What Manager Zhao brought was not the latest news from Dianchi County. The caravan sent by Zhao's company had already withdrawn from Yizhou County before Yong Kai's uprising, so it could return to Chengdu at this time.
There is a single line of contact between the shadow guard and the company. If Wang Meng needs it, he can use the channel of Zhao's company to pass the news at any time.
However, people from Zhao's firm were unable to take the initiative to find Wang Meng and others. This was due to the confidentiality level for safety reasons.
But this caravan also had a lot of gains. Pure economic gains are no longer a big gain for Liu Chan today.
With the development of Zhao's business, there are many shops in Jingyi and even Soochow.
These shops are located in the most prosperous counties along the river. They rely on efficient water transportation to sell goods from other places, and then distribute them to small merchants through these shops for sale to further places.
From logistics and transportation to brand building and sales channels, they are all very mature.
With the addition of [Wealth and Fortune], Zhao's firm has begun to make money for Liu Chan.
The profit of a single caravan trade is no longer as important as it used to be.
What is important are maps, geographical environment information, and resource distribution profiles.
Lao Liu started too late and has never controlled the center of power in the world. He has inherent shortcomings in some places.
For example, as early as the pre-Qin period, after Shang Yang's reform, a nationwide census that was of epic difficulty had been completed.
The geographical conditions of mountains and rivers, population situation, resource situation, and road network maps of various places are all extremely important information in the hands of the central government.
This information is extremely important for building a country's "operating system".
Gaozu was able to succeed back then. Zhang Liang gave him the opportunity to enter the capital to obtain this information. Xiao He understood the value of this information and helped him firmly grasp it in his hands. Only then could Han Xin lay a large territory for him on this basis.
But Lao Liu was inherently deficient in this regard.
Fortunately, he still has Zhuge Kongming.
Since Liu Chan was born, he has witnessed the joining of this person, gradually building the Lao Liu Group from a grassroots team and a wandering legion into a powerful separatist force, and it is still moving towards the continuous improvement of the concept of "country".
Without mastering this basic information, which was extremely important for logistics, Wolong created his own "operating system" for Lao Liu from scratch. Not only did it function normally, it was even excellent.
And Zhuge Liang has never even seen these things in his life. Every time Old Liu takes control of a place, he needs to collect this information personally... What a terrifying person.
What if I help him figure it out in advance before attacking a place?
Not only can he know his opponent before the war, but after the war, with Uncle Zhuge's ability, he will definitely be able to turn victory into an increase in strength at a faster rate.
"Yizhou County is rich in salt ponds, fields, fisheries, and gold, silver, and livestock products, which is the richest among all counties; Xangqi County is the most barren due to frequent rains, few plains, and few plains that are unfavorable for farming. There are also few livestock and no sericulture..." Manager Zhao reported what he had learned about the caravan's travels to various places.
Liu Chan was also thinking at the same time. Zhu Bao, the governor of Xianggao County, was easily bombarded by Yong Kai's sugar-coated cannonballs. I am afraid that the land was so barren that the people had no oil and water to scrape. This was also one of the important reasons.
"The land in Yongchang County is fertile, suitable for growing grains and raising sericulture; Yueqi County has more plains and is widely covered with rice fields." After finishing speaking, Manager Zhao also said with emotion, "People often say that the wild land in the middle of the South is full of miasma and poison, and is extremely barren.
"Although there are poisonous miasma, snakes and insects in the land, it is not as barren as imagined. My subordinates all suspect that these rumors are deliberately spread in order to prevent us from scheming against them."
Liu Chan smiled and said: "Hearing is false, seeing is believing. This is so good. I thought that after taking over Nanzhong, I would support food to ensure the supply of gold, silver, war horses and other materials. Now it seems that the food here is not only self-sufficient." It is self-sufficient and can pay grain and taxes with a little development.”
Later, Liu Chan looked at the route topographic map brought back by the caravan with satisfaction, and prepared to put it together with the last map. He turned back and handed it to Lao Liu to correct the existing map of Nanzhong.
Manager Zhao added: "The prince ordered us to look for 'cotton' grown on the ground, but there has been no progress. This time we finally found this velvet peach tree hanging on it, which is quite similar to the cotton that the prince said. Please take a look at it."
