Chapter 284: Who Should I Work For?
On June 9th of the 2108th year of the Xian Han calendar, Xuan Chong had already boarded the cruise ship heading back home; after being away for two years, he had traveled tens of thousands of miles and gained a comprehensive understanding of affairs under heaven.
Liu Dangzhen, that is, Xuan Chong’s current father, sent a telegram; he said that upon his return, he would test him on the insights gained over the past six months.
Xuan Chong had asked the family’s servants in advance and discovered that his father had been immersed in the steel mill these days, and recently had been pondering the production of steel for railways.
Xuan Chong understood that his father was also a devotee of “farming.” The chimneys in his hometown all bore his name on the foundation bricks.
Xuan Chong couldn’t help but complain about his father: this was just like the vassal kings of the southern vassal states, who, once they had capital, had to tinker with something.
Xuan Chong had seen affairs under heaven! He knew that on the imperial court of the present Han, the scholar-officials were delighted to see the vassal kings tinkering like this! Just like the magnates behind A-shares were delighted to see retail investors jumping in to tinker.
Vassal states, located in regions without prospects for industrialization, after undergoing industrialization to pass the initial capital accumulation period, would continuously incur losses.
One could refer to the enterprises from before his rebirth in Xuan Chong’s cognition; the systems established with true insight by the first-generation sect leaders, along with capital and personal connections, would ultimately be exhausted in the hands of the second and third generations. — This was why the second and third generations either tried to collude with officials and merchants to secure privileges (the Samsung route), or tried to “run” to an ideal land.
In this spacetime of the present Han, the vassal kings could not run; with ritual law being strict, they also could not collude with the central court’s ministers, and could only wait to be harvested a century later.
Dongying was a scene that had already been harvested once; the former steel mills had been abandoned, and the remaining ports, roads, and bridges were all built a century ago; now all maintenance was consumption, supplied from the industrial chain within the present Han. It belonged to — regions after development.
Whereas the Dongtu region belonged to “regions before development,” so Xuan Chong knew that the ports and assets ultimately accumulated by his father now tinkering would be harvested by groups within the present Han after four or five generations, becoming a patch of bricks and tiles in the expansion of the central circle outward!
After figuring out such a despairing outcome, Xuan Chong once cursed, “Might as well just give up.”
Of course, “giving up” was just venting. In his previous life, “giving up” meant one could directly hole up at home freeloading off parents, with no contact with the outside world and no need to worry about face. But today’s prince’s offspring could not hole up in their fief freeloading off elders; they had to go to the central zone to receive systemic education before returning to succeed.
People from poor places had no say. In his previous life, Shanghai elites mockingly called the surroundings countryside, yet they were still constrained by “greater truths” and could not go too far.
Here in the present Han, “harmony between man and heaven” was the greater truth; Han land’s vassal kings being too backward would be despised.
Before transmigrating, Liu Haoxing had been bullied, and no one had intervened. — If there was no development, generation after generation would be dragged to developed regions for a round of “you are barbarians” humiliation!
No development meant humiliation, development meant harvest! Xuan Chong: Being a vassal king was more frustrating than being a wage slave in his previous life.
…The general trend under heaven, ultimately working for whom…
Xuan Chong roughly tallied from newspapers from various places the situation of train transport interactions, and discovered that the present Han was now split into four economic circles.
The first was the XiaBei Plains economic circle (mountains and rivers F4).
The second was the Guangxi economic circle west of Hangu Pass.
The third was the South Sea economic circle, mainly centered on the two Guang provinces and Giaochi, including Lüsong and Malaya, wrapping the entire South Sea into an inland sea.
The fourth, also the largest economic circle within the present Han, Jiangnan.
Speaking of which, geographically, Dongtu was set to be annexed by the XiaBei economic circle. But what Liu Dangzhen was doing now was sideways jumping, jumping into the Jiangnan economic circle, trying to get more meals for Dongtu.
Thinking of this, Xuan Chong suddenly had a whimsical idea: if Dongtu, Xinluo, Black Dragon River, and Liao Plains were put together! Then it would have mines where there were mines, labor force where there was labor force, complete light and heavy industry, and abundant grain. Could this sustain an economic circle?
