Food

Lu Bu thought about getting Yan Mu involved in the management, and to stimulate his enthusiasm, he also wanted to allocate management shares to him. He said, "Lord Father-in-law, you need to understand that these shares not only include the capital shares but also management shares. In the future, when you recruit capable people who can manage and conduct business, regardless of whether they have capital to invest, you should give them a certain amount of management shares. The criterion should be based on how much profit they can bring to us. If, because of their presence, we can earn an additional million coins, you should give them at least a million coins in management shares. I've calculated, if we mobilize the generals in Luoyang to invest, we can now inject a capital of one billion coins. Managing this billion coins, you should at least get a hundred million shares in management."

He then turned to the other generals and asked, "Is this acceptable?"

As Lu Bu's father-in-law, Yan Mu had to walk carefully with such a son-in-law. Many older people might find it difficult to keep up, but Yan Mu was cautious. Fearing that Lu Bu's subordinates might be dissatisfied and pose a threat to Lu Bu, he resolutely refused.

However, the generals wanted him to be more dedicated in managing the Dedication Group, and they didn't object to giving him management shares.

After some consideration, Yan Mu said, "I will merge my grain and transportation businesses into this Dedication Group. The combined assets of these two businesses are less than one hundred million coins. Consider it as me taking advantage of everyone." The generals quickly expressed their humble acceptance.

Seeing that the prototype of this stock ownership group had been established, and with the sky brightening, Lu Bu said to Yan Mu, "Father-in-law, the future success of the Dedication Group will rely on your establishment. Thank you for your hard work. However, when you recruit people, you must train and demand strict discipline from them. Treat the customers well, be enthusiastic, and proactive. I anticipate that this idea of mine will definitely be copied and adopted by other forces. By then, I don't know how many banks will exist under the rule of the Han Dynasty. You must lead the way and not let others surpass you."

Yan Mu solemnly noted down Lu Bu's words.

Lu Bu knew that the next year would be the big battle between the warlords of the East and Dong Zhuo. After that, there would be internal strife among the warlords of the East. From then on, conflicts and wars would be frequent. If he didn't strongly intervene, the three kingdoms would likely be in chaos for a hundred years.

With the turmoil, countless people suffered, and many refugees couldn't farm due to the disruption. They had to abandon their fields and flee the war zones, leaving vast uncultivated lands. Simultaneously, many refugees starved as they couldn't find enough food, leading to deaths along the roadsides. Moreover, due to the lack of farmers, many warlord forces suffered from a shortage of military provisions. Some even disbanded because of a lack of food.

Lu Bu had noticed the importance of food supply while reading historical books about the Three Kingdoms. The military and strategic minds of the Three Kingdoms paid great attention to food and logistical supply. They strategized and planned wars based on food availability and supply lines. It could be said that many of the wars during the Three Kingdoms era were fought as large or small battles over food. The presence or absence of food, as well as the quantity of food, not only determined the depth and outcome of wars but also influenced the course and direction of wars.

Lu Bu remembered his past battles with Cao Cao. He often lost due to a lack of food. Cao Cao began implementing farming, ensuring well-fed troops. However, Lu Bu, lacking talented administrators and unable to conduct farming, faced a scarcity of provisions. Several times, he had to retreat just when victory seemed within reach due to a lack of food. In the Battle of Guandu, Cao's army nearly starved, but with only two proactive attacks, they burned all of Yuan Shao's food supplies. It could be said that Yuan's army didn't lose to Cao's strength but scattered due to hunger.

Recognizing the significance of food, Lu Bu decided that as soon as he returned to his base in Bingzhou, he would start large-scale farming.

Of course, the benefits of farming would only be visible after a year or two. The current grain reserves had to be prepared well.

Lu Bu instructed Xue Lan to manage ten thousand catties of gold and, with the assistance of Yan Mu, distribute it to Luoyang and the surrounding counties to buy grain. They must complete the purchases as quickly as possible; otherwise, the various grain merchants, aware of each other's supplies, would quickly raise grain prices.

During the Eastern Han period, grain prices fluctuated greatly. During times of prosperity and abundant harvests, a stone of yellow rice could be bought for five coins. However, in years of great disasters, the price could skyrocket to ten thousand coins per stone.

In this year, the situation in the world had already awakened from the calm after suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Signs of disasters were beginning to show everywhere, and grain prices had started to rise. The current average price was two hundred coins per stone. When Dong Zhuo took control of Luoyang and recklessly issued currency, grain prices instantly soared to tens of thousands of coins per stone, making it impossible for even the wealthy to buy food.

Ten thousand catties of gold are equivalent to ten million coins, which can buy five hundred thousand stones of grain. Each soldier consumes about twenty stones of grain per year. With so much grain, it would only be enough for nearly forty thousand soldiers under Lu Bu's command for eight months.

