My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 253 Big Purchasing
Upon hearing this, Luo Jun was clearly shaken, especially by Liu Chong's last words about the new prime minister, which completely moved him.

If the new prime minister is an honest and capable official, that would be good. But what if he is a corrupt official? Wouldn't all his achievements be ruined?

Luo Jun was conflicted and asked hesitantly, "Then how should we respond to His Majesty's opinion?"

"As I just said, just give them more money and food!"

Liu Chong said with some anger at his son's lack of ambition, "Although the people's burden will be heavier, as long as you stay, you will always consider their needs. But the new prime minister, even if he is only considering Xuzhou, will inevitably push for higher taxes from Chen, and may even increase them more than we are now."

Liu Chong's words sounded ridiculous; raising taxes just to keep Luo Jun was putting the cart before the horse.

However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that Liu Chong's logic is entirely sound.

In order to keep Luo Jun, the people of Chen may have to pay 20% or 30% more in taxes, which seems to increase their burden.

However, if Luo Jun cannot be retained and a new prime minister is appointed, the people may have to pay 40%, or even 50% or 60% more in taxes.

Which is lighter and heavier, at a glance.

Seeing that Luo Jun was becoming increasingly hesitant, Liu Chong quickly added, "Currently, the country still has reserves of over a million shi (a unit of dry measure). Even without additional taxes, these reserves alone are enough to support General Liu for several years. After several years, once General Liu has settled the displaced people, we can then submit a petition requesting a reduction or exemption of taxes. I have long heard that General Liu is a benevolent and compassionate man, and I am sure he will agree."

Liu Feng underestimated the amount of savings in the Chen Kingdom. In reality, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Chen Kingdom had been forced to delay tax payments due to the influx of displaced people.

After Dong Zhuo's rebellion, the amount of money and grain that the State of Chen handed over to the central government decreased significantly.

The successive governors of Yuzhou either neglected him or were powerless to do anything about it, which greatly expanded the power of the Chen state.

The power of the State of Chen was expanding, while the surrounding counties and states, such as Yingchuan, Pei, and Runan, were constantly weakening. The governor of Yuzhou dared not turn against the King of Chen and the State of Chen.

Take Guo Gong, the most recent governor of Yuzhou, for example. He was stationed in Liang, but dared not take any action against Chen. He couldn't even collect taxes, which shows how powerful Chen was.

Therefore, the grain reserves in the State of Chen were quite astonishing.

Besides grain reserves, the State of Chen also possessed a large amount of military equipment and supplies, especially iron armor, powerful bows and crossbows.

Within the territory of Chen State, there is an Ironworks, which is particularly skilled in making bows, crossbows, and iron armor—all highly coveted items by Liu Feng.

Rather than leaving it to Cao Cao later, it's better to take it for ourselves first.

Liu Chong's advice resonated deeply with Luo Jun.

After further discussion, the two agreed to pay Xuzhou 600,000 shi of grain, 50 million coins, and 4,000 bolts of silk annually.

This amount is quite substantial, equivalent to 20% higher than the tax revenue paid by the State of Chen in a normal year.

The two decided to use this as leverage to have a proper talk with Liu Feng.

The following day at noon, Liu Chong hosted a banquet at the Prince's residence to entertain Liu Feng.

Halfway through the banquet, Liu Chong took Liu Feng's hand and said, "I have heard that General Liu and General Zheng Nan are also members of the Liu clan, descendants of Prince Jing of Zhongshan. You and I are relatives."

Liu Feng repeatedly said he dared not: "Although my family is descended from Prince Jing of Zhongshan, we are far less noble than Your Highness. How could I dare to claim kinship with Your Highness?"

It must be said that Liu Chong was a very charismatic person. Compared to the princes of Xuzhou, he was obviously much more capable.

Liu Chong feigned displeasure and said, "Why do you say such things, General Zheng Nan? Do you look down on me?"

Liu Feng smiled wryly and explained, "How dare I say such a thing? Your Highness is awe-inspiring in the Chen Kingdom, protecting the people and bringing peace to the region. You are truly a leading figure among the imperial family."

"If that's the case, then let's proceed..."

Liu Chong paused halfway through his sentence, then asked, "Does Zheng Nan have any writings?"

Liu Feng cupped his hands in greeting and replied, "My father bestowed upon me the courtesy name Zisheng."

"well!"

Liu Chong nodded repeatedly: "I've calculated my age, and I should be of the same generation as General Liu, so I'll take the liberty of calling Zisheng my nephew."

Liu Feng showed a look of surprise and wanted to refuse, but was refused by the Prince of Chen.

“Zisheng, I really can’t do without Prime Minister Luo. Over the years, the stability of Chen Kingdom has been made possible by Prime Minister Luo’s efforts.”

