In fact, in Liu Yu's view, the conflict between Wang Jun and Liu Kun is not so irreconcilable.
After the Huns and Han rebels Liu Ling killed Wang Bin, the governor of Jizhou, Wang Jun, the governor of Youzhou, announced that he would concurrently serve as the governor of Jizhou. From then on, he regarded Jizhou as his own territory, and regarded Jizhou's population and wealth as his own property.
Liu Kun, the governor of Bingzhou, was from Zhongshan in Jizhou. The Jinyang he guarded was facing heavy pressure from the Xiongnu and Han Dynasties. After several failed battles, Liu Kun lacked the population to supplement his men and soldiers, so he asked his brother Liu Xi to Returning to Zhongshan in Jizhou to recruit people to enrich Jinyang on the anti-Hu front line, when Liu Xi returned to Jinyang along the way, because Liu Kun's reputation was so loud, many people in Daijun, Shanggu, and Guangning in nearby Youzhou spontaneously Following Liu Xi to Jinyang, there were more than 30,000 people.
Originally, Wang Jun felt that he had lent Liu Kun five hundred cavalry, allowing Liu Kun to rescue his parents from the enemy. For such a great kindness, Liu Kun should be grateful to him.
When he conquers Jizhou, Wang Jun will have the base of Youzhou and Jizhou, and he will have Duanbu Xianbei, Bingzhou Liu Kun, and Qingzhou Liu Yu as his minions, as well as the Huns, Jieren Zahu, and Sima Yue. , Gou Xi and others will all surrender under their feet.
Therefore, when Wang Jun learned that Liu Kun not only sent people to recruit people from his territory of Jizhou to Jinyang, but also had more than 30,000 people from the three counties of Youzhou following him, he was immediately furious.
Wang Jun sent Hu Ju and Duan Ji to attack Liu Xi. They not only recaptured the entire population, but also captured and killed Liu Xi.
In this way, Wang Jun and Liu Kun completely became enemies.
A few days later, businessmen from Qingzhou who went to Jizhou and Youzhou to sell salt and paper came back. Liu Yu was quite looking forward to these people who were businessmen on the surface but also served as intelligence collectors secretly.
Therefore, after these carefully selected "businessmen" returned to Linzi, Liu Yu immediately summoned Zhou Gui, the leader among them.
As soon as they met, Liu Yu couldn't wait to ask about Wang Jun and Liu Kun.
A middle-aged man who spoke immediately was Zhou Gui. He was an old brother in the Donglai army. He was originally a private salt dealer, but Liu Yu took a fancy and transformed into one of the Qingzhou salt merchants.
"Reporting back to the general, Governor Wang and Liu Kun are still at odds. The passes of Yanshan Mountain in Taihang are heavily guarded. The situation on the Bingzhou side is unclear. I just heard that Liu Kun, the governor of Bingzhou, invited the Tuoba tribe to take prisoners into the Yanmen Fortress. It looks like the army is preparing for war."
After hearing this, Liu Yu not only sighed. In the late Western Jin Dynasty, when the country was weak, even anti-Hu heroes like Liu Kun had to rely on other Hu forces. Sometimes they not only used the Tuoba tribe to fight against the Huns, but also It may be used to target friendly forces like Wang Jun.
"What about Youzhou?"
Liu Yu guessed that since Liu Kun borrowed troops from the Tuoba tribe, Wang Jun, who had almost no Duan tribe and Xianbei troops, must do the same.
Sure enough, Zhou Gui's words confirmed Liu Yu's guess.
"On the King's side, he not only stopped chasing Liu Ling and other bandits, but also dispatched soldiers and horses from the western Liaoning section and has been stationed at the junction of Bingzhou and Jizhou."
Liu Yu continued to ask.
"Based on what you have seen, do you think Wang Jun will continue to attack Liu Kun?"
Zhou Gui shook his head and said.
"I think both Wang and Liu are just bluffing. Now the three states of Bing, Hebei, and You are suffering from drought first, and now they are plagued by locusts. It's too late to provide relief to the people, so how can they still have enough energy to fight."
Zhou Gui thought for a while and continued, "And even if Governor Wang wants to fight, those Duan Xianbei probably won't be willing to fight."
Duan Bu Xianbei played the role of "winner" twice in the Eight Kings Rebellion. Therefore, when arranging businessmen such as Zhou Gui to collect intelligence, Liu Yu paid special attention to them and paid more attention to those information about western Liaoning and eastern Liaoning. Message from the Xianbei people.
Liu Yu asked with interest, "Oh, what have you heard?"
