My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 381 Yuanlong Raises Funds
This wasn't because Liu Biao lacked self-awareness, but because Liu Bei expanded too rapidly. In just two years, he expanded from one and a half commanderies to two and a half provinces, and his army grew from over 40,000 to over 100,000.

Anyone with a discerning eye would suspect that Liu Bei's army was too weak and that his foundation was unstable.

Furthermore, Liu Bei consistently maintained a low profile in front of Jingzhou, allowing Liu Biao to reap huge benefits, which enabled Jingzhou to continue selling grain to Xuzhou.

At present, Liu Biao's Jingzhou is also a large warlord with an army of more than 100,000. The Huang family of Jiangxia alone has more than 20,000 troops, more than half of whom are naval forces, and they also have an upstream advantage over the downstream areas.

Grain is the foundation of an army. Without food, even a million strong soldiers are nothing more than a rabble. Moreover, the five counties of Huai and Si under Liu Bei's rule are currently suffering from a severe drought that has not been seen in decades.

In a broad sense, the Huai-Si region includes Jiujiang and Lujiang in Yangzhou, Guangling in Xuzhou, Runan and Pei in Yuzhou.

Of these six counties, only Guangling suffered less damage; the other five counties were all affected by the drought, while Jiujiang and Lujiang were the most severely affected, with their entire areas falling into drought.

Such a large area is almost the size of a state.

Based on Liu Biao's experience, without more than a million shi of grain for disaster relief, at least half of the disaster victims would starve to death.

Under these circumstances, Liu Bei had no strength left to raise an army.

Liu Biao underestimated Liu Bei precisely because he felt he could cut off Liu Bei's food supply at any time. After all, it's hard to remain calm when someone feels that the other person's life or death is in their own hands.

Liu Feng's words made Liu Bei fall into deep thought, and he was even more tempted.

To be fair, two years ago when he only had most of Xiapi and a small part of Donghai, he still had 40,000 troops. Now that his territory has increased more than tenfold, 100,000 troops are indeed too few.

In particular, at the beginning of the year, Liu Feng sent Liu Bei a spy report that roughly listed the troop strength data of various warlords.

Grand Marshal Yuan Shao's total military strength reached a staggering 350,000, while Liu Biao had 120,000, and Cao Cao had 80,000.

Compared to this, 200,000 doesn't seem like a big number.

Liu Bei looked interested and asked Liu Feng, "If the army were to suddenly double in size, would the supplies of food, weapons, armor, clothing, and other provisions be sufficient?"

"Keep up!"

Upon discovering that his father's attitude was softening, Liu Feng naturally couldn't back down: "Father, you may not know this, but this year's tax revenue will at least double compared to last year's, and it will increase by another 30% next year!"

"Is this true!?"

Even Liu Bei, with his deep cunning, was somewhat shocked and lost his composure.

Fortunately, this wasn't the first time Liu Bei had lost his composure in front of his eldest son; he'd gotten used to it after so many times.

Liu Bei grasped Liu Feng's hand, his face beaming with barely suppressed joy.

For the past six months, Liu Bei only saw money being spent like water. Vast amounts of grain, clothing, tools, and wealth were spent and turned into waterwheels, canals, and reservoirs in the fields.

If it weren't for previous savings, Liu Feng's generous subsidies, and the newly invested workshops starting to ramp up production, even with money, it would be difficult to buy so many tools and equipment.

The project is progressing so quickly for three main reasons. First, the materials used are plentiful and the material supply is sufficient. All the hoes, shovels, and rollers are made of the best materials, either iron tools, old wooden stakes, or large bluestones, making the materials extremely solid.

Especially for implements like hoes and shovels, the production efficiency has been greatly improved after adopting water-powered forging and modular production. With sufficient raw materials, the daily output can reach more than four hundred pieces.

Without this production volume, there's really no way to replenish it.

It's important to know that the daily consumption of frontline projects is quite astonishing, with as many as one or two hundred items being lost every day.

The second reason is naturally the blessing of our ancestors. The basic structure of the Shaopi Water Conservancy Project is still there. The main task is to dredge the silt, deepen the moat, and add branch canals and drainage systems. There is no need to carry out the most difficult engineering projects such as opening up mountains.

The last reason is the abundance of human resources. Not only were the local people of Huaisi mobilized, but nearly 100,000 young and strong people were also sent, which naturally achieved twice the result with half the effort.

Even so, the current water conservancy project is only largely complete, with considerable room for expansion. However, Liu Feng felt there was no need to continue expansion for the time being, and it could be addressed later. Otherwise, it would truly be a case of working for someone else's benefit.

"Father, last year Xuzhou's annual revenue was 150 million coins, and that was after you reduced some of the exorbitant taxes and levies. This year, the estimated revenue is between 180 million and 200 million coins."