Liu Chong first appealed to Liu Biaoji's emotions, then changed the subject, saying, "I know that Liu Biaoji has faced many difficulties in governing, and he has always been known for his benevolence. In that case, I am willing to make up for last year's taxes, and send them to Xuzhou along with this year's, only asking that Liu Biaoji not transfer the Chancellor. Is that alright?"

Liu Feng had been putting on an act all along, but now he was genuinely shocked by Liu Chong.

"One million two hundred thousand shi of grain, seventy million five-zhu coins, and eight thousand bolts of silk!"

Seeing that Liu Feng was wavering, Liu Chong pressed his advantage and directly announced the numbers.

As mentioned before, the State of Chen had a grain reserve of one million shi, but that does not mean that the State of Chen only had one million shi of grain.

In fact, the annual harvest of the State of Chen was more than six million shi (a unit of dry measure). Of this, two to three million shi had to be left in the various counties and towns within the State of Chen. Most of the remaining grain could not be moved because it was the rations for the officials and the army of the State of Chen. However, a small portion could be moved at will, which was a surplus.

As for the 60 million five-zhu coins, that's considered giving them everything they have.

At its peak, the State of Chen had 120,000 households and 1.55 million people. This number was equivalent to the remaining population after Cao Cao's two campaigns against Xuzhou. Even at the end of Emperor Ling's reign, the State of Chen still had a population of over 1.2 million.

Because the State of Chen had not experienced major wars, and was surrounded by populous counties such as Runan, Pei, Yingchuan, and Chenliu, people flocked to Chen, causing Chen's population to increase rather than decrease, approaching its peak.

According to the Han dynasty's tax system, an adult male had to pay 300 coins a year for corvée labor, and adult men and women had to pay 80 coins a year for land tax. A family of four or five people would have to pay at least 700 or 800 coins a year, including land tax.

The annual tax revenue of this household registration in Chen State is at least over one hundred million coins.

However, not all of this money was offered as tribute. First, the counties and cities in various places had to deduct 40% to 50% of it. The food and salaries of officials and yamen runners, the repair of bridges and roads, the construction of water conservancy (small-scale ditches), the maintenance of city walls and other expenses all had to come from this money.

Of the remaining fifty to sixty million coins, half would usually be embezzled by the county level, leaving only thirty million coins to be handed over to the central government.

Fortunately, in the past, each prefecture only had a governor, and the prefecture government usually shared the tax revenue with the county where it was located. If the prefecture level also took half, then the central government would really not get much money.

A prime example is that ever since the governorship of a prefecture was changed to a provincial governorship, taxes have simply disappeared, and no provincial governor has ever honestly handed over their taxes to the treasury.

Even Liu Biao and Shi Xie, who had the best attitude, lost most of their money and handed over only a small portion.

Therefore, Liu Chong had the confidence to announce that he would make up for last year's taxes. Over the years, the State of Chen had accumulated a considerable fortune.

However, he then made his own demands: "First, General Liu must not transfer Prime Minister Luo away; second, he must protect my state of Chen."

Liu Chong also had other ideas. In the past two years, Yuan Shu's power has been expanding in Runan. Last year, he even dared to send people to demand that Chen State submit and accept the people he dispatched to serve as the prime minister of Chen State.

Liu Chong naturally refused, but he and Luo Jun were also worried. If Yuan Shu really launched an attack, even if Chen State defended Chen County, the villages and fortified villages outside the capital would most likely suffer.

I heard that Liu Bei defeated Yuan Shu twice in Guangling.

In particular, the second battle outside Guangling City resulted in a crushing defeat for the enemy. If they could seize this opportunity to ally with Liu Bei, they would have no need to worry about the threat posed by Yuan Shu.

"Is this true?"

Liu Feng really didn't expect that a pie could fall from the sky.

You see, his main purpose in coming here this time was to plunder, then to expand trade with the State of Chen, to buy more grain, and finally to see if there was any opportunity to open up the military trade, whether it was iron armor or the State of Chen's powerful bows and crossbows, these were all good things.

He really didn't expect Liu Chong to be so generous.

The problem is that the State of Chen has already been ceded to Cao Cao.

Judging by the timeline, Cao Cao will definitely try to seize control of the Chen Kingdom this year.

No one would leave this piece of meat untouched to go west and gnaw on the bones of the Xiliang army. After much hesitation, Liu Feng decided to eat the meat.

Cao Cao hasn't paid attention to the State of Chen yet; we can deal with it when he does.

Besides, even if the money and grain are to be returned, it can be pushed to him from Yingchuan.

Don't underestimate the difference; the losses incurred during grain transportation are astronomical.

Even if Liu Feng returned all 1.2 million shi of grain to Cao Cao in Yingchuan, he would still have made at least 120,000 to 150,000 shi of grain for free, not to mention the time difference involved.

