The spacious conference room was covered with high-quality Persian carpets, and the teak-made table was painted perfectly, enough to reflect everyone's faces. The long table was surrounded by simple chairs, but the details were luxurious. The chairs had been opened and some names were posted so that those who came in could sit in the seats. There were only simple paper, pens and water cups on the table, without any embellishment. When Cheng Bi and other wealthy merchants entered the conference room of the Senate Building of the United States, they saw this scene.

The hospitality was the head of state, not the secretary of the Senate, which reminded them that everything was true. It was the head of state who summoned them to gather together. While he was wandering, Li Mingxun came out of the office beside him and saw everyone standing, smiling and said, "Sit, sit, I'm glad that everyone can be invited to come."

The wealthy merchants looked at each other and finally looked at Cheng Bi in one go. After all, in their eyes, Cheng Bi and Li Mingxun were old acquaintances. In the era of community, they had trade with Li Mingxun in Jiangnan. Cheng Bi nodded awkwardly and said, "Seniors, please sit down. This is the Senate of the United States, not the imperial palace in the capital."

The crowd sat down. No wonder they were all famous merchants in the United States, with a lot of industries, and some people in their families participated in politics. Most of them were parliamentarians and administrators, but they had little contact with the Senate, the core power of the United States. They knew Li Mingxun personally no more than the people who cared about politics on the street. When they received Li Mingxun's invitation, everyone gathered together to discuss whether to kneel down when they met Li Mingxun, whether they claimed to be a sage or a minister.

Li Mingxun swept over the conference table and saw a group of white-bearded old men. If we go back fifteen years, most of these people are still in Jiangnan. Guangdong, Guangxi and Shandong are in front of their gentry. The rise of the United States changed their destiny. All of these people had commercial exchanges with the United States during the community stage. Because of the invasion of the Qing Dynasty and the internal struggle of the Southern Ming Dynasty, they were completely immersed in the arms of the United States. Because of the early "joining", they were the greatest vested interests of the United States. Most of the prestigious senior congressmen in the United States came from the families of these people. These people represent the power second only to the elders, and their energy was even more terrifying, but Li Mingxun felt a little disappointed.

He invited these families, but it was not them who invited them, but their nephews, or professional talents in the fields of finance, business, etc., who never thought that such a group of old men would come.

Li Mingxun didn't know that the invitations he sent had a huge response in each family. The patriarchs of each family and the heads of the family equated the meetings convened by the head of state with the emperor's summons. This is a major event for glorious ancestors. How can the nephews and younger generations in the family go? More importantly, everyone knows the capture of Emperor Zhu Ming. At this moment, the head of state summons representatives from all parties. Is it necessary to change the dynasty and create the world?

Not to mention anything else, the head of state has to say three words and three requests to be emperor. These old people can write blood letters on behalf of the common people.

But Li Mingxun didn't have so many geniuses. This meeting was originally held by Ah Hai. The topic was to issue war bonds. The families invited were either major shareholders of United Bank, behind private banks, or leaders among capitalists. However, war bonds determine the United States' future stable source of military expenditure. In order to reach an agreement in one fell swoop, the most prestigious person still needs to take action. Li Mingxun is in the base camp, so he naturally comes to him.

Even so, Li Mingxun hoped to face financial experts and capital tycoons, rather than a group of old gentlemen who were preparing to celebrate with Tian with crutches. Li Mingxun was speechless for a moment and looked at the attendant in the attendant's room. He was responsible for the invitation. If there was a deviation, he could not escape.

Cheng Bi smiled: "Your Excellency, it's no wonder Director Cheng. He invited him according to the list issued by the Senate Secretariat. He heard that we old guys were going to issue war bonds, and wondered if we could still contribute to our United States and you.

We were also worried that the children in the family would be annoyed by you, so we dared to come first. Those guys are waiting outside now, and they come as soon as they say."

Li Mingxun smiled and thought it was not too bad, but it was a little less efficient, and it was still possible to get things done. Li Mingxun knocked on the table and said, "I may not have seen you all the seniors for a long time. Since I have come, let's have a good chat. By the way, don't prepare dinner in the Senate, prepare a carriage, go to my house after the meeting. I'll ask Yushu to prepare a family dinner to welcome everyone. After all, I'll come from all over the place and it's exhausting."

