Chapter 32: Revitalizing the Economy

To Liu Zheng's surprise.

Perhaps because the Chen Family had been so openly defeated, people had come to recognize the combat strength of the County Marquis Mansion. Therefore, after the *Natural Inheritance Law* was promulgated, although the three great Powerful Clans were arguing incessantly among themselves, no one dared to make things difficult for the County Marquis Mansion, let alone come to question it.

Of course, it is possible that these Powerful Clans could not yet see what kind of fission effect this *Natural Inheritance Law* would bring them; after all, this would only become apparent after several generations—and since Zheng Yue Ru, the greatest beneficiary, had not seen it, how could others?

Being in the midst of it, with interests at stake, people often cannot see, or are unwilling to look at, things a hundred years down the line.

Of course, the most important thing is still the barrel of a gun!

Liu Zheng thought to himself.

In *The Prince*, it is said that if you want to carry out reforms in a place you rule, there are two methods. First, you go to persuade others, but this is very difficult, and those who are easily persuaded are just as easily swayed to change their stance. The second method is to employ an armed prophet!

In troubled times, it is even more necessary to be armed!

Liu Zheng knew well that if he wanted to achieve something in these troubled times, armed forces were absolutely essential!

For three consecutive days, the entrance to the County Marquis Mansion was packed, and people coming to sign up for the army arrived in an endless stream. With one mu of land per person, distributed in this way, in the end, the land confiscated from the Chen Family was actually not enough to go around!

Three thousand troops!

And in these few days, the Garrison of the County Marquis Mansion had also increased from one thousand to three thousand.

There were even more farmers who wanted to enjoy the tax exemption policy. Liu Zheng and Shen Xing held an emergency meeting to draft a supplementary system for self-reclamation and garrisoning.

That is to say, according to the decree on land reclamation, farmers could reclaim land themselves and then join the Military Household, likewise enjoying the tax exemption policy for Military Households.

When this system was promulgated, it actually met with resistance.

The Counselors of the County Marquis Mansion all came out to block it one by one.

"Young Master, this matter must be handled with caution!"

"Indeed, this subordinate knows that the Young Master cares deeply for the common people, but the agricultural tax is the County Marquis Mansion's primary source of tax revenue. If the Young Master does this, the County Marquis Mansion will easily find itself unable to make ends meet and unable to continue!"

Two Marshals and several Counselors all expressed their agreement.

Liu Zheng gave a cold laugh.

Unable to continue?

If he had to rely on the barren land of Yinzhou to eat, he reckoned he would have starved to death long ago! Moreover, the tax exemption policies for farmers in later generations had long since proven that this so-called primary tax could be completely eliminated!

If there is no tax on agriculture, then tax commerce!

With him here, could Yinzhou's commerce not take off?

"No more need be said on this matter; issue the County Marquis Decree immediately!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

This supplementary decree directly caused a long line to form at the entrance of the County Marquis Mansion. The common people were very practical; if they could be exempt from taxes, why wouldn't they? Wasn't it just participating in military training every year? Isn't it everyone's duty to protect their home and country?

The Young Master even said he wanted to manage Yinzhou together with us, so why shouldn't we contribute our efforts?

And likewise.

War Horse breeding also set off a craze.

Liangzhou had many horses, even more than the oxen used for plowing, and there were some horse-breeding experts among the people who, seeing such a favorable policy, immediately expanded their scale.

In the blink of an eye.

A month had passed.

In the early winter season, the weather in Yinzhou had entered a stage of bitter cold.

Liu Zheng was very busy.

He had not expected that managing a territory would be such a tedious affair. But this was normal, because most of the time, even Shen Xing could not grasp the concepts he wanted, and he had to explain them to him at length before he could understand his advanced consciousness and policies, let alone others.

Then, once a decree was issued, implementing it was clearly another extremely long and tedious process.

What was gratifying was that, regardless, they had finally caught up with the autumn rush.

Within this month, the arable land in Yinzhou had directly increased by several thousand mu!

Of course, the farmers were not busy, and those Powerful Clans were not busy either. If you can reclaim land, can't I? Thus, a large-scale land-enclosure movement began.

Liu Zheng naturally knew the little schemes in the hearts of these Powerful Clans, but he couldn't be bothered to manage them.

The reason was simple: in his eyes, the Powerful Clans were just a few lambs; if they were obedient, he would keep them for now and fatten them up. If one day they became disobedient, he would just take them down, just like the Chen Family!

It had been a month; he reckoned Chen Kui had already fled to Liangzhou, and Chen Batian must have known about what happened in Yinzhou, but what could he do?

In the eyes of most people, Yinzhou was a place beyond salvation; only Liu Zheng treated it like a treasure.

If it's lost, it's lost; isn't it pleasant to be a wealthy man in Liangzhou?

Why insist on leading troops to fight?

And what if you do fight?

Could you even become the County Marquis? That requires a title!

He reckoned Chen Batian was persuading Chen Kui just like that, so he could only swallow his anger, and Yinzhou once again became a forgotten existence.

This day.

Yinzhou finally welcomed the first snow of winter.

Liu Zheng was also in high spirits and walked out the door to step on this ancient snow. Along the way, the changes in Yinzhou were truly too great. He remembered when he first arrived here, all trades were withered, everyone was thin as a rail, and their faces were sallow. But now, at the doors of the commoners' homes, there were many dried meats and various crops hanging; at least having enough to eat was no longer a problem.

