Chapter 103: Making Money in Yangzhou, Spending Money in Yangzhou

"Mr. Lan, rest assured. I won't be foolish enough to snatch food from the tiger's mouth when everyone else has their eyes on it.

Yangzhou Prefecture is a treasure trove. Besides the land, there are many other things of value.

For instance: mineral resources, the fishing industry, and commerce.

The military funds allocated by the imperial court are insufficient, and the local government is unable to provide supplementary pay; we have no choice but to think of ways ourselves.

Taking a few ownerless mines and stuffing them with prisoners of war and convicts to extract ore, thereby self-funding a portion of our military expenses, is entirely reasonable and justifiable.

The fishing industry is even simpler. I will not compete with the people for profit in the inland lakes; the vast ocean is all ownerless territory.

To make up for the shortage of military grain, organizing manpower to go fishing at sea—who could possibly say anything against that?

As for making money through commerce, we are actually already doing it.

The public security management fees currently being collected within Yangzhou City are one such method.

The imperial court's post stations are not open to the public, and merchants also have a need for a place to rest.

The business of inns and restaurants will never go out of style.

The current cost of acquiring land is negligible, and there won't be any local ruffians or hooligans coming to extort us later; such a business will not lack partners.

Besides this, wharf shipping is also a decent trade.

Small merchants suffer from financial constraints, unable to maintain their own fleets, and must also endure the threat of banditry.

If there were a fleet with reasonable prices that could guarantee safe transport, I imagine there would be no shortage of business.

......"

In one breath, he listed over a dozen money-making schemes, leaving Lan Linjie dumbfounded.

Every single one of them precisely trod the line of the edge.

If targeted by someone, each one could become evidence of a crime, yet they were all logically feasible.

In the Great Dayu, which emphasizes rule by man, Lan Linjie simply could not figure out for a moment whether this violated the "Great Dayu Code."

"My lord, if you want to get these industries up and running, the investment required will not be small.

Moreover, the imperial court strictly forbids officials from engaging in commerce. Even if you are doing it to raise military funds, I fear it will be difficult to explain if someone catches you."

Lan Linjie reminded him tactfully.

With his experience, he truly could not judge how much risk there was in proceeding with Li Mu's plan.

The only thing he could be certain of was that the money needed for the initial phase was by no means a small number.

Raising funds for the army is an official matter; according to the rules of officialdom, one cannot use one's own money.

"Nonsense, when did I ever say I was going to engage in commerce?

These businesses are naturally being run by merchants, and they have nothing to do with me.

The only connection is that they are grateful for the imperial court's grace and are voluntarily donating money to support the court in training the new Yangzhou army.

Salt merchants can contribute to the imperial court, and other merchants naturally can too.

After all, once the army is trained, it is also to protect their safety.

I will discuss the specific issues with the local officials.

Either they guarantee to pay the full share of supplementary funds as required by the court,

or they provide sufficient convenience for us to find ways to make money ourselves!"

Li Mu reprimanded him with a stern face.

These things can be done secretly, but they must absolutely not be brought out into the open.

If one can raise money privately and get the army trained, Emperor Yongning will not care whether the source of the money is compliant.

The Nine Borders' military families are all engaged in smuggling, which is an open secret in the imperial court, yet no one has ever exposed it.

It is not that everyone is unaware of the harmfulness of doing so, but the imperial court's finances are insufficient to guarantee the daily military pay and expenses of the officers and soldiers.

If you stop the frontline generals from finding ways themselves, mutinies will occur every few days.

I reckon that before the enemy even attacks, they will have already destroyed themselves.

Moreover, he has added an extra layer of cover; the money is voluntarily contributed by merchants, not earned by him doing business.

Whoever dares to make an issue of this, the first one who won't be able to sit still is the Emperor.

Salt merchants contribute three million taels every year; whoever dares to deny the legitimacy of merchant contributions is digging into the Emperor's own purse.

If the imperial court's finances improve, perhaps someone will try to change it, but that is a matter for the future.

At the very least, in the short term, it is certainly not something that will be seen.

The Great Dayu's bureaucratic system is a giant gold-devouring beast; no matter how much money there is, it can be consumed completely.

Compared to simply receiving pay, Li Mu prefers self-reliance.

Only by achieving financial self-sufficiency can one gain greater autonomy in command.

