When Cao Cao came to Zi, Liu Bei came back from the front line and went to greet him personally. As soon as he entered the city, it instantly became a star-chasing scene.
As the state pastor supported by the military and civilians of Qingzhou and the most respected virtuous man in the world, Liu Bei just showed up, and the people flocked to him, surrounded him, and presented him with various gifts.
As a result, the traffic was temporarily jammed, and people with vehicles coming and going inside and outside the city had to take detours. The police officers who managed the streets came out one after another to maintain order.
Don’t think that the ancients didn’t chase stars. Pan An received tons of gifts every time he went out. Wei Jie was surrounded by fans every day when he walked on the street. Xie Lingyun was a fan of Cao Zhi, and Li Bai was also a fan of Xie Lingyun. At the same time, he was not familiar with Meng Haoran.
Chu, only Du Fu is sour all day long and eats lemons.
Therefore, in the ancient society with underdeveloped information, once a certain mass admirer appeared, it would be much more fanatical than the so-called Weibo star-chasing in later generations. Not only would it be sought after by everyone, but it would also be easy for a large number of literary works to be produced to fill the gaps in art.
Of course, poetry is not popular nowadays, so no one writes poems for Liu Bei, Chen Mu and others.
But who knows that thousands of years later, someone will write a masterpiece like "Qin Emperor and Han Dynasty, slightly inferior to literary talents, Shizu Zhaolie, slightly inferior to coquettish, are all gone. To count the famous figures, we still have to look at the present day".
Surrounded by everyone, Liu Bei had no choice but to start moving with difficulty to the Prefecture Mufu.
Fortunately, there were guards and many government officials around to maintain order. Otherwise, they might have been trampled. They waited until they entered the mansion and then dispersed after a while.
The group entered the vestibule. Cao Cao looked around and saw that Liu Bei's governor's residence was just an ordinary small courtyard. He couldn't help but feel secretly surprised.
Although it is considered good compared to ordinary people's homes, with three entrances and three exits, it is at most like a wealthy family and does not look like a state pastor's mansion at all.
You know, in today's troubled times, many powerful people will immediately become extravagant once they have a position.
For example, Tao Qian's mansion in Xuzhou is very luxurious. It covers an area of seven or eight acres, has red gates, high walls, and houses connected with each other. It is extremely exquisite. There is also the Mi Zhu family, a wealthy family in Xuzhou, with tens of thousands of servants alone. You can imagine how big his house is.
.
Even Zuo Rong, who only occupied a piece of land in Guangling, built a house that was comparable to a palace, with countless pavilions and pavilions in the high-gate courtyard, and countless plundered wealth was hidden inside.
In comparison, Liu Bei's home seems much more friendly to the people.
The front courtyard is only five or six feet wide and seven or eight feet long, which is almost 240 square meters. Then there are the front hall, the middle hall, and the backyard, with three entrances and three exits. Together they occupy less than an acre of land.
Although a house with one acre of land can be said to be a big mansion in later generations, you must know that this is the Eastern Han Dynasty.
What is the population of the Eastern Han Dynasty?
The per capita area is 31 times that of later generations.
It can be said that the idiom "vast land and sparsely populated" comes from "Hanshu" and is the most realistic adjective at that time.
Ordinary people may not be so particular about it, but during the Qin and Han Dynasties, the buildings of wealthy families were all considered magnificent. Many powerful people's houses in the city started with two or three acres, and their manors outside the city even occupied several hectares.
Therefore, looking at it this way, Liu Bei's family is as poor as beggars compared with those powerful people.
"Brother Meng De laughed."
Seeing Cao Cao looking around in the courtyard, Liu Bei pointed to a centuries-old banyan tree in the courtyard, and said in a Versailles-like manner: "This was originally the governor's residence. When Yuan Ligong was the governor of Qingzhou, he didn't like it.
Because of his extravagance, he chose a shabby tile-roofed house as the governor's residence. At that time, the entire house only had this front hall and this courtyard. Duke Yuanli often worked under the trees in this courtyard to deal with Qingzhou affairs.
"Later, when great sages such as Duke Changxuan, Duke Deqian, and Duke Ziyan were in office, they did not build new palaces because they always admired Duke Yuan Li's virtue. When my fourth brother was appointed governor, he found that the houses were really simple.
, it expanded to what it is now, and later I became the state pastor. People often advised me to renovate the mansion and expand it."
"But when I saw the towering tree and the umbrella-like canopy, I was always filled with emotion, as if I had seen with my own eyes the demeanor of Duke Yuan Li who served the people impartially, so I did not renovate the mansion. I don't want Brother Meng De to come today.
It makes Brother Meng De laugh."
As he spoke, Liu Bei showed an embarrassed smile, and there was a hint of pride in this smile.
This is the house where Li Ying, a model in the world and the leader of the Eight Talents, lived.