"I thanked the Head of State for your thanks." An old man wiped his tears and said while crying: "I never thought that I would see the princess in my life, and I never thought that there would be another wise lord like you in my China, and God bless China."

Everyone was also filled with emotion. Most of these "old people" came from the base camp, but there were also the most from various administrative regions, Nanhua, Guangdong, Guangxi and Luzon. How could they not be moved? Li Mingxun hurriedly handed over a handkerchief to wipe the old man's tears. The old man Chen was named Chen Mingtong, and he was also a veteran of the United States. When Li Mingxun raised the Susong militia in Jiangnan, he was one of the participants. Like Lin Shizhang and other qualifications, the Chen family was also a major shareholder of United Bank. He also owned a private credit institution in Manila and Penang. He was just his sons in charge. The old man knew nothing.

"Old Chen is over 80 years old and is still coming from Manila. I am really ashamed." Li Mingxun was also very moved.

Chen Mingtong wiped his tears and said, "Don't say that, we, the people, have to put it bluntly, thanks to your kindness, to put it bluntly, who was not a gentry landlord, who was not an official family in the Zhu Ming era, who had such a status today, and who could have thought of the situation today."

As he said that, Chen Mingtong was even more moved, his face turned red, and he slapped his thighs and continued, "To be honest, in Suzhou, who took a young boy in his early twenties seriously, and founded a militia, but everyone did not work hard to establish a coalition bank, and everyone was reluctant to do it. I am not saying that I was like this at that time. The head of state did not dislike us, dragged us, dragged us, and pulled us from the pile of dead people to this paradise. Sometimes I thought, if my head was not so circumspect at that time, it might be better.

To be honest, I also know that the boss is the boys who are familiar with the family, not the old guys. Why? The boss told me that it was playing the piano with a cow. I know that I am going to come with this old bone. Why? I am worried that those boys have a wrong idea. They are just like a person, but if you say that Yu Guo and the people are brainless, they are full of gold and silver. I am afraid that they will be competing with the boss and the Senate and will ruin a big deal.

I want to say, what the head of state says, we will listen to whatever the head of state says, and do whatever we ask for money, we have money, we have people, and when will the head of state lose us? That's what I mean, my Chen family is unchanged, and I will follow the head of state to create a prosperous era again."

Li Mingxun was moved when he heard this. Ten years of trees and a hundred years of trees were moved. He never expected that he would have such a loyal supporter. Seeing Chen Mingtong coughing violently when he was excited, he immediately supported him to sit down and patted his back. However, everyone was excited. They all blushed and had thick necks, shouting: "Yes, in all dynasties, there is nothing that cannot be done if you have money. We are immortal, and the elders have raised tens of millions of dollars. We can't do anything. We have one mind, nothing can be difficult for us."

"Haha, Mr. Chen is right. The Red-haired Japanese are just a ball. How can the ugly Tartars be troubled by the head of state? Let's unite and throw them all into the garbage dump!"

Li Mingxun listened to it but was wrong. As he said, he was in a desperate situation and needed help from these old men. Li Mingxun hurriedly said, "It turns out that there are no ones you said."

Chen Mingtong sat there, leaning on a crutch, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "First of the People, I will sell you once this time. You, what do you think of in front of us? If there are any difficulties, let's work together to solve them."

Li Mingxun smiled and didn't know how to answer. Chen Mingtong said: "Why did I hear that our United States court has reached the point where we want to borrow money? He said he wanted to borrow tens of millions of taels. If there was no big trouble, how could there be such a big deficit? Is it a Tartar jumping or a fierce red hair? Why should we lend money to the people? Let our families help you. If the people know that our United States court borrows money, they still don't know what it is like?"

It turns out that it is because of this!

Li Mingxun finally understood, and he also fully understood that these old men were too backward in their minds and thought that borrowing money was a bad thing for the government. Moreover, what can the people say? At least the city citizens of the United States are no strangers to borrowing. When they fought against Luzon, the United States raised funds in Hong Kong and arrived in various industries in Luzon. However, the debtors of the United States were a few wealthy merchants in the United States. To put it bluntly, they were veterans, senior members, or a few institutions with strong capital such as United Banks. This time, they were going to issue war bonds, which were aimed at all citizens.

