When I was in Qin Dynasty, I really didn't want to make progress

Paper is just a useless thing for ordinary people, but it is a great treasure for Confucianism and other schools of thought. Yang Chong appeared in Lixia City, the southernmost city in Jibei County, just to wait for the Confucianists to come.

Not long ago, Yang Chong sent a copy of the Analects bound in paper to the Confucian Small Sage Manor. Yang Chong didn't need to do anything, as the Confucian people were already eager to do business with him.

Now that paper has been marketed, the next step is to market liquor. There is no shortage of markets for liquor in the Yan and Zhao areas, and even in the Wolf Tribe and Donghu areas further north, liquor can be sold at a higher price.

In Yang Chong's plan, the sales of liquor in Zhao State should be controlled by Guo Kai, and in Yan State, it should be controlled by Yan Chunjun. Both of them were very greedy and had a great interest in money, so they could be considered suitable partners.

As for why Yang Chong did not open stores in various countries himself, the reason is very simple: he did not have that much energy.

Of course, he could make more money by opening shops in various countries, and he wouldn't have to feed Guo Kai and Yan Chunjun, two greedy guys, but it would take up a lot of Yang Chong's energy, and human energy is limited, and Yang Chong is no exception.

In Yang Chong's memory, in the Western world at the same time, there was a special tax system called the tax farming system.

The so-called tax farming system means that because a country's administrative system is not so developed, it is more troublesome to collect taxes. In order to change this situation, the rulers created a compromise tax system, which is the so-called tax farming system.

That is, the whole country will be divided into tax zones, and then a preliminary estimate of the tax in this area will be made. Then, based on this amount, it will be subcontracted out to the tax contractor to collect the tax. The amount of tax that can be collected depends on the contractor's ability.

This system was certainly not very good, as it was easy for tax farmers to levy excessive taxes, but it was a very suitable means for rulers to obtain the most sufficient taxes with the least effort.

For Yang Chong, the same is true for cooperating with Guo Kai and Yan Chunjun. Although the two are greedy, they can save Yang Chong a lot of energy.

As for how much money the two of them would make in the process, Yang Chong didn't care. He just wanted to get his share. Besides, no matter how much money the two of them made, it was not certain who would benefit in the end.

As for how to sell the salt, Yang Chong also has his own plan. Han has Han Fei, Wei cannot intervene for the time being, but Zhao has Queen Zhao, who is the partner chosen by Yang Chong for himself.

Why didn't Yang Chong cooperate with King Yan of Zhao? Who would cooperate with a king who would die next year? On the contrary, the Queen of Zhao would be promoted to Queen Mother of Zhao next year and become the most powerful person in Zhao, and this power would continue until the demise of Zhao.

Yang Chong doesn't want to waste such a big asset.

But the Queen Mother...is there something wrong with this identity? Yang Chong thought strangely.

Zi Nu did not notice the strange look that flashed across Yang Chong's face. She looked towards the dock in front of her. In the middle of the Ji River, a ship had appeared. It was a Confucian ship.

Chapter 198 Big Business

On the Ji River, there was a boat coming from the southeast, but the people on the boat were not Huang Gai, and Yang Chong was not Cao Cao. There was no intrigue between them, only sincerity in doing business.

Compared to big rivers, the Ji River is not very wide, so the Confucian boat quickly stopped at the dock. Two people, one big and one small, walked out of the cabin. The older one was about thirty years old, or maybe a little older. He had a white face and no beard, and was as gentle as jade. However, there was a restrained light in his eyes. He was a rare master.

The other one was a boy who was no more than ten years old. Although he pretended to be mature, his round face exposed his real age. He was still a child.

Two people, one big and one small, came onto the dock and looked at the two people waiting on the dock at the same time.

"What a beautiful sister." The boy's eyes fell on the woman in purple. He felt that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but he couldn't say how beautiful she was. Now he could only distinguish between beauty and ugliness, but not the differences and similarities between beauty. By the time he could distinguish them, it would mean that he had grown up.

