Chapter 382 Launching Public Bonds
The people sitting high in the hall today may not be high-ranking people, but they must be powerful confidants.
Even Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong only knew the inside of Xuzhou well, but Chen Deng, Xun You, Lu Su, Liu Ye and other close relatives of Liu Bei and his son knew much more.
The reason why Chen Deng, Lu Su, and Liu Ye proposed raising funds was precisely due to their understanding of the current economy under Liu Bei's rule.
Although the series of water conservancy projects in Huaisi, Jiangbei did not completely empty out the Liu Bei Group's inventory, they did consume 7788, leaving at most only 20 to 30% of the money.
The two to three percent of the money and silk are naturally far from enough to expand the army. Even if there are still four or five months left, the autumn harvest will come. After the autumn harvest is completed, the calculation of wealth will also begin.
Naturally, a large amount of food and money will be stored in the warehouse by then, but we can't wait for four or five months, right?
Now that the water conservancy project has come to an end, the people in Huaisi, Jiangbei, can go home to farm, but where can the more than 100,000 captives be put?
These people all have a certain training foundation, especially the tens of thousands of people in the Sun family, many of whom are experienced veterans.
According to Liu Bei and Liu Feng's private estimation, these 100,000 people can select at least 20,000 to 30,000 elite soldiers, and the rest are more powerful than ordinary county soldiers.
At the same time, after more than half a year of hard work, these soldiers have greatly eradicated their previous slippery mentality and become well-trained.
If these soldiers are dismissed at this time, not only will their previous efforts be wasted, but they will also need money and food for resettlement when they return to their hometowns, otherwise they will become a factor of local instability.
This is like shooting yourself in the foot.
But if they are not demobilized, then the rations for these hundreds of thousands of young men plus their relatives, a total of nearly 200,000 people, will always need to be borne by the Hussars General's Palace. Moreover, with so many people doing nothing and gathering together for a long time, this will undoubtedly become a huge hidden danger under Liu Bei's rule.
In this case, the best way is undoubtedly to collect a sum of money and food and start expanding the army directly.
After the taxes and food are collected in the future, they will be returned to the powerful nobles.
In this way, not only can we get rid of a serious problem, but we can also gain half a year of time for army expansion, running-in, and training.
Chen Deng and others are all talented people. How could they not see this?
In fact, Xun You was also aware of this, but he was a single owner, and his family was with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. It can only be said that he was powerless.
"Uncle Yuanlong, gentlemen, I have a plan. I hope you will give me some advice."
Liu Feng said at this time: "I would like to use the Hussar General's Mansion as a guarantee and issue a public bond."
"Public debt?"
Even though Chen Deng, Xun You, Lu Su, Liu Ye and others were smart and knowledgeable, they were also confused.
Not to mention them, even Liu Bei didn't understand it before. It was only after Liu Feng explained it to him carefully that he understood this new thing.
"This public debt means that the Hussar General's government borrows externally. Regardless of his identity, he can purchase public debt from the county where he is located, in the name of public debt, so it is called public debt for short."
Liu Feng explained: "During the pre-Qin period, countries often borrowed money from wealthy merchants. After Emperor Gaozu founded the country, some princes also borrowed money from wealthy merchants. When Emperor Xiaojing quelled the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, Zhou Gong Yafu once asked the wealthy merchants in Luozhong to borrow seven thousand gold. This can be seen from this. This is my story.”
Since the Han Dynasty, the most important story is a bit like the case law developed by the British later, but it is not as clear as the case law and is more operable.
Liu Feng first used a story to prove the rationality of his idea as the basis for his proposal.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Chen Deng and others nodded slowly, acknowledging that this was indeed the case.
In fact, even in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, it was common for nobles to borrow money from wealthy merchants, and there were even endless cases of directly killing merchants in order to become a bad guy.
Liu Feng continued: "Since public debt is a public debt, it is natural for the general of the Hussars to be the borrower, and to borrow in a broad sense with the people under his rule as the target."
When Lu Su heard this, he immediately became interested: "How to borrow money?"
Liu Feng said: "To put it simply, the silk books called bonds are sold by the Hussar General's house. They can be set into three types: one thousand gold, one hundred gold, and ten gold. The seal of the Hussar General is stamped on it as evidence. The face of the note is For value purchases, you can choose whether to register at the General's Mansion. If you choose to register, the registrant will be the legal holder. Except for the legal heir, both parties must go to the General's Mansion to handle the transfer. If you choose not to register, it will only be done in silk. As a proof, the first installment can be temporarily set to one year, and the principal will be repaid with interest at the end of the period."
When Liu Feng explained this, not only Lu Su and Liu Ye understood it, but Chen Deng, Xun You, and Guan Yu also understood it.
