After Ma Chao's death, Liangzhou was taken over by Ma Hong, and Ma Xiu and Ma Tie expressed their willingness to join Liu Biao's camp under Ma Hong's persuasion.

After that, Ma Hong held a secret meeting with Pang Tong, Gan Ning, and Wei Yan in Ji County, Hanyang County, to discuss what to do in the future.

Gan Ning has been unhappy with Liu Biao for a long time, and wants Ma Hong to take advantage of Liangzhou to stand on his own, Wei Yan said that Xiliang is not stable, and he can wait and see. Pang Tong thinks that for the time being, he can't reveal a trace of dissent, and Ma Hong's official position can't be bigger than Liu Qi, although it is Ma Hong's plan to take Xiliang, but Pang Tong still suggested that Ma Hong write to Liu Biao, let Liu Biao write to the imperial court, and seal Liu Qi as a pastor in Liangzhou and lead Liangzhou.

The suggestions of the three people, Gan Ning is the most direct, Ma Hong likes the most, but sometimes, often the favorite things are the most unacceptable. So Ma Hong chose Pang Tong's suggestion, because that's what he thought.

Then the warlords of Xiliang, Zhang Heng and Chengyi were dropped to Hanzhong by Ma Hong, and Liu Qi entered Ji County, Hanyang County, Liangzhou, and changed the name of Ji County to Jicheng, with Jicheng as the capital of Xiliang. The imperial court appointed Liu Qi as the pastor of Liangzhou, the general of Zhenxi and Liu Biao. Cao Cao's intention is obvious, I am now pinching each other with Hebei, I don't want to provoke you Jingzhou, Liu Biao you want an official, okay, I will give your son an official the same size as you, you are the general of Zhennan, I will let your son be the general of Zhenxi, you see how good. If this continues, how will a son who holds official positions such as a Liangzhou pastor and his father take over your father's mantle in the future?

When Ma Hong saw this, he couldn't help but laugh, Cao Cao's performance was too obvious. Cao Cao was friendly with Cai Mao, and he did this to smooth Cai Mao's heart and win over Cai Mao; Second, it can provoke the relationship between Liu Biao's sons, which makes it more difficult for Liu Qi to inherit Liu Biao's mantle in the future. But for Ma Hong, there is a third here, because from the third point, he once intercepted the letters of Cai Mao and Cao Cao, and also asked Xi Zhen to pass the letters to Liu Biao, if Liu Biao is not a fool, he must be able to see that this is Cai Mao's strategy, then his dissatisfaction with Cai Mao will escalate again.

On the other side, after Ma Hong took control of Xiliang, he transported 50,000 catties of refined salt from Hanzhong into Xiliang, and then took the refined salt to persuade the Xiliang Hao clan.

Hanyang County in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was the Tianshui County that Cao Cao reset after taking Xiliang, and Ma Hongyun refined salt to Jicheng, Hanyang County, first of all, to persuade the local wealthy families to support Liu Qi.

Money and power are the most fascinating things, Ma Hong once personally visited Yang Fu, Jiang Xu, Yin Feng, Zhao Ang and others in Ji County, but unfortunately several people were in a group and refused to join the office to work for them. The original Liangzhou Prefecture Pastor was Wei Duan, saying that it was the Liangzhou Prefecture Pastor, it was only nominal, and it was a little more to say, it was just a dog raised by Cao Cao, which did not have the ability to stabilize Xiliang, nor did it have the ability to stabilize Han Sui and Ma Teng, once the war was raging, after Ma Hong took Xiliang, Liu Biao asked Cao Cao for Liu Qi, because Cao Cao's main enemies now are Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, and did not want to tear his face with Liu Biao, so he gave Liangzhou Mu to Liu Qi. In this way, Wei Duan's identity is embarrassing.

Wei Duan because of his better style on weekdays, I heard that he was deeply loved by his subordinates, but he didn't hear that he was deeply loved by the people, and it was impossible to get the love of the people if he thought about it, a state pastor who was not able to stabilize the situation, even if he had the charity shown by Liu Biao, but he did not have Liu Biao's skills, and the people in the territory were constantly harassed, and he could only swallow his anger, how could such an official be loved by the people.

Ma Hong wants to deal with the people of Xiliang, there are many means, the first is to take out 30,000 catties of refined salt, first in the most populous counties of Xiliang, Jincheng County, Longxi County and Hanyang County, each household is a catty of refined salt, but this Xiliang land is sparsely populated, and 30,000 catties of refined salt has not been distributed. The combined population of the three counties of Xiliang is less than half of the population of Hanzhong County, but you can imagine how heavy the population loss is due to the melee between the warlords of Xiliang over the years.

Wei Duan's subordinates, led by Yang Fu of Ji County, ignored Ma Hong. Yang Fu, Ma Hong doesn't know much about him, he only remembers that he had a fight with Ma Chao in history.

Jicheng Yangfu.

"Master, Ma Hong is here again."

"Say I'm sick." There was a lazy voice in the room.

"But ......"

"What's wrong?"

"Ma Hong said that if you don't see him, he will always stand at the gate, and ......"

"And what?"

"Ma Hong brought 8,000 catties of refined salt and said that he would give it to the master."

"What !!"

There was no trace of laziness in Yang Fu's voice, he walked out of the door and walked in front of the door with his hands behind his back. Finally, Yang Fu made up his mind after walking three laps, he wanted to invite Ma Hong to come in and talk.

