Jinan.
Sun Chuanting had placed a large number of "loyal ministers" under house arrest. Among them was even the Prefect of Jinan himself.
Meanwhile the truly disloyal officials were recruited directly into Sun Chuanting's own camp.
Large quantities of supplies transported from Gao Family Village began arriving one after another. Under the management of Liu Maopao, construction projects spread across Shandong.
The great development of Shandong had begun.
The entire province seemed to wake up almost overnight.
The Little Ice Age was still ongoing, of course.
But once industry started moving, the people's fear of natural disasters suddenly became much lighter.
In the past, if crops failed, people starved.
Now they could work in factories funded by Gao Family Village and still earn food.
If the sky refused to cooperate, so what?
The earth could still feed them through industry.
---
The only truly unhappy person in Jinan was the Prefect himself.
His job had been stolen.
Stolen by Liu Maopao, some unknown rebel who had appeared out of nowhere.
That man now sat openly inside the prefectural office, conducting administration as if he owned the place, ordering around officials the prefect had never even seen before.
This situation was completely outrageous.
Absolutely insane.
But Sun Chuanting's army stood behind him.
No one dared protest.
So the Prefect of Jinan could only pray every single day.
"May Heaven bless me."
"Let the news reach the capital quickly."
"When His Majesty learns that Sun Chuanting is a traitor, the imperial army will surely come."
"When the court retakes Jinan, I will return to my rightful post."
"We must believe in the court."
"We cannot possibly lose."
He prayed with absolute sincerity.
And then something happened.
Sun Chuanting departed.
He returned to the capital with Chuang Wang's severed head.
The Prefect of Jinan was overjoyed.
"This is my chance!"
"With the rebel gone and no army suppressing the city, loyal officials will surely rise up and reclaim control."
But reality quickly slapped him in the face.
Not a chance.
Before leaving, Sun Chuanting had already established a new civilian militia in Jinan.
Most of the members came from the hundred thousand rebels who had once followed Chuang Wang but later surrendered after being persuaded by Li Yan.
These people had absolutely no loyalty to the imperial court.
But they deeply admired Dao Xuan Tianzun, the one who had given them a new future.
Now they carried weapons and received salaries from Gao Family Village.
Every day they trained.
And every day they protected the so called rebels who controlled Jinan.
The Prefect could do absolutely nothing.
He could not even leave his own residence.
---
Meanwhile, in the capital.
The Shuntian Fertilizer Factory was finally completed and had begun production.
The construction had been astonishingly fast.
The blue helmet workers from Gao Family Village already possessed a complete and mature system for building factories.
They had done it many times in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Sichuan.
By the time they reached the capital, the entire process was routine.
And here they had powerful backing.
Liang Shixian, Deputy Prefect of Shuntian.
Grand Secretary He Fengsheng.
And even the emperor himself, Zhu Youjian.
With such support, how could construction possibly be slow?
The first phase of the factory was completed almost instantly.
Production began immediately.
---
Zhu Youjian stood before rows of fertilizer bags.
His heart was filled with delight.
"Minister Liang."
"The bag of fertilizer you presented earlier fertilized a field for two whole months."
"Now we have produced so many bags."
"Does this mean my entire imperial estate in Shuntian can use fertilizer?"
Liang Shixian bowed respectfully.
"Your Majesty, supplying the imperial estate this year will certainly not be a problem."
"However…"
He paused.
"Your Majesty's actions never go unnoticed."
"In recent days you have frequently visited the imperial fields."
"Many officials in the court have heard about it. Some even visited the fields personally."
"And now they have all set their eyes on our fertilizer."
"Quite a few have already approached me, offering to buy it."
"In that case…"
"These bags will not be enough."
"We will need to increase production and build additional factories."
Zhu Youjian blinked.
"Oh?"
He thought for a moment.
Of course.
Fertilizer could not exist only for the imperial estate.
It had to be sold to officials and common farmers across the land.
This was beneficial for the nation.
Especially for tax paying farmers.
If fertilizer doubled their harvests, the government's tax revenue would rise accordingly.
Then the treasury would no longer be empty.
"Very well."
"Then sell it."
Liang Shixian suddenly grinned.
"Your Majesty, when selling fertilizer, we should play a small trick."
Zhu Youjian leaned forward with interest.
"What trick?"
Liang Shixian lowered his voice.
"Our country lacks money."
Just that single sentence nearly made the emperor cry.
Zhu Youjian instinctively adjusted his dragon robe.
Because underneath it, the white inner garment he wore had patches sewn onto it.
If the ministers ever noticed, the emperor's dignity would vanish completely.
Liang Shixian continued quietly.
"The state needs revenue."
"And taxes are the obvious solution."
"But most farmland today belongs to princes and officials."
"They do not pay taxes."
"And attempting to tax them directly would provoke fierce opposition at court."
Zhu Youjian nearly burst into tears again.
He knew this problem better than anyone.
But he could not touch those people.
If he tried to tax them, his throne itself might become unstable.
Liang Shixian spoke softly.
"That is why I believe we should begin with commercial taxes."
The emperor lowered his voice.
"Commercial taxes are also difficult."
"Many officials are merchants themselves."
"If we attempt to collect commercial tax, they will oppose it just as fiercely as land tax."
Liang Shixian smiled.
"That is why I said we must play a little trick."
"We introduce a new tax."
"It will be called Value Added Tax."
"We will not collect it directly from merchants."
"Instead we add the tax to the price of fertilizer."
"The buyer will pay it."
Zhu Youjian immediately understood.
This was a classic transfer of contradiction.
Officials who conducted business hated paying taxes.
So the government would tell them something different.
"We are not taxing you."
"We are simply allowing you to raise the selling price slightly."
"The extra amount paid by buyers will be handed over as tax."
Because buyers paid the tax, merchants would accept the arrangement much more easily.
Zhu Youjian frowned slightly.
"There is one problem."
"If fertilizer becomes more expensive, farmers will earn less from their harvest."
"Would that not harm them?"
Liang Shixian shook his head with a grin.
"No, no."
"Fertilizer cannot be sold at any arbitrary price."
"The selling price can never exceed the value it creates."
"If farmers calculate their accounts and see fertilizer brings less profit, they will simply stop buying it."
"So fertilizer always has a natural price limit."
"It can never exceed that point."
The emperor nodded slowly.
He half understood.
Liang Shixian continued patiently.
"Merchants are clever."
"Even without this tax, they would still sell fertilizer at the highest price farmers can accept."
"With the tax added, the price will remain at that same limit."
"In other words, adding the tax will not actually harm farmers."
"It will only reduce the merchants' profits."
Now Zhu Youjian finally understood.
"I see!"
Then suddenly another thought struck him.
"Wait."
"You built this fertilizer factory yourself."
"Isn't this plan just tricking yourself?"