It is undeniable that the siege of the White Wolf that has just passed almost ruined the foundation that Cai Ji has worked hard to earn, and on the other hand, it has also raised the strategic position of Jinxi City. Today, the harbor outside Jinxi is filled with fleets from Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and the cabins of each sailing ship are loaded with all kinds of military supplies that Cai Ji needs.

Sun Quan stood in front of the busiest wharf in Jinxi Port, watching the sailors carry boxes and boxes of goods off the merchant ships, and took a bite of pears from Qingzhou. During the years when he was trapped in White Wolf Mountain, Sun Quan once thought that he would never see the sea again in his life, but at this moment, he not only smelled the salty smell of the sea again, but also enjoyed the various gifts brought by merchant ships from all over the world so leisurely. Just as the merchant ships of Qingzhou were loaded with yellow, orange, and orange millet and seeds, the merchant ships of the Gaya Kingdom were loaded with furs and swords, and the merchant ships from Yangzhou brought ......

As a tall figure came into view, Sun Quan, who felt like he was dreaming in a trance, couldn't help but call out a familiar name, "Zijing!" ”

"I've seen the second son." Lu Su stepped forward and bowed down to the young man who was stunned in place.

That Zeng thought, before Lu Su could straighten up, Sun Quan gave him a big bear hug head-on, "Zijing! What a respect! ”

Sun Quan's childish hug made Lu Su both heartwarming and embarrassed. Fortunately, it is the Eastern Han Dynasty and not the 21st century, 2,000 years later, and the two big men hugging each other on the street did not attract the surprised eyes of passers-by. And after Sun Quan confirmed that Lu Su was indeed a real person, he immediately pulled Lu Su to sit down at a clean table in a nearby wine shop.

Before the wine and food were served, Sun Quan couldn't wait to ask Lu Su about it. "How could Zijing come to Jinxi?"

Lu Su replied, "The lord heard that the Marquis of Qi was trapped in the White Wolf Mountain, and he was worried about the safety of the son. He sent Su to Liaodong on a merchant ship to inquire about the news. ”

Hearing that his brother Sun Ce was so concerned about his own safety that he did not hesitate to send Lu Su across the ocean to find out the news about him, Sun Quan couldn't help but sigh with a sour nose while being moved, "Tired of my brother's concern, Quan Haosheng is ashamed." ”

Seeing this, Lu Su hurriedly reached out and patted Sun Quan on the shoulder and comforted him, "The son is safe and sound now, and there is finally no danger." Then he changed his voice and lowered his voice to ask. Yu heard that Cai Anzhen suffered a lot of losses in the first battle of White Wolf Mountain, but I don't know if this matter is true or false? ”

Speaking of the bits and pieces he experienced in White Wolf Mountain a month ago, Sun Quan was still a little apprehensive at this time. I saw him sigh, shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Don't hide it, I almost thought that I would bury my bones in Liaoxi in the first battle of the white wolf."

"Hiss~~~ I never thought that the battle of White Wolf Mountain would be so dangerous!" Sun Quan's answer made Lu Su gasp, and at the same time, it also confirmed some rumors about the siege of the white wolf from the outside world. It seems that Cai Ji was able to get out of danger in the first battle of White Wolf Mountain, but he was also greatly injured because of this. Think of Cao Jun's movements in the Central Plains in the past few months. This kind of breath of mountain rain is about to come, so Lu Su secretly re-examines the overall situation of the world in his heart. On the surface, Cao Cao and Cai Ji enjoy the covenant of in-law, and they are each other's inside. Eastern Wu allied with Liu Bei to fight against Cao. But if Cai Ji is weak, Cao Cao will take advantage of the situation to seize the family business......

"If Zijing thought that Cai Anzhen would collapse due to the siege of the white wolf, it would be a big mistake!"

The sudden sound of admonition in his ears interrupted Lu Su's chaotic thoughts. Lu Su raised his head in a little surprise, and saw that Sun Quan on the opposite side was already sitting with a straight face and staring at him. It was the first time that Lu Su had seen Sun Quan's expression so solemn. In his impression, although the second son of the Sun family is smart and wise, he is frivolous and not stable enough. However, now it seems that the time in Qiying seems to have had a certain impact on Sun Quan. And this change also made Lu Su have a strong interest in Cai Ji. So he then asked, "What did Childe say about this?" ”

Sun Quan thought about it sideways and replied, "Cai An is powerful and gracious, and he can win heroes and drive them away." Although it suffered a setback this time, it was difficult to shake its foundation. ”

Lu Su didn't expect Sun Quan to have such a high opinion of Cai Ji. However, after thinking about it, he felt that what Sun Quan said did have some truth. During the three months that Cai Ji was trapped in western Liao, the loyalty and talent displayed by his subordinate martial arts made the surrounding princes both envious and jealous. If Cai Ji is really as powerful as Sun Quan said, he can make Tai Shici, Zhang He, Zhang Liao and others serve him desperately. It is not yet known whether the battle between Cao Cai will win or lose. Of course, this is not a bad thing for Soochow. On the contrary, once Cao Cao and Cai Ji turned against each other, the longer the two fought together, the more beneficial it would be for Eastern Wu. If you can take the opportunity to pull Cai Ji into the Sun-Liu alliance to deal with Cao Cao together, it will be even more wonderful.