How could Liu Feng resist? He readily agreed.

"Uncle, don't worry, I'll take care of this!"

Liu Feng patted his chest and asked Liu Chong and Luo Jun, "Since you and the Chancellor already know about the Battle of Guangling, do you know who commanded both battles of Guangling?"

Liu Chong and Luo Jun shook their heads together, somewhat puzzled.

Liu Feng laughed and volunteered, "To be honest, Uncle and Chancellor, I personally commanded both battles. That night, I fought Sun Bofu fiercely for half the night and finally drove him out of the city. Afterwards, when Qiao Rui led his troops to attack, it was my personal guards who were the first to break through the enemy and crush Yuan Shu's army formation."

Liu Chong and Luo Jun asked in unison in surprise, "Is this really true?"

"Of course it's true."

Liu Feng, of course, readily agreed: "To be honest, I am currently only troubled by a shortage of military rations. My father has been providing relief to displaced people and settling them in to cultivate the land, which has consumed a large amount of military rations. Otherwise, I would definitely have launched a western expedition and brought Yuan Gonglu to the emperor's feet."

Liu Chong and Luo Jun were both astonished, never expecting that Liu Bei and his son would be such a powerful father and son, surpassing even their master.

Liu Bei's previous victory over Guo Gong in the State of Lu, followed by his release of Guo Gong and his followers, earned him considerable goodwill from Liu Chong and Luo Jun.

Now that they heard that Liu Feng was such a skilled fighter, the two exchanged a glance and made up their minds together.

Luo Jun said, "In that case, the first batch of grain and money can be shipped at the beginning of next month. However, there are not many ships in the country, so it may take some time to allocate them."

Liu Feng was overjoyed and very satisfied with Liu Chong and Luo Jun. He thought that he would have to save these two philanthropists if he could in the future.

Liu Feng, somewhat greedy, said, "Uncle, Prime Minister, I have a request for you. I wonder if you can grant it?"

Liu Chong and Luo Jun exchanged a glance, then nodded and said, "I don't know what you mean, my dear nephew, but please speak freely."

"My uncle and the prime minister should also know that Yuan Shu's troops in Huainan are well-trained, well-fed, and equipped with a full range of weapons, especially iron armor. Although our army was able to defeat them, we suffered heavy casualties, all because of the lack of armor and the inadequacy of our bows and crossbows."

Liu Feng hurriedly said, "I have long admired the Chen Kingdom's soldiers for their superior skills and armor, especially their powerful bows and crossbows, which are unparalleled in the world. I wonder if it would be possible to purchase a batch of iron armor, powerful bows, crossbows, and other military supplies at a discounted price using tax revenue? This would save us the trouble of transportation."

After hearing Liu Feng's request, Liu Chong and Luo Jun discussed it: "Prime Minister, do you think the country has a surplus of military equipment?"

Luo Jun calculated that in Chen Guozhong, Liu Chong's Chen Wang Mansion alone had two thousand powerful crossbows, eight hundred strong bows, and eight hundred sets of iron armor.

Most of the armor is stockpiled, with an annual production of only 120 sets in the last two years. However, 500 crossbows and 200 powerful bows can be produced annually.

Both Liu Chong and Luo Jun deeply hated Yuan Shu.

It wasn't just because Yuan Shu had absolutely no loyalty to the Han dynasty, but also because he cruelly oppressed the people and wreaked havoc on the region.

This made Liu Chong and Luo Jun, who loved the people like their own children, particularly angry and disgusted.

It was precisely because Liu Bei's reputation for benevolence gradually spread that he recruited and resettled refugees in Xuzhou, which inadvertently won the favor of Liu Chong and Luo Jun.

Since Liu Feng has stated that he intends to attack Yuan Shu, Liu Chong and Luo Jun believe that selling some of the military resources is reasonable. Moreover, the more severely Liu Feng defeats Yuan Shu, the safer Chen State will undoubtedly be.

After discussing it with Liu Chong, Luo Jun replied, "We can allocate 400 sets of iron armor, 600 large crossbows, 1,200 powerful crossbows, 500 strong bows, 100,000 bow and crossbow arrows each, 800 sets of full leather armor, 3,000 long and short weapons, 1,000 iron shields, and 2,000 leather shields. What do you think of our plan to conquer the south?"

"Uncle and Prime Minister, if this southern expedition yields any results, both of you will surely be credited. I will immediately report to the Emperor and request that you both be credited!"

Liu Feng's words were sincere. He felt it was better to use the imperial authority than not. Moreover, Liu Chong and the emperor still had some affection for the central government. Although they were not the extremely loyal ones, they hoped that the central government of the Han Dynasty could restore its authority and bring peace to the country.