"Yang Chong? He is indeed extraordinary, worthy of being the one that farmers care about." When the boy looked at the woman in purple, the man's gaze was on the man next to the woman in purple.

At this moment, he only felt that although the young man opposite him did nothing and just stood there, his whole body seemed to be integrated with the heaven and earth. He could also achieve such a state, but it was precisely because of this that he was more aware of the horror of such a state.

In the hundreds of years of Confucian history, there were only a handful of people who could reach this state at the age of forty and glimpse the realm of a Grandmaster. He himself was able to achieve this state at the age of thirty by taking advantage of his skills. So why would the other party...

Is it because of the technique?

But the more advanced the martial arts, the harder it is to practice. He is well aware of the difficulty. It is also extremely difficult for the other party to practice martial arts of that level to the realm of great success at the age of twenty.

"Are you the Confucian Master?" Yang Chong stepped forward and asked. Although he had never seen the two people in front of him, he had heard of their existence.

The two generations of sword masters of the Hanguang Sword, especially Wuming, were able to easily control Jingwei in the original trajectory. It was precisely because of this that many people believed that Wuming was a true master, with talent and combat power far exceeding that of Zongheng and the other two.

After meeting this legendary figure today, Yang Chong finally had an intuitive judgment. Wuming can only be considered first-rate, but he is the top among the first-rate. He is almost at the same level as Bai Hei Xuan Jian in the awakened state of Ba Linglong, and has touched the realm of the grandmaster.

As for why Jingwei, a top-notch killer, behaved so badly in front of Wuming in the original trajectory, the reason was mostly due to Jingwei. Jingwei was pregnant at that time. Ordinary pregnant women would have difficulty moving when they were pregnant enough. It was already remarkable that Jingwei could continue killing people under such circumstances. How much combat power could be expected from her?

If Wuming was really a master who could easily defeat first-rate masters, why would he be forced to sacrifice his own life in exchange for the survival of his disciples Yan Lu and Jing Wei when being hunted by Luo Wang? If he was really a master, Luo Wang would not be able to do anything to him.

Of course, this does not mean that Wuming is really weak. With his current martial arts skills, he is almost as powerful as two middle-aged men named Zongheng. In the absence of many masters, he is definitely a top existence in the world.

"My name is Wuming, nice to meet County Magistrate Yang." Wuming stepped forward and saluted.

"Master of Hanguang Sword, I have long heard of your great name." Yang Chong returned the greeting.

"Have Magistrate Yang heard of me?" Wuming was a little surprised. He had no reputation over the years. Wuming was not just a name, but also a reflection of his lifestyle.

“There are tens of millions of people in aristocratic families, but those who stand at the top are always a small number of people, and you are almost at this level, so I know it.” Yang Chong smiled indifferently, and a mysterious aura bloomed on his body.

"So the master is so powerful?" Before Wuming could respond, Yan Lu, the disciple, had already smiled happily. The mentality of children is so interesting.

“In front of County Magistrate Yang, I’m afraid few people can say that they are powerful.” Wuming explained. He said this to Yan Lu. He understood the principle that there are always people better than you. He also wanted his disciples to understand that they should have awe for this world and the people in this world. A person who only knows pride but not awe will not go far.

The two of them then exchanged some free pleasantries and headed towards Lixia City.

In a shop in Lixia City, Yang Chong and Wuming sat down one after another, and Zi Nu also took out a set of classics from the back hall.

"Paper is just a preliminary product. There is printing technology above paper. Mr. Wuming might as well take a look." Yang Chong picked out a book and handed it to Wuming.

"Printing technology?" Wuming was stunned, then he took the book. After opening it, he was stunned. The words on it were arranged neatly and the font was neat. Although it was not a great calligraphy, it was considered to be average. What made Wuming care was not the quality of the words, but their size and layout. From top to bottom, from right to left, they were arranged neatly, which was amazing.

