webnovelfull Chapter 641 Economic Blockade
Chapter 641 Economic Blockade
On the way back to Luoyang, Xu Shu's feelings were particularly complicated. He knew Liu Bei's ideals, because they had also been his ideals. However, over the years, life had worn down his edges, and he was no longer as courageous as he used to be.
He thought his life would pass by uneventfully, but after seeing Liu Bei this time, his passion, which had been dormant for many years, was rekindled, and his fighting spirit, which had been dormant for many years, was rekindled. For a moment, he really wanted to follow Liu Bei regardless of everything.
But reality ultimately triumphed over ideals, and character ultimately triumphed over impulse.
His personality is very similar to that of Liu Bei in his early years. Both of them keep their promises and are willing to do what they say. They would rather suffer a loss themselves than take advantage of others and damage their reputation. To put it bluntly, they value their reputation far more than their lives, so they keep their promises and do what they say.
He promised Liu Bei he wouldn't offer advice to Cao Cao, and he kept his word. He promised Cao Cao he wouldn't return to Liu Bei's side, and he naturally had to keep that promise as well.
The result was that emotionally he wanted to fight alongside Liu Bei, but rationally he had to keep his promise to Cao Cao. Emotion and reason were at odds, and the feeling was simply awkward.
In contrast, Liu Jun was much simpler. He secretly resolved to return to Cao Pi to report back, then resign his post and go back to his hometown to wait for Liu Bei's Northern Expedition. In Cao Wei, given his background, he could never become a prefect even if he worked himself to death, let alone anything higher. But in Han, it was different. Liu Bei had already promised to make him a king.
So for him, the future of lying down is far greater than that of striving, so why bother striving at all?
More importantly, with his uncle Liu Bei around, even if he resigned and returned to his hometown, the gentry of the Central Plains would not dare to make things difficult for him. The reason is simple: opposing Liu Bei is only a conflict of political interests, and if he loses, he can just admit defeat. But if they deal with Liu Jun, it would be a personal feud with Liu Bei, and if Liu Bei succeeds in his northern expedition, his entire family might be wiped out.
The aristocratic families were as shrewd as monkeys; how could they possibly vent their hatred for Liu Bei on Liu Jun? Not only would they not, they would try to curry favor with Liu Jun and find a way out for their own families.
Therefore, after Liu Jun resigned from his official post and returned to his hometown of Zhuojun, his life was actually better than before.
Having figured this out, Liu Jun felt completely relieved and filled with anticipation for the future.
Although Xu Shu and Liu Jun each had their own thoughts, their steps were unusually firm. After several days of trekking, they successfully returned to Luoyang. Upon entering the city, they dared not delay and immediately went to the palace to report to Cao Pi.
Inside the imperial study, after listening to the two men's reports, Cao Pi kindly comforted them, saying, "My two dear ministers, you must be tired from your long journey. Please go back and rest as soon as possible."
After seeing the two off, Cao Pi immediately ordered Zhong Yao, Liu Ye, Hua Xin, Zhao Yan, Sima Yi and other important officials to come to the palace for a meeting.
Now that Liu Bei's attitude is clear, the illusions of the Central Plains gentry have been shattered. It's time to roll up our sleeves and fight Liu Bei, but we need to come up with a plan as soon as possible.
After leaving the palace, Liu Jun went straight home to rest. He could only apply for resignation after a while. If he resigned as soon as he returned, what would Cao Wei think? You can resign, but you can't do that to their face.
Although Liu Jun was mediocre in talent, he had served as a county magistrate for many years and understood basic social etiquette.
Xu Shu was not so lucky. After leaving the palace, he went to Zhong Yao's residence to report to Zhong Yao before returning to rest.
Xu Shu's work was finished, and the others' work began.
Before long, a group of high-ranking officials appeared outside the palace and were invited into the imperial study by the waiting eunuchs. They bowed to Cao Pi and said, "Your subjects greet Your Majesty."
Cao Pi raised his hand and said, "My dear ministers, please rise. Now that Xu Shu has returned and Liu Bei's attitude is clear, shouldn't we come up with a plan on how to deal with this?"
The group exchanged glances, then stepped back, leaving Zhong Yao standing outside. The message was clear: you answer.
