Xu Wei is not completely ignorant of the current situation of the Han Dynasty. Although history has changed, the Han Dynasty is still torn apart and scattered into seven or eight vassal forces. The strongest among them should be the forces of Liu Bei and Yuan Shao. Even if Cao Cao's forces do not advance, San is also in the top five, but his geographical environment is too harsh, even worse than the environment where he originally made his fortune.
To the east is the sea, to the north is Dagan, to the south is Tao Qian, and to the west is Yuan Shao. It can be said that his strength is slightly stronger than Tao Qian, and he cannot defeat all other princes. And it is even more miserable for Cao Cao Although the Han Dynasty was divided, every force was bigger than him. He wanted to expand his strength. Except for Tao Qian of Xuzhou, he couldn't find any force to annex. Cao Cao now lives better than he did in history. Even more difficult.
Cheng Yu said: "A drought broke out in the Central Plains, and Taishan County has lost its harvest. Although Qingzhou is better, production reduction is inevitable. My lord heard that Lei Gong was merciful in power, and he didn't want to see the people of Qingzhou displaced. He also asked the power to support him. We have 3 million shi of grain in Qingzhou, so my lord has reason to return the 20,000 to 30,000 Yellow Turban soldiers to the government!"
Zhang Baiqi on the side said angrily: "Cao Cao really dared to think of 3 million shi of grain, and actually dared to blackmail us until we came to Dagan! We don't have 3 million shi of grain, but our Dagan has an army of 200,000. I don't know what Cao Cao can do." You can’t withstand my powerful cavalry!”
No wonder Zhang Baiqi was so angry. Cao Cao, a nobody but a small prince with tens of thousands of soldiers, dared to blackmail them into a big fight. He was simply shameless!
Zhang Baiqi's words made Cheng Yu break into a cold sweat. Da Gan was more than 10 times stronger than Cao Cao. If Lei Gong really sent an army of 200,000 to attack Qingzhou, they would definitely not be able to withstand it!
This kid Guo Jia also tricked me to death. Just kill these yellow scarf thieves, but they want me to make a deal. Lei Gong kills many people, how can such a deal be carried out? Now that I have pissed off Lei Gong, Qingzhou will be finished. , Cheng Yu groaned secretly.
He immediately said: "My lord didn't want to cause unnecessary killing, so he sent me to Duke Lei's administration. Let's discuss it carefully if you have anything to say!"
Zhang Baiqi said loudly: "We asked Cao Cao to send our people to Pingyuan County. For the sake of saving people from his sword, we will spare his life when we attack the Central Plains in the future. This is our greatest forgiveness." !”
If Cheng Yu really agreed to this condition, he would not have the shame to return to Qingzhou. Even though Cheng Yu was worried that Dagan would attack Qingzhou, he still said: "My lord is also the state shepherd of the Han Dynasty. He has tens of thousands of soldiers, not Dagan." Servant, it is impossible for my lord to agree to such a condition. Since there is no sincerity in governing, I will pretend that I have never been here this time!"
After saying that, Cheng Yu wanted to leave here!
Zhang Baiqi said angrily: "Aren't you worried about our Dagan cavalry sweeping Qingzhou?"
Cheng Yu said with a cold face: "I, a big man, also have hundreds of thousands of troops. The ruler really has plans to attack the Central Plains. My lord is waiting for you at any time! At that time, everyone will rely on their own abilities. It's just that the 30,000 subordinates of the ruler will be the ones to sacrifice the flag!"
Zhang Baiqi was a little worried about these things. Many of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army were his old acquaintances. It was impossible for him to really not care about the life and death of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, otherwise none of his old friends would be able to get around him!
Xu Wei saw that the negotiation was about to break down, so he said: "The asking price of 3 million shi of grain is too high, and our cadres are also short of food. How about I exchange 100,000 shi of salt for these subordinates of mine? One hundred thousand shi The value of salt exceeds hundreds of millions of dollars, and Caozhou Mu will not suffer any loss!"
It is impossible to fight a war. The drought this time is not small. Not only is there a drought in Jizhou, but also in the Central Plains. If he sends troops at this time, it will not be a problem to conquer Qingzhou and Yanzhou, but Xu Wei cannot afford tens of millions of shi of grain to feed the two states. The victims of this war are afraid that the Central Plains will be starved to death.
When Xu Wei developed Liaodong, he felt that the population was insufficient. He wished that 5 million people would immigrate to Liaodong immediately. The current population of the entire Han Dynasty may only be about 40 million. In Xu Wei's view, this population is already very small. Even the current Han Dynasty would have a hard time To fill up the country, let alone satisfy his ambition to colonize the four corners of the country, and now that there is a big fight in the Central Plains, the number of people who starve to death will be a hundred times more than those who died in the war. The entire Central Plains may be as uninhabited as it was in history, and everyone will die. Now, what can he do to occupy the territory?
