The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 544 Making Money Making Money

Thanks to Guan Xing, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, and their ilk were no longer satisfied with unifying the country; instead, they set their sights on the entire world.

But even the greatest undertakings have to be started from scratch. If you want to do something, you have to spend money. Without money, you can't even leave Jiangling City, let alone go global.

Moreover, this kind of thing requires huge financial support. Liu Bei is so poor that he is willing to sell himself. Where can he find such a large amount of start-up capital?

After failing to reach an agreement, the three could only place their hopes on Guan Xing. They did not expect Guan Xing to give his all, but only hoped that Guan Xing could provide them with a solution based on his knowledge that was nearly two thousand years ahead of theirs.

Zhuge Liang was so intelligent that he was almost supernatural. As long as he was given an idea, he could instantly come up with a complete system and put it into practice. Therefore, they urgently needed Guan Xing's guidance.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang still had some conscience. He didn't wake Guan Xing up on the spot, but let him rest well. He only called him to the tent for a meeting the next morning.

As dawn broke, Guan Xing stepped out of his tent and stretched comfortably when he received a summons from Zhuge Liang. Without delay, he rushed to the tent to pay his respects.

Upon entering the tent, they found that Zhuge Liang was the only person there; everyone else had been ushered out. Clearly, the conversation that was about to take place should not be known to those who did not know Guan Xing's true identity.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Zhuge Liang got straight to the point: "Our biggest problem right now is money. We need a lot of money to develop Jiangnan quickly, but we can't do it at the expense of the people. So I've asked you to come here today to learn about the tax systems of various dynasties and see if there are any that we can use to quickly raise money without harming the foundation of the country."

Guan Xing didn't stand on ceremony. He pulled up a stool and sat down opposite Zhuge Liang, saying, "Let's start with Cao Wei. After Cao Pi ascended the throne, he accepted Chen Qun's suggestion and adopted the Nine-Rank System..."

Guan Xing spoke eloquently for two or three hours, covering the political and economic systems from the Cao Wei to the Manchu Qing dynasties. His lips grew dry from speaking, and Zhuge Liang also picked up his pen to record the key points, his wrist aching from writing.

After finishing his explanation, Guan Xing said, "Your Majesty's great undertaking cannot be separated from financial support. To have sufficient funds, you need a continuous and stable income. To have a stable income, you must implement a state monopoly system for salt and iron, and bring salt and iron back under state control."

Salt and iron were the lifeblood of the imperial court and its most important source of revenue. Emperor Wu of Han obtained the enormous funds to fight the Xiongnu precisely because he nationalized all salt, iron, and wine.

After Emperor Wu of Han died and the war ended, Huo Guang liberalized the monopoly on alcohol to support the local economy, but the salt and iron industries were still firmly controlled by the court. Therefore, before Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, the court never lacked money.

This changed after Emperor Guangwu restored the Han Dynasty. The salt and iron monopoly system was gradually loosened and was completely abolished when Empress Dowager Zhangde took power. From then on, the economy of the Han Dynasty deteriorated year by year. By the time Emperor Ling ascended the throne, the country was so poor that it could only make ends meet by selling official positions.

But now that Liu Bei has risen to power, and he has won his empire through real battles, he will naturally not compromise with the gentry and throw away the huge treasure trove of salt and iron. He will definitely bring it under state control.

Guan Xing continued, "Besides salt and iron, there are also mines. All mines must be firmly controlled by the imperial court, and private mining is prohibited. Only by controlling the most basic resources such as salt and iron can the imperial court obtain a continuous and stable source of income."

Zhuge Liang nodded and said, "The salt and iron mines must definitely be brought under state control, but we can't ignore the feelings of the gentry. We can't leave them no profit at all, after all, they are the backbone of the court."

Guan Xing laughed and said, "We definitely can't completely suppress the aristocratic families. On the contrary, we should make good use of them and use their power to develop Jiangnan quickly. We can't give them the most basic energy, but we can give them the intermediate processing links, such as steel mills."

