Chapter 191 Economic Genius
November twenty-ninth.

Huaiyin County Government Office.

Jin Mao sat at the top, with his civil and military officials on his left and right. Now he had a lot of talented people.

The scholars present included Zhou Yu, Xi Zhicai, Xun You and Yu Fan.

There were more than eighty generals, including Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Gai, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Dong Xi, Ling Cao, etc., in addition to eight hundred reserve officers of the personal guard.

It can be said that the situation is that the military is strong but the culture is weak, and it urgently needs a powerful opponent to test it.

It just so happened that the Chen family of Huaipu had been restless recently, so Jinmao planned to make an example of them to scare the others.

The surrounding forces include Chen Gui, the prime minister of Pei State, who is the strongest fighting force of the Chen family.

Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, was still busy suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion and was unable to extricate himself.

The further away you go, the more enemies you will have.

Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, and Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, did not have a blood feud with each other, but the sin of insult still existed.

The meeting convened by Jinmao was mainly to lure out these opponents and solve them all at once.

Hearing that Jin Mao was going to attack the four scholars under the Huaipu Chen family, they all jumped out and said, "My lord, no!"

The four of them looked at each other. Xi Zhicai and Xun You very consciously gave up the stage. With Brother Yu Fan leading the charge, everyone felt at ease.

Zhou Yu had heard of Yu Fan's name, but this was the first time he had dealt with him. However, he was also a smart man. After seeing the behavior of Xi Zhicai and Xun You, he very consciously stepped back, leaving only Yu Fan in front.

"My Lord, I think the best way to govern a place is to nibble away at it!"

Yu Fan turned a blind eye to the actions of the three people and began to expound his own political ideas.

"I used this method of cutting meat with a blunt knife to eliminate the influence of the powerful families in Qu'a County, making the entire county no less powerful than Wushang County."

This time, Jinmao was very interested.

Yu Fan was mentioned in the annual year-end summary, but due to the short time, he only spoke in general terms. Jinmao did not have a particularly deep impression of him, but only knew that Yu Fan did a good job.

It’s good to know more about it now.

"Zhongxiang, continue." Jinmao said in a low voice, "Let the younger generation, Zhou Gongjin, take a good look at how our elders governed the local area!"

Yu Fan was cheered up. During this journey, he communicated the most with Zhou Yu.

The main reason is that Xi Zhicai and Xun You don’t like to play with this young man who “declared war” on the Yingchuan gentry.

Yu Fan was different. He had heard about the Zhou family's reputation since he was a child. Being able to get close to the Zhou family was enough to comfort him in his life.

What shocked Yu Fan was that Zhou Yu was naturally intelligent and had a high level of comprehension.

Even the Book of Changes, which Yu Fan was very good at, was learned quickly by Zhou Yu, even though Yu Fan did not teach him very carefully.

After hearing that Zhou Yu had never learned anything, Yu Fan was completely amazed and taught him everything he had learned without reservation.

Zhou Yu returned the favor by sharing his family knowledge with Yu Fan.

These days, the two can be said to be both teachers and friends.

Therefore, when Yu Fan heard Jin Mao say that he wanted to give a popular science lecture on Zhou Yu, he was so excited that he wanted to reveal all the highlights of the past two years.

"My Lord, I once asked the Yin family, a wealthy family in Qu'a County, for coal because I was short of charcoal."

Yu Fan began to tell the story.

At that time, the Yin family made excuses for various reasons and just didn't want to give it.

However, the charcoal from Kuaiji County would not arrive for another three days. If work was stopped during these three days, more than ten tons of iron and steel would be lost.

This is a failure that is difficult to accept and a loss that is difficult to estimate.

Once the iron supply is cut off for three days, a large number of blacksmiths will have to stop working for three to five days.

If the blacksmith stops working, the farmers on that land will not be able to get their farm tools.

If farmers cannot get farm tools, local agriculture will miss the farming season or make the people more tired.

After all this time, it was delayed for half a month.

Therefore, Yu Fan tried to find a way to snatch the coal from the Yin family.

But if they really steal it, the Yin family will report it to Jinmao, and Yu Fan will be in big trouble.

"We have to find a way."

Yu Fan thought hard and came up with a brilliant plan.

He first promised the Yin family that he would buy it at a price 30% higher than the market price. If the Yin family hesitated for even a second, it would be disrespectful to money.

Therefore, the head of the Yin family immediately agreed to not only sell all the ten tons of coal in stock at home, but also wanted to sell all the twenty tons of coal to be purchased next time.

Yu Fan accepted everyone who came to him.

However, when it came to paying for the goods, Yu Fan started to play tricks.

Delayed payment!

That is to say, you can use the coal this month and pay for it three days later.

The Yin family felt that three days was not a long time, so they just waited.

As a result, three days later, the Yin family was dumbfounded.

