Cao Zhang said to Cao Cao: "Father, my idea is that we can use the official name to open the following types of stores."
"Shop? What are you planning to sell this time?" Cao Cao asked curiously.
"No, we are not selling things this time, but collecting other people's things and money to generate value to meet our military needs." Cao Zhang answered Cao Cao.
"Take other people's money? Do you want to increase taxes? This will lead to political instability!" Cao Cao shook his head vigorously when he heard this.
"Father misunderstood. What I said about collecting other people's money and items is not forced collection, but legal means to make people give us their money and items willingly, and they will be very happy because of the results. , they can also get benefits and benefits.”
"Is there such a way?" Cao Cao felt more and more novel the more he listened, "Then tell me quickly, what kind of closing method is this?"
"The first type of shop I'm talking about is a pawn shop. In fact, this method of pawn is very common among the people. It is said that Sima Xiangru once took the robe he was wearing to the market to borrow wine on credit, and then sold it when he had money. It redeems.”
"It's just that pawning now is just a private transaction between people. There is no guarantee in this method. Once the store closes down, or encounters changes such as the owner moving, the pawner's items will be lost, causing losses."
"In this case, we will simply open a pawn shop in the official style, collect the items that the people want to pawn, pay a certain fee, and set a redemption time based on the value of the items. Once the time is exceeded, the items will belong to the official. And for timely redemption, we also have to charge a certain fee as the storage fee for the item during the pawn period."
“In this way, people who are short of money can obtain liquid emergency funds through pawns; on the one hand, we can earn commissions, and we can also receive some items that are easy to circulate and maintain value at very low prices, which is also a considerable income. ." Cao Zhang told Cao Cao the idea of opening a pawn shop in detail.
After hearing this, Cao Cao nodded slightly. The pawn method is indeed very common among the people. If a pawn shop is opened in the name of the official, it is a good way to earn materials and commissions.
"That's a good idea. Now, what other stores do you want to open?" Cao Zhang's first plan had already attracted Cao Cao, and he was very interested and wanted to hear any other good ideas.
"The second kind of shop I want to talk about is called a bank. The main currency in circulation among the people now is five-baht coins. But a large number of five-baht coins are very inconvenient whether they are used in circulation or carried, and can easily be lost."
"Nobles and wealthy merchants from all over the world have a lot of money in their hands, but they can only store their coins by building warehouses. Once there is war or famine, refugees or bandits will pose a great threat to the money and grain in their hands. "
"Especially for some traveling merchants, they often have to travel to various places to sell supplies, and they also need to transport a large amount of money back and forth. It is extremely inconvenient and very dangerous."
"We open banks in the name of the official, so wealthy businessmen and nobles can deposit their money into the bank. We provide them with certificates and pay different proportions of interest based on the length of their deposits, so that their money can not only be protected , you can even get certain benefits without doing anything.”
"The more important point is that our banks can be opened in various counties in the territory that are not easily invaded by foreign enemies. As long as our depositors hold the certificates issued by us, they can directly withdraw the corresponding currency from the banks in various places. We only charge There is a small handling fee, which greatly reduces the risk of merchants traveling with coins."
Cao Zhang explained the method of opening a bank to Cao Cao and Guo Jia in great detail.
"They deposit money with us, we provide protection, and we don't charge them but also pay interest to them? This is obviously a bit unreasonable, right? The pawn shop also needs money to pay for the pawn fees. Will our money be enough? No Will I lose money?" Although Guo Jia is good at strategy, economics is not his strong point. After hearing this, he did not fully understand and raised his concerns.
"If we don't give them some sweeteners, who will be willing to take their money out of their warehouse and put it into our bank? As for the worry about losing money that Military Advisor Guo said, there is no need to worry. Because we collect the money Come on, don’t leave it in the warehouse and don’t use it.”
"We need to use the time they are saving money to first use the money to develop new weapons and replenish military supplies. In this way, we can solve the problem of military supplies funds in a short period of time, and at the same time, the money can also maintain the pawnshop daily expenses, forming a healthy operation." Cao Zhang immediately said the solution.
Cao Cao nodded slightly after listening to Cao Zhang's explanation. The cooperation between pawnshops and banks mentioned by Cao Zhang can indeed solve part of the financial problem. More importantly, if nobles and wealthy businessmen everywhere can save their money, Entering the bank, the funds are used to develop new weapons and reserve military supplies, which is indeed a quick solution to the financial problem.
However, Cao Cao was also a top politician after all. He was not blindly optimistic, but calmly raised his concerns: "Ziwen, the combination of the two stores you mentioned can solve the funding problem in a short time, but the deadline When it comes time to repay the principal and interest, the money has already been used by us for military supplies, so what can we use to repay it? I'm afraid it's not enough to just rely on the commissions collected by the pawnshop and the items collected, right?"
"What my father said is that if I want to make money, I have a third business, which is the escort agency." Cao Zhang hurriedly comforted Cao Cao.
"The so-called bodyguard bureau is a business that specializes in the bodyguard industry. Nowadays, the world is in chaos and bandits are everywhere. Some merchants transport supplies and goods, so they can only organize their own servants and warriors to ensure safety."
"When we open a bodyguard bureau, we have an inherent advantage. We can establish a team specifically responsible for security, composed of excellent military soldiers. They can not only protect the safety of banks, pawnshops and restaurants in various places, but can also help by collecting commissions. Merchants transport various valuables and goods.”
"For example, now that the Yongliang region has returned to the imperial court, we can restore the Silk Road and trade with other parts of the Western Regions. Our bodyguards will be responsible for protection and transportation, and we will exchange and sell materials from the Central Plains with various parts of the Western Regions to obtain Enough profit to guarantee the principal and interests of the bank."
