What Liu Xie offered the Zhen Clan was a way to refine poisonous salt ore into edible Refined Salt—fine salt!
Both the process for making glass and the techniques for refining poisonous salt ore or sea salt were fairly simple.
Liu Xie only needed to explain the basic principles once, and the Zhen Clan could keep experimenting. Even if they could not succeed in a short time, they would certainly meet his requirements within two or three months.
With glass in one hand and salt in the other, the Zhen Clan need not fear failing to make money, and their resolve to side with Liu Xie would surely grow firmer.
If they feared Yuan Shao discovering them then, they could simply move their entire household to Xu Province in secret, under Lü Bu's protection.
Beyond these two ways of making money, there were new designs for military equipment and Ironworking Technology.
Single stirrups already existed in this era, but double stirrups did not.
As for horseshoes, they had yet to appear in this era.
Double stirrups could help cavalrymen make up for considerable differences in riding skill, making them effective equipment for improving cavalry combat strength.
Horseshoes could reduce losses of warhorses.
With these two things, the cost of raising a cavalry force would certainly fall substantially.
The more advanced Ironworking Technology was, in fact, simply a somewhat innovative iron-forging technique by the standards of this era.
With the Zhen Clan's resources, they could absolutely produce sharper weapons and tougher armor, giving them an overwhelming advantage in equipment on the battlefield.
Once Lü Bu's army was equipped with them on a large scale, it would be truly terrifying.
Such an army might not be unrivaled beneath heaven, but at the very least, it would sweep all before it.
Liu Xie