Chapter 7068 Historical Process

Chapter 7068 Historical Process
Just as Liu Tong and Si Niang were chatting idly, Xin Xianying bowed to Liu Tong. Liu Tong glanced at Xin Xianying and, before she could say anything, teased her with a smile, "Xianying, what are you doing going back and forth like this? Why don't you sit here and have a meal with us? Anyway, we can't possibly finish all this food. You're not a maid; you're a high-ranking official, the Grand Chamberlain. Why are you running around like this?"

The Grand Chamberlain in the palace held a real position with a salary of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain). The Grand Chamberlain's assistant was the Grand Chamberlain's deputy, also holding a real position with a salary of 600 shi. Since Liu Tong did not officially appoint the Grand Chamberlain, Xin Xianying, as the Grand Chamberlain's assistant, was essentially an attendant and the Grand Chamberlain himself.

As the Grand Master of Ceremonies said, although the Regent Princess was an option, this option would cause problems with a series of rituals involving the emperor. At the same time, without an emperor, it would be difficult to arrange many official positions in the inner palace.

Furthermore, Liu Tong himself is not the legitimate heir. Even with Tang Muyi and some of his own old men, it is still very different from the situation in the Crown Prince's Palace, which has a whole reserve of personnel. Liu Tong and Tang Muyi's team is fine for running one or two counties, but to be honest, it is not very convenient to use them in the palace.

From a certain perspective, Liu Tong's ability to accept Zhang Chunhua and Xin Xianying as his personal attendants shows that he realized he lacked leadership qualities, and because of her gender, such attendants had to be female.

Therefore, suitable candidates are naturally few and far between. Moreover, there are many matters to be dealt with within the palace. Since ancient times, being able to be given a substantive post with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), is enough to illustrate the importance of this responsibility. So, to ensure stability, the person appointed must be an outstanding talent.

In other words, during the period when Liu Tong was acting as emperor, this position needed to be filled by a woman with sufficient ability to perform a real job at the level of two thousand shi (a unit of grain measure).

This is very difficult; there are very few suitable candidates in the entire world.

To put it bluntly, why would a woman with such ability need to work as Liu Tong's assistant? Wouldn't it be easier to manage if she were the mistress of a noble family, without Liu Tong as her "mother-in-law"?

Therefore, the position of Grand Chamberlain was difficult to handle from the beginning, because this position truly allowed entry and exit from the harem. Even though Liu Tong's harem currently only has one person, there are some precedents that cannot be set. If they are, it could easily lead to a major incident!

That's why Zhang Chunhua and Xin Xianying had the opportunity to become the chief clerks, since this position couldn't be given to a novice or a man, which would be very difficult.

Although Zhang Chunhua and Xin Xianying are young, they are both quite intelligent. Even if they are inexperienced, they can be put to use after a little training after entering the palace. After suffering a loss twice, they know how to deal with the situation.

After all, they are gifted individuals with exceptional mental abilities, and they are capable of keeping their husbands, who are considered top figures in their families, firmly under their control. They are quite skilled at managing a household.

It's quite obvious that neither of them can last long. Zhang Chunhua worked for two years and then got married. Xin Xianying worked for three years and it looks like she's getting married soon too. Judging from Xin Xianying's recent behavior, Liu Tong knows that she won't last long. It's time to find a new person again. He scratches his head.

However, since the other party was about to step down, and had indeed done a good job in the past few years, taking on a lot of work for her, Liu Tong was naturally happy to help her a few times before Xin Xianying stepped down.

For example, the simplest way is to give Chen Zichuan a look and let him find a way to follow Li You's route to transfer Yang Dan from Jincheng or somewhere else back to Chang'an, let him be a leisurely official in the capital for a while, go on his honeymoon, and then send Yang Dan to the coastal area to be a prefect or something.

This arrangement was indeed something Liu Tong fought for for Xin Xianying. Chen Xi's original plan was to transfer Yang Dan back to Chang'an as a minor official to build connections, and then transfer him to the Dongzhou region of Sichuan to work on education and poverty alleviation for a few years, accumulate some merit, and then see if he could take the path of becoming a high-ranking official. If he could persevere, he might be able to get close to becoming a high-ranking official.