Yan Mu, seeing Lu Bu preparing to buy a large amount of grain, was puzzled and asked why Lu Bu needed so much grain.

Lu Bu explained his predictions about the current situation and speculated on the natural disasters in the coming years.

After Lu Bu finished his analysis, Yan Mu, considering his observations in the business world over the years, had to admit that Lu Bu's analysis, although sounding alarming, was reasonable in every aspect. The turbulent times were approaching, and the prices of gold, silver, silk, and precious treasures were bound to plummet. On the other hand, the price of grain would skyrocket. This presented an excellent opportunity for profitable business.

Selling gold, silver, silk, and precious treasures to buy grain seemed like a simple business, but once it scaled up, it would become complicated. After careful consideration, Yan Mu found that relying solely on his efforts was not enough to complete the purchase of grain throughout the country to meet Lu Bu's required scale of military grain reserves. Therefore, he had to seek advice from Lu Bu.

Bingzhou, equivalent to the later Shanxi, was also known as Jin. The formidable prosperity of the Shanxi merchants in the Ming and Qing dynasties a thousand years later was still fresh in Lu Bu's memory. Lu Bu knew that the success of Shanxi merchants lay in integrity and unity. He suggested that Yan Mu go and contact all the merchants in Bingzhou, establishing a Bingzhou Chamber of Commerce for mutual development.

Excited about Lu Bu's plan, which used the success of later Shanxi merchants as a vision, Yan Mu immediately set off for Luoyang. He contacted Bingzhou merchants in Luoyang and sent people to contact local influential merchants in various counties in Bingzhou. Within a few days, relying on Yan Mu's prestige in the Bingzhou business community and the support of his son-in-law, the Prefect of Luxurious Virtue Lu Bu, he successfully gathered thirty-six Bingzhou prominent merchants to form the Bingzhou Chamber of Commerce, declaring himself the chairman.

At Yan Mu's persuasion, the Bingzhou Chamber of Commerce contributed fifteen billion coins to invest in the Dedication Group. As Lu Bu represented the state-controlled military shares, the Bingzhou Chamber of Commerce also spent an additional twenty-two billion coins to acquire the precious treasures under Lu Bu's name. With the original wealth, Lu Bu invested twenty-five billion coins into the Dedication Group, occupying fifty percent of the shares. The Bingzhou Chamber of Commerce held thirty percent, Yan Mu held four percent personally, and the remaining sixteen percent were evenly distributed among the soldiers of the Bingzhou army.

The first major deal after the establishment of the Dedication Group was to use about forty billion coins, including silver and precious treasures (gold reserved for future gold-standard financial system reserves), to buy grain. This included millet, wheat, rice, beans, and sorghum. Originally, they expected to purchase twenty million stones of grain, but noticing someone crazily buying grain, some influential families increased prices while others with foresight hoarded grain without selling, coupled with the already limited grain supply, resulted in only being able to buy five million stones of grain, spending fifteen billion coins.

Helpless, Yan Mu had to report the unfavorable situation of grain procurement to Lu Bu. Lu Bu knew that there were wise men under the heavens, and many would have sensed the crucial importance of grain in troubled times. Although five million stones were not ideal, it was enough. The remaining twenty-five billion coins were kept for creating weapons and purchasing more grain.

Yan Mu spent over one billion coins to buy thousands of horses, carriages, and ships for transporting grain from Bingzhou. Along the way, they encountered bandits and refugees who robbed them. Coupled with natural consumption during transportation, by the time they reached the grain storage in Bingzhou, only four million stones were left.

Lu Bu used two million stones as military rations, with a person and a horse each consuming roughly twenty stones, which could support forty thousand soldiers and horses for a year.

Another one million stones were used to recruit refugees for resettlement. Each refugee would consume ten stones per year, enough to support a hundred thousand refugees for a year. The remaining one million stones were used as seeds.

After a year of fruitful farming, each refugee tilled ten acres of land. With an average yield of three stones per acre and two seasons of planting, they harvested six million stones in total. The government and the people shared the harvest equally, and Lu Bu could gain three million stones. The refugees would also have to repay the original one million stones, totaling four million stones. Continuing to recruit refugees for resettlement and concurrently organizing military settlements, the harvested grain would become more abundant. After three years, they should be able to harvest over ten million stones.

After three years, the grain prices in Chang'an would soar to ten thousand coins per stone. Transporting five million stones there would bring in at least five hundred billion coins, potentially gaining three hundred billion coins after deducting the initial investment. In just three years, they could achieve a profit of over twenty times. Such a business was irresistible to anyone.