Dahan: A 100-year-old veteran, I will build the strongest family

Chapter 75: Li Hong's trick on Liu Hong (two chapters in one)

Walking towards the palace, Li Hong quickly understood what he should ask Liu Hong for.

power!

Yes, it’s power!

Although the Li family was preparing to build a beggar army on the border, that was an activity on the border and did not belong to the regular army of the Han Dynasty, nor could they easily enter the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Undoubtedly, the Li family still lacks a regular elite army that can operate within the Han Dynasty.

If the Li family had a powerful army in the Han Dynasty, then their power and reputation would increase significantly.

Even if the world falls into chaos in the future, the Li family will still have many options and can escape unscathed.

Li Hong entered the palace and soon saw Liu Hong, who was a little impatient.

"General Li, the other day you told me about the plan to attack the grasslands south and north of the desert. I have thought about it carefully these past few days and feel that General Li has made a thorough plan. He is trying to disintegrate the Xianbei people from within, rather than sending Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to fight them head-on like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did. This is a very good plan with a unique angle. Tell me quickly, what are you going to do next?"

"The sooner we prepare for the conquest of the grasslands south and north of the desert, the better. I can't wait to see all the tribes submit to the Han Dynasty and see the Han Dynasty expand its territory." Liu Hong chattered non-stop as soon as he saw Li Hong.

Li Hong listened to Liu Hong's words and couldn't help but look at Liu Hong sideways. Liu Hong really got the point right.

The strategy of conquering the grasslands in the north and south of the desert is not a matter of brute force. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is an example. He fought for decades and exhausted the accumulation of several dynasties, but he still failed to achieve complete success. In the end, he had to issue an edict of self-blame! "

"Your Majesty is wise. We should have prepared for this earlier." Li Hong bowed to Liu Hong and praised him. Then he paused and said to Liu Hong in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, if we were to prepare early, in my opinion, the first thing we need to prepare is to build an elite army of Han people!"

"Prepare to build an elite Han army?" Liu Hong was stunned when he heard Li Hong's words, and looked at Li Hong hesitantly.

Liu Hong did not expect Li Hong to directly bring up the topic of building an elite Han army.

The cost of raising an army is undoubtedly very high.

Not to mention, Li Hong wants to prepare an elite army, which requires money!
Seeing Liu Hong hesitate, Li Hong said:

"Your Majesty, although I have made great contributions in this expedition to Xianbei, I have some personal feelings and conclusions."

"To be honest, facing the huge number of Xianbei cavalry, I dare not fight them head-on. We have too few soldiers. It is not an exaggeration to say that my Han army will be defeated in one blow."

"Even if we weaken some of the Xianbei people, our Han army is not good enough to fight against foreign tribes head-on. How can we finally conquer the grasslands of the south and north of the desert?"

Li Hong said solemnly to Liu Hong.

When Liu Hong heard Li Hong's words, his face immediately darkened.

He naturally understood that what Li Hong said was true.

This time, Li Hong led an army of only 40,000. Facing one hundred thousand or even hundreds of thousands of foreign cavalry, if he was not careful, he would be defeated.

However, thinking of the temptation of conquering the grasslands in the south and north of the desert, Liu Hong knew that this army was necessary. He gritted his teeth and said:

"I have agreed to this matter. I will find a way to provide the old general with the money and food for this army. However, I cannot just say that I want to build an elite army of the Han people. Even if I try my best to mobilize money and food, I am afraid that I will not be able to supply the materials consumed by an elite army of the Han people in a short time."

Liu Hong said to Li Hong with a headache.

Liu Hong understood that if he really wanted to achieve something on the grassland, then it would be necessary to build an elite Han army.

However, the number of an army will not be small. If any of the weapons, armor, food, supplies, etc. are matched to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, it will be a terrifying number.

Even if he increased the sale of official positions and titles, he would not be able to get it in a short time.

Li Hong heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that Liu Hong had decided to support the establishment of an army but was suffering from a shortage of money and food.

As long as Liu Hong agreed, Li Hong would do everything he could to help form this elite Han army.

