Chapter 341 Herding Longyou
During the chaotic period of the Middle Ages, due to the long-term chaos of the monetary system, it was difficult to accurately define the value of a fortune. It still depended on the level of productivity and the specific supply and demand relationship for a comprehensive comparison.
The textile industry in Shangyuan Township was booming. Although one million pieces of silk was not a small amount for Li Tai, it was a medium amount. But in the eyes of the powerful people in other regions, it was obviously a big amount.
Therefore, when Li Xian heard that Li Tai casually gave a transaction limit of one million pieces of silk, he was shocked. He really couldn't understand how Li Tai could accumulate such a huge fortune in just a few years! Could it be that Dugu Xin's family assets were all sold out to give to his daughter as a dowry? But she hasn't married yet!
But seeing Li Tai's serious expression, he was too embarrassed to directly question Li Tai's financial resources. After a pause, he asked again: "Excuse me, Li Sanqi, why do you want to buy so many camels? Is it to expand the business in Longyou, or to share the burden of the current military affairs? If it is the latter, there is no need to spend money and goods. All the staff in the matter need to work hard, how can Li Sanqi be used alone?" Li Tai smiled and said after hearing this: "Thank you for your comfort, Lord Feng, but I have thought about this after careful consideration, not a rash plan. The army is about to set off, but there is still a large gap in various military supplies. The workers in various places are still working hard day and night to make up for the difference, so I want to temporarily collect the people's savings and use it for the time being..." There are many powerful people in Longyou, and each of them will inevitably produce and reserve a batch of military supplies. If they can be confiscated, it will greatly alleviate the gap needed by the army. But everyone is not a fool. It is impossible to make everyone donate real materials with just a few words. Therefore, Li Tai does not intend to force them to donate, but to borrow.
The problem of the state government is that time is tight and productivity is insufficient. As long as there is enough time to produce materials continuously by itself, it will be returned to the families at that time, and even part of the interest can be paid.
But the fortune of the Western Wei Dynasty has not seen a big improvement so far, and this war bond has been issued more than once, but there is only borrowing but no repayment. It is also that credit investigation big data is not popular in this era, otherwise Yuwen Tai and his group of deadbeats can't even get on the high-speed rail. Now that there is another additional issue, it can be imagined that everyone's enthusiasm for subscription is also very limited.
Therefore, if Li Tai wants to collect materials, he has to increase the chips. First buy a thousand camels from Li Xian to mortgage them to everyone, and let them transport the materials they have submitted to the government to Weizhou. Before the state government returns all the materials they have borrowed, the camels will be mortgaged to them and can be used freely.
Of course, the value of a single camel is obviously not as good as a considerable amount of military supplies, but the government can continue to give camels greater value, such as the right to trade in Hexi.
As Liangzhou and Guazhou were gradually pacified, the Silk Road trade route was opened again, which would inevitably usher in a recovery and rapid development of trade.
In the original history, it was also from this point that the Hexi Corridor trade route starting from Guanzhong gradually surpassed the Mo Nan trade route starting from Jinyang.
Although the heroic emperor Gao Yang beat the Turks to tears, he also completely destroyed the relationship with the grassland forces and built a circle of the Great Wall to prevent being stolen. The once glorious Mo Nan trade route naturally became deserted.
During the Northern Qi Dynasty, people even had to take the opportunity to mourn the Queen Mother of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to go shopping in Chang'an and buy exotic goods. It can be seen that Jinyang at that time had gradually been surpassed by Chang'an.
People at that time might not be able to see that far, but the lucrative Silk Road trade was a consensus that was self-evident, so the people in Longyou also had a relatively good expectation for it. If there was a chance, they would certainly try it.
But I'm sorry, the passage has just been opened and it is still not fully open. People in the territory are not at ease, and a series of military controls must be carried out. In addition, in order to prevent treacherous people from spying on military intelligence, free cross-regional exchanges are not allowed. Only those who have obtained permission from the Longyou Grand Commandery can travel east and west.
If someone questions this, Li Tai can also give a resounding reply: Where were you when the military was scarce? This pot of soup must of course be shared by those loyal and righteous people!
In this way, we can not only raise enough military supplies, but also select a group of people who recognize the current territory rule from the Longyou powerful group, and at the same time select a group of merchants who have been quite powerful since the opening of the Hexi Trade Road, so that the East-West exchanges and trade on this trade road can be quickly restored.
After listening to Li Tai's plan, Li Xian couldn't help but admire him again, saying that Li Tai was far-sighted and concerned about the country and the people. But despite his admiration, his expression was superficial and insincere. The reason was very simple, because this plan sounded too good to be true. At the very least, what was Li Tai's motive for doing this?
A thousand camels certainly wouldn't cost as much as a million pieces of silk, but it was definitely a valuable fortune. Li Tai just distributed them to others without asking for anything in return? It was hard to believe that he would sacrifice his family to help others and sacrifice himself.
