Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 60 Buying and Selling Official Positions (Please continue reading)

For several more days, everything in Peach Blossom Spring was peaceful and tranquil, and all things were joyful.

A contract for 10,000 jin of fine wine was signed with Zhou Jiaxin, with payment made on a 50/50 basis.

The Zhou family monopolized the salt and iron trade in Changshan and frequently traveled to the south, so Zhang Xian also asked his family's caravan to collect some things for him in the south.

The method of making sugar from sorghum could not be carried out, and the sweet stalks of ancient sorghum had a pitifully low sweetness, so he had no choice but to give up this method and focus on brewing wine from sorghum.

But he couldn't give up the sugar business, so he asked the Zhou family's caravan to see if they could find wild sugarcane in the south.

Although the sweetness of wild sugarcane is impressive, it is still better than that of corn stalks. Moreover, sugarcane is much easier to improve, and with his home farm, he is not worried about not being able to improve the sweetness of wild sugarcane.

Now, relying on the liquor business, he has completely opened up trade routes in Changshan. Many caravans have placed orders in Taoyuan, but compared to the Zhou family's big business, their orders are much smaller. All of them combined only amount to about 10,000 jin.

However, the Guo family never came to discuss the liquor business with him, and it was unclear whether they looked down on such a small business or something else.

After Taoyuan was expanded and a work-for-relief program was implemented, there are now quite a few spies from other families in the refugee shacks outside Taoyuan. However, thanks to Zhang Jiao's reminder, almost all of these people have now been identified by Huang Zhong and are being supervised on a daily basis.

Zhang Xian doesn't mind keeping an eye on Taoyuan, but since he's already here, he might as well put in some extra effort and do some work.

In May 182, rumors of selling official positions finally reached Changshan.

After making numerous inquiries, Zhang Xian also obtained the price list for promotions in the Han Dynasty.

After eliminating some less important minor official positions, he focused on the status of titles such as county magistrate, county assistant, county commandant, prefect, and governor.

However, the sale of these official positions largely depended on the region. These positions in wealthy areas commanded a high premium, and countless people from the Central Plains and the South competed for them.

Everyone knows that wealthy land isn't something you can just buy with money, so many people looking to make a fortune set their sights on some less affluent areas in the Central Plains that still offer opportunities for profit.

Zhang Xian's initial expectations were for areas slightly east of the Central Plains, including Jingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, and Qingzhou, which he could accept.

However, when he thought about the Yellow Turban Rebellion two years later, he suddenly felt that if he went to these places, he would inevitably have to use his knife on the Yellow Turban army to gain merit.

This is not what he wants.

Admittedly, it is a rule that one should not be a benevolent military leader or a righteous person in charge of finances, but as a volunteer, his mission was to bring a way of life to the poor and needy, and for this reason he could not bear to take action against the Yellow Turban Army, who belonged to the same uprising camp.

Call him stupid or dumb, he simply doesn't want to!

That day, he argued with Zhang Jiao all night. Although the grand vision of the Way of Peace was full of flaws in his eyes, it was also a struggle of an idealist.

The two may have taken different paths, but they are walking on the same road.

Taiping has his own moral principles, and he also has his own principles to uphold.

This has nothing to do with profit, it's all about ideals.

After much thought, he realized that if he wanted to achieve enough merit before the turmoil of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the only place he could go was Xiliang!
Qiang people rebel!

This was a major event that broke out almost at the same time as the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but under the dazzling light of the Yellow Turbans gathering millions of people, the Qiang rebellion seemed somewhat insignificant.

But this is indeed a source of merit.

So after deciding on his plan, he began to ask people to inquire about the price of official positions in Xiliang.

Good news: official positions in Xiliang are indeed cheap; bad news: Xiliang is also truly desolate.

The price of the most prestigious position in a major county is only five million coins. You can even buy the positions of county magistrate and county lieutenant in bulk at the same time. There are also discounts for bulk purchases, so the total price is only eight million coins.

Eight million coins is hardly a large sum of money in Taoyuan these days; it's just enough for three to five hundred vats of fermented products to make diluted liquor.

Since he began his large-scale acquisition of the sorghum in Changshan County, there are now countless vats of sorghum fermenting in Taoyuan. This wealth alone is enough to propel him to one of the Three Dukes positions in the Han Dynasty. Using this money to buy a county's worth of official positions is not a difficult task at all.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Xian began to make his own arrangements. He was now a figure of considerable importance in Changshan, with wealth comparable to that of a powerful clan and a powerful voice, so there was no need for him to trouble Guo Huai any further.

After much effort, the avenue for buying an official position was opened.

However, even though the door is opened, gifts still need to be given at each stage.

The location was determined to be Wating County in Anding Prefecture. After inquiring with the merchants of Xiliang, they learned that the place was protected by the natural barrier of Liupan Mountain and could be directly entered into the three prefectures of Hanyang, Longxi and Jincheng, where the Qiang rebellion was most severe. It was a good place to fight.

However, the group purchase price for the three county-level positions is only eight million, but to satisfy the appetites of the Ten Attendants, there will inevitably be some additional expenses. Taoyuan needs at least ten million in spare money to settle in smoothly.

With a year and a half to go, Zhang Xian planned to expand Taoyuan's forces by more than a thousand men within eight months, ensuring that the soldiers were well-trained.

We still need to find ways to make money, so sugarcane is essential. Sugar is a luxury, and it's the best way to accumulate wealth. With wealth comes people, and with people come soldiers.

As for whether this action would be presumptuous, what's wrong with keeping more than a thousand servants?
If there's a problem, then all the powerful clans in Changshan should be exiled!

That night, Zhang Xian summoned Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, Xiahou Lan, Huwa, Shitou, Gouzi, and other core members of Taoyuan.

After a night of secret discussions, the training of the Peach Blossom Spring people became even more rigorous, and the supply of meat, grain, and oil was increased by 30%.

Reserve timber, rhizomes, raw and cooked hides, salt, iron, and grain.

Money poured into Taoyuan and then poured out in large quantities, which inadvertently made Changshan's commercial activities even more prosperous.

The warhorses arrived fifteen days after the archery test, a total of one hundred warhorses, plus several uncastrated stallions.

As soon as the horses arrived, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong began to add a new riding skill to the training of the Peach Blossom Spring troops, and they galloped across the Hebei Plain every day.

After exchanging business cards with the horse merchant, paying for wine and provisions, and agreeing to purchase another two hundred Bingzhou horses next month, the horse merchant left Taoyuan with an extremely long caravan.

The Taoyuan warehouse was mostly empty, and the brewing workshop needed to hire more staff.

They sold wine, bought land, recruited refugees, expanded the Taoyuan community, and established the framework of the Taoyuan community system.

In the silence, an army was quietly established in the Peach Blossom Spring.

It was early June.

After a month of vigorous reforms, Taoyuan now boasts 2,000 mu of land, 500 households, and a population of 400.

Also in early June.

Through Huang Zhong's introduction, Han Ji, a literary and art enthusiast whom Zhang Xian had long admired, arrived in Taoyuan.

Upon arriving in Taoyuan, the first question he asked Zhang Xian was...

"You really can help me avenge my enemy?!"

Zhang Xian remained silent, but led him to take a look at the drills of the Peach Blossom Spring crowd.

The next day, a new schoolteacher appeared in Peach Blossom Spring.

He was also a staff member.

Han Ji and Han Gongzhi have arrived!

(End of this chapter)