Step-by-step development is not what Cao Cao wants to do. After all, there are only 400,000 people in the entire Crab Island, which is the size of an ant compared with Da Gan. Cao Cao does not want to continue to be an enemy of Da Gan, but he wants to have a way to protect himself. Instead of hiding on this deserted island to enclose your own territory!
Cao Cao thought for a while and said: "If you want to speed up the progress of land reclamation, buying some cattle and horses is obviously the best way, especially for Crab Island, which is vast and sparsely populated. What we lack is labor! Cattle and horses can be a great supplement."
But Xun Yu was embarrassed and said: "Although the price of cattle and horses in Daqian is cheap, it is not cheap to come to us by sea. Not to mention that we have a small amount of gold and silver to buy food and other daily necessities, and we simply can't afford it." Buy cows and horses!”
Cao Cao was dissatisfied and said: "For such a big island, does the logs have no other specialties? Now the entire island belongs to us, and anything that can be sold for money can be sold for development!"
Xun Yu looked embarrassed. There were also several small gold mines on Crab Island, but Xun Yu regarded them as a guarantee to keep the bottom of the box. Xun Yu did not want to waste these gold and silver until the crisis came!
Cheng Yu thought for a while and said: "My subordinates found that there are many hot springs in this island, and there are many sulfur mines where there are hot springs. With the current price of sulfur, as long as we find a sulfur mine, we will not be short." funds for development.”
Xiahou Dun was dissatisfied and said: "This does not mean that Liu Bei has been betrayed!"
Although they left the Daqian, the generals like Xiahou Dun had a good sense of Liu Bei, and even felt a little guilty. After all, they were the ones who wanted to fight Daqian, but turned around and betrayed Liu Bei. As a warrior, Xiahou Dun I am very ashamed, and now if the sulfur mine is really discovered in Crab Island, there is no need to think about it, Lei Gong will definitely use it to make gunpowder to deal with Liu Bei.
Da Gan already has the advantage of force. If they provide help to Da Gan and increase Da Gan's gunpowder, Xiahou Dun can fully imagine that Liu Bei might join them soon!
Cheng Yu said helplessly: "Even if we don't sell, Liu Bei can't defeat Da Gan. Moreover, we are doing this for our own survival and can't control Liu Bei!"
Cao Cao stopped Xiahou Dun and said: "Leave the matter of finding sulfur mines to Zhongde!"
At the same time, Cao Cao said to Xiahou Dun: "Our soldiers have followed us through life and death, and now they have come to the deserted island of Crab Island. Now that they are going to disarm and return to their fields, shouldn't we generals prepare some farming for them?" Use the cows and horses to solve the problems in their future lives!"
He could only feel sorry for Liu Bei. Xiahou Dun thought of his soldiers and could only sigh helplessly and remain silent.
The next day, Cao Cao led his army back to his hometown!
We happened to meet the fleet that Gongsun Yue and his companions were leaving!
Cao Cao looked at these behemoths with envy and said, "When will we be able to build such a big ship!"
Crab Island is surrounded by the sea. A fleet of ships can facilitate communication between the inside and outside. When Cao Cao came here, he summoned all the carpenters who knew how to build ships. Unfortunately, there were not many carpenters who could build ships here. They could only build ships. There were some small fishing boats, and they were extremely expensive. After Cao Cao found limestone on Crab Island and the cement factory was built, cement boats floated around Crab Island again. Relying on these cement boats, the residents of Crab Island have realized the freedom to eat fish. Even most of the Chinese people vomited after eating it!
But the disadvantage of cement ships is that they are difficult to sail. For Cao Cao's Crab Island, long-distance ships can communicate with all directions and will not be restricted by Daqian! So even if there are cement ships, Cao Cao still invests heavily in shipyards, which is a pity. A long-distance voyage ship cannot be built in a short time.
Guo Jiadao: "Instead of envying Daqian's ocean-going fleet, my lord, it is better to go to the mansion and see what happened to Daqian during this time!"
Xun Yu and others also agreed to be interested. They were originally literati and lived in this wasteland without even seeing a few books. Now what they are most interested in are the new books and various kinds of books brought by the fleet every time. Newspaper! This can not only receive various information from Daqian, but also satisfy their spiritual life!
So Cao Cao, Xun Yu and others quickly came to the government office and found Daqian's latest newspapers to read!
"The grain in the official warehouse of Da Gan exceeds 1.2 billion shi! No wonder Xi Zhicai keeps selling grain to our Crab Island. It seems that the grain warehouse in Yuyang has also exploded!" The first page of the newspaper in Guo Jia's hand was about Da Gan. Food situation!
