Chen Mu returned to Pingyuan Kingdom from Dongjun, and then returned to Jinan from Pingyuan Kingdom.
Although Tao Qian occupied Jibei Kingdom, Jibei Kingdom did not separate Dongjun from Pingyuan Kingdom. The location of the three places is somewhat like the relationship between Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou. The three sides are closely together, but they all border on each other.
Therefore, Chen Mu entered Pingyuan Kingdom from Liaocheng County in Dongjun and Boping County on the north bank of Luoshui River. Under the protection of the Qingzhou Army on the border, he headed for Jinan.
Since Qingzhou has now broken up with Jizhou, as a peripheral barrier to Qingzhou, Pingyuan Kingdom and Jinan have deployed a large number of soldiers and horses. Ju Shou is the Prime Minister of Pingyuan, Tian Feng is the Prime Minister of Jinan, and there are generals Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun,
Huang Zhong and other dozens of generals guarded it.
At this time, Pingyuan Kingdom and Jinan Kingdom were already like an iron barrel, and their defense of Jizhou was airtight. As Chen Mu walked along, he saw a large number of troops densely packed along the border. It was obvious that both sides had begun to compete head-on.
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But he also noticed that except for Pingyuan Kingdom and Jinan Kingdom, there were not many defensive forces along Mount Tai. This reminded Chen Mu of Tao Qian's hidden danger, and he was slightly worried, fearing that Tao Qian would rebel.
A few days later, he arrived at Dongpingling, the seat of Jinan Kingdom. Hearing that Chen Mu was back, Zhang Fei Jushou came specially from Pingyuan City, and they gathered together again for a banquet.
After the banquet, Chen Mu asked Zhang Fei, Ju and Tian Feng to stay and discuss the current situation in the room.
The four of them sat down, but Zhang Fei sat on the main seat. Now he was the Zuo Zhonglang General named by the imperial court. He belonged to the rank of Zhonglang General with five features. He had a higher status than the generals with other names, and was second only to the general and the hussar general.
, General Wei and the four generals on the front, rear, left and right, and other important generals, have military power.
Moreover, he was the third among the four brothers. Of course, Chen Mu couldn't be the boss in front of Zhang Fei. After arranging him to sit on the main seat, he sat on Zhang Fei's right hand and was the first to start. He looked around at everyone and asked: "Everyone
, when I came here, I saw a large amount of food and grass being transported to Boping from the direction of the plains. Why is this?"
Zhang Fei immediately said: "This is the decision made by the eldest brother. If the fourth brother has any questions, it is better to go back to Linzi and ask the eldest brother for clarification now."
"It happened in the plains. What should I do with my eldest brother?"
Chen Mu smiled and waved his hand, then turned to look at Jushou: "Could it be that Cao Cao asked Big Brother for these things?"
Jushou nodded: "Well, a few days ago, Cao Cao sent a letter to Duke Ming, saying that he had been attacked by Tao Qian. Dongjun suffered heavy losses and there was not much food and grass left. He prayed that Duke Ming could give him some food, grass, weapons and luggage. Duke Ming readily agreed.
, ordered me to send him 200,000 hu of grain, 30,000 hu of salt, 2,000 pairs of armor, and 8,000 handles of various bladed weapons."
Two hundred thousand dendrobium?
Good guy, I'm so damn good guy!
However, Chen Mu was so cunning and scheming that he almost broke through on the spot.
What is the concept of two hundred thousand dendrobium of grain and grass?
One dendrobium is equivalent to one stone, which is equivalent to two hundred thousand stones of grain and grass.
Assuming that soldiers had 12-14 kilograms of food per day, they would eat about three shi of food per month on average, and 200,000 shi would be enough to feed 10,000 people for most of half a year.
Converted into coins, the price of corn per stone in troubled times was about 500-1,000. Taking a compromise of 750, it was also worth 150 million yuan. Adding salt and armor weapons, this aid amounted to more than 200 million five-baht coins.
Qingzhou is indeed wealthy now. According to records in "Hanshu Shihuo Zhi" and "Guanzi Zhiguo", the fertile soil areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River have extremely high yields per mu, reaching 3-4 shi per mu. Qingzhou's cultivated land area is more than 40 million
mu, even if each mu only produces 3 shi, the total income can reach more than 100 million shi.
