Actually, this formula is both important and unimportant.
Xu Shu and Zhang Chun had analyzed this in detail before arriving. Now, while Xu Shu needs to make strategic deployments, he also needs to consider matters in Chang'an.
Smoothing out the relationships in Chang'an and completely controlling the city is also a crucial step.
Chang'an is the core of Guanzhong; controlling Chang'an is equivalent to controlling Guanzhong.
The peripheral counties are not so important; they can be gradually infiltrated and replaced.
Therefore, the key is still the ancient capital of Chang'an.
And there are many things to deal with in Chang'an, involving all sorts of people.
First, there are the lower classes in Chang'an, those wandering knights, what we would call hooligans or petty criminals in modern times. These people are physically capable but unwilling to do hard labor, always thinking of unorthodox methods. Many times, murders, robberies, and fights are caused by them.
The lower classes are easy to manage: divide them, win them over, incorporate them, punish them, create more jobs for them, and so on—all these methods can control the wandering knights.
Adding a leader—a wandering knight with an excellent reputation—will allow them to be managed.
Meng Ju was the second follower to join Lu Ming, and one of the followers rewarded by the system.
Even before, Meng Ju was a well-known wandering knight in Luoyang and Hedong, and came from a wealthy family. Although he held no official position, he could still rally three thousand wandering knights with a single call.
He was chivalrous, righteous, loyal, and valued relationships.
It wasn't that no one wanted to recruit him, but that he disdained them.
What county magistrate dared to recruit him? A county magistrate's word carried less weight than his!
Under the system's guidance, and with the news of Lu Ming's exploits...
Without hesitation, Meng Ju and his followers joined Lu Ming. After meeting Meng Ju, Lu Ming appointed him as the Deputy Commander of the Military Command, in charge of the wandering knights of Chang'an.
With economic support, stricter punishments, and Meng Ju's own prestige, the wandering knights of Chang'an were easily incorporated into his ranks.
Anyone who dared to resist were quickly executed.
Having dealt with the lower classes, the next challenge was the Three Religions.
These Three Religions were not Taoism, but rather merchants who emerged from the background of noble families and powerful clans.
These merchants were involved in every aspect of life—salt, millet, cloth, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, and so on. Simply banning them would risk starving the entire city and causing riots.
Therefore, a gradual approach was needed. A fool would, like Sun Ce, simply kill them all—kill those who resisted until they submitted.
Sun Ce: Are you being polite? Lu Ming's approach was to win over, divide, incorporate, and suppress those who resisted, taking them under his wing and then beheading them.
The cloth trade was just the first step. The next step, controlling the rice trade, would come after the grain harvest from the military farms.
Controlling vital consumer goods, as well as other products like cotton, was crucial.
There was much to do, so Xu Shu and Zhang Chun were brought in to brainstorm solutions.
Then, they decided to proceed as planned, utilizing all the resources of Chang'an.
Resources from Liangzhou could also be allocated, entrusted to the two of them.
Xu Shu provided the ideas, Zhang Chun the analysis and execution, and they began reorganizing Chang'an with remarkable efficiency.
This was a pilot project; the same methods could be used to conquer other major cities.
The silver spent by the Hengsheng Shipping could easily fill a mountain of gold and a sea of silver!
Using silver, coupled with the reputation of the Langya Wang clan, finally smoothed out the connections between the provinces.
This was the foundation, the key. Having only the formula without connections is simply useless!
But does this mean the formula is worthless?
No.
It depends on who gets it. In the right hands, it's worth at least 100,000 gold!
The Hengsheng Wang family and the Dongsheng Zhao family have been rivals for decades. If the formula falls into their hands, the Zhao family will likely spend a fortune to buy it—that's what's troubling them.
Following Zhang Chun's instructions to Zhang Quan, Jia Yun gave the formula to Hengsheng for free to enhance their reputation and simultaneously block Wang Shouzhong's attempt to obtain the formula targeting Dongsheng Cloth Shop.
Lu Ming wasn't stupid. He wanted their money, not to become mortal enemies. He wanted them to know that by obeying him, they could have anything.
If they didn't listen to him, he could replace them at any time by becoming someone better; that was the power of intimidation.
A few days later. Ningguo Mansion, Ning'an Hall.
Jia Zhen, hearing Jia Rong's words, asked curiously, "Zhao Donglin of Dongsheng? What's he doing here?"
Jia Zhen vaguely remembered who this person was. The person himself wasn't important, but the person behind him was someone even the Ningguo Mansion dared not underestimate.
The Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, a truly powerful figure in the land.
Jia Rong hesitated for a moment, then said, "I vaguely heard that Yun-ge has two dyeing formulas that can be sold for a lot of money."
Jia Zhen immediately understood. It seemed that Zhao Donglin of Dongsheng hadn't grasped the situation, thinking that he, as the clan head, could control this rebellious son of the clan.
Thinking of that scoundrel, Jia Zhen's face darkened.
It seemed that he, as the clan head, had lost all prestige, which clearly embarrassed him.
He wanted to say no, but the words caught in his throat. Jia Zhen then asked, "Is Yun-ge'er still on Taiping Street, hanging out with that beast?"
Taiping Street was inhabited by hoodlums and petty criminals; it was a place for the lowest of the low.
Therefore, people of any standing disdained associating with those peasants.
It wasn't that it was unnecessary, but rather utterly unnecessary.
It would be seen as a loss of status, a loss of worth; those peasants were merely...useless.
So Jia Zhen immediately became furious upon hearing this. He couldn't control Jia Zheng and the others, but couldn't he even control the collateral relatives?
Jia Rong replied, "Yes, even his mother was taken there; she's staying with the Jinsha Gang."
Jia Zhen sneered, "You ungrateful wretch, you're cut from the same cloth as that wretched child! What is the Jinsha Gang anyway? A single order to the Five Cities Military Command can wipe them out. A lowly den of thieves, and they think they can be a powerful backer?"
Jia Rong thought to himself, "Isn't this Military Command set up by the Governor himself?"
Although they recruited quite a few scions of noble families, after a month of scavenging for manure, almost all of them had run away, leaving only two or three.
But he dared not speak, because offending Jia Zhen would truly bring him misfortune!