The penniless son of the penniless ...

Chapter 80 National Debt Repayment Movement

Upon hearing that there was still a way to "rescue" the patient, Mr. Yongsan, who was already close to despair, immediately asked the other party to tell him the solution.

After all, we have come to this point now, and we can only do whatever it takes! We should hold on as long as possible!
Seeing that everyone turned their attention to him, Li Yunchang, who was over 50 years old, felt nervous.

He just sighed, then gritted his teeth and told everyone a story before telling them his plan.

Decades ago, Japan also forced Goryeo to lend 1000 million yen, and used this as an excuse to interfere in Goryeo's internal affairs. In order to get rid of slavery, Goryeo's intellectuals launched a "national debt compensation movement", whereby the nobles donated their gold and silver treasures, and the peddlers quit smoking and saved money, and donated them to the country in an attempt to pay off the national debt and win back sovereignty.

Although the movement was eventually forced to stop due to intervention from Japan, it still raised nearly 20 yen within a year!
……

"At this point, the country is about to go bankrupt, a large number of enterprises have stopped production and work, and workers have been laid off and unemployed. In this case, it is an indisputable fact that we might as well take the initiative to expose this situation to all the people, and then have the media report it to guide public opinion and launch the 'National Debt Repayment Movement' again!" Li Yunchang then gritted his teeth and said his own plan.

If they operate correctly this time, they may be able to raise a substantial amount of funds in a very short period of time to solve the current urgent problem!
Upon hearing Li Yunchang's proposal of a method that would certainly bring humiliation, most of the people present were filled with indignation, and they denounced Li Yunchang's method as extremely bad, and once used, it would inevitably push Mr. Yongsan into an irretrievable situation!
……

Seeing that these guys were more active than anyone else in blaming him, but turned a deaf ear and remained silent when asked to find a solution, Li Yunchang was very angry with them.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to refute, Mr. Yongsan on the main seat suddenly spoke up, "Enough! If you can't come up with other feasible solutions, then shut up!"

Hearing Mr. Yongsan's angry rebuke, everyone felt as if their necks were being strangled and fell silent in an instant.

With Mr. Yongsan's consent, the plan to encourage the public to donate money to support the country was forcibly passed. As for what kind of social opinion and negative impact it would cause in the future, these were no longer within his consideration!
Things have developed to this point, and his presidency is destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame! Instead of sitting and waiting for death, it is better to do something meaningful within the remaining few days of his term, which can be regarded as "making up for his mistakes" and fulfilling his responsibilities!

After the meeting, many officials and think tanks who attended the meeting were very depressed. They knew very well that things had developed to this point, and their current Blue House management would inevitably be criticized for such a shame!

Obviously they had achieved brilliant achievements in the early stage, but they didn't expect that it would end up like this. It's really a case of "losing one's integrity in old age"!

(Note: During Yongsan's term, he put forward the slogan of "globalization", joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Korea's per capita GDP exceeded the 1 US dollar mark, joining the ranks of developed countries.)
But now that things have come to this, they have no other choice but to follow Mr. Yongsan till the end!

……

In the following period, the news media in Korea changed their previous optimistic reporting style and began to talk about the current bad situation in the country and the aggressive attitude of foreign financial institutions. After watching the news reports on TV, the people in Korea realized that the domestic economic situation had become so tragic that all the foreign exchange reserves of the country had been consumed and the government was unable to repay the huge overseas debts that were about to mature.

The people also heard about the harsh requirements of the International Monetary Fund for the first time through TV reports, which also aroused their patriotism. Under the encouragement of the host, some people soon responded and took the little gold left in their homes to the special receiving point for donation!
This wave of donating money to save the country, with extensive coverage by the news media, soon attracted responses and imitation from people across the country.

Although the leaders of large companies and chaebols are well aware that such behavior is more for show than for practical use, they still cooperate and arrange for their families to make a special trip with their gold jewelry.

……

Five-star Li family residence.

Watching the highly publicized act of a company's family members donating gold on TV, Li Jianxi showed a look of disdain on his face. These politicians really know how to "motivate the people"!

The huge overseas debt owed by Goryeo now is not just over 20 billion US dollars, but more than 100 billion US dollars! 20 billion is just the latest batch that is due for repayment!
They dare not tell the people all about this cruel reality, making them mistakenly believe that as long as they tighten their belts and donate gold, the country may not go bankrupt. The naive country survived this crisis, and domestic large enterprises were able to resume normal production, and they could return to work and get their wages!
But now that they have chosen to do this, they can only cooperate in the play and see how this "good show" will end!
……

"Zairong, let your wife bring some gold jewelry and follow your mother to the scene to donate gold tomorrow! Since they have sent people there, our Five-Star Li family cannot fall behind!" Li Jianxi pointed at the picture on TV and ordered his son Li Zairong.

"Okay, father!" Li Zairong nodded solemnly. This was not a difficult thing to do. It was just a matter of giving up some worldly possessions and taking a walk on it. It was nothing serious!

"…But, do I need to inform my two younger sisters?" Thinking of his two younger sisters, especially Li Fuzhen who went to Hong Kong for her honeymoon with Zhang Junfeng, Li Zairong asked subconsciously.

"...Forget about Shuxian. But you still need to remind Fuzhen, to avoid some bad media taking unfavorable photos and maliciously misinterpreting them, causing unnecessary trouble!" After thinking for a moment, Li Jianxi decided to let Li Jae-yong remind the other party. Now is a turbulent time, so it is better to keep a low profile.

……

While Li Jianxi and his son Li Jae-yong were discussing the family's donation of gold and Li Fuzhen who was far away in Hong Kong, they did not know that Li Fuzhen, the person involved, was currently selecting her favorite brands and products in the flagship store of an international cosmetics brand.

(End of this chapter)