"I have met a lot of merchants in western Liaoning. It turns out that Duanbu Xianbei is now recruiting refugees and farming in western Liaoning. This year, he also suffered from drought and locust disasters. Many of the people under his rule want to continue to flee to Liaodong, so , I heard that those Duanbu Xianbei are only looking forward to returning to western Liaoning as soon as possible to suppress the wandering refugees, so how can they waste time with Liu Kun in Jizhou."
After listening to Zhou Gui's words, Liu Yu felt a little more at ease. If Wang Jun and Liu Kun really fought with each other, then the snipe and the clam would benefit from the fight, and the Xiongnu and Han Kingdom would probably be the biggest beneficiary.
By that time, even if Liu Yu could fish in troubled waters and pick up some bargains by following Wang Jun, it would still be nothing compared to the Huns and Han who had lost military pressure.
However, Liu Yu still sensed some opportunities in Zhou Gui's words.
He had always thought that people like Duanbe Xianbei lived a nomadic lifestyle, that is, riding horses, herding sheep, and living after water and grass. However, from Zhou Gui's words just now, Liu Yu knew that Duanbei Xianbei had begun to transform into a farming society. Although it retained a large number of herding and cavalry, it had begun to rapidly transform into settled farming.
Liu Yu thought to himself, no wonder this Duan tribe of Xianbei has a small core population, but it is able to surpass Murong, Yuwen and other tribes to become the strongest Xianbei in the east. It must have learned a lot of Chinese technology and civilization.
In this way, it shows that these Duanbu Xianbei are not just savages who only plunder. There should be many things that people covet among them, such as population, horses, food, etc.
Liu Yu continued to ask about Duan Xianbei, and he continued.
"Brother Zhou, what is the unique product of this section?"
After listening to Liu Yu's words, Zhou Gui lowered his head and thought for a while before replying.
"Duanbu Xianbei produces fine horses, and they are all good horses with strong power. In addition, the steel swords and armors in Liaoxi are good for military use. Although the prices are usually more expensive than those in the Central Plains, they are sharp and strong, unlike those in Bingzhou. The goods are so brittle and not tough enough.”
This should be because the iron ore in the Liaoxi County area is of better quality. Although the iron smelting technology of Duanbu Xianbei is not as good as that of the Central Plains, with good iron ore, many time-consuming and labor-intensive steps can be saved, and the weapons refined are more It is a superior level, no worse than the level of sword-making masters from the Central Plains.
After occupying Qingzhou, Liu Yu obtained a large number of experienced smelting craftsmen. From that time on, he continued to experiment with various technologies for smelting iron and steel. Unfortunately, limited by the level of raw materials and actual operating techniques, there was no Produce steel with stable quality and low price.
Therefore, Liu Yu intends to send businessmen to purchase high-quality iron materials from Liaoxi. With these iron materials with less impurities, the cost of smelting steel in Qingzhou should be reduced a lot.
However, after hearing Liu Yu put forward this idea, Zhou Gui immediately shook his head and expressed his opposition. Zhou Gui felt that this was simply an impossible transaction.
Not to mention that Duan Xianbei often had conflicts and wars with Yuwen, Murong and other tribes, and would not sell these iron materials that could be used to make weapons and armor.
Even if the Western Liaoning Department was willing to sell the raw materials for these military weapons, Liu Yu did not have enough transportation capacity to transport so much iron.
You know, thousands of kilograms of iron and stone can only produce very little iron.
"However, Duan Bu Xianbei doesn't know how to sell iron materials, but horses are available for as much as you want." Zhou Gui's words made Liu Yu, who was originally a little disappointed, happy again.
"Didn't you say that Duan Bu and the others often have wars? Aren't these horses military supplies?" Liu Yu asked.
"Duanbu Xianbei has many people who escaped from Youzhou Horse Garden. In addition to the original Duanbu Xianbei people, Western Liaoning has bred a large number of war horses in recent years, and Duanbu has a strong military. It has attacked Yuwen several times before. They also grabbed a lot of horses and other livestock. So they have no shortage of horses."
If this is the case, then Liu Yu can directly trade with the Liaoxi Duanbu, thereby avoiding being stuck by Wang Jun.
After all, judging from his performance in history and now, Wang Jun is definitely not a great hero, and he doesn't have much ambition. If one day, Wang Jun sees Liu Yu, he may not be able to recognize him.
Liu Yu asked happily, "What should we exchange for the horses?"
"Salt, books, and paper will do."
Zhou Gui said with certainty.
Salt is a necessity in daily life. After several improvements in the salt-drying method, the cost of salt produced in Qingzhou has become ridiculously cheap compared to before. Therefore, Liu Yu feels that it is understandable that illicit salt must be the biggest knife.
But as for books and paper, it was indeed beyond Liu Yu's imagination. What did these Duan Xianbei from Liaoxi County want to do with these? Did they also start to love learning so much?
Seeing Liu Yu's doubts, Zhou Gui's answer explained Liu Yu's doubts.