"Old gentlemen, don't worry, the United States is not as poor as if it needs to borrow money to live. It's just for the sake of military expenditure stability. If you don't believe it, I'll take you to the treasury later. There are 30 million taels of silver in it. You can count it. I'll have one tael. How about you moving a box with you?" Li Mingxun said jokingly.

"Then why do you have to borrow from the whole country?" Chen Mingtong asked.

Cheng Bi said: "Old Chen, war is a bottomless pit. Thirty million taels are a lot. If you want to fight, you can start fighting in a full range. With other funds, it is estimated that it will only take two years to fight. Mr. Chen, these tens of millions of taels have been saved by the elders in recent years. If they can't fight in two years, who will go to the 30 million in the third year?"

Li Mingxun interrupted and said, "If we collect taxes, our United States can only collect 14 million taels. Haha, it's a drop in the bucket. I can't add three quotas like Zhu Ming."

"That's not, the three pays are tyranny, but adding half of the third is still." Chen Ming Channel.

Li Mingxun waved his hand: "The extra trophy is just the stupidest way, and it cannot be used easily."

The word tax is just a legal and reasonable robbery of ordinary people by the violent machine of the state. It is legal to collect money from ordinary people, but it is unreasonable. Taking money is like killing parents. This is the case for people and the country. No one likes to get more money. It is not possible to kidnap morally. There is a limit to treating violence. Especially when Li Mingxun was preparing to replace the Qing Dynasty and Zhu Ming, low and stable taxes are the best way to win the hearts of the people.

Today, the land of China is the Qing Dynasty. Zhu Ming and the United States have aligned with the three kingdoms. The United States has the advantage of science and technology and institutions, and only the resources are restricted from seizing the world. In other words, the United States currently only needs to do one thing, that is, obtain resources more efficiently and humanely than the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As long as you do this, you will definitely win.

How to squeeze resources from the people is an art. In the Warring States Period, the most efficient Qin State reached the goal of winning the six kings and winning the four seas. The Han Dynasty, who inherited its system, reached the peak of the feudal dynasty in China. As the territory expanded, the economic standards and cultures of each territory were completely different. The original system was no longer suitable. The institutions of Chinese civilization became increasingly bloated and loose, and the efficiency and ability to seize resources decreased. However, relatively single surrounding civilizations could imitate the systems of the Qin and Han dynasties, complete resource aggregation, and thus rise and form an advantage for Chinese civilization.

For example, in today's Japan, the annual tribute system is adopted to concentrate the land output, and the proportion is divided into 50% or even 40% of the peasants and samurai. In today's new Three Kingdoms tribe, Zhu Ming also did this, but the warriors became vassal lords and generals. Relatively speaking, the Qing Dynasty still followed the old path of feudal dynasty - levying and levying bribes, but his luck was good and there was no natural disaster. The high-pressure rule of the Qing Dynasty also made its efficiency higher than the late Ming Dynasty, so there was no big trouble.

Obviously, neither the Warring States military rule nor the feudal dynasty-like levies and taxes could be imitated by the United States, while Li Mingxun chose to learn from the Europeans' method - borrowing money to fight. Indeed, borrowing money requires repayment and interest, but the impact on society is very small.

Under the high pressure of feudal system, people's enthusiasm for production will decline, resulting in a situation where they become poorer and poorer, but borrowing will not be done. Taxation is the distribution of existing wealth, and borrowing is the discount of future cash flows spent. The money from borrowing will not only not affect the production of today's society, but also flows into society through military expenses and government procurement situations, promoting the development of productivity.

However, there is also a loophole in lending, that is, the principal and interest must be paid. This is not a problem for the United States, because as long as the war is victorious, the United States will gain endless wealth in the Qing Dynasty and the gentry. The game of borrowing and repaying loans will continue to continue.

Li Mingxun explained to everyone that the old gentlemen were half-believing and half-doubted about this old game invented by Li Mingxun. The main doubt lies in the current situation. The United States is now facing challenges from both the mainland and the ocean. Whether the lending is to stabilize funds or the situation is defeated, it may really depend on whether there are 30 million in the treasury.

Li Mingxun made sense, but could not convince him. Just when he was about to take these guys to the vault, a note was handed over to the attendant's room. Li Mingxun smiled: "Seniors, the national treasury is wet and cold, and it's underground. It's better not to go with me."
Chapter completed!