I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 590 Bonds
Originally, Guan Yu, who brought only 500 cavalrymen, was just planning to investigate the enemy situation, but he recalled the appearance of the beggars of the Qifu tribe that he discovered when he took the initiative to lead a few cavalrymen to scout just now, and the Qifu tribe did not even discover him from beginning to end.

Then Guan Yu looked at the elite troops from the Northern Army who were marching without any complaint in the cold wind, and he suddenly had the idea of ​​taking this opportunity to teach the Qifu tribe a lesson.

Guan Yu immediately ordered a hundred cavalrymen to go with him to the camp of Qifu tribe, leaving the remaining four hundred cavalrymen there to wait for an ambush.

This time, not only did more people go to the Qifu tribe, but Guan Yu also raised the flag of the Han army, fearing that the people of the Qifu tribe would not be able to find them.

Fortunately, the Qifu tribe had not yet fallen to the point where Guan Yu could not detect it even after such a move, and soon, the Qifu tribe responded.

But to Guan Yu's surprise, when they saw the flag on his side, the people of the Qifu tribe came with nearly fifty riders after a brief panic.

Guan Yu was very dissatisfied? Given the state of the Qifu tribe, how dare they underestimate him?
Immediately, he ordered the hundred cavalrymen around him to be ready. Once the Qifu tribe's invaders reached a distance where they could not retreat, they would launch a charge, annihilate the enemy, and crush the morale of the Qifu tribe!
Although based on the situation of the Qifu tribe observed by Guan Yu, it is still unclear whether they have morale.

But as the fifty cavalrymen sent by the Qifu tribe got closer, Guan Yu discovered something was wrong and signaled his cavalry to put away their bows and crossbows for the time being, because the Qifu people on the opposite side did not look like they were here to fight.

When the people from the Qifu tribe came close to Guan Yu, they further confirmed Guan Yu's thoughts.

The leader dismounted and asked politely, "I wonder what position you hold, Han Chinese? What is your official rank?"

Guan Yu decided to wait and see what would happen, and answered truthfully: "I am the governor of Shuofang County!"

Then he asked, "Since you have left Shuofang, why are you entering our Han territory again?"

Unexpectedly, when the Qifu tribe members heard that he was the governor of Shuofang, they immediately bowed and said, "We have returned to seek refuge with you, Lord!"

Guan Yu:? ? ?
He suddenly realized that perhaps he was not the only one, as all the people who had stayed in the Xianbei villages had misunderstood the return of the Qifu tribe.

The man called himself Qifu Youlin, the younger brother of the leader of the Qifu tribe. From Qifu Youlin, Guan Yu learned what happened after the Qifu tribe left Shuofang County.

They really returned to their hometown, Mobei.

At first, they thought that they left Mobei because it was getting colder and more natural disasters were happening, and the grass there was not enough for the cattle, horses and sheep of the tribes to eat. Now that they have been away for many years, they think the grass in Mobei should have become more abundant.

But the facts slapped them in the face.

Qifu Youlin said to Guan Yu sadly: "We thought that there would be no powerful tribes in the Mobei grasslands, and that is indeed the case. However, the reason why Mobei has not produced a powerful tribe in such a long time since we left is that Mobei can no longer support a large tribe."

"It's too cold there. It's not even midwinter yet, but the cattle and sheep can't bear it any longer. Also, the snow is too heavy and there's too much snow. Mobei suffers from snowstorms almost every year..."

"That's really not a place for people to live!"

Listening to Qifu Youlin's complaints about the sufferings of Mobei, Guan Yu finally said, "It is not impossible to accept you, but this place now belongs to Shuofang County. When you come here, you must obey the laws of the Han Dynasty!"

"If not, we will fight!"

Qifu Youlin certainly didn't want to fight. Now was the most desperate time for the Qifu tribe. The reason why they did not stay north of Yinshan Mountain was that their biggest worry was that Fusi, Chulian and Chilu who stayed there would take the opportunity to annex them.

Even though the relationship between the previous few series was very good, at that time they were equally strong and could benefit from a common enemy.

The times have changed.

Qifu Youlin agreed very straightforwardly. Perhaps he felt that his promise alone was not enough, so he said, "My Lord, I will send someone to invite my brother to meet you here to show my determination to serve you!"

Guan Yu waved his hand and said, "No need!"

Then he ordered the four hundred cavalrymen hiding in the rear to come and said to Qifu Youlin: "I will go with you in person!"

