In this way, Zhang Xi was forcefully pulled by Zhuge Liang, bid farewell to his wife and Xiaoba, left Rourou Township, and started working again.
Deng Fang's survey report had been sent to Hanzhong ten days ago. After reading it, Liu Bei was already anxious to return to Chengdu.
Deng Fang said in the report that he only sent people to inspect the mountains in Dongchuan and found no less than thirty mining areas, and some of these ores were even directly exposed on the surface, making them very easy to mine.
Deng Fang even apologized to Liu Bei in his report, saying that he had seriously neglected his duty as the commander of Nanzhong for so long without discovering such an important mineral.
But for this matter, we really can’t blame Deng Fang.
Deng Fang was a standard Confucian scholar who studied the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as the ways of governing the country. Even if he passed by Dongchuan and saw those open-pit mines, he would only think that it was a harsh place with no grass growing and unsuitable for farming. He would never treat this kind of landform Go get associated with minerals.
I haven’t studied it.
If Liu Bei had not sent someone to send a letter to remind him, and Deng Fang had sent craftsmen who knew about mineral exploration to investigate, he would not have known even to death that the "barren land" he thought could not be cultivated was actually a copper mining area.
Liu Bei also knew this, so he did not criticize him harshly. He just replied and asked Deng Fang to continue sending people to investigate other places mentioned by Zhang Xi.
Then Liu Bei began to think about it. There are more than thirty copper mining areas. They can produce a lot of copper anyway. I shouldn't have to worry about money and food in the next few years, right? !
Liu Bei was happy and in a very good mood. He was sixty years old and had two extra bowls of rice in the evening.
But within a few days, Liu Bei received a memorial from Yang Hong, the governor of Shu County.
Two things.
1. The news of the discovery of copper mines in Jianning County has spread to the center of Shu. The wealthy families in the center of Shu have a lot of material discussions, and interested people are ready to take action. The situation is a bit unstable. Please ask the King of Hanzhong to return to Chengdu as soon as possible to take charge of the overall situation.
Second, Yang Hong petitioned the King of Hanzhong. Due to years of war, the people in Shu were living in poverty. He hoped that the King of Hanzhong would follow the example of the previous emperors and open the mountains and rivers to Heze, allowing the people to enter the mountains to seek food.
Putting these two things together, it shows that Yang Hong had no intention of hiding it. He just told Liu Bei, you see, we are so supportive of your attack on Hanzhong. We ask for money to give money and people to give to others. Don't you also? Is it time to give us some reward and comfort? !
The copper mine in Jianning County is quite good. Can we have a stake in it? !
Although, in fact, there are many ways for the Shuzhong family to intervene in the copper mines of Jianning County, but Liu Bei is not in charge now, and everyone has accepted Liu Bei as the master of Shuzhong, so it would be better if Liu Bei could lead everyone to make a fortune together. It's sneaky.
Liu Bei was anxious at that time.
mine! mine! It's all my money! ! !
But when he thought about what Yang Hong said about Shuzhong being unstable, Liu Bei immediately realized that if he didn't go back and argue with these Shuzhong aristocratic families, Shuzhong might really be unstable.
Therefore, Liu Bei had to reply to Yang Hong, asking him to temporarily take charge of the overall situation of Chengdu and maintain stability, while he quickly found Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi to discuss what to do next.
What else can be done, everyone knows.
Zhang Xi complained at that time, how did Deng Fang do things, how could he survey the distribution of minerals and make it known to the whole city? !
Zhuge Liang didn't say anything. If Deng Fang had this ability, why would he ask to retire and give up his position as the governor of Gaojiang?
Liu Bei had no choice. Deng Fang was one of the first people in Jingzhou to seek refuge with him. He seemed to be okay on weekdays, but he didn't expect that once he got into practice, his secret was completely exposed.
And Deng Fang was also wronged.
He was just a scholar, and his position as the Governor-General was only a transitional one. How could he possibly be able to compete with the local aristocratic families in Jianning County?
Deng Fang sent people to investigate the distribution of copper mines. Maybe he had not received the real news yet. People from a local family in Jianning knew it before he did.