"Greetings, Young Master Liu!"

"The County Marquis's young master is here!"

"Young Master, the weather is cold; this old man has prepared a pot of wine for you..."

Along the way, people were very enthusiastic toward Liu Zheng; they all knew that the changes Yinzhou had today were all thanks to the young master before them.

Liu Zheng also chatted and laughed with them along the way.

"Good wine, good wine! Haha, is this the 'Drunken Yinzhou'? It really is a rare vintage; Boss, bring me another jar!"

"Coming right up, sir!"

Along the way, Liu Zheng often heard such conversations, and he was very happy.

This shows that with the rising fame of Yinzhou, many outsiders are coming to Yinzhou, which directly stimulates local consumption; don't you see that next to Fengming Tower, five more inns have appeared, and they are packed every day?

The four-story Fengming Tower and its absolute couplets have attracted many scholars and literati who come to travel.

Yinzhou has become increasingly popular.

Arriving at Fengming Tower again, the place is still bustling with activity.

Zheng Yue Ru saw Liu Zheng immediately and hurried down to welcome him personally; ever since the Natural Inheritance Law was promulgated, it seems Zheng Yue Ru has attained the status she wanted within the family, so she changed her previous masculine style and today wore a plush coat, which set off her fair skin—rare in Yinzhou—to look as smooth and tender as mutton-fat jade.

"Brother Liu, I trust you have been well!"

Zheng Yue Ru greeted him with a smile, then ushered Liu Zheng into his private room, which was located right on Wangshu Terrace.

"Business is good."

Liu Zheng looked at the bustling scene below, his mood greatly improved.

At this moment, Shen Manqing came out with a guqin and performed, and the atmosphere of the entire hall reached its peak.

Zheng Yue Ru rolled her eyes at him: "Manqing rarely comes out; she must have heard that Brother Liu was here, which is why she came out to see guests. Come to think of it, it is this crowd below that has benefited from Brother Liu's favor!"

"Haha, is that so?"

Liu Zheng laughed it off, not wanting to discuss this topic.

Zheng Yue Ru poured a glass of wine for Liu Zheng and said with a faint smile: "It's just that according to our betting agreement, this Fengming Tower will likely be Brother Liu's soon."

As she spoke, there was still quite a bit of reluctance in her eyes.

Liu Zheng shook his head and smiled: "Although that is so, I really have no time to attend to this side; when the time comes, please continue to manage Fengming Tower, Miss Zheng, and I will give you a ten percent equity stake, how about that?"

Zheng Yue Ru looked pleasantly surprised: "Brother Liu is generous; naturally, Yue Ru will not decline."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

If their previous cooperation was entirely for their own interests, Liu Zheng now felt that this Zheng Yue Ru was indeed material for doing business.

"What brings Brother Liu here today?"

After some small talk, Zheng Yue Ru asked.

Liu Zheng is very busy, which is something everyone knows; if he could come to Fengming Tower, it meant there was something the matter.

Liu Zheng smiled bitterly: "The County Marquis Mansion is out of money again."

"Ah?"

Zheng Yue Ru was startled and gasped: "Rumor has it that when the Chen Family was raided, over a hundred thousand in silver was obtained; and it's already out of money?"

Liu Zheng held his forehead and sighed deeply.

This month, he had been nothing but a spendthrift, what with increasing troops, Weaponry and Equipment, War Horses, and various policy subsidies; not to mention that hundred thousand, even all the profits from this month had already been poured back in.

Zheng Yue Ru giggled: "The various Powerful Clans are all guessing how long the County Marquis Mansion can hold out with such extravagance; it seems Yue Ru was still too optimistic!"

"There is such a thing?"

Liu Zheng was amused.

No wonder the Powerful Clans hadn't come out to stir up trouble lately; it turns out they were busy enclosing land while waiting to see his joke.

Zheng Yue Ru put away the playful look on her face and said seriously: "Brother Liu, the major agricultural tax cannot be exempted! There has been no such precedent since ancient times; this move is truly digging one's own grave!"

Regarding this matter, Liu Zheng was very stubborn.

Not only would he exempt it, he even wanted to introduce various support and reward policies!

But the most important thing right now was money!

Making money!

Generating revenue!

This was the purpose of his coming to find Zheng Yue Ru today.

He chuckled and asked: "The monthly expenditure on Spice for this Fengming Tower must be quite high, right?"

Zheng Yue Ru was stunned, her face playful: "Since when has Brother Liu been so concerned with these women's affairs?"

Liu Zheng smiled without answering.

Zheng Yue Ru said: "It is indeed quite high; Brother Liu also knows that Yinzhou is remote, and those Spices are all transported by Yue Ru from Jinghua, while the Spices in Jinghua mostly come from Persia; with all this back and forth, the Spices are more expensive than the wine!"

As she spoke, she began to smile bitterly.

Everyone says these flower houses make money, but in reality, in a place with low consumption like Yinzhou, she had been in the red for five years! It was only with Liu Zheng's involvement this year that it turned from loss to profit.

Liu Zheng pondered for a moment: "Does the Zheng Family Trading Firm also deal in Spices?"

Zheng Yue Ru was stunned: "Brother Liu, are you thinking of..."

"Making money!"

Liu Zheng rubbed his temples; his father, the County Marquis, was carefree every day, while he, a young master of the County Marquis, was thinking every day about how to increase revenue.

What a disaster!

Continue to make money, continue to generate revenue!

The economy of Yinzhou must be revitalized!