Chapter 355 The First Group of Supporters
"Li Ang, I understand what you mean by 'stimulating consumption', but I am a little skeptical... With the production capacity of various materials in the eastern region, can we really stimulate people to consume?"
Amy very perceptively asked Leon a classic question, and used very modern words - Amy is a good student.
In Amy's opinion, large-scale construction can indeed make a lot of people earn money, but where does their consumption come from? Food, clothing, housing and transportation... there must be so many things to buy!
Li Ang smiled. He had the feeling that he was discussing social issues with modern people - only Amy could give him such a feeling.
But this good student has not yet learned to look at problems from a different perspective.
"Amy, from ancient times to the present, there has never been a shortage of production capacity, only a shortage of output. Production capacity and output are two different things..."
Li Ang smiled and said, "Given the current population in the eastern region, the material production capacity is sufficient. All we need to do is to encourage enough people to invest in production and increase the output of materials."
"But... this will take a long time, right?"
Amy thought it sounded like a long-term job.
"No, it won't take too long. On the contrary, some other things may take longer... such as making you the queen..."
Li Ang rolled his eyes and suddenly changed the subject.
"Hmph... This is not up to you..." Amy glanced at Leon and said, "If you don't become the King of Pendor soon, we will be regarded as rebels by the whole continent... Alina is already preparing for the ceremony."
"Of course I will declare myself the King of Pendor, but the enthronement of you as the Lord of Sarleon must be carried out in Sarleon..."
Li Ang shook his head: "Besides, for the time being, I can only publicly raise the banner of Pendor. I must conquer Fierce Lion City before I can be crowned king. Otherwise, I will look like an incompetent person hiding in a corner and struggling to survive."
"That's true..."
Amy nodded. "I wonder what the current situation is in Sarleon City... How do you plan to conquer Sarleon City?"
"I think there should be some movement from Cliff Rock Bay... Let's wait and see. If Brennus declares Cliff Rock Bay loyal to the current Ulrich, then we will launch an attack immediately. But if Cliff Rock Bay doesn't react, then we will just sit back and wait and see."
Li Ang had already made up his mind.
"Ah? Attack when the enemy is supported? Sit back and do nothing when the enemy is not supported? This... is a bit wrong, isn't it?"
Amy didn't understand now.
"Amy, if we attack Sarleon City directly in the name of restoring our country, we will inevitably face sieges from various countries. That's what the guy pretending to be Ulrich wants me to do."
Leon explained: "But Cliff Bay is full of evil heretics and degenerates, and all countries know this. I want to defeat a false king who is in league with heretics and degenerates. This will actually help me rally support from other countries - even if it's just verbal support, they have to support me. At least Crowstern and Firdsvain won't team up with the heretics to deal with me..."
Li Ang did not take off his ring when he said this. He did not care if Kavala heard it.
However, things have been very quiet in Sarleon City these past few days. Perhaps the King's Order issued by Ulric has not yet spread to all areas, and Cliff Bay has not responded for the time being.
So, Li Ang took the time to start his plan to enrich the country.
November 11, 357 Pendor.
Changhe Town is very lively.
The "Double Eleven" that Lord Leon organized in Bacchus is still fresh in our minds. The merchants in Changhe Town also understood that "war is wealth" at that time.
But after Li Ang disappeared, the merchants realized that war is not necessarily a fortune, and that Li Ang is...
The Kingdom of Sarleon fought for more than a year after Leon's disappearance, but did not gain any wealth. Instead, it cut off all trade routes to various countries.
The merchants' accumulated inventory simply couldn't be sold, and it either rotted in their hands or was sold to the Bacchus at a loss - except for the Bacchus Empire, which could barely be considered an "ally", other countries were at war with the Kingdom of Sarex.
As income has always been greater than expenditure, everyone is short of money. Naturally, merchants dare not retain too many employees, nor do they dare to produce materials in large quantities, otherwise they will not be able to sell them.
——In most cases, the so-called "productivity cannot keep up" is not because of insufficient technical capabilities or actual production capacity, but because those who own the production tools and resources dare not produce in large quantities.
Bread will go moldy if it is not sold, fur will rot if it is kept for a long time, and even iron will rust...