Could it be because of the so-called printing technique? Wuming, who was puzzled, was suddenly shocked. Yang Chong could come up with something as magical as paper, and it didn't seem to be a big deal to come up with the magical printing technique.

"Take a look at the other books." Yang Chong gestured.

Upon hearing this, Wuming quickly pulled out a few books and gasped after opening them. They were the same books, but the layout and handwriting were exactly the same. What did this mean?

Wuming suddenly thought of a possibility, and then hurriedly asked: "How long did it take you to make these books?"

"It took about half a month. Of course, fourteen days were spent on the preparatory work. The actual time spent on making these books was less than a day." Yang Chong said.

The various schools of thought in this era debated with each other and competed for the right to speak. How to expand their own influence became a problem that they had to consider. Some went to the court and used the power of the court to expand their influence in order to gain greater voice. Some went to the underworld and used the power of the underworld to expand their influence. Of course, this method was not necessarily clever. Some people went to the grassroots level, hoping to compete with other schools of thought by influencing the lower classes. This was the way the Mohist School did.

No matter which method is used, it will inevitably lead to one thing, that is, to spread one's own doctrines and recruit more disciples.

As a result, books became a resource that all schools of thought had to invest heavily in. However, in this era, bamboo slips were heavy. Although they were not difficult to obtain, the information that could be recorded on a roll of bamboo slips was limited. It would take a large number of bamboo slips to write down just the Analects of Confucius, and it would be even more troublesome to copy them.

The resources that Confucianism spent every year just on purchasing bamboo slips and copying classics were astronomical figures, but even so, the efficiency was extremely low.

As for ordinary people who want to obtain a classic book, they also need to pay a considerable price. This situation seriously restricts the spread of Confucianism, because not everyone has the money to buy valuable classics.

But now with the existence of paper and the printing technology that Yang Chong mentioned, can this situation change?

If Confucianism can obtain more classics at a lower cost, more people will be able to easily obtain Confucian classics, and the number of Confucian disciples can be greatly expanded. The more Confucian disciples there are, the more it means...

As Wuming thought about it, even though his character was cultivated through the practice of Zuowang, he couldn't help but get excited. No one can be without desires, it's just that everyone cares about different things.

"How much are these books?" Wuming asked. Although the things are good, the price still has to be considered in the end.

"It's not expensive, about one-fifth of the cost of writing on bamboo slips." Yang Chong gave a conservative figure.

Books printed using paper and printing technology are of course cheaper. Not to mention one-fifth, even one-tenth would be a huge profit. However, Yang Chong could not do this. The reason was very simple: he also wanted to make money.

Besides, if we feed Confucianism too much, it will be much more difficult to continue doing business in the future.

Although Yang Chong will not exhaust all resources, he will not be so hypocritical as to cause trouble to his future self.

"One fifth, that's enough, that's enough." Wuming pondered. He knew that even at one fifth of the price, Yang Chong could still make money, but that didn't matter.

When doing business, you can't just focus on how much money others make, but you have to look at how much you can earn, otherwise the business will not be able to continue.

Wuming understood this principle. He didn't care how much money Yang Chong could make from this deal. He only cared how much benefit Confucianism could get from this deal.

One fifth, which means that Confucianism can get five times as many classics at the same price, and can also recruit five times as many disciples. With numbers, there is strength. Once the number of Confucian disciples increases, the influence of Confucianism will be further enhanced.

"We Confucians have accepted this deal." Wuming calmed himself down and said, he knew that Yang Chong would not be able to do business only with Confucians, but they could seize the first-mover advantage. As long as they could stay one step ahead, they would have more room for maneuver and would be able to gain greater advantages in the future.

"In addition to transactions, I can cooperate with Confucianism in another way." Yang Chong talked about his other goal.

Although Confucians may not be as efficient as Legalists in being officials, in this era, Legalists' disciples were not so numerous that they could be found in every small place.