Xun Shuang, the most famous among the Eight Dragons of the Xun Family, felt proud that Li Ying had passed the car, but he lived directly in the house where Yuan Ligong once lived. This honor was much greater than that of Xun Shuang.
Chen Mu, who had returned from a stroll nearby, saw through the big brother's little showoff. After hearing his words, he couldn't help but look at Liu Bei with interest.
Yo.
Canopy like an umbrella?
Is Big Brother recalling the lofty ambition of his childhood to "build a chariot"?
Okay, you big-eared thief, you still said you don’t want to be the emperor?
It's exposed.
certainly.
He was just thinking casually in his mind.
Many people read this section of "Three Kingdoms" and thought that Liu Bei had dreamed of becoming an emperor and rebelling since he was a child.
But in fact, the "Yubao covered carriage" is not exclusive to the emperor. Yu Bao is the umbrella cover used by the emperor's honor guard when traveling, and is made of various bird feathers.
Including the canopy-like umbrella Liu Bei just mentioned, which is essentially the same thing as Yubao.
Although the umbrella cover and feather are said to be used by the emperor most of the time, the three princes and generals are also qualified to use them.
For example, when Emperor Liu Hong of the Han Dynasty held a military parade in history, he built two high platforms, one big platform and one small platform. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty stood on the big platform with a big umbrella canopy. He Jin stood on the small platform.
, use a small umbrella cover.
Including those who attend major events or envoys who are ordered to go on missions, they can use Yu Bao to cover their carriages.
Therefore, from this point of view, it does not prove that Liu Bei planned to rebel and become emperor from an early age. It can only be said that he had high ambitions and wanted to get ahead.
"I see."
When Cao Cao heard Liu Bei's words, he didn't hear the underlying meaning, and his initial surprise turned into envy.
If it were an ordinary house, there would be nothing to say, and it would really make people laugh.
But it is even more different if it is the house of a historical celebrity, especially a recent celebrity like Li Ying who died just over 20 years ago and is still very influential.
Isn’t it this aspect that things like cultural heritage are highlighted in?
The guards were outside, and Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Chen Mu, Guo Jia and the others entered the front hall. Since it was a meeting with old friends, Xun Yu Jushou and the others did not need to come over, so there were not many people present and the room did not seem crowded.
Li Ying only had one room in the front hall back then, but now that it has been slightly expanded, it can be used as a normal living room. Everyone sat in rows, with Liu Bei at the top.
After they were seated, the attendants came to the banquet. Liu Bei picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "Brother Mengde, please allow me to do my duty as a landlord, please!"
"please!"
Several people raised their glasses and drank in one gulp.
Soon the banquet got warm. Everyone talked and laughed, and recalled the past, from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to Dong Zhuo's political chaos. We were filled with emotions and seemed to have endless things to say.
Mainly Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Chen Mu were talking. Guo Jia was not familiar with Liu Bei, so he just kept watching with a smile.
Brother Liu, Cao and Chen have known each other for twelve years. From the first year of Zhongping, that is, 184 AD, to the third year of Xingwu, which is now 196 AD, in these twelve years, from the time when they challenged General Dong to the same dynasty, they
Officials, and now local princes, can be regarded as sharing weal and woe and having revolutionary friendship.
Especially Chen Mu, he was born in the first year of Yongkang, that is, 167 AD. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he debuted at the age of seventeen. Now in a few months, he will turn twenty-nine and will soon go to the third place.
For those who are ten years old, less than half of their lives have passed.
But this troubled world seems to be endless and has not subsided yet. It made him feel very emotional, as if he had drunk too much. He drank one cup after another, his face turned red, and he drunkenly kept asking Cao Cao to drink.
"Brother Meng De, I recall that year when the world was in chaos. My eldest brother, second brother, and third brother Taoyuan and I formed a sworn alliance and began to crusade against the Yellow Turbans."
Chen Mu was drinking, with runny nose and tears. He hugged Cao Cao and cried bitterly: "At that time, we were only five hundred young men. We fought in the north and south, and suffered countless casualties. Only then did we finally win the appreciation of the emperor and enter Luoyang and Hongdu Gate.
After studying, he came out of Qingzhou to govern the local area, and then returned to Luoyang to serve as a minister."
"At that time, when I served as Emperor Kangdi, I thought I could show off my talent and create a peaceful and prosperous age. Unexpectedly, Emperor Kangdi died hastily, leaving many troubles and making it difficult for the court to maintain itself. The empress dowagers of the two palaces fought for power, and the generals and eunuchs killed each other."
"Yuan Shao led his troops to cut off the eunuchs and put an end to the chaos in the palace. Who would have thought that Dong Zhuo would rebel again and the late emperor would be in trouble. Later, he attacked Dong Zhuo, but the world at this time was no longer what it was before."