When Qifu Youlin saw these five hundred elite armored cavalrymen, his heart trembled. He quickly agreed and immediately sent someone back to report the news.

He personally led Guan Yu to the headquarters of the Qifu tribe and treated Guan Yu with more respect.

The closer the distance was, the more Guan Yu could be sure that what Qifu Youlin said was true.

The horse that Qifu Youlin rode was fine, and could be considered fat and strong. But when he got closer, the horses and sheep of the ordinary members of the Qifu tribe were completely skinny. If you didn't know, you might think they had just survived the winter!

In fact, it is almost the same. The winter and the first snow in Mobei come much earlier than in Shuofang County, which has the Yinshan Mountains as a barrier.

Soon, the 500 Han cavalry led by Guan Yu approached the temporary base of the Qifu tribe in formation. The Qifu tribe members looked at the Han knights wearing iron armor and helmets with vigilance, fear, or curiosity.

The leader of the Qifu tribe, Qifu Libian, is already here to welcome us.

Although he learned from the person sent by his younger brother that the governor of Shuofang would come in person, it was not until Guan Yu came before him that he was convinced that the governor of Shuofang was a true hero!

Therefore, he respected Guan Yu even more.

As for the thought of taking advantage of this opportunity to capture Guan Yu that had flashed through his mind, it completely disappeared after he observed the 500 elite cavalry led by Guan Yu at close range.

Even if he could capture Guan Yu, these five hundred elite cavalry would be enough to throw the weak Qifu tribe into chaos.

Wait, Qifu Libian suddenly thought of a question and asked Guan Yu respectfully: "I have heard before that there is a General Guan in the east who defeated Ke Bineng, the most famous Xianbei leader in the east. May I ask, my lord, who is that General Guan..."

"It's exactly me!" Guan Yu seemed to be talking about a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning.

Qifu Libian sucked in a breath of cold air. He knew that although Guan Yu did not stay in the east as long as Lu Bu, and his reputation among the Xianbei people was not as good as Lu Bu's for stopping children from crying, his bravery was comparable to Lu Bu's.

As for whether Lu Bu was powerful or not... Lu Bu's hometown was in Wuyuan County, and Wuyuan County was adjacent to Shuofang County to the west. How could Qifu Libian, who was active here, not know this?
At this moment, Qifu Libian was extremely grateful that his evil thoughts only flashed through his mind.

Later, as the Han troops from Bingzhou and Beidi County arrived one after another, Qifu Libian felt that the evil thoughts he had in his mind before were serious crimes.

……

Everything went smoothly in Shuofang County, and in Luoyang, Fan Ling also began to prepare for the canal.

Digging rivers in winter has both advantages and disadvantages. At this time, people are not busy with farming, and rivers are in the dry season, which is suitable for dredging and other operations. But once the temperature drops, the silt will freeze, and the people working will face the biting cold wind. Although Liu Bian has been promoting cotton for many years, it is still difficult to achieve the small goal of giving everyone a cotton coat.

The most critical problem for the canal construction this year is that the people have already completed their corvée service to assist in the war. The best way to get the people to dig the canal with peace of mind is to hire them.

In the past, during the reign of Emperor Cheng, the common people were hired at a monthly salary of 2,000 coins. No matter how much of it actually reached the common people, this level was actually higher than the monthly salary of a Dou Shi Zuo Shi. In some places where the grain price was right, it could even reach twice the monthly salary of a Zuo Shi (four stone of rice plus four hundred coins).

If it were today, Liu Bian could say with great confidence that he could not afford the money.

So, Liu Bian found Cao Song.

"The grain we borrowed from the local clans during the march should have been repaid, right?"

Cao Song was clear about this and immediately replied, "Your Majesty, since the autumn harvest, all the debts have been paid off one after another."

Liu Bian then said bluntly: "This proves that this method is feasible... Do you think that this method can be used to pay for the money and grain needed to repair the river this year?"

Cao Song was stunned. He didn't expect that the emperor would think of borrowing money and grain again.

Although there was the example of borrowing grain before, this time there was no army in front of him as a deterrent, so he had no idea how much he could borrow.

However, in front of the emperor, Cao Song could only reply: "I think it is worth a try."

"Okay, then I'll leave this matter to you. As for how to repay the money and grain, maybe we can use the customs duties on the canal and the grain from the summer and autumn harvests next year."

Cao Song did not refuse the task.

But he thought that the court had not yet reached a conclusion on the wages required to employ the people, and he thought that if he could reduce the cost of employing the people, then the amount of money and grain he needed to borrow would be lower, which would relieve him of a lot of pressure.

