"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what a joy, what a joy!"
In August, the temperature in Wudi is still high.
Although Lu Yi was sweating profusely due to the heat, it did not stop him from running quickly just to tell His Majesty the good news he had just received.
Compared with the Weiyang Palace, which has a history of hundreds of years, the Jianye Palace was newly built after Sun Quan became emperor. The palace is far less magnificent than Adou's Palace.
In addition, the state of Wu has suffered from severe inflation and insufficient taxes in recent years. It is common for the treasury to be short of money and food, otherwise it would not be necessary to continuously cast large iron coins.
So Adou can sit in an artificially air-conditioned palace with ice mirrors on all four corners and eat ice cheese.
Sun Quan could only sit in a pavilion by the water and eat ice cream.
It's not that there is no ice mirror in the palace of Wu State, but the ice hidden in the palace is not enough to squander it like Adou did.
It is usually used to freeze food and fruits.
Sometimes it is also used to reward ministers.
However, the ice cheese recipe passed down from the Shu Kingdom is indeed a good way to beat the heat!
It contains brown sugar, chicken, cheese, mixed with different juices according to taste preferences, and frozen.
The food is fragrant, sweet and smooth, coupled with the taste of juice, it is the best food to beat the heat and makes people want to stop.
Sun Quan, who was eating with gusto, heard Lu Yi's voice announcing the good news and quickly put down the ice cream.
Then he took the towel brought by the palace attendant, wiped the beard on his face carefully, and then said:
"Ask Principal Lu to come over."
"Your Majesty, what a happy event!"
Lu Yi came to Sun Quan and bowed with great ceremony. He held a letter in his hand and his face was full of joy.
Sun Quan was in a good mood.
Xu's serious illness did not affect his mood.
There was even a hint of shameful joy in his heart.
If the Xu family disappears, then no one will be able to compete with the Bu family in the palace for the position of queen.
In this way, it can be regarded as fulfilling my wish for so many years.
When he heard Lu Yi shouting happy news, his face was filled with a smile:
“Where does joy come from?”
As he spoke, his eyes fell on the letter held in Lu Yi's hand.
"Your Majesty, this is a secret message sent back from Shu by the Qin Schoolmaster."
Lu Yi hurriedly handed over the letter, and then said, "Qin Xiaoshi went to Shu this time and fulfilled his mission. We, Da Wu, will form an armored cavalry army and there is hope!"
"Oh? Seriously?" Sun Quan was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly opened the letter to read.
When he saw that the Han Dynasty was actually willing to rent the weapons and armor of the armored cavalry to Wu, he couldn't help but exclaimed:
"This Han country is so generous!"
It’s not surprising that Sun Quan was so out of sorts, it was because the letter sent back by Zhu Ju described in detail the amount of money and food it would cost to build the armored cavalry, which was simply an astronomical figure.
If Da Wu really wants to form an armored cavalry army as Zhu Ju said, I am afraid that even with the strength of the whole country, it will be difficult to sustain it.
Unless more than half of Da Wu's other armies are cut off, all the money and food saved will be used to pile up the armored cavalry.
But when he saw that he needed to use tariffs as collateral, he couldn't help but hesitate:
What am I saying? How could Han be such a good person for no reason?
He looked at Lu Yi and said:
"In the past few years, there have been more and more caravans coming from the Han Kingdom to Dawu. These caravans and ships are not a small sum of money. Is it cost-effective to do this?"
Lu Yi was already prepared and immediately replied after hearing this:
"Your Majesty, although the number of carriages and boats collected from the Han caravan is not small, the school office has calculated that the weapons and armor rented to us by the Han State alone are enough to last twenty years."
"That is to say, within twenty years, Da Wu will only make a profit but not lose anything. This is because the weapons and armor provided by the Han State are indeed very sophisticated and extraordinary."
Speaking of this, Lu Yi lowered his voice and said:
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing, that is, many of the caravans traveling between Han and Wu belong to Wu's aristocratic families."
"These caravans, in many cases, rely on the support of local wealthy families, and often do not hand over the carriages and boats. In recent years, the school affairs office has set up checkpoints in various places in Wuchang, Jingzhou, and found many similar incidents."
"Therefore, in my opinion, rather than bothering to collect these carriages and ships, it is better to simply agree to the Han Dynasty."
"In this way, your majesty will not only get the weapons and armor of the Han Dynasty for free, but you will also be able to win over the hearts and minds of the rich people by getting free transportation and ships."
After hearing this, Sun Quan suddenly realized:
"I see, this is a wonderful move."
Then he was a little curious:
"You said that the weapons and armor borrowed by the Han State are extremely fine and unusual. This coincides with what Zifan (i.e. Zhu Ju) said. Could it be that the iron casting technique of the Han State is really so powerful?"