Because, from the very beginning, Li Hong made up his mind to take control of this army in his own hands.

Li Hong hesitated for a moment, then bowed to Liu Hong and said:

"Your Majesty, when it comes to making small profits, I do have many ideas, and the Li family can do it."

"However, when it comes to earning money to support an army, the Li family cannot afford such a huge amount. Of course, if your majesty strongly supports me and the Li family tries their best, I can also earn enough money for your majesty to support an elite army!"

"Oh? General, you have a way? Tell me quickly!" When Liu Hong heard that Li Hong actually had a way to earn money to support an army, he was immediately excited and asked Li Hong in surprise.

Liu Hong did not doubt Li Hong's ability to make money, because in this world, there is no one better than Li Hong at making money.

Seeing that Liu Hong was in high spirits, Li Hong did not neglect it. He wanted to make money and had too many ways in his mind. It would have been unnecessary if he had not used them all before. However, now that the Li family wanted to develop greatly, he did not care too much.

Li Hong bowed to Liu Hong and said:

"Your Majesty, it is easy to make money. As long as Your Majesty can resist the pressure from the noble families, the Li family can unite with the wealthy merchants in various states to make money together. I have a way. We can get involved in the salt industry and purify the crude salt to obtain refined salt. The quality is far superior to the crude salt. We can grab a share of the salt profits sold by the noble families in the world to support the army."

"I have another idea. I can make paper that can replace cloth, bamboo slips and other writing tools. This paper is similar to Caihou paper, but it is more suitable for writing. Once this paper is released, both wealthy families and poor children will flock to it, and wealth will come naturally."

Li Hong quickly decided to use Liu Hong's name to let the Li family get involved in the salt and paper industries, gain a lot of wealth, and let Liu Hong bear the anger and pressure from the aristocratic families and powerful families.

Salt industry and paper, both of them have a huge impact on the wealthy families.

During the Han Dynasty, salt and iron were monopolized by the imperial court.

However, as the court became more corrupt, many local aristocratic families acquired the right to sell salt.

The Han Dynasty had a large population, and the profits from salt were even greater, but most of the money went into the pockets of local aristocratic families.

Think about it, if the population of the Han Dynasty was 100 million, salt would be a necessity, right?

If each person consumes 2 kilograms a year, each kilogram would be worth 1000 five-zhu coins.

Then, the market for Han salt is a huge market worth 2000 billion five-zhu coins.

Li Hong was naturally jealous of such a big cake.

Now that Liu Hong is still in power, and the Li family is involved in the salt industry, let Liu Hong bear the fire of the aristocratic families, and the Li family can make a lot of money quietly. Isn't that wonderful?
After Liu Hong passed away, the salt market was firmly controlled by the Li family. Wouldn't that be even more wonderful?
The same is true for paper. Why were the aristocratic families able to dominate the court? It was because the common people had no writing tools and the peasants had no books to read.

Why are there no books to read?
That is because, on the one hand, aristocratic families are monopolizing knowledge, and on the other hand, the writing medium is primitive.

Just think about it, if paper was produced in large quantities and became easier to write on, then there would be more books, and the monopoly of the aristocratic families would be broken little by little. More and more people would be able to read, and the power of the aristocratic families would be weakened.

This is what Li Hong wants to see.

The Han dynasty's aristocratic families were too powerful, and land annexation was serious, to the point where they had to be destroyed before they could be rebuilt.

Li Hong wanted to realize great ambitions for the Li family, so the monopoly of the aristocratic family must be broken.

The first step to breaking the monopoly of aristocratic families is to break the monopoly of knowledge.

Of course, Li Hong would not start with printing.

Papermaking + printing technology will drive all the wealthy families in the world crazy.

By releasing the papermaking technology first, not only would the Han family not react too strongly, but it would also allow the Li family to make some money.