After a moment's thought, Zhong Yao said, "Your Majesty, I originally thought that if Liu Bei agreed to the conditions of the gentry, even if he only showed a willingness to negotiate with them, we could use this to incite dissatisfaction among the gentry in Jiangnan towards Liu Bei, causing them to fight amongst themselves and delay Liu Bei's northern expedition. Perhaps in a few years, they could wear down the aging Liu Bei to death."
"But now that Liu Bei has clearly refused, we have no choice but to adopt another approach and confront Liu Bei head-on."
"Liu Bei is currently recuperating and accumulating provisions. In three years at most, he will have enough money and provisions to launch a northern expedition. Therefore, we must not let him accumulate enough money and provisions. We must take the initiative to attack and constantly deplete his provisions so that his granaries will always be empty."
"Moreover, Longxi is in Liu Bei's hands, which is too fatal for Wei. Therefore, my suggestion is to send troops west to reclaim Longxi. Even if we cannot reclaim Longxi, we must continue to deplete the forces and supplies of the pseudo-Han through conquest, so that Liu Bei will not be able to stay at ease."
"Secondly, it's a situation where both sides suffer heavy losses. Liu Bei's supplies will be depleted, and so will the imperial court's. In such a situation, it depends on who recovers faster, or more precisely, who has a higher grain production."
"The fertile land in the Central Plains is several times that of the Jiangnan region, and it has been cultivated for many years. It is mature land that can be cultivated with a little cleaning. It is much easier than Liu Bei's land reclamation. In this respect, the imperial court has an absolute advantage. The only disadvantage is agricultural tools. As long as new agricultural tools are promoted like Liu Bei's, the imperial court's grain production will definitely be higher than Liu Bei's."
"Therefore, I suggest that we encourage the gentry to build factories, just like Liu Bei did. Let them build all the steel mills and paper mills they can. I have already discovered a large number of coal mines in Bingzhou and a large number of iron mines in Jizhou. The quality of the minerals is much higher than that of the pseudo-Han. As long as construction begins, the weapons and agricultural tools produced will definitely be of better quality than those of the pseudo-Han."
It is worth mentioning that as Liu Bei made steelmaking technology public, the Imperial Academy successfully bribed and kidnapped many blacksmiths in Jiangnan, and had figured out the core technology of steelmaking.
The Central Plains are a vast and resource-rich land with a wealth of talent. Once you understand one link, you can deduce the entire technological chain. Therefore, the steelmaking technology that Cao Wei sought but could not obtain back then is no longer a secret to Cao Wei.
Furthermore, Cao Cao unified the Central Plains as early as the twelfth year of Jian'an (208 AD) and launched the Battle of Red Cliffs in the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208 AD). This means that the Central Plains had been unified for fourteen or fifteen years. After so many years of stable development, its economy was far superior to that of the newly unified and dilapidated Jiangnan region.
Moreover, the wealth and cultural heritage of the Central Plains gentry far surpassed that of the rural gentry of Jiangnan. If they were to invest heavily in building factories, the funds they would use would be several times that of the Jiangnan gentry.
Cao Pi listened quietly, and only asked after Zhong Yao finished speaking, "Is there anything else?"
After a short rest, Zhong Yao continued, "Furthermore, while the imperial court has an advantage over the pseudo-Han in terms of grain and steel, it is at a disadvantage in commodities such as papermaking, textiles, and even salt. It has no tea at all. Moreover, the Imperial Secretariat reported that Liu Shan, the crown prince of the pseudo-Han, has produced some kind of red and white sugar. Liu Bei definitely wants to sell these things to exchange for money and grain. Since he wants to sell them, he needs to find buyers. The best buyers in the world today are in the Central Plains."
"According to the pseudo-Han, the Central Plains is the biggest dumping ground for their goods. Dumping goods—who came up with this new term? It's quite apt, of course. But that's not the point. The point is that we absolutely cannot allow Liu Bei to use these rubbish things to exchange for the court's money and grain, and then use that money and grain to attack the court. Therefore, this old minister suggests sealing off the border and prohibiting the flow of goods between the two sides. The Central Plains should not buy or sell pseudo-Han goods, and pseudo-Han should not even think about buying or selling the court's goods. Anyone who violates this rule will be punished for aiding the enemy."
To put it bluntly, it was an economic blockade. The Central Plains were still in the self-sufficient agricultural era, so the economic blockade didn't have much impact on the people, and they could easily survive.