"What the general doesn't know is that a large number of powerful families from the Central Plains have moved there in Liaoxi County and Liaodong County. These powerful families pay the most attention to poetry, books, etiquette, and trade. If you want to teach the children of the clan, there are no books in these two places that can be made by themselves. Paper, so these things are very expensive in their place, and everyone from the aristocratic family will be tempted.”
Liu Yu didn't know before that these aristocratic families who took refuge could actually continue to pass on the inheritance as always. Learning has always been indispensable in every family.
However, Liu Yu was skeptical whether these migrating families would have enough horses to exchange.
Zhou Gui quickly explained that after these powerful families from the Central Plains defected to Duan Jilu's family in Duanbu Xianbei, they usually received a large amount of cultivated land and horses.
Afterwards, Liu Yu discussed with Zhou Gui, and the next step was to contact Duanbu Xianbei to try to establish a channel for buying horses.
After arranging these, half a day has basically passed.
Liu Yu looked at the time. Today he had to inspect the work of the iron smelting and copper smelting preparation teams. Grandma, Liu Yu now wished he had three heads and six arms.
Why is it so easy for people to climb the technology tree? As long as they say a few ideas and concepts, magical craftsmen can produce handicrafts that meet the requirements.
For this kind of Liu Yu, it is the simplest smelting, and it is also the most difficult to successfully test. The Wendu heat in the furnace alone is not something ordinary craftsmen can do in a short time.
I don’t know where those smelting gods who can make steel in three days and cans for the entire army in five days find craftsmen who are like gods descending from the earth, so that they can make up for the generation gap that spans thousands of years in such a short time. .
Liu Yu's most successful technological improvements now are engraving and letterpress printing, as well as improved papermaking.
After Liu Yu visited several experimental workshops in the city, it was already past midnight, and Liu Yu finally returned to the mansion in a swaggering manner.
As soon as Liu Yu entered the mansion, two maids came to greet him. After serving him for a while, Liu Yu was already in a strange mood and no longer had the freshness before.
Finally, Liu Yu lay down on the couch to rest, with his young wife Wang Ze nestled in his arms, holding a copy of Han Yuefu from Qingzhou Bookstore in her hand and looking at it absently.
Although Wang Ze is not very old, after witnessing the secret wrestling among the women in his father Wang Jun's backyard, little Luoli Wang Ze already has the ability to fight in the house.
It's a pity that now, in Liu Yu's inner house, apart from her, there are only the maids who came as a dowry, and there is not even an opponent who can let her use her wits.
Little Luoli Wangze smelled Liu Yu's body and felt a wave of peace of mind. She couldn't help but remember that her father Wang Jun had spoken to her before she got married. Wang Jun hoped that little Luoli Wangze would not forget that she was a member of the Wang family in Taiyuan. His duty is to win Liu Yu's heart at all times and make him become Wang Jun's helper.
Thinking of this, Wang Ze felt a wry smile in her heart. Since her brother Wang Zhou died of illness not long ago, Wang Junke has been childless. She really doesn't know what her father's hard work is for.
Thinking of this, little Luo Liwang began to twist restlessly in Liu Yu's arms, preparing to create some kind of opportunity tonight.
However, just when Little Luo Li Wang started to move, and Liu Yu thought she was being scratched, a maid announced outside the door that an urgent scout was coming to report.
Wang Ze did not dare to delay such an important matter, so he quickly served Liu Yu and put on his clothes and stood up.
When Liu Yu arrived at the front hall and saw the waiting scouts, Liu Yu saw that the person was the intelligence scout responsible for Si Yu's Henan side.
When the scout saw Liu Yu, he quickly saluted and then told Liu Yu some surprising news.
"General, we have just received news from Luoyang. The emperor wanted to escape Luoyang secretly and go to Xingyang to join Taifu Sima Yue. However, he was intercepted by Gou Xi on the way. Gou Xi then placed the emperor under house arrest. Taifu Sima Yue who was in Xingyang has announced We sent a message to mobilize soldiers and horses from Guanzhong, Jingzhou, and Yuzhou to march into Luoyang, saying that we would attack Gou Xi and rescue the emperor."
When Liu Yu heard this, he immediately felt that Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, was really a troublemaker. He didn't know what methods he used to make the emperor who already hated him fall in love with him again and was willing to sneak away quietly. Run to him.
It has to be said that Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea, was able to survive to the end in the Eight Kings Rebellion. His ability to repeat is very powerful.
However, in this case, how could the Xiongnu and Han Kingdom, who were still by their side, sit back and watch Gou Xi and Sima Yue fight among themselves and do nothing?
This time, no matter who wins or loses between Gou Xi and Sima Yue, Luoyang is probably in danger.
