Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 532: The Middleman Dilemma in Yizhou
"How can this be possible? The Chu bandits have humiliated me too much!" Liu Zhang was so angry that he slammed the low table in front of him.
None of the colleagues said a word at this moment - after all, Liu Zhang had just politely sent the envoy of Chu away, and now he just turned around and came back to lose his temper. What could anyone do to persuade him?
In fact, Liu Zhang didn’t quite understand what had happened. After all, it was news from Bohai. Without a special intelligence network, it would take at least half a year for the news to reach Xichuan!
This is because, after the commodity economy recovered, while caravans from all over the country were circulating, "news" was also circulating along with the commodities.
Otherwise, Liu Zhang hadn’t set up a special intelligence network, and he might not have gotten any news for a year or two…
The first time I heard about this was from the envoy of Chu State - so you, Chu State, suffered a loss in Bohai Sea, so you come to vent your anger on me?
But at this point we can see that Liu Zhang is more experienced than Liu Xie!
Liu Xie still needed others to give him a way out, such as persuasion from his ministers, before he could make a decision, but Liu Zhang acted without hesitation when he became timid.
But afterwards, Liu Zhang, like Liu Xie, couldn't help but complain and curse.
After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Song said, "My lord, I have a plan that can curb the arrogance of the State of Chu."
Liu Zhang was not excited when he heard this, but said with a dull tone: "But what about the so-called strategy of building ships to threaten Chu?"
"Yes, this is a fundamental solution." This was obviously not the first time Zhang Song mentioned this.
He suggested to Liu Zhang that he should supervise the construction of warships in Jiangzhou, so that they could go down the river at any time and "directly attack" Jingchu when necessary!
Regardless of whether they had the courage or whether they could succeed in the attack, what was important was the "ability" - as long as they had a warship like this, even though they might never need to use it, it would give the Shuhou Mansion the confidence to "talk" with the Chu State.
Instead of being able to get whatever you want like now.
However, Liu Zhang was not interested in this suggestion. After all, a warship could not be built overnight, nor could it be created out of nothing by simply issuing a few orders.
Liu Zhang is no longer as naive as he was when he first became the governor of Yizhou. He thought that he could control all the big and small things in Yizhou just by being in the Yizhou government...
Reality taught Liu Zhang that even as the governor of Yizhou, it was ultimately a "role-playing game" rather than a "real-time strategy."
Build warships in Jiangzhou?
What to make it with?
Not to mention that the State of Chu would certainly exert further pressure after discovering this. The cost of building warships alone would not be easy to come by.
Although the Marquis of Shu did make a lot of money from his business with the State of Chu, he mostly borrowed money from other noble families, so he was not rich enough to bear the cost of building warships on a large scale.
If the cost is borne by the gentry, they will inevitably become alienated. They may even seize the credit of Xianzhou without the need for Chu to take action. As for letting the common people bear the cost... the gentry will inevitably incite the common people. Even if they do not rebel immediately, it will inevitably lead to a situation where the people in various places are loyal to their own countries and not to the capital.
As for the reason why the Shu Marquis is still stable now, it is simply because the Shu Marquisate has less control - except for the Chu State, no other prince has the courage to thoroughly reform the commercial tax, especially the Shu Marquis, who has hardly made any move...
And they also understood that if Yizhou joined the State of Chu now, it would probably become the shrimp that is eaten by the big fish.
By then, Yizhou's market and manpower needs will be divided up by Chu's existing workshop groups. Perhaps the people can enjoy the various welfare benefits and guarantees of the Chu people, but for the Yizhou gentry who are accustomed to being in the ruling class, this is obviously unacceptable... at least they will not accept it actively!
Liu Zhang looked around and saw that after Zhang Song finished speaking, many other truly powerful officials, including Wu Yi, all sat upright and kept silent. He knew that this matter would not succeed.
"I heard that... the Wei State sank the Chu State's main ship with the help of 'civilian' forces?" Liu Zhang said thoughtfully.
Liu Zhang also felt that it was a good deal if he could really gain the strength to fight against the State of Chu or at least enough to protect himself by removing some restrictions on the gentry.
Unfortunately, Zhang Song did not need to look at other people this time, he had already spoken to dissuade them: "Yizhou is not near the sea, the benefits of sailing are limited, and the 'civilian'... no one should be interested in fighting against the tyrannical Chu."
Wu Yi and others nodded silently at this time - if it is really profitable, why wait for Liu Zhang to "unbind"?
You, Liu Zhang, didn't have anything tied to you in the first place!
Indeed, the reason why the pirates of Wei State dared to fight with Chu State was because they saw the endless manpower of the Three Han and Baekje, and the silver in Tanzhou...
The Chu navy could no longer deter their greed.
And what about Yizhou?
Build ships and sail out on the river... and then go plunder the State of Chu?
Playing with your life is a means, not an end, okay!
Even if Yizhou really wanted to snatch manpower, the most convenient target would be the hundreds of tribes in the south, or the so-called southern barbarians.
However, now...Yizhou has been invaded by the southern barbarians, and is physically and mentally exhausted. Not to mention snatching people, even defending against their offensive is a bit "unprofitable".
The reason for this situation is that Yizhou's industrialization has hardly developed!
In terms of industrialization, Chu was the absolute leader. Although Wei was much inferior, it was theoretically the second. After that, the Marquis of Qi, who controlled the Qi and Lu areas, followed closely behind. The Marquis of Zheng also attached great importance to it with the assistance of "wise ministers". Zhang Lu, the Marquis of Hanning, also improved his doctrines to better adapt to the industrialized era...
Although the other three marquises, Yong, Zhai and Sai, did not take it very seriously, they also followed suit and developed in a "joining in the fun" manner.
However, Xichuan became an exception!
When the King of Wei and the Marquis of Qi were trying to catch up, Liu Zhang simply closed the pass to protect himself. Although this allowed Yizhou's Shu brocade and well salt to escape disaster temporarily, he missed the best opportunity to start.
While Hanning Hou and other Han princes were passively "joining in the fun", Yizhou was targeted by Chu State. A paper agreement with Shu Hou directly caused the collapse of the two pillar industries that Yizhou hoped would show its competitiveness in the industrial age...
Unlike the State of Wei, which has the principle of "beating the dog but not the wolf" - if they want to plunder overseas or in the north, the State of Wei can provide support and help secretly, but if they want to be the agent of the State of Chu... they will be warned of being cut off from the market!
The gentry in Guanzhong at least still thought about industrial upgrading, but now most of the gentry in Yizhou are seeking to cooperate with the State of Chu and become middlemen between Chu and Yizhou.
The biggest middleman among them was Liu Zhang.
This kind of middleman had another name in modern times - comprador.
Starting slowly is a minor problem, but the compradors in power are the real cancer of industrialization. Naturally, the situation in Yizhou is different from that in other princes.
This is also the "fundamental reason" why Wei State was able to bully the powerful tribes in the north, the Xianbei and Wuhuan, while Yizhou had to worry about the southern barbarians who "came to its doorstep".
As for the fact that the north is more suitable for plate cavalry, their combat effectiveness increased by leaps and bounds after importing plate armor from the State of Chu. However, the horse breeds and terrain of Yizhou limit the combat of plate cavalry... This can only be regarded as a superficial reason.
