"The War Spirit Guild declared war on us and asked us to surrender within three days."

"Isn't their base in Yangdu County? How can they attack our Kaiyang County? We don't offend the river. I don't remember that we provoked the Fighting Soul Guild."

"It is said that the War Spirit Guild wants to develop to the south, conquer Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Yin Li and other Taishan bandits, and then plans to attack Pi City."

"President, do we want to challenge?"

"war!"

Hot tea was brewing in Chutian's room, and Xia Liang, who was in charge of finance, was reporting on the recent financial expenditures.

"Fifty pairs of iron armor, the quality is silver level, and it is estimated to cost 400 taels of silver."

"Using the wood from the lumber camp and the iron ore from the mining site to polish 10,000 arrows, the price is cheaper than buying them directly. It is estimated to cost 350 taels of silver."

"Producing five hundred powerful crossbows for the Five Hundred Xiliu Camp will cost a lot of money..."

Xia Liang pointed to the account books and explained every financial expenditure of Xia Zhen to Chu Tian in detail. Her thinking was clear, and every expenditure could be traced back to raw materials.

During this period of recuperation in the cold winter, it can only be said that Xia Town's expenses were like water, and Xia Town's bank account had been seriously overdrawn.

The reason why Xia Town can maintain its operation now depends entirely on the loot seized from Liangshanbo, the funding from the Mi family, and the deposits from the bank built by Xia Liang.

Xia Zhen embezzled five thousand taels of silver from the bank.

This was a risk Chu Tian had to take, otherwise Xia Zhen's finances would go bankrupt.

Only by supporting war with war can the principal and interest of the loan be repaid.

Fortunately, the bank is the property of the lord's mansion, so the interest rate is not high.

"In the final analysis, war depends on national strength."

Chu Tian heard that every item cost hundreds of taels of silver. It seemed that the thousand taels of silver that Mi Zhu funded him and the 5,000 taels of silver that Xia Liang misappropriated from the bank were not enough for Chu Tian to squander.

"Lord, our finances can still last for three months. When the 500 Xiliu Camp soldiers are trained, we can pay the 3,000 taels of military pay for the first month. Then the next month... we will go bankrupt..."

Xia Liang reported the expenses item by item, and after closing the account books, he came to a conclusion that even Chu Tian was frightened.

Three months later, Xia Zhen declared bankruptcy.

This is the first serious financial crisis that Xia Town has encountered.

After bankruptcy, military pay cannot be paid, bank loans cannot be repaid, and the entire territory will collapse.

“Is there any way to get through the crisis?”

Chu Tian would not pretend to understand and directly ask for opinions.

"The first way is to plunder, capture the villages and towns within three months, and seize at least 3,000 taels of silver. We can spend the fourth month. And so on, until the monthly tax revenue of the occupied villages and towns can offset our expenses...

…”

"The second way is to borrow money and continue to raise funds from the townspeople to tear down the east wall and repair the west wall. If the people's support is raised to above 90, the townspeople will trust the Lord's Mansion Bank more."

"The third way is to sell land, farmland, auction vacant land in the town, sell the land owned by the Lord's Mansion, and convert the Wangtian into private ownership. This will allow us to have no worries for six months. The disadvantage is that it will cause difficulties in the future.

Estimated negative impacts.”

"The fourth way is to open up the salt and iron monopoly rights and auction mining rights, which can generate a large amount of income in a short period of time, but the negative impact will be huge."

…

Xia Liang Lin Linzong, actually listed eleven ways to get the gold and silver that Chu Tian wanted.

Chu Tian couldn't help but look at him with admiration.

There are many ways that Chu Tian simply cannot think of.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch, and most funding methods have serious negative impacts.

Xia Liang picked up the hot tea cup and sat upright: "In short, launching a war is the most effective way to solve the financial crisis, because the financial crisis is caused by military expansion. Of course, we must be prepared for the worst. If we have no choice, we can use

There is nothing wrong with temporarily overcoming the crisis through other ways. As for the negative impact, it can gradually subside in the future."

"Then as you said, prepare both hands at the same time. Recently in the northern part of Kaiyang County, the president of the Wolf Guild where I am is leading several big lords to resist another guild's offensive. War between player lords has begun to break out

Because the third-level towns in various places are attacking the city, which requires a large number of people. If you don't annex the surrounding villages and towns, they will be annexed by others. This is probably a last resort way to survive in troubled times."

"Are you planning to intervene in the war between the two guilds?"

"I do have this idea, but unfortunately Xueyue Town is 120 kilometers away from our Xia Town. According to the marching speed of 30 kilometers per day, it will take four days to arrive. Forced marching will be faster, but the troops will lose their combat effectiveness

, after arriving at Xueyue Town, you may be attacked by the Fighting Spirit Guild."

"So your intention is to capture a few towns to the north, and then use these towns as a springboard to connect with Xueyue Town?"

"If our territory borders Xueyue Town, we can form a half encirclement of Langya City and echo each other in the future."

"Your real intention should be to annex the twelve towns and thirty-seven villages of the Wolf Guild. If you annex the Wolf Guild, you will gain a foothold in the southern and northern parts of Kaiyang County at the same time."

"clever."

Chu Tian also made no secret of his intentions. The other party was a smart person. When talking to her, there was basically no need to explain too much.

"You have to be aware of a problem. If you develop to the north, your sphere of influence will run north-south along the Yi River, which is too narrow. As long as a town in the middle is captured, your territory will be divided into two halves."

"My lips are dead and my teeth are cold. If I sit back and watch the Wolf Guild being annexed by the War Spirit Guild, the War Spirit Guild will own the southern part of Yangdu County and the northern part of Kaiyang County. I will be under unprecedented pressure."

"Well... I only care about the city. I can't say much about how you want to fight the war, and I don't know much."

Chu Tian also didn't expect to get specific combat advice from Xia Liang.

There are specialties in the art, and Fang Xuanling and Zhou Yafu will provide detailed tactical plans.

What Chu Tian needs to decide is whether Xia Zhen should intervene in the war between the two guilds.

Chutian is still a member of the Wolf Guild in name, and should be on the Wolf Guild's side. The only troublesome thing is that Xia Town is not actually within the Wolf Guild's main sphere of influence.

The main sphere of influence of the Wolf Guild is in the northern part of Kaiyang County, while Xia Town is in the southern part of Kaiyang County.

It sounds like it's not far away, but it's actually 120 kilometers away.

If Chu Tian leads his troops to reinforce, he may be stolen by the surrounding lords or attacked by other towns on the way.

Chu Tian judged that the Wolf Guild would not be able to hold on so quickly. Xueyue Town had been upgraded to a third-level town. It was hard to say who would win and who would lose.
Chapter completed!