Of course, this was also the same plan that Li Hongru had when he got involved in the salt industry. Now that Liu Hong was still in power, he released the papermaking technique. Even if the aristocratic families were angry, Liu Hong would be the one to bear the brunt of the fire. The Li family would make a lot of money quietly and destroy the aristocratic families' monopoly. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

After Liu Hong passed away, the papermaking technology was spread, and all the anger would subside. When the Li family had something to achieve, they would use the printing technology to combine with papermaking. That's right, Li Hong wanted to make use of Liu Hong's waste and give him resistance to fire.

"What? General Li, you can actually purify crude salt and make paper that is better than Caihou's paper?"

When Liu Hong heard what Li Hong said, he was shocked on the spot.

Crude salt is purified into refined salt!

Liu Hong also knows the difference between coarse salt and refined salt.

Refined salt was specially supplied to the imperial palace or powerful families.

Tens of millions of Han people ate coarse salt.

There is a huge difference between the price of coarse salt and the price of refined salt.

Now, when Liu Hong heard that Li Hong could actually purify refined salt, he was immediately shocked.

And paper!

"Your Majesty, these are all things that I have researched. I originally wanted to sell some to strengthen the Li family and increase their income."

"But Your Majesty is worried about raising money and food for the army, so I will see if I can help Your Majesty."

"Of course, if these things are in the hands of the Li family, the Li family can make less money and compete less with the noble families. However, if these things are sold in large quantities according to your majesty's wishes, then it will be a large competition with the noble families. Your majesty will be even more angry with the noble families. Your majesty must think carefully."

Li Hong replied to Liu Hong, and he seemed to be relaxed and at ease.

The Li family used to be engaged in strong liquor and soap. Although they made a lot of money, they were luxury goods. Most people could not even get enough to eat and could not afford them. However, it was different with salt.

This thing is a necessity for the human body.

What is the most expensive?
It is not a luxury, but a necessity of life.

Used all the time.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Liu Hong listened to Li Hong's words, and he had recovered from his shock. Thinking that if the crude salt purification was really a large-scale competition with the aristocratic families, the aristocratic families would be unable to sit still and look for him, Liu Hong's face immediately sank.

"Hmph, how dare they! Salt and iron originally belonged to the imperial court. I have distributed a lot of salt sales qualifications over the years, but that doesn't mean I really want to give the profits to the noble families."

"I allow them to run the business, but they can't outrun us and still come to me. I will teach them a lesson!"

"Since it can make money, then do it. I am still waiting to pull out the elite army to conquer the grasslands of the south and north of the desert. This is the big deal!"

Liu Hong obviously didn't think too much about it and snorted.

Li Hong was very happy to see Liu Hong like this, and immediately bowed to Liu Hong and said:

"Since your majesty has decided to do it, I will do it."

"However, after all, both the crude salt purification and the improved Caihou paper were invented by the Li family. Your Majesty, please let the Li family manage these two things."

"Of course, since I support Your Majesty in building the army, I promise Your Majesty that all the money from salt and paper will be invested in the army. If we make more money, I will give Your Majesty a share of the extra money, and the Li family and all the merchants who cooperate with the Li family will have a share. What do you think?"

Li Hong began to emphasize with Liu Hong the ownership and management issues of salt and paper. Although he wanted to use these two things to make money to build an army, he would not hand over the technology to Liu Hong.

Even if you really make a lot of money.

Only a small amount was marked out to appease Liu Hong.

He's not stupid.

Of course, the situation in the Han Dynasty was that aristocratic families were the most important.

Since family interests were involved, Li Hong made things clear with Liu Hong on the spot.

Liu Hong was not angry.

After all, Li Hong has already expressed his loyalty, solved the problem of money and food for him to support the army, and also said that if the profit is big enough, he will give him a share. If he continues to monopolize the Li family's technology, it would be too ugly and too hurtful.

Liu Hong felt a little regretful in his heart that he could not master these two golden egg-laying techniques in his own hands.

Liu Hong smiled and said:

"General Li, what are you talking about? General Li is willing to give up the interests of his family and help me earn money to build an army. I am grateful to him, so how could I harm the interests of the Li family!"