However, Liu Tong's point was that it would indeed be difficult to develop Yangdan in places like Dongzhou in Sichuan. Even if Yangdan had connections in those areas, they were too remote, had no local specialties, and couldn't get resources from other places. Even with a powerful backer, it still wouldn't be able to develop. It would be better to develop in coastal areas like Yangzhou, Xuzhou, Qingzhou, and Liaodong, where development would be easier.

After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, representing Jiangdong, conquered Southeast Asia, the biggest beneficiaries were actually the coastal areas of the Han Dynasty. From Jiaozhou to Liaodong, as long as they were coastal, they could still benefit from Southeast Asia. From a certain perspective, as long as Sun Ce and Zhou Yu didn't do anything too reckless and directly confront Chang'an, the officials in those places would naturally speak well of them.

After all, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were sending ships full of various goods to the ports in these coastal areas for trade, which was a political achievement that came out of thin air.

Reality is not a game. In a game, you can take everything and kick people away, but in reality, with its enormous benefits, as long as you're still a living person, you can't just say you only want the benefits and ignore everything else.

To put it bluntly, the iron ore transported by Zhou Yu's seventy-odd large ships in each round was enough to greatly boost the port of Donglai, naturally leading to the construction of a series of ancillary industries and greatly driving the local industrialization process.

Based on this alone, it would be perfectly reasonable for the governor of Donglai to raise the banner of support and say a few good words to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu when it did not violate any principles.

Not to mention the livestock feed processing plants in Liaodong. It would be absurd to say that Liu Yu's large ranch there was so prosperous without the help of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. Without their help, the carrying capacity of Liu Yu's ranch would not have reached a million, and the output of Liaodong would have been a problem if he wanted to produce feed.

It's not that it's not enough, but if Liu Yu wants to use such a large amount of grain for feed, he has to use up his reserves. For this scale, Liu Yu has to go through Chen Xi's side. And Chen Xi's stabilization warehouse is the kind of thing that guarantees a minimum. Even if Chen Xi approves it out of consideration for Liu Yu, he will definitely not give Liaodong three super-large ranches with a capacity of one million!

The carrying capacity and climate conditions in Liaodong are insufficient to support three of these things under the current level of animal husbandry. Even if Chen Xi releases a portion of the grain reserves for Liu Yu to use, it can only accommodate a million-level ranch competing with the locals for food at most!
However, after Jiangdong was acquired, although Cai Mao was nominally selling grain, in reality the entire Jiangdong region was selling grain. With the output of Southeast Asia, a mere million-level ranch was nothing. As long as Liu Yu was willing to build feed processing plants powered by tidal forces and the essence of heaven and earth, it would not be a problem to create three more million-level ranches in Liaodong alone.

To put it bluntly, the total population of Youzhou during the reign of Emperor Huan was 247.3 million. After the turmoil and invasions by the Wuhuan and Xianbei, as well as the great battle between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, the population dropped to more than 1.7 million. Later, when the Yuan family and the Gongsun family migrated, they took another group of people with them. By the time of Yuanfeng, the population of this place was only around 1.4 million.

Now the population has recovered significantly. Considering Liu Yu's own naturalized Hu people, Youzhou currently has a total of 2.3 million people, a net increase of 70% in ten years. Then there's something terrifying: Youzhou is divided into Liaodong and Liaoxi. Liaodong used to have a relatively small population, but now it has three ranches with a population of one million each!

In other words, the ratio of livestock to people in Liaodong was an exaggerated four to one.

So Liaodong is now starting to absorb the population of Liaoxi. From a certain perspective, this can be seen as a reflection of the first-mover advantage of the coastal areas. Liu Yu's large ranch is currently researching how to feed the animals without grass, relying entirely on feed with fish bone meal and the like. This is because the Wuhuan Su clan, who have become naturalized under Liu Yu, have discovered something outrageous: grass grows slowly and wastes time, so it's better to feed them feed directly. Although feed is more expensive than grass, it saves manpower!
Undoubtedly, this is also a reflection of the natural trend of industrialization towards efficiency. In short, Liu Yu's ranch currently relies entirely on feed from Southeast Asia, and if this problem can be completely solved in the future, the number of large ranches in Liaodong will only increase.

