Straw mat photography

Liu Bei was born in the royal family of the Western Han Dynasty. From the Western Han Dynasty to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it added up to 400 years. After the royal family like Liu Bei, it is basically no different from ordinary people. Although Liu Bei's grandfather worked as a county magistrate and his father Liu Ye was filial, Liu Bei's generation was surrounded by his family, so he had to live alone with his mother, weaving straw mats and selling straw sandals for a living.

When Liu Bei was a teenager, his family had no money to study. His uncle Liu Yuanqi sponsored Liu Bei's study. Liu Yuanqi asked his son Liu Deran to follow Liu Bei to study under the great scholar Lu Zhi. Without Liu's support, Liu Bei didn't even have a chance to study.

Although Liu Bei was so poor, from the beginning of the Yellow Scarf Uprising, Liu Bei pulled up an army to fight the Yellow Scarf Army. As we all know, it costs money to pull a team to fight, and at that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty court did not provide money and food to the civilian armed forces like Liu Bei, so Liu Bei needed to raise money and food himself. Then the problem is coming. Where did Liu Bei get the money he needed for the war?

First, Liu Bei's first bucket of gold The first sum of money Liu Bei needed for starting a business was provided by Zhongshan businessmen Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping. Then Liu Bei took the money to recruit soldiers and form a team. It was at this time that Liu Bei recruited Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. The key question is: Why do businessmen support Liu Bei for no reason?

There are three main reasons:

1, Liu Bei's royal status.

There has always been a huge royal family in Zhuoxian County, Youzhou County, where Liu Bei lives. It is a descendant of Liu Sheng, the son of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty. This family still had a good reputation at that time. Although Liu Bei's family is poor, his royal status can make businessmen pay attention to Liu Bei, and businessmen support Liu Bei, which is equivalent to supporting the royal family in Zhuo County, Youzhou County. Regardless of whether this family supports Liu Bei's uprising or not, businessmen have confidence in Liu Bei's uprising.

2. Liu Bei's local reputation.

According to historical records, Liu Bei likes to make friends with heroes, and heroes from all over the world are vying to attach themselves to Liu Bei. This shows that Liu Bei was famous at that time, much like Liu Bang. Liu bang has no money and no position, but he also likes to make friends with heroes. When he really starts fighting, a group of people will support him, and so will Liu Bei. He was famous at that time, and many people knew Liu Bei. This is Liu Bei's advantage.

Liu Bei can join a team to defend his country.

After the yellow turban insurrectionary broke out, the world was in chaos. The Yellow Scarf Army is a group of peasant rebels who indiscriminately attacked all the local counties in the war. The Yellow Scarf Army not only robbed the government, but also robbed the people, businessmen and landlords. As long as it can be robbed, the Yellow Scarf Army will be spared. In addition, the imperial court allowed non-governmental organizations to form armed forces to fight against the Yellow Scarf Army, and many powerful landlords appeared throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty to fight against the Yellow Scarf Army. Most of these people just want to protect themselves.

Liu Bei was famous at that time and wanted to join a team to fight the Yellow Scarf Army. At that time, he definitely supported it. After all, the interests of the government, people, businessmen, strongmen and landlords are the same in treating the Yellow Scarf Army. Businessmen paid Liu Bei to recruit soldiers to fight the Yellow Scarf Army, and there were also reasons for self-protection.

Businessmen had a low status in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, a big businessman in Zhongshan, provided Liu Bei with funds, which was definitely not an angel investment. They must ask for something in return. Either the businessman wants to borrow Liu Bei's strength to protect himself, or Liu Bei needs to provide services for the businessman, so as to get the first money from the businessman.

Second, the source of Liu Bei's money after the Yellow turban insurrectionary uprising. After Liu Bei became an army, he followed a captain named Zou Jing to fight the Yellow Scarf Army in the north. Liu Bei also made great contributions. After the Yellow turban insurrectionary failed, Liu Bei was appointed as the police captain of Anxi County, equivalent to the police chief of Anxi County. This is a court official. Of course, Liu Bei's army has also been resettled, and then the government will provide some money for Liu Bei to raise the army.

Later, the court of the Eastern Han Dynasty found that there were too many people who had been awarded meritorious service like Liu Bei, which was too much for the court, so it decided to remove a group of people who had been awarded meritorious service, and Liu Bei was relieved of his official position. Liu Bei, who lost his official position, lost the source of money and food. Liu Bei needs to find another way to make a living.

Liu Bei fled with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others and met Wu on the road. At that time, Wu was sent to Danyang by general He Jin to recruit soldiers. Liu Bei was desperate, so he followed Wu Qiuyi. As for why Wu promised to take Liu Bei, the history books did not say it. It is estimated that Liu Bei knew Wu Qiuyi.

When Liu Bei followed Wu Qiuyi to Xiapi, he made great contributions to cracking down on thieves and was appointed as Xiapi County Cheng by the court. As long as he became an official, Liu Bei could solve the problem of money and food, but later Liu Bei resigned as an official and became the captain and magistrate of Gaotang County. Later, Gaotang County was attacked by thieves, and Liu Bei lost his official position, so he had to take refuge in his old classmate Gongsun Zan.

