Zhen Sheng's life is good. He is in charge of business. No matter how big the family is or how big the person is, anyone who wants to do business here needs his say.
The business under the rule of General Wang has developed and enriched the people for many years, giving the people a stronger purchasing power than before. After various research and production of new products, it has regained new vitality in troubled times and begun new changes. . Whether it is transporting goods from north to south or opening a store here, it is quite profitable.
Although there are heavy taxes, many rules, and strict supervision, they cannot stop the wealthy families who are rivals of Wang Yan from investing in industries here. Capitalists have to risk their lives to get 300% of their profits, let alone wealthy families who are more powerful than capitalists. Greed is the same and they all risk their lives.
This highlights the importance of Zhen Sheng, the official in charge of business, and also highlights Zhen's foresight in taking refuge with Wang Yan.
The current Zhen family is no longer the Wuji Zhen family, but the Tuhe Zhen family. Since they knew that the world was in chaos and they had not invested in many aspects, they certainly would not leave their family in someone else's territory. They had already moved to Tuhe and completely relied on Wang Yan.
The children of their family were in every corner of Wang Yan's rule, including the army, civil servants, commerce, breeding, medicine, and Wenchang Pavilion, all with members of the Zhen family. Compared with the original, the family's power has expanded to an unknown amount, becoming a behemoth again.
It can almost be said that he is only inferior to General Wang.
Of course, there is a way to kill him. Zhen Sheng feels that he knows best who Wang Yan is. He does have a broad mind and a big plan, but he is also very ruthless and decisive. Now the Zhen family is prosperous because it is the right time to employ people, and also because the Zhen family obeys the rules, but there will always be a day when she does not.
Although Zhen Sheng has become a core member of the General's Mansion and holds a lot of power, he still has no say in the Zhen family. His status has indeed improved, but the patriarchal system is there, and what he says does not count.
So while enjoying the scenery, he is often worried...
After receiving the general's order, he went out to find someone to summon Han Sui's envoy to the post office, and took him to the study. He himself sat quietly aside.
"Cheng Gongying pays homage to the general."
This man is quite old and dressed luxuriously. He and Han Sui were close friends from the same hometown, and he helped Han Sui a lot in his career. Han Sui owes a considerable part of his achievements to him. After Han Sui's death, he surrendered to Cao Cao.
There is no doubt that such people here in Wang Yan should be killed.
Seeing Cheng Gongying's respectful look, Wang Yan waved his hand and casually pointed to the chair opposite: "Sit down and talk."
"Thank you, General, for sitting down."
Cheng Gongying sat upright opposite Wang Yan. When he sat down, he glanced at the letters on the table.
He cupped his hands and said, "General, you have read my lord's letter, but you don't know how to make a decision?"
Of course he had learned about Wang Yan in detail before coming here. He knew that Wang Yan was straightforward and didn't like too much nonsense, so he got straight to the point and spoke clearly.
Wang Yan was noncommittal: "Let's talk about what Han Sui thinks."
"In the second year of Zhongping, the general wrote to my lord, asking my lord to go to Gumo to plant cotton. In that year, my lord sent people to bring cotton seeds to Gumo. In the fourth year of Zhongping, the first harvest was harvested, and it was transported back to Xiliang to be planted according to the instructions of the general. With this method, he made cotton clothes, cotton shoes, quilts, and even spun cotton and linen cloth. Our Lord was overjoyed and respected the general's righteousness. Now that he is five years old, the cotton he has collected piles up like a mountain.
The general's previous letter said that my lord can go ahead and stock up, and the general will trade for salt and iron. Today, the general and his troops have entered Yanmen, and my lord has stationed himself in Jincheng. The land of two thousand miles is no longer obstructed, and the trade route has been opened. My lord wants to trade cotton with the general for grain, snowflake salt, and fine iron. Our lord transports cotton to Yanmen, and the general only needs to transfer the materials to Yanmen. "
"There is a severe drought this year. Although I have built extensive water conservancy projects under my rule, the harvest is still poor. Besides, if my reserves are abundant enough, why do I need to trade with you? Just attack with a large army. In addition to grain, refined iron cannot be used, but iron ingots can be used. The production of snowflake salt is difficult and time-consuming, and there is not much in stock. Most of it can be traded. The rest is offset by herbs, fur, white glaze, etc.
You don't need to say anything, just do the deal. If not, then return to Liangzhou as soon as possible. "
Wang Yan said it just as straightforwardly. How could a rebel leader like him have the time to chirp with him? The reason for recruiting people here is just to see if they are worthy of inciting rebellion.
