CHAPTER 1080: CHAPTER 1036: OPENLY ROBBING MONEY

As someone who resolved economic issues that even Zhuge Liang found intractable, his abilities were indeed exceptional. However, this guy was a die-hard fan of Cao Cao, a staunch anti-Liu Bei supporter. Even when Zhuge Liang cornered him and forced him to resolve Liu Bei’s financial issues, he was always ready to follow Cao Cao while he was alive.

It is worth mentioning that even after being captured by Liu Bei, who treated him quite well, he still thought about escaping Shu Region to follow Cao Cao, until Cao Cao passed away.

In sum, Liu Ba was a strange supporter of Cao Cao against Liu Bei, yet still a high-ranking official under Liu Bei. More importantly, he made no effort to hide his desire to join Cao Cao. It’s assumed everyone under Liu Bei knew that this person didn’t want to serve Liu Bei and wanted to go to Cao Cao instead.

It’s important to note that when Liu Ba was cornered by Zhuge Liang and forced to join Liu Bei’s camp, it was during Liu Bei’s prime, when he still held Jingzhou, had slain Xiahou Yuan in the Battle of Hanzhong, and was at the pinnacle of forcing Cao Cao to retreat.

During that time, aside from Pang Tong’s death, all of Liu Bei’s Five Tigers were present, and no strategists had been lost. Yet even in such a time when it was unclear who would prevail, Liu Ba firmly chose Cao Cao...

Even now, Chen Xi has no certainty of being able to convince Liu Ba; the terror of a die-hard fan simply cannot be swayed by words.

That said, now Chen Xi doesn’t have the time to persuade Liu Ba. Besides, regardless of whether Liu Ba’s understanding of money and economics is as exaggerated as history records, even if it is, Chen Xi doesn’t think Liu Ba would be stronger than him. Hence, there’s no point in talking to him either.

"Why doesn’t Marquis Chen find someone else to teach? Although I have heard it said that Marquis Chen has a disciple, Marquis Chen’s studies are so extensive that even an excellent disciple would find it difficult to learn everything," Wu Yuan said with a radiant smile. This is an advantage brought by the disadvantage of being female—asking outrageous questions does not cause hatred.

"Can’t find anyone, and I don’t want to look," Chen Xi said casually.

Chen Xi’s tone remained calm, but Wu Yuan had already detected impatience in his voice, so she nodded and smiled as she withdrew.

Speaking of the Great Aristocratic Family, their legitimate sons and daughters are usually well-educated and understand propriety. Of course, there are also times when heaven wants them to perish, driving them to arrogance first.

The Great Aristocratic Families calculated and once again adopted the expression of seeing without looking, knowing that most people were here to listen and not participate in the discussion, although if their own families were involved, they would speak up.

Wu Yuan appeared indifferent, but she was actually itching to declare, "My dowry is definitely not just a little bit!"

Speaking of which, Wu Yuan and Mi Zhen belong to the same type of person. They both seem like well-behaved girls, but in reality, they’ve been somewhat spoiled by their family heads.

Unlike other Aristocratic Clans, these two have family heads who are directly their brothers. Unlike the distant estrangement that comes with older generations, they are doted upon excessively as younger sisters.

Wu Yuan had no idea that her expression would be noticed by Mi Zhen beside her. It could be said that these two are so similar, there’s a natural intuitive sense for discovering each other’s kind.

"I know you can’t reach the level of the Mount Tai Bank, but I hope you can set up money exchanges in all counties to allow financial circulation," Chen Xi said, continuing his earlier topic.

"Chieftain, such action might be somewhat difficult. Even though it’s still the Han Dynasty’s realm, bandits run rampant between different areas, severely hindering mutual circulation," Chen Shang said with a bitter smile, practically voicing that with Sun Ce and Cao Cao, it wouldn’t be easy to implement this.

The other families, even if silent, affirmed this reason with their looks at Chen Xi. Cao Cao and Sun Ce would not readily agree to the construction of money exchanges, as local security is more important than profit.

"I never said it would be us constructing; I mean you all will build it jointly. Construct one money exchange under Sun Bofu’s administration, and another under Cao Mengde’s administration. If one family’s strength isn’t enough, all families united should be adequate," Chen Xi said calmly.

"Money is sufficient, but what about the ticket exchange? If we each sign our own, the risk of misuse is huge, and when it comes to collecting them, problems will arise. More importantly, once merged into one, if we can only withdraw the money we put in ourselves, it loses its purpose. And if we withdraw more than what we invested..." Xun Shuang immediately interjected.

The biggest issue with the Mount Tai Bank is that families like the Zhen Family and Wu Family, who deposited two hundred million coins, sometimes sign tickets worth a billion. Other families sign off amounts greater than their investments occasionally too. If they did this with their jointly opened money exchange, collapse would be inevitable!

"Your joint bank should be linked to Mount Tai Bank, allowing for withdrawals greater than deposits, but set a ratio based on credit and invested capital, not exceeding five times," Chen Xi said after seeming to ponder for a moment. He directly gave the number five after watching the families for a long time, knowing they wouldn’t invest more than one-fifth of their total assets.

"A money exchange can be built under such conditions," Xun Shuang nodded. With a deposit of thirty million coins, one could initiate a purchase of materials worth a hundred million, replenish the hundred million back into the bank after dealing in goods, leaving plenty of profit.

"Since the joint bank is linked with Mount Tai Bank, I will likely need to sign off on ensuring the ticket exchange, just like before. You deposit the money first, and I will then sign the tickets," Chen Xi said indifferently, in his heart calculating how much seed money he could swindle this time.

"This is only natural," Zhang Wei nodded.

"Seventy percent of the funds deposited need to be transferred to Mount Tai Bank. Frankly, I do not entirely trust Sun Bofu and Cao Mengde. If left locally, I can’t manage them immediately. Since the money exchange is yours, if anyone defects to Cao Mengde or Sun Bofu, it would cause significant harm to me," Chen Xi spoke more seriously this time.

At first, upon hearing that seventy percent needed to be transferred to Mount Tai Bank, the families were puzzled, but Chen Xi’s subsequent explanation enlightened them as to why he chose to do so.

Because the joint bank is a collaboration of families, local aristocratic families have their shares and it’s linked to Mount Tai Bank. Depositing funds in the joint bank, exchanging a ticket there, and then cashing it out at Mount Tai Bank, while withdrawing their share from the joint bank before Mount Tai Bank reacted—this time difference results in acquiring six times the funds! (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian.com for recommendation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)