Of course, Xuan Chong was just thinking about it; this idea was just like Maozi in his previous life trying to set up the “COMECON.”
The places Mao Bear wanted to unite were all resource countries. Yet Mao Bear itself lacked the ability to deeply process resources.
If the big brother could not multiply the value of the little brothers’ resources from “1” to “2,” who would follow you! The little brothers could exchange resources anywhere.
What was resource deep processing ability? — Deep processing crude oil and natural gas into petrochemical industries, transforming into beautiful, affordable, and market-competitive various industrial products; processing steel into automobiles, rare earth into lithium batteries, such high value-added abilities.
The above industrial chains required talent incubation mechanisms. The redheads, this nation “just freed from serf culture,” were extremely lacking in mechanisms of “recommending the worthy.”
More fatally, Maozi’s population concentration areas bordered the Europe zone, where Germany and France had stronger abilities in this regard, so all of Maozi’s little brothers had run off to Europe.
Maozi’s situation was Dongtu’s situation. If Dongtu really pursued industrialization, talent would still be sucked away by the south.
…How to farm…
Dressed in military uniform, Xuan Chong arrived in the reserved first class cabin.
At this point, a small incident occurred. The clerks on the cruise ship provided Xuan Chong with “special service,” coming over from time to time to inquire (interrogate) if there were any other needs.
Xuan Chong discovered that this care was laced with hypocrisy, with fake smiles carrying some suspicion. Xuan Chong couldn’t help reflecting: “Is it because I am an officer? And too young? Or because I have no attendants by my side, appearing too shabby, thus arousing suspicion?”
Thus, Xuan Chong used the ship’s telegraph to send a telegram home.
When the first mate on the mail ship saw that the recipient’s signature on Xuan Chong’s telegram was the Prince’s Mansion of Dongtu’s leader, he respectfully withdrew and no longer disturbed, but the hot tea and desserts served were the finest.
After the attitudes of the ship’s administrative personnel did a one-eighty, Xuan Chong thought to himself: “Probably because imposters often come here pretending to be military generals to swindle and bluff.”
Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. At the next stop, a swindler impersonating a present Han officer also entered the cabin, and upon coming up, interrogated him.
Xuan Chong paused, then demanded to see his identification, only to be aggressively retorted: “What status do you have to dare look at my identification!”
Xuan Chong immediately erupted, grabbing the other and giving him a thorough beating. The crew immediately rushed over to seal off the scene and notified the patrol officer at sea via telegraph to board the ship.
Xuan Chong’s identification was complete, especially on the back of his boarding ticket was a string of numbers. That patrol officer, following the stamps on Xuan Chong’s pass, sent a telegram to his colleague at Xuan Chong’s previous stop (Dongying side) to inquire, and immediately broke out in cold sweat. Shortly after, the guy impersonating a present Han officer was taken away.
Xuan Chong couldn’t help sighing: “As expected of people outside the pass, all have the smarts — (Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy) kind of ability.”
The ferry attendants apologized to Xuan Chong with smiles: “This kind of thing happens several times a year; this time we made you laugh.”
Xuan Chong was greatly shocked inside: “Oh, this swindling and bluffing is routine? How do you handle it?”
The attendant poured tea for Xuan Chong: “If it’s just small fines for small offenses, we let it slide, after all, we can’t afford to gamble; something satisfying like today is rare!”
Xuan Chong nodded, understanding that if he hadn’t taken action himself and escalated the matter beyond easy resolution, provoking the Han military person in charge of the region to weigh in on it, that “fake” today could have casually extorted a sum.
As for why the crew didn’t dare expose him? They were afraid; what if he was real? Even if not real, where did the “fake’s” military uniform come from, did he really have connections?
Xuan Chong realized that before that swindler was taken down, he was still arrogant, and later cowered not because he was exposed, but because of his (Xuan Chong’s) backing, which he couldn’t afford to provoke! If it had been another real officer without backing, these local snakes might well “false king overpowers true duke” (King Cheng of Chu, Duke Xiang of Song).
Xuan Chong’s teeth itched: In the Bohai North outside the pass area, black, gray, white, all sorts of good fellows likely had this character!
Although raised in a greenhouse since childhood, after these years out, he had been exposed to “martial world vibes.” Xuan Chong roughly guessed what his hometown’s grassroots looked like.
