Reborn in the Three Kingdoms, I stole Liu Bei's uncle

"Uncle Liu, please feel free to say whatever you want to say. I am already grateful for being summoned by you. If you have any orders, I will serve you till death."

"Zi Zhong, you are too polite. You don't need to be so polite with me. The refined salt that is popular in the world now is the product of my own efforts. I'm sure Zi Zhong knows about this."

As soon as refined salt appeared, it swept across the Eastern Han Dynasty in an instant. This horrific lethality shocked merchants from all over the world and also aroused their vigilance.

Almost at the same time, they boycotted the refined salt business for their own interests.

The truth is obvious. Although your technology is advanced, in this land, technology has never been the first factor.

No matter how great your skills are, if you want to enter a certain place, you will not be able to move forward without the approval of the noble families and officials.

From this perspective, collusion between officials and businessmen is a historical inevitability; officials can cause businesses to go bankrupt with just the slightest thought.

Mi Zhu had been in business for many years and was well aware of the ins and outs of the business. In recent years, as his business expanded, one of the things he did most was visiting officials.

Mi Zhu naturally knew about the matter of refined salt. His business spread all over the Han Dynasty, so he would not remain indifferent to such sensitive information.

He used his own channels to find out the owner of the refined salt in a very short time. Liu Yu, the Emperor's uncle.

Mi Zhu was somewhat surprised by this result. In his impression, Uncle Liu was extremely talented and wise, a rare talent in the world. But that was only in the field of literature. When did he even understand the technology of refined salt?

"Uncle Huang is very good at predicting things. I already know about the refined salt. I also know that the current refined salt sales have not met Uncle Huang's expectations."

"That's right." Liu Yu admitted frankly, "Zi Zhong, the Han Dynasty is declining and the world is in turmoil. My original intention was to gather the people through agriculture and support the army through business. Now I am in need of a business genius like Zi Zhong. I wonder if Zi Zhong is willing to come and help support the Han Dynasty?"

From the conversation with Liu Yu just now, Mi Zhu clearly felt Liu Yu's attitude. He was humble and not only did he not despise his identity as a businessman, but he was quite respectful of business as a behavior.

This was completely opposite to his usual visits to officials, which surprised Mi Zhu. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the national policy has always been to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce. Although merchants are rich, they have almost no political status.

It was not until he heard Liu Yu's plan that Mi Zhu showed a hint of shock on his face. Using business to support the army, in Liu Huangshu's plan, he attached so much importance to business.

Unheard of and rarely seen in history.

"I am honored to be invited by the Emperor's uncle. I dare not disobey his orders. I am willing to serve him at his side and do my best to serve him."

After saying this, he saluted hurriedly.

Liu Yu stepped forward, helped Mi Zhu up and said with a smile: "With Zi Zhong's help, we are better than a hundred thousand soldiers. Please get up quickly. We won't go home until we are drunk today."

After saying that, he pulled Mi Zhu to the front hall for the banquet.

The banquet was already prepared. Not only Liu Bei was present in the hall, but also Zhang Fei, Xu Chu and other generals.

When everyone saw Liu Yu and Mi Zhu coming, they all greeted Mi Zhu.

If Uncle Liu had not been by his side all the time, Mi Zhu would have felt that all this was unreal.

After the ceremony, everyone sat down and began to drink. After three rounds of wine, Mi Zhu saluted Liu Yu and said, "My lord, the reason why the refined salt business has poor sales is that the aristocratic families and merchants are secretly promoting it. I think that if we want to restore the refined salt business, it is actually very simple. We only need to give them a part of the profits, and they will definitely flock to it."

"The world is bustling with people, all for profit. The world is bustling with people, all for profit. I understand this principle, but this matter is of great importance, and we need someone to take charge. We know nothing about business, so I'll leave this matter to Zi Zhong. You can decide how to make the concessions and how much to make. If there are not enough people, you can choose them yourself."

Professional matters should be left to professionals. This principle was the truth in that era.

Although Liu Yu knew the principle of making concessions, the Han Dynasty was so vast that it was a technical job to determine how much concessions should be made and to whom in each state, county and prefecture.

Mi Zhu was different. His family was one of the richest people of that era, and they had a clear understanding of the forces in various places.

He has channels and connections, so it's natural that he can do this with ease.

When Mi Zhu saw that so many people came to accompany him, Liu Yu had absolute trust in him and left all matters to him to handle. This was not just trust, but he simply treated him as his own.

He also secretly made up his mind that he must serve Uncle Liu well for the rest of his life and never have any second thoughts.

"My Lord, rest assured, I will make all the arrangements for this matter. Within three months, this matter will surely produce results."

"Okay, Zi Zhong, there is one more thing I need to discuss with you. Are you familiar with the Zhen family of Jizhou?"

"I have business dealings with the Zhen family. We were familiar with each other before the Zhen family patriarch passed away a few years ago. But since the death of the Zhen family patriarch, we are now more of a business dealings. As for our personal friendship, it can't be said to be deep."

"Based on Zi Zhong's understanding of the Zhen family, how likely is it that I can win over the Zhen family to work for me?"

Mi Zhu pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "The Zhen family has a close relationship with Yuan Benchu. Yuan Benchu ​​is now very powerful and is planning to swallow up the four states. It may be difficult for the lord to win over the Zhen family."

"Zi Zhong is right. Without the help of the Zhen family, Yuan Benchu's strength would not have developed so quickly."

"The current situation in the world is clear. If Yuan Benchu ​​defeats Gongsun Bogui and occupies Youzhou, his next step will inevitably be to attack Luoyang.

"If we can't win over the Zhen family, there is only one way, which is to make the Zhen family disappear completely in this era."

Mi Zhu was shocked. Uncle Liu had a big plan. The Zhen family had a deep foundation, far beyond what he could compare to. He was a wealthy businessman, while Zhen Ji came from a noble family, and there were high-ranking officials in the court for generations.

Jizhou is rich and has abundant grain. Zhen Ji's family business covers everything, the most prominent of which is grain. He is the number one grain merchant of this era and has a large amount of grain stored in his home. It is no exaggeration to say that he can control the grain prices of the era.

With so many years of accumulation, the Zhen family has undoubtedly become the number one merchant in this era.

To bring down such a family, one needs not only endless financial resources, but also infinite wisdom.

"My lord, the Zhen family has a deep foundation. It is not easy to overthrow the Zhen family. This matter still needs to be carefully considered."

"Don't be in a hurry." Liu Yu said slowly, "You should develop the refined salt business first, and we can discuss the Zhen family's affairs slowly."