Seeing Li Xian's expression, Li Tai sighed again and said, "Only after entering Long this time did I realize that the livelihood of the villagers is not easy. Many old and young people have lost their livelihood, which is really heartbreaking. I have some spare money now, so I want to do something that benefits both the public and private sectors. After the camels are distributed among the people, it is inevitable that some villagers will not feed them well and some will be damaged. All the damages will have to be borne by both the government and the people. I don't need compensation for silk, grain, and rice, I just hope to allocate some garden land for the villagers to cultivate and manage."
Li Xian nodded after hearing this, which seemed reasonable. The situation in the village has been maintained for many years, and it is basically a carrot and a pit. Even if a certain family declines, other clans will take over the village's assets and assets. It is not easy for outsiders to get involved and establish a foothold.
Li Xian's family is naturally powerful in the countryside, but they also need to strengthen their influence in Longyou through funding and supporting the Li family in Longxi. Now that Li Tai has come to Longyou, he naturally has such a need, and it is reasonable to choose such an entry point.
The Tai government was still very strict in supervising important towns like Qinzhou. In the early years of Datong's rule, Daxingtai even had his cousin Wang Shichao killed for violating public outrage in order to frighten the masses.
But now, in order for the Western Expedition to go smoothly, Li Tai spent all his family's money to buy camels and lend them to the masses to persuade them to lose. This is absolutely morally defensible, and he can receive great praise from both the government and the opposition. With such benevolence and justice in mind, everyone will be able to view subsequent actions with a more tolerant attitude.
If the government pledges it first and the people pledge it later, if something goes wrong with the mortgage, it is natural that they should provide adequate compensation. As for how to compensate, he, the governor of Qin, would naturally be responsible for handling it, and he could quietly add more high-quality rural assets to his own account.
Thinking of this, Li Xian couldn't help but sigh at Li Tai's ingenious intentions. He had already made many clever plans in such a short time after entering the country. No wonder Li Mu's family book was full of praise for him. The longer they talked, the more Li Xian became aware of Li Tai's eclectic whims.
"How can Li Sanqi be allowed to do such a righteous act alone? I am also a person who is doing it, and I should share this responsibility with Li Sanqi due to emotion and reason. Thousands of camels can be delivered immediately, half of them by me For the rest of the people in the territory, there is no need to pay the current price in Hexi. Li Sanqi only needs to pay the villagers the materials they have used to raise them. "
Li Xian is also a decisive person. After he recognized Li Tai's idea in his heart, he even expressed his position and said that he would not let Li Tai take advantage of this matter. He also hoped to use this to establish several strongholds in Longyou.
Although local assets are not the focus of his concern, his family's development and accumulation in Gaoping's hometown has reached a critical point, and diverting it elsewhere can be regarded as a way of sharing risks.
Naturally, Li Tai would not refuse the benefits delivered to his door, and he nodded and agreed.
And this is not a benefit. When he uses this as an excuse to privatize these official workshops in Qinzhou on a large scale in the future, he will certainly give Li Xian a sufficient share. Everyone still has to work together to resist the pressure exerted by Director Yu Wen.
But in fact, Li Tai had another consideration that he did not tell Li Xian, and that was that he needed more influence and checks and balances against the powerful people in Longyou, and stimulating and promoting Silk Road trade was one of the ways.
If Longyou's tycoon and all his assets are stuck in various Wubi manors, he will have no means to control them unless he cracks open the turtle shells one by one. But if you really want to do that, you will be secluded from the public.
Only when people and things flow can they be guided and controlled in a more comprehensive way. Apart from anything else, although the Hexi trade route has been opened, the Guanzhong market is not ready yet.
Most of the goods coming from the Western Regions are luxuries that have nothing to do with people's livelihood. The powerful people in Guanlong are actively reorganizing their tribes and actively joining the army, hoping to transform into military aristocrats. The military chiefs in Beizhen have not yet reached the time to indulge in pleasure, so this market is still To be cultivated.
After several visits to Guanzhong, I am afraid that Li Tai is the only one who has the ability and confidence to take over these goods in Guanzhong. It may cause a certain degree of hoarding in the short term, but as Shuzhong and Jiangling are taken over one after another, the local market will quickly become popular. And northern Shaanxi is not far from Jinyang. Who should I buy?
Therefore, Li Tai encouraged these powerful people from Longyou to join the Silk Road trade, not just to prosper the countryside, but also to become a big financial backer in Longyou and let these powerful people serve as his mules. What’s the point of raising camels, compared to so many rich people using them as cattle and horses for me?
However, this kind of prediction, which lasts for several years, is also related to the prediction of major situation changes and the rise and fall of strength between the East and the West. Naturally, Li Tai will not discuss it in detail with Li Xian.
He also wanted to judge whether the three Gaoping and Li brothers were worthy of long-term contact and strengthening interaction through mutual contact and interaction. After all, in a few years, Li Yuan would have to kill his father-in-law with a knife.
A similar scene may not happen again in today's world, but as Yuwentai's direct confidant, Gaoping Li is still a bit difficult to reconcile with powerful ministers like Duguxin, and even Yuwenhu cannot calmly control them. Of course, Li Tai cannot make a conclusion too early as to whether it is suitable for him.