He is strong for a reason, and this transaction is not fair. What's the use of a pile of cotton? In particular, Han Sui traveled five thousand miles from Xiliang to Gumo, and thousands of miles back and forth. It is true that the countries in the Western Regions dare not mess around, but even so, the number of people eating horse chews on the way back and forth is not a small number.
Even if Han Sui had a hard relationship with the Qiang and Hu and paid them to go to Gumo to grow cotton, it would still be an investment. Even if Han Sui grew up and knew how to try growing some cotton on his own land, it would still occupy farmland. In today's era, planting large-scale cash crops is courting death. Because no matter the economy, we must first ensure survival. Liangzhou is already poor and its grain production is not high. If you simply don't grow grain, you will be destroying yourself.
In fact, it was Liangzhou that Wang Yan planned. Of course, the Western Region must be planned, but the Western Region is too far and his tentacles cannot be extended in a short time. What he wanted from the beginning was to conquer Liangzhou and use Liangzhou as a way forward to continue to cultivate the Silk Road and carry out economic penetration.
Cotton can also be grown in the Hexi Corridor, and the yield is sufficient. It will definitely be more than what he is getting now. Moreover, it is not a waste of land, and the food is completely sufficient. Because although it now fully occupies the Northeast Plains, it has not been fully developed. Despite the Ice Age, there is still room for improvement in food production.
Moreover, it is said that man can conquer nature. As long as he does not fight a big war or carry out a large-scale expansion, he will have enough food no matter what. Even if there is not enough food, he now has the ability to build warships. He can directly send his army south to control the Indo-China Peninsula. If it is not enough, he will control Indonesia. The grain output in both places is considerable. If planting is standardized, planting techniques are improved, and high-quality seeds are cultivated, a large amount of grain can be shipped back in a few years.
The way of heaven is to make up for the deficiency when there is excess damage. There is no big problem in using the flesh and blood of the people in these two places to support the people under his rule. The natives in these two places will also be grateful for the gifts brought by General Wang.
Looting with swords and guns was just the beginning. It taught them how to fear. After that, they will feel what the light of civilization is and what the heavenly kingdom is.
This must be done. After all, there are many places in China that are not suitable for farming, but there are also hard-working people working hard to survive. This is of course unfair, they need more land...
After listening to Wang Yan's words, Cheng Gongying was silent for a while, and finally nodded: "I will follow the general's opinion."
"Meng Guang."
Zhen Sheng, who had just sat down for a while, stood up and said, "Mr. Chenggong, you and I will discuss the details, please."
"Farewell." Cheng Gongying stood up and saluted respectfully. He didn't care about Wang Yan's casual attitude, and he had no right to care.
He could say with certainty that if he showed a trace of dissatisfaction, whether he would survive today would depend on whether the general was in a good mood.
In fact, it would be the same for him. If Wang Yan went on a mission and went to Han Sui's territory, but did not give Han Sui the corresponding respect, or even quarreled, Han Sui would probably kill him directly. He would also support it based on the situation. of.
It's not easy to be a messenger these days. It's rare that Mi Heng sprayed him in a circle and finally died in Huang Zu's hands.
Besides, Wang Yan was a big rebel who came from the capital of Guizhou and occupied the north. In the eyes of the princes, he was no different from a barbarian. If he killed an envoy if he was unhappy, that would not be a bad idea.
Watching Cheng Gongying leave with Zhen Sheng, Wang Yan continued to work.
Han Sui would definitely not sell all the cotton he had grown for five or six years to him. In fact, the cotton had no worries about marketability. In addition to arming his own soldiers, Han Sui must also be selling it to wealthy families. The warmth retention properties of cotton have been proven in Liaodong, but the output in Liaodong is not enough, so only quilts are sold at very high prices.
As long as Han Sui has a little heart, he should know how to sell it.
It's just that the situation this year is different. Because there is a severe drought this year, there is a huge food shortage, and Han Sui also has to support the army. This causes the value of the cotton he hoards to drop significantly and becomes meat on the chopping board. So he sent an envoy directly to deliver the message, and he was a very trustworthy confidant.
It is now recognized that the richest person is the rebel Wang, because only Liaodong's harvest has not been significantly affected, ensuring normal grain output. In Jiaozhi in the south, Shixie's area is also pretty good. Although Shixie's territory has many mountainous areas, it has a well-developed water system and a better climate, so it has not been greatly affected.
