I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 82: Yuan Shu is in a daze
The propaganda methods of the Liangzhuang Propaganda Team are really crude, and the words they say are rather unpleasant to the ear, just plain words.

But it wins because it is real and not beating around the bush.

This simple and crude way of propaganda just happened to match the brain waves of the Liangzhou apes, and the two sides miraculously hit it off.

Starting from the last year of Yuan Shu's mourning period, young men from local wealthy families in Liangzhou continued to come to Youfufeng to study under Yuan Shu. The number of people was staggering.

Moreover, in order to please Yuan Shu, the local nobles in Liangzhou also treated the caravans arranged by Yuan Shu to Liangzhou very well and made things very convenient for them.

Liangzhuang does have a relatively complete internal circulation system, but this is relative, not absolute.

Although the internal system of Liangzhuang is presided over by Yuan Shu and Yixinhui, and it is a place outside the law of the Han Dynasty, this does not mean that Liangzhuang is isolated from the outside world and completely engages in internal circulation instead of external circulation.

In fact, the Yi Xin Hui's Logistics Department has a caravan under its jurisdiction, which is managed by one of the two deputy directors of the Logistics Department. They are responsible for selling affordable grain from Liangzhuang to stabilize the price of grain.

But they are not a specialized charity organization and still need to make money.

As for how to make money, we have to talk about Youfufeng’s special geographical location.

To the west, there is Liangzhou, which connects to the Western Regions; to the south, there are Hanzhong and Yizhou; to the north, there are the Eastern Qiang settlements and the Southern Xiongnu settlements; to the east, there are Jingzhao, Hongnong and even Luoyang, which are the political, cultural and economic centers of the Eastern Han Empire.

In military terms, this is called a battleground.

In terms of transportation, this is called a hub.

On a business level, this is where wealth is exchanged and gathered.

However, due to the century-long Han-Qiang War and the eastward shift of the Han Empire's ruling center, Youfufeng did not receive policy support for a long time, so that its own advantages could not be brought into play, the economy continued to decline, and the population continued to decrease, until the official registered population was less than 100,000.

Yuan Shu believes that this is far from the state that Youfufeng should be in.

So, he decided to start a small business on this increasingly desolate and dilapidated land and bring some small changes to it.

First, he set his sights on Liangzhou and the Western Regions.

Although the Han Empire cut off political ties with the Western Regions many times, no matter how politically connected it was, the commercial level was never completely cut off.

Goods from the Western Regions can be sold at very good prices in the Han Dynasty, and goods from the Han Dynasty are also an absolute high-quality choice in the Western Regions and even in countries further west.

With a round trip, merchants can make more than 100% profit, right?
Such high profits would definitely tempt people, and some caravans willing to take great risks to trade would objectively become "messengers" that promoted exchanges between the East and the West.

For example, the cushion that Yuan Shu found in Ma Rong’s room was probably a product of Persia.

Central and West Asia have been rich in various handmade woolen fabrics since ancient times. High-quality fabrics entered China through the Silk Road and were deeply loved by the powerful and wealthy.

As for the products of the Han Empire, they were even more popular. Silk, various pottery, ironware and early porcelain could all be sold at very high prices.

Therefore, Yuan Shu began to organize a foreign merchant team in the second year after Liangzhuang was established, and put Luo Yi, deputy director of the logistics department and one of the Thirteen Guardians, in charge of this team.

Luo Yi's family is a branch of the Luo family, a prominent family in southern Jingzhou. They started to engage in commercial trade between the north and south of Jingzhou a long time ago. Later, their business grew bigger and bigger, expanding south to Jiaozhou and north to Yuzhou and Luoyang. They are a family that is very good at trade and commerce.

Luo Yi followed his father to do business when he was very young. Because he was found to have a talent for studying, his family spent a lot of resources to send him to Ma Rong to become a disciple.

Later, relying on his family's strong financial background, he followed the path of the previous generation of disciples and was successfully promoted to a disciple. He was considered a person with a talent for trade.

After Yuan Shu got to know his background, he entrusted him with an important task and entrusted him with the affairs of foreign trade. He asked him to sell affordable grain to the Sanfu area to stabilize the grain price, and to organize caravans to go to Liangzhou for commercial trade.

Because Liangzhuang had the technical foundation laid by Yuan Shu, the high-quality agricultural tools produced by "Yi Xin Steel Co., Ltd." were very well received and had a great reputation in the Sanfu area. This reputation soon spread to Liangzhou.

Therefore, the Liangzhuang caravan opened up the market in Liangzhou by using high-quality agricultural tools as its flagship products.

In order to avoid the high taxes that had to be repeatedly levied at each checkpoint and to reduce costs, Yuan Shu once again activated his ultimate skill, "The Yuan family of Runan, three generations of officials."

Through the relationship between Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei, Yuan made arrangements with the officials along the caravan's route.

The prefects of Hanyang, Beidi, Anding and Wudu all showed leniency to the Liangzhuang caravan and did not collect taxes from it, making the high-quality agricultural tools brought by the Liangzhuang caravan become popular high-quality products in the markets of the four counties.

While the Liangzhuang caravan earned high profits by selling high-quality farm tools, it also purchased local flagship products in the four counties, such as the wine that Yuan Shu specifically requested to buy.

