Liu Bei's rapid development in Jiangnan was indispensable to his copying the policies of Da Gan's army. Lei Gong vigorously developed the wool textile industry, and Liu Bei vigorously developed the silk industry in Jiangnan. Although the scale and profit were not as large as those of Da Gan, probably only Da Gan's. One-tenth of the army, but because these were government-run factories, they brought Liu Bei a lot of wealth.
The biggest buyer of Liu Bei's silk industry is also Xu Wei. He buys millions of pieces of silk from Liu Bei every year. He does not seek to be bright and beautiful, but only to be strong and durable. It doesn't matter even if it is made from defective silk cocoons. All these silks are It was made into inner armor by Xu Wei to prevent swords and crossbow arrows from piercing the soldiers' bodies.
In addition, the demand for silk among the wealthy people in Daqian is also very high, and it is increasing every year. Now the silk production areas of Dahan are in the hands of Liu Bei, so silk has naturally brought huge wealth to Liu Bei. It can be said that Today, the Xiangyang court produces food through farming and the silk and textile industry provides money!
Of course, Xu Wei was not at a disadvantage either. The demand for woolen cloth from Daqian was also in short supply in the south of the Yangtze River. The end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was in the Little Ice Age. Don’t look at the three years of drought in Dahan, but in fact, the temperature was dropping every year and the rainfall was decreasing during this period. In the past, Jiangnan, which does not snow, has also begun to snow heavily. It can even be said that it is precisely because of this climate that the development of Jiangnan is possible. Rainfall has reduced, temperatures have dropped, and the Yangtze River has even begun to snow, turning Jiangnan from a tropical rainforest climate to a subtropical monsoon climate. On the contrary, this is more suitable for people's life in the agricultural era.
But also because of the lowering of temperature, the woolen cloth market in Jiangnan has been expanding, consuming millions of woolen cloths every year, and Xu Wei also monopolized the entire Dahan wool production! So in the cloth market, both parties are equal. !
At the same time, drying salt is not high-tech. As long as it is waterproof and has several layers of partitions, snow-white salt can be dried out. The place where Guan Yu dried salt was the territory of the very famous Yangzhou salt merchant in later generations. Guan Yu made it In three years, the salt in Yangzhou was enough to feed tens of millions of people in the Han Dynasty, so in Liu Bei's opinion, salt was not a problem at all!
Finally, the problem of food is not a big one. Not to mention his vigorous reclamation of wasteland in Jingzhou and Yangzhou in recent years, but also to the wealthy noble families scattered in Jingzhou and Yangzhou who traveled south. They brought advanced management technology and advanced farming methods from the Central Plains. Technology, for the Southern Barbarians who were still engaged in slash-and-burn farming, it can be said that these technologies have suddenly increased productivity by thousands of years. In addition, Liu Bei is now using the policy of apportioning every person into an acre. Although the tax revenue is not as high as Lei Gong's ten, whichever is better Three, but it has reached the level of one out of ten. Every year, the Xiangyang court can receive tens of millions of dan of grain!
So Liu Bei took stock of his belongings and found that although he didn't have as much as Lei Gong, he still had everything Lei Gong had. Lei Gong could issue banknotes, so why couldn't he issue banknotes!
When Su Shuang saw such a confident Liu Bei, he thought for a moment and gritted his teeth and said: "General, if you want to successfully issue banknotes, you need the support of a large number of businessmen, but it happened that Dong Zhuo massacred businessmen and forced all the businessmen in the world to go to Thunder Lord's side. If the general learns Lei Gong’s methods rashly, I’m afraid it will be difficult to succeed!”
Zhang Shiping also said: "The general also needs to consider that the Lei Gong will not attack our banknotes. You must know that the banknotes were made by Lei Gong, so there is no one in the world who understands banknotes better than Lei Gong. I want Lei Gong to mobilize all the strength in business. There is no way we can withstand the attacks on our banknotes!"
Now 80% of the merchants in the world are working on one side, and each of these merchants hates the Han Dynasty. It’s just that they don’t have the power to do anything to the Han court. But if Liu Bei insists on issuing banknotes, I’m afraid these merchants who have hatred for the Han will enter. This battlefield came to attack the Han Dynasty. Zhang Shiping and others knew the hatred of the business community towards the imperial court, so they did not dare to let Liu Bei rashly follow the Han Dynasty.
Liu Bei was still unwilling to give up, but this awakened Yuan Ji, who immediately objected and said: "Xuande has forgotten that Guan Zhong used light and heavy techniques on Lu and Chu to severely damage the two countries. Although he didn't want to admit it, Lei Gong was in business. Even if your military ability is higher than his, you don’t want us in Jiangnan to face the same situation as Lu and Chu back then!"
But Liu Bei said helplessly: "To make artillery, we must use copper mines, and we are running out of time. After Lei Gong captures the Central Plains, he will definitely invade Jiangnan. We don't have enough artillery to protect the world and ensure the economy." What's the use! So if we solve this problem one day earlier, we can prepare to deal with Thunder God earlier!"
