Chapter 1195: Wealth

At the same time, in the cities, the influence of the Taiping Dao also slowly increased.

Those disciples of Zhang Jiao, some of whom only liked cultivation, all became "Daoist high-level" disciples stationed in the cities. They socialized with those aristocratic family disciples, discussed metaphysics and the Dao, and at the same time could collect a large amount of news from the Imperial Court.

The news of these aristocratic family disciples was also very comprehensive. This news was passed back, which also had certain benefits for the Taiping Dao.

Because a large amount of news made the Taiping Dao occupy the upper hand in some businesses.

Because Ma Yuanyi and the others built quite a few machines, especially steel mills, this thing, after the constant updating of Ma Yuanyi and the others, technology-wise, compared to later generations, it was definitely not as good, but compared to the Great Qin, it was definitely not bad.

As for iron ore, there was still a lot of it in this piece of heaven and earth.

The Taiping Dao now had three steel mills, each with a monthly output of over one million tons. Besides being used for other machinery, a part of the steel was turned into weapons and armor and stored away.

Preparing for the future rise.

The remaining part was used for various agricultural iron shovels, sickles, etc. These agricultural tools made of steel were much easier to use than iron tools.

After all, there is still a difference between steel and iron.

These agricultural tools made of steel, besides being scattered in the countryside, were mostly sold to the cities. The sharpness of those steel agricultural tools was not inferior to many swords, instantly attracting countless people.

Steel was not absent in Liu Han, but Liu Han Dynasty did not have the assembly line engineering like the Great Qin.

The Liu Han Imperial Court also had departments for salt and iron monopoly, but unfortunately, the true annual output was not much. On the contrary, the output of iron was more.

As for weapons and armor, they were also forged with iron tools. Only true elites would use steel or better alloys.

Local aristocratic families naturally had steel, but most were small private iron-smelting rooms, and the scale was not large.

Even the large ones, producing hundreds of thousands of tons of iron per year, were already quite good.

As for steel, there was even less.

For this steel, most aristocratic families did not attach much importance to it. Only a few ambitious people would forge a large amount of iron tools to build weapons, but these were all used for weapons.

Agricultural ones were naturally not valued by them.

But for the Taiping Dao, this was a good thing. The agricultural tools and other things like iron pots, etc., sold in large quantities, gathered massive wealth for the Taiping Dao.

These small things looked inexpensive, and a family didn't need many in a year, but Jizhou alone had hundreds of millions of people and tens of millions of households.

Even if that steel iron shovel was sold cheaply, at least one piece would cost a hundred coins.

This price was already very cheap. The price of steel is just this expensive.

You must know that before the Pre-Qin era, there was a period when iron could be used as currency.

The current Liu Han currency was a silver-copper alloy.

Because steel could be forged, it naturally could not be used as currency. As for gold, it was still a currency.

The price of the Taiping Dao's iron tools and steel items was about the same as iron tools. Even so, the money earned was endless.

Most of it was used by the Taiping Dao to buy grain and grass, and then hidden in the valley or other places, waiting for the chaotic times to arrive in the future. These grain and grass could become the Taiping Dao's military rations or food.

And the grain bought by the Taiping Dao was also immeasurable. Anyway, as long as there was money, they would buy grain and store it.

As for whether it would be uneatable if stored for too long,

are you kidding? In chaotic times, war, grain will only become less and less. When there is no food to eat, those people can even gnaw on tree bark, let alone old grain.

As long as it can be eaten, what cannot be eaten?

For those who are extremely hungry, old grain is also supreme deliciousness.

In the future, these grains will not only be military rations but also for rescue—for those refugees because of war.

Once chaotic times arrive, the number of refugees will likely be massive. Jizhou alone has hundreds of millions of people. Once chaotic times arrive, Jizhou alone will likely have 100 million refugees.

Then spreading to the Jiuzhou, how many refugees there will be is likely an unknown.

Once war occurs, hunger, epidemics, etc., can take away countless people.

Historically, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there were tens of millions of people, but after the Three Kingdoms returned to Jin, only a few million were left.

Among them, the number of soldiers who truly died on the battlefield was only a few million at most.

After all, in a true great battle, a battle of one million people, those who truly died on the battlefield were only a hundred thousand or so. In ancient times, an army that could retreat without losing one-tenth of its strength was already an elite.

Those who could still fight after losing 30,000 were only a few in the entire history.

Like the People's Liberation Army of later generations, being able to die on the battlefield in formation and fight to the death without retreating—that is truly terrifying.

This is naturally impossible in ancient times. Even elite troops as strong as the Great Qin, a casualty rate of 30% was already the limit.

A million-strong army, dying one-tenth, and that side would not be able to hold on.

By then, they would only become captives, becoming the troops of other feudal lords. Therefore, in the chaotic battles of the late Han, many bottom-level soldiers might be Cao's army today and Yuan's army tomorrow.

However, in this hundred years of the late Han, tens of millions died, and nine out of ten were almost all starved to death or died because of epidemics.

This is the most terrifying, and starvation is also the most.

Once war occurs, it is difficult to have grain in the fields. Most of the grain is used for the army, so the common people can only wait for death.

The Jiuzhou have a population of 100 billion. In the future, it is naturally impossible to die by tens of billions, but if a war of decades or a hundred years truly occurs, the number of people starved to death will likely be tens of billions, definitely more than that.

So many people are the wealth of the human race. Each one has a certain amount of luck. Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Saving tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of people will lead to immediate Buddhahood.

Compared to the Buddhist Sect just shouting slogans, it is not known how much stronger it is.

At the same time, the people saved will definitely become the most firm believers of the Taiping Dao. By that time, the Taiping Dao will have no rivals.

Weapons—the Taiping Dao is not lacking. And infinite people will become subsequent militia. It is conceivable how powerful the Taiping Dao will be in the future.

And once chaotic times arrive, grain will be the most precious thing.

Perhaps at this time, there are already people with lofty ideals who see the future, and some have started to store grain, but compared to the Taiping Dao, it is naturally incomparable.

The wealth of the Taiping Dao, in just a few years, is likely not much worse than those aristocratic families of thousands or ten thousand years.

As for the foundation, the Taiping Dao is indeed not much, but the inheritance of the Taiping Dao is only stronger than those aristocratic families of thousands or ten thousand years, at least far exceeding the Yanmen Zhang Clan. ===== CHAPTER 1196 =====