Therefore, for Xu Wei, population is the most important resource. Xu Wei even regards the people on Cao Cao's territory as his tribe, and he cherishes them even more than Cao Cao!
Cheng Yu said: "I'm sorry, we already have salt fields in Qingzhou, and recently we have learned the ruling method of drying salt. Now not only do we have no shortage of salt in Qingzhou, we can also support other places in the Han Dynasty!"
Xu Wei looked at Cheng Yu in surprise and said, "Cao Cao already knew about this salt-drying method less than two years after it appeared?"
However, the spread of ancient technology was very slow, but it was completely different here. Even Cao Cao knew about it in just two years. If we wait a few years, salt drying fields will appear in Xuzhou and Yangzhou!
Cheng Yu saw that Xu Wei's tone was not as serious as Zhang Baiqi's, so he also said: "If the government is sincere, we can reduce the grain supply by 500,000 shi!"
Zhang Baiqi said angrily: "We are also short of food!"
The first season of grain in Jizhou was hit by a drought before it was harvested. If Youzhou hadn't developed millions of acres of land in the past two years and gained tens of millions of tons of grain, Daqian's grain supply would still be as tight as it was in the previous two years. , and now Jizhou is also suffering from drought, so food cannot be given to Cao Cao!
Cheng Yu said unconfidently: "How about some weapons and armor?"
In fact, Cao Cao handed over his 50,000-strong army to Tao Qian to support him early, and also obtained millions of shi of food from Liu Bei. Although Qingzhou is still short of food, it can be done with less, and Cao Cao's weapons and armor But it was extremely lacking, especially iron armor. Cao Cao tried his best to raise a thousand pieces, but compared to the hundreds of thousands of armors, the gap was more than a little!
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Xu Wei shook his head and said: "We are enemies now. We don't know when our swords will be facing each other. Giving you weapons and armor will set you on fire!"
Xu Wei thought for a while and said: "We will not trade anything that can enhance Qingzhou's strength. In this way, the woolen cloth I make is unparalleled in the world. It can even be used as money in the Han Dynasty. If Cao Cao is sincere, I will use 10 Thousands of woolen cloths in exchange for my men!”
Then Xu Wei threatened: "If Cao Cao doesn't agree, I won't be able to attack Qingzhou due to drought now, but I can guarantee you that within three years I will lead an army of 200,000 to recover this blood debt from Cao Cao!"
Xu Wei's words made Cheng Yu a little moved. Woolen cloth is also a precious resource in this era, especially in this Little Ice Age. Everyone can feel that the weather is getting colder, and woolen cloth is the most cold-resistant at this time. Cloth, a top-quality woolen cloth in the Han Dynasty is worth 3,000 yuan, not much worse than Shu Brocade!
Cheng Yu said: "This subordinate can't make the decision. Is it necessary to go back and discuss with the lord?"
Xu Weidao: "Then you go ask Cao Cao. This is my final bottom line!"
Jizhou and Qingzhou are not far apart. Cheng Yu went down the river and returned to Qingzhou in 5 days. Then he told Cao Cao about Xu Wei's conditions!
Guo Jia said regretfully: "Now that Lei Gong is a good scholar, he didn't even ask for swords and armor!"
Qingzhou is close to the ocean, and the drought situation here is not too serious. In addition, Guo Jia reminded Cao Cao early, and other counties of Cao Cao purchased food in advance and borrowed Tao Qian's food to feed their soldiers. The current shortage of food in Qingzhou is not It was too serious. Guo Jia's first choice was weapons and armor. He was just worried that Xu Wei wouldn't give them, so he mentioned food first!
Xun Yu said: "The same goes for woolen cloth. It is even better than food for us. We can sell these cloths to Jingzhou, and then buy food from Jingzhou and return to Qingzhou. Over the years, Liu Bei has continued to cultivate and cultivate land in Jingzhou. We have produced tens of millions of acres of land, and the land in the south is not short of water and has not suffered from drought. The price of food in Jingzhou is the lowest in the entire Han Dynasty. We can exchange these woolen cloths for 2 million shi of food, which is already more than we can It’s expected!”
Their original plan was to use these prisoners to get one million dan of food, but if Lei Gong counter-offered 500,000 dan, that would be acceptable!
Cao Cao also laughed when he heard this and said: "Yes, with these two million stones of grain, we can build hundreds of miles more canals in Qingzhou! As long as Qingzhou's water conservancy facilities are well constructed, Qingzhou's grain output can be increased several times." Success, food will no longer restrict our military expansion in the future!"
Guo Jia had seen many water conservancy facilities all over Mayi and Gaoshun Yuntian's elevated canals. However, after coming to Qingzhou, he found that it was difficult to see a few canals in all the counties in Qingzhou, which made him very dissatisfied. In Mayi, he knew that as long as there were water canals, the food supply could generally be doubled. If struvite was added, it would not be a dream to produce four or five stones per acre, and there was no need to leave it fallow. This is equivalent to one acre of land being more than five Mu of land, Lei Gong relied on struvite and canals to support tens of millions of people in Bingzhou, which was then barren.