Liu Feng began to calculate the accounts for Liu Bei on his fingers: "Yangzhou has just been pacified. Although we have some savings, we need to reward the entire army. Therefore, there will be no tax revenue this year, but we can guarantee at least 200 million coins next year."

Liu Bei's eyes lit up. The two counties north of the Yangtze River would definitely be exempt from taxes this year. Since he was going to bestow favors, he might as well do it thoroughly. Liu Bei planned to exempt Jiujiang and Lujiang from all taxes.

Therefore, once the drought in the Huai and Si River basins eases somewhat next year, taxes will definitely be levied as usual.

"Finally, Yuzhou is estimated to have an income of around 200 million coins."

Liu Bei already had four commanderies and kingdoms on the surface: Runan, Pei, Lu, and Liang. He also had influence over Chen. Therefore, most of Yuzhou was under his control.

Yuzhou was a large and prosperous province, rich in resources, with a large population and thriving commerce.

Even without the taxes from Yingchuan and Chen, they could still easily pay more than 200 million coins in taxes.

In this way, the income of Liu Bei's General of Cavalry next year should be over 600 million coins.

Don't underestimate this small number; it represents net income after deducting all government spending.

Moreover, as Liu Bei's group expands its territory, Liu Feng's business is booming. He is guaranteed to earn at least 300 million coins this year, and may even exceed 400 million next year.

There are essentially three reasons. First, with a larger territory, Liu Feng's tax revenue from his business is now directly funded within his own household. Second, Liu Feng has developed new flagship products—sesame oil and iron tools. The iron tools, in particular, are excellent; they significantly improve the farmers' work efficiency.

Another benefit was that caravans traveling under its rule became safer, and trade routes became more numerous.

Today, fleets heading south can reach Jiaozhi directly, bringing not only unique products such as frosted sugar, snow salt, sesame oil, and iron tools, but also many precious Jiaozhi specialties such as pearls, ivory, spices, and cotton cloth.

The first fleet has already headed south, and Liu Feng specifically instructed that they should bring back seeds of Champa rice and cotton.

Upon learning of his own considerable wealth, Liu Bei was greatly tempted.

His previous hesitation wasn't because he didn't want to expand the army, but because he was frightened by Liu Feng's doubling of the army's size.

Liu Bei worried that his fragile finances would collapse completely due to this round of military expansion, and that a mutiny would be a serious matter. For the first half of his life, Liu Bei had been homeless and without any foundation, always dependent on others.

Yet, he managed to avoid mutiny several times due to his fairness and chivalry, and his balanced approach of kindness and severity towards his subordinates. Especially when he first took over Xuzhou, although Cao Bao, Xu Dan, and others did not have any real intention to rebel, Liu Bei had a very difficult time during that period, and did not have a good night's sleep for a full six months.

Therefore, Liu Bei just wanted to advise Liu Feng not to be impatient, but to try expanding the army by 10,000 or 20,000 and gradually increase the number of troops.

But now that they hear there will be 300 to 400 million yuan in revenue after the autumn harvest in the second half of the year, and as much as 600 million yuan next year, they have suddenly become much more confident.

"Alright, then let's expand the army!"

Liu Bei immediately made the decision. Now, the entire Liu family was controlled by Liu Bei and Liu Feng, and the matter of expanding the army was settled.

Even after the decision was made, Liu Bei still decided to convene his ministers to discuss it further.

He and Liu Feng could make decisions on matters independently, but for such important matters, they could not exclude their confidants; otherwise, how could they lead the team and unite the people?
Six days later, Liu Bei summoned all his trusted confidants.

Even Guan Yu from Hefei was summoned. If Zhang Fei hadn't been stationed in Tancheng, Xuzhou, he would certainly have attended this meeting as well.

At the start of the meeting, Liu Bei publicly announced his proposal to expand the army.

Double the size of the army.

The moment those four words were uttered, everyone in the hall was stunned.

Even though Chen Yuanlong was always eager to be first, Guan Yu was incredibly bold, Xun Gongda was calm and composed, Lu Zijing was very observant of the emperor's wishes, and Liu Ziyang was almost obsequious, they were all stunned by this proposal.

After a long while, Liu Feng coughed, breaking the silence: "Uncle and gentlemen, why are you all silent?"

Upon hearing Liu Feng's words, the people in the room seemed to come to their senses.

A burning desire flashed in Guan Yu's phoenix eyes. As a general, what man wouldn't want as many soldiers as possible? Even if his abilities were insufficient, Guan Yu was confident that he could easily lead thirty to fifty thousand elite troops.

However, Liu Bei only had a little over 100,000 troops under his command, and Liu Feng later surpassed him, exceeding Guan Yu in both military achievements and status. Moreover, Liu Feng was officially appointed by the imperial court, and although Guan Yu was arrogant, he was completely convinced of his nephew Liu Feng's abilities.

