Chapter 51 Mi Zhu Visits Liao The city of Xiangping was bustling with people and traffic. The cities that are chosen as county seats have all gone through countless careful considerations and are the core of a county. Although Wen County was well managed, it was far from comparable to Xiangping in terms of geographical location and strategic significance. Therefore, Tian Ze shifted the focus of development here. Based on the original water transport route, a new waterway was opened along the Liaohe River directly to Xiangping, and the Xiangping Wharf was built on the edge of Xiangping City. Mi Zhu was escorting a shipload of food, preparing to dock. He held onto the side of the ship, looking at the bustling Xiangping wharf not far away, his eyes revealing a hint of contemplation and inquiry. "Brother, we're finally here. The journey to Xiangping is really long. Although it's much faster to take the water route, it still took us nearly half a month." Mi Fang complained as he stretched his muscles, which had become stiff from the long boat ride. "I have to say, the sea ships from Liaodong are really good, fast and stable. If we were to escort them here by ourselves, it would probably take one or two months." Mi Fang couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the large ships around him, which were very different in style from the ships in the Central Plains. "It's a pity that Liaodong is unwilling to sell it, otherwise we can buy some, and it will be much more convenient to do business in Jiangdong in the future." After talking for a while, Mi Zhu did not respond, so Mi Fang could not help but ask curiously: "Brother, what are you thinking about?" "Oh, I was wondering why Liaodong needs such a large amount of food." Mi Zhu just casually glanced at the waterlines of the major merchant ships and knew that most of the ships were loaded with food.
"What's so strange about this? The drought has been severe in the past two years, and Liaodong has not been spared. It is normal to purchase more food." Mi Fang responded. Mi Zhu looked at Mi Fang and shook his head gently, with a look of disappointment in his eyes. His younger brother was too shallow and impulsive, so it was impossible for him to achieve great things. Otherwise, he would not have been with him all these years, but would have been sent out to take charge of his own affairs. "It is true that Liaodong has suffered from severe drought in the past two years, but the new Liaodong governor Tian Ze is no ordinary person. As soon as he took office, he completely eliminated more than 90% of the powerful people in the county. Just think about it, how much grain these powerful people have accumulated?" Upon hearing this, Mi Fang was stunned and began to ponder over it secretly. "No need to calculate. I have already done some research. Liaodong is now carrying out large-scale construction projects in various places. Millions of dan of grain have been distributed, which is enough for at least one year's food for the people of the entire county." "Moreover, I have observed along the way that crops have been planted in farmlands everywhere, and they are growing well. Canals and reservoirs are being built everywhere, and Liaodong should have a bumper harvest this year. This governor of Liaodong is truly a man of character." After hearing what Mi Zhu said, Mi Fang suddenly realized. The powerful people in a county have accumulated wealth for dozens or even hundreds of years, and the amount of grain they have stored must be an astronomical figure. In addition, as Mi Zhu just said, the grain reserves in Liaodong should be extremely abundant. Just as Mi Zhu said, just by suppressing the local tyrants in Liaodong County, Tianze harvested nearly 10 million shi of grain. This huge number made Tian Ze gasp when he heard about it for the first time, because this amount of grain was enough to feed the entire Liaodong people for more than two years. Moreover, this did not include the millions of rotten grains in the granaries of the powerful. The powerful would rather let these grains rot than distribute them or sell them at a fair price to the people of Liaodong. When Tian Ze saw with his own eyes that the door of the powerful man's warehouse was open, filled with rotten grain and a large number of abnormally fat rats, he had a more intuitive and concrete understanding of the saying "The rich have wine and meat, while the poor freeze to death on the streets." For these greedy tyrants, it doesn’t matter how many people starve to death, as long as the number does not exceed a certain limit, the more people who starve to death, the better for them. For them, natural disasters were like a feast, allowing them to plunder the people's fields and property at will and recruit more households and slaves. Although they have plenty of food, they would rather let the food go moldy in order to hoard it and sell it at a high price. The imperial court's disaster relief money and grain were not much to begin with, and most of them fell into their pockets through various means. It was considered good enough if 10% of them could be distributed to the people. After eliminating this group of rats, Tian Ze completely controlled Liaodong and won the hearts of the people, but his reputation in the world also ruined. In the eyes of local aristocratic families and powerful people, Tian Ze has become a running dog of foreign relatives, and his notoriety for being cruel, violent, and harmful to the country and the people has spread throughout the northern border and the Central Plains.