This is why Liu Yu often secretly aided Gongsun Xu. Liu Yu was genuinely wealthy. Even though those three large ranches didn't entirely belong to him, the fact that they were registered under his name spoke volumes.

Incidentally, all the surviving members of the Liu family knew about Liu Yu's aid to Gongsun Xu, and Liu Yu basically made it clear that he was the one who provided the aid. When asked, he would say that he and Gongsun Xu had a very close personal relationship, but their methods were different. They were both for the sake of the country, and everyone went to extremes back then.

It was precisely because of the large ranch that Liu Yu was very generous when he provided Gongsun Xu with warhorses, cattle, and sheep. After all, he was truly confident. Did he even understand what a level of over a million meant? That was a level that the Yuan family had been trying to figure out for over a decade.

However, Liu Yu was able to reach this level entirely thanks to Jiangdong. After all, in Liaodong, relying on pasture, even the high-end pasture specially made by Quqi was out of the question, as it was too much trouble.

In addition, the two regions of Jiaozhou and Yangzhou need no further explanation. Sun Ce's faction was of great help to the Han Dynasty, saving Chen Xi countless time and energy, and was a booster for the Han Dynasty's animal husbandry, heavy industry, and the happiness of the people.

Without these advantages, given Zhou Yu's habit of demanding kickbacks and rebates from Chen Xi every time he came, he would have been punished long ago.

Value! Development!

Liu Tong didn't understand these things very well, but he had read many reports and knew that the prefects along the coast were developing very well. This was not only due to the prefects' abilities, but also to the broader historical context and the support from Jiangdong.

After all, with eighty leaders in Jiangdong, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu led the fleet to take the lion's share, sending iron and copper ore to Donglai and fruit to Yangzhou and Jiaozhou. Cai Mao, the smaller leader, led his own fleet to send feed and grain to Liaodong. As for the remaining seventy-eight leaders, they naturally sold whatever they could get their hands on. Spices and dried fruits were able to reach ordinary people's homes and workshops, all thanks to these many Jiangdong leaders.

A few boatloads of fruit might not seem like much to Jiaozhou and Yangzhou, but for a coastal county with a small port, it's a considerable amount. Even if it's intermittent, setting up a wholesale market would be a respectable business, a windfall!
Similarly, there are also scattered ores, spices, and the like. These are of little use to large state-owned enterprises with a point-to-point approach, but for some ambitious counties, why not take this free merit? It's a win-win situation, right?
Therefore, it's understandable why the Jiangdong aristocratic families cursed Zhou Yu as a dog and a donkey, completely inhuman, and said he would cut off 100% of their resources, yet they still followed Zhou Yu.

With Zhou Yu leading the team, they could enjoy the soup even if they couldn't eat large pieces of meat!

Putting aside other things, Zhang Zhao's Zhang family harvested lemongrass in Southeast Asia, which was a risk-free business. This kind of thing naturally grows on the islands there. The Zhang family had nothing to do all year, so they harvested a whole boatload and then drifted along the continental shelf to the Central Plains to sell it.

Will Zhou Yu intervene?
Zhou Yu wouldn't; he simply couldn't be bothered!
Even if lemongrass is sold cheaply, at five coins per pound, three thousand tons would be worth thirty million...

Isn't this great? It's free, so just enjoy the benefits.

Therefore, opposing Zhou Yu was also a business for the Jiangdong aristocratic families. It was mainly about opposing exploitation, not about actually overthrowing Zhou Yu. After all, if Zhou Yu were really overthrown, who would help them get some benefits?

Another thing is selling volcanic ash, which is phosphate and potash fertilizer. There are many volcanic islands in Southeast Asia that produce this stuff. The Lei Jitai of the Han Dynasty solved the nitrogen fertilizer problem. With phosphate and potash fertilizer, the yield can be even more explosive. This stuff is cheap, but it is shoveled directly. And like the stuff mentioned above, it is easy to sell.