Xun Yu said in admiration: "Everyone is blinded by Lei Gong's victorious record. In fact, compared with Lei Gong's military strategy, Lei Gong's farming ability is the most powerful. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the contemporary Shennong. We and his The reason why the war has been defeated repeatedly is that food is also a big problem. In the beginning, both the people and the army were outnumbered, but it was because they had more food that they could concentrate more troops than us. army!"
Cao Cao said sadly: "Liu Bei will definitely be defeated. It seems that half of the Han Dynasty cannot be saved!"
Cao Cao's loyalty to the Han Dynasty has not been completely eliminated. If possible, he still hopes that the Han Dynasty will continue to exist, but the food alone is enough to feed a million troops for several years. This is not to mention frontal combat, just consumption. They can fight to death Liu Bei.
Dagan's million-strong army is pressing down on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Liu Bei must mobilize his entire army to confront Dagan. However, Dagan can consume it for 10 years and may not be able to use up all the grain reserves, but Liu Bei is afraid that he cannot even spend half a year. This is a naked gap in national strength. Now Daqian is more than 10 times more powerful than Dahan. It can no longer be blocked by the Yangtze River. Not to mention that Daqian’s navy is not bad. Liu Bei’s only advantage is not Qiang, how can you fight with Da Gan!
After reading the newspaper, Xun You said: "It seems that we also helped Xi Zhicai solve a big problem!"
Then he said regretfully: "We don't have much gold and silver in our hands. Otherwise, with the current accumulation of grain, even if we order millions of stones of grain, they would be willing to help us transport it!"
They Crab Island can definitely eat millions or even tens of millions of stones of food, but they have no money in their hands and there is no way to buy so much food!
Xun Yu felt more at ease and said: "Dagan's grain harvest has been great. It seems that we don't have to worry about food problems. This way our grain reserves will be enough. We only need to order 200,000 shi of grain every month. In fact, Now we want big animals like cows and horses to help us build various infrastructure projects!"
Crab Island had to be built from scratch. Cao Cao's Cao City maintained 30,000 craftsmen here to build it, and all of these people had to be fed by Cao Cao. It can be said that if it weren't for the log industry, Cao Cao would not have been able to maintain so many off-duty workers!
Guo Jia said firmly: "This depends on our own efforts. Crab Island is bigger than Qingzhou, and this island has not been developed at all. As long as we can develop all the specialties of Crab Island and rely on Daqian's huge market, It is not a problem to make our 400,000 people live a prosperous life. Not to mention the century-old trees on Crab Island alone, it would take us more than 10 years to cut them down. It can be said that this island is full of treasures waiting for us to develop!”
But at this time, Cao Cao shouted: "It's not good, Liu Bei is in danger, Thunder God is going to cut his way out!"
Hearing this, Xun Yu, Guo Jia and others looked at the newspaper in Cao Cao's hand in surprise, but they only found that a captain named Bao Xin had become a Ryukyu captain?
"Ryukyu? Where is this? Isn't this the legendary fairy island? Could it be that after Lei Gong had no rivals for the world, he began to seek immortality?" Guo Jia didn't remember Ryukyu on the map of the Han Dynasty at all!
Xun Yu thought for a long time and said: "It seems that there is an island called Ryukyu offshore from Yangzhou?"
Cao Cao said firmly: "There is a desert island called Ryukyu on the island opposite Kuaiji County, which is similar to our Crab Island, but Ryukyu is closer to the Han Dynasty!"
After saying that, Cao Cao had some tea, drew a simple map of Yangzhou on his desk, and then pointed out the location of Ryukyu Island!
Seeing this, Guo Jia was surprised and said: "Lei Gong wants to attack Liu Bei's lair from the sea!"
This is not the same as the battle of Qingzhou. Daqian just wanted to attack Jiangnan from the sea.
Xun Yu sighed and said: "The year before last, during the battle between Daqian and Liu Bei, Yangzhou was about to fall. However, Guan Yu commanded the Yangzhou navy to defeat Daqian's navy, and then gained the upper hand and repelled Daqian's army. Although Daqian's army was defeated by Guan Yu, Qian's navy is stronger than Han's, but their ships are larger and are suitable for sea battles, not narrow river battles. Apparently Lei Gong has learned his lesson, avoiding Liu Bei's only advantage and planning to attack Liu Bei from the sea. We Liu Bei should be reminded to be careful of Da Gan’s backstab!”
Guo Jia kept shaking his head and said: "Even if Liu Bei knew about it, I'm afraid there is nothing he can do. Given the desolation of Jiangnan, even if Liu Bei developed it for ten years, it would not be able to compare with the 10 states in the Central Plains, not to mention that Lei Gong is still a construction place. As a prodigy, Liu Bei cannot compare to Lei Gong in this regard."