Countless pedantic scholars who did not know the truth followed suit and said that Liaodong had become a place in dire straits, with the people living in misery. They were afraid that it would not be long before it would be invaded by foreign races. There were quite a few common people and officials who believed this. If it weren't for He Jin, Zhao Zhong and others, the court would have been piled up with impeachment memorials. This shows the power of the aristocratic families to control public opinion. Moreover, this was when there were no aristocratic families in Liaodong. If Tian Ze attacked an aristocratic family, I'm afraid even He Jin and Zhao Zhong would not be able to stop him. Tian Ze did not regret the backlash. He confiscated the wealth of the powerful and kept only 70%, handed over 20% to the court as taxes, and gave half to He Jin and Zhao Zhong respectively. In this way, the matter was over, and Tian Ze was appreciated by the emperor. Apart from his bad reputation, he suffered no other losses, and by the way, he was exempted from taxes and labor service in Liaodong for three years. In this era, the powerful families ultimately hold the power of discourse. Regardless of whether something is right or wrong, as long as it harms their interests, black can be said to be white. Anything that benefits the people and consolidates the foundation of the country can be said to be competing with the people for profit. Tian Ze is not Cao Cao. His background and foundation are not as solid as those of Cao Cao. He cannot gain reputation by suppressing eunuchs and powerful people without scruples. Now I can get away with it safely, with only my reputation damaged, which is a good result. If it were someone without a backer, he would have been dismissed from his post, investigated, and died in the wilderness long ago. But a bad reputation is still a reputation, and in the eyes of some knowledgeable people and people who have been to Liaodong, Tian Ze is a hero with great talent and a kind heart. No matter how much people smear on them, the smiles on the faces of the people in Liaodong are real, the prosperous and lively scene in Liaodong is real, and the crops growing in the vast fertile fields in Liaodong are also real. Although they did not dare to speak openly for Tian Ze, justice is in the hearts of the people, and they and the people of Liaodong have a scale in their hearts. This is the case with Mi Zhu. Although it was his first time in Liaodong, he was already familiar with the situation here. As the richest man in the area around Xuzhou, there were many merchants around him who went to Liaodong, so it was easy for him to get information. "Liaodong is not short of food, but this Governor Tian has been buying large quantities of food at high prices." Mi Zhu muttered to himself. Two years of severe drought have caused grain prices in the Central Plains to continue to rise. In many places, grain prices have reached nearly 1,000 coins per stone. The reason why so many merchants were willing to travel thousands of miles to sell grain to Liaodong was, on the one hand, because Tian Ze provided sea vessels traveling between Liaodong and Xuzhou at a low price, and on the other hand, because the price of grain purchased in Liaodong was relatively high, reaching 1,200 coins. Such a huge profit margin with almost no risk is enough to drive ordinary businessmen crazy. Even Mi Zhu couldn't help but come to Liaodong in person to find out what was going on. "Could it be that this Governor Tian is planning a rebellion?" Mi Fang pondered for a long time and said in disbelief. The corners of Mi Zhu's eyes twitched slightly, and he calmed himself down a little. My dear brother! My dear brother! It’s okay to be a little stupid. "Do you think this Governor Tian would be so stupid? To rebel against the Han and establish his own regime in Liaodong where there are enemies on all sides?" Mi Zhu asked helplessly. Liaodong was surrounded by various forces such as the Xianbei, Wuhuan, Goguryeo, and Buyeo. If it had not been for the support of the Central Plains, it would have been divided up long ago. The imperial court never worried about the growth of Liaodong, but only worried that Liaodong could not hold on. "Why is that?" "I don't know either. This Governor Tian is really not a simple person!" Mi Zhu looked at the dock again, with an indescribable meaning in his tone. As an outstanding businessman, Mi Zhu is not only good at investing and seizing opportunities, but also has a keen eye for numbers.
After only a preliminary understanding of Liaodong's output and revenue, he noticed something unusual. Liaodong's data in all aspects seemed unusually large. Its inventory is rich, and most of them are processed items, and there are also many luxury goods. There must be a large-scale workshop behind it to support it, but it is hidden very cleverly, and no one has been able to find any clues so far. The profits were huge, but they were mostly exchanged for food and war horses. It seemed that other things in the Central Plains had no appeal to Liaodong. For example, meat, fruits, vegetables and daily necessities had all been self-sufficient. Although they recruited a large number of refugees, there was no chaos. All the refugees were properly resettled, the originally desolate villages were once again full of life, and the checkpoints and forts in various places were renovated and looked brand new. The number of soldiers under his command is huge, but most of them are well-trained elite soldiers, not ordinary soldiers. Anyone who can achieve any of these can be called a capable minister, which shows Tian Ze's outstanding ability in governing a region. But when these things are combined, they seem unusual. (End of this chapter)