Xuan Chong gritted his teeth: “Simply bandits.” Watching the patrol boat carrying that swindling fake officer depart, Xuan Chong very much wanted to poke that ship and sink it with one thrust.
Xuan Chong wrote in his notes: “Grassroots officials’ masterly style is too heavy, the populace lacks public justice, knight-errant vibes too strong — this is a difficulty for introducing industrial economy in the future.”
This impersonating big shots to swindle and bluff, or having a bit of power and immediately cosplaying big shots (the great chieftain of Tiger Mountain getting the advance map and cosplaying Marshal Zhang), was a common ailment of high-latitude frigid region peoples. Gogol’s “The Government Inspector” also depicted this, where in serf society, everyone totemizes worship of “powerful big shots.”
Xuan Chong now extremely worried about this situation: introducing investment from outside, only for it to then be obstructed by a bunch of “conservative Eight Banners princelings,” turning into a low-efficiency foreign affairs movement.
“Reform! Must reform!”
…After the ship docked…
Three days after returning home, Xuan Chong, following custom, visited the various elders of “old Dongtu,” attended six banquets, gave respectful toasts to necessary people, and swallowed fourteen cups of white water disguised as alcohol.
After finishing the indispensable consolations to elders, with peers and clansmen, he reduced the formalities. He began “inspection-style” greetings to those close brothers. In such dialogues, Xuan Chong could tell if these brothers were “not minding legitimate profession,” like those keen on falconry had no time for other things.
The elders enthusiastically inquired, a pile of pleasantries, praising Liu Haoxing for having the old ancestor’s prestige.
Xuan Chong silently recited in his heart: “Must reform.”
However, on the surface, Xuan Chong was still a very polite good child, distributing cigarettes to the family’s elders, and calling each elder by name according to seniority.
Xuan Chong confirmed once again that Dongtu’s current customs and culture were difficult to connect with modern industries.
“Might as well overthrow it all!” Another crazy thought bubbled up in Xuan Chong. (Thunder rumbled outside the window.)
The present Han had maintained “harmony between man and heaven” for a very, very long time without overthrowing and restarting.
Moreover, currently, due to the Jiangnan and XiaBei regions fitting industrialization very well. They were on the right path!
But this did not mean that for “peripheral regions,” the present Han’s this set of theory remained an unchanging truth that needed no change.
Vassal states like Dongtu, the current system could maintain stability because propped up by the present Han center; speaking of which, without the center propping it up, this place should have been overthrown and restarted long ago. (Similar to Northern Europe in previous life, actually propped up by the West, to keep an eye on Da Mao.)
Xuan Chong: It was not unequal wealth, but unequal blood reward. Those who wanted to do things had no say, tightly suppressed by rules, while those with say were happy to be “Eight Banners elders,” clinging to ancestral family laws to drag legs.
…A glimpse through a bamboo tube…
After finishing social obligations as much as possible, Xuan Chong took a deep breath and went to his room. The attendant who had been following him during the socializing came over.
Attendant: Heir, the Prince wants you to come over.
Xuan Chong looked at this young man; his name was Chen Xihong, an outstanding student who studied in the south, but in the family he was his servant; speaking of which, he (Liu Haoxing) had bullied him a lot as a child.
Liu Haoxing patted his shoulder: “Brother, too many family matters, thanks for handling the socializing these days.”
Chen Xihong’s face changed, then: “Heir, you?”
Liu Haoxing slowly said: “Sorry for before, our family rules made it hard for you.”
Chen Xihong: “Heir, what are you saying? The Prince sent me to fetch you (he even began suspecting Xuan Chong was setting him up).”
Xuan Chong: “Oh, at home call me Heir; when at the iron factory, just address me directly, um, call me Xuan Chong, this is the ‘courtesy name’ I gave myself.”
Chen Xihong looked dumbfounded at this young master of Dongtu; the young master went to the south once, and his brain got a bit fried?
Xuan Chong beckoned him into the room: “Let’s do a Longzhong Plan; you’ve read books and worked at the factory, tell me about the factory’s current situation.”
Chen Xihong listed a bunch of factory advantages, seeing Xuan Chong’s face full of disbelief.
