Qi Xuansu did not quite grasp Chen Shuwen’s train of thought, so he said, “Please enlighten me, Old Master Chen.”0

Chen Shuwen explained, “When I say that the Nanyang United Trading Company is like a kingdom, I do not mean a traditional Central Plains dynasty. First of all, traditional Central Plains dynasties were essentially closed systems. They could only economize but could not generate new sources of wealth. As a result, no dynasty could last 300 years.0

“But if you look at the Great Xuan Dynasty today, which has been founded for more than 200 years, there isn’t even a hint of chaotic decline. On the contrary, it is still in an upward phase. This is because the Great Xuan Dynasty is not a closed system and is able to open up new sources of wealth.0

“Take Nanyang as an example. In order to exercise real control over the region, large numbers of Central Plains people come to the Nanyang every year. The Great Xuan Court and the Daoist Order still consider this insufficient, so they encourage migration and even send people who have lost their land to Nanyang. With this, the powerful elites are no longer obsessed with annexing land. Instead, they sell off their land and...0