Liu Ye then asked: "How much is the interest?"
Liu Feng pondered for a moment and said: "How about an annual interest rate of 10%? The Husband and Horse Mansion is willing to use the farmland under its name as pledge."
Nowadays, all loans are usurious, with annual interest rates of 30% to 50% low, and doubling the interest rate is common.
However, although Liu Feng's interest rate was low, it was not unacceptable. The main reason was that Liu Feng took out his land as a mortgage, and it was a large piece of land with a high value. At the same time, he also used the reputation of General Liu Bei as a guarantee. It is also an extremely high-quality customer for borrowers. Finally, there is another point, that is, these are troubled times, Liu Bei is now the powerful party, and the local princes are not the farmers and small landowners who usually borrow money.
Besides, Chen Deng, Lu Su and others had originally planned to raise funds and had not considered the issue of interest at all.
Now Liu Feng offers 10% interest, which is enough to impress many people.
Liu Ye thought for a moment, discussed with Chen Deng, Lu Su and others, and felt that this matter was quite feasible, so they all nodded in agreement.
When Liu Bei saw Chen Deng and the others nodding in agreement, he felt relieved.
When Liu Feng mentioned this matter to him before, he was confused and completely unsure. Now that all his close ministers have expressed support, in Liu Bei's opinion, it shouldn't be a big problem to give it a try.
Afterwards, Liu Bei discussed it with everyone and decided to supervise the matter with Chen Deng as the leader, Lu Su and Liu Ye as assistants, and strive to raise the first batch of funds within a month.
At the same time, the North began to expand its army with existing treasury resources to avoid wasting time.
After discussing the matter, Liu Feng spoke again: "Father, the matter in Jingzhou should be settled early."
When Liu Bei heard this, he frowned.
His attitude towards the Jingzhou incident was actually a different kind of avoiding medical treatment.
The reason why he didn't want to target Liu Biao was that he didn't want to break up with the emperor and the court.
Today's princes dare not say that Liu Bei is a completely loyal minister, but he has no problem recognizing his number one loyal minister.
Although his loyalty to the emperor and the court cannot be attributed to the emperor and the court, it is still far above Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Zhang.
As for the Xiliang warriors, they were not considered human beings in the eyes of the emperor, let alone ministers. Liu Bei knew very well that even if he did not take action and just allowed the big boy to attack Liu Biao, the court would not sit idly by and do nothing, and the reaction would most likely be violent.
This time when he went south to Yangzhou, Liu Feng actually found a good opportunity.
Although Yuan Shu did not establish himself as emperor like in the original time and space, he was still a heinous person in the eyes of the emperor Liu Xie. Who made him not only collude with the Xiliang warriors, but also treat the emperor as a child and be unruly?
Taking advantage of the opportunity to wipe out Yuan Shu and pacify Yangzhou, this was undoubtedly a huge benefit.
But this does not mean that the emperor has no scruples about Liu Bei. In fact, Liu Bei's application for the position of Yangzhou Mu for Liu Feng has been delayed until now.
Dong Zhao wrote several times and said it was too difficult.
General Cao Cao obviously disagreed, but the emperor just wanted to give Liu Feng the title of governor of Yangzhou.
Therefore, Yuan Shu still stays in Shouchun and is under guard together with the Imperial Seal.
This can also be regarded as Liu Bei's method of protesting against the emperor and the court.
Liu Feng had a plan in mind. He hoped to transfer Guan Yu to Jiangdong to guard it, and to assist generals such as Taishi Ci, Zhao Yun, Zhou Yu, Xu Sheng, etc., while he himself took the time to escort Yuan Shu and the Chuanguo Jade Seal into Luo with his guards. See him in court and strive to win the position of Yangzhou Shepherd.
It's no wonder that Liu Feng attaches so much importance to it. The difference between Yangzhou Mu and Yangzhou Governor is really huge, and they are completely different. The general number Liu Feng currently wears cannot compare with Yangzhou Mu.
Therefore, Liu Feng is actually quite busy in the future. If he does not finalize Jingzhou's strategy now, it will probably take half a year before he can mention this matter again.
"That's fine."
Liu Bei nodded: "Then let's discuss it! Come and explain this matter to Yunchang, Yuanlong and other gentlemen in detail."
Everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Feng, wondering why Jingzhou needed to be so solemn about it.
Could it be trade with Jingzhou?
But although grain is heavy, it is getting bigger and bigger under Liu Bei's rule. This time he went south to Yangzhou, not only did he not consume too much grain, but he also seized a large amount of inventory. At present, even if the food exchange with Jingzhou is cut off immediately, Xu and Yangzhou can supplement it.
What else can happen to Jingzhou?