Yu Fan found excuses to delay time.

In this way, the payment for the goods was delayed for three months in a row, and the next batch of coal from the Yin family arrived, but the payment for the previous batch of coal had not yet been settled.

At this time, the Yin family was no longer in a hurry and wanted Yu Fan to take over the second batch of coal.

At this time, Yu Fan’s stunning move came.

He paid off the money for the previous batch of coal, but didn't want this batch of coal.

The Yin family was also ambitious, and they actually purchased another twenty tons of coal on top of the twenty tons.

Forty tons in total!
Originally, twenty tons was the limit of the Yin family's capital turnover, and forty tons they would have to borrow money.

In this era, people understand usury best, even if they don’t understand anything else.

Jinmao naturally would not miss out on such a lucrative industry and has already intervened in it.

Unfortunately, the loan shark that the Yin family borrowed was from Jinmao.

I'll pay thirteen, and since the Yin family wants a lot of money, I'll pay it quarterly.

Jinmao also put some thought into this loan sharking bank.

The interest rate remains unchanged, with 90% payout and 13% return, but there is a difference in time.

Depending on the mortgage situation, it can be divided into three-year period, two-year period, one-year period, six-month period, quarterly period and monthly period.

The highest interest rate is the monthly term, which is paid once a month. After annualization, it is as high as 55 times!
This is a loan sharking service specifically prepared for the prodigal sons of the aristocracy. As long as the family assets are large enough, there is theoretically no upper limit.

As for the three-year term, it is specially provided to the common people and meritorious officials. If the nobles and powerful people want to borrow money, there is no way!
The Yin family had borrowed this quarterly high-interest loan, and they also had a lot of coal in their hands, so they were extremely panicked.

At first, they thought that Jin Mao had instructed Yu Fan to do this evil thing, and they were trying to take advantage of it to make trouble.

Who knew that Jin Mao would forcibly invade Guangling County and cause bloodshed.

The Yin family didn't dare to say a word and just swallowed their anger in silence.

However, the earth is rotating, time doesn't care about you, and neither do the debt collectors.

I have upgraded from a junior debt collection clerk to the ultimate clerk: the army!

In the end, the Yin family had no choice but to go to Yu Fan's house and ask for mercy, hoping that he would show leniency and let them go.

Yu Fan seemed puzzled: "Wouldn't you have money if you sold the coal?"

I have been so happy in my heart for a long time. This time it has finally borne fruit and I will have the harvest soon.

The Yin family knew all this and obediently presented gifts of gold and silver.

Yu Fan said angrily, "Don't taint me with this filth!"

"If it happens again, don't blame me for being rude!" Looking at Yu Fan leaving in a huff, the Yin family was puzzled.

Helplessly, the Yin family had to go back and clear out their inventory, selling the coal at a 50% discount.

The Yin family had originally had no expectations, but they did not expect that the items would be sold out in just three days.

If they really couldn't sell such a large quantity, the Yin family wouldn't have begged for help.

In Qu'a County and its vicinity, coal can only be sold in retail form, and forty tons is enough to sell for a year!
By then, after paying off the high-interest loans, there will be little money left, and a large amount of manpower and material resources will have to be invested, which is a pure loss.

But it is different for large-volume transactions. The payment can be settled in one go, and the payment can be received quickly if the quantity is large.

Of course, Qu'a County's largest customer, Yu Fan, has been blacklisted by the Yin family.

Even if I die, I won't sell him!
Unexpectedly, the buyer who bought 40 tons of coal in three days actually asked the Yin family to send the coal to the iron smelting workshop under Yu Fan.

This time, the Yin family could no longer sit still, so they called all the respected elders in Qu'a County to come and seek justice.

Yu Fan just said: "Sell it if you want!"

Having said that, he didn't want the 40 tons of coal, and he left a group of people stranded there.

When everyone saw that the Yin family had also taken back the coal and the matter was perfectly resolved, they withdrew.

Only the Yin family was in tears. They just wanted a fair price, which meant that Yu Fan should buy the goods at a price 30% higher than before, instead of returning the goods.

What is the use of returns?

Can I repay loan sharks by returning goods?
Helplessly, even though the Yin family knew that this was Yu Fan’s conspiracy, they had to suffer the consequences.

In the end, the Yin family sold 40 tons of coal to Yu Fan at half price, and after paying off the loan sharks, they were left with only a few cents.

In other words, Yu Fan bought ten tons of coal at a price 30% higher than the market price. In the end, after a round of bargaining, he got 40 tons of coal at half the price.

The Yin family also lost the cost of 20 tons of coal, plus usurious interest.

With this ups and downs, Yu Fan earned money from twenty tons of coal from the Yin family, but also made the Yin family bleed heavily.

It can be said to be three sculptures in one piece!
After listening to this, Jin Mao couldn't help but praise loudly: "Zhong Xiang! He is a genius!"

