It Became a Symbol of the Bronze Age - Chapter 345



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Episode 345. Show Me The Money (1)

A fortress on top of the mountains of the Inner City.

“You guys! Do you think you can kidnap the queen of a country and get away with it?”

There, the tanks sent by Kang So-baek came and made a loud noise.

“No, we don’t know?”

Saulbae answered, wrinkling his nose.

Of course, no matter how much you try, if Kang So-baek brings his army, there is no way to stop him.

But what about my country now?

That wasn’t the situation.

‘Because the Ministry of Justice is not easy.’

The number of soldiers in Asadal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is 10,000.

But there are more armed merchants than that, and even more if you include the tribesmen.

It would be around five thousand.

If five thousand soldiers can block this place with the mountains and swamps, they can easily block five times that number.

Are you using a blockade strategy?

It doesn’t work in the inner palace.

How can my country stop goods from coming in by ship?

My country also pulls a boat?

In that case, Asadal is not bad either. If it’s a land battle, then it’s okay, but if it’s a sea battle, my country is no match for Asadal.

Besides, they can’t even do a half-blockade in the first place.

“It’s fall. Instead of wasting your energy here, why don’t you go back and do some farming?”

Because it is now early autumn, the peak harvest season.

During this period, peasants cannot be mobilized. Therefore, wars usually take place between late autumn and early spring, after the harvest and before the planting season.

Those who have arrived now are not peasants, but a chariot force composed of nobles and their escorts.

And the chariot corps are of little use against forts. If they choose to attack, my country will lose two or three chariot corps that day.

The one who brought the chariot of my country under the castle shouted.

“I am Donggwak.”

“Haha, the big guy is here.”

“Shut up. Is this a declaration of war against my country?”

“A declaration of war?”

Saulbae thought that he could just declare war and give up, but he decided to hold back.

‘Elder Poongbaek said that the real war would start in the spring.’

My country’s military system is simple.

First, there is a standing army of scholars and magnates. Their number is 40,000. They are literally always there. Between spring and fall, they are usually the entire army.

And when autumn comes and the farming is over, the people of the country (people living near the capital) can be conscripted. They are both soldiers and farmers, and in peacetime they farm.

This is similar to Asadal, but different. First of all, it is the same in that it uses elite soldiers as a standing army and infantry as a conscripted army, but the conscription is done a little differently.

While my country conscripted farmers during the busy and slack farming seasons to serve as soldiers, Asadal took young men and made them serve for three years.

So, it was best for Asadal to wage war in the spring when the enemy had difficulty recruiting soldiers.

‘It must be quite a headache for the enemies as well.’

It’s harvest season now, so war is difficult.

Once the harvest season is over, we will have to fight against the Nora, so we will not have the capacity to send troops to the Naeminbu.

Even if I turn around, if I grit my teeth and defend, I am confident that I can bury at least a third of my country’s military power in these swamps and mountains.

‘Perhaps this is why Kang So-baek is targeting the country of No.’

If you think about it like this: First, we’ll cleanly take down Noh Nara, and then we’ll eat up Naeminbu… then it makes sense.

Also, if you think about it this way, the war with Asadal could be seen as somewhat necessary.

‘But not yet.’

The war starts six months later, from the sowing season.

That is why Saulbae cried out.

“I heard that it was not Asadal but a Murim person who stole your queen. And, there are no Murim people in Naeminbu! Why are you looking for Murim people in Pachok here?”

He was a merchant, and he could lie skillfully without changing his expression.

Of course, everyone in the country knows that his words are a joke, and I know that there is no one in the world who doesn’t know that.

But what can I do?

Do you have any evidence?

It has been a long time since the martial artists took the Woohwang Cheongsimwon (they call it Daehwandan or Geumjindan) one by one, turned into beggars (they call it Gaebong) and escaped the Naeminbu.

There was no way there could be any evidence.

***

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the summer and fall of the tenth year of Barang were Asadal’s greatest crisis.

Because the various forces that had been gathered with great difficulty were on the verge of being torn apart by the existence of their own country.

But winter was different.

“The Wind King has returned! With summer and my country’s prime minister, Po Suk-ah!”

Asadal reported this news in great detail and walked through every castle, fortress, and village.

Guan Yu ordered him to return with summer.

In addition, Po-suk, known as Guan-o’s testicle friend, also returned.

