Chapter 29 Unlike Zou Shuangwen

Unlike Zou Shuangwen, Dai Yun, who had an in-depth conversation with Ye Tao at Thunder Cliff, was concerned with a completely different level of issues. After all, Dai Yun was born and raised in Yunzhou, and spent her ignorant years on the grasslands. Although this experience made her skin somewhat rough compared to those noble ladies who grew up following the "normal" path, and although she grew into a heroic and decisive generation of famous generals, she always carefully preserved the softness in her heart behind the awe-inspiring halo. The question she was most concerned about was what policies the imperial court would have towards Yunzhou, the Dai family, the tribes of Yunzhou and the north, and the people living on this land with so many of her relatives and friends, and how long this policy, which was inclined towards Yunzhou, could last...

"General Xu is a very practical person. He doesn't care much about anything other than military affairs. Yunzhou was like this before, and it's still like this now. Even the first batch of officials who entered Yunzhou were ordered by General Xu to only temporarily count and verify various basic data of Yunzhou, such as population, and the quality and output of some government-run workshops... However, General Xu doesn't know if he really doesn't understand government affairs or doesn't want to commit the taboo of using the military to usurp political power. If he only cares about military affairs, he may miss the first wave of opportunities to revitalize Yunzhou after the war." Dai Yun said with some worry: "Yunzhou used to be surrounded by enemies on three sides. Before it became one with Dongping, some troops were stationed on the border line of Dongping, even if it was to avoid giving any excuses to the surrounding parties. With the strength of Yunzhou alone, it raised a total of 50,000 Tie Yun cavalry, and nearly 20,000 elite tribal soldiers from various tribes, and about 35,000 to 40,000 local defense troops, garrison troops, and sentry border troops... In addition, the Benlang Plains north of Yunzhou can concentrate up to 100,000 or so cavalry troops. In fact, once Yunzhou is fully mobilized, it can recruit more than 200,000 various soldiers in total. But the population of Yunzhou... is not very large. It can even be said that no family is unrelated to the military. The valiant temperament of the Yunzhou people is also formed by this."

"Pastures, workshops, etc., must first ensure the supply to the army in case of any emergency in Yunzhou. Because the grain produced in southern Yunzhou is only enough for daily consumption, the granaries in various prefectures first guarantee the storage of grain in various levels of defense facilities such as cities, towns, villages, manors, and castles. After integrating with Dongping, many problems are easily solved, but many new problems have also arisen."

"First of all, the imperial court's strategy of dividing Yunzhou into three steps for unified jurisdiction can be said to be extremely stable, and once the Yunzhou Pacification Office is established, it can indeed allow Yunzhou to respond to various situations more flexibly. But this is only in the long run. His Majesty's set number of 30,000 Tie Yun cavalry, 40,000 infantry, 30,000 trained and equipped tribal cavalry, and 20,000 city defense troops is indeed a very suitable number, and the strategy of strengthening the Yunzhou tribes with flexible means and controlling the northern tribes can make the Benlang Plains the best barrier against the northern tribes in the next few years. However, His Majesty's strategy of elite soldiers actually reduces the number of local soldiers in Yunzhou, greatly reducing it. Yunzhou has always formulated various strategies around how to deal with the various threats around it. Therefore, although Yunzhou is rich in products, it has not been well developed. After reducing a large number of Yunzhou troops, it is not necessary for the related military workshops to maintain full-speed operation, and because Yunzhou is too far behind the original areas of Dongping in various technologies, many workshops are actually unnecessary. What about the demobilized soldiers who have lost their military pay, the craftsmen in the workshops who have lost their wages, the families of those soldiers, and the families of so many craftsmen?"

"My lord, you did bring some insightful merchants this time, but these merchants are not coming to Yunzhou for the first time. They are doing business in salt, grain, horses, fur, wood, medicinal materials, etc., but how much can these businesses benefit Yunzhou? What Yunzhou needs now is a large number of industries that can settle demobilized soldiers, and a large number of businesses that can bring wealth to Yunzhou. Especially the kind that can turn mud into exquisite porcelain, but the people of Yunzhou don't understand those businesses. If merchants are willing to come to Yunzhou to start various industries, willing to teach the people of Yunzhou various technologies and business acumen, money is never a problem. You have also seen that those tribal chiefs and elders are very rich, with gold and jewelry that cannot be spent in Yunzhou. For the revitalization of Yunzhou, if the imperial court does not mind, my Dai family is even willing to take out all the gold in the cellars."

"But now, merchants, except for a few fixed large markets and cities, will not go to other places. Even if they are willing to travel around, they cannot quickly discover the products and business opportunities in various places. What they see is only the desolation after the war. If we can guide the merchants well, everyone will discover that Yunzhou has great potential. I have already told General Xu about these things, but... General Xu doesn't seem to have any reaction."

