Chapter 38: Sitting on the Ground

  Below the hall, Wen Wu and others gathered around Huangquan, admiring him greatly. Liu Zhang's appointment, whether as a military commander or governor, had already reached the highest level for Huangquan. Huangquan was deeply moved, and he bowed down to express his gratitude: "Huangquan is unworthy of such great trust from our lord, having risen from a low-ranking official in Langzhong to this position. I am willing to give up all my military power to help our lord restore the people's livelihood in Yizhou, and I will devote myself fully to this task, not betraying our lord's heavy trust."

  "The end will thank the master." Zhang Ren also attended and bowed down.

  "What are you two doing? Didn't I say we'd play it by ear tonight? Get lost." Liu Zhang waved his hand impatiently.

  Huang Quan and Zhang Ren exchanged a glance, and their enthusiasm vanished into thin air, retreating back to their seats with a huff.

  "This time in the battle of Fu City and Wu Xi, whether it was following the army or guarding Chengdu, there were merits and rewards. Huang Quan was promoted to Zhongzheng, in charge of the civil administration of Yizhou, Wang Fu officially took over as the commander of Chengdu, under the jurisdiction of Huang Quan, in addition to managing the people's livelihood in Chengdu, he also had to ensure that the grain, grass and military equipment stored in Chengdu were secure."

  Zhang Ren was appointed as the General of the Enclosing Army, responsible for reorganizing and training the troops in Dongzhou. Deng Xian took over Zhang Ren's position as the Director of the Imperial Guard, receiving the defense of Chengdu west of Mianzhu Pass. Yan Yan led the Western Expeditionary Force as a Lieutenant General, responsible for training Zhao Wei's surrendered soldiers. After the Battle of Fucheng, various generals such as Lei Tong, Liu Huan, Leng Qian, Yang Huai, and Gao Pei were all promoted to Colonel. Zhang Song's appointment will be discussed later. All civil and military officials left in Chengdu received a two-grade increase in salary, while the civil officials above the East City Gate of Fucheng received a five-grade increase. As for Xiaozhi and Wang Lei, they did not receive any additional rewards or titles. Do you gentlemen have any objections?

  Wang Lui's face was expressionless, Fa Zheng curled his lips, only Zhang Song had a proud look on his face, but he didn't think that he would stand out so much, and the lord had a special appointment, the other civil and military officials bowed down to thank him.

  Liu Zhang was smiling and talking, when he suddenly felt a slight headache, so he pressed his temples and rubbed his face hard with both hands to clear his mind. "Alright, the sealing is done, now I'll tell you what to do."

  Huang Quan is right, the Haotze people are unpredictable. Wang Fu, go and inform the leaders of the aristocratic families in Chengdu that half a month from now is the Ghost Festival of Western Shu. The official wants to hold a ceremony to worship heaven at Dongling Pavilion, and let the leaders of each family attend voluntarily. Also, prepare for the four subjects of imperial examination, two months later, the candidates who passed the re-examination in Jiangzhou will come to Chengdu, otherwise our questions and exam projects will be inferior to those of Jiangzhou, and we will lose face greatly.

  "Yes." Wang Fu bowed his body in response.

  "Wang Fu's words are not wrong, to forge iron one must be strong oneself. We should vigorously develop agriculture in Yizhou. Now the Central Plains are in great chaos, and the people of the three auxiliary regions are struggling to survive. Many refugees have fled to Jing and Yi provinces. Huang Quan, you must do a good job of accommodating them. The eastern part of Yizhou and the western part of Chengdu are quite desolate, you can encourage them to open up wasteland, the land they open up will be their own, and they will be exempt from taxes for three years."

  "Yes."

  "All right, let's stop here for today." Liu Zhang stood up from his seat: "There are many things to attend to, everyone can go back first, Huang Quan, Zhang Ren, Wang Fu, and Zhang Song stay behind."

  Four people followed Liu Zhang and Fa Zheng Wang Lei into the government office, seven people sat on the ground in a circle. Liu Xun heard that Liu Zhang had returned, ran out of the bedroom, shook Liu Zhang's shoulders, and said in a childish voice: "Dad, teach me to write?"