"Even our escort agency can also run the courier business when transporting valuable commodities. People have letters and small items that need to be transported, and we can also charge commissions for centralized transportation. This will definitely lead to more profits." Cao Zhang added Described in detail the idea of opening an escort agency.
Cao Cao thought carefully for a moment and raised his concerns: "Ziwen, your plan looks quite thorough. If we can implement these ideas smoothly, we will not only provide convenience to the people, but also gain huge benefits from it. Yours You really have a good eye.”
"It's just that for the escort agency to operate successfully, transportation is extremely important. If you rely solely on human transportation, the speed cannot be guaranteed, but if you use livestock, this itself will also be a huge expense. And to ensure the safety during transportation, sufficient transportation is also needed. Troops, I'm afraid we can't mobilize so many people now, right?" Cao Cao changed the subject and raised a new question.
Cao Zhang smiled and pulled Ma Chao over: "Father, this is why I brought Brother Meng Qi here today. As I said just now, in fact, the main escort route of the escort agency is from Xudu to Yongliang."
"We can ask the two governors, Ma and Han, to mobilize their troops to form the escort team of the escort agency. In this way, they will be more familiar with the road conditions and know how to avoid the horse bandits in the northwest. They can also suppress the Qiang people's plundering. Keep items safe.”
"I believe that as long as we agree to allocate three percent of the net profit from the escort business to them, they will be happy to work together to do this business."
"As for Yanzhou and Yuzhou, they are both my father's territories. As long as there are corresponding military protections, we can maintain the operation of the escort agency and there should be no problem."
"As for the transportation you just mentioned, with the addition of Yongliang and Yongliang, it should be much easier to mobilize horses, oxen, and even some donkeys to pull the cart than it is for us to build it ourselves." Cao Zhang presented the solution he thought of to Cao Cao explained.
After hearing this, Cao Cao felt more and more that Cao Zhang's mind was really powerful. He was able to come up with such a thorough plan and use it more rationally to share part of the profits. This not only ensured that the three businesses complemented each other and coordinated with each other. It can operate normally, and it can also use interests to tie Ma Teng, Han Sui and himself together, which can ensure the stability of Yongliang Prefecture.
Once this thing is successful, there will indeed be huge profit margins and sustainable development.
How could he have imagined that Cao Zhang's overall idea was to organically combine the three major modern banking, pawn and logistics industries, and also considered the "franchise and sharing" cooperation model, and then used the name of the emperor to attract all parties to ensure the entire industry chain operation.
This is a method of making money that has evolved over thousands of years and has been continuously verified. Naturally, there will be no big loopholes.
After Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other, they both nodded. It was obvious that after Cao Zhang's series of explanations, the entire plan was perfect and no more problems could be found.
He walked slowly to Cao Zhang's side, stretched out his hands and patted his shoulders vigorously, and said with admiration: "Ziwen, you came today, but you brought me another big surprise. Not only did you research New weapons, and three businesses were created, which solved the financial problem and maintained the stability of people's livelihood. I am so lucky to have a son like you as a father."
Cao Zhang looked at Cao Cao and smiled slyly, and then said: "As a son, it is natural for him to share his father's worries. But in order to come up with these weapons and businesses, I did spend a lot of energy and hard work. My father is Isn’t it necessary to give some benefits to my son to make up for it?”
Cao Cao looked at Cao Zhang and frowned slightly: "Okay, tell me, what compensation do you want?"
Cao Zhang stretched out two fingers: "My requirements are not high. I hope my father can give me 20% of the profits from these three businesses. This will give me motivation to use my brain more in the future and come up with more good ideas." Come and be filial to your father!"
Cao Cao looked at Cao Zhang and waved to him, motioning for him to come closer, as if he wanted to say something to him.
Cao Zhang didn't have any doubts and just lowered his head and approached.
Cao Cao saw the opportunity and hit Cao Zhang hard on the head. The pain was so painful that he screamed "Ouch" at that time: "Dad, you hit too hard?!"
"Good boy, I'm still arguing with your father, and the lion opens his mouth. Now I'm going to teach you a lesson!" Although Cao Cao's tone was stern, he actually had a smile on his face.
Then he stopped smiling and said seriously: "Two percent means two percent, I promise you! You can start making preparations for this, but you must be cautious and ensure that there are no mistakes in every link."
Cao Zhang also stopped joking and responded with a serious face: "Father, don't worry, I will always remember your instructions and personally supervise every link."
Cao Cao nodded: "Okay, let's go!"
Cao Zhang and Ma Chao saluted Cao Cao and Guo Jia together and prepared to leave.
But at this moment, Cao Cao said behind him: "Ziwen, two months should be enough to organize these things. You can take care of yourself!"
Cao Zhang immediately understood that Cao Cao was reminding himself that even if he offered so much business to please him, it did not mean that Cao Pi's incident could be dragged on indefinitely.
He immediately turned around and responded knowingly: "Don't worry, father, I will seize the time and handle everything properly!"
Cao Cao knew that he had understood his hint, nodded with satisfaction, and waved his hand to indicate that he could leave.
Cao Zhang and Ma Chao left quickly together.
Cao Cao handed the drawings to Guo Jia beside him: "Feng Xiao, immediately arrange for skilled craftsmen to try to develop these three weapons. Remember to keep it secret and not leak it out!"
Guo Jia took it and saluted Cao Cao: "Don't worry, my lord, I know what to do!"
Cao Cao nodded, and Guo Jia also resigned and left.
Cao Cao looked up at the sky and sighed: "With a son like this, what else can I ask for!"...
