I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 328 You're dissatisfied with me?
Xu Cheng meant that trade between Bingzhou and the northern grasslands began very early, with commercial trade relations with the powerful Xiongnu people as early as the Western Han Dynasty.

Later, the Xiongnu split up, and the Southern Xiongnu moved to Bingzhou. The people of Bingzhou continued to have a lot of commercial exchanges with the Southern Xiongnu.

After the Xianbei people took advantage of the emptiness of the grasslands to occupy and grow stronger, the people of Bingzhou had commercial trade with the Xianbei people. It wasn't just Bingzhou, Youzhou, Liangzhou, and even Jizhou that had trade relations with many tribes on the grasslands.

This was not a sudden occurrence, but rather had a long historical background. No emperor or local official had ever proposed to prohibit bilateral trade before, because in addition to ironware, many other goods were also transported to the grasslands in exchange for horses, bone products, and other goods, which met some of the needs of the Han people in the Central Plains.

This is a win-win situation for both sides.

Although Bingzhou is not wealthy and has a small population, there are still many families that have risen to prominence by developing trade relations with various tribes. These people are an important force in maintaining local security and stability. If their source of income is cut off, they may be disappointed, which could lead to some unpredictable risks.

Xu Cheng gave a long and rambling speech, but Yuan Shu's reaction to him left him quite disappointed.

Yuan Shu's attitude was very clear.

"I only prohibited the trade in ironware; I didn't prohibit other trades. They can continue their other trades without my interference. Is losing one type of trade really that damaging? Is all your trade in ironware?"

Xu Cheng shook his head.

"For trade with the grassland tribes, ironware accounts for half of the trade. If the trade in ironware is prohibited, it is like cutting off an arm of this trade. Such a huge loss would be a great loss for the people of Bingzhou, and they may not be able to accept it."

Yuan Shu was completely unmoved by this.

He just shook his head.

"It's just a broken arm, can't he live? The ironware they sell is made into weapons by the Xianbei people to invade the south, and every year soldiers and civilians die because of it. Which is more important? Magistrate Xu, can't you tell the difference?"

Xu Cheng was certainly not unaware of the difference; he knew that the iron these guys sold had all turned into knives used by the Xianbei people. But the problem was, the knives weren't actually used on him.

He was in the safe Taiyuan Prefecture, in Jinyang County. The terrain there was advantageous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the transportation was inconvenient. The Xianbei people, who rode freely on horseback, basically did not take this route to threaten him.

Even if he comes, he can simply hide in Jinyang City, leaning against the high city walls, which is safe enough.

The Xianbei attacked the people of Yunzhong, Wuyuan, and Yanmen counties, and the people of those places had absolutely no connection with them.

He was from Lujiang County and also served in Jinyang County of Taiyuan County. He only needed to speak for the people of these two places. As for the people of other counties and kingdoms, they were foreigners to him. They were not related by blood and had no close relationship with him, so why bother?

Moreover, since taking office, he has maintained a good and pleasant relationship with the powerful families in Jinyang. It is customary for him to receive gifts during festivals. With such a comfortable life, he is even more inclined to speak up for these people who have made contributions and to seek their benefits.

He felt that such basic professional ethics were still necessary.

Moreover, he naturally assumed that Yuan Shu shared the same thoughts as him.

He had also heard about Yuan Shu's past experiences.

Born in Runan County, educated in Youfufeng, prospered in Luoyang, and also showed great compassion by saving a group of people from Dongjun. So, as long as he avoids these four places, the other places are no different for Yuan Shu.

Even if he is the governor of Bingzhou, what benefits can those border counties in northern Bingzhou bring him? Can they bring him money or power?
There's nothing there, just a lot of trouble, all sorts of trouble.

The troubles of locals, the troubles of outsiders, the troubles of foreigners—there's a constant shortage of money, food, and soldiers. It's a money-losing mess. Anyone caught up in it will either be exhausted or driven crazy by the annoyance.

Yuan Shu claimed to be coming to Bingzhou to attack the Xianbei, but attacking the Xianbei requires money, grain, people, and laborers for logistics and transportation. Can the northern counties provide these?
I can't give it to you!
They are barely able to survive, with a small population, and it's already a miracle they exist. How can we expect to get any help or benefits from them?
The imperial court could not obtain any tax revenue from them, only investment, a bottomless pit of investment. Heaven knows how the imperial court suffered in silence. If it weren't for Liangzhou's "precious example", Bingzhou would probably have been expelled from the Han nationality as well.

In comparison, Taiyuan County and Shangdang County, which can bring positive benefits to Yuan Shu, are the places that Yuan Shu should really care about and protect.

Bingzhou only has these two counties that are worth mentioning, and these are the only two counties that can generate some profit. If you cut off half of the way these two counties make extra money, they will really have nothing left.

Xu Cheng believed that although Yuan Shu was talented, he was young and inexperienced and might not be able to see through the mystery, so he simply spoke frankly.

