“It seems I truly don't understand many things about Yunzhou,” Sun Jin said, stunned for a long while. He hadn't expected that agricultural production could have a layout concept, that large-scale deployments could achieve regional complementarity. In Chunnan, a large landowner or powerful clan was like a small kingdom, having everything within. How to plant and produce was decided by the major aristocratic families themselves. In the past, there had been instances of everyone rushing to plant grain for winemaking, leading to a sharp drop in wine prices in Chunnan for several years, while grain supplies were insufficient. There had also been instances of oilseed and grain prices being inverted... It took many years of adjustments, games, and mutual constraints to form the relatively stable agricultural structure of today. In fact, the Chunnan royal family, the Changs, also had many farms and other industries, but they had never thought of being able to carry out such regulation. “But... is this really feasible?”

“It is feasible,” Ye Tao said frankly, without any pretense of secrecy. “Although Yunzhou still has a smaller population, the southern land is fertile, the northern grasslands are thriving, and there are abundant timber and mineral resources. From the perspective of the overall economic structure, Yunzhou actually has very strong potential. The current problem is how to tap this potential, which is what I am most concerned about. I think that allocating limited resources in the most efficient way is the only way to achieve my goals. This applies to the numerous workshops in Yunzhou, and also to the farms. And what guarantees this is that although Yunzhou is not as rich as the Dongping Plains in terms of territory, it has its own unique advantage: transportation. Yunzhou has a large number of horses at low prices, and the relatively flat terrain and the road network that is constantly expanding ensure that as long as the total production is sufficient, the exchange of goods between different regions will be quite simple. Some farms specialize in growing wheat, some specialize in growing sorghum and corn, and some specialize in growing rice, supplemented by a rotation system to grow some other crops. This will ensure the maximum production efficiency with limited manpower. And mutual dependence will also allow Yunzhou to integrate into a whole more quickly.”

“But, what about winemaking? Although Dongping is now self-sufficient, and even if Yunzhou can be self-sufficient, the profit from winemaking is much greater than selling grain. Aren't you afraid that everyone will rush into winemaking, causing a grain shortage?” Sun Jin asked.

“Not too afraid,” Ye Tao replied with a smile. “The Jinglue Manor has already promulgated management measures for this. Yunzhou encourages the development of local economies with distinctive features, including winemaking. Laws have been promulgated regarding winemaking. The first is to ensure grain production, and there are strict regulations on the proportion of grain used for wine production. Then there are the wine listing licenses. Unless it's for personal consumption, any wine that is sold in restaurants must have a license issued by the Agricultural Trade Bureau. All professional wineries or farms with winemaking capabilities must register with the Agricultural Trade Bureau so that they can understand the production scale and total grain consumption. Then there is the random spot check system that is conducted irregularly. Anyone who violates the regulations, uses grain excessively, or expands the scale of winemaking privately will be subject to punitive fines. The amount of the fine is absolutely painful, generally being 40% of the total assets of the person being punished. At the same time, whistleblowing is encouraged. If the information provided by the whistleblower is verified, they will receive 20% of the total fine as a reward and will be resettled in another place by the Yunzhou Jinglue Manor. This is Yunzhou's witness protection system, allowing them to move their entire family and settle down in another place. If the family reporting has particularly strong connections, the Yunzhou Jinglue Manor can also help prepare all the documents, helping the family change their name and identity so that they will not be retaliated against under any circumstances. ... And it's not just winemaking. Yunzhou now has punitive fines and an anonymous whistleblower protection system for many things, which have all been publicized by officials of the Jinglue Manor. Although I can't say that everyone knows about it, it's probably close to 80 or 90 percent. Moreover, in Yunzhou, colluding with officials doesn't guarantee that everything will be fine. As long as any ordinary person wants to file a complaint, they can register at the nearest Federal Express or DHL branch, and they will be responsible for providing food and lodging along the way to the Yunzhou Jinglue Manor's Petition Office in Ningyuan City, directly bringing the matter to me. Travel expenses are paid by the Jinglue Manor, but if you make false reports, frame someone, or fabricate evidence, then I'm sorry, you will have to perform labor to repay the travel expenses and investigation fees. Yunzhou's laws are not harsh, and can even be said to be quite lenient. But as long as you commit crimes and do evil, then it's really a case of 'if you don't want anyone to know, don't do it'. As long as someone finds out, you basically can't escape. Leaving aside murder and robbery, if subordinates know about brewing private wine or evading taxes... no matter how well the boss can bribe, I'm afraid they won't be able to come up with 80% of their total assets, right? And if a local official protects someone and it is verified, don't expect to continue in office with any connections. Accessory to the crime and obstruction of justice are serious crimes in Yunzhou. Although I don't engage in the practice of implicating relatives, dismissal from office is indeed not enough to satisfy me.”