"General Li, I'll leave the business of selling salt and paper to you. I trust you to do business. I'll leave everything else to me. If anyone dares to say anything, I'll make the decision for you!"

Liu Hong waved his hand and said to Li Hong with a smile.

Li Hong achieved his goal and was immediately delighted, and he agreed to Liu Hong.

"How many troops does General Li plan to raise? How do you plan to train them? You know, it's probably not easy to train elite troops."

Liu Hong then asked Li Hong about the establishment of the army, and he was very interested. In Liu Hong's view, building an elite army was to expand his power.

Li Hong prepared his words in his mind, took a deep breath, and bowed to Liu Hong:
"One hundred thousand! To attack the Xianbei and completely shock and conquer the alien race, at least one hundred thousand elite Han troops will be needed. As for how to build and train them, I have always believed in one thing. Training is necessary, but the personal conditions and talents to become elite soldiers are also necessary. Your Majesty should still remember that I summoned all the heroes in the world to compete in the arena, and selected Zhang Fei, Pan Feng and other extremely good generals for Your Majesty, right?"

"So, I want Your Majesty to convey the imperial decree to all states, calling on the good men of the thirteen states and more than one hundred counties of the Great Han Dynasty. Anyone who is strong, brave and good at fighting can come to Luoyang for selection and join the army. You can spend money to lure them to come. If you come to Luoyang to select young and strong men, you can get food, accommodation and transportation expenses. After joining the army, you can actually receive one stone of grain and a salary of one hundred coins every month. With such a generous treatment, I believe that the good men of the thirteen states of the Great Han Dynasty will definitely gather in Luoyang."

"Your Majesty, think about this. If hundreds of thousands or millions of brave and courageous men from various counties gathered in Luoyang, and 100,000 of them were selected to form an army, what kind of combat effectiveness would it have after training? On the surface, they are selected from the hundreds of thousands or millions of young and strong men who gathered in Luoyang, but in fact, they should be the strongest 100,000 men among the tens of millions of young and strong men of our Han Dynasty!"

"As for money, there is no need to worry too much. With the huge profits from refined salt and the efforts of the whole country, it should be enough to support the army!"

Li Hong stroked his gray beard and said to Liu Hong. As he spoke, Li Hong's eyes were flashing with deep anticipation.

Liu Hong, who was sitting on the dragon throne, was also shocked by Li Hong's words.

Can I actually receive one dan of grain and one hundred coins as salary every month?
This treatment shocked Liu Hong. Many salaries of the Han Dynasty could not be paid, so it was good enough to be able to support the army.

But every month you can actually receive one stone of grain and one hundred coins as salary, what does this mean?
You should know that one stone of grain is enough for an ordinary person to eat for one or two months.

A salary of one hundred coins is also a huge profit. Even though the price of grain has risen a lot recently, it is enough to buy one or two dan of grain.

Of course, what made Liu Hong breathe faster was that Li Hong said that if one could select 100,000 good fighters from hundreds of thousands or millions of brave and self-reliant heroes from various counties and counties, what kind of combat effectiveness would the army have after training?
Just as Li Hong said, if they were really selected based on generous salaries, these would probably be the 100,000 strongest young and strong men among the tens of millions of Han people!

"Hiss..." Now Liu Hong no longer felt that the salary offered by Li Hong was a huge profit. Thinking of the fighting power of 100,000 people, Liu Hong was shocked.

"General Li, are you serious? Can you really offer such generous benefits to support a hundred thousand troops?"

Liu Hong asked Li Hong in surprise.

Li Hong did not give Liu Hong a definite answer, but said:
"Your Majesty, regardless of whether selling salt and paper can provide enough salary to support an army of 100,000, we should still attract the strongest 100,000 troops in the world to Luoyang!"

When Liu Hong heard what Li Hong said, he immediately slammed the table and said:
"General Li is right. Let's get these 100,000 people to Luoyang first!"

"Do this immediately!"

Liu Hong was excited, paced back and forth, and finally spoke loudly and excitedly.

Liu Hong was stunned by yet another big promise drawn by Li Hong.

(End of this chapter)