Mythical Three Kingdoms

”Isn’t commercial control necessary for now? Many people have abandoned farming and followed merchants in trade. If this continues, something will happen sooner or later.” Mi Zhu hesitated for a moment and said, although he came from a merchant background, Mi Zhu seemed quite interested in restricting merchants.

”We’re far from trouble. I seem to have always forgotten to educate you on some things. Your understanding of society is somewhat biased.” Chen Xi sighed and said.

The main reason for valuing agriculture over commerce in ancient times, to put it bluntly, is the issue of disengagement from production, and this ”production” is entirely about farming.

”Oh, tell us more.” Liu Bei completely ignored Cao Cao’s displeased expression. After all, he had been besieged by Chen Xi many times. Besides, for Liu Bei himself, as long as he holds the position of Commander-in-chief, he’s fine.

”Actually, the so-called problem of valuing agriculture over commerce from ancient times to now is simply about controlling the number of people disengaged from production.” Chen Xi shrugged and said.

”Disengaged from production?” Cao Cao frowned, having never heard of this term.

”Yes, the number of people not involved in production, like us, for example.” Chen Xi spread his hands, and upon hearing this, Cao Cao’s eyes widened instantly, understanding many things.

”It’s actually a very helpless fact. Firstly, two percent of the country’s aristocratic families and Imperial Clan are completely disengaged from production. These people rely on the people to support them.” Chen Xi said expressionlessly, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei’s faces instantly became unpleasant. Had Chen Xi not said it, they might never have noticed it in their lifetime, but once he did, they immediately understood.

”Next are the disengaged soldiers. I think all of you understand this point. If you want soldiers to be truly elite, don’t think about military farming. It’s best to bring them out for training regularly and not let them do farming, just let them train. This accounts for about one percent, though it may be more, and sometimes it may reach a higher percentage.” Chen Xi’s expression was extremely calm.

”Then add some other factors, like officials and clerks, who are semi-disengaged from production. In fact, what we can directly see accounts for roughly three to four.” Chen Xi sighed and said, ”This is also why the most basic land tax is thirty to one.”

At this moment, Cao Cao and Liu Bei’s faces were exceedingly gloomy. Many things were passed down from ancient times, and why they were like this, honestly, wasn’t clear for this era, but now Chen Xi had straightforwardly told them why.

”Because at three to four disengagement from production, the thirty to one tax sufficiently guarantees that these disengaged people can survive, but a country requires more than just people surviving, there are other tasks to be accomplished, hence the various taxes.” Chen Xi sighed and said, ”This is why there are sayings like ’a militarily aggressive state, even if large, will perish’.”

”Simply put, the more disengaged people there are, the more they suffocate those who work.” Chen Xi spread his hands and said helplessly, ”And the merchants, naturally, should be counted among the disengaged, inevitably increasing social pressure.”

”Then why not suppress the merchants, Zichuan? You’ve already made it clear, we must limit the number of disengaged individuals!” Cao Cao immediately spoke up.

”However, this is impossible. Each profession actually has its necessary existence, like us, and soldiers. Our significance is to modulate from a macro perspective, allowing society to move forward more stably. Soldiers’ roles are to defend the country and maintain social stability, while officials and clerks solve local affairs, maintaining local harmony and stability.” Chen Xi shook his head slightly and said.

”And the essence of commerce is circulation and regulation. Its profit-driven nature lies with the person, not commerce itself, so this profession must exist.” Chen Xi looked at Cao Cao solemnly.

”Having thirty people support one has reached the limit. Any more and this structure is close to collapse, especially when the condition exceeds normal levels. Once a disaster strikes, I’m beginning to understand why chaos occurs in troubled times.” Liu Bei said helplessly.

”No, it’s not necessarily fixed at thirty supporting one, nor is it fixed that ’a state, even large, if aggressive, will perish.’ There’s an extended chain involved here.” Chen Xi shook his head and said.

”Whether it’s Hanmou’s increase in grain production or many of my long-term plans, fundamentally they’re about increasing this upper limit. According to the current situation, actually removing my influence on celestial phenomena, this number should have already increased to about seven points.” Chen Xi said with a touch of arrogance, Qu Qi’s increase in crop yield forcibly expanded this by about one and a half points.

This is why the joke goes that if Old Master Yuan traveled to ancient times, relying on farm manure for a yield of three hundred jin per mu, most emperors would kneel and call him father. In ancient times, solving the food problem allows the state to be free to do many things.

”Seven points?” Liu Bei and Cao Cao exchanged glances.