Thinking of this, Cao Song immediately suggested: "The daily wages for common people are no more than 30 coins. If food and lodging are included, it will be even less. The restoration of the river is in the off-season, and your Majesty has always attached great importance to the administration of officials. At that time, you only need to send the Ministry of Education to investigate more to prevent officials from embezzling. I think that if all the wages can fall into the hands of the employed people, it only needs to be slightly higher than that of the common people."

Cao Song's words were exactly what Liu Bian wanted, so he immediately decided, "According to your suggestion, we will first set a monthly salary of 1,000 coins and provide food to relieve the people's worries."

Cao Song was very happy to see that his opinion was adopted by the emperor so easily.

Faced with a task with an unknown outcome, I feel more motivated.

……

"Have you heard? The court is going to issue bonds for the construction of the canal!"

"Issuing bonds? What does this mean? Does the court want to borrow money? Please explain in detail."

"I just heard about it... Did you know that in order to quell the rebellion in Guandong this year, the imperial court borrowed grain from many large families in Guandong to avoid the cost of long-distance grain transportation? In the past two months, all the borrowed grain was returned, and they made a lot of profit! I also heard that even if there are members of these large families who borrowed grain, as long as they are not involved too deeply, they will be given a lighter punishment when they are sentenced. I just heard about this, it may not be true!"

"I know this, it's true! Think about it, if you lend money and grain to the court, don't you become the court's creditor? When the borrower sees the creditor, he loses three points in momentum. And the court will lend money openly, so it will naturally not fail to pay it back. In my opinion, this is a sure-win business!"

"I do have quite a bit of wealth, which I usually just keep in the treasury. Why don't you go and ask?"

"go!"

"Let's go together!"

Looking at the huge crowd in front of him, Cao Song was delighted.

He originally thought that the debt for building the canal would not get much response, but now, too many people have responded.

Moreover, most of those who wanted to lend money to the court were not from wealthy families. Cao Song could clearly see that some people who were queuing up to buy loans even had patched clothes on.

That’s right, buy it.

Cao Song felt that they were just here to buy debts.

Seeing such a bustle, Cao Song immediately called his subordinate Lu Su, who was in charge of this matter, and said, "Can you send out a few more teams? Look how much these people want to serve the country!"

Cao Song couldn't help laughing again. "I was originally thinking whether I could borrow 100 million yuan in Luoyang. Now it seems that I can borrow 200 to 300 million yuan."

Seeing Cao Song's happiness, Lu Su immediately said, "I have already arranged it. You are wise. You divided the debt into ten thousand coins, not only with numbers, but also with secret codes to distinguish the authenticity, and recorded the name and place of origin of the buyer. You also allow the holder to come here to trade in the future... In my opinion, once this method is implemented, the ten thousand coin bond is no different from ten thousand coins!"

Cao Song waved his hand and said, "These are not my ideas. I am just following your majesty's orders!"

Lu Su was stunned after hearing this, because during the preparations, Cao Song never mentioned that this was the emperor's idea.

But Lu Su was a smart man, and he soon understood Cao Song's idea - the emperor's idea had never been implemented, and it was unknown what effect it would have. At that time, he naturally could not tell anyone about it, so as not to affect the emperor's wisdom. But now that this matter had been a great success, he could publicize the emperor's wisdom without any scruples.

"Also, the bonds prepared before may not be enough. The bonds we use are specially selected from paper and silk that are difficult to make. We must prepare them early to avoid a shortage of supply when the time comes!" Cao Song reminded.

Lu Su immediately replied: "Don't worry, I saw so many people and sent people to prepare it."

Seeing that Lu Su had handled the matter thoroughly without his instructions, Cao Song immediately handed the matter over to Lu Su, and without wearing court robes, he slipped into the crowd queuing to buy bonds.

Soon, he came to a man with patches on his body and asked, "Are you here to buy bonds too?"

When the man heard Cao Song's question, even though Cao Song looked very old and had a kind face, he still instinctively hugged the package he had been holding in his chest.

Cao Song saw it, but he didn't take it seriously. He continued to ask, "I heard that the bonds here must be bought at least ten thousand coins, but I see that your package can't hold ten thousand coins. Could it be that there is gold in it?"

Seeing the man suddenly become nervous, Cao Song comforted him, "It's broad daylight, and there are officials and soldiers guarding the area. No one dares to steal your gold. I'm just curious. You don't look wealthy. Even if you have gold, why don't you use it instead of buying bonds?"

(End of this chapter)