At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Indeed, Zhuge Liang has always managed Beiting Dufu Mansion with an image of being able to solve problems. For the people in Beiting Dufu Mansion, Zhuge Liang is the only savior in case of accidents.

Rely on him, sure, he will not disappoint everyone's trust.

Sure enough, Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly and nodded slowly.

"I can't say there is no way, but for you, this way may be a little too much, and Liang doesn't know whether you can accept it. After all, there are always more problems than ways in this world."

"Please speak."

The middle-aged merchant couldn't wait to hear Zhuge Liang's solution.

Zhuge Liang stopped shaking the fan.

"There are ways, but this kind of thing is not our own problem, but the defeat of the Parthian country. We can't intervene in this kind of thing, we can only passively bear it, very powerless, so we can't save your business, the only one right now The solution is to take the initiative to close the store and stop the loss in time."

Zhuge Liang's voice was very loud and clear.

The scene froze for a moment, and the hope in the eyes of the middle-aged merchant disappeared completely, and he sat back on the chair all of a sudden, covering his head and sighing heavily.

"If there is nothing that Zhuge Duhu can do, it means that there is really no way, it's over."

The rest of the people are equally depressed.

If Zhuge Liang can't do anything, then there is really no way, and if Zhuge Liang can't solve it, then it really can't be solved.

At some point, the people in Beiting Protectorate's Mansion had already formed such a view.

Zhuge Liang himself does not agree with this very much, always saying that there are mountains beyond mountains, and there must be someone who can solve problems for everyone better than him.

For example, the reformer that Zhuge Liang admired.

But the people in Beiting Dufu Mansion have never seen anyone who can really solve problems better than Zhuge Liang.

So they will inevitably have such thoughts.

Zhuge Liang sighed helplessly as he watched the gloomy scene.

"Everyone, Liang knows that you have worked hard and tried your best to run the store. Basically, you have borrowed money from the court, and you have also contributed a lot of money. There are also many people who have borrowed money from relatives and friends. You have indeed contributed a lot. .

Once you are asked to close the shops, you feel pain, and Liang also feels the same, but you have to know that this kind of thing is no longer something we can interfere with. Even the emperor can't interfere with the battlefield thousands of miles away, let alone us. ?

Closing the store one day later will result in an extra day of expenses, and two days later, it will be two more days. When the crisis hits, not only will the cost not be recovered, but the loss will be far greater than the current closure. Think about it , is this the truth? "

There was no answer on the field, and it was still gloomy.

Zhuge Liang sighed again.

"Liang knows what you think in your heart. What you think in your heart is nothing more than thinking that if you can make it through, if you can continue to do business, wouldn't you be able to make more money? , are you really sure it will happen?"

Zhuge Liang stood up, walked to the middle of the seats of the merchants with a feather fan, and looked closely at the depressed expressions of the merchants.

"Liang never thinks about what to do when he does things, because the what if is too illusory, and it's not worth people's hopes, especially when it comes to matters related to livelihood.

All of you are not wealthy. To be precise, you have no property other than the land and houses in your home. Once the shop is forced to close down, how long do you think it will take you to pay off the debt owed by the court and make up for the loss? "

The expressions on the merchants' faces began to loosen, showing hesitant struggles.

Zhuge Liang decided to use his ultimate move.

He sent someone to write on a large piece of paper some of the numbers he had obtained through calculations.

Now send someone to unfold this piece of paper, so that all merchants can see it clearly—anyway, everyone can read.

People who have received Guo Peng's extensive basic literacy education can understand hundreds of commonly used characters, read and write, and understand numbers.

Just kidding, don't people who can open a shop understand numbers and calculations?

Zhuge Liang can always feel that when he is doing things, especially when communicating with ordinary people, there is always a big hand pushing behind him.

Without this big hand, he felt that it would be much more difficult for him to accomplish things.

With this big hand, at least, the problem of communication between the two sides no longer exists, and the government and the people have the most basic consensus.

This is not an easy task.

It took the reformer 30 years of hard work to achieve this, and from the perspective of the time, how far-sighted was this approach?

So guys, there really are people who can solve problems better than me.

Zhuge Liang was overwhelmed with emotion.

After rectifying his emotions, Zhuge Liang started his speech.

"Everyone, please see, this is Liang's calculation based on the court statistics over the years. The cost of your store, the cost of maintaining it for a day, the cost after the store is closed, and the additional loss after being forced to close, you can have a look."

Chapter 1558 One thousand four hundred and seventy eight Zhuge Duhu is really different from ordinary officials

Zhuge Liang showed his calculation results to the merchants present.

