The reason Cao Cao's senior officials were so shocked was, put bluntly, that these figures had scared them.
What really made them unable to sit still was the result of projecting the future through year-on-year comparisons. Each of them fidgeted in their chairs as if something had been shoved beneath them.
Four years ago, the output of every kind of material under Cao Cao had still far exceeded Liu Bei's.
After all, through the efforts of the great clans, the Central Plains Region had already been developed to the limits of this era.
On this point, it had to be said that those great clans had rendered service to the entire nation. That much had to be acknowledged.
Over these four years, Liu Bei's side had further deepened the exploitation of the land through technological upgrades in every field. Whether forced or voluntary, Cao Cao's side had likewise updated and replaced its production technologies, and the output of various materials had steadily increased.
Take salt drying, for example. Although they did not have the complete version of cement, its production method had been "learned" long ago.
Fish production had risen sharply as well. Better steel-smelting methods, more advanced farming tools, transportation methods, and so on—Cao Cao's side had not made no progress.
But compared with Liu Bei's side, that progress was at least two steps slower.
There was nothing to be done about it. One side was inventing and creating, while the other relied on "diligent stealing and clever copying."
If their foundations had meant that they had not fallen behind in the first year, then from the second year onward, Liu Bei's side had practically caught up.
They had surpassed them in the third year. Now, barely four years had passed, yet Liu Bei's side had already left Cao