Once he opened his mind, Lu Su's questions were also targeted. "I wonder if Cai Anzhen can know that Cao Mengde took advantage of his trapped Liaoxi to connive at Cao Jun's encroachment on Qi Realm?"

"I don't know. The Qi army has long complained about Cao Jun's fall into the lower stone. Sun Quan nodded and confirmed.

Lu Su continued to ask, "Then according to what Gongzi saw the Cao family, can he please Qi Hou?" ”

Facing Lu Su's cold question, Sun Quan's heart tightened for no reason, and then he asked vigilantly, "Why did Zijing say this?" ”

Lu Su said bluntly, "Yu thinks that the second prince is the same age as the Marquis of Qi, and the family is the same, which is really a match made in heaven." ”

If it was half a year ago, Sun Quan would have happily echoed Lu Su's advance, and vowed to chase Cai Ji into his hands. But now, as long as he thinks of Cao Pi's bitter situation, where does Sun Quan dare to have the delusion that all the beauties in the country are in his pocket. Before Lu Su could further agitate, Sun Quan hurriedly turned his head and said perfunctorily, "This... This matter is a matter of importance and power...... I am afraid that it is difficult to take on the heavy responsibility. ”

Seeing Sun Quan's push and obstruction of his own proposal, Lu Su was somewhat disappointed. However, considering that Cai Ji shows up all day long and competes for the world with all the princes like a man, as for the three virtues and four virtues, the virtuous and virtuous virtues, none of them are touched. Lu Su could also understand Sun Quan's thoughts. After all, although a strange woman like Cai Anzhen can be called a hero in the world, she will never be a good wife. So even if she has a lot of money and power, there are very few men in the world who really dare to marry her. But Lusu didn't stop there. I saw him muttering slightly for a moment before muttering to himself, "Young Master Yu is not married yet, and he is also a good match." ”

The son of Yu mentioned by Lu Su refers to Sun Yu, the second son of Sun Quan's uncle. Sun Yu is five years older than Sun Quan. He has followed Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in the southern and northern wars for many years. In addition to being good at appeasing his subordinates and recruiting Nashun, Sun Yu also loved to read ancient books, and often invited scholars from Eastern Wu to give lectures to the children of his generals. However, Sun Quan did not think that his studious cousin could fulfill Lu Su's vision. Tong Guò's contact with Cai Ji and Cao Pi in the past six months, Sun Quan has realized that the marriage contract between the two has nothing to do with the relationship between men and women, and is not just to maintain the alliance between Cao and Cai's families.

So in order to prevent Lu Su from continuing to think wildly, Sun Quan directly stated his opinion, "Cao Cai's marriage contract is hand-picked by the emperor. If it weren't for the Son of Heaven to withdraw his will, Cai Anzhen would not have broken the contract. ”

"Is that true?" Lu Su raised his head in surprise.

"This is what Cai Anzhen said herself." Sun Quan confirmed.

"The will of the Son of Heaven? Cai Anzhen will be the kind of person who is cocooned and self-bound? Lu Su frowned, his tone full of suspicion.

In fact, when Cai Ji announced in public that day that she would obey the emperor's order and stick to the marriage contract, Sun Quan was not actually present. And he, like Lu Su, didn't believe that a woman who could take most of Hebei from the Yuan family would really be foolish and loyal to the Han family. But Sun Quan can be sure that Cai Ji is a woman with a strong desire for power, and no family affection or love can stop her thirst for power. Since this is the case, there is no point in dividing the relationship between Cai Ji and Cao Pi. Come to think of it. Sun Quan waved his hand and said frankly at Lu Su, "Whether Cai Anzhen will cocoon herself for the Han family is unknown. However, he will not be bound by a paper marriage, whether it is Cao Cai. Or Sun Cai. ”

Sun Quan's unique insights made Lu Su look at him again. At the same time, Lu Su also put away his thoughts about matching Sun Cai's marriage. He nodded and agreed, "The second son is reasonable. There is a way to be a long-distance friend and a close attack, if Cai Anzhen really has the heart to chase the world, he will eventually turn against Cao Mengde and make friends with Eastern Wu. At that time, the second son will need to come forward to match the bridge to achieve Sun Cai's alliance. ”

The so-called long-distance friendship and close attack was a military and diplomatic strategy planned by Fan Ju, the prime minister of Qin during the Warring States Period, for Qin. That is, to form an alliance with a distant country and make enemies with neighboring countries. This will not only prevent the neighboring country from changing its armpits, but also make the enemy country vulnerable to the enemy on both sides. Can't compete with us. However, this strategy only applies to forces of equal strength. If a small country is adjacent to a large country, there is a huge disparity in strength between the two countries. Small countries do not make friends with big countries, but jump up and down from the big countries to play long-distance friendship and close attacks with other countries, and the result is not so good. According to the Legalist scholar Han Feizi during the Warring States Period, that is, "the country is small but not humble, the strength is small but not afraid of the strong, the rude and insulting neighbors, and the greedy and clumsy friends can die." ”

Fortunately, except for Goguryeo, which is entrenched in the north, Liaodong is surrounded by small countries and tribes that are aware of current affairs. Like the Buyeo people who took the initiative to come to Cai Ji to pay allegiance to them, they are accustomed to serving the big country as the main thing and serving the strong as the hegemon. No, at the same time that Lu Su and Sun Quan were discussing how to make friends with the Cai clan to attack Cao's army at close range, Cai Ji himself was sitting on top of the high hall to accept tributes and submissions from all directions.