However, this more than 100 million stones does not refer to the total income of Qingzhou, but to deduct the food rations of the three to four million people in Qingzhou, and then pay a certain amount of food as taxes from the remainder. Qingzhou adopts a policy of rest and recuperation.
The tax on the people is not high, about one-fifteenth, and they can get 7 to 8 million dan of grain every year.
In addition, the coastal areas produce sea salt, hundreds of thousands of acres of high-yielding Champa rice are planted near Judian Lake, and so many Qingzhou Yellow Turbans have been captured and sent to the fields, Qingzhou can obtain nearly 10 million kilograms of food every year.
, the coin income is countless, and its overall strength is only slightly worse than Jizhou. It has become the richest state in the world after Jizhou.
But it is true that Qingzhou has money and food. However, starting from the first year of Chuping, the food and grass for the Kwantung Army was borne by Jizhou and Qingzhou. The 200,000-strong army consumed countless amounts every day, including the auxiliary soldiers who transported food along the way.
We spent three years fighting, and although we were not completely exhausted, we were not as rich as we had imagined.
According to Chen Mu's calculations, Qingzhou should only have more than 10 million shi of food in stock at present. It looks like a lot, and there will be a large-scale war in the future. Moreover, there are many natural disasters in Qingzhou, such as earthquakes, locust plagues, floods, severe droughts, and even
Hail and severe cold can both cause reduced grain production.
In addition, there are still more than 200,000 troops to support in Qingzhou, 78,000 in the local area, and more than 100,000 in Luoyang. Although Luoyang implemented the farming system in Hanoi, most of the original Baibo army became
Soldiers in the fields can be self-sufficient.
But again, with the current cultivated land area in Luoyang, it will definitely be no problem to feed 600,000 people and more than 100,000 troops. However, once a disaster year comes and the food harvest fails, the system will easily collapse.
For example, Luoyang has suffered several disasters, such as locust plagues, earthquakes, and droughts. Once this happens, people often suffer from starvation and cannibalism.
So Big Brother's generous donation is really cool, but if you consider the actual situation, it's a bit of a slap in the face.
When Chen Mu suddenly heard the bad news, he didn't think much about it and asked directly: "Don't you object?"
Jushou put his hands in his sleeves and shook his head: "I can't object."
"Brother insists on giving it?"
"no."
"Why is that?"
"The geographical location of Yanzhou is too important and it must win over Cao Cao."
Tian Feng gave the answer.
This is also the common opinion given to Liu Bei by several senior counselors in Qingzhou.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Jushu explained: "When Cao Cao first conquered Yanzhou, he had a lack of population, almost no food and grass, and coupled with constant natural and man-made disasters, he had reached the end of his road. Except for this
In addition to these times, in June this year, we also gave him 300,000 hu of grain and grass one after another to help him survive this crisis. I believe that after this year, he will be better off next year and will not ask us for food again."
After hearing what Ju Shou and Tian Feng said, Chen Mu narrowed his eyes slightly and thought carefully for a moment, then nodded and softened his expression: "Well, in this case, I will definitely give it. But after this time, if he comes to ask for money again,
We can't give him any more food. Cao Cao is a wolf who can't get enough to feed."
Jushou said in confusion: "Cao Cao has a very good relationship with us now and we are allies, so there should be no need to be on guard for the time being."
Chen Mu smiled and asked him: "Brother, sir, have you met Cao Cao?"
"never seen it."
Jushou shook his head.
Chen Mu said: "Cao Cao and I have known each other for nearly ten years. This man is a man of great talent and great strategy. We must not underestimate him."
"really?"
Jushou was doubtful. He didn't know Cao Cao, so he couldn't make an evaluation.
Tian Feng thought for a while and said: "Although I am not familiar with Cao Cao, judging from his actions in the battle of Chang'an, he is indeed a man who dares to use troops, and is good at using cunning strategies with astonishing courage."
"good."
Chen Mu said: "This person has great ambitions and is definitely not easy to get along with. If he is allowed to develop, he may be too big and threaten the development of Qingzhou, and there may even be a risk of backlash."
Hearing this, not to mention Jushou, even Tian Feng laughed and said, "Zigui is worrying too much. Although Cao Cao is talented, he is nominally the shepherd of Yanzhou at this time, but in fact he only occupies the eastern part of the country."