Wine was loved by the powerful and wealthy in the Han Empire, from the emperor to the county magistrate. Some people even bribed their superiors with large amounts of wine to obtain official positions, which shows how popular wine was. With such popularity, the profits must have been high.

Relying on the prestige of the Yuan family and a certain degree of exchange of interests, Yuan Shu was able to obtain sufficient wine resources at a lower cost, repackage them, and sell them in the markets of Jingzhao, Hongnong County and Luoyang.

Then they would purchase silk, pottery, porcelain and other popular products from Jingzhao, Hongnong County and Luoyang area and sell them to Liangzhou to make more money.

This means that the biggest costs paid by Yuan Shu came from transportation costs, time costs, and the favors of several county governors, while the corresponding profits were extremely huge.

In addition to the cooperation of Liangzhou officials, Yuan Shu gained the acceptance and cooperation of Liangzhou locals by relying on the academic recruitment and the temptation of formal jobs he offered.

Their cooperation made the Liangzhuang caravan's commercial trade in Hanyang and other counties grow bigger and bigger, and people kept coming to place orders and propose cooperation.

He can earn benefits from the government as well as from the people. Yuan Shu's move is just like Qin Shihuang touching the electric wire - he is a winner.

But that's not all.

In addition to being used to sell and make money, the wine resources obtained by Yuan Shu can also play an unexpected role in building relationships.

Only half of the wine that the Liangzhuang caravan brings to Luoyang will be sold on the market, and the remaining half will be handed over to Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei in Luoyang, so that they can use these "luxury goods" redesigned and packaged by Yuan Shu to manage their interpersonal relationships.

Although the Yuan family is powerful and is known as the second most powerful family in the world, and is known as the most powerful family after Emperor Liu, the Yuan family obviously also needs to manage interpersonal relationships well. The necessary personal interactions are essential. Otherwise, the relationships will become alienated.

At the political level, when conflicts of interest are not very critical, personal relationships can still play a big role in balancing things.

When two directions point to similar results, the direction with closer personal connections is obviously more likely to be chosen and approached by politicians.

Regardless of whether it is the power of eunuchs, the power of other political factions in the court, or the network of relationships among their own students and former officials, it is impossible for the Yuan family to simply take without giving anything in return.

There is an old saying that "the more courtesy you give, the less blame you get" and "reciprocity is the key", which are the essence of human relationships.

Moreover, the higher the status, the higher the emotional value of gifts of the same price, which can make the recipients more excited and honored, and more willing to serve as lackeys of the Yuan family.

As for those who are not their own people, they must be very happy after receiving these gifts. From time to time, they would take them out to show off in front of their guests, and introduce them as "this is a gift from Mr. Yuan of Runan" to gild themselves.

If these gifts were more valuable and rare, they would provide greater emotional value to the recipients, making them feel honored and extremely comfortable, and they would work harder for the interests of the Yuan family.

Wine, especially high-quality, priceless boutique wine, is an excellent choice.

To be honest, this action is not only beneficial to the Yuan family, but also to Yuan Shu himself.

Because he also needed to demonstrate his usefulness to the Runan Yuan family, leave the Runan Yuan family with the impression that he was capable and useful, and consolidate his weight with the Runan Yuan family.

For him, this is a kind of preparation for a rainy day.

During the development of Youfufeng, Yuan Shu deeply realized the significance of leaning against a big tree for shade, and at the same time realized the weight of this shelter.

For his development and safety, the Runan Yuan family, led by his cheap father, has indeed paid a lot.

But the problem is that the Runan Yuan family cannot always be dominated by his cheap father.

Right now, he can rely on Yuan Feng to fleece the Yuan family without being accused of anything excessive, and he can also rely on Yuan Feng's relationship to get the protection of the Runan Yuan family, but once his father is gone, the situation will be different.

The head of the Yuan family at that time should be his adopted elder brother Yuan Ji. Yuan Ji will definitely inherit the bulk of Yuan Feng's political legacy. Even if he does not have strong talents and cannot decide everything for the Yuan family right away, he will not provide as much selfless help to Yuan Shu as Yuan Feng.

Yuan Shu knew in his heart that he had never paid much attention to his two fallen brothers since childhood, not to mention Yuan Shao, with whom he had been close friends since childhood. His relationship with Yuan Ji could not be said to be close, but could be considered as strangers.

Once his cheap father passes away, Yuan Shu will not be able to easily leverage Yuan’s resources to serve him like he does now.

Even if he planned to set up his own business, it would not be possible for him to succeed and gain a foothold in a short period of time. Under the big tree of Runan Yuan family, even if he had successfully established Fufeng Yuan family, he would have to wait for a while.

By that time, if one still wanted to continue using the political resources of the Runan Yuan family, one would have to rely on one's own abilities to exchange and obtain them. Otherwise, the relationship between the Fufeng Yuan family and the Runan Yuan family would become very estranged, just like the relationship between the Chenjun Yuan family and the Runan Yuan family.

But the Chenjun Yuan family is the ancestor of the Runan Yuan family. They have their own foundation and heritage. How can he compare with them?
Therefore, demonstrating value and making the Runan Yuan family fully aware of the necessity of their existence, thereby achieving the strategic goal of sustainably fleecing the Yuan family, will be one of Yuan Shu’s main offensive directions for a considerable period of time in the future.

(End of this chapter)