Agol, who recently returned to Haedongseong, created this story by linking these two.

– Guan Yi was a person from the country of Jin, but Jin did not recognize him. That is why he loved Asadal. However, he did not hate Jin.

-However, my country is crazy. They dared to treat our woman, the daughter of the Wind King, Yeoreum, with contempt and confine her in a villa that doesn’t even have an ondol (the Central Plains originally didn’t use ondol)!

– So Guan Yi secretly sent someone to rescue Yeoreum. However, here he heard terrible news. The king of his country had gone mad and had treated Guan Yi’s friend, Po Suk, badly and had been kicked out.

– Po-suk was insulted by a man without a pepper and a man with a boiled son, and so he turned his back on his country. Guan-o was furious and vowed revenge. He declared that he would devour the country that persecuted his close friend!

Although it is somewhat embellished, it is true that Kang So-baek treated Po-suk like a dog and treated Yeoreum coldly.

And Guan Yi saved both Po Suk and Yeoreum. People readily accepted this.

“It is said that the reason Guan Yi did not go to war with his country was not because he loved his country. It was because Guan Yi’s benefactor, the daughter of the Duke of Feng, was there, and also because he had a friend there!”

“Yes, but the two suffered in my country, and Guanwu succeeded in rescuing them!”

“These days, he licks the gall of an animal every day to avenge himself on his country for persecuting his teacher’s daughter and friend!”

“Well, no matter how much it is my hometown and the land where I was born, what’s the point if that land persecutes me?”

The slaves of the Pan and Bear tribes especially loved this narrative, because they too had a history of betraying the land they were born into due to their suffering. This was also the point that Agol had been aiming for in the first place.

And that moment.

Dulkerdung-!

“What, what is that?”

“Isn’t it a coffin?”

The coffin arrived at Haedongseong with seven carts. Although it was wrapped diligently, the texture of the metal shining under the cloth was clearly visible. It was intentionally intended to be slightly visible.

“Wow, it’s gold! It’s shining!”

“That’s gold! That’s silver!”

“All those wagons… are they all made of silver and gold?”

People who saw that sight were surprised.

“Where on earth did you get all that stuff?”

***

Some say.

War is when soldiers clash with each other.

But those who know more about war say it is a clash of strategies.

And those who directly lead the war say:

War is preparation.

This is especially true of external conquests.

The longer the supply runs, the longer it takes, and the more we have to give to the soldiers.

That is why Asadal spent several years saving money and stockpiling military supplies and gunpowder when fighting against the Yan kingdom in the past.

But now?

Poongbaek believed that his country would not collapse for at least 40 years, and he paid more attention to the navy than the army.

The results were good too.

The spice route was opened and huge profits were made.

However, in return, the Army has been paying less attention recently. It’s not that there is no military, but there is a lack of financial resources to operate the military.

Unlike the military at home, the problem for expeditionary forces going abroad is supply. Supply within the country and supplying abroad are literally on different levels. It is not uncommon for 100 stones that depart from the country to end up with only 50 stones by the time they arrive.

Is that all?

We need to give the soldiers at least a handful of silver coins. Only then will the expedition be successful.

‘It would have been nice if the war with my country had been delayed by exactly 10 years… no, even 5 years.’

At that time, Asadal could have recovered its finances through the spice route and aimed for war.

However, the war with my country was approaching too quickly. Of course, Poongbaek told me not to worry and to go down to Seorabeolbu.

‘Even if he’s a great person, he probably doesn’t have that much money, right?’

Guan Yi naturally thought so.

Surprisingly… that wasn’t the case.

***

Naturally, Poongbaek and Dalbi were not wealthy enough to handle 10,000 soldiers on their own.

Perhaps even the most powerful man in my country, Jiang Xiaobai, would not be able to hold that much money as an individual.

So, ‘Poongbaek’s Money’ is like that.

But what if it’s ‘someone else’s money’?

“Let me explain about the New Knights.”

Dalbi laughed.

To Guan Yi, the name ‘New Knights’ sounded truly monstrous. It’s not that the New Knights are monstrous.

‘Knight.’

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The character for horse is 騎, and the character for judge is 士. They are also called horse-riding swordsmen.

According to Poongbaek, they are not soldiers, so they cannot be called cavalry, and most of the members are former horsemen or sheriffs, so they are called sa.