The county has only a few hundred thousand citizens and tens of thousands of troops. We have to borrow food, grass and weapons from us, so how can we threaten Qingzhou?"
The eight counties of Yanzhou, Rencheng State, Jibei State, and Dongping State have small populations, small areas, and only three to seven cities. Although they are under Cao Cao's rule, they cannot give Cao Cao much help.
In the other Chenliu Kingdom, the prefect Zhang Miao and Cao Cao are inseparable in appearance. In the Jiyin State, the prefect Wu Zi has never liked Cao Cao. The prefect of Shanyang Yuan Yi is a member of the Yuan family and does not obey Cao Cao's orders. Ying Shao of Taishan County is also independent and independent, sandwiched between Cao Cao
Tao Qian and Liu Bei were right in the middle and had both sides.
So Cao Cao only had a little bit of territory at the beginning. The only good news was that his Dongjun was a long strip spanning the entire Yanzhou, bordering the Pingyuan Kingdom of Qingzhou and the Hanoi County of Sili at both ends.
The army that Liu Bei went to Sili to support had good access to food and grass. Otherwise, Liu Bei would not have given him support to stabilize his territory.
Chen Mu did not explain anything to them, but just smiled and said: "How can we allow others to snore on the so-called side of the bed? Regardless of whether it can threaten Qingzhou, let the surrounding forces of Qingzhou continue to remain weak, and then join forces with them to attack Jizhou, we are now
The most important strategy. Therefore, neither Jizhou nor Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou can be made powerful. This is called a national policy, and you must keep it in mind."
"Oh, I see."
Ju Shou and Tian Feng nodded. They also agreed with Chen Mu's strategy.
This is the conspiracy of a powerful country. While you want to be strong, you must also attack those who may threaten your status.
Some of them are like the tricks used by the beautiful country in later generations, but in fact, everyone did this during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The tricks of the beautiful country are still far behind those of our ancestors thousands of years ago.
But Chen Mu began to think carefully about this matter.
In fact, it was nothing to give Cao Cao food and grass to help him tide over the difficulties. Yuan Shu also gave Lu Bu 200,000 dendrobium of food and grass to lure him to attack Xiapi.
The position of Yanzhou is too important now. If Cao Cao cannot hold it, not only will the east-west grain road and military road from Qingzhou to Luoyang be cut off, but it will also lead to the connection between the north and the south. If Yuan Shu intends to go north to hook up with Wang Fen, it will be a big blow to his plan.
Big blow.
Therefore, as long as the strategic goal can be achieved, even one million dendrobium grains and grass will be fine.
But the problem is that Chen Mu knows that Cao Cao is not someone to be taken lightly, and if he feeds him too much, he may have backlash.
In history, when Cao Cao and Lu Bu fought for Yanzhou, the worst time was that there were only three counties and no more than 10,000 troops. It was at this time that Cheng Yu got rid of human flesh. It was so miserable that Cao Cao almost defected to Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao saw him.
It was pitiful, so they gave him soldiers, horses, food and grass to support him for this period of time.
There is almost no record of this incident in the "Three Kingdoms" because Chen Shou was an official of the Jin Dynasty and had to demote Yuan Zuncao. If this incident was written down and linked to the Battle of Guandu, it would inevitably give the world a feeling that Cao Cao would retaliate for his kindness.
a feeling of.
However, the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" records things clearly in 1510. The original text is: "Cao Cao surrounded Lu Bu in Puyang. He was defeated by Bu and surrendered to Shao. Shao mourned him and gave 5,000 soldiers in return.
Yanzhou."
Including Yuan Shao once shouted: "Cao Cao is about to die, I have saved him, but now I have betrayed my kindness and blackmailed the emperor to order me!" and General Zhu Ling was also sent by Yuan Shao to help Lao Cao, but ended up following Lao Cao.
He will not come back. This is something based on historical records.
Therefore, in Chen Mu's view, Cao Cao can be raised, but he must not be allowed to grow and develop. If necessary, he must be controlled to prevent him from engaging in another Guandu battle and stabbing Liu Bei in the back after he grows up, which would be a lot of fun.
.
Therefore, we must find a way to restrain Cao Cao's development, at least not let him capture Xuzhou.