When Yang Fu invited Ma Hong into the courtyard, Ma Hong smiled and said to Yang Fu: "Brother Yishan has the habit of taking a nap. ”

Yang Fu was stunned, and was a little unaccustomed to being called by Ma Hong, and responded: "Yang has seen Ma Taishou." ”

"Why don't you move things into Mr. Yang's courtyard quickly." Pang Tong wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said loudly to the soldiers outside the door.

The soldiers received the order and immediately carried the package containing refined salt and rushed to Yang Fu's courtyard.

"Matthew, you, you are ......"

"A little gift, not a tribute, let's go! Brother Yishan! My mouth is so dry that I want to go into the house and ask for a glass of water to drink, Brother Yishan won't be surprised! Ma Hong spoke, and without waiting for Yang Fu to invite him, he walked straight towards Yang Fu's main room.

"I wonder if Brother Yishan's house has good wine to entertain us?" When Pang Tong walked past Yang Fu's side, he put his arm around Yang Fu's shoulders and walked towards the house with a smile.

Yang Fu followed Pang Tong into the house with a helpless face, and asked the maid to serve sake and some dishes for the two.

"Matthew Shou came to the cold house to eat and drink, how could he bring such a valuable thing, and it was eight thousand catties. Yang couldn't afford it, so he asked Matthew to bring it back. ”

Yang Fu said and bowed to Ma Hongxing.

Ma Hong smiled and saluted him back: "Brother Yishan, have you heard the story of Maxima and Bole. ”

It seems that Ma Hong is talking about the story of King Yan Zhao following Guo Kui's advice to buy horse bones. Yang Fu shook his head and said: "It's a pity that Yang is really not a thousand miles away, and he can't afford Ma Taishou's big gift." ”

"There is Bole, and then there is Maxima. Maxima often has, but Bole does not often have. Therefore, although there is a famous horse, it is only humiliated by the hands of slaves, and it is not called a thousand miles. Like Brother Yishan's talent, are you willing to spend your life in this Ji County? Ma Hong said slowly.

Yang Fu felt in his heart for a while, did the strongman say that he was wasting his time this year? In his eyes, have I spent the first forty years in vain? How can it be!

Pang Tong saw that the corners of Yang Fu's eyes trembled, touched his nose and said with a smile: "Brother Yishan, do you know why my junior brother and brother sent eight thousand catties of refined salt to you." ”

Yang Fu shook his head and said in a trembling voice: "I don't know, please explain." ”

"Because in the eyes of the junior brother, the value of Brother Yishan is equal to 8,000 catties of refined salt. It can also be said that if you can get Brother Yishan, then you can feed 8,000 households. Pang Tong said.

Ma Hong looked at Yang Fu's eyes and nodded slightly.

Yang Fu had seen the refined salt distributed by Ma Hong to the people, this refined salt was better than the salt used by Cao Cao when he went to Xudu, and the salt used by Cao Cao was not the best, but it was the same as the salt used by His Majesty the Emperor. He once asked His Majesty the Emperor about the price of refined salt, which was thirty times the price of ordinary salt, while the Central Plains was 40 yuan per catty, and Liangzhou reached 50 yuan per catty. The price of refined salt given to him by Ma Hong was calculated at 2,000 yuan per catty, and Ma Hong gave him 8,000 catties of refined salt, which was 16 million yuan.

"I'd love to know how you managed to get so much refined salt?" Yang Fu asked.

"Is Brother Yishan willing to join us?" Ma Hong asked with a smile.

Yang Fu looked at Ma Hong's eyes, the man in front of him did not say to join Liu Biao, but said to join us, Yang Fu took a deep breath and said: "In this world, no one thinks that I have such a high value like you, and even I myself don't think that I have such a high value." ”

"Getting Brother Yishan is equivalent to getting the approval of the entire wealthy family in Ji County, and when the time comes, your friends Zhao Ang, Jiang Xu, Yin Feng, Zhao Ang and others will also surrender. Then the entire county of Hanyang will be firmly controlled, and the population of Hanyang-gun is 8,000 households. Pang Tong said with a smile.

Ma Hong looked at Yang Fu's eyes with a smile and did not shake his head, obviously agreeing with what Pang Tong said.

Yang Fu also knew the purpose of Ma Hong's trip, but now they have clearly stated the purpose, it is really rare to see such an honest person.

"I don't think Brother Yishan is a greedy person, but I think Brother Yishan is a thousand-mile horse worth such a high price." Ma Hong added.

Yang Fu bent down and saluted Ma Hongxing and said, "My subordinates meet Taishou." ”

Ma Hong smiled and saluted Yang Fu. [Bow down, bow down, worship the young. Empty bow, bow up and down. 】

[Write some information about the salt price I found, the salt price was low in the early Western Han Dynasty, and in some years, it was basically the same as the five grains. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the monopoly of salt and iron, the price of salt doubled, reaching 300-1100 yuan per stone. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the lowest price of salt was 400 yuan per stone, and the highest was 8,000 yuan, and under normal circumstances, the price of salt was 800 yuan per stone, and the ratio of salt to grain was 8:1. It should be that in troubled times, the price of salt soars, and the depreciation of coins in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the price of salt should be very high. 】

(To be continued.) )