He told them how much they would lose now by closing the store a day earlier, and how much they would lose by closing the store a day later.

Compared with one day earlier and one day later, how much loss will be recovered.

How much is the loss if you take the initiative to close down, how much is the loss if you are forced to close down, how much difference is there between the two, how much difference is the difference between one month, two months, three months, etc.

Also, after the voluntary shutdown, the Protectorate's Office and the Ministry of Finance will jointly provide a special official office, allowing them to complete all the procedures in one go, reducing the rush of work.

Not only that, but also exempt from paying subsequent housing rental fees.

If it is forced to shut down, it will be too much trouble.

One pile after another is real in itself, and merchants can immediately understand what to do when they look at it.

What to do is the best for yourself. Persevering may not make it through, but once you can't make it through, you will have to farm land for free for the court for many years to come.

Comparing the two, many people have actually made a decision in their hearts.

What's more, Zhuge Liang put himself in their shoes and helped them minimize their losses. This reality made many merchants feel that Zhuge Liang was really sincerely helping them think, help them think of ways, and help them solve their problems.

Take the initiative to shut down, save financial resources to the maximum extent, and wait for the next economic recovery, there is still a chance.

But if it is forced to shut down, not only will it lose financial resources, but it will also be blacklisted, and it will never be able to get another loan. The next time the economy picks up, it can only stare blankly.

It's you, how should you choose?

The choice is in front of the merchants.

Most of them hesitated for a moment, and chose to close the shop voluntarily. They signed the list of officials of the Ministry of Finance on the spot, saying that they would go through the closing procedures and subsequent loan repayment procedures after going back to rectify.

A small number of people watched most people give up their persistence, after much deliberation, they still gritted their teeth and chose to persevere.

They bowed their hands to Zhuge Liang.

"Zhuge has a heart of love and love. I felt it, but after thinking about it, I still feel unwilling and unwilling to give up. I want to fight again!"

Zhuge Liang sighed slightly.

"Even with all the troubles and difficulties, do you want to fight again?"

"Yes."

There were less than ten people in this group, but they were quite determined.

Zhuge Liang shook his head and sighed for a while, but finally did not force them, but nodded.

"So, you wait and do it yourself. Then, it's best to discuss it with your family. This is not your own business. It has something to do with your family. If you wait and insist, the loss is too great for your family to bear, and the problem will be serious."

A group of people looked at me and looked at you, showing hesitation, and finally retreated slowly amidst Zhuge Liang's sigh, and went back to discuss with their families.

After they left, Zhuge Liang called the subordinate officials around him.

"Send someone to their home, explain it to their family members, and tell their family members what I just said, and persuade one by one."

The subordinate officials expressed their understanding and set about making arrangements.

Qian Yi and Sun Buqi waited for Zhuge Liang to finish making arrangements, and came to Zhuge Liang's side.

"Kong Ming, the overall situation has stabilized. There are less than ten people, so it's no longer a problem. You have done your best and fulfilled your duties. Whether they will make a fortune or go bankrupt and close down later has nothing to do with you."

Qian Yi shook his head: "Even if you send someone to persuade you, it won't make much sense."

Zhuge Liang disagreed with Qian Yi's opinion.

"My duty is to make the Beiting Protectorate Mansion develop better, so that everyone can live a good life, but now, I want them to give up their efforts to protect themselves, even if it is implicated in a disaster thousands of miles away, it has nothing to do with me. , doesn't it really matter?"

Qian Yi looked at Sun Buqi.

Sun Buqi shook his head and sighed.

"Guardian Zhuge is really different from ordinary officials."

Zhuge Liang didn't answer, but secretly hoped that more people would give up voluntarily, so that when the economic depression hits, the losses could be more or less reduced.

Afterwards, Zhuge Liang and several main officials split into three groups and rushed to the remaining seven cities. They followed Zhuge Liang's previous preaching method to the local merchants, and they were very successful. At least more than [-]% of them were persuaded to leave. target merchant.

The rest of the [-]% who are stubborn just don't give up, whether they ask their family members to persuade them or various persuasion, but they just don't want to give up their business dreams.

Zhuge Liang didn't let the officials force him, he just clarified with these people the follow-up process once they were forced to shut down, and then asked them to sign a pledge to ensure that he would connect with the government according to the process.

Of course, if they really survived, Zhuge Liang would also be happy for them from the bottom of his heart.

In this way, before the crisis hit, Beiting Duhufu and Annan Duhufu used different means to complete the imperial court's countermeasures ahead of schedule and completed the imperial court's mission.

