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

Chapter 543 Where does the money come from?

The Memorial on Dispatching the Troops?

Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat. He quickly reached out and snatched the item, then pushed aside Guan Yu, who was blocking his view, and examined it carefully by the light coming in from the doorway.

"I was originally a commoner, tilling the fields in Nanyang, barely surviving in this chaotic world, not seeking fame or fortune among the lords. The late emperor did not consider me lowly and humble, but condescended to visit me thrice in my thatched hut, consulting me on the affairs of the time. I was deeply moved and pledged my service to him. Later, when the dynasty was overthrown, I was entrusted with a mission amidst the defeated army, receiving orders in a time of crisis. Twenty-one years have passed since then..."

Unconsciously, Liu Bei read aloud, his heart pounding and his voice trembling as he said, "I beseech Your Majesty to entrust me with the task of suppressing the rebels and restoring the dynasty. If I fail, then punish me to appease the spirit of the late Emperor..."

"Your Majesty should also make your own plans, seek wise counsel, heed good advice, and deeply reflect on the legacy of the late Emperor. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for your kindness. Now that I am about to depart, I am moved to tears as I write this memorial, and I am at a loss for words."

Liu Bei read with deep emotion, and when he reached the last sentence, he couldn't help but burst into tears. He grasped Zhuge Liang's hand and sighed, "Strategist, we can't count on A Dou. This crisis has really put you through a lot."

As the founder of the Shu Han dynasty, he was well aware of the dangers the Shu Han would face after suffering two crushing defeats at Xiangfan and Yiling, and without him and Guan Yu. He also knew how much effort and pressure it would take to reverse this situation of unrest and internal and external difficulties.

Not to mention that Zhuge Liang was constantly thinking about leading his troops north to reclaim the old capital, which was practically a hellish challenge.

Zhuge Liang could have easily surrendered to Cao Wei and gained wealth and honor for his descendants, but he devoted himself to the Shu Han and even met a tragic end at Wuzhangyuan. How could Liu Bei not be moved?

Zhuge Liang held Liu Bei's hand and comforted him, "Your Majesty, rest assured, such a situation will never happen again. We should now look forward and strive to launch a northern expedition as soon as possible to unify the world, then expand our territory and eliminate all threats to the Han Dynasty."

"According to Anguo, we have too many things to do and no time to wallow in self-pity or go back to the past."

Liu Bei said excitedly, "That's right. Cao Cao once said that an old steed in its stall still aspires to gallop a thousand miles, and a hero in his twilight years still cherishes lofty ambitions. Now is not the time to slack off. We old guys have to work even harder. But even the greatest undertaking has to start from scratch. What do you think is our most urgent task right now, strategist?"

The bigger the goal, the more important it is to clarify your thinking and make a good plan. The most important thing is where to start. You have to get started, right?

Zhuge Liang had already considered this question, and upon hearing it, he replied without hesitation: "To do a good job, one must first have the right tools. The first thing to do is to cultivate the Jiangnan region and turn the current barren mountains into fertile fields. This requires a huge amount of manpower, and if manpower is insufficient, then sufficient tools are needed."

"The farm implements made by Wushang Steel Plant are very practical, especially the curved plow. After personally testing it, I found that the curved plow is much faster at tilling the land than the straight plow and it also tills deeper, but there are too few of them."

"Now, let alone curved plows, even straight plows are far from enough. Many villages, or even the entire village, cannot find three plows. Farming relies entirely on manual labor, which is too inefficient and too slow."

"Therefore, the most urgent task at present is to build steel plants in various places and make every effort to produce farming tools such as shovels, hoes, and curved plows. Then we should try to promote them so that every household has a set. With farming tools, people's farming efficiency will be higher. What used to take three days to complete can now be done in two days. People will not be idle on the extra day and will find other things to do, such as reclaiming new wasteland."

"In addition to land reclamation, we should also encourage childbirth, recover the population lost due to war as soon as possible, and prepare in advance for future immigration to the border areas and the development of Funan in Liaodong."

The decades since the Yellow Turban Rebellion have been too brutal, reducing the Han population by half. Now, there are not enough people in our own territory, so how can we settle the borders, recover and develop Liaodong and Funan, or even the other two black lands that are so far away that we don't even know where they are?

