Tiger Owl

Chapter 149: Lacking a Clerk
Gan Ning had already returned to Chaisang. At this point, the Yuzhang Army's intention to move the capital was very clear. The army was deployed in Chaisang, Pengze, Wuchang and Xiakou, ready to cross the Yangtze River at any time.

Gan Ning knew very well that Liu Biao would not let the matter rest and would definitely retaliate against Jiangxia County. Gan Ning was prepared to give Liu Biao a head-on blow at any time.

In terms of military strength, Gan Ning's army size is similar to Liu Biao's, but Gan Ning possesses the largest number of warships in the south, and his military strength has actually surpassed Liu Biao's.

In addition, Gan Ning currently has five and a half commanderies, while Liu Biao only has one Nan Commandery. Although Nan Commandery has excellent conditions, with a vast plain stretching from Xiangyang to Jiangling and a population of nearly two million.

However, Gan Ning also possessed the Penglize Plain, the Dongting Lake Plain, and the Jiangxia Plain, with a total population exceeding three million, approaching four million. Based on this alone, Gan Ning's military and economic strength surpassed that of Liu Biao.

Gan Ning's only weakness is that his territory is not yet stable enough and he needs time to consolidate it. Once his base is firmly established, he will not be afraid even if Cao Cao's army marches south.

Moreover, Gan Ning also sent a large number of spies to Nan Commandery to monitor the movements of Liu Biao's army at all times. If Liu Biao's army made any unusual moves, he would immediately send troops to deal with it.

That morning, strategist Lu Su hurriedly found Gan Ning.

"There is something I need to let my lord know."

Gan Ning put down his pen and asked with a smile, "Is it about the second batch of new money?"

"Does the lord know?"

Gan Ning took out a few new coins and said with a smile, "There's an extra five-pointed star on the back. The guards didn't know what was going on and were worried about giving them to me. I knew as soon as I saw them that new coins had been made."

"Reporting to the general, this is just a test. We've invested 5,000 strings of cash to gauge the market reaction. The official 100,000 strings haven't been released yet!"

How has the market reacted?

"This is what I wanted to report: the market response has been very positive. We surveyed over three hundred people, and they all praised the new money."

At this point, Lu Su placed a string of new coins on Gan Ning's desk, saying, "Please give this final review, General. If there are no problems, we will release the 100,000 strings of new coins."

"The new money is not a problem. What I'm concerned about is how it will be issued, whether it will cause a surge in prices, and whether it will be hoarded by merchants. What are your plans?"

"The plan was given to the general a few days ago!"

Gan Ning exclaimed "Huh!" and quickly picked up a pile of unread documents to search through. After searching for a while, he finally found the new money plan that had been sent a few days ago.

Gan Ning felt secretly ashamed; it turned out that Lu Su had already sent it, but he hadn't seen it.

"Both options are acceptable!"

Lu Su's first proposal was to distribute the new money as the officials' salary for the month, and his second proposal was to pay for the construction work of the city. The two proposals together amounted to exactly 100,000 strings of cash.

How many strings of coins can be minted in a year?

“Normally it’s around 300,000 strings of cash, but if we go all out, we can mint 500,000 strings! This 100,000 strings is what we’ve saved up over three months.”

"Okay! I approve it."

Gan Ning drew a red circle on the document and handed it to Lu Su, saying, "Implement it!"

Lu Su took the document and smiled, "I need to find a clerk for the general. I reckon the general hasn't seen the plan to establish new prefectures."

Gan Ning hurriedly searched and finally found a plan to merge the eastern part of Jiangxia County and the western part of Lujiang County into a new county.

Gan Ning smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said, "Let me take a look first! I'll give my approval to the strategist later."

Lu Su smiled, shook his head, and left.

Lu Su returned to his study, still thinking about finding a clerk for his lord. As the territory expanded, the number of government affairs increased, and the lord simply didn't have time to read all the important documents and reports. If there were a clerk to classify and organize the various documents and write summaries, the lord would be much more relaxed and would be able to distinguish the importance and urgency of matters.

This was actually an idea Lu Su had had for a long time. Previously, he felt the most suitable candidate was Zhuge Jin, but his lord had arranged for Zhuge Jin to gain experience in local government. At this moment, Jiang Wan entered the room and asked with a smile, "Has the general approved the new money plan?"

"it's here!"

Lu Su handed the report to Jiang Wan and said with a wry smile, "The general just saw it."

"How could that be?" Jiang Wan was taken aback. "We gave it to him ten days ago."

"The general still has a huge pile of paperwork to process! At least forty or fifty. It's normal that he hasn't seen our report."

"Military Advisor Lu, this won't do!"

Lu Su nodded. "I'm also considering this issue, finding a suitable clerk for the general."

Jiang Wan thought for a moment and said, "Today I will go to the Recruitment Hall. There are several very good young talents there. I will find a few more and let the general choose for himself."

"Alright! I'll also recommend a few; let the general choose for himself."

In the afternoon, a rather obese middle-aged man arrived at the Wuchang Marquis's residence, which was Gan Ning's private home.

The middle-aged man's surname was Jiang, and his given name was Jiang Feng. He was the chief manager of Gan Ning Private Trading Company.

In any normal, well-established dynasty or vassal state, the supreme ruler would have his own private property. Gan Ning also received a salary like his subordinates, which was 5,000 shi. In addition, he also had his own source of wealth, namely the private property of the enemy leader among the spoils of war.

In addition, there are investments, including shops, restaurants, trading companies, warehouses, fleets, and so on. Currently, there are more than 30 such investments, which bring Gan Ning a lot of wealth every year.

Jiang Feng was the head manager of the Ning family business. All the shop owners had to report to him, and he would organize their reports before reporting back to the owner.

Jiang Feng was invited to sit down in the guest room to wait. A large screen was placed in the middle of the guest room, dividing it into two.

Before long, the sound of jade pendants rang out, and a large group of maids escorted Da Qiao and Xu Wei into the room through the back door. They sat down behind a screen.

Jiang Feng quickly bowed and greeted her, "Greetings, Madam!"

Gan Ning handed over his business to Da Qiao to manage, but Da Qiao was gentle, kind, or perhaps a little weak-willed. Sometimes she would find it difficult to point out problems even when she did.

But Xu Wei and she worked together very well. Xu Wei was shrewd and capable, and dared to question people. With Xu Wei's involvement, the managers no longer dared to deceive the madam.

However, Xu Wei was outspoken and decisive, but in the end, it was Da Qiao who made the final decision. Only after Da Qiao made a clear statement could a matter be settled.

"Manager Jiang, is there anything important to report?"

Da Qiao casually asked that it was she who summoned Jiang Feng today, not Jiang Feng who came to report.

"Everything is going smoothly so far, there are no major problems, and we are preparing to be in Jiangxia County."

Da Qiao nodded and gave Xu Wei a wink. Xu Wei said, "The general has given us several properties in Jiangxia County, four in total, two each in Zhu County and Xiling County. Send someone to take them over!"

These four businesses all belonged to Huang Zu. Although Gan Ning did not confiscate the Huang family's businesses and returned them to Huang She, Huang She still gave four of the more important businesses to Gan Ning.

A large warehouse and a wharf in Zhu County, followed by the largest restaurant and a large grain shop in Xiling County.

Xu Wei gave the list of properties to the maid, who then handed it to Steward Jiang.

Manager Jiang was overjoyed, "That's wonderful! I'll take the boat to receive it tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)