Of course, if there is only a small amount of copper ore, then the people of the local Jianning family will not make a big fuss. Instead, they will secretly cooperate with Deng Fang and throw out some mines to deal with Liu Bei, and then everyone will work together to eat a large amount of copper ore and fertilizer. Don't leave it to outsiders.
But this time Deng Fang conducted a large-scale exploration. Forget about some open-pit mineral deposits, some large mineral deposits in the mountains were also found. The Jianning aristocratic families calculated it together and probably felt that with such a large reserve, Deng Fang Fang probably didn't have the guts to cooperate with them and embezzle.
But if Deng Fang didn't dare to hide it, then Liu Bei would monopolize all these copper mines, and they were a little unhappy.
At this time, the local aristocratic families in Jianning had differences.
Some people think that in this case, it is better to do nothing. Anyway, Nanzhong has always been a place where Yi and Han people live together. It is better to simply do the opposite, close the access to Nanzhong, and local aristocratic families unite. Swallow this mineral together.
But some people disagree. Even if all the families in Jianning mine such a large mineral deposit for hundreds of years, they may not be able to fully mine it. There is no need to take such a big risk to rebel. It is better to let the news out and muddy the water. , attracting a group of aristocratic families from Chengdu to fight against Liu Bei. Maybe they can fish in troubled waters and seize some of the mineral deposits by relying on their local advantages.
Both propositions have their own supporters. For example, Meng and Yong are more inclined to the former, while Li is more inclined to the latter.
But no matter what, because of these disputes, the news eventually leaked out, and most of the aristocratic families in Shu County basically knew the news.
Then Chengdu became excited.
This is copper, which is money! ! !
Last year, everyone suffered heavy losses when they supported Liu Bei's attack on Hanzhong. However, it will take at least three to five years to subsidize everyone's losses at Hanzhong.
After all, it takes time to cultivate land and wait for harvest.
But copper ore is there, as long as you have people to mine it.
What everyone needs now is a justifiable amulet. Liu Bei has always flaunted his benevolence and righteousness, so he can't deny us this benefit, right? !
Therefore, while this group of people sent people to Jianning County for on-the-spot investigation, they also encouraged Yang Hong to write to Liu Bei, asking Liu Bei to open the mountains and rivers to Heze so that they could go to the mountains to mine copper.
The information obtained by the aristocratic families in Shu was much more detailed than the information Deng Fang sent to Liu Bei. They knew that such a large copper mining area could not be eaten by Liu Bei alone. Even a small mining area was passed down by a family for hundreds of years. Foundation, so the Shuzhong family felt that it was impossible for Liu Bei not to give such a small benefit.
But Liu Bei was really unwilling to give it because he had no intuitive idea of how much copper ore could be produced from more than thirty mining areas and how many five-baht coins could be minted.
Zhuge Liang did have a concept, but his concept was limited. After all, Deng Fang's explanation was not clear, and Zhuge Liang had not conducted any on-the-spot investigation.
I can only rely on experience to judge, and I feel that since Chengdu is so controversial, it must have a lot of reserves, otherwise the whole of Chengdu would not be alarmed.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang asked Liu Bei to return to Chengdu to stabilize the situation first. Then he and Zhang Xi went south at night and rushed to Jianning for on-site inspection, and then Liu Bei made a decision.
Liu Bei accepted this suggestion and set off south, back to Chengdu.
But just halfway through the journey, Liu Bei received Deng Fang's second report, saying that a lot of copper mines had been discovered south of Dianchi Lake. The scale was not much smaller than Dongchuan, and it was more deadly. What's more, a lot of iron ore areas were also discovered this time.
Then Liu Bei kept receiving reports from Chengdu, and even people like Huang Quan, Qin Mi, Wu Yi, Fazheng, and Li Yan began to participate.
Liu Bei immediately knew that there was no need for Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi to investigate the matter in Jianning County. The reserves must be quite large.
After all, according to Deng Fang's exploration report, copper mines have been discovered in almost half of the county. Even if they are small mines, this coverage area means that the quantity is not small.