Obviously, Youzhou is closer than Jiaozhi. What is even more obvious is that Han Sui did not expect to trade grain with Wang Yan. At this time, only some wealthy families will release some food. If they use this time to annex land, they will definitely sell some food.
After all, the land owned by the wealthy people is high-quality fertile land and has water conservancy. No matter how drought or barrenness it is, there is still no harvest. As long as their food is enough to feed their entire family for two years and leave some food to deal with tenants and slaves to prevent them from rebelling, the rest will be huge profits. Every famine is an opportunity for their family to move forward.
Han Sui approached Wang Yan to trade, but he still wanted to try his luck in case he sold grain. Furthermore, Wang Yan's resources here are the richest. To this day, although they still don't want to believe it, they have to admit that this big rebel who was born in the capital of Guizhou has the ability to govern the world, and the soldiers and people under his rule are managed very well. , inventions and creations are constantly emerging, and Liaodong's resources are unexpectedly abundant. Many people regret that it is such a waste to let the king thief occupy such a place.
There are many things they need here...
The distance is too far and the business cycle is too long. When Cheng Gongying returns to Jincheng and sends a convoy over, 80% of it will be thawed. Of course Wang Yan can rest assured when Zhen Sheng does things, so there is no way he will suffer a loss. He didn't interfere and continued to do things according to the original rhythm.
During this year, the princes were also developing desperately.
Neighbor Yuan Shao is building water conservancy and developing internal affairs in Daxing. This year's harvest has been greatly reduced, but he can still make ends meet. At the same time, he was actively contacting other princes to unite to fight Yuan Shu.
He has not been idle when it comes to using troops. He admitted that he couldn't defeat Wang Yan. After all, Wang Yan alone dared to stop Gongsun Zan's 20,000-strong army. The soldiers under his command were well-equipped and well-trained. He was not sure and did not dare to act rashly.
But just because he didn't dare to attack Wang Yanmou Youliao didn't mean that he wouldn't take any action. He wanted to accumulate more power and kill the thief Wang. Therefore, internally, he actively suppressed the banditry in Jizhou, and externally, the Black Mountain Army fought fiercely in the Taihang Mountains, and by the way, he plotted against Qingzhou in the east. There was some anxiety in the action, which showed a sense of urgency, and they did not stop even in winter.
Cao Cao still followed his original path to prosperity. He received a huge gift from the sky, won the support of the Yanzhou wealthy people, defeated the invading Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, and even fought in the direction of Qingzhou, joining forces with Yuan Shao, and gained 100,000 Qingzhou soldiers and hundreds of thousands of civilians. .
Originally it was Lao Cao himself who fought the battle and gained 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers and millions of people, laying a solid foundation for his rise. This number is definitely an exaggeration, and now they are fighting with Yuan Shao, and they have given Yuan Shao a lot of points. One hundred thousand Qingzhou soldiers, and this number of hundreds of thousands is also an exaggeration. It is estimated that he can have between 40,000 and 50,000 yuan, including his family and dependents, which is less than 200,000 yuan.
Even so, it is a force that cannot be underestimated. Counting the soldiers and civilians of Yanzhou, it can barely be considered a tie with Yuan Shao.
Originally, Yuan Shao had no time to pay attention to the Qingzhou Yellow Turban at this time. He was busy fighting Gongsun Zan. And overall, it also has a considerable advantage, so Lao Cao has come forward, but not Yuan Shaoqiang.
Now because of Wang Yan, Yuan Shao did not dare to provoke, and had to reserve enough troops to resist him. In other words, we can only develop horizontally, and plan for Qingzhou, and then Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and Yuzhou.
But he did not develop, so Cao Cao seemed a bit of an eyesore. There was a rift between the two of them originally, and now it was time to compete in the world. He and Yuan Shu were still brothers, so they also fucked each other, not to mention Cao Cao.
But overall, Yuan Shao actually has the advantage, because Zhang Yang is on his side, and Liu Biao of Jingzhou is further away.
Lao Cao is not stupid, he is very suspicious himself, not to mention how can he allow others to snore next to the bed? So Lao Cao secretly wooed Kong Rong. At this time, Kong Rong, the 20th grandson of Confucius, was the prime minister of Beihai. On the surface, Lao Cao is showing weakness, but in fact he has a dirty mind.
As for Liu Bei, he is still under Tao Qian, but his strength is indeed growing day by day, and he now has more soldiers and horses under his command. His position was to follow Tao Qian. Tao Qian was old and no longer useful. Facing Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, and even Cao Cao's attempts to win over them, I didn't know what to choose for a while and decided to sit back and watch. Each of these three companies is stronger than the last, and no one can do it if Xuzhou is in decline.