If Yang Chong wants to recruit more talents, he cannot limit his focus to just one company.

Chapter 199 Sixth Army

In the end, Yang Chong and Confucianism finalized a deal of five thousand gold coins. In addition, Confucianism also promised to send disciples to Jibei County so that the official team that was severely short of officials due to Yang Chong's killing would be replenished.

As for whether these Confucian disciples were competent, it was not within Yang Chong's consideration. At least in the first few years, this issue was not important to Yang Chong.

After sending Wuming away, Yang Chong also separated from Zinu. Zinu will go to the seaside to build their salt base there, while Yang Chong will return to Raoan City to start his own plan to form an army.

Raoan City County Magistrate's Mansion.

Xiao He looked at Yang Chong who was quickly sorting out the household registration and was a little dazed for a moment. Until now, he didn't understand how Yang Chong knew his name when he was staying well in Pei County, just waiting to take over his father's position after his father retired. He didn't even know why Yang Chong went to so much trouble to kidnap him from Pei County to Jibei County.

Yes, Xiao He was kidnapped by Mo Ya.

Imagine that one day, you got off work and were just sitting at the dinner table when you were suddenly robbed. The robbers didn't want anything and just tied you up and took you away from your hometown that you hadn't left for more than 20 years to a completely unfamiliar place. How would you describe your feelings? Anyway, Xiao He felt that he couldn't find the right words to describe it.

Just when he had accepted his fate, Yang Chong appeared in front of him. Only then did Xiao He know why Mo Ya wanted to kidnap him.

But when one doubt is answered, another bigger doubt arises.

Yang Chong kidnapped him from Pei County all the way just to make him serve as his aide.

Yes, it was the staff. In Xiao He's understanding, the heads of the six departments within the county governor's office were Yang Chong's staff, and as the head of the Ministry of Revenue, he was naturally Yang Chong's staff. It's just that the power of this staff seemed a little too great.

Before, his biggest goal was to become the magistrate of Pei County during his lifetime. It was not that he did not have ambitions, but in the State of Chu, for someone with his background, the position of county magistrate was almost the pinnacle they could achieve.

But now, he suddenly became the aide of a county governor. In terms of authority, he was even above the county magistrate. Such a thing was like a dream to Xiao He.

Xiao He's initial uneasiness and confusion had turned into indifference after spending a few months with Yang Chong. He also adapted to his current life and performed his duties as the head of the Ministry of Revenue well. At the same time, he buried the doubts about why Yang Chong knew about him deep in his heart. For him now, this issue was no longer important.

"There are 5,072 young men between the ages of 14 and 17 in the entire Jibei County. After preliminary screening, 3,003 people meet the requirements." Seeing that Yang Chong had almost finished checking the household registration, Xiao He spoke up.

"Three thousand people are enough." Yang Chong pondered.

"The first batch of military equipment shipped from South Korea has arrived, a total of one thousand sets of armor, two thousand sets of leather armor, and matching swords, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows and arrows." Xiao He reported various data to Yang Chong in an orderly manner. In this regard, he was very talented. Although he was not yet the future Lord Xiao He, in just a few months, he had completely adapted to his current life and work, and was doing a good job.

"Now is a good time, we can gather everyone together." Yang Chong said.

He confiscated so much land from the major families in Jibei County in order to prepare for the current army. In this era, although money is tempting, for ordinary people, land is the real hard currency.

No matter what kind of reason is used or what kind of temptation is offered, for the people, nothing is as practical and direct as land.

"Yes." Xiao He responded. He was still unsure about Yang Chong's character and temper, so he was inevitably more cautious when dealing with Yang Chong.

The order from the county governor's office was quickly passed down to the counties in Jibei County, and then passed down to the villages through the counties.

The lower class people did not have any resistance to the order from the County Magistrate's Office. After all, the County Magistrate's Office only recruited teenagers, which would not affect the farming of each family. Moreover, half-grown boys were at the age when they could eat the most. At this time, the County Magistrate's Office recruited them to join the army and receive training, and they would be provided with food and accommodation. This alone made everyone want to send their half-grown boys to Rao'an City immediately.