"Now the Han Dynasty's finances are less than one-tenth of Da Gan's. Liu Bei has to support an army of 300,000 people and a navy of tens of thousands of people. This has already overwhelmed the Han Dynasty's finances. How can Liu Bei still do it?" Raising a navy that can compete with Da Gan? It’s simply impossible!
But if Daqian attacks from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to the upper reaches, Yangzhou and Jingzhou can be easily conquered with Lei Gong’s strength. But Lei Gong thought of attacking Yizhou in this way. With Yizhou’s natural dangers, it is impossible to conquer it from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River!”
But Cao Cao said seriously: "If all 12 states in the world are occupied by Thunder God, even if Liu Bei still holds Yizhou, he will lose the hearts of the people in the world. If Liu Bei wants to fight to the death, will the rest of the Han Dynasty be buried with Liu Bei?" "
Cao Cao said firmly: "It's impossible. They can only betray Liu Bei in exchange for their glory and wealth. No, with Lei Gong's hatred towards them, even if they betray Liu Bei, Lei Gong will at most spare their lives and knock them off the earth." !
It’s just such a clever trick. Why did Lei Gong publish it in the newspaper? We can think of things that Liu Bei in Jiangnan can easily think of, but this will lose the possibility of winning by surprise! "
Xun You thought for a while and said: "I'm afraid this is the plot of Thunder Lord. He told Liu Bei clearly that he was going to use the navy to cut off his retreat. If Liu Bei wanted to resist Da Gan's move, he would have to pay a huge price. To build a navy that can compete with Dagan, the second is to build a solid coastal defense line thousands of miles away from Yangzhou. Even if Dagan's navy can log in to Liu Bei's rear like Qingzhou, there is already enough power in the rear to resist Dagan. attack!"
Cao Cao said firmly: "It is impossible for Liu Bei to do it. This coastline, including Jiaozhou, is almost ten thousand miles long. If we really want to build a defense line here, the cost will be dozens of times greater than that of the navy. It is impossible for Liu Bei to have the financial resources!"
Guo Jiadao: "It seems that Liu Bei may have the same treatment as us in the near future. Maybe this Ryukyu Island is just for Liu Bei! My lord, we should settle down on Crab Island. Thunder God will be emperor in less than 5 years." Well, facing such a founding emperor, we can only lie dormant!"
Cao Cao could only sigh in his heart when he saw the content in the newspaper and stopped talking. He even felt his anger dissipated, and his whole spirit seemed to have dissipated. Cao Cao could only sigh in his heart. Since he was angry with Cao, why? Make thunder.
The fifth year of Jian'an (200 AD!)
Liu Bei sighed and huddled in front of the stove in Jingzhou. It was obviously already February and the weather had begun to get warmer, but a sudden cold wind caused the entire Jingzhou city to be snowed. Few people started to move around in the entire Xiangyang City. Only then can he be free like this.
But this kind of leisure did not allow Liu Bei to relax. Instead, he sighed. He read in the newspaper that Daqian was constantly transporting soldiers by ship to be stationed on Ryukyu Island. He never had a peaceful sleep!
At this time, Liu Bei's steward said that Yuan Ji, Jian Yong and others were visiting! Liu Bei asked the steward to bring them over!
After seeing Liu Bei, Yuan Ji said anxiously: "Has the general seen Daqian's newspaper?"
Liu Bei nodded and said: "Not only did I see it, I also asked Yun Chang to send a navy to investigate the Yangtze River estuary. I found that Daqian's ocean-going ships were indeed constantly transporting troops to gather in Ryukyu. Now Yun Chang has stationed 10,000 troops in Kuaiji County. The overall situation is to prepare for the navy!"
Jian Yong said anxiously: "Ten thousand people can only rely on you to defend this nearly 10,000-mile coastline. Daqian now takes the initiative. Their troops can not only land in Kuaiji County, but also in Jiaozhou. Daqian really wants to send troops to Jiaozhou." , we can’t help even if we want to!”
Wuling was not developed at this time, and there were only some narrow paths leading to Jiaozhou, so it was very difficult for the army to support them!
"We can only use the navy to deal with the navy! Without a strong navy, we can't react at all!" Jian Yong said firmly.
But Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said: "How can the imperial court have any money now? There were tens of thousands of casualties in a war the year before last. The pension alone used up our two years of finance. And now the Dagan Navy has spent tens of billions to build it. Where can we find these tens of billions? Daqian is now like a chain trying to strangle us big men step by step, but we still can't find a solution!"