He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Lu Wan was overjoyed to receive the funds, because he had funded the construction of the printing plant himself, and if he hadn't received some money, he would have been living on dirt.

Printing books is a slow process, and it's impossible to get results without upfront investment. However, Lu Wan also knew that once the printing plant was up and running, it would be a tremendous boost to Xuzhou.

Putting aside everything else, simply publishing numerous Confucian classics would be enough to lure Confucian families into a trap. A small book could contain more text than a cartload of bamboo slips; no one would refuse such a portable medium of knowledge.

In fact, rudimentary printing technology appeared as early as the reign of Emperor Ling of Han. At that time, Cai Yong suggested that the court erect stone tablets with seven Confucian classics inscribed outside the gate of the Imperial Academy, namely the Book of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Changes, the Book of Rites, the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Gongyang Commentary, and the Analects, for scholars to study. Cai Yong also specially copied them out one by one for craftsmen to refer to and carve.

Since these stone tablets were erected, many scholars from relatively poor families have come to copy them.

Some resourceful individuals, taking advantage of the quiet of the night, would blacken the stone tablet with ink, then cover it with silk cloth, thus creating a rubbing of the characters. However, this method often resulted in the characters becoming illegible due to ink smudges, so it wasn't widely used.

Later, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, someone discovered that by placing a slightly damp piece of paper on a stone tablet, gently tapping it with a soft mallet to make the paper sink into the recessed areas of the characters on the tablet, and then wrapping it with a cloth filled with stuffing (usually straw), dipping it in ink, and gently patting it onto the paper, a black background with white characters would be left on the paper, exactly the same as the characters on the stone tablet. This is called rubbing.

Then came woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty and movable type printing during the Song Dynasty. The methods became increasingly portable and simpler. The best thing about movable type printing was that if some characters were damaged, they could be replaced immediately, without having to carve a new piece like with woodblock printing.

Lu Wan certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to start from scratch and gradually advance through technology; she would jump straight to movable type printing. However, woodblock printing couldn't be neglected either, as Lu Wan would need it to torture the prison guards in the future.

What exactly they will do will only be revealed after the northern defense line of Xuzhou is rebuilt and Cao Cao is completely unable to penetrate it.

Looking at the samples coming off the production line, Lu Wan felt they were almost identical to the ancient books from the Ming and Qing dynasties she had read before. After touring the printing plant's facilities, Lu Wan hurried off to her next destination.

The driver of the oxcart cracked his whip, and the cart headed in another direction.

About an hour and a half later, Lu Wan finally arrived at her destination.

What appeared before Lu Wan was a wasteland, or more precisely, a wasteland that had only recently become a wasteland.

When some prominent families heard that Lu Wan was going to set up a factory again, they hurriedly drove away the tenants on their land and came to Lu Wan to say that they had a piece of land that was lying fallow and they were worried about what to do with it. They said that since Mr. Wen Yuan needed it, they would not mind taking it and using it as they pleased. They just hoped that Lu Wan could help them and let their family also participate.

This is also the attitude of the powerful families in Xuzhou now. Through Lu Wan's unremitting efforts, he has basically tied all the major powerful families in Xuzhou to Liu Bei's side.

For the first time, the aristocratic family felt the impact of industrial production. They could produce products weighing tons at a time, and the economic benefits of selling these products were incomparable to those of exploiting tenant farmers.

This had a significant impact on their existing worldview, but thankfully they didn't lose their composure. Unlike later aristocratic families who would seize anything they saw and write lengthy denunciations of anyone who dared to obstruct them, these families at that time still retained some semblance of dignity. Later, during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, Lu Wan would certainly not have dared to readily use his knowledge.

The attitude of the Xuzhou aristocratic family towards these emerging industries is: For the sake of the Han Dynasty! Give our brother a hand! As long as I invest some money, I'll do anything!

There's no reason not to accept money offered to you, and Lu Wan welcomes those who want to invest.

Lu Wan is now taking the first step in dealing with the powerful clans by shifting their economic resources to emerging industries, so that they will no longer need to exchange benefits with the powerful clans.

Next, the numerous factories that will be built will face a severe shortage of workers. In order to obtain sufficient labor, aristocratic families will inevitably target tenant farmers and independent farmers. However, the number of tenant farmers and independent farmers owned by aristocratic families is limited. Therefore, aristocratic families will then turn their attention to powerful clans, who also have manpower.

There's no need to worry about them not fighting. At that time, the powerful clans will only have land and tenant farmers, but they won't have the corresponding official status for protection, nor will they have enough troops to fight back. To ordinary people, they may be a behemoth, but to the aristocratic families, they'll just be a small, insignificant force.

Once the two sides start to clash, Lu Wan can eliminate the powerful clans of Xuzhou one by one, like pulling out nails.

Returning to the wasteland before her, Lu Wan began to consider the construction of corresponding facilities. This land was located south of Xiapi City, near the Si River. Its proximity to the major city meant abundant labor; its proximity to the river ensured convenient transportation.

After considering which factory to build first, Lu Wan decided to start with the most basic iron smelting plant.

The entire city of Xuzhou is now teeming with life, with construction sites everywhere, making the demand for tools immense. Not to mention the needs of the displaced people for tools like sickles and hoes, the needs of industrial construction, and the future demand for military equipment.

Lu Wan looked at the land and thought, "No wonder the Central Plains are so good. This land is flat and wide, making it perfect for construction."

Everything is ready now, except for the final push.

This "east wind" refers to the blower, and blast furnaces for iron smelting cannot function without blowers. Although relatively mature and convenient iron smelting technology existed in the Han Dynasty, steel production remained low because the blowers still relied on leather bellows made from animal hides.

Without guaranteed airtightness, there is no standardized production, and therefore no guarantee of iron production output.

This seems easy to solve on the surface; all you need is a water-powered blower. The problem is, you can't keep building it by the river forever. Eventually, it will have to be built in a place with insufficient water power, and then what will you do?

Let's leave the details of how to deal with these problems for now.

Taking out the paper he carried with him, Lu Wan began to draw on it. Holding a charcoal pencil, he carefully marked on the paper where the workers' living areas were, where the work areas were, where the warehouses would be used to store things, and where the waste disposal areas would be. Even the location of the toilets to be built was clearly recorded on the paper.