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

Chapter 66 Unique skills aren't something you can just learn randomly.

The powerful families of Xuzhou were unwilling to do so. With such good income now, why would they sell their shares? Moreover, these families who got on board early had already made up their minds. Once more factories like this were built in Xuzhou, the Xuzhou families would buy up all the shares they could, leaving none for others. Their strategy was to weld the doors shut as soon as they got on board, preventing anyone else from getting on.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei immediately sensed trouble. Cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents. If he were to use administrative means to forcibly suppress them, the Xu Province, which had been united with great difficulty, would start fighting amongst themselves again.

He gasped for breath, scratched his forehead, and said, "Wen Yuan, do you have any better ideas? This can't go on."

Lu Wan knew this wouldn't work. This kind of grassroots economic exchange was a very good lubricant for bilateral relations, and their willingness to invest in Xuzhou was itself a stance—that they believed Liu Bei could provide Xuzhou with a long-term, stable social environment. Forcibly blocking investments from other powerful families was essentially telling them that Xuzhou didn't welcome them and that they should no longer have normal dealings with Xuzhou.

What will happen then? If you don't try to win people over, someone else will.

"My lord, I have thought of a few methods, but I don't know what the actual results will be. You can listen to them first for your reference."

Lu Wan organized her thoughts and began to speak eloquently: "The first method is that from now on, in each newly built workshop, a certain amount of shares will be reserved and not sold or used for business operations. These shares will be used specifically to attract and reward talented people and meritorious soldiers from outside the region. This will not only make our lord appear fair, but also naturally introduce external forces to balance the Xuzhou faction."

"The second method is to open up new sources of revenue. My lord can announce at the appropriate time that the next step will be to vigorously develop new industrial parks in Langya and Guangling, which will require a lot of funds and manpower. He can then publicly raise funds from everyone to form a joint venture. No matter how rich the people of Xuzhou are, they cannot possibly buy up all the shares at once, which will give others an opportunity. In addition, my lord can also set a new rule that all investors in Xuzhou will be treated equally, and there will be no malicious exclusion."

Liu Bei nodded, acknowledging the two methods. He then turned to Chen Qun and asked, "Changwen, how's it going on your end?"

Do the various departments cooperate with you?

Chen Qun replied, "Fortunately, they still take me seriously and haven't made things difficult for me like they did for General Zhang before. However, during the work coordination, I discovered that there are very serious problems with the current administration of Xuzhou."

"Why are there so many problems? Doesn't Xuzhou look like a sieve all over the place?" Liu Bei was getting a little frustrated. Every time he solved one problem, more and more would pop up. Although Liu Bei didn't know that there was a profession called programmer in later generations, he felt that the situation in Xuzhou was like a programmer fixing bugs—the more he fixed, the more problems appeared.

"This is normal. All industries in Xuzhou are developing, especially in Xiapi. Nowadays, people call Xiapi 'the city that never sleeps.' Various industries need relevant departments to supervise and regulate them. The phenomenon of redundant officials in Xuzhou is starting to worsen. There are all kinds of officials everywhere. When two people meet, they can't even tell who is superior and who is inferior. So, cooperation between departments is out of the question."

"Secondly, there is the problem of unclear powers and responsibilities. A county magistrate not only has to manage local administration, but also shoulder multiple responsibilities such as the economy and the judiciary. This is too inefficient. So, my lord, I am thinking about whether we can carry out a structural reorganization in Xuzhou to adjust it to the state most suitable for Xuzhou."

Liu Bei raised an eyebrow, looking at Chen Qun in shock. He hadn't expected his chief clerk to be so ambitious, already planning to develop structural ideas. To avoid his old friend Chen Ji outliving his son, Liu Bei hurriedly said, "Wait, how about we discuss this later? Isn't it a bit too hasty to do this now?"

"It's alright, my lord. I don't mean to take away their jobs. I just want to establish a higher-level department among the current departments to manage them in a unified manner."

"Wait a minute, this won't solve the problem either," Lu Wan suddenly interrupted Chen Qun, saying, "This is just patching things up; the fundamental issue of unclear authority remains unresolved."

Lu Wan had no intention of embarrassing his colleagues in front of the leadership; he simply felt that this was a matter that needed to be considered very carefully. Once things started poorly, it would be extremely difficult to correct them later.

Chen Qun glanced at Lu Wan with agreement and said sincerely, "I've been thinking about this issue as well. If we just make improvements on the foundation laid by our predecessors, problems will inevitably arise in the end. However, I really don't have any ideas on how to create a new framework to replace the current one."

Lu Wan nodded as well, this is also a very troublesome point at the moment.

He once considered whether to emulate Cao Cao in history and establish a new management system through a "hegemonic government." Historically, Cao Cao's approach was quite effective, completely undermining the existing Eastern Han court and establishing his own regional hegemony.

The advantage of doing this was that it broke away from the old government offices and established a temporary organization with power exceeding that of all other departments. In wartime, this was extremely efficient.

When Lu Wan thought of this, he really wanted to take this plan to Liu Bei. How about it? Isn't that bold? Lu Wan then went to his friends and said that he had a good idea that could bring new changes to Xuzhou.

But in the end, Lu Wan gave up.

Because Cao Cao's hegemonic power had many advantages, but even more disadvantages!

The most prominent issue was legitimacy. In name, the Eastern Han Dynasty was still functioning well; it had an emperor and officials, though they couldn't move freely. It had taxes and an army, albeit a slightly smaller one. To establish a local government was tantamount to setting up a private government, which was not recognized by the court. This would essentially give the enemy a reason to declare war: nominally a Han subject, but in reality a traitor to the Han.

Moreover, after the establishment of the tyrannical government, the original staff remained, still managing civil affairs, taxation, and the judiciary. Now, with the sudden addition of a new staff, conflicts over authority are inevitable.

Furthermore, this system is highly dependent on the leader's prestige, ability, and wisdom. All major matters must be handled personally by him. Looking at her lord's inconsistent lifestyle, Lu Wan knew that Liu Bei might be able to maintain this for a month or a year, but definitely not for ten or twenty years.

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