Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1269: Chapter 1223: The Fragile Feudal Era

As the generals under Liu Bei gradually moved to their respective defense zones, the large number of generals and soldiers originally stationed in Ye City also began to leave one after another.

In the end, even the civil officials gradually started to follow the army’s departure, and the once army-surrounded Ye City became much quieter; however, the city itself became even more prosperous.

The withdrawal of many military camps and the departure of a large number of soldiers ended Ye City’s military governance, and the city, once desolate due to war, once again regained its former popularity.

Being one of the most prosperous cities in the North, with grain supplies assured and the introduction of more suitable trade policies, commercial prosperity drove the overall prosperity of the city.

However, overall, Ye City could not quite reach the level of commercial prosperity that had already suppressed agriculture in Fenggao. From the beginning, the positioning of both places was different: Fenggao’s positioning was as the national commercial center, whereas Ye City’s positioning was as the northern military strategic stronghold.

In the Feudal Era, when manpower could not completely detach from the land, it was unlikely for too many commercial centers like Fenggao to emerge in the world. The national policy of emphasizing agriculture over commerce during this era had a certain rationale.

If basic needs like food and clothing couldn’t be met, even fundamental resources would become problematic in terms of commercial flow. Therefore, Chen Xi wouldn’t expect to establish a second national commercial center now. Even if there were continuous clamor, Chen Xi would not agree.

”Who proposed the amendment of Ye City’s commercial tax this time?” Chen Xi squinted at Jia Xu; last time he didn’t make him accountable, but this time he should give an explanation.

”This counts as the demands of Ye City’s merchants, and we have also mobilized a lot of scholars from Jizhou in this area. After all, the changes in Mount Tai Commandery indeed greatly increased our tax revenue.” Jia Xu did not dare to block Chen Xi’s words this time.

”Oh, in essence, it’s the demands of Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Jizhou?” Chen Xi raised an eyebrow. Demands from the merchants of Jizhou? What a joke; if Chen Xi sides with the demands of Jizhou’s people, other provinces will likely also emerge claiming they have similar needs.

”Indeed.” Jia Xu nodded silently.

It was indeed a mutual demand from all the governing provinces. The trade tax, although clearly beneficial for small merchants, was even more advantageous for big merchants supported by the Money Exchange!

But there was a major issue in this: transporting goods to Fenggao from thousands of miles away. It would have been better to do it nearby. The issue was that under Liu Bei’s governance, only Fenggao had such a system, and other provinces and counties did not fully implement Fenggao’s trade taxes.

This is actually a problem of local and central economies. Naturally, Chen Xi aimed to develop local strength by solidifying the central government as the premise and manipulated local governance with political and economic means as much as possible.

He absolutely did not want the situation where local power grew too large to handle, much like the Governor and Regional Inspector at the end of the Han dynasty. The governing power must reside in central hands to have a unified country!

If each region had independent military and political powers, even if they united under the central leadership, could that still be considered a unified empire? A federation and an empire are completely different; to be called a unified empire, the central government must at least have the power to overpower the combined forces of all local entities.

”Since you know all this, why do these matters still reach me?” Chen Xi looked at Jia Xu discontentedly, surprised that the always dependable Jia Xu would now be adding to his troubles.

”Because I feel there is some validity to what they are saying.” Jia Xu stared straight at Chen Xi and said, ”The tax revenue from Mount Tai Commandery can almost rival that of Jizhou, the leader of the Nine Provinces, and money is very important to us.”

”Given the current situation, hardly ten percent of our governed populace is entirely liberated from the land.” Chen Xi expressed his helplessness; even sages like Jia Xu could not break free from the shackles of history, and there was really nothing he could do about it.

”Indeed, about one-tenth of our governed populace isn’t engaged in production.” Jia Xu nodded in agreement, as they had also conducted such assessments; the remaining ninety percent were basically engaged in farming.

”Among these, excluding merchants from aristocratic families and those serving them, about seventy percent remain.” Chen Xi felt it necessary to clarify with Jia Xu that nothing is achieved overnight. If a nationwide implementation of trade taxes could solve problems, Chen Xi would have changed them long ago.

Jia Xu slightly calculated the population and nodded, indicating agreement.

”About fifty percent of the professionals are our people, whether they are first-line veterans, low-level officials, or Tuntian Soldiers, they should be included among them.” Chen Xi sighed.

”The remaining twenty percent are mostly craftsmen with skills to support themselves; that is why I do not enlist soldiers easily and also why I don’t promote trade taxes.” Chen Xi shrugged as he spoke, ”Ninety percent of the populace is still struggling for the land, and commerce has reached its peak at this point.”

”In other words, to maximize tax revenue now, what we should do is reduce the number of people needed to support one person from the original nine to eight, or less.” Jia Xu furrowed his brow as he spoke, thankful he could understand what Chen Xi was getting at.

”In the past, it required about fifteen or sixteen people to support one non-producer, which is why I always said Hanmou was very important.” Chen Xi sighed, this era was just an abyss, and what can you do about it?

The forced increase in non-producers would result in the populace being in misery, and if there aren’t enough strong adults, that’s a significant problem; this era was a true pitfall, with even food running short, and you still wish to develop commerce and increase taxes? Ensure the people are well-fed first!

”Therefore, according to my estimates, even if we promote the new farming method across the country and further increase the number of non-producers, the world could only support two more trading posts.” Chen Xi had seriously considered this aspect.

No choice, rather than having a shortage of materials due to an excess of merchants, it was better to make early restrictions, allowing materials to be plentiful while stabilizing the number of major trading merchants to a reasonable level. Although this was not conducive to commercial flow, it was much easier to manage.

Incidentally, even in later generations, certain trades could never be entirely handed over to individuals. As for now, the number of merchants involved in major trades has not yet reached the limit.

”Is that so?” Jia Xu barely grasped Chen Xi’s thoughts, ”It seems I hadn’t considered it thoroughly; however, where are the other two trading points you choose?”

”One is in Luoyang, and as for the other, I haven’t decided whether to place it in Jiangling, Xiangyang, or Wancheng.” Chen Xi was a bit hesitant, ”Actually, if we could capture the Central Plains, I envision establishing a trading post there as well.”

Jia Xu silently remembered these places, especially that offshore location, intending to prepare and claim territory at a later time. That indeed was the real goose that lays the golden egg.