Chapter 2202: Descendants of the Ying family? Impossible (Part 2)
Cao Cao was also unlucky enough to choose Yanzhou as the place to start his career.
Facts have proved that Yanzhou is really not a good place. Even though the terrain is flat and easy to attack and difficult to defend, it is still the state that has suffered the most from the Yellow Turbans.
After Cao Cao unified Yanzhou, it can be said that it was completely destitute, with nothing but people, and the strength of the surrounding princes was not weak, so the difficulty of developing it was comparable to hell.
The situation that Cao Cao faced in this life was many times more difficult than in the original history, but even so, he gritted his teeth and listened. The main way for him to survive was to hug Qin Hao's thigh.
Cao Cao lowered his arrogant head and temporarily acted as Qin Hao's younger brother. He first recognized the legitimacy of the Luoyang court, and then followed Qin Hao's lead in all aspects, thereby exchanging various development resources from Qin at the cheapest price.
At first, Cao Cao thought that he would definitely make a profit by trading with Qin Hao. After all, the Wei State was too poor and Qin State also sold them at a cheap price. There was not much money to be made in the Wei State. On the contrary, the Wei State could rely on the Qin State's money for food and military development. Grow stronger.
But as time went by, Cao Cao found that the situation was getting worse and worse. Wei was too dependent on Qin and did not look like an independent country at all.
To what extent did Wei depend on Qin?
The food gained from farming is not enough to feed the army? Buy it from Qin State.
After the army expansion, are there not enough weapons and equipment? Buy it from Qin State.
Want to build your own weapons, but don’t have enough iron ore? Buy it from Qin State.
Forming a cavalry, but no horses? Buy it from Qin State.
…
Everything Wei needs, from armor, horses, ores to grain, cloth, and salt, all need to be bought from Qin.
Through this silent way of nourishing things, Qin has subtly affected all aspects of Wei, and it has even reached the point where Wei cannot do without Qin.
The national strength that the Wei State worked hard to develop was all put into the pockets of the Qin State, which meant that everyone in the country was working for the Qin State.
After realizing this, Cao Cao deeply felt the terror of Qin Hao, and he was eager to get rid of Qin's control.
As long as we do not get rid of Qin's control, if Qin and Wei are at odds, there is no need for the Qin army to fight. As long as they prohibit trade with Wei and block the transportation of supplies, Wei will be in chaos without a fight.
In order to get rid of Qin Hao's control, Cao Cao's counselors came up with many ways.
Fan Li proposed a plan to recruit blacksmiths on a large scale.
Cheng Yu proposed to search for iron ore in Yanzhou.
Chen Qun is responsible for promoting new high-yielding grain varieties.
…
These strategies also worked.
Cheng Yu now discovered a large-scale iron mine in Chenliu, and later discovered a medium-sized iron mine in Dongjun. This allowed Wei to completely get rid of the iron ore shortage and no longer needed to spend money to buy from Qin. Iron ore.
With enough iron ore, enough weapons can be made, and Fan Li has also recruited enough blacksmiths, so naturally there is no need to buy weapons from Qin.
In these two aspects, although Wei got rid of its dependence on Qin, it still had to purchase war horses, cloth and other supplies from Qin.
In addition, although the new grain varieties were popularized by Chen Qun, Wei's grain production increased significantly. However, due to the large number of troops Wei raised and the continuous large and small battles, the food was barely enough to be self-sufficient.
Wei still needs to buy food from Qin, but the amount is definitely not as large as before.
It was precisely because of the lack of food that Cao Cao eagerly wanted to capture Jianghuai, because only by occupying the Jianghuai granary could Wei get out of the current predicament and open up a new situation.
But Cao Cao never expected that Zhu Di, who inherited his father's legacy, would be so difficult to deal with.
Under Cao Cao's various strategies, although Wei has not completely gotten rid of its dependence on Qin, the situation is much better than before. At least it will not break off diplomatic relations with Qin and start a war without war.
But what is happening in Wei now gives Cao Cao a heads-up, telling him that Wei's dependence on Qin is still there, but it has been transferred to the hearts of the people from a material and economic perspective.
In fact, the public opinion in Wei is so biased towards Qin Hao. In addition to Qin's long-term kindness to the people of Wei and Qin Hao's own achievements, there is another important reason, that is, Cao Cao's reputation is too bad.
Cao Cao was really a wolf destroyer. In order to govern the country well, he used all the means at his disposal, completely regardless of his own reputation. This also caused people outside Wei to basically criticize Cao Cao when they mentioned him.
Even in Wei itself, Cao Cao's reputation is mixed. Even if the people of Wei are the beneficiaries, not everyone can understand Cao Cao's painstaking efforts.
The cosmetic surgery of Cao Cao's advisers is second only to Qin Hao. It is easy to analyze the reason why Qin Hao is so popular among the people in Wei. In addition to Qin's continuous kindness to Wei, Cao Cao's own reputation is also a big reason.
In this regard, Cao Cao also felt very regretful, but he had no choice but to do so. He had no choice at all at the beginning. If he hadn't done so, he would not be where he is now.
"Lord, there is news from the school affairs office. A message came from Luoyang, saying that King Qin may be a descendant of Qin Shihuang and that the Qin family has royal blood." Cheng Yu reported with a serious face.
The School Affairs Office is an intelligence agency established by Cao Cao. It monitors civil and military officials internally and inquires about all important information externally. It is currently in charge of military advisor Cheng Yu.
After hearing Cheng Yu's words, Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "Hahaha, even the descendants of the First Queen can be thought of. The King of Qin can't wait to usurp the throne. I don't know that Brother Qin Wen knows Will you stand up from the wheelchair and scold this unfilial son?"
"My Lord, the descendants of the First Emperor may not be extinct, and the Qin family happens to come from Xianyang, Guanzhong, so it is really possible that they are the descendants of the First Emperor," Chen Qun said.
"No way, this is absolutely impossible."
Cao Cao decisively denied it and said confidently: "After investigation, the ancestors of the Qin family have been farmers for three hundred years. There is no complete inheritance, and there has never been any prominent figures. It was not until the Qinshan lineage gradually became prosperous by doing business. , how could he be a descendant of Qin Shihuang?"
"But the name of the Qin family's ancestral spiritual method is "Ancestral Dragon Jue", which corresponds to the name of the First Emperor. Isn't this still..."
Chen Qun was interrupted by Cao Cao before he finished speaking.
"Brother Qin Wen mentioned to Gu that the Ancestral Dragon Art was an unexpected acquisition by his father Qin Shan. If the Qin family had owned the Ancestral Dragon Art before, could they have resisted the temptation and not allowed their own children to practice it?"
"this……"
Chen Qun was speechless.
"Okay, the fact that the Qin family is descended from the First Empress is definitely false. There is no need to continue the discussion. What should be discussed now is that Qin Hao has decided to become emperor. After he becomes emperor, how should Wei State respond? ?”
Cao Cao looked at the counselors below and asked in a deep voice: "Should we continue to respect the Han Dynasty? Or should we change our ways and respect the Qin Dynasty?"