There, at least you can have a full meal.

Under the operation of the new administrative system of Jibei County, young people from various counties gathered in Raoan one after another within a month.

Here, Yang Chong has already prepared a camp and instructors for them. Next, a military academy that is not a military academy appeared in this world.

Yang Chong used the old soldiers recruited from the State of Zhao as military instructors, and recruited humanities instructors from Confucianism. He took a two-pronged approach at the same time. It can be said that he wanted to grasp both the civil and military aspects and make them both strong. Yang Chong understood this principle.

During this period, Yang Chong also simplified the martial arts he practiced into a simple but popular basic martial arts, and then taught it in the army.

During this period, due to Confucianism, the reputation of paper gradually spread in Qi State, and countless orders flocked in from Qi State. Orders from Wei State and Zhao State also gradually appeared in the papermaking workshops in Raoan City.

What followed was a huge amount of money, but this money, along with the fine wine that flowed out of the winery, gradually flowed to the surrounding countries such as Yan, Zhao, Qi, Wei, Han, etc.

The fine horses from Liaodong from Yan State, the leather and animal tendons from the northern border of Zhao State, the military equipment from Han State, and the grain from Qi State and Wei State were continuously transported back to Raoan City.

At one time, everyone knew that the governor of Jibei County was a man who was rich enough to rival a country.

It was also during this process that time gradually entered the end of June. The May harvest had ended and the entire Jibei County fell into great noise.

A military training exercise involving the entire nation has begun.

Of course, some people were dissatisfied with the conscription from the county magistrate's office. They had just finished the harvest and were exhausted. They had a rare chance to rest for a few days, but now they were called up for training again. Who would be willing to do that?

However, when the county magistrate's office promised that everyone would get three kilograms of salt after the training camp, which lasted more than a month, all the complaints disappeared. During the training, the government would provide meals, and at the end of the training, there would be salt to take. Is there such a good thing in the world?

For a time, the entire Jibei County became bustling with activity, and even those who had already exceeded the conscription standards wanted to join in.

In the end, Jibei County, with a population of more than 100,000, actually assembled an army of 20,000 people, although some of them were a little older, over 40 years old.

The 20,000-strong army was divided into six battalions according to the different regions, imitating the system of the six armies of the emperor. During the training, people's names kept appearing in the military records of the county governor's office.

The purpose of Yang Chong organizing this military training was not only to assemble an army of 20,000 people, but also to select elite troops during the training process and to select a standing army similar to the Wei Wuzu on the basis of the existing military system.

During the one-month training, Yang Chong used almost strict standards to finally select a team of only 2,300 elite soldiers, and armed them thoroughly with weapons from South Korea to form an elite infantry.

However, the cavalry was slightly insufficient. Even though Yang Chong had purchased enough war horses, most of Jibei County had previously belonged to Qi State. After all, only a few ordinary people knew how to ride horses, and even fewer could ride and fight. Therefore, Yang Chong only got a cavalry of 500 people in the end.

Although the number of people is small, Yang Chong is already very satisfied with the results achieved in less than a year. As for future things, he can only take one step at a time.

With this training and reorganization, Yang Chong will be able to maximize his own interests in the war coming next year, improve his status in Zhao State, and then strengthen his own strength, and truly begin his strategy against Qi State.

Now that King Zheng of Qin has come to power, there is not much time left for Yang Chong. Before the complete demise of the State of Zhao, Yang Chong must completely control the State of Qi and turn Qi's resources into war potential. Only in this way can he compete with the State of Qin in the future.

When it came to September, the year was coming to an end, and Yancheng from the coast had also shipped out a large amount of salt a month ago. In addition to rewarding the soldiers in training, a large amount of salt was also transported to Handan.

During this process, Yang Chong also left Raoan City and headed towards Handan.