”Let me put it this way: with these extra three points, given the current population, we could conscript a million troops without shaking the country’s foundation, so having seventy to eighty thousand merchants is inconsequential. Moreover, these seventy to eighty thousand merchants are quite meaningful.” Chen Xi estimated that Cao Cao and Liu Bei didn’t really understand what three points mean, so he explained a bit.

This time Liu Bei and Cao Cao were truly encouraged; although they hadn’t previously had this concept, once Chen Xi explained it, they instantly understood many things.

”But I still have plans for these three points’ disengaged individuals, so I certainly can’t use them all for conscription. I still rely on these three points to find ways to further increase the disengaged population proportion.” Chen Xi shrugged and said.

This is also why the further forward, the smaller Chen Xi’s actions are so important, because slightly messing up things could result in using too many people, leading to issues with the next year’s food production in various aspects, further impacting long-term development.

”Hey, hey, hey, Lord Cao, stop thinking about dividing those points. Although this point number is the average for the entire Han Dynasty, each place is completely different. Anyway, I bet you definitely can’t figure it out.” Chen Xi saw Cao Cao’s eyes light up and knew what Cao Cao intended to do.

”Ahem, ahem, ahem.” Cao Cao coughed twice awkwardly, he really wanted to rush into action but was exposed by Chen Xi.

”Actually, the captives among the Hu People can probably account for close to half a point.” Chen Xi roughly calculated and said.

Although the Miscellaneous Hun captives seem numerous, this group also needs to eat; it’s just that for certain reasons, their baseline differs, and the calculations are different too, roughly equating to half a point. Honestly, this calculation is already Chen Xi’s extremely limitless exploitation, any more and it might affect usage duration.

”In short, these points other than about one point intended for military expansion, all have fixed uses. I’ve been accumulating them for a long time; you have to know that a portion of these points will be used automatically by the people due to social reform, and what ends up in my hands is just that much.” Chen Xi said quite helplessly.

The fruits of social reform cannot be simply picked at Chen Xi’s command. Although it is with these fruits that Chen Xi can accelerate societal reform, the problem is that during social reform, people at various levels spontaneously pick the fruits, which is unavoidable.

In fact, one could say that those picking these fruits are the right result of the internal driving force during societal reform. Chen Xi’s approach is essentially relying on prophetic insight, replacing the role of this unseen hand before it starts operating, advancing faster.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the downstream historical advantage, nine out of ten would fail trying this way, with the remaining two perhaps achieving success but certainly leaving numerous hidden issues due to non-compliance with the societal development process. Its representative, haha...

The biggest weakness of leapfrogged progress is this. Speaking of feudalism, the disengagement proportion at most is ten points. Speaking of ten points disengagement proportion, sufficient accumulation can lead to the industrial revolution, then liberate manpower, directly increasing disengagement proportion to forty points!

Ten points and forty points, same country, you can see how vast the social prosperity difference is by looking at these two ratios. However, due to current circumstances, Chen Xi at most can achieve seven points; unfortunately, the current accumulation is far from allowing a leap to forty points.

”You also have limitations in governance?” Liu Bei looked incredulous.

”It’s not limitations, but in reality, gathering all those into my hands is not very meaningful. After all, those who seize the opportunity are also clever people. There’s no need to be so prescriptive; these people’s success benefits society.” Chen Xi shook his head and said.

Actually, Chen Xi believes that by the time disengaged individuals can be mobilized, it’s already enough, and letting the rest be used by the populace creates successful figures in society, transforming the ordinary people into prosperous families, which is actually very positive.

Incidentally, this can also prove that under Chen Xi’s governance, indeed the common people are better off, and the power of real-world examples is beneficial to social stability.

”I’m just curious, could you truly be restrained if you wanted to act?” Liu Bei said with an expression of realization.

”Well, if you think of it that way, there’s nothing much I can do. Generally speaking, it’s not that it’s impossible to extract, it’s that doing so may bring more harm than benefits. We generally seek to maximize benefits.” Chen Xi spread his hands and said, ”However, maximizing benefits isn’t necessarily the best choice, so both have to be considered.”

”Zichuan, let me ask, generally, how do you handle such situations?” Liu Bei asked curiously.

”It depends on the urgency. If it’s not urgent, then research it; if urgent, then rely on sensing. Generally speaking, though the second one may have deviations, it won’t be too off. Of course, there’s talk of someone who can select the best answer based purely on intuition.” Chen Xi pouted and said.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao’s mind immediately conjured the image of Zhong Yao, although unfortunately, Zhong Yao never really worked properly. While he did support Cao Cao, honestly, Zhong Yao never really put in much effort.