Liu Chan watched as Manager Zhao took out a white fluffy flower from his sleeve. He quickly took it and saw, isn't it just cotton?
Liu Chan suspected that the five-color patchwork cloth that Manager Zhao had brought back from Nanzhong was made of cotton.
However, when it came to cotton, no one knew about it. He told Manager Zhao to order a caravan to search for it, but still to no avail. He originally gave up hope, but he didn't expect to find it.
"Exactly this!"
Manager Zhao did not expect that what the prince wanted was really this, and said doubtfully: "But this thing is knotted on a tree, and the locals call it ancient shellwood. It is not the low cotton growing in the ground as the prince said..."
"...Well, maybe I remembered it wrongly."
Although Liu Chan's talent in farming is increasing day by day, things he doesn't know will not be invented out of thin air.
In his previous life, he had only seen low cotton fields, but he did not know that this kind of cotton was not native to China, but an imported product that was not available at this time.
But China is not without cotton. It grows in the south and is called ancient cotton.
"In this way, it will provide a big boost to our army's Northern Expedition and the livelihood of all people!"
If Nanzhong can plant a large number of trees in this place, the soldiers of the Northern Expedition will be able to ensure their combat effectiveness when encountering bitter cold weather.
When the planting volume is enough, it will be popularized among the people, and fewer people will freeze to death in winter.
After all, no matter how rich Liu Chan was, he would never be able to give each soldier of the Northern Expedition a "sable".
In winter, he can wear brocade clothes, furs, cloaks, and live in a warm house, but a large number of people, especially those in economically underdeveloped areas, cannot do this.
The living standard in Chengdu is not representative of the entire city, and Liu Chan still has a clear understanding of this.
For example, the living standards of the people in Dongsan County were not much better than those of the bandits.
But planting a large amount of cotton in Nanzhong can solve the problem of keeping warm in winter!
It can also reduce the mortality rate of infants and young children in winter and increase the population growth rate, which can be said to serve multiple purposes.
…
Liu Chan received good news, and Lao Liu also received some news.
It's just that the sources of information are one from the south and the other from the north.
A long time after Boss Cao's death, Lao Liu finally learned about it.
Cao Pi wanted to attack the king of Wei and succeed him as prime minister, so he naturally wanted to tell the world. He did not hide the news of Cao Cao's death, and there was no need to hide it.
After Lao Liu heard that the old rival he had chased for half his life was finally buried, he returned to the study of the palace alone.
In front of Old Liu was a jar of aged wine made by his son, and two wine cups on the table, but there was no one on the opposite side.
He did not laugh to the sky or drink freely, but stared at the empty seat in front of him in a daze.
"Today, the only heroes in the world are your envoy and Cao Er."
The last time we sat together drinking, how high-spirited was Cao Mengde when he said these words that made his heart tremble?
The words are still in my ears, but the old friend has passed away.
"Brother Meng De...you are one step ahead of me after all."
When these words were said at this time, they sounded like sarcasm, but if anyone was watching, they would notice that there was a bit of a sigh on Old Liu's face, and there was no irony at all.
Whether it was Cao Mengde, who was very energetic and wanted to help the Han Dynasty when he was fighting against Dong, or the traitor Prime Minister Cao, who later added nine tins, a tenna crown, a sword and a shoe to the palace, entered the court without any intention, and praised and worshiped unknown people.
Now, they have all turned into a handful of loess.
Lao Liu silently raised his wine cup and drank a glass, then scattered the wine on the other side on the ground.
The death of his old rival brought him not only relief, but also the unforgiving sadness of time and the fear of human mortality.
He closed his eyes in silence for a moment, then opened his eyes again, and Lao Liu's eyes became firm again.
"Brother Meng De, let's go. When you and I meet again, it won't be too late to talk."
After that, Liu Bei strode away without looking at the drinking table behind him.
He had too much to do and had no room for sentimentality.
Soon, news of Wang Meng and Deng Fang, the governor of Gajiang, finally came. News of the Nanzhong rebellion finally reached Chengdu.
(End of chapter)