"Those princes did not want to serve the country, but instead called themselves kings, divided the territory and divided the country, and harbored the intention of usurpation, which ultimately made the Han Dynasty become what it is today."
"I can't stop or rectify all these things. They are all the sins of our ministers. They are pitiful and deplorable."
After finishing speaking, Chen Mu seemed to be filled with sadness and drank another glass of wine.
Cao Cao saw that his sapphire blue silk clothes were stained with tears and snot, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, wanting to push him away.
But for the sake of his great cause, he still had to swallow his anger. While pouring wine for Chen Mu, he comforted him: "Originally, the world has been peaceful. If it weren't for Dong Zhuo's atrocities, why would it be like this? This is not Zi Gui's fault, Zi Gui still deserved it.
Cheer up, regain your old ways, and serve the court. Come, have a drink and don't think about these sad things."
"Yes, fourth brother, don't think about these sad things anymore, drink!"
Liu Bei also raised his wine glass high. He likes three or five close friends to drink and talk together. It's a pity that his second brother, third brother and Gongsun Zan are not here, otherwise this scene would be even happier.
Everyone had another drink, and the atmosphere became even more heated.
"I am still happy with my eldest brother, Brother Meng De."
Chen Mu drank another drink happily.
For a time, the two brothers were in a lively conversation, talking about their family, country, and the world, and they seemed to have endless things to say.
It's just that the wine in Qingzhou is not ordinary wine, it is rice wine brewed from rice. The rice wine does not seem to have a high alcohol content, but it has a lot of stamina. After more than ten cups in a row, Chen Mu's face soon turned red and he was on the verge of collapse.
After three drinks and five dishes, Cao Cao saw that Chen Mu was ready, so he winked at Guo Jia. Guo Jia understood and poured Chen Mu two more glasses.
After two glasses of water and wine, Chen Mu looked at the two of them and suddenly smiled evilly. Then he fell down on the table under the slightly horrified eyes of Cao Cao and Guo Jia, and soon fell asleep and fell unconscious.
Drunk and smiling weirdly?
What's wrong with this?
Cao Cao and Guo Jia were startled, but when they saw Chen Mu snoring, they felt relieved and looked at Liu Bei.
Liu Bei also drank a lot, but unlike Chen Mu, who was not only drunk by the two of them, but also drank by himself from time to time, he was still sober. When he saw Cao Cao yearning for him, Liu Bei thought he was trying to fight with him, so he took the wine glass again.
He raised it up and shouted: "Mengde, the fourth brother is dying, let's continue drinking!"
"Xuande."
"Oh? What's wrong, Brother Meng De?"
"Is such that."
Seeing that the time was right, Cao Cao stroked his beard and said, "I came to Qingzhou today. In addition to visiting my father and Zhicai, I actually have other things to do."
"What's going on? What's going on?"
Liu Bei immediately became vigilant. In fact, he was not stupid. He had been tricked by Cao Cao several times before, so he was naturally on guard.
Seeing his appearance, Cao Cao felt slightly dissatisfied, but he did not show it. Instead, he stroked his beard and said, "Xuande, don't worry, I'm not here to borrow food, grass, or weapons."
"Forehead......"
Liu Bei was upset and blushed slightly, but he drank a lot of wine and his face was already red, so he couldn't see it.
In fact, when he gave Cao Cao something before, it was not because he was stupid, but because he had no choice.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The first is not to lose face, and the second is strategic needs.
After all, Qingzhou at that time needed a piece of land like Yanzhou connected to Luoyang as a transportation hub to achieve its strategic intentions.
Later, after the persuasion of several counselors from Chen Muju and Tian Feng, and the fact that Cao Cao's Yanzhou was gone now, and Lu Bu had previously sent a letter saying that he was willing to surrender to the court, Liu Bei never gave anything to Cao Cao again.
After all, Cao Cao's strategic position has lost its role now. As long as Lu Bu is obedient and does not block the supplies and troops sent by Qingzhou to Luoyang, who will be the shepherd of Yanzhou?
Cao Cao continued: "Xuande also knows that Lu Bu took advantage of my crusade against Tao Qian to attack our Yanzhou. Now most of our Yanzhou has been occupied by him. Now I only have half of Xuzhou and a few counties such as Dongping Rencheng in Shanyang."
The country has few soldiers and few grains, and very few people under its rule, so it is in urgent need of grain and grass supplies. I know that Xuande is fighting in Yuan Shao, and there is not much grain and grass, so I dare not ask for extra help. I only heard that there is rice in Qingzhou, which produces a lot of grain.
, so I prayed for rice seeds, hoping that there would be a harvest next year and that I could get through this difficult time."
Champa rice?
Liu Bei thought unconsciously.
This is the rice that the fourth brother got from Cochin.
The yield per acre is indeed about 30% to 40% higher than that of millet and wheat.