Are all the children of the Dai family so powerful, or did opportunities, environment, and circumstances allow Dai Yun to rise to a higher level under numerous磨砺? It is by no means an easy task to summarize the interaction of military affairs, economy, technology, etc. so concisely. The experience and related knowledge required for this are too much.

But Ye Tao couldn't sort out Dai Yun's questions all at once. Especially, he had no way of judging what exactly prevented Xu Jingtian from adopting Dai Yun's views and taking active actions. Although General Xu Jingtian is growing older, his influence in the army and the court is gradually declining, but most of it is due to his own humility. Although the old general has been rooted in the army all his life, he cares little about other things, but he is definitely not the kind of person who can only see military affairs. The fact that the old general was willing to take on the negotiations with Northern Liao at the beginning, and later quickly adjusted the negotiation strategy with the changes in the war situation, making the temporary agreement reached with Northern Liao more beneficial to Dongping and Yunzhou, is a clear proof.

Ye Tao pondered for a moment and said, "Dai Yun, I will talk to the old general. Maybe General Xu has realized the problem, but he doesn't think the problem is so serious and profound. The old general has a lot of things to do now. If there is no overall plan, the old general will probably not be willing to act. But... although what you said makes sense, you don't have a comprehensive plan."

Dai Yun's eyebrows furrowed. She thought for a while and said, "There is really nothing that can be done now. It is indeed impossible to spread out completely. Not to mention that we don't have a detailed understanding of Yunzhou's products and various other resources now, even if merchants are willing to come and start businesses, I'm afraid... the local officials in various places can't do things properly now."

Ye Tao said: "As for the reorganization of resource information, we have thought of it together. I told Bi Xiaoqing yesterday to send the guards out to get a basic understanding of Yunzhou's situation. I will talk to General Xu and slow down the pace of army reorganization slightly to allow time for simultaneous retirement resettlement. As for the others... I can still use my friendship with Kyushu Business and Seven Seas Business. As for the local funds that you said can be mobilized in Yunzhou, I think, we can do this. As long as merchants are willing to expand their businesses to Yunzhou, we will provide convenience in various ways. For those who have ideas, technology, and sincerity to establish industries in Yunzhou, we can provide funds in different forms of joint ventures and investments. Local merchants in Yunzhou, and those who want to develop industries, can also be provided with convenience in this way. In the short term, this method solves the concerns of many people, and some small and medium-sized businesses have gained opportunities and dispersed risks. In the long run, if we can strictly evaluate each project, although some of them will still fail for various reasons, this part of the funds has huge appreciation potential in the long run. As long as we can make good use of this fund, I am afraid that the Dai family can live very well just by drawing dividends every year."

"Of course, after a few years, when the situation in Yunzhou is better, we can negotiate with those cooperative merchants to convert the shares into cash, or we can convert the loans into shares. There are many ways to operate. If you think that doing so may be attacked by others, you might as well bring in the Inner Treasury together. I, representing Ye's Workshop, will definitely be the first to apply for investment. Of course, I suggest that we can jointly form an independent accounting and auditing institution to specifically evaluate and audit the operation of various applications and projects. Only in this way can we ensure the healthy development of assets. Xin'er has been complaining for a long time that there is only one professional accounting and auditing institution, Deloitte Accounting Firm. In any case, having only one such institution is a hidden danger of unfairness and black box operations in the long run."

Dai Yun had many different ideas for the development of Yunzhou, and the different opinions of the Dai family on taking out money to develop Yunzhou had also caused Dai Yun a lot of consideration. The Dai family's feelings for Yunzhou were so deep and strong that they did not resist the huge plan that was jokingly called "sending Yunzhou out and then buying it back." But for the Dai family, their future survival and development are no longer decided by their own small territory. There are many places where they need to rely on the Dongping royal family. Although the Tan family of Dongping is a very good family, the court of Dongping still has various disputes and power struggles. They are afraid that they will accidentally get involved in the power vortex of Dongping, a huge empire, because of various things in the future.

But if it is operated in this way, the risk is much smaller at once. For the Dai family, what they are most concerned about is not how much they can gain or lose in the investment, but that this method can safely withdraw with relatively small losses. And the Dai family's hoarded gold and silver jewelry can also enter the circulation channel and return to the Dai family in this way. The bloodiness of this part of the original capital accumulation will also be washed away invisibly with the flow of funds. "Money laundering"... the word suddenly jumped into Dai Yun's mind, which shocked her.

"Lord Ye..." Dai Yun stood up, then knelt on one knee and said to Ye Tao reverently, "Thank you, for being so concerned about Yunzhou and the Dai family."

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