In this case, it is not that simple. This matter must be handled well.
Therefore, Liu Bei temporarily stopped Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi's plan to go south. After returning to Chengdu, he planned to finish wrangling with these aristocratic families before considering how to develop Jianning County.
But when Liu Bei returned to Chengdu, before his butt was still hot, he received an urgent report from Jianning County.
The powerful families of Jianning, Yong Kai and Meng Huo, rebelled and joined forces with Zhu Bao, the prefect of Zangqi. At the same time, they raised troops to attack and kill Deng Fang, the governor of Gajiang, and officially separated the two counties of Jianning and Zangqi.
At the same time, Gaoding, the king of Yi in Yuexun County, killed Zheng'ang, the prefect of Yuexun County, in response to Yong Kai.
In the land of Nanzhong, all three counties rebelled.
When Liu Bei heard the news, he was furious, while Zhang Xi was confused.
So what, Liu Bei is still alive and well, you are rebelling now, what kind of trouble is this? !
But if you think about it carefully, it is right. The mineral deposits discovered in Jianning County are indeed worthy of the local wealthy families colluding with the barbarians and establishing their own rule.
With copper mines and iron mines, it is equivalent to having money and ordnance.
As long as Chengdu's offensive can be blocked, then this separatist trend will be completed.
As for whether he can block Chengdu's attack, Yong Kai still has some ideas.
After all, everyone now knows that Jingzhou and Yizhou have two consecutive wars that are related to the country, and their own losses are also very heavy. The most important thing is that they consume a lot of food and grass. Without enough food and grass, what do you use to attack? The terrain and climate are very bad. of Nanzhong? !
As for the food and grass for the Nanzhong rebels. Although the Nanzhong area also lacks food and grass, Yong Kai also has a way to solve it.
He sent people to negotiate with Sun Quan and asked for his surrender in exchange for Sun Quan's food and grass support.
In Yong Kai's opinion, Sun Quan had just had a head-on fight with Liu Bei. The two sides should be enemies. If there was an opportunity to weaken Liu Bei, Sun Quan would definitely agree.
Don't tell me, Sun Quan really intends to agree.
After all, if Nanzhong rebels, Liu Bei will definitely have to devote his energy to suppressing the rebellion. I can just support a little food and grass to slow down Liu Bei's energy. Isn't it great? !
As for asking for peace, Liu Bei didn't even have time to take care of Jingzhou's affairs, so why did he ask for peace? !
Sun Quan had a good idea, but this time, even the French counselor Zhang Zhao directly stopped Sun Quan's idiotic move.
Lord, we still need to have some face.
You stabbed Jingzhou on the front foot and on the back. It can be said that you did it under the emperor's edict, so it was more or less a fig leaf.
But this time, everyone in the world knows that you sent people to Hanzhong to sue for peace. The two families have not yet formally negotiated peace. You turned around and accepted Yong Kai's surrender, funded him with food and fodder, and allowed him to rebel and hold back Liu Bei. This is Is it the right attitude to seek peace? !
With such capriciousness, who among the princes and aristocratic families in the world would dare to sacrifice their lives for you? !
You can do this kind of thing, but you can never say it.
Sun Quan suddenly understood and sternly rejected Yong Kai's surrender request, saying that although he and Liu Bei had misunderstandings, Jiangdong still regarded Liu Bei as an ally. How could he accept Yong Kai's rebellious surrender at this time? !
By the way, Sun Quan also hypocritically sent a letter to Liu Bei, saying that in order to express his sincerity in seeking peace, he could let Zhou Yu lead troops into Sichuan to help Liu Bei attack Yongkai.
Liu Bei was disgusted to death. Who dares to let you in? If you come in, can you leave again?
But soon, Liu Bei received another report saying that Yong Kai had formed an alliance with Shi Xie of Jiaozhou, and Shi Xie donated 100,000 stones of military rations to Yong Kai.
Liu Bei immediately became furious and Sun Quan's son played with his left hand and his right hand very smoothly.
Who doesn’t know what your relationship is with Shi Xie? Is it interesting to play this trick? !
(End of chapter)