Then Liu Bei said: "You two are the people who know the most about business affairs in my Han Dynasty. I recommend you two to be Zhongzang Lingcheng and Neizhe Lingcheng. The matter of issuing banknotes will be left to you two. If this matter If we can succeed, you two will be the heroes of my great Han Dynasty. I will tell the court about your merits and ensure that you two can be crowned marquises and prime ministers, and your ancestors will be honored!"
Liu Bei's words surprised the two of them. They were originally small businessmen on the border of the Han Dynasty, but they successfully invested in Liu Bei once, making them one of the few big businessmen of the Han Dynasty, and they also became subordinate officers of the general.
But precisely because of their background as merchants, the two of them had a low status among the officials in the General's Mansion and were ostracized. But now Liu Bei actually gave them a reward of becoming a marquis. What else is there to say? The two of them were excited. He bowed his hands and said in salute: "My subordinates will do their best to help the general issue banknotes belonging to my great man!"
After talking about this matter, everyone left the General's Mansion.
Liu Bei sighed and looked at the bright moon in the sky. He thought of Guan Yu who was still in Changyi! The third brother has escaped, I hope the second brother can escape!"
This battle in the Central Plains caused heavy losses to the Xiangyang court. Almost all the 200,000 troops Liu Bei brought to the south of the Yangtze River were wiped out. Now almost every family in the south of the Yangtze River wears filial piety, which is also a huge blow to Liu Bei's prestige!
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Liu Bei now has no hope that the Yangzhou Army can escape. He only hopes that generals like Guan Yu who have experienced hundreds of battles can escape. After the defeat of the war, all parties in order to compete Lei Gong, Jiangnan needs to rebuild a stronger army, and rebuilding the army requires the help of experienced generals. Now Liu Bei really hopes that Guan Yu can bring back all the powerful generals from Jiangdong!
At this time, Changyi battlefield!
The situation of Guan Yu and others was not good. After Sun Qing and Fan Xian came to the battlefield with thousands of artillery pieces, the situation on the Changyi battlefield completely turned to the side of the Daqian army.
Wang Yong was overjoyed when he waited for the artillery reinforcements such as Sun Qing and Fan Xian. He directly moved the thousands of artillery pieces and flooded the Surabaya Wubao in front of him with artillery. Although the Surabaya Wubao was small and strong, it was too strong. Small, almost the whole city was covered by the artillery of the Daqian Army. After Guan Yu resisted for three days, a large number of soldiers were wounded by artillery, and he had no choice but to retreat to the main city of Changyi! And Wang Yong occupied Surabaya Wubao, and now the army has After crossing Surabaya, the whole city of Changyi was surrounded!
Huang Long led an army of 50,000 to support Yang Feng. The two armies merged into one and their strength was greatly increased. The two decided to start a backhand attack. Huang Long led his men to directly attack Yanjin. The jujube front line severely damaged Yuan Shao's army. And Yang Feng Then he once again led the army to kill the Yingou River, and launched another attack on the two cities of Yuanwu and Yangwu. At this time, Yuan Shao's defenders already knew the news that Yanzhou was defeated and Yuan Shao was captured. The morale of the army plummeted, and they faced a large army of nearly 100,000 people. The army's offensive was defeated steadily, and a large number of cities were captured by Daqian's army. Huang Long and Yang Feng pushed the battle line straight to Rongyang City.
On the battlefield in the Central Plains, Duan Peng even killed Yuan Tan and retreated steadily. A large number of forts in Liang, Chen and Pei were captured by Duan Peng, and a large number of cities were captured by Duan Peng. Yuzhou was too suitable for cavalry to gallop. In Duan Peng's Under the attack, the entire Yuzhou was on fire.
Cao Cao, who was in Qingzhou, learned that the front line was defeated, Dingtao's 120,000-strong army was wiped out, and Yuan Shao was captured. He couldn't accept the news for a while and was dumbfounded.
He originally thought that the worst outcome of the Central Plains War would be for the coalition's main force in Yanzhou to be completely annihilated, while Liu Bei and Yuan Shao could severely injure Lei Gong. However, judging from the intelligence he had received now, the Daqian Army was annihilating the main force of the Dingtao coalition. But he was able to attack in all directions immediately, and obviously he didn't suffer too much damage!
Even Xun You, who knew the news, had a dull look on his face. After a long time, he muttered to himself: "The coalition forces were defeated in the Central Plains. I am afraid it will be impossible for me, a big man, to defeat Lei Gong. The world will be taken over by this reckless man like Lei Gong." ,How is this going?"
The rise of Lei Gong simply violates the three views of Xun or other nobles. Whether it is in the history books or in their impressions, there is no one like Lei Gong who has offended the nobles like them and can seize the world. Xun or himself I thought Thunder Lord would be defeated quickly.
