"Kong Rong is unscathed, gentlemen, do you want him to stay in Beihai, or recruit him to the plains... Or send it to Chang'an? Ma Qiang turned around and asked.

"Kong Beihai is famous, and if Ming Gong sends him to Chang'an, it is no different from doing harm." Hua Jing immediately got up and said, "It's better to let Kong Beihai continue to be in Beihai Country." ”

"No!" Duan Ying pushed the four-wheeled bicycle forward and said, "Kong Rongzhi Beihai, the yellow scarf has been chaotic for many years, why?" It's all because he is a man of pure talk, and he is not good at governing the country! How can such a person be placed on one side of the herdsman? ”

"Wenhe, what do you think?" Ma Qiang looked at Jia Xu, who looked like I was in a daze, and asked.

"Oh, I'm thinking about something else."

"What?"

"I'm thinking about Cai Boqi in Donglai."

Ma Qiang immediately understood what Jia Xu meant, Kong Rong's name is more important than the world, if he can't even tolerate Kong Rong, then the world will think that he can't tolerate people, and it will be impossible to think of other princes in the future.

Just like Jia Xu in history, the reason why he dared to let Zhang Xiu, who killed Cao Ang, defect to Cao Cao was that Cao Cao wanted to treat Zhang Xiu as a horse bone.

Now, it's time to buy horse bones yourself.

"Although Kong Beihai can't break the thieves and calm the people, his people are loyal to the court and lenient to the people, but they don't lose a good official."

Ma Qiang's words set the tone for Kong Rong's treatment.

"After the imperial court approves my statement, I am ready to ask Kong Beihai to go to the plains to talk about it, and it will not be too late to discuss the details when the time comes."

"Ming Gong is wise!" The crowd saluted in unison.

"Okay, the imperial examination is over, and after the correction, the list of gold lists will be sent to me for review and then announced to the public." After Ma Qiang finished speaking, he talked about another matter.

"Tao Xuzhou has signed a trade agreement with us, but now there is a problem with the supply in Youzhou." Ma Qiang looked at Duan Ying and asked him to introduce the details.

Duan Ying said to everyone, "After Gongsun Chan arrived in Changping, he probably saw that my Red Star Battalion was waiting for him, and Captain Xian Yu of Shanggu led his troops to sit in Jundu Mountain, and did not directly provoke my Red Star Battalion, but blocked the trade route with soldiers and horses, and now in Guangyang, Yuyang, and Zhuo County, there are his soldiers and horses collecting taxes on the trade road, and the taxes collected have reached almost half of the goods.

As a result, there was a big problem in the supply of iron from Youzhou, and the iron mines and iron factories in Yuyang also stopped exporting goods to the outside world, and the iron materials were intercepted by Gongsun Zhan. ”

"Doesn't Liu Zhoumu care?" Hua Jing also knew the relationship between Ma Qiang and Liu Yu, and immediately asked.

Gongsun Zan said to Liu Zhoumu that if he was not allowed to collect business taxes, then he would increase taxes on the people, and if Liu Zhoumu did not give them, he would set up troops to plunder.

Liu Zhoumu was worried that there would be civil strife in Youzhou and that the lives would be ruined, so he acquiesced to what Gongsun Chan did. ”

"Liu Youzhou is cutting meat and feeding tigers!" Ma Qiang shook his head and said, "Let's discuss, how to deal with this matter, how not to open up the passage with Youzhou, our Qingzhou's strength will drop by at least three percent!" ”

For Ma Qiang, Youzhou is not only a place like his hometown, but also a source of his heavy industry base and a large number of raw materials.

If Youzhou is lost, although the short-term strength of the Plains Army will not change much, in the long run, the speed of development will inevitably be greatly reduced.

"Gongsun Chan is just a reckless man, Yuan Shao is still in Hanoi at this time, the Bohai Sea is empty, it is better to take advantage of the Bohai Sea and send troops to attack it!" Duan Ying was not afraid of big things and said, in his opinion, the pacification of Qingzhou was already over, so it was better to take the opportunity to take Bohai and prepare for the subsequent annexation of Jizhou.

"No! Yuan Shao and Han Fu have already had a gap, if we send troops to the Bohai Sea at this time, it will inevitably stimulate Han Fu, and the result is either Yuan Shao swallowing Jizhou, or Yuan Shao and Han Fu joining forces, which is not good for me.

When our army sent troops to Jizhou, it should be when Yuan Shao and Han Fu fought or when Yuan Shao forced Han Fu. Jia Xu didn't like to do laborious things the most, and shook his head and said.

"Qingzhou is short of food and grass now, so it's better not to send troops." Hua Jing knows the situation in the plains, and he will soon have to deal with the extra millions of mouths, and if he uses soldiers, he will have to live by drinking gruel when he is not in charge next year.

"If you don't send troops, how can you make Gongsun Chan obey?" Duan Ying said to Ma Qiang, "Several gentlemen have not been in contact with Gongsun Zhan, Ming Gong knows Gongsun Zhan, this person is extremely arrogant, relying on his talents, not caring for the people, remembering and forgetting kindness, and he will be retributed."

When Ming Gong was in Youzhou, he hated him, and now that he has the opportunity, how can he not retaliate against Ming Gong, now he is not strong, he is just testing Ming Gong's bottom line, once Ming Gong endures, then he will inevitably gain an inch! ”

Ma Qiang listened to Duan Ying's words and nodded, he still remembered the scene when he saw Gongsun Chan for the first time, and he really wanted to seize power as soon as he came up.

But what Jia Xu and Hua Jing said is right, the current Qingzhou is really no longer capable of fighting.

"The key is Liu Youzhou, if Liu Youzhou is willing to stop Gongsun Zhan, that is the best." Shen Ping opened his mouth and said.

Ma Qiang recalled the history, Liu Yu and Gongsun Chan turned their faces as if it was because Gongsun Chan ransomed his army and fought for many years, which made the people of Youzhou miserable, but now Gongsun Chan has not officially participated in the struggle for hegemony, and the exploitation of the people is not so powerful, and Liu Yu will naturally be able to tolerate him.

And more importantly, Liu Yu is about to fall into the embarrassing scene of being elected as the emperor, where is there an empty manager of Gongsun Zhan.

"An all-out war with Gongsun Chan is not yet ripe, but it must be taught a lesson." Ma Qiang looked at Duan Ying and Jia Xu and said, "Two gentlemen, I am going to let Guo Jin make a move, unite with Xian Yufu, and drive Gongsun Zan out of Changping, what do you think?" ”

"Get out?"

"That's right! If Gongsun Chan does not agree to reduce commercial taxes and open trade routes, then let Xian Yufu send troops to Dushan, and let Guo Jin lead the Red Star Battalion soldiers and horses to Changping, I want to drive Gongsun Chan to Zhuo County. ”

Speaking of Zhuojun, Duan Ying and Jia Xu immediately understood Ma Qiang's thoughts.

Up to this time, except for Sun Jian, who was unruly, there had never been a situation of princes fighting across states, and if Ma Qiang wanted to annex Jizhou, he had to find a plausible reason.

And Gongsun Chan is this reasonable reason.

If Gongsun Chan can enter Jizhou, then Ma Qiang will naturally be able to.

Several people understood Ma Qiang's plan, so they no longer objected and went to prepare a telegram.

- Three days later

The correction of the imperial examination papers has been completed, and Ma Qiang opened the list of people who were sent to the middle school, and from the first one, he was not calm.

"Guo Jia??"

Could it be that God has opened himself up again, how did this ghost come to his own territory to participate in the imperial examination? ?

Boss Cao... I'm sorry for you again!