Third, Liu Bei's source of money and food is Gongsun Zan. Liu Bei had little influence at that time, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were Liu Bei's main followers. Maybe some people. Liu Bei took refuge in Gongsun Zan, just like looking for a job now. Liu Bei worked for Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan provided Liu Bei with money and food, as well as troops, because Gongsun Zan named Liu Bei as another Sima at that time, which was equivalent to Gongsun Zan's generals, but Liu Bei had certain independence.

Because there is a clique under Liu Bei, including Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. They are not from Gongsun Zan, but only loyal to Liu Bei. Liu Bei took this clique to work for Gongsun Zan. For Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei was needed to strengthen his strength, so he accepted Liu Bei and offered him money and food.

Later, Liu Bei fought Yuan Shao for Gongsun Zan. Later, Liu Bei was sent by Gongsun Zan to Xuzhou to support Tao Qian. After Tao Qian's death, with the recommendation of Tao Qian and the support of Xuzhou strongmen, Liu Bei took over Xuzhou. Liu Bei suddenly changed from a guest who took refuge in Gongsun Zan to a warlord on the separatist side. At this time, Liu Bei does not need to provide sources of money and food. Because Liu Bei has Xuzhou, he can collect taxes from Xuzhou, and he has a source of money and food.

But not long after, Liu Bei's Xuzhou was taken away by Lu Bu's sneak attack, and Liu Bei became nothing again. As before, in desperation, Liu Bei once again took refuge in Lu Bu and was arranged by Lu Bu to be stationed in Xiaopei. At this time, Liu Bei only had a small number of troops, and he mainly relied on two aspects to obtain money and food:

One is the support of Mizhu.

Mi Zhu was a wealthy businessman in Xuzhou and probably the richest man in the Three Kingdoms period. His assets are hundreds of millions, and there are nearly ten thousand servants and guests at home. After Liu Bei's failure, Mi Zhu took out his family's money to support Liu Bei, recruited soldiers for Liu Bei, and Mi Zhu supported Liu Bei's two thousand people at one time. There was still a lot of money, which was enough for Liu Bei to maintain the army's expenses.

Why did Mi Zhu support Liu Bei?

Because he took a fancy to Liu Bei, Liu Bei is very attractive, knows how to use people, and is very polite to corporal. In such troubled times, although Mizhu is a wealthy businessman, he also needs to rely on a powerful group to keep his family's money from being robbed. Mi Zhu chose Liu Bei over Lu Bu, including later rejecting Cao Cao, because Cao Cao had a bad reputation at that time, so did Lu Bu, and Mi Zhu had limited acquaintances in Xuzhou.

Mi Zhu's investment in Liu Bei, in the words of now, is investment. This investment is definitely not free. Liu Bei needs to protect Mi Zhu's family and provide a sustainable future for Mi Zhu. As mentioned above, the status of businessmen is relatively low. Mi Zhu's investment in Liu Bei should be similar to that of Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping.

The second is Xiao Pei's taxation and Lu Bu's support.

Liu Bei is stationed in Xiaopei, so he naturally has reason to collect local taxes. In addition, Lu Bu is willing to accept Liu Bei, so Lu Bu also needs to provide some money to Liu Bei, just as Liu Bei once received Lu Bu, but this money will not provide much.

Including Liu Bei's later refuge in Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. Liu Bei is surrounded by a small team, including Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Jian Yong, Sun Gan, Mi Zhu, Mi Fang, Ada and others. Liu Bei took refuge in Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao. Liu Bei has a semi-independent team around him, and all the expenses are borne by Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao. Liu Bei only needs Cao and Liu Biao.

Accurately speaking, it should be subordinate relationship and employment relationship. Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and others not only accepted Liu Bei, but also provided him with money and food in life, and at the same time they were always on guard against Liu Bei. Because Liu Bei has an independent small team, they should guard against Liu Bei. Because Liu Bei took refuge in them, they had to bear the cost of Liu Bei's army.

Fourth, after Liu Bei had his own base area, the source of money was Battle of Red Cliffs. After Liu Bei won the four counties in Jingnan, he borrowed the south county from Sun Quan, and Jingzhou immediately had five counties. Liu Bei appointed Zhuge Liang as the governor of Jingzhou three counties, responsible for paying taxes, that is, collecting taxes. As the local government of five counties in the south of Jingnan, Liu Bei has reason to collect taxes, which is a base advantage and the main source of money and food for Liu Bei's later development.

After Liu Bei laid Yizhou, the tax revenue of Yizhou was owned by Liu Bei. After the capture of Hanzhong, the tax revenue of Hanzhong also belongs to Liu Bei. Through constant foreign wars, Liu Bei acquired a large amount of land and population, and the taxes collected were also increasing. As a result, Liu Bei Group formed a political force, acting in the form of government. Besides collecting taxes, there are other ways to get money.

For example, Liu Bei once issued small coins instead of five baht, which was the hard currency of the Han Dynasty, that is, the standard currency. When Liu Bei governed Yizhou, he followed Liu Ba's advice and issued small money lighter than five baht instead of five baht. This is an economic policy. The original value of five baht money corresponds to heavier metal materials. Now it can replace 5 baht with a very light weight, which is actually an economic plunder and can help Shu Han.