Compared with Zhu Ju's empty talk and unsubstantiated claims, Lu Yi was much more prepared.
But Lu Yi replied:
"The Han's armored cavalry is unparalleled in the world, and the weapons and armor they use are naturally extraordinary. The Qin school handles affairs well and is highly valued by the Han state, so Lord Feng... expressly gave him a set of armored cavalry."
Weapons and armor.”
"School Qin dare not take it privately, and has already sent it back to Dawu. When I enter the palace this time, I have brought this set of weapons and armor with me."
"Oh?" When Sun Quan heard this, he immediately became interested and said, "Send it over quickly."
Following Sun Quan's instructions, several guards soon arrived in front of Sun Quan carrying a set of weapons and armor.
Sun Quan immediately took a fancy to the saber in the guard's hand.
He picked up the knife from the guard's hand, held the handle, and unsheathed the knife. Although the weather was hot, the coldness on the knife still hit him immediately.
"What a sword!" Sun Quan couldn't help but admire, "This kind of sword costs at least 100,000 yuan!"
After all, Sun Quan had exchanged swords with Shu for wool, so he naturally knew the price of swords.
In terms of five baht, the sword most commonly used in the army will not cost less than one thousand baht.
The hundred-refined sword must cost at least 20,000 yuan.
As for the Zhanma Dao, it all depends on the quality.
The worst case is 30,000 to 50,000 yuan.
As for the horse-cutting sword in his hand, it can already be regarded as a family heirloom.
One hundred thousand dollars has a price but no market.
He couldn't put it down and watched it for a long time, and then he reluctantly sheathed the sword.
Then his eyes fell on the standing armor.
Although the iron armor was not put on the bodies of humans and horses, just being put on the wooden frame and standing there made people feel an extremely heavy sense of oppression.
Sun Quan came closer and gently stroked the armor. He applied a little force and found that he couldn't press it in at all.
Looking at the iron armor that was tightly sealed from top to bottom, with no flaw at all. Only the eyes on the face were exposed with two black holes, Sun Quan couldn't help but sigh:
"This kind of iron armor is invulnerable to swords and arrows. If you rush into the formation, even a mighty general will not be able to defeat it."
Then there is a horse halberd more than one foot long, and a crossbow...
There are all kinds of them, all of which are extremely sophisticated. Even the generals of Wu who have been fighting for many years may not be able to put together such a set.
It's not that they don't have enough money, but that even if they hire someone to make weapons and armor like this, they may not be able to make them.
"Feng Mingwen was able to defeat an army of 100,000 Wei thieves head-on with 20,000 troops. I finally know why!"
Sun Quan sighed, "With three thousand armored cavalry in hand, who in the world can do that?"
He said and shook his head again.
No wonder Han’s armored cavalry only numbered three thousand.
No wonder the Han Dynasty took the initiative to rent it. They must also know that Da Wu simply did not have the ability to build the same armored cavalry army.
Even if Da Wu had enough money and food, it would still be a question whether he could build weapons and armor of the same quality.
Even if it can be built, how long it will take is another question.
Looking at the pile of things in front of him, Sun Quan didn't know what he thought of. His heart felt a little heavy and his face became a little ugly.
After the Battle of Yiling, Wu and Shu reunited their alliance, and the two countries never fought head-on again.
However, because he defeated Liu Bei in the battle of Yiling, Sun Quan actually always had a psychological advantage when facing Shu.
Over the years, even though the Han State had won successive victories against the Wei State, Jianye and Shu were still separated by Jingzhou. The distance was so far that they could not feel the pressure of the Shu State at all.
Therefore, Sun Quan has always felt that even the Shu army's combat effectiveness has improved under Zhuge Liang's reorganization.
But after all, it will not be much stronger than the Shu army led by Liu Bei in the battle of Yiling.
After all, what Liu Bei led were elite soldiers he had accumulated over the years.
It was not until today when he saw the thick armor of the Han cavalry that he suddenly discovered a fact:
The most elite of the elite troops under Liu Bei's command are the white soldiers, who are probably far inferior to the armored cavalry.
In addition, the Han Dynasty captured Liangzhou and merged it with Yongzhou, and their military strength was probably far superior to that of Liu Bei when he captured Jingyi Prefecture.
And Da Wu...
Thinking of this, Sun Quan's face became more and more gloomy.
"Qiang!"
"Click!"
Sun Quan drew his sword and slashed at the railing of the pavilion. The blade of the sword cut through. There were no sawdust flying in the wooden railing. There was only a gap. The sword was so sharp.
"You write to Qin Bo immediately and tell him that I have agreed! But there is one thing. The Han Kingdom must send weapons and armor as quickly as possible!"