Xuan Chong said: “No need to guess, I know the factory side is slacking off. You working people encounter all sorts of ‘discuss discuss’ ‘study study’ things.”
A flash of surprise crossed Chen Xihong’s face, clearly “how do you know.”
Xuan Chong: “Including you following me now, it’s actually delaying your original factory tasks, but you have no choice but to do it!”
This was similar to the TV drama Xuan Chong watched as a youth, where the paperhanger Li calmly heard the Beiyang fleet lacked cannonballs, but upon hearing the parrot gifted to the Empress Dowager’s shit color was off, immediately stood up! — Xuan Chong had already mapped the late Qing situation onto Dongtu, because the social conditions, geography, and culture were highly similar.
Chen Xihong’s expression moved slightly, clearly falling silent.
Xuan Chong: “We, must, reform, um, reform!” Stammering not from hesitation, but as a beneficiary saying this felt a bit odd.
…Prescribing medicine…
Chen Xihong left, Xuan Chong saw him off, not expecting him to take a stand. — Moreover, reform could not be top-down; if it were really decided within this Prince’s Mansion, wouldn’t he become Guangxu.
Xuan Chong took a deep breath and took out the novel “Brave Soldier.”
After the Ryuhai battle, Xuan Chong found his water pen’s nib seemed to roll even better, and upon opening the “Brave Soldier” novel, felt he could “draw lines” again.
Xuan Chong complained to the system: “Couldn’t before, but after fighting a battle it works; don’t tell me your system backend has a hidden stat like ‘reputation value’ to summon heroes?”
The system didn’t answer, but Xuan Chong had already decided whom to summon.
Su Ming, this was chapter 226 of “Brave Soldier,” the person who helped the book’s protagonist resist Zhao Cheng’s army in Zhenzhou.
In the room, as Xuan Chong used the water pen to outline this name, Su Ming’s name disappeared from the novel’s 250th chapter. Xuan Chong knew: “He will come!”
At this time, the character summoned by Xuan Chong, at age twelve, followed his mother to be adopted into his uncle’s family, starting the poor family imperial examination path, with quick thinking; most importantly, the system prompted that this person possessed imperial examination talent.
…Test…
The automobile drove into the factory, then Xuan Chong stepped into the marble building.
Xuan Chong met Liu Dangzhen.
Liu Dangzhen looked at Xuan Chong: “You gave yourself a courtesy name called ‘Xuan Chong’?”
Xuan Chong: “Yes. This child hopes to propel the national momentum to soar to the heavens.”
Liu Dangzhen: “I heard you want reform?”
Xuan Chong: “Have this idea.”
Liu Dangzhen threw the book on the desk: “Is the law so easy to change?” — His gaze fixed on Xuan Chong.
Xuan Chong: “Of course not easy, but I have this intent, this idea.” “Moreover, (Xuan Chong smiled) I only said it to the person you sent, didn’t shout it around.”
Liu Dangzhen: “What ideas do you have?”
Xuan Chong: “Reform only needs to be known to you and a few others; it’s like drawing a dragon, when the brush first touches, the outside doesn’t need to know, only the drawer keeps it in mind. And the first step is trying to draw this ‘one scale half claw’.”
Liu Dangzhen’s hand moved slightly, the door closed. Then he seriously asked his son: “What do you think the first step should draw!”
Xuan Chong: “I think we should comprehensively transform the factory shantytown. The first funds shouldn’t be for procuring equipment, but for building a factory compound. This compound has worker dormitories, worker clinics, worker canteens, worker kindergartens.”
At this point, Xuan Chong slowly said: “First step, everyone here is young. Master-servant relations should cease to exist here, and the old mansion’s rules must not be brought into the factory even a tiny bit.”
Liu Dangzhen: “You mean, I shouldn’t manage this factory?”
Xuan Chong: “I want to invite southern classmates to manage it. As for Father, you shouldn’t directly manage every person in the factory. The factory should be managed by production rules. And you must not overstep levels, just keep an eye on those few, the factory discipline black-under-lamp ones! (Factory director, director, accountant.)”
Liu Dangzhen: “Can you recruit reliable classmates?”
Xuan Chong: “Wait until I pass a round of imperial examinations, but Dad, can our family treat these people like Duke Xiao of Qin treated Shang Yang?”