"Steel mills are a time-consuming and labor-intensive industry. If the imperial court builds them on its own, it will be too slow. We must develop the private sector and allow the gentry to build them themselves. However, there is one condition: the coal and iron ore needed for steel mills must be purchased from the imperial court."

"To give a simple example, if Huang Chengyan wanted to build a steel plant, what would he need? First, he would need to recruit craftsmen to build steel furnaces; second, he would need to purchase raw materials such as coal and iron; and finally, he would need to sell the iron products he produced. What benefits would this whole process bring to the imperial court?"

"First, recruiting craftsmen solved the problem of feeding many people, which in modern terms means employment. Second, purchasing coal and iron depleted the imperial reserves, allowing the imperial court to make a profit. Third, the agricultural tools produced by the steel mills were sold and eventually circulated among the people, providing them with a quick way to acquire advanced agricultural tools, thus achieving the imperial court's goal of promoting new agricultural tools. Finally, the imperial court could also collect taxes from the steel mills. It's killing several birds with one stone, strategist."

"More importantly, the basic raw materials such as coal and iron are controlled by the imperial court. If Huang Chengyan works honestly, the imperial court will supply him. If he has other crooked ideas, the imperial court will cut off the supply. Without the supply of raw materials such as coal and iron, how can Huang Chengyan's steel mill operate?"

Many wars in later generations revolved around energy. In the industrial age, whoever controlled energy controlled the lifeline of industry. Energy was the foundation of industry. Without the foundation, even the tallest building would collapse, and even the largest industry would fail.

Guan Xing continued, "There are also textile factories, paper mills, and tea factories, etc. These intermediate links on the foundation can be handed over to the gentry. By using the gentry, the factories we need can spring up everywhere, thereby achieving the goal of rapid expansion. In short, whether the gentry are the court's assistant or its opponent depends on how the court uses them."

"So my suggestion is to give the technology we have to the gentry, but on the condition that the gentry exchange it for basic energy sources such as salt and iron mines."

The iron smelting, textile, and papermaking technologies that Guan Xing currently possesses are all basic things that can be learned at a glance. No matter how tightly they are kept secret, they will quickly spread. Therefore, rather than having people covet them all the time, it is better to share them proactively and use the hands of the gentry to quickly improve the productivity of the Han Dynasty. At the same time, it can also give full play to the imagination and creativity of the people and create new technologies.

The saying "true masters are found among ordinary people" is not just an empty phrase. Don't forget that many of the cutting-edge technologies that have been bottlenecks in later generations were solved by private enterprises and independent craftsmen with a passion for invention.

As for whether the technology would fall into the hands of Cao Wei after it was circulated among the people, it didn't matter. Even if Cao Wei got the technology, it would still be on the same level as Shu Han. How could a mere imitator possibly surpass the original?

Moreover, once Cao Wei acquired the technology, they would certainly promote it to develop productivity in the Central Plains. In this way, when Liu Bei's Northern Expedition succeeded, they would have received a prosperous Central Plains instead of a devastated one.

Zhuge Liang said with delight, "The court controls the basic energy, the gentry are responsible for intermediate production, and the common people and the court get the ultimate benefits. This is a good idea, but we must formulate good policies, laws and tax standards, set rules and profit margins for merchants who set up factories, and not let them do whatever they want."

Guan Xing laughed and said, "That's for sure, but I don't think this little matter can stump the strategist, can it?"

Zhuge Liang wrote down all the key points he had just mentioned and said, "I will organize these matters first, then discuss them with others, and finally report to the King. If the King agrees, we will carry them out."

"However, if this is implemented, it will require a large number of people. The court is currently most in need of population. Do you have any ways to quickly restore the population?"

After years of war, the population of the Han Dynasty is less than half of its peak, which is a very dangerous number and measures must be taken as soon as possible.

Guan Xing said, "I think the most important thing right now is not to encourage childbirth, but to reduce the fetal mortality rate and prevent the continued occurrence of stillbirths and even the death of both mother and child."

“When I was in Wushang, I conducted a survey on this topic and found that less than 50% of fetuses are born safely from the womb, and less than 40% of them grow up to be 18 years old and become adults. This is terrifying.”