These things are yours once you find them. There are also sago, coconuts, pineapples, and other things. Everyone does their own thing, and Zhou Yu doesn't care at all. The Jiangdong families can bring them to the coast and sell them themselves, making whatever profit they can. Zhou Yu doesn't care about that either.

This was incredibly satisfying for the powerful families of Jiangdong.

This is why, despite the chaos within the Jiangdong aristocratic families, they didn't actually intend to rebel against Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. After all, Sun Ce had granted them fiefdoms, and Zhou Yu had given them opportunities to benefit from them. However, if these two had to choose one to rebel against, they would choose Zhou Yu!
Chen Xi roughly understood these things. After all, some small local factories in coastal counties were constantly producing Southeast Asian specialties, which meant that they were developing together.

Considering that this kind of thing is entirely beneficial, Chen Xi didn't bother to care. He rewarded all those who could develop in this way. It can be said that in the eastern coastal areas, officials who benefited from the advantages of maritime transport could basically advance to a higher level within three to five years as long as they did not accept bribes and focused on development.

Of course, this is not due to the abilities of these bureaucrats, but rather to the development and support of the times. If you really want to see the abilities of bureaucrats, you have to look at those difficult regions. After all, anyone can take off by taking advantage of the times and the opportunities. Therefore, Chen Xi will still assign these bureaucrats who came from the east to try out the central and western regions to see their true talents.

Therefore, regarding Yang Dan, Chen Xi thought it best to start with the difficult tasks first and then move to the easier ones. After all, having worked his way up in a place like Dongzhou in Sichuan, he would have accumulated experience and achievements before going to the eastern coast. Moreover, since his roots were in Liangzhou and Sichuan, even if someone checked his records later, it would at least prove that he had indeed been tempered in a difficult region, which was a plus. However, Liu Tong was mainly transferred to Xuzhou, and Chen Xi agreed after thinking about it.

We can always make up for it later.

Liu Tong wasn't a very discreet person, especially with those around him. After settling the matter, he directly told Xin Xianying, congratulated her on her marriage, and remembered to ask her to find him another chief charioteer.

In other words, from that time on, Liu Tong no longer treated Xin Xianying as an attendant, but as his junior. However, Xin Xianying was a steady person. Although she had a side that was not known to others, she still paid attention to these details. At the very least, she did her job diligently. Yang Dan had not been transferred yet, and she had not stepped down, so she was still doing the work of the Grand Chamberlain.

Therefore, when faced with Liu Tong's words, Xin Xianying simply smiled and indicated that she was bound by duty and could not do so. Then, she solemnly said to Liu Tong, "Your Highness, General Huangfu's carriage has arrived outside Weiyang Palace. Marquis Shangxiang has come to request an audience."

Liu Tong was taken aback upon hearing this, and then looked at Xin Xianying.

"The General was also in the carriage, but he did not get out. Only the Marquis of Shangxiang came up the steps to request an audience." Xin Xianying told Liu Tong everything she had seen.

"General?" Liu Tong raised his hand, smoothed the strands of hair that fell from his ear, his eyes filled with thought, and then glanced at the scene in the round mirror out of the corner of his eye, vaguely making some guesses.

"Please invite Marquis Shangxiang into the hall. Xianying, go and invite the Grand General in as well." Liu Tong thought for a while and felt that according to this speculation, she should play a trick on the Grand General. After all, the Grand General already had five of the Nine Bestowments, and he had also hinted that he wanted her to take back some of the Nine Bestowments. So it was indeed necessary to bring him into Weiyang Palace.

When Xin Xianying came out again, it was snowing. Kou Feng stood outside the eaves, standing straight, completely ignoring the snowflakes falling on him.

"Lord Shangxiang, please wait a moment. His Highness invites the General to come in with you." Xin Xianying said calmly, bowing to Kou Feng before slowly walking down the rightmost step.

When the door was knocked and Xin Xianying said that Liu Tong had invited him to Weiyang Palace, Huangfu Song, who was resting with his eyes closed inside the carriage waiting for his grandson-in-law to return, was stunned for a moment. Then a bitter look appeared on his face, but just like twenty years ago, he flicked his wide sleeves and stepped down from the grand carriage.

The author is finished, sigh.