“My lord, although Bingzhou is said to have nine prefectures, as of today, only Taiyuan Prefecture and Shangdang Prefecture still have taxes to pay to the court. The other seven prefectures are fortunate enough to be able to maintain their own balance of income and expenditure without the court’s extra subsidies. My lord, isn’t there revenue from the sale of ironware in the taxes paid to the court by these two prefectures? And isn’t there money from this in the court’s funds used for disaster relief across the country?” Yuan Shu was silent for a while, then slowly nodded.

"Go on."

Xu Cheng was overjoyed to see that his persuasion had worked and immediately pressed his advantage.

"You came to Bingzhou to fight against the Xianbei. Who can provide you with the money and provisions for this campaign? Do we need the imperial court to transport them over a distance of three hundred miles? That would be a huge loss. In the end, we will still need Bingzhou to provide them, but the other seven prefectures are mostly devastated. Where can we find any extra money and provisions to provide?"
"The only places in Bingzhou that can supply troops and provisions are Taiyuan and Shangdang counties. It is also Taiyuan and Shangdang counties that can create momentum for your army and make it even stronger. Would it be a good thing for you to suffer losses in Taiyuan and Shangdang counties? Shouldn't this be something you should avoid?"

Yuan Shu continued to nod.

"Hmm, that makes sense. Go on."

Xu Cheng was very pleased, so he continued his efforts.

"My lord, you are the governor of Bingzhou, the ruler of Bingzhou, and you hold the power of life and death over the people of the province. The life and death, the glory and disgrace of the people of Bingzhou are all in your hands. So what you want to do, you can definitely do. You want to ban the sale of ironware, and you can definitely do it."

"But my lord, even if Bingzhou stops selling them, Youzhou and Liangzhou can still sell them. You can control Bingzhou, but you can't control Youzhou and Liangzhou. When the Xianbei people can't buy them in Bingzhou, they'll buy them in Youzhou and Liangzhou, buying even more. This will only benefit Youzhou and Liangzhou!"

"The Xianbei people are the same. They couldn't buy ironware in Bingzhou, so they hated the people of Bingzhou. After they bought ironware from Youzhou and Liangzhou, they made it into weapons and then attacked Bingzhou, venting all their anger on Bingzhou. Is this the result you wanted?"

The Xianbei people migrate south every year, seeking nothing more than those same goods. If they can't buy them, they'll rob us. Selling directly to them will stop them from robbing, preventing deaths and allowing us to make money. Everyone can live in peace—why not?

"My lord, you may not know this, but after the court accepted the surrender of the Southern Xiongnu, it gave them a certain amount of rewards every year. It seems like a lot, but compared to the military expenses that the court had to send troops to retaliate against the Southern Xiongnu's annual southward raids, it was nothing!"

Our predecessors were not unaware of the cunning and treacherous nature of these despicable chieftains; they were aware that they would follow us when there were benefits and rebel when there were none. However, upon closer examination, the cost was simply too high. Fighting cost money, not fighting also cost money, and the latter cost even less. So why not choose the less expensive option?

After talking for a while, Xu Cheng took a deep breath, looked at the glass of water in his hand, picked it up and gulped it down to quench his thirst.

Seeing that he had stopped talking, Yuan Shu smiled and asked, "Are you finished?"

Xu Cheng was taken aback. He looked up at Yuan Shu and saw that Yuan Shu's expression was neither a smile nor a frown. He immediately felt uneasy.

Did I say too much just now?

So he quickly stood up and bowed to Yuan Shu.

"I was anxious for you and for the future of Bingzhou, so I said a few extra words. If I have offended you, I hope you will forgive me!"

"That's not the point. It doesn't matter if I say a few more or a few less words. I'm not the kind of person who blocks the flow of speech."

Yuan Shu first waved his hand, then stared straight at Xu Cheng and sneered, "What I care about is that you seem to have some objections to my policy of managing Bingzhou and annihilating the Xianbei? You don't seem to agree with my strategy? You seem to think that fighting is unnecessary? As long as you pay, that's enough?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Cheng's expression changed drastically. He was immediately filled with fear and quickly left his seat, running to Yuan Shu and kneeling on the ground.

"That's not it! That's not it! Please, Your Majesty, investigate thoroughly! I...I only...I only..."

"Just what?"

"It's just...just..."

Xu Cheng was probably startled and his mind went blank. He couldn't react for a while and kept saying "just" but couldn't come up with a coherent explanation. Finally, he exhausted Yuan Shu's patience.

“Magistrate Xu, I’m quite disappointed. You talked to me about the local customs and culture of Bingzhou before, which made me think you were a capable official. I thought you could achieve something and I even had the intention of promoting you. But I didn’t expect that you would abandon the possibility of achieving great things for petty gains. Tell me, who are those people who asked you to be their lobbyist? And what price did they pay you to persuade me?”

(End of this chapter)