“The job of this new knights is simple. They store people’s grain, salt, gold, silver, and timber. These days, there’s a lot of silver and gold coins. And they give you a certificate, and when you go to another branch, they give you back the amount of money equivalent to the certificate.”

“I heard.”

“And, for salt and grain, storage fees are usually charged. But gold and silver are different.”

“What if it’s different…?”

“I’ll give you interest. Annual interest rate of 5 cents.”

Guan Yi immediately understood these words.

“Are you playing with other people’s money?”

“Similar.”

Dalby said.

“We don’t just keep other people’s money in our custody. We lend it out. Those who deposit money pay us 5 cents in interest, and those who borrow money from us have to pay us 30 percent in interest per year.”

“Are you saying you’ll lend me money at 30% interest?”

Guan Yi was surprised by those words.

“Is that left?”

“I heard it’s left.”

Dalbi laughed.

“In the first place, we only lend to those who can repay. Those who have fields, rice paddies, or local influential figures. Anyway, the important thing is what comes next.”

Dalby said.

“Ordinary people usually entrust their money to our Shinki Knights. It grows without any problems. And capable people borrow money from us, dreaming of starting a business or something. Think about this repetition.”

“Because it’s repetitive…”

“Let me give you a simple example. If we receive 10 nyang of silver, we keep 3 nyang, which is 30% of the amount, and lend the remaining 7 nyang to others.”

“Right…?”

“Then these 7 nyangs will go around again and go to someone. Maybe they can entrust these 7 nyangs to us again. Then we will again keep 2 nyangs and release 5 nyangs. These 5 nyangs will go around again, and when they enter the Shinsiki Knights, we will again keep 1 nyang and a half pun and release 3 nyang and a half pun.”

When he heard those words, lightning struck Guan Yi’s head.

“It’s actually 10 nyang, but the money in circulation is over 20 nyang?”

“That’s how it is.”

This is the concept of the money multiplier, and it is where fair-credit money is distinguished from quantitative money.

To sum up,

“…The Shinshiki Knights are literally collecting all the money they can get.”

“Yes. Even though it’s not ‘our money,’ it’s not that different. Unless everyone who entrusted us with their money suddenly rushes in and takes it out… this structure won’t collapse easily.”

When Guan Yu heard that, he slapped his thigh.

‘Is this why Lord Poongbaek insisted on creating currency?’

To Guanwu, this was nothing short of innovation.

***

“Here, all the goods you can bring now.”

“Wow, this much?”

Seven carts drawn by oxen, tightly packed with gold and silver.

“That’s roughly half of what we have.”

“Is this half?”

“Please understand that I have to leave half behind.”

No matter how rich Dalbi and Poongbaek are, it is difficult to satisfy an army of 10,000 people with just their wealth.

The Shinsiki Knights, who had gathered a lot of wealth from the Seorabeol area, which was famous for being wealthy even in Asadal, had the ability to do so.

As for Dalby, I didn’t really think of it as gambling.

Once you gather your troops and go in, there’s a lot to be gained from this war.

Besides, it doesn’t really matter if you fail.

Anyway, Asadal’s spice route has been opened, and money will continue to come in from this spice route.

Even without that, Asadal has quite a bit to offer to Seorabeolbu.

For example, even if we were to give them just a few silver mines in the archipelago where they are currently being dug, it would only take a few years to make up for the loss.

To use a game analogy, it’s like Asadal’s current holdings are 0, but he gets 1000 gold every turn.

It feels like buying gold with turn gold.

As the King of Spain did in 1557 AD, it is virtually impossible for the Haedongseong to default on the Shinsiki Knights’ debts.

Plus, there are even more benefits.

-The country also borrows money from us!

This time, Dalbi boasted in a big way about how Asadal had borrowed a lot of money from them.

People’s faith in the Shinki Knights grew even stronger. Even the country borrowed them, so isn’t it a trustworthy place?

“Thank you for your help, but moving this will be a lot of work. Hmm… I’ve never moved this much gold and silver before.”

“Take the people of the New Knights.”

“yes?”

“They have a lot of experience moving things like this. You can use them until the end of the war. Their salaries will be paid by the higher-ups.”

This was a good deed, but every good deed has a reason.