The fact that civil officials are valued and military officers are disparaged is essentially because local civil officials control the army's logistics.

Being constrained by others in terms of supplies leads to military officers of the same rank, or even those of a higher rank, lacking confidence when encountering civil officials.

If one can achieve self-sufficiency, then everyone is not in the same system, so who is afraid of whom!

"Since you have a comprehensive plan, my lord, I will release the news and contact the gentry and merchants who are interested.

However, there are too many of these industries; if we push them all forward at once, I fear we won't be able to handle it. I suggest we start with the mineral veins.

Taking advantage of the fact that all parties haven't reacted yet, you can use the excuse of requisitioning a training ground to occupy the ownerless mines first.

The supplies allocated by the imperial court are insufficient, and several prisoner-of-war camps are suffering from a lack of supplies.

You can use the excuse of needing labor to build the camp to borrow a batch of young and strong men from the prisoners of war."

Lan Linjie immediately advised.

He had no doubts about Li Mu's operational ability.

If he could fish people out of the dragon's den that is the Embroidered Uniform Guard, dealing with local officials would naturally be a piece of cake.

Officialdom is a place of human relationships and worldly wisdom; as long as you aren't talking directly about money, providing convenience to others is providing convenience to oneself.

"What you say is correct; we truly cannot push forward blindly.

Before taking action, we must first recruit the soldiers; only after having soldiers can we go ask for money.

Recruit three thousand men first to set up the framework of the military camp; the remaining personnel can be filled within a year.

As for the initial funds, with my reputation, I imagine the Yangzhou gentry will donate a portion.

For the shortfall, I will first borrow from the Hanhe Bank and repay it once the funds from the imperial court arrive."

Hearing Li Mu's words, Lan Linjie was startled.

In the Great Dayu, where eating empty pay is popular, even the Capital Camp has serious vacancies; troops at full strength are few and far between.

In fact, a battalion of troops in the Great Dayu has no fixed number.

Small ones have only three thousand men, while large ones can reach twenty or thirty thousand; most of the time, a battalion of troops is a guard, totaling over five thousand six hundred men.

This battalion of Li Mu's is a standard guard establishment, and the internal structure is the same as that of the guard stations.

"The initial expenses for you, my lord, will not be small. The one hundred thousand taels of construction funds promised by the imperial court will likely be halved by the time they reach your hands; it is simply a drop in the bucket.

It would be better to reduce the personnel; a local Assistant Regional Commander with three or four thousand troops is enough to handle various emergencies.

You must never touch high-interest loans from banks; those who dare to lend to......"

Halfway through his sentence, Lan Linjie suddenly got stuck.

In his memory, there was no Hanhe Bank in Yangzhou City.

Now that it suddenly appeared and was doing business right in front of his lord, it was clearly abnormal.

It is quite possible that this bank hadn't even been established yet, and it only existed because it needed to be born for him.

Essentially, it was still Li Mu paying the expenses himself, using the name of a bank loan just to avoid political risk.

This kind of thing is very rare in the officialdom of the Great Dayu.

If he were suddenly transferred away, the initial investment would be wasted.

Even if the subsequent general were willing to acknowledge the debt, the probability of being able to pay it back would be slim to none.

"Rest assured, just recruit people according to my plan; money and grain will not be a problem!"

Li Mu said calmly.

On this trip south, he had made a huge profit.

Unlike before in the capital, where he only earned a bit of hard-earned money.

This time the situation was special; there was no need to grease the palms of the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Eastern Depot, and the matter was handled in advance.

The expenses for greasing palms were saved and directly became profit.

Excess profit often means excess risk.

Originally, he was worried about how to launder this huge sum of money, but now the opportunity had come to his door.

After the left hand passed it to the right hand, the money became debt, and the debt became soldiers.

With the same wealth, when carrying it as gold and silver, one has to be fearful every day.

Both worried about being eyed by others and worried about being investigated by the imperial court.

After turning it into an army, it is completely different.

Even if there is worry about being eyed, it is others who are worried.

In the last few decades, there has not been a single general with real power in the Great Dayu who was taken down for corruption.

The Emperor is not afraid of military officers being greedy for money or lustful; he is only afraid of military officers who are not tainted by money or lust and are single-mindedly pursuing a good reputation.

The Capital.