But the result was that Lei Gong became more and more prosperous, and even became so prosperous that even the entire Han clan could not defeat him. You must know that with an army of 800,000, this was almost the most powerful period of the Han Dynasty. Even the former Han Dynasty was at its most prosperous. It is difficult to gather such a large army, but even though their military power is so powerful, they are still defeated by Lei Gong. This is simply discordant!
Guo Jia also murmured to himself: "The Central Plains has been captured, and Lei Gong has cut off our development direction. If he captures Xuzhou, we will be completely surrounded by Lei Gong. With our strength in Qingzhou, being surrounded by Lei Gong can only be a dead end. !
The hundreds of thousands of coalition forces are no match for Lei Gong. Now the Qingzhou Army is surrounded by Daqian on three sides and has no future at all. As long as Lei Gong changes the direction of the attack, Cao Cao and the Qingzhou Army may be destroyed by Lei Gong's artillery. .He struggled for more than ten years just to die in the hands of Thunder God!
Facing such a future, Cao Cao became disheartened and lost the confidence and courage to fight for the world. What else could he do? Surrender to Lei Gong when he attacked Qingzhou, so that he could still save the lives of his family!
Cheng Yu saw that everyone was in despair and said angrily: "You just want to surrender to Lord Lei like this?"
Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said: "What can we do in this situation? We and Liu Bei were no match for Lei Gong at first. Now Benchu has been defeated and the Central Plains has been captured by Lei Gong. We are isolated from the court and can only resist Lei Gong alone.
But how can Qingzhou and half of Xuzhou in our hands be able to resist Lei Gong? Look at this time Lei Gong mobilized 100,000 troops from Jizhou, but Zhang Baiqi can also mobilize 200,000 troops from Jizhou to go south to threaten our Qingzhou, just one Jizhou
His power is stronger than ours, now let’s not say that we can’t defeat Thunder Lord, even we can’t defeat Thunder Lord’s men!”
"After struggling for so many years, not only have we not narrowed the gap with Lei Gong, but we have become farther and farther away. Now we can't even defeat one of Lei Gong's subordinates! How can we say we are fighting for the big man!"
Cheng Yu said angrily: "This is not the Ming Gong I know. Everyone is worried that they will be surrounded by a large army. Why not occupy the remaining half of Xuzhou immediately? As long as Xuzhou is in our hands, our connection with the imperial court will still be there. We
It doesn’t count as being surrounded by a large army!
Xun You said: "The remaining half of Xuzhou belongs to Yuan Shao. Now Yuan Shao has just been captured. If we occupy his territory like this, we will be laughed at by everyone in the world!"
Cheng Yu said: "There is nothing to laugh at. If we don't occupy Xuzhou now, the army will occupy Xuzhou. We are helping the imperial court. Even the three ministers and nine ministers of the imperial court are willing to have Xuzhou in our hands!"
Xun You said firmly: "Brother Zhongde is right. Duke Ming quickly issued an order to occupy Xuzhou. If it was too late, Xuzhou was captured by the Daqian army, and we really had no way to survive!"
But Cao Cao couldn't muster the energy and said: "What if we occupy Xuzhou? Xuzhou is a flat plain, suitable for large cavalry to gallop. Even if we occupy Xuzhou, if Lei Gong sends cavalry to attack Xuzhou, we will not be able to defend Xuzhou!"
If we fight the cavalry of the Daqian Army in Xuzhou, we will be seeking death. Sooner or later we will exhaust our troops and flee back to Qingzhou! Even if we occupy Xuzhou now, it doesn't make much sense!"
Guo Jia hurriedly persuaded, "Ming Gong, although Yuan Shao was captured, General Liu Bei has returned to Jingzhou. With the strength of the imperial court in Jiangnan, he will definitely restore his troops soon. Judging from the direction of Lei Gong's deployment of troops, Lei Gong will definitely attack Si in the next step."
Hey, this will give us time to regain our strength.
There are many passes in Sili, and the cavalry of the Daqian Army can no longer gallop in Pingyang like this battle of Yanzhou. The Han may not be able to defend the front by relying on the strong cities of Chang'an and Luoyang. At worst, the Central Plains will be ceded to Lei Gong, and we can rely on the Han's geographical advantage to defend it.
In the land of Jiangnan Sili and Qingxu, half of the Han people are still in our hands. As long as we continue to persevere, there may not be no chance of turning defeat into victory!"
Xun Or also followed up and said: "This time the coalition forces fought against Lei Gong, we mobilized more than 600,000 troops on the front line, and Lei Gong also mobilized more than 600,000 troops behind him, and the battle lasted for more than 3 months. Even though the war is not over yet, the battle is still going on.
The Qian army must be exhausted, so this offensive is their last act of madness. My subordinates thought that as long as Lei Gong's men saw us guarding Xuzhou, they would definitely give up the idea of continuing to attack Xuzhou. After all, the leading troops of the Qian army had also arrived.
Once the limit has been reached, it is impossible for them to continue fighting!"