So when the drought came this time, Guo Jia proposed a work-for-relief strategy to Cao Cao, allowing the affected people to build the entire water conservancy facilities in Qingzhou!
When Cao Cao heard that Mayi actually had 5-6 stone acres of farmland, he couldn't believe it at first.
But Guo Jia said later, if there is no such output, how can Bingzhou feed tens of millions of people!
Cao Cao had no choice but to believe this.
Before the late emperor died of illness, in order to give the Han a chance to deal with Lei Gong, he drove all five to six million refugees from the entire Central Plains to Bingzhou. At that time, the entire Han Dynasty thought that Lei Gong was seeking death by accepting so many refugees, but let him
What shocked the whole Han Dynasty was that Lei Gong really supported millions of refugees with just one state!
Cao Cao had always been unable to figure out how Lei Gong did it, but now Guo Jia's words made them understand how he did it. The land in Bingzhou was barren, and most of the yields per mu were more than one stone. Now Lei Gong used struvite and canals to improve the situation.
A 5-fold increase in grain output, plus no need for fallow farming, is equivalent to a 10-fold increase. No wonder Lei Gong was able to feed tens of millions of tribesmen with just one state.
Knowing the importance of water canals, Cao Cao naturally supported Guo Jia's work-for-relief plan. Anyway, there is a drought in Taishan County now, and refugees are everywhere. As long as they have food to eat, they will work with peace of mind!
Guo Jia looked at Cheng Yu and asked: "The drought in Yanzhou is not that serious when you think about the drought in Jizhou, right?"
Cheng Yu said: "The drought in Jizhou is slightly lighter than that in Yanzhou, but the food growth in the fields far away from the water source is very poor. When I went to see Lei Gong, I found that Jizhou was full of people building canals and digging wells! But it's almost July now,
It’s going to be very difficult to keep this batch of food!”
Cao Cao laughed and said: "Lei Gong is also providing relief with work. With the current situation in Jizhou, he has to use food to help the people of Jizhou!"
This is good news for Cao Cao. There is a drought in Jizhou. Lei Gong will not be able to get much food in Jizhou. Without the accumulation of food, Lei Gong will not be able to attack the Central Plains. This drought will give them two years of breathing space.
, he is finally no longer worried about the Thunder Guild attacking the Central Plains after the autumn harvest!
Guo Jiadao: "It is impossible to mobilize troops to harvest thunder this year. This gives us the opportunity to equalize the land. We will establish a military household for every 100 acres of land and provide one soldier. I will help them prepare weapons and armor. With our land in Qingzhou
, enough to provide 300,000 troops, so together with the troops of other princes of the Han Dynasty, we will be able to fight against Lei Gong!"
Guo Jia's military household system is a bit like the future military system. It is for soldiers in wartime and for the people in peacetime. Because 100 acres of land are given, there is no need to give monthly salary. Cao Cao only needs to provide some weapons and armor.
When going into battle, food must be provided, but for defense, even food and grass can be prepared by the soldiers themselves.
Xun You said worriedly: "But this requires the Qingzhou nobles to give up 30 million acres of land. Although we have discussed with them several times and even let them become military commanders, the Qingzhou nobles headed by Kong Rong still find it difficult to accept this.
Military household system!"
If you want soldiers to fight without a monthly salary and to bring their own dry food, the land allocated to them must be of the highest quality. According to Guo Jia's idea, the land for these soldiers is high-quality paddy fields, which is very convenient for both irrigation and harvesting.
, can harvest more than 300 shi of grain a year. Only such middle-class families can cultivate strong and brave soldiers! Just like the good men of the Han Dynasty, if they want to deal with the Thunder God, the entire Qingzhou needs 300,000 good men.
But this would cost the lives of the entire Qingzhou clan. They were worried that the Lei Gong would divide their lands, so they pushed Cao Cao to become the Qingzhou Shepherd to help them resist the Lei Gong. Now it’s fine. The Lei Gong hasn’t come yet, so Cao Cao will kill them first.
The land was divided, what a big deal!
Even though the clans of Jizhou kept playing the landlord version of Yang Bailao against Kong Rong and others, the clans of Qingzhou became aware of the cruelty of Lei Gong and the persecution of their clans. They knew that unless Lei Gong was eliminated, Lei Gong would definitely destroy their family.
Even if they knew that Lei Gong was so abominable, it was impossible to divide their land! Cao Cao had discussed with the heads of Qingzhou's powerful gentry clan several times, but none of them succeeded.
Anyway, the attitude of these clan leaders is that if they want us to provide money, food, or even troops to deal with Lei Gong, they can do it, but if they want our land, there is no way!