That's right, Lin Yang was still being naive. He subconsciously felt that the people would be moved, that they would all come. But the reality was that while many people were indeed moved and fooled, even more people simply didn't have the money for such a long journey of tens of thousands of miles.
Honestly, given the conditions at that time, even in a group, traveling tens of thousands of miles would likely result in numerous deaths and injuries. Even one-tenth would be an underestimate! Given this, why move unless survival becomes impossible?
How many Yue slaves do we have?
"More than 3.6 million, that's already a 1:3 ratio, we can't go any higher!" Guo Jia insisted.
Indeed, the ratio of Han Chinese to slaves was one to three; any more and the distinction between master and slave would become blurred. If a major uprising were to occur one day, Lin Yang, the major slave owner, would be in serious trouble.
Without enough Han Chinese, there wouldn't be enough slaves. Without enough slaves, there would be too few people to work in many harsh conditions. For example, mining, coal mining, mining, coal mining!
Without coal and ore, there would be no so-called industrial revolution. Any fantasy version of the Industrial Revolution is utter nonsense. The steam engine is merely the heart; coal and ore are the flesh and blood. Without the flesh and blood, a heart alone is useless!
Without the Industrial Revolution, how could Lin Yang have developed the Wu Kingdom? Just by dividing up land? The northern lords also divided land!
"So, if we were to establish immigration points on a large scale and in an organized manner in some of the central cities of the Central Plains, what would the cost be?" Lin Yang asked.
There's no other way. Even if it costs money, we have to immigrate. Without people, everything else is meaningless!
"Taking Luoyang as an example, from Luoyang to Lujiang County, taking the safest main road, after a month of training, the people were migrated in groups of a thousand, riding packhorses. The journey was from Luoyang to Yanzhou. The total distance was more than 3,400 li, and the total time was about half a month."
"Then, from Yanzhou to Yuzhou, from Yuzhou to Huainan, from Huainan to Lujiang County, from Lujiang County across the river to Wu County, and from Wu County to the Kingdom of Wu, such a long journey, the cost for each person, assuming safety is guaranteed as much as possible, is at least one hundred and twenty taels."
"We can't cut corners any further. If we do, the danger to our lives will be far too great. Even if we spend 120 taels, the number of civilians who die along the way is probably not small," Guo Jia said gravely.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang's heart sank. One hundred and twenty taels per person was definitely not enough. There were still various factors along the way, such as storms, heavy rain, and difficult roads, so the people needed to be fed better.
In that case, let's calculate based on 200 taels of silver per commoner. That means that migrating one million people would cost 200 million taels of silver. And this is only for one million people, and that's starting from Luoyang. If it were the northern regions, the cost would be even more unpredictable. Lin Yang has basically given up on migrating people from the north.
In other words, even if only one million people were migrated from the Central Plains each year, it would still cost two hundred million taels of silver!
Lin Yang is rich, Lin Yang is indeed very rich, but this is no excuse for spending money like this! He spent 200 million taels just on immigration, what about the rest?
Now, Lin Yang finally understood why so many northern lords had worked so hard for thousands of years, yet their populations were still so small—the cost of immigration was simply too high!
Moreover, and more importantly, even with money, it's simply impossible to immigrate a million people a year. To give a simple example, a procession of a thousand immigrants would require a hundred soldiers to protect them along the way, at least two doctors to treat the sick, and at least three civil servants to handle various affairs.
Just think about how many officials and soldiers that would require! Even now that the Wu Kingdom has integrated its officials and soldiers, it still can't fill such a bottomless pit!
Although it was a real headache, Lin Yang had to find a solution, didn't he?
"So, what was our total income this year? And what were our total expenses?" Lin Yang asked with some anticipation.
Upon hearing this, Guo Jia seemed to have thought of something unpleasant, and his face immediately darkened.
"Ahem, our legitimate income is 11 million shi of grain. The price of one shi of grain in Jiangdong this year is four qian of silver, while in the Central Plains it is about six qian of silver. In other words, the income from agriculture, converted into silver, is about five million taels."
"There's also income from mining. In the past year, we've smelted over three million slaves..."
"However, our expenses are quite high, including..."
"In other words, not counting the spoils from the confiscation and the looting, we ultimately did not break even, but instead lost 60 million taels of silver?" Lin Yang said with a dark face.
"Ahem, although we spent a lot of money, our gains were considerable! A steam engine design has been finalized, and the train is about to be developed. And..."
Sixty million taels of silver in cash—even a second-rate prefecture-level family might not have that much liquid capital! Luckily, I'm a money-making expert; otherwise, the Wu Kingdom would have gone bankrupt countless times.
During the Xuanwu Gate Incident in the Tang Dynasty, he began to make money, and before leaving, he robbed Li Jiancheng's national treasury and his private coffers.
In the later world of Liu Xiaofeng, he further extorted money from various sects under the guise of the Imperial Preceptor, robbing them of a considerable amount of silver. Later still, in every world he visited, he sought every possible way to make money.
Even so, the fact that it cost 60 million taels a year still surprised Lin Yang.
"Fine, as long as Wu Guozhan gets going, this is all small change. Yes, it's all small change," Lin Yang said through gritted teeth.
“Yes, as long as Wu Guozhan gets going, none of this matters,” Guo Jia said with a smile.
"If we want to expand, we need population, money, and talent. And most of these are controlled by powerful families. So, let's do a roadshow!" Lin Yang said, making up his mind.
I just hope that through the roadshow, I can raise more money and attract more investment.
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Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Reasons for Going Public to Raise Funds and the Lofty Prestige
What is a roadshow? When discussing roadshows, the word "IPO" inevitably comes up. What is the purpose of an IPO? Primarily, it's to raise capital!
A roadshow, in more sophisticated terms, is a series of promotional activities conducted by listed companies before their IPO. The purpose, of course, is to increase stock prices, boost investor confidence, and raise capital more effectively, thus preparing for future growth.
In essence, it boils down to two words: raising money! The entire roadshow process is just a self-presentation, a way to fool the onlookers (all kinds of investors).
Back when Baidu went public in the US, the initial offering price was set at around $15. However, after Robin Li's months-long roadshow, the actual offering price on the day of the official listing was $27.
In other words, through roadshows and by persuading investors, Baidu's total value increased by 80% in just a few months!
The closing price on the day of the IPO was $122. Compared to the $15 price set before the roadshow, the entire value of Baidu increased eightfold!
This is the purpose of going public, this is the purpose of a roadshow. In less than a year, the company's value increased eightfold. And when it comes to raising capital, they can really raise a lot.
"Now, our goal is to better develop the Wu Kingdom, but the problem is that we have many good ideas, but not enough resources. The real resources are all in the hands of angel investors, that is, aristocratic families."
"They have enough people, enough talent, and enough money. Only they can truly make the Wu Kingdom take off."
"So, the question is, how do we let the powerful families understand our strength, thereby gaining their trust and even getting them to join us? That's where the roadshow comes in," Lin Yang said earnestly.
"But what can we use to attract them?" Guo Jia asked, frowning.
After all, there are no publicly listed companies in this world, nor is there any concept of raising money through stocks. Although I understand this in theory, I still can't help but feel a little worried.
"Take the steam engine for example. We're all smart people. We can demonstrate trains, cars, and ships, and even things like harvesters, refrigerators, and air conditioners that are closely related to our lives. Although they're expensive and not very practical right now, that doesn't stop us from building them first, bragging about them, and increasing our prestige, right?" Lin Yang said confidently.