Amid everyone's doubtful and curious eyes, Liu Feng said: "Second uncle, gentlemen, I learned some news in Jiangdong, and based it on it, I formulated a plan to raise 100,000 people within one year. , Swallowing Jingzhou”
"What!?"
"Whale swallowing Jingxiang?"
"One hundred thousand people? Within a year?"
Everyone present was shocked by Liu Feng's loud tone.
However, even though Chen Deng, Xun You and others were shocked, they did not rush to refute and question Liu Feng. Instead, they quickly regained their composure after losing their composure and waited for Liu Feng to continue his statement.
Liu Feng immediately laid out his plan.
"The 100,000-strong army should be divided into three routes. The main force will be the middle route, advancing by land and water, up the Yangtze River. The supplementary force will go all the way from Yuzhang, out of Changsha, to control Jingnan, and all the way out from Runan, passing through Fangcheng, and entering Nanyang. Three ways to advance together, work together to break through the thorns.”
"Dangerous, too dangerous."
Chen Deng stroked his beard and shook his head slightly after hearing this: "Young Master, this strategy focuses on the middle route. Once the navy is defeated, the other two routes will have no choice but to return without success if they don't want the entire army to be annihilated."
Liu Feng secretly praised in his heart that he was indeed Chen Yuanlong, and he had a sharp eye for seeing things.
Indeed, as he said, the center is the key.
Once there is a loss in the middle, the whole situation will inevitably collapse.
But the problem is that Liu Feng is too confident in the middle.
There are naval generals such as Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, Dong Xi, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Pan Zhang, Ling Cao, Zhu Zhi, and Xu Sheng, plus nearly a thousand large and small ships mobilized from Jiangdong, including the main battleship Panying There are as many as 200 ships, and there are more than 30 large ships.
Liu Feng really wants to know how to lose! ?
Sun Ce took part of this team, more than 20,000 troops, and wiped out the 30,000 elite troops put together by Huang Zu and Liu Biao in one battle.
At that time, Sun Ce only had hundreds of large and small warships, among which there were only a few large ships and all of them were small ships. But there are more than 200 large ships on our side, which is far more than Huang Zu's navy.
When Sun Quan destroyed Huang Zu, it was not much better. It was still a small boat versus a big ship, and the initial attack was unfavorable. Thanks to the explosion of Dong Xi and Ling Tong, the small boat jumped to the aid of Huang Zu's big ship, and then cut off the big ship. Iron rope wins.
Liu Feng did not believe that he could not compare with his defeated generals Sun Ce and Sun Quan, and the capital he had on hand now was much richer than that of Sun Ce and Sun Quan during their Western Expedition.
However, Xun You opened his mouth and expressed a different opinion: "Mr. Yuan Long is right in what he said, but looking at it from a perspective of You, Liu Jingsheng's attempt to defeat the South Central Army would be as difficult as ascending to the sky. In a water battle, one should look at the sky, the second should look at the equipment, and the third should look at morale. From what you can see, after Huang Gongyuan ambushed and killed Sun Polu, he sat in Jiangxia, singing and feasting all day long, hanging out with nobles, and neglecting farming. He had no troops and no equipment, and he no longer looked like a powerful force in Jingxiang. "< br>
Xun You had stayed in Jingzhou for several years and knew Huang Zu quite well, so he came to a completely different conclusion from Chen Deng. He affirmed the problem raised by Chen Deng, but said that Huang Zu's problem was bigger, and Liu Feng obviously had a better chance of winning.
Xun You's opinions are well-founded. Although Chen Deng is strong and determined, he is not unreasonable.
Therefore, after Chen Deng listened, he fell into silence and did not answer for a while.
Lu Su glanced at Chen Deng, then at Liu Bei, and seeing that neither of them had the intention to speak, he just said: "If the key to this battle is water battle, Su may be able to add strength to the young master. ”
"Oh?"
Liu Feng became interested and glanced at Liu Bei, who also looked at Lu Su curiously: "Mr. Zijing, what can you teach me?"
Lu Su said seriously: "There is a giant bandit along the coast of Guangling, named Xuezhou. He controls the coast of Guangling, has thousands of households and hundreds of ships under his command. Su and he are old acquaintances, if we can tell where he came from Surrendering and using it to conquer the south will definitely increase your chances of victory.”
When Liu Feng heard this name and origin, he immediately remembered who this person was.
Xuezhou was the leader of the Guangling pirates. Historically, he was captured by Chen Deng, and later he followed him to attack Lu Bu. After Chen Deng's death, there was no news about Xuezhou.
This is normal. Chen Deng was originally the most feared Xuzhou scholar in the Cao Wei Group, and Xuezhou was a bandit in Xuzhou. If Chen Deng dies in the background, it will be good if Xue Zhou can save his life. There is no chance of promotion.
(End of chapter)