Wu was already too far behind and had no time to fight back and forth with the Wei thieves in Hefei.
There is no extra money and food to waste under the city of Hefei.
Because there are already four states, Shu, which occupies the most beautiful place in the world, will not give itself too much time.
If Wu did not catch up and break through Hefei or Xiangyang, then he would have to watch helplessly as the Shu people annexed Wei and sent troops southward from three sides to continue to destroy Wu.
"There are no two days in heaven, and there are no two kings in the land. Just like after the annexation of Wei, the king did not fully understand the destiny of heaven. Each king will display his virtues, each minister will fulfill his loyalty, and the war will begin."
This is what Deng Zhi said to the monarchs and ministers of Wu State when he was on a mission to the State of Wu.
So this is an open tacit understanding. Both the monarchs and ministers of the two countries know that after the destruction of Wei, the war between Shu and Wu will begin.
It is obvious that the Shu Kingdom used a majestic conspiracy this time.
An honest conspiracy.
Either be trapped in Jiangdong and wait for death, or accept the conditions and try your best.
No matter whether the Shu people really wanted to join forces with Da Wu to destroy the bandits this time, or they had some conspiracy.
He could only accept the conditions of the Shu people so that he could have an armored cavalry army as quickly as possible and then defeat the elite cavalry that Wei relied on most.
Of course, there is not a third way to go.
That is to raise troops and march westward to Yong'an...
Thinking of this, Sun Quan's eyes flashed.
Just thinking about the rapids and shoals going up the river, he finally gritted his teeth and closed his eyes:
Forget it, let’s go to Hefei.
At the end of August, as we prepare to enter September, the raging autumn tiger finally begins to show signs of fatigue.
The weather is no longer as hot as it was in the past few days, but sometimes hot and sometimes cool.
The weather began to become friendly, but it did not help Xu, who was bedridden in Wu County.
A layer of gray air covered her sallow face, and her eye sockets were even more pitiful. Only a pair of eyeballs moved inside, letting people know that she was still alive.
The room was filled with a strange herbal smell, and there was a faint smell of feces and urine near the hospital bed.
As a prince, Sun Deng seemed not to be able to smell these smells at all. He gently blew on the medicinal soup in the spoon, and then brought it to Xu's mouth:
"Mom, come on, open your mouth and take the medicine."
Xu's withered mouth moved, but did not open it obediently.
Her cloudy eyes just looked at Sun Deng steadily.
"Mom, ah, open your mouth."
Sun Deng didn't have the slightest dislike and signaled patiently.
Mrs. Xu still didn't open her mouth, but her lips still moved. Her voice was as if there was something in her mouth, muffled:
"It's no use..."
Seeing her like this, Sun Deng felt sad and quickly comforted her:
"How come it doesn't work? It must be useful. Maybe you can get better after taking these medicines."
Mrs. Xu was still unwilling to open her mouth, and her gaze was unwilling to leave Sun Deng for a moment, as if she wanted to carve his appearance into her bones.
"Although I have not been able to give birth to a child, I have more sons than my own. I am content for the rest of my life."
Hearing Mrs. Xu's words, Sun Deng quickly put down the medicine bowl and held Mrs. Xu's withered hand:
"Mom, don't talk nonsense, I am your biological son."
A smile appeared on Mrs. Xu's face, but her eyes shed tears: "You are the prince, and my mother should be the queen of Wu. I don't have this blessing."
"Mom..."
Sun Deng was about to speak, but Xu used the last bit of her strength to shake his hand and signal him not to interrupt.
"I know that over the years, you have been trying to persuade His Majesty to let me live in the palace. But it is Your Majesty's wish that I return to Wu County to live. Your Majesty has disliked me for a long time, so how can you make me your queen?"
"I didn't advise you before because although I knew I couldn't be the queen, I didn't want that Bu family to be the queen."
"Now I'm just afraid that my life is not long. Don't let Your Majesty be in trouble because of me again in the future..."
When Sun Deng heard this, he burst into tears:
"Mom, don't say that! You will definitely get better!"
Xu just smiled and continued:
"That Bu family, although I used to dislike her very much, I have to say that she has the ability to win His Majesty's special favor. After I die, if His Majesty wants to make her his queen, don't stop him. .”
"You and Your Majesty are father and son. Don't let any estrangement arise due to matters in the harem. Only when father and son are of the same mind can they work hard to seek governance and revitalize Wu."
As the saying goes, when a person is about to die, his words are also good.
Although Xu was sexually jealous, she had always been at odds with Bu and hated her for taking away Sun Quan's favor.
But at this time, when she said this, she was actually thinking about Sun Deng and didn't want him to offend the Bu family because of her.