Then, along the Silk Road, the economic crisis went to Beiting Duhufu and Annan Duhufu in two routes, and the two Duhufus were affected by the economic crisis almost at the same time.

The number of business travelers was greatly reduced due to the rest and the Roman war. Correspondingly, the export volume of goods from the western part of the Wei Empire was also cut by nearly half.

The merchants engaged in the export business in Annan Duhufu and Beiting Duhufu, as well as the wine shops and hotels doing business with merchants, were hit by the economic crisis in an all-round way and suffered heavy losses.

Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi felt the huge destructive power of the economic crisis and their insignificance in the face of the economic crisis almost at the same time.

Although some small-scale shops that cannot withstand the economic crisis have been closed in advance in accordance with the order of the imperial court in advance to reduce losses, the impact of the economic crisis is quite comprehensive for business.

The two Protectorate Mansions that have been fully affected by this wave have been hit hard, not only restaurants and hotels have been affected, but the impact is reflected in all aspects.

The number of merchants was reduced by half, and the volume of goods traded was reduced by half compared with the same period last year. A large number of merchants could not survive the full half of the loss. They chose to close their stores to stop the huge losses.

Not to mention small businesses and hawkers, some large-scale merchants are also unsustainable due to the large investment in infrastructure, and have to choose to temporarily close their businesses to protect themselves, or close their branches to keep their main stores.

Merchants engaged in foreign trade and export business have also suffered from dimensionality reduction. Some merchants who specialize in doing business with Anxi merchants have their business directly reduced to zero, and they are all dumbfounded.

And in turn affected the farmers outside the city and the handicraft workshops in the city who supplied these merchants.

In addition to products such as silk, porcelain, lacquerware and iron pots that are in short supply in the Mainland, the sales of some locally produced handmade products have also been directly interrupted, and sales have directly dropped to zero.

Even if they were warned by the Protectorate in advance to stop production, but some of the products accumulated before have been finished, and now they are out of market, and they are piled up in the warehouse and cannot be sold. These merchants are crying when they see that the products cannot be sold. .

There are also some merchants who hire people to bring in silk and other in-demand products from the mainland to make a fortune, but now the merchants simply stop coming, and there is no market for these commodities. These commodities can only be piled up, with no place to sell them.

They also bear the cost of storage, and they also pay the cost of shipping.

Farmers outside the city who have reached cooperation with restaurants and hotels in the city have also lost buyers for their food, vegetables and fruits, or at least lost half of their buyers, and a large number of agricultural products have piled up with nowhere to sell.

Food can still be placed and eaten. If fresh fruits and vegetables are not sold in time, they can only sit back and watch to rot, and the losses will be borne by themselves. This is not a small loss for farmers with meager income.

They are also looking for buyers everywhere, but under the general environment of economic depression, where is anyone willing to buy these things?

Seeing the economic chaos in the city, everyone clutched their pockets tightly and refused to spend money at all. The commercial consumption in the city plummeted, and no one would believe it was not the Great Depression.

This was followed by a large number of employees who lost their jobs, and without jobs, there was no income.

In this crisis environment, Zhuge Liang responded in time.

He immediately took action, found Qian Yi and joined forces, first came forward to buy fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers outside the city in the name of the government, and gave benefits to officials, officials and some temporary workers who were not even officials in the government.

This money is included in the funds that can be spent, but it is only used in advance, and it will be a hard life afterwards.

But rather than causing the farmers to suffer heavy losses, Zhuge Liang is more willing to let the officials live a slightly harder life-anyway, the officials and temporary workers are not without food.

After solving the problem of the farms outside the city and stabilizing the farmers, Zhuge Liang called on people in the city who had lost their jobs due to business depression to return to their homes outside the city, return to the land to join labor, and work hard to produce food to maintain everyone's basic needs.

Zhuge Liang also promised that there would be food that could not be sold or eaten by himself, and that all the state-owned granaries under the Ministry of War would be purchased at current market prices.

For this reason, Zhuge Liang and Qian Yi also went to Yang Buyi, the local military doctor in charge of the granary, to discuss this matter with him, and got his understanding and reached an agreement.

There is finally a place to sell the surplus food that cannot be eaten.

On the other hand, the relatively large number of farm villages also provided a place for the unemployed. They responded to Zhuge Liang's call to return to the land to work, which also slowed down the impact of the unemployment crisis in a certain sense.

Again, as long as the farmers still have land, as long as there is no problem with the empire's agriculture, there will be no major troubles in the empire.

Even if an economic crisis occurs, farmers can still return to the land to produce, and they will not starve to death, and the society can maintain general stability.