Unexpectedly, Yu Fan actually developed such advanced economic thinking. Is he considered the first economist in the Eastern Han Dynasty?
However, Jinmao also heard something different.

"Zhong Xiang, the core of your story should be more than just this."

Jin Mao couldn't help but ask: "Why are you so obsessed with coal?"

Yu Fan bowed and said, "My lord, you don't know that to produce 100 catties of iron, you need 200 catties of charcoal, but only 50 catties of coal."

"The difference between the two is four times!"

It’s more than four times, and this is still an undercount.

The temperature of charcoal is not as high as that of coal, and its combustion efficiency and heat utilization rate are not as high as those of coal.

The most important thing is that the steel produced by coal is one level harder than that produced by charcoal.

If iron made from charcoal can be turned into farm tools after simple forging, it will be worn out after three to five years.

Then the iron made from coal already has the basic properties of general steel, and with simple forging, it can become a weapon!

You should know that most of the weapons under Jinmao's command were obtained through plundering and seizure, and only a very small number were produced by themselves.

The quality of our own products is not as good as other people's broken swords.

This is also the reason why Jinmao has always distributed the iron produced in Qu'a County to farmers.

Since these iron materials cannot be used on the battlefield, it would be better to vigorously develop agriculture to provide the soldiers with adequate food and water so that they will have more strength to fight on the battlefield.

But now we have to face a huge problem.

Our own iron production is about to increase significantly, and it is impossible to rely on external supplements all the time.

The eighteen princes are about to attack Dong Zhuo, and it will become increasingly difficult to seize military equipment because the opponent is getting stronger.

Then they must have the ability to produce weapons.

There are many blacksmiths who can forge weapons. Those who can forge farm tools can also make weapons with a little training.

Only the craftsmen who make armor are special.

However, these are not problems.

Since Jinmao was preparing to launch assembly line operations, the requirements for craftsmen have been greatly reduced.

You only need to recruit a few blacksmiths who understand the core technology to successfully make armor.

Moreover, as the quantity increases, the quality will also improve. At that time, more advanced armor can also be produced, and a virtuous circle will be formed.

Before that, everything starts with coal.

There were three main coal-producing locations in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

One is in Jizhou.

One is in Yuzhou, Sili and Nanyang near Luoyang.

There is another one in the Western Regions.

Jizhou is too far away and Jinmao can’t reach it.

Not to mention the Western Regions.

Only Nanyang County, Yuzhou and other places are the most suitable, but also the most difficult.

There were many noble families here, and Jin Mao could only use violence to clear the way and beat them until they felt pain.

He doesn't need to occupy the entire territory, he just needs to occupy the main coal-producing areas.

The rest doesn't matter.

Just like when they occupied Qu'a County.

The only difference is that this time the Jingzhou navy must be defeated head-on.

However, there is no rush.

Jin Mao asked Yu Fan, "If I can provide an endless supply of coal, what else does Zhong Xiang need to produce 5,000 sets of armor for me every year?"

In order to make things more difficult for Yu Fan, Jin Mao directly increased the number fourfold based on that in Qu'a County, asking for five thousand sets of armor!
Unexpectedly, Yu Fan not only did not back down, but promised: "My lord, I can not only produce 5,000 sets of armor, but also 5,000 long weapons, 5,000 short weapons! And 10,000 iron arrows!"

Jin Mao was shocked at first, but then he asked curiously, "So what does Zhong Xiang need?"

Yu Fan bowed and said, "My Lord, I need the help of the Chen family of Huaipu. I hope to be friends with the nobles, not enemies."

"Only a stable environment can produce and create most efficiently!"

Jin Mao frowned instantly: "Is this why you want to stop me from taking Chen's?"

Yu Fan knew Jin Mao's temper very well, and immediately explained: "My lord, there are endless nobles in the world. If you insist on your wrongdoing, I'm afraid you will become the enemy of all nobles in the world!"

"So what?" Jin Mao asked, "If one day I really become an enemy of the nobles of the world, will you still recognize me as your master?"

Xi Zhicai said without hesitation: "I am willing to die for my lord!"

The generals followed closely behind.

Xun You followed the general.

Zhou Yu and Yu Fan were hesitant.

Suddenly, Jin Mao realized that Yu Fan was influenced by Zhou Yu.

"Zhong Xiang, you've already made a mistake once, don't disappoint me again."

Yu Fan cried and begged, "My Lord! The nobles cannot be defeated with all their might, we must take our time!"

"If you act too hastily, you may end up capsizing!"

In view of Yu Fan's diligence, Jin Mao decided to explain: "Zhong Xiang, do you think that if I don't provoke the nobles, they won't retaliate against me?"

"Big mistake!"

　Take a day off and make it up tomorrow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)