coins in Ziling, and Bashu is a big granary, and food is cheap!
The craftsmanship of brewing baijiu is a problem, but this is not difficult for Mrs. Qin. She plans to go to the palace tonight to ask the king of Chu to grant her a license to brew baijiu in Bashu. Mrs. Qin still has confidence in this point. Back then, the Chu army passed through without bloodshed. The King of Chu had promised her when Yiling Dao, and now it's time for the King of Chu to fulfill his promise.

However, what Tang Tong discovered was another business opportunity, that is, the sale of cotton cloth!

Just now when he was lying on the street, Tang Tong found at least dozens of big soldiers carrying one or a few bolts of cotton cloth under their armpits, and there were even small schools who hired cars to buy cotton cloth. Obviously, these big soldiers bought cotton cloth. It was given to wives and concubines, or it was simply intended to use cotton cloth as a betrothal gift to marry and take concubines.

Since cotton was introduced to Jiangdong more than ten years ago, it has quickly become popular, because cotton cloth has better thermal performance than linen and silk, and its price is much cheaper than silk. Hemp has become the first choice for buying clothes for small citizen families and small peasant families in Jiangdong.

The first time Tang Tong saw cotton cloth in a shop, he was stunned. Cotton cloth is second only to silk in smoothness and fineness, but it is far warmer than silk, and the price of cotton cloth is less than half of silk. Compared with cotton cloth, it is simply scum, and there is such a cloth in this world?The clothes of the first half of my life are really for nothing.

Tang Tong has already learned that the most important condition for growing cotton is sufficient sunlight!
In Tangtong’s hometown in Brazil, there are no other advantages of the big dams, that is, there is plenty of sunlight all year round, which is very suitable for growing cotton. He has already thought about it, and he will buy a few truckloads of cotton seeds and go back to try planting. Once the trial planting is successful, he will plant a large amount. In just a few years, their Tang family should become the richest people in Berkshire and even in the whole of Sichuan.

The rest of the dozens of Bashu tyrants also found their own way, and some even came up with the idea of ​​a prostitute village.

At this moment, almost all Bashu tyrants are rejoicing that their choice is not wrong. If Bashu is still under the rule of Han, how can they have a chance to show their talents?
(End of this chapter)