After a series of struggles, the court recommendation for the cabinet entry finally came to an end.

Holding the final list of recommended candidates and leaving the Wenyuan Pavilion, Pang Hengsheng's face was terrifyingly gloomy.

It was not that the Qingliu faction had been utterly defeated; on the contrary, they had won a complete victory in the court recommendation again.

Half of the candidates were members of the Qingliu faction, and they were the people he least wanted to see.

If they were really allowed to take office, the "crowded with upright officials" that the Qingliu pursued would be realized, but then no real work would get done.

At that time, not only would they have to fight with the Eunuch faction, but they would also have to fight within the Qingliu.

"Your Majesty, the court recommendation activity has ended.

Among the hundred officials, the ones with the highest acclaim are Minister of Personnel Shi Yuanhu, Minister of Rites Pei Xueqing, as well as the retired Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang.

The above four are all virtuous and talented; for any one of them to enter the cabinet would be the fortune of our Great Dayu.

For a moment, I cannot make up my mind; I ask for Your Majesty's holy decision!"

Pang Hengsheng said expressionlessly.

"Oh, there are actually retired virtuous scholars.

However, I seem to remember that these two previously served in the cabinet and were dismissed only because they formed cliques for private gain."

Hearing Emperor Yongning's words, Pang Hengsheng expressed agreement in his heart, but his status did not allow him to echo it.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Yin and Mr. Zuo are best at teaching students, so they have a few more disciples and former subordinates.

Of course, they certainly have talent; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to teach so many students.

Choosing them to enter the cabinet is also the desire of the masses.

However, Minister Shi and Minister Pei are also capable officials in the court, with many achievements in their political records, and are also the only candidates."

Pang Hengsheng applied eye drops without changing his expression.

Thinking about it, it is also funny; he, who most wanted to push the Qingliu faction into the cabinet at the beginning, has now become the biggest obstacle to the Qingliu faction entering the cabinet.

There is no way; these two are not in the court, yet they could still win in the court recommendation.

Letting such masters of political struggle enter the cabinet is purely adding trouble to oneself.

When the two were driven out of the cabinet, he, Pang, also played a big part in it.

Never did he expect that after these two guys returned to their hometowns, they would still be restless.

Relying on accepting disciples and lecturing everywhere, and promoting the benevolent governance theory of light corvée, thin taxes, and tax exemption for merchants, they gained a lot of support from the gentry.

The problem is that these two guys are purely talking nicely and have no feasibility at all.

The Great Dayu is almost unable to make ends meet, and at this time, to engage in that set of benevolent governance is simply not intending to live.

Everyone understands the truth, but when they are in the situation, everyone first considers their own interests.

Let alone the local gentry, even the officials in the court have many people who believe that as long as the Emperor implements benevolent governance, the world can be at peace.

The sage books all say so, and they have received this set of education since childhood.

As for how to solve the problem specifically, the sage books didn't say, so naturally, there is no need to think about it.

Or rather, because of their own interests, they deliberately don't think about it.

Whether benevolent governance is effective is not important; the key is to replace people to defeat the Eunuch faction, so that they, these Qingliu faction members, can get more positions.

Grand Secretary Pang and Grand Secretary Xu in the court, although they are also their own people, the combat power of these two is too weak.

When encountering problems, they actually think about solving the problems instead of directly blaming the Eunuch faction.

In the eyes of many radicals, this is a kind of betrayal.

Since they are unwilling to fight, then push those who love to fight up.

Whether the nonsense philosophy can be realized is not important, as long as the Eunuch faction is defeated.

At that time, after raiding the homes of that Eunuch faction, the imperial court's financial problems will be solved directly.

After someone takes the lead, more people are just blindly following the trend.

Regardless of so much, try it first; what if it succeeds!

"What the minister said is correct; the court does not lack people of high virtue and prestige, but now what is lacking is officials who do practical work."

While speaking, Emperor Yongning drew a circle on the names of Minister of Personnel Shi Yuanhu and Minister of Rites Pei Xueqing.

Seeing this scene, Pang Hengsheng knew he had passed.

Regarding the candidates for cabinet members, the Emperor clearly had ideas long ago.

Yin Zhiming and Zuo Hongjiang jumping out at this time is purely asking for humiliation.

The higher their reputation, the less Emperor Yongning will allow them to enter the cabinet.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 104 =====