Ye Tao explained Yunzhou's current series of policies with a smile, each linked to the other. Sun Jin, on the other hand, felt uneasy all over.

He could imagine the effectiveness of these policies and methods in the hands of an authoritative ruler. Indeed, as Ye Tao said, Yunzhou's laws are actually quite lenient, but the Yunzhou Jinglue Manor's series of laws gives this leniency an omnipresent deterrent force. These laws seem to be saying, “I hope we can trust each other, but if you betray my trust, then I'm sorry…”

“Indeed, very interesting laws,” Sun Jin said, pouring himself another small mouthful of fine wine and drinking it all in one gulp. “Jinglue Ye, then the wine you've made must have consumed a considerable amount of grain, right? Where did this grain come from?”

“Chunnan, of course,” Ye Tao said with a very natural smile. “The Agricultural Trade Bureau has collected an unknown amount of Chunnan's stored grain in the past few months, forcing me to add three additional appropriations in a row. I'm almost running out of money. Then I turned around and asked the Agricultural Trade Bureau to buy this grain, and the use of the grain is still monitored by officials sent by the Agricultural Trade Bureau. Once a law is promulgated, everyone must abide by it respectfully, and it must naturally start with me.”

Sun Jin said awkwardly, “This... I was being presumptuous. I didn't mean to doubt you, sir.”

Ye Tao laughed heartily and said, “It's okay. However, I must remind you that the total amount of grain purchased by the Yunzhou Jinglue Manor's Bureau of Commerce has been enough to meet the needs of the entire population of Yunzhou for three years. Because it was all bought from large families and large farms, it didn't cause any grain price fluctuations, but if you don't know anything about it, that's a big problem.”

"What?!" Sun Jin was stunned again. He then realized that Chunnan's control over the local gentry had become so loose and weak. Although he had heard about Dongping purchasing grain in large quantities, it had been happening every year, and now no one had realized that this year's purchases were so large.

“In addition, I can also tell you that since the Dongping Ministry of War's war reserve grain has been filled to the brim, starting next year, Dongping, including our Yunzhou, will reduce its demand for grain from Chunnan to an unprecedented level. This is not a secret, and I think many people in Chunnan already know about this. But I can't help but give another reminder, and I hope you can remind the prince to prepare early, so as not to cause the problem of cheap grain hurting farmers,” Ye Tao sighed softly.

“I'm afraid,” Sun Jin said with a wry smile, “this is beyond the prince's control.” Immediately, Sun Jin stood up, bowed to Ye Tao, and said, “However, I still appreciate your kindness, Jinglue Ye.”

Ye Tao smiled somewhat strangely and said, “I may not be that kind-hearted. It's just that the general trend of the world is that after a long period of division, there will be unity, and after a long period of unity, there will be division. I just don't know if we will have the chance to see that day, and I can't imagine how the general trend of the world will end. To put it bluntly, at least in the next few years, Dongping still hopes that Chunnan can become stronger, strong enough to at least be able to contain the western front when Dongping attacks Northern Liao. As for what happens after that, who knows…” At this point, Ye Tao shrugged helplessly.

Sun Jin was silent. He recalled one of his not-so-essential tasks in coming to Yunzhou and asked, “Is Yunzhou really willing to sell military horses to Chunnan in large quantities?”

“You can buy as many as you want,” Ye Tao said nonchalantly.

“Two years, 100,000 horses… is that possible?” Sun Jin threw out the maximum amount Chang Hongquan had given him to test Ye Tao's bottom line.

“I don't doubt your ability to pay, but 100,000 horses in two years… are you sure you have enough cavalry officers to train such a large-scale cavalry army? The only one in Chunnan who can be called a cavalry general is probably General Chen Xujing, and even General Chen has never led such a large-scale cavalry army, right? And where will Chunnan get the equipment for 100,000 cavalry? Moreover, frankly speaking, Chunnan's geographical environment is too different from Dongping and Yunzhou. Compared to training and arming cavalry, researching suitable cavalry combat methods for Chunnan will take longer. I said you can buy as many as you want. Even if my Yunzhou doesn't have that much production capacity, we can buy them from Northern Liao and resell them to you. You should have heard a little about Yunzhou's horse grading system, right? We sell Northern Liao's horses in the same way. No one would refuse to make money. You can imagine how much tax revenue the Jinglue Manor would get from 100,000 military horses in two years. How much more could be done?” Ye Tao said seriously, “But are you sure that Chunnan can really digest 100,000 military horses in two years?”