CHAPTER 1065: CHAPTER 1021: THE DEPOSIT HAS BEEN SECURED

However, considering the many things Chen Xi had witnessed since arriving in this era, he would not enumerate them here one by one. It must be said that the living conditions in ancient times were indeed very poor, and Chen Xi had been striving to elevate the standard of living...

Even Hua Tuo was unreserved with such poultry given the situation, especially after learning how to sterilize, calmly stating that after a round of strong liquor, saltwater, or high heat, any meat could be eaten.

To this point, Chen Xi expressed no comment; those who ate found no trouble, and it would be best for those who watched not to make remarks. Moreover, many had not seen meat for years; with meat available, who would care about anything else?

After encountering many such matters, Chen Xi could only silently watch. This was an era of extreme resource scarcity, and Chen Xi could only do his utmost to prevent this world from being so impoverished. He had always been working in this direction, and generally speaking, it was on the right track.

The remaining task was to make this path more stable and broader. Thus, Chen Xi hesitated about showing Liu Bei the world map. Although he was very confident in Liu Bei, Chen Xi thought it best not to be too reckless in matters that involved so much, lest an accident occur!

Since the calculation against Yuan Shao nearly faltered by the unexpected appearance of the Xuanyuan Cauldron, Chen Xi became totally unfazed by surprises. Such significant matters impacting the future were best held in one’s own hands for more reassurance.

While Chen Xi pondered whether to show Liu Bei the map, various Great Aristocratic Families were contemplating the news Chen Xi might release tomorrow. They also needed to prepare; today’s news was already quite shocking, but nobody knew what tomorrow would bring, naturally causing some unease.

Of course, Yuan Shu needed to be excluded from these people. He leisurely ate and drank, resting as if nothing concerned him after enjoying the fine food, without a worry about being in enemy territory where he might be killed.

Yuan Shu, full and complacent, slept soundly in bed, causing distress for Jii Ling. As Yuan Shu’s ultimate diehard supporter, he was very concerned about the danger after Yuan Shu’s identity was exposed. Although Chen Xi’s ambition seemed to overlap with Yuan Shu’s at the time, such an overlap did not mean no conflict, as both Chen Xi and Yuan Shu were very aware of this.

"Phew, I finally made it back; any later and it would be hard to explain to Marquis Chen." Gan Ning, riding a horse, stood at the gaping entrance of Ye City’s walls, letting out a long breath. He had escorted back the copper ingots necessary for minting coins, with the massive convoy behind him carrying enough for tens of billions of copper coins.

"Who goes there?" A soldier emerged from the left side of the city wall breach. Gan Ning clearly saw the bright reflection of arrows on the soldier’s back. Even though they had occupied the important town of Ye City in Jizhou, Liu Bei’s Army had not shown the slightest relaxation; both visible and hidden sentries, as well as patrol officers, still performed their duties.

"Naval Chief Gan Xingba, arriving at Ye City on time to report." Gan Ning slowly backed his horse three steps, indicating no danger, and tossed out his identity badge.

Soon, a large copper mirror was raised on the city wall opposite Gan Ning, several torches placed in front of the mirror. After a few adjustments, Gan Ning, who was in the dark, was illuminated, and upon identifying himself, the soldiers below dispersed to let Gan Ning into the city.

"General, please enter the city." A young officer dressed as a centurion made a welcoming gesture, then resumed guarding the place without leaving his post.

"Go find Zifang; I need to report to the Lord and Marquis Chen. Have him first find a place to store these copper ingots, and after I return, we’ll proceed to the next step." Gan Ning told his personal soldiers, thinking that only Mi Fang, who managed money and logistics, could be fully trusted to be completely incorruptible.

"Yes!" The personal soldier clasped his fists and immediately ran along the convoy to find Mi Fang. After assigning Xu Sheng to oversee in his stead, Gan Ning dashed toward where Liu Bei resided.

"Xingba, you managed to return so quickly!" Liu Bei, hearing Gan Ning’s request to meet, put on his clothes and came out.

"I’m deeply uneasy for disturbing the Lord this late," Gan Ning replied, slightly apologetic.

"There’s no need for formalities. Your swift return is genuinely unexpected. According to Zichuan, you shouldn’t be back until two months later, just before the Yellow River freezes. It’s surprising." Liu Bei said puzzledly, logically noting that even with the ease of extracting and smelting high-quality copper mines, it shouldn’t be this quick to achieve Chen Xi’s target.

"Actually, the copper was already smelted when I arrived," Gan Ning smiled, recounting the credit of Guann Hai and those soldiers in detail to Liu Bei. "Because of this, my trip to Yiizhou was essentially for transportation, not actual mining and smelting."

"I see, that’s much easier then. With such quantities of copper ingots turned into money, I suppose it amounts to hundreds of millions of money, making things much simpler." Liu Bei was very satisfied with Guann Hai’s measures.

Yet, after speaking, Liu Bei realized one thing: once copper coins reached the scale of billions, trading became difficult, and transactions like those of the Zhen Family and Mi Family, each involving billions in money, though few each year, were indeed quite taxing.

[No wonder Chen Xi wanted to use promissory notes, only by employing an intermediary system can such trading difficulties be eliminated. Otherwise, commerce would always be petty, incapable of supporting national tax revenue.]

Liu Bei, having read many books specifically compiled by Chen Xi, naturally understood the value of commerce and held no contempt, yet in an era where large transactions were very challenging, commercial stagnation was due not only to national oppression but also trading difficulties.

It’s fair to say that later the emergence of banknotes significantly reduced the difficulty and risk of product transactions. Otherwise, even if the country did not suppress commerce in favor of agriculture, the cumbersome process of transporting money by cart for transactions would greatly restrict the specifications of product trades, and if commercial transactions did not rise to a certain level, they would not suffice to support national tax revenue.

Understanding this, Liu Bei had a little more confidence in Chen Xi’s plan to support tax revenue through commercial circulation, as turning the impossible into possible was always what Chen Xi did.

"Xingba, now it’s quite late, quickly go report the situation to Zichuan. I’ll have people prepare a banquet for you, and once you’re done with Zichuan, the banquet should be ready here. Zichuan has important state affairs tomorrow and probably has no time to host a banquet." After gaining necessary information from Gan Ning, Liu Bei immediately instructed Gan Ning to report to Chen Xi quickly. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)