In this way, the number of troops that could fall under Guan Yu's command would mostly be only around ten thousand.

Unless he was fighting for Liu Bei, he would rarely have the opportunity to lead several armies.

In the military system of the Han Dynasty, one colonel was one battalion, consisting of two thousand men, but a colonel could even command several battalions.

The two schools formed one army, commanded by generals such as Lieutenant General, Deputy General, and Lieutenant General.

During most of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a mere Zhonglang General was often qualified to serve as the supreme commander, overseeing several armies and tens of thousands of soldiers.

With Guan Yu's military rank of General Who Guards the East, he was more than qualified to be a commander-in-chief; what he lacked was opportunity and troops.

If Liu Bei's army could indeed double in size, its strength would likely reach 200,000 to 250,000 men.

Guan Yu would then have a very high chance of being in charge of a direction, commanding at least 30,000 troops.

Although Guan Yu was arrogant, he was very selfless.

Even though expanding the army would be beneficial to him, Guan Yu did not blindly support it. Instead, he advised, "Brother, if we rashly expand the army by 100,000, I fear the revenue of the state will not be enough to support it. If something goes wrong in the future, the consequences will be severe."

Liu Bei listened to Guan Yu's advice and nodded repeatedly: "What Yun Chang said is very true. However, I now have three provinces under my rule and have gained the trust of the court, who has entrusted me with the military affairs of the three southeastern provinces. Now, Yangzhou has just been conquered, and the Yue and Jingman tribes are rampant in its territory, frequently coming down from the mountains to invade our borders. Yuzhou and Xuzhou are also places of constant warfare, and our 100,000 troops are not enough to meet our needs. We are already increasingly stretched thin."

Liu Bei's words were indeed true. After careful consideration, everyone in the hall realized that what Liu Bei said was true. Especially since they were all Liu Bei's confidants, in this era of great strife, how could they bear to spit out the meat they had already swallowed?

Now that we have captured Yangzhou, we should naturally bring it under our control; otherwise, wouldn't we be giving it away to the imperial court or other warlords for nothing?
Chen Deng suddenly spoke, but his question to Liu Feng was: "Young Master is stationed in Yangzhou. I dare to ask how many troops Young Master needs?"

Liu Feng frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed his brow. He couldn't understand Chen Deng's words for a moment, so he cautiously said, "If it's just about pacification, 30,000 soldiers are enough."

Chen Deng then pressed on, asking, "What if he weren't the governor?"

Liu Feng immediately replied, "If we want to wipe out the Yue and Jing barbarians, sweep through the mountains, and pacify the people, we will need 100,000 troops to achieve success within one or two years."

Chen Deng and Liu Feng's conversation naturally reached the ears of others.

Xun You nodded slowly and said, "Yangzhou, Yuzhang, and Kuaiji are mostly hilly and mountainous, with a vast territory. Among them, the Yue and Jingman people probably number a million, and the able-bodied soldiers who can fight should be counted as two or three hundred thousand. The hundred thousand troops that the young lord mentioned are not an exaggeration."

Liu Bei looked over: "Oh, Gongda also agrees with expanding the army?"

This time, Xun You did not evade the question but answered directly: "If the General's mansion has sufficient financial resources, now is indeed a good opportunity to expand the army."

Lu Su was startled by Xun You's words and glanced at Liu Ye.

Liu Ye happened to be looking at him at that moment, and the two exchanged a glance and smiled at the same time.

However, neither of them rushed to speak, because they knew that Chen Deng would speak first.

As expected, Chen Deng immediately stood up and stepped forward, bowing to Liu Bei and saying, "My lord, in my opinion, we should follow the strategy of expanding the army! If the General's mansion has enough funds, that would be best. If not, I am willing to return to Xuzhou to raise funds for the General!"

As soon as Chen Deng finished speaking, Lu Su and Liu Ye both laughed. They exchanged another glance, then stepped forward and bowed: "Brother Yuanlong's words are also our sentiments. If the General's mansion lacks funds, we are willing to raise money for him!"

Liu Bei was deeply moved and quickly got up to help Chen Deng up.

Liu Feng also got up and went to help Lu Su and Liu Ye up.

"This is a matter of national importance; how can we ask Yuanlong and others to contribute money?"

Liu Bei uttered words of refusal, but his gaze towards Chen Deng was incredibly gentle and affectionate: "I have my own arrangements for this matter, Yuanlong need not worry."

Chen Deng glanced at Lu Su and Liu Ye, then turned to Liu Bei, who was holding his hand, and said, “My lord, Xu and Yu are now largely pacified. Although the young master has just entered Yangzhou, with his abilities, he will surely govern well next year. Therefore, the income in the government should increase dramatically next year, and we should be able to support 200,000 people.”

(End of this chapter)