Poongbaek strongly advised Dalbi, “The Shinshi Knights should not be labeled as simply ‘a place that uses the country’s difficulties to make money.’”

Because I know the story of the Knights Templar that served as the motif. The early Knights Templar maintained a bank while also supporting the fight against Islamic forces.

However, after the emergence of the brilliant monarch Saladin, the Crusades virtually became an Islamic victory, and the position of the Knights Templar became quite ambiguous.

Among them was a king named Philip IV who had borrowed a lot of money from the Knights Templar. This king came up with a really great plan to pay back the money in one go.

-If you kill the creditor, you don’t have to pay back the money, right? Anyway, these days, those guys don’t even fight Islam, so they’re just treated as money-grubbers.

In this way, Philip IV effectively wiped out his debts by attacking the Knights Templar and eliminating his creditors. This is the famous ‘Friday the 13th’ incident.

This is the importance of justification. If the Knights Templar had been ‘warriors fighting against infidels’ at the time, even Philip IV would not have gone to such lengths.

‘Those scumbags who are polluting Christianity by playing with money! The Crusades failed because of their money-playing!’ Thanks to the slanderous rumors that were like the origin of the future mustachioed art student.

And there’s no way the Shinki Knights wouldn’t suffer like this.

I wanted to maintain my reputation by sending my troops directly into this battle.

Guan Yi was surprised when he saw the number.

“…Only one hundred and fifty members of the New Knights?”

First of all, there are 150 combatants among the staff.

It’s not just the numbers that are surprising.

That’s the composition.

The leaders are former cavalrymen, presidential guardsmen, or sheriffs, and the rest are armed merchants.

“These are people who have already moved gold and silver countless times and value honor over money. They are also good at fighting, so if you entrust them with supply work, they will be of great help.”

To be exact, it is closer to choosing to ‘continue to live a luxurious life’ rather than ‘steal for the money in front of you’, but the latter is usually called honor.

“Oh, really… You blocked all the holes.”

Guan Yi stuck out his tongue.

They are full of honor.

In this situation, if Haedongseong were to wipe his mouth and declare that he would not pay the money… then all the citizens of Seorabeolbu would turn into enemies and advance on Haedongseong.

This isn’t a story about predicting the future; something similar actually happened.

There was a time when a landowner who had borrowed money from the Shinsiki Knights refused to pay back the money and tried to steal a boat. The tribesmen of Seorabeolbu came with pickaxes and smashed all the furniture.

-You dare try to steal the money of the Shinki Knights!

-There’s my money there too, kid!

It’s also just because of the money.

-These guys, they don’t know gratitude!

-How much has Mrs. Dalby done for us!

It was also thanks to popularity.

Dalby continued to build a reputation for the area through low (by the standards of the time) interest rates, continued investment in the area, and school projects, making her a much-loved local favorite.

“They say that business is about buying people. Madam Dalby, you really stick to that.”

“That’s natural. Those who don’t have money should tighten their purse strings, and those who have money should loosen their purse strings. That’s how the momentum will last.”

“…Your words are as good as gold.”

“Thank you for your compliments. Lastly, please take this too.”

Dalbi held out a ledger.

“What is this?”

“Here is a list of debtors who have borrowed large sums of money. There are many chieftains and chieftains. These are people who feel they owe a favor, and it is time for battle. If you tell them, they will easily join the army with my forces.”

I checked and there were about eight hundred people.

“…That’s amazing.”

There are currently about ten thousand people who need reinforcements.

In the Seorabeolbu alone, a thousand reinforcements were made. Of those, one hundred and fifty were reliable, high-level talents who could be used as supply officers right away.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“What? We have to share in the country’s difficulties. Besides, when they receive the country’s money, it soon becomes our money.”

like that.

Gwan-O gained two things from Seorabeolbu that he should never forget.

first.

Finance is a truly amazing thing. You can lend more money than there is actually in circulation.

When this war is over and I become president, I think I will need to expand this finance on a large scale and widely.

Right now there is only one Shin Ki Knights, but if there were dozens or hundreds of them, the effect would be so great that you wouldn’t even have to see it with your own eyes.

And secondly.

‘The Dalbi Sangdan of Seorabeolbu… must never be touched carelessly.’

Those with a lot of money can be defeated by military force.

Those with large military forces can mobilize more troops.

but.

A person who has gained popularity can never be touched.

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