Upon hearing Liu Feng's words, both Liu Chong and Luo Jun smiled broadly, clearly finding Liu Feng's words to their liking.

"Your Highness, since we have no use for those things, why don't we sell them to Zheng Nan as well?"

After considering for a moment, Luo Jun spoke to Liu Chong.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Chong nodded and said to Liu Feng, "There are always twenty sets of vests stored in the Chen Kingdom's armory. Do you want them?"

"An alias!?"

Liu Feng was overjoyed. He had originally planned to go back to Xuzhou to find someone to remake the vest, but now they had sent him a sample.
Liu Feng agreed immediately.

Subsequently, the two parties carefully agreed on the prices of the items: a set of horse armor and iron armor cost 7,000 coins, totaling 3 million coins; a full set of leather armor cost 2,000 coins, totaling 1.6 million coins; a large crossbow cost 10,000 coins, totaling 6 million coins; a powerful crossbow cost 3,000 coins, totaling 3.6 million coins; an iron shield cost 1,000 coins, totaling 1 million coins; a leather shield cost 300 coins, totaling 600,000 coins; a short weapon cost 800 coins, and a long weapon cost 1,000 coins, totaling 2.7 million coins; a powerful bow cost 800 coins, totaling 400,000 coins; and 100,000 bows (10 coins) and 100,000 crossbow bolts (9 coins), totaling 1.9 million coins.

The total price is 20.8 million.

Liu Feng secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. The State of Chen truly lived up to its reputation as one of the major military industrial centers of the late Eastern Han Dynasty; it had hidden so many valuable items. Especially the horse armor, iron armor, and large yellow crossbows—these were all rare finds that money couldn't buy.

Chen Guo's trip was truly worthwhile; good deeds are rewarded.

Liu Feng did this purely because Liu Chong and Luo Jun had also sponsored Xuzhou's northward expedition to support the emperor. He wanted to give them some reward so that their sponsorship wouldn't be in vain, and it would be easier to attract sponsorships in the future.

As a result, Liu Chong and Luo Jun gave him a big surprise; it truly was a case of good deeds being rewarded.

Upon closer reflection, it turns out that all these things were ruined by Yuan Shu and Cao Cao's back-and-forth struggle for the Chen Kingdom.

Now that it's in my own hands, it will definitely play a greater role.

Liu Chong and Luo Jun were quite generous, deducting the payment from the tax directly and even rounding down the 800,000 yuan, showing great generosity and magnanimity.

Liu Feng was extremely grateful and prepared a banquet that day to entertain the other party.

During the banquet, Luo Jun even summoned his only son, Luo Tong, to pay his respects to Liu Feng.

At this time, Luo Tong was only five years old. His birth mother was Luo Jun's concubine, who accompanied Luo Jun to the State of Chen to take up an official post, while Luo Jun's legal wife and daughter were still at home in Kuaiji.

Although Luo Tong was young, he was quite polite, which earned him high praise from Liu Feng, and Luo Jun and Liu Chong were also all smiles. As for Luo Tong's mother, Luo Jun's concubine, she was quite beautiful, which explains why she was able to remarry Hua Xin as a concubine after Luo Jun's death.

During the banquet, Liu Feng deliberately brought up the situation in Jiangdong, slightly exaggerating Sun Ce's tyranny, which made Luo Jun somewhat worried about his wife and daughter back home.

Subsequently, Liu Feng opportunely stated that if Luo Jun needed it, he could travel by sea to Kuaiji County, bring his family to Xuzhou, and then send them to Chen State.

Upon hearing this, Luo Jun was overjoyed.

Luo Jun served as Chancellor of Chen twice, and has been away for ten years. His wife has been taking care of his family and raising their only daughter in their hometown, which has been very hard work for her.

Luo Jun loved the people like his own children and often distributed his salary to them. He really didn't have much money or grain to send back to Kuaiji, which made him feel even more guilty towards his wife and daughters.

Now, Jiangdong is no longer a paradise. The flames of war have even reached the edge of Kuaiji Commandery. According to Liu Feng's deduction, Sun Ce's next target must be Kuaiji Commandery. The reason is that Kuaiji Commandery is isolated and has a vast territory and abundant resources. Sun Ce will definitely start with the easy targets and then send troops to Kuaiji.

Luo Jun and Liu Chong agreed wholeheartedly and readily accepted Liu Feng's good advice.

The next day, Liu Chong and Luo Jun personally escorted Liu Feng five miles outside the city before returning to Chen County.

After bidding farewell to Liu Chong and Luo Jun, Liu Feng continued eastward, his destination being Suiyang, the capital of Liang, which was adjacent to Chen.

Liu Bei remained in Suiyang at this time, but he had sent out 8,000 of his troops, leaving only his personal guards and soldiers from Liang State.

(End of this chapter)