  Liu Zhang stroked Liu Xun's head and said, "Daddy is busy, can you write it yourself first?"

  Liu Xun's face fell and he walked away unhappily.

  Liu Zhang shook his head, then turned to the six of them and said: "I'm keeping you few here mainly because there's a major matter I want to discuss with you. I've decided to expand Western Shu's military forces, and after stabilizing the interior, we'll formally march out of Shu to wage war."

  Zhang Ren, Yan Yan and others were all delighted. Huang Quan and Wang Fu also had a smile of relief. The lord has finally made up his mind to participate in the struggle for hegemony among the vassals, which means it's time for them to make their mark. Zhang Song excitedly rubbed his legs, feeling indescribably thrilled in his heart. His talents would finally be put to good use.

  Liu Zhang, however, was not as excited as the others and worriedly said: "The army is leaving Shu, which involves a wide range of things. When the time comes, we will need this machine to operate fully in Western Shu. First, we need to expand the army. This matter is entrusted to Zhang Ren and Yan Yan. You should expand the current army by two to three times."

  "Yes." Zhang Ren and Yan Yulang replied loudly.

  Liu Zhang nodded and continued: "Expanding the army is a minor matter, the important thing is the problem of grain and fodder. Western Sichuan is peaceful and economically developed, but once it gets into war, the consumption of money and grain will inevitably be huge. Promoting agriculture and sericulture is necessary, but that takes too long to take effect and has little effect. My intention is to revive commerce. Currently, Chengdu's commerce is already very developed, I think relying solely on the usual goods such as silk, tea, grains, and cloth can no longer rapidly develop Chengdu's economy, new fields must be opened up."

  "Huang Quan frowned and said, 'Your Excellency, although since the time of our dynasty's Emperor Xiaowen, Chong Er proposed the policy of valuing grain highly, the status of merchants has been greatly elevated. However, landowners and nobles still regard land as their foundation, looking down on commerce, and most of the silver earned from grains and textiles is used to purchase land. They are unlikely to venture into any commercial fields.'"

  Liu Zhang nodded and said, "Gong Heng is right, so this matter must be led by the government. We will use the official funds to set up a state-run business, Wang Fu, you go back and try it out. For example, we have famous Shu brocade in Bashu, see if we can get some people to select materials, some people to spin silk, some people to weave fabric, some people to embroider flowers, and some people to be responsible for sales, then gather them together to form a handmade assembly line workshop."

  "Assembly line workshop?" Wang Fu was taken aback.

  "Don't worry about the name, as long as you understand the meaning."

  "Yes." Wang Fu replied, he barely understood Liu Zhang's meaning, but it was still unclear, and could only go back to think slowly.

  Liu Zhang continued: "However, relying solely on the pastoral government is not enough. We must mobilize the wealthy families. The wealthy families take land as their foundation and despise commerce. I have two measures that will force them to put out money for business."

  "What measures?" several people asked curiously.

  Liu Zhang smiled slightly and said: "First, Yi State implements a uniform pricing system. Each prefecture sets up an official bank, Chengdu sets up a central bank. The bank evaluates prices every quarter in the middle of the month, calculates the prices of main necessities such as oil, rice, cloth, and meat, known as the standard price. If the market price is higher than the standard price, merchants must sell at the standard price; if it's lower than the standard price, merchants can trade freely."

  "If the necessary goods such as grains and textiles are not sold, they will be purchased by the bank at a fair price. If the common people do not have money for sacrifices or funerals, they can borrow interest-free from the bank, but must return it within a limited time. Loans for production and business are also available, with annual interest rates determined by the bank. Private lending is strictly restricted, and interest rates exceeding three times that of the bank are considered illegal. The bank's funds come from allocations by the pastoral office, and it can also accept deposits from the common people."

  "Wait a minute, sir." Fa Zheng listened for a moment before suddenly interrupting, furrowing his brow and saying: "I don't think this sounds like it's going to revive commerce, but rather suppress it?"

  Others also nodded in agreement.