However, Qingzhou is not suitable for rice cultivation, so it only has hundreds of thousands of acres near Judian Lake, which does not provide much increase in production.
The areas occupied by Cao Cao, such as Shanyang, Rencheng, Dongping and southern Xuzhou, were all marshy areas with extremely developed water systems, which seemed suitable for the growth of Champa rice.
But if we do this, what if Cao Cao develops and threatens Qingzhou?
So should I give it to him?
Liu Bei instinctively looked at Chen Mu, thinking that his brother could give him some advice, but he only saw that Chen Mu was drunk and unconscious, sleeping soundly, so he definitely couldn't provide any advice.
Seeing that he was hesitating, Guo Jia immediately added a chip: "I have always known that Duke Xuande is benevolent and righteous throughout the world. Now my lord is just like Duke Xuande. He is loyal to the court, supports the Han Dynasty, and serves the emperor. Could it be that Duke Xuande is loyal to the court?"
Do you plan to ignore it and watch the loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty be destroyed?"
"Forehead......."
Liu Bei was first given a high hat and then kidnapped by morality. He didn't know how to answer for a while. He hesitated for a moment and had to say: "Since Meng De asked me for help, I really can't just sit back and watch. So, now in the Qingzhou treasury
, there are still a lot of rice seeds left, I will give half of it to Mengde, about 600,000 catties of seeds, and I will send some old farmers who are familiar with Champa rice to help you plant it. I wonder if Mengde is satisfied?"
Six hundred thousand catties?
Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other.
This number looks like a lot, but it is actually not much, because the yield of Champa rice is only one-third higher than that of ordinary millet and wheat. It can produce four stones per mu, which is 500 kilograms of grain, and the rice seeds used
It takes five or six kilograms to plant per mu, which means that six hundred thousand kilograms can only grow 100,000 acres of rice fields.
The reason why there are only so few seeds is related to the number of rice fields in Qingzhou. There are only about 200,000 acres of fields near Judian Lake that can grow rice. Therefore, only about 1.2 million kilograms of seeds will be left every year. If you leave more, it will last longer.
It will break.
However, Champa rice has great advantages, that is, it matures very quickly and has high yield. Nowadays, rice in the south can only be harvested once a year. If Champa rice is introduced, the double-cropping yield will be doubled.
It’s just that there are not many rice seeds, so it takes time to accumulate. For example, if one hundred thousand acres are planted in the first quarter of this year, these one hundred thousand acres can produce a large amount of new rice seeds, which is the rice we usually eat. If Cao Cao chooses to use these one hundred thousand acres,
If he leaves some acres of rice seeds, he can plant millions of acres in the next season. By analogy, by the second year, tens of millions of acres of fields in the entire Jianghuai region will be planted with rice.
Although it will take two or three years to achieve results, it is good to have one, so what else do you need a bicycle?
Therefore, Cao Cao immediately said: "In that case, I would like to thank Xuande."
"It's a small matter."
Liu Bei waved his hands repeatedly. Anyway, the rice from Zhancheng accounted for a small proportion of Qingzhou's food supply, so there was no harm in giving some rice seeds to Cao Cao.
"It's closed today, so I won't disturb Xuande anymore. I just wanted to go see my father."
Cao Cao stood up.
His father, Cao Song, had been avoiding trouble in Qingzhou these years. Historically, after he captured Yanzhou, Cao Song wanted to defect to Yanzhou, but was killed by Tao Qian.
But now, because Cao Cao had just captured Yanzhou and it was not yet stable, he started working with Tao Qian. Then his hometown Yanzhou was stolen again, which made Cao Cao unable to stabilize. Naturally, Cao Song did not leave, and he just happened to go and have a look.
Liu Bei said: "Uncle Jugao is now in the house at the foot of Mount Tai. I often visit him. If Meng De doesn't give up, he can live in Taishan Academy. I don't have any mansions in other parts of Qingzhou, but
The Dutai Mountain Academy is the best and the place is comfortable to live in."
Cao Cao smiled and said: "I have heard that the Taishan Academy stretches for tens of miles and is no less impressive than the Epang Palace. So I have to see it today."
"Please, I will send Meng De away."
Liu Bei got up and went out to see him off. At the same time, he ordered his servants to take Chen Mu to rest, and then went out with Cao Cao and Guo Jia.
After they went out, the servants were preparing to carry Chen Mu to the room to rest.
But at this moment, Chen Mu suddenly raised his head from the desk, looked at the backs of the three people who had gone away outside the hall, and once again showed a strange smile, startling the servant.
Brother Meng De is really a good brother.
I used to do everything possible to promote Champa Rice, but it was hard to get started since it was someone else's territory.
Now you come over and help me promote Champa Rice.
In the future, when the army moves south and Jianghuai and other places are full of Champa rice, it will save me a lot of trouble.