But this is also a problem, because being weak itself is a sin, and if you don't have a position in today's troubled times, it is even more annoying.
But fortunately, Yuan Shao was far away, Cao Cao was well-fed and developing, Yuan Shu was working against Liu Biao, and Xuzhou was in that corner, so it was considered stable. Only Liu Bei was anxious and focused on training his troops. He knew full well that this peace would not last long.
Now the situation seems to be somewhat clear. There are only four people who have hope in the world: Wang Yan, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao. But he knew that the situation was unpredictable and no one knew how it would develop next. But he really had nowhere to go. Unless he was working for Wang Yan, he thought it would be the same no matter who he worked for now. So all he can do is train his troops, hoping that he will have a chance when something unexpected happens.
Yes, Liu Bei, who holds tens of thousands of soldiers and horses and has almost emptied Xuzhou's military power, is still waiting for an opportunity...
In Chang'an, Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, plus Han Sui who was stationed at Ma Teng in Yi County and guarding Jincheng County, plus the court officials, a group of people were playing tricks every day. From time to time, I have to pay attention to the situation elsewhere, issue edicts, reward favors, etc., and enjoy the addiction of having power over the world.
The current imperial edict is still good for two reasons, because it represents legitimacy.
In today's separatist regime, even Wang Yan is still the Marquis of Liao. It was with this status that he spent his time as a novice. Of course, he never cared about it. Even under the circumstances at that time, it was either impossible to fight or more people would die, so he chose to spend money to eliminate the disaster.
In addition, Zhang Yan of the Montenegrin Army also defected to the Han Dynasty in the early years. He was granted the title of General Zhonglang, who was appointed to manage administrative and public security affairs in the mountainous areas north of the Yellow River. He could recommend Xiaolian to the court every year and dispatch planners. The official went to Luoyang to report. He was entrenched in the Taihang Mountains. At that time, we couldn't simply destroy him, we could only recruit him.
Compared to Wang Yan, everyone else could say that he was a Han minister who had lived in the world, so they still gave the imperial power a little respect, because that was what they longed for.
However, Li Jue and others seemed to be obsessed with this feeling. They learned bad habits from Dong Zhuo and thought that by controlling Luoyang/Chang'an, they could control the world. Without a strong pioneering spirit, they lived in Chang'an. Moreover, they did not decide on a boss who could keep his word. Everything was decided through discussion. Today I am unhappy, tomorrow I am uncomfortable, there are many things to do.
Jia Xu looked anxious. These few garlics would definitely not last long. He wanted to run, but he couldn't for a while...
All this information was collected by the caravan. There were caravans sent out by himself, as well as caravans from other wealthy families. They were chatting at the hotel. I'm sure someone will remember it clearly, and they will tally it up and send it to Wang Yan's desk that day.
At this point, many prophets are no longer effective, because the situation has already taken a major turn.
For example, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, will Lao Cao accept his biological father this time? After accepting it, will Tao Qian still flatter him? Does flattery require Liu Bei to send it off? Or he was still killed by Zhang Kai, and then Lao Cao attacked Xuzhou. So this time there is no sneak attack by Lu Bu, how will it unfold?
This is still far away, and what is closer is Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shu. How these parties plan, etc., are all variables.
But it has little to do with Wang Yan. After all, he relies on hard power to conquer the world, not any prophetic words.
The late Eastern Han Dynasty, when heroes are vying for hegemony, is still too quiet. No matter how clever you are, no matter how slippery your tactics are, you will eventually have to return to fighting. Fighting for world hegemony is not about treating guests to dinner, but ultimately returning to the actual battlefield.
In other words, General Wang can stop fighting, so how can they be idle?
Another year of spring plowing has come to an end, and it has been more than two years since Youzhou was conquered. The land has been planted twice, harvested once, and 2,500 naval soldiers have been sent out to explore the sea and search for God-given grain.
On the hillside, General Wang put his hands behind his back, his long shirt swaying in the wind, and his beard growing even more dishonestly. His eyes were looking towards the south, ten miles away, where Yuan Shao was stationed.
"Fengxian, now half a year has passed, how do you feel?"
Wang Yan didn't look back, just looked south.
Because of his reasons, Yuan Shao was a little cautious, not active at all, and not at all domineering about the ASEAN leader. Wang Yan decided to give Yuan Shao some strength...
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