As the source of Cai Ji's first pot of gold, the Gayaguo presented her with ten leopard skins, twenty otter skins, and thirty catties of ginseng. The horses that also crossed the sea were paid by Korea, with forty war horses, a hundred swords, and fifty sackcloth. The Rulou people, who lived in the northeastern part of Liaodong, brought Cai Ji a bag of Dongzhu, three falcons, ten stallions, and fifty slaves. Tributes from various countries and ministries soon filled the courtyard. And among the tributes of the same and small differences, a load of millet from Chen Korea caught Cai Ji's attention.

I saw Cai Ji get up and walk to the basket, picked up a handful of millet and asked, "Rice?" ”

Seeing this, the envoy of Chenhan, who was standing on the side, hurriedly stepped forward and explained in fear, "The small country has a poor wheat harvest this year, so we have to make up the number with rice, and I ask Qi Hou to forgive me." ”

It turned out that wheat was still the staple food on the Korean Peninsula at this time. Jinhan, located at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, cultivates rice, but it is treated as a miscellaneous grain by the locals because of its small cultivation area and low yield. The envoys of Chen Han thought that Cai Ji was disgusted with the cheap rice, and blamed them for being shoddy, so he panicked. But how did he know that the female princes in front of him were not thinking about the price of rice at all.

It is said that rice originated in China and spread north from the Zhoushan Islands to the Korean Peninsula and the Dongying Islands. However, in the current era, rice cultivation in the Central Plains is still limited to the southern region. Historically, it was not until the Tang Dynasty that rice was planted in the Songhua River basin. New Tang Dynasty Book. In the "Biography of the Bohai Sea", there is a record of "the rice of Lucheng". Lucheng is the Luzhou of Xiande Mansion in Zhongjing in the Bohai Sea, that is, the area of Shimen Town, Antu County, Jilin Province in the later generations. Rice from Northeast China, which became popular thousands of years later, was not introduced to the three northeastern provinces by Korean immigrants until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

In Chaeji's view, the Chenhan people have now successfully domesticated rice on the Korean Peninsula to adapt to the cold climate of the north. Theoretically, rice from the Korean Peninsula could also be transplanted to Liaodong and Liaoxi, thus opening up this fertile soil into a new granary for the Han family. Maybe it won't be a few years before she can eat fragrant Northeast rice.

Thinking of this, Cai Jiqiang suppressed the excitement in his heart, waved his hand to signal that the envoy of Chenhan did not need to panic, and asked him with a pleasant face, "Gu is determined to plant rice in Liaoxi and Liaodong, I wonder if your country can give me some advice?" ”

The flattered envoy of Chen Han dared to shirk it, and hurriedly agreed, "Chen Han is willing to serve Qi Hou for the sake of dogs and horses." ”

Cai Ji's sudden plan not only surprised the envoy of Chen Han, but also startled Lin Fei, Tian Chou and others on the side. In their impression, no one has been able to grow rice in the area north of the Huai River in the Qinling Mountains since ancient times, let alone Liaoxi and Liaodong, which can be called the cold lands. Therefore, even if the envoy of Chen Han agreed to Cai Ji's request, Tian Chou couldn't help but step forward to dissuade him, "Lord, the Book of Victory says: Plant rice, thaw in spring, and plough the soil. The rice planting area does not want to be large, and the water depth is not suitable for large. One hundred and 10 days after the winter solstice, rice can be planted. The first planting, the rice is warm; Those who are warm, lack their walls, eat the tombs; Furrow also. Make the waterway straight. After the summer solstice, the heat is so hot that the waterways are wrong. Liaodong is a bitter cold land, how to grow rice? ”

Cai Ji was not angry at Tian Chou's rebuttal, but twisted the slightly shriveled millet in his hand and nodded, "Zitai is reasonable, since ancient times, rice has not been planted in the north. However, since Chenhan can grow rice, why can't Liaodong try it? If it is feasible, Liaoxi and Liaodong can be self-sufficient. ”

Tian Chou was silently asked by Cai Ji for a while. Indeed, Tatsuhan, which is also located in the northern region, grows a certain scale of rice. If rice could also be cultivated in western and eastern Liaoning, more troops would be able to garrison in the north. So after weighing the pros and cons, Tian Chou once again asked Cai Ji for his life, "Since it is a matter of benefiting the country and the people, Chou is willing to share the worries of the Lord and try to plant rice." ”

Objections are not a problem, as long as you have the people in your heart, you can seek common ground while reserving differences, so the next moment Cai Ji turned his head and smiled at Tian Chou, "Good, please ask Zitai for this matter." (To be continued......)