Chapter 80 National Debt Repayment Movement
Upon hearing that there was still a way to "rescue" the patient, Mr. Yongsan, who was already almost in despair, immediately asked the other party to tell him the solution.
After all, it has come to this point now, it is purely a matter of "trying to save the dying horse"! The longer you can hold on, the better! Seeing that everyone's eyes turned to him, even Li Yunchang, who was over 50 years old, was nervous.
He just sighed, then gritted his teeth and told everyone a story before telling them his plan.
Decades ago, Japan also forced Goryeo to lend 10 million yen, and used this as an excuse to interfere in Goryeo's internal affairs. In order to get rid of slavery, Goryeo's intellectuals launched a "national debt compensation movement", whereby the nobles donated their gold and silver treasures, and the peddlers quit smoking and saved money, and donated them to the country in an attempt to pay off the national debt and win back sovereignty.
Although this campaign was eventually stopped due to the intervention of Japan, it still raised nearly 200,000 yen in one year! …
"At this point, the country is about to go bankrupt, a large number of enterprises have stopped production and work, and workers have been laid off and unemployed. In this case, it is an indisputable fact that we might as well take the initiative to expose this situation to all the people, and then have the media report it to guide public opinion and launch the 'National Debt Repayment Movement' again!" Li Yunchang then gritted his teeth and said his own plan.
If they operate properly this time, they may be able to raise a considerable amount of funds in a very short period of time to solve the current urgent problem! Hearing Li Yunchang's proposal of a method that would definitely make them lose face, most of the people present were filled with righteous indignation, and they angrily denounced Li Yunchang's method as extremely bad, and once used, it would inevitably push Mr. Yongsan into an irreparable situation! ...
Seeing that these guys were more active than anyone else in blaming him, but turned a deaf ear and remained silent when asked to find a solution, Li Yunchang was very angry with them.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to refute, Mr. Yongsan on the main seat suddenly spoke up, "Enough! If you can't come up with other feasible solutions, then shut up!"
Hearing Mr. Yongsan's angry rebuke, everyone felt as if their necks were being strangled and fell silent in an instant.
With Mr. Yongsan's consent, the plan to encourage the public to donate money to support the country was forcibly passed. As for what kind of social opinion and negative impact it would cause in the future, these were no longer within his consideration! Things have developed to this point, and his presidency is destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame! Instead of sitting and waiting for death, it is better to do something meaningful within the remaining term, which can be regarded as "making up for the mistakes" and fulfilling his responsibilities!
After the meeting, many officials and think tanks who attended the meeting were very depressed. They knew very well that things had developed to this point, and their current Blue House management would inevitably be criticized for such a shame!
Obviously they had achieved brilliant achievements in the early stage, but they didn't expect that it would end up like this. It's really a case of "losing one's integrity in old age"!
(Note: During Yongsan’s term, the slogan of “globalization” was put forward, and Goryeo joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The per capita GDP of Goryeo exceeded the 10,000 US dollar mark, joining the ranks of developed countries.) However, now that things have come to this, they have no other choice but to follow Mr. Yongsan all the way!
…
In the following period, the Korean domestic news media changed its previous optimistic reporting style and began to talk about the current poor situation in the country and the aggressive stance of foreign financial institutions.
After watching the news reports on TV, people in China realized that the domestic economic situation had become so dire that all the country's foreign exchange reserves had been exhausted and the government was unable to repay the huge overseas debts that were about to mature.
The people also heard about the harsh requirements of the International Monetary Fund for the first time through television reports, which also aroused their patriotism. Under the encouragement of the host, some people soon began to respond and took the little gold left in their homes to the special receiving points for donation! This wave of donating money to save the country was widely reported by the news media and soon attracted the response and imitation of the people across the country.
Although the leaders of large companies and chaebols are well aware that such behavior is more for show than for practical use, they still cooperate and arrange for their families to make a special trip with their gold jewelry.
…
Five-star Li family residence.
Watching the highly publicized act of a company's family members donating gold on TV, Li Jianxi showed a look of disdain on his face. These politicians really know how to "motivate the people"!
Now, the huge overseas debt owed by Goryeo is not only more than 20 billion US dollars, but more than 100 billion US dollars! 20 billion is just the latest batch of repayments that are due! They dare not tell the people all about this cruel reality, making them mistakenly believe that as long as they tighten their belts and donate gold, the country may not go bankrupt. If the naive country survives this, large domestic companies will be able to resume normal production, and they will be able to return to work and get their salaries! But now that they have chosen to do this, they can only cooperate in acting out a play and see how this "good play" will end! ...
"Zairong, let your wife bring some gold jewelry and follow your mother to the scene to donate gold tomorrow! Since they have sent people there, our Five-Star Li family cannot fall behind!" Li Jianxi pointed at the picture on TV and ordered his son Li Zairong.
"Okay, father!" Li Zairong nodded solemnly. This was not a difficult thing to do. It was just a matter of giving up some worldly possessions and taking a walk on it. It was nothing serious!
"…But, do I need to inform my two younger sisters?" Thinking of his two younger sisters, especially Li Fuzhen who went to Hong Kong for her honeymoon with Zhang Junfeng, Li Zairong asked subconsciously.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
"...Forget about Shuxian. But you still need to remind Fuzhen, to avoid some bad media taking unfavorable photos and maliciously misinterpreting them, causing unnecessary trouble!" After thinking for a moment, Li Jianxi decided to let Li Jae-yong remind the other party. Now is a turbulent time, so it is better to keep a low profile.
…
While Li Jianxi and his son Li Jae-yong were discussing the family's donation of gold and Li Fuzhen who was far away in Hong Kong, they did not know that Li Fuzhen, the person involved, was currently selecting her favorite brands and products in the flagship store of an international cosmetics brand.
(End of this chapter)