At this time, layoffs, salary cuts, production suspension, etc. are inevitable.
This has led to massive unemployment.
Employees who lost their jobs naturally lost their dinars, which further led to a significant reduction in basic consumer demand - these employees are the main force of the city's population, and at least 80% of the city's daily life consumption is brought by them.
But after losing their jobs, many people had to leave Changhe Town to become tenant farmers; or engage in some dangerous activities and become a factor of social instability - farmers don't need so many people.
At the same time, the long war caused the entire western part of Sarleon to almost come to a standstill, and a large number of refugees poured into the east.
The current state of Changhe Town is no longer the original agricultural society. Countless refugees have poured into the city, and with the people of Serenity brought back by Amy, the majority of people in Changhe Town have lost their land.
But these people cannot find work in urban areas or on farms, so they are likely to become a factor of instability.
Therefore, Amy had to force all farms to grow corn, using high-yield crops to ensure that the vast majority of people would not go hungry. She also continuously allocated food to provide relief to refugees and used high-pressure policies to keep food prices within a reasonable range. Only then was the overall situation barely maintained.
Otherwise, if tens of thousands of hungry refugees were not given timely relief, there would have been many "sons of prophecy" who announced uprisings...
War, in most cases, still brings disaster...
The urban population has increased dramatically, and all of them are unemployed. For the lords who follow the agricultural landlord mindset, these unemployed people are all a burden.
But it is precisely these unstable factors that provide Li Ang with the basis to directly promote the entire plan.
Because these people either fled to Changhe Town to find work, or were residents of Sarleon City - most of them had some skills and were adapted to city life. Without the ability to make a living, they would not stay in the city.
Amy spent a lot of money to recruit craftsmen, but with little success.
But now... as long as we can get these urban residents jobs quickly and make them earn income quickly, it will be possible to run into a new era based on these people.
——In order to survive and protect their income sources, they will find ways to promote the development of basic industries or quickly develop efficient production tools.
Of course, first of all, another group of people must provide these people with the means of production and a stable source of living and consumption...
So, on the morning of Double Eleven, Leon put on a golden coat of arms robe and publicly announced that from now on he would rule Changhe Town as the King of the Kingdom of Pende!
At the same time, Amy and Godric revealed Leon's life experience and identity as the son of prophecy to the people of Changhe Town, and announced that they would also be loyal to Leon.
However, the coronation ceremony of the King of Pendor was not held immediately, because Leon planned to be officially crowned after regaining the Sarleon.
Then, Leon announced that he would build Changhe Town into a larger city than Sarleon City and make it the future capital of the Kingdom of Pendor.
On the day when 'Changhe City' is completed, Lord Leon will marry Miss Amy in the city.
So from now on, you have to address Li Ang as 'Your Majesty'.
Afterwards, His Majesty Li Ang summoned almost all the big businessmen in the entire eastern region to the inner fort of Changhe Town.
Only His Majesty Leon could allow merchants to enter the inner castle through the main gate - originally only nobles or servants could enter the inner castle, and merchants could only enter through the side door to deliver goods.
The merchants all became expectant.
Because Lord Li Ang said that he might have to build Changhe City while fighting.
And it’s Double Eleven again…
At a time like this, following Lord Li Ang to fight would probably make money, and the merchants in Changhe Town had already reached a consensus on this.
Building Changhe City, undertaking such a large project, or even just a small part of the project, will definitely make money.
However, what the merchants didn't expect was that Lord Li Ang actually gave them a new surprise...
"From today on, as long as you register with Eric or Leslie, you can use the same emblem as the noble coat of arms, so that you can establish your own thousand-year industry... At the same time, I allow merchants who have registered 'trademarks' to wear swords and use swallowtail flags - of course, they must swear allegiance to me like a soldier. From now on, I will only take my own people out to make a fortune..."
Leon put on a golden robe with emblems, stood at the highest point of the inner castle, and began to win over his first group of loyal supporters.
Of course the businessmen realized what Li Ang meant... In fact, they were extremely sensitive to this matter!
Many big businessmen do not have aristocratic status. Although they are rich, no matter how rich they are, they cannot buy the privileges and respect of the nobility - not even the superficial respect .