Therefore, it is necessary to encourage childbirth and restore and expand the population of the Han Dynasty as soon as possible. With a sufficient population and advanced tools, it would be difficult for the Han Dynasty not to become strong.

Liu Bei nodded and said, "These two points are indeed the most important, but they are also the most expensive and resource-intensive. Do we still have the funds to build a large-scale steel mill?"

All the money in Jiangnan has been used for war, and now even the landlords have no surplus grain. Everyone is poor.

Zhuge Liang was also worried about money. Upon hearing this, he sighed and said, "We can only take it one step at a time. I'll ask Anguo later if he has any good ways to make money quickly."

At this point, Guan Yu remembered something and quickly said, "Didn't Anguo mention something about anchoring things, like hooking the Zhibai coin to Shu brocade? Can we do it that way?"

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were discussing political affairs. If it were Zhang Fei, he would definitely have found it annoying and left. But Guan Yu was different. He had served as the top official in Jingzhou and Yangzhou and had presided over government affairs. He was a man of both civil and military talent, capable of leading an army on horseback and governing the people on foot. Naturally, he would join in the discussion.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei was overjoyed and quickly grabbed Zhuge Liang's hand, laughing, "How could I forget this? Strategist, Anguo said that you were the one who started this whole thing. Can we do it again?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and refused, saying, "No, there is a prerequisite for implementing such high-denomination currency: it is necessary to strictly prohibit anyone other than the imperial court from counterfeiting currency. In other words, the imperial court must be the only government agency that can issue currency. But Your Majesty, don't forget that the raw material for money is copper."

"Money is made of copper. In other words, as long as there is copper, currency can be minted. However, we have almost exhausted our copper reserves. Currently, most of the copper mines and even the existing copper are in the hands of the gentry. If we continue to promote the Zhibai coin, the gentry will definitely take out their copper to mint Zhibai coins on a large scale, leading to an oversupply of money and a shortage of goods in the market, causing prices to soar. In the end, this suffering will still be borne by the lowest-level people. According to Anguo, this is inflation."

The most critical problem with currency is anti-counterfeiting. Inadequate anti-counterfeiting measures will lead to a proliferation of counterfeit currency. The Wuzhu coin of the Han Dynasty was cast in copper and did not require much technology. The gentry could easily make it with just a glance. Therefore, continuing to promote the Zhibai coin would be tantamount to working for the gentry.

Take Huang Chengyan for example. The Huang family owns copper mines and various copper daily necessities such as copper mirrors and incense burners. As long as the imperial court continues to promote the Zhibai coin, that old fox Huang Chengyan will definitely mint all the copper he can find into copper coins and throw them into the market, thereby plundering the wealth of the people.

If people can just take some copper, make some counterfeit money, and buy whatever they want without restraint, who would bother to work hard?

With so many powerful clans in Jiangnan and Cao Wei watching closely, if they all act this way, the court's economy could be crippled in no time, ultimately turning the court and the people into laborers for the powerful clans.

Historically, Zhuge Liang dared to do this because he was forced into a corner, and also because all other places besides Bashu were enemy territory, so he didn't care about the consequences.

Historically, the reason why Sun Quan went to such lengths to issue super-large denomination currencies like Daquan Wubai and Daquan Dangqian after seizing Jingzhou was largely due to the economic warfare waged by Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang played a significant role in the economic collapse of Eastern Wu.

But now that Jiangnan belongs to the Shu Han, we can't continue like this. How can we ruin our own territory like this?

Therefore, Zhuge Liang not only did not intend to use the Zhibai coin, but also planned to completely abolish it, cutting off the hand of the aristocratic clans that harmed the common people.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei said with a mournful face, "The strategist is right. We can't keep harming the people like this, but we can't be without money either. Damn it, it seems like I've never been rich since I started my army. When will this miserable life of struggling to make ends meet end?"

"By the way, where is Anguo? He has over a thousand years of experience that surpasses ours. This little thing shouldn't be a problem for him, right? Where is he?"

Zhuge Liang said, "I must be exhausted from staying up all night. I should be asleep by now."

Liu Bei was taken aback for a moment and said unhappily, "You two haven't gone to sleep yet, but he went to sleep first. This kid has been a bit lazy lately."