They could not use coats of arms or banners, nor carry swords.
In fact, it is not illegal to carry a broadsword, an axe, or even a machete through the streets, but if you are a civilian, you cannot wear a long sword around your waist.
This is also the reason why many mercenaries carry their swords on their backs - not for convenience or beauty, but mainly because they are not nobles and are not allowed to wear swords on their waists.
Because swords, coats of arms, flags, these things all represent nobility.
Only knights' squires or attendants of noble birth, that is, apprentice knights, could wear swords and use swallowtail flags. Only after becoming official knights could they cut off the swallowtail and use the official heraldic flag.
Moreover, these days, businessmen with money but no power can easily be persecuted by the nobles when their business is booming - such as being framed or even directly robbed.
The merchants were of course deeply resentful of this, because whether or not one was a noble was determined from the moment of birth...
Therefore, many merchants of this era, after becoming rich, would use a large amount of dinars to seek marriage with a low-ranking noble whose family had fallen on hard times - nobles who were not so poor generally looked down on merchants...
Merchants are the group that most wants to become aristocrats. After all, this is related to their own safety and whether their descendants can enjoy the wealth they have accumulated with great effort. Some well-known merchants may have close relationships with some nobles, but as long as they die, most of their descendants will not survive...
Having money but no power is like being a fat sheep that everyone wants to covet, and it is the same in any world.
But Leon's current policy is equivalent to allowing merchants who have registered "trademarks" to obtain the same status as apprentice knights, and also asking them to swear allegiance - this means there is still room for higher development.
This gives them a direct channel to become formal nobles, and the most orthodox kind!
This will certainly attract businessmen...
Of course, they also realized that with Li Ang's usual style, they would probably have to pay a little bit to "register the trademark" with Eric...
Come to think of it, originally only warriors who had shed blood on the battlefield for their lord could become knights. If they wanted to get the same qualifications as apprentice knights, they would naturally have to shed blood as well.
The business world is like a battlefield, we all shed blood for the Lord, it's only natural...
Registering a trademark does cost some money, but the dinar cost is much less than businessmen imagine - registering a trademark 'only' requires the supply of materials worth one hundred dinars.
For ordinary people, one hundred dinars is the total income for five years without food or drink, but for these big businessmen, this price is indeed not high.
Moreover, the one hundred dinars were directly offset with materials - trademarks are classified, and you register the type of trademark that corresponds to the type of product you operate. At the same time, you can also use the same type of materials to offset the amount, and just hand it over to Eric.
Eric will also conduct strict inspections and conduct on-site inspections of the merchants' specific operations, while Leslie will supervise the quality of the merchants ' products. If the merchants want to expand or change their business scope, they must re-register their trademarks.
Moreover, Lord Li Ang does not limit the number of trademarks that merchants can register...
In other words, as long as there are enough industries under their names, businessmen can register a different trademark for each person in the family - even if the children divide up the family in the future, their status can be guaranteed. Where can you find such a good thing?
Businessmen are very smart and seldom pay directly. After all, they can use the products produced by their own industries to offset the losses, which is equivalent to not spending any money!
So most of them began to increase their business types, resume production, and then look for sources of goods and employees everywhere, and even ventured to places outside of Li Ang's sphere of influence to purchase goods, so as to gather enough types of industries for their families...
Thus, a large group of "reserve nobles" were formed. Leon only used one meeting to bring a large amount of supplies to the warehouse, and also identified the core consumer group who would buy villas and carriages in the future...
Of course, the most important thing is that he used this method to induce businessmen to start production and also let them take the initiative to increase industrial investment...
Isn't production resumed?
There are many more factories than before...
Although such temporary factories can easily go bankrupt due to poor management - different trades are like different mountains, but before they go bankrupt, they can definitely produce a lot of things and bring income to the employees...
However, after mobilizing the merchants, there was still no movement in Sarleon City and Cliff Bay.
Le Ang felt a little strange. With the existence of the ring, Kavala should know what he said, but why didn't he react at all?
You don't care about publicly declaring the throne? You don't care when you attack Sarleon?
Is your heart so big?
