The smoke of war has finally subsided. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 I don't know exactly when he will emerge, but it's not a very quick thing to think about, at least in a few years. There is no way to do this, the three families competing for the world have been a little exhausted in the past few years, and they are unable to fight any longer, so they can only choose to stop. This did not change even after Li Sheng's plan to seize Liangzhou. Cao Cao, who suffered a big loss, did not want to take revenge, but he did not have the strength to take revenge for the time being.

In the past few years of warfare, Liu Bei was destroyed, Sun Quan was frightened, Cao Cao was cut off an arm, and the most brilliant Li Sheng was tired from fighting. Except for Liu Bei, who has been wiped out, let's just talk about the last three remaining princes in the world, and the relationship between them is naturally the most wonderful and complicated.

Ostensibly, in order to counter the threat of Cao Cao from the north, the two southern families once again formed an alliance. Moreover, in the face of Li Sheng's powerful seafaring fleet, the alliance became an alliance completely dominated by Li Sheng, and Sun Quan was nominally an ally of Li Sheng, but in the eyes of others he seemed to have become Li Sheng's vassal. Under the force of Li Sheng's fleet, the entire Jiangdong market was opened to Li Sheng, and the people of Yizhou purchased raw materials here according to the regular procedures, and transported them back to Yizhou for production, and then sold the products back to Jiangdong. For a time, the ships on the Yangtze River came and went, but it was a harmonious scene.

However, this kind of harmony is only superficial after all, Sun Quan submitted to Li Sheng on the surface, and continued to have dealings with Cao Cao in secret. As Jia Xu said to Cao Cao, Li Sheng's power has grown stronger, and Sun Quan in Jiangdong must not like it. He took the opportunity of going to Xuchang every year to worship, and sent envoys to quietly begin to test the issue of "surrendering" to Cao Cao. Of course, this surrender is just talk, the real surrender is impossible for Sun Quan to agree, what he seeks is only a union in the name of submission.

One or two envoy meetings, of course, will not lead to anything, for Cao Cao and Sun Quan, who have already suffered the loss of lagging in intelligence, they still don't pay much attention to this secret on the surface. In fact, the talks between the two sides on joint relations were indeed going on, but they were not held in Xuchang, which was widely held, but in Shucheng, Lujiang. In their minds, with the movement on Xuchang's side as a cover, no one should know about the talks in Shucheng. This is also the real situation, whether it is Cao Cao's side or Sun Quan's side, there are only four or five people who know about this negotiation.

Because they knew that they would suffer losses because of such a word "knowledge", Cao Cao and Sun Quan both coincidentally strengthened the construction of their own intelligence agencies. Although they were all unable to do the same classification as Li Sheng for one reason or another, using an effective means of confidential transmission, and closely linking with the local local snakes, after increasing investment and increasing manpower, the secrecy work of both Cao Cao's side and Sun Quan's side has been greatly enhanced. Li Sheng's white clothes have obtained less information than before.

For example, when Cao Cao and Sun Quan negotiated in Shucheng this time, Li Sheng's white clothes found out that there was indeed such a thing, but he couldn't understand the details in detail - Sun Quan and Cao Cao did a really good job of keeping this matter secret.

"What did you say about Kong Ming, Cao Cao and Sun Quan in Shucheng?" Standing on top of the newly built watchtower, Li Sheng led the cool breeze from the heights and asked Kong Ming behind him very comfortably.

After seizing Liangzhou, Li Sheng appointed Zhao Yun as the pastor of Liangzhou, Fa Zheng as the assassin of Liangzhou, and Ma Dai as the general of the Qiang Zhonglang to manage Liangzhou and Qiangdi full-time, while he himself led the army back to Chengdu for repairs. At this moment, Li Sheng's forces in Yizhou have already been managed, and many things are on track, so he doesn't need to do it himself, but let him become the number one idler in Yizhou City.

As a monarch, he didn't have any other extravagant hobbies, just walked around, that is, looked here and there, and talked to some ordinary people. This is nothing, but because he always likes to ask others to accompany him to play, his ministers complain - if they meet the ministers when they are leisurely, it is fine, but if they are still busy with some things in their hands, but they are invited by the lord so much, it makes them in a dilemma.

Because of Li Sheng's growing prestige, they didn't dare to refuse Li Sheng's invitation, so they often put things aside, and after accompanying Li Sheng, they worked overtime to deal with it. Just like Kong Ming at the moment, he had just received information about the white-clothed Huainan part and was about to report it to Li Sheng, but he was pulled out by Li Sheng. In Li Sheng's words: "Kong Ming, you are too tired, but you need to take a good rest." Is it a combination of work and rest? ”

"This lord." Kong Ming had a wry smile on his face. He couldn't refuse, but he had to sacrifice his life to accompany the gentleman. He accompanied Li Sheng seriously, but in the process of accompanying him, if intentionally or unintentionally, he talked about the matter that should have been reported to Li Sheng immediately. This brings us to the question above Li Sheng.

"What's this? I don't know very well. Kong Ming glanced at Li Sheng and said a little cautiously. They are now outside, and they are still serving Li Sheng's officials, which can be regarded as a public occasion, and Kong Ming can't help but pay some attention to this. Originally, the rules that Li Sheng needed as a prince were formulated by Kong Ming himself. As the formulator, he naturally can't know the law and break the law.

"Not clear?" Li Sheng's brows furrowed slightly, glanced at Zhuge Liang, who was expressionless, and shook his head with a wry smile: "This Kong Ming, you really want to force me to be a loner." Kong Ming said that he didn't know, but how could Li Sheng believe him in such an unclear word? What exactly is the purpose of the connection between Cao Cao and Sun Quan, although there is no definite information on his side so far, one thing is certain. That is, Cao Cao and Sun Quan must be carrying out a conspiracy against themselves - even Li Sheng himself could guess this, so how could Kong Ming still think about it. The reason why he didn't say it was just because he wanted to let himself say the result in front of others, and then further elevate his status in the hearts of others. Li Sheng also understands Kong Ming's intentions very well.

However, it is clear that Li Sheng can't do anything with Kong Ming. He knew that Kong Ming was thinking about himself, although he hated such thoughts, but some things could be said in private. In front of everyone, he couldn't yell at Kong Ming. After Kong Ming said that, Li Sheng touched his nose and had no choice but to speak honestly: "I don't think the meeting between Cao Cao and Sun Quan will definitely not be of any benefit to us. There are only three princes left in the world, although Cao Cao is the strongest at the moment, but after we are in the limelight, his strength is covered up. The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will urge it. We performed too well a while ago, and Cao Cao and Sun Quan are teaming up. ”

"So what does the lord think we should do?" Zhuge Liang asked Li Sheng with a smile.

"What do you see? Kong Ming! In any case, joining forces can only be regarded as a means. Li Sheng smiled and pushed the problem directly to Zhuge Liang.

"It's really just a means." Zhuge Liang glanced at Li Sheng and nodded slightly.

"Since it's just a means, then we don't need to care too much. After all, now is our time for penance, and we must develop our strengths. As for the means or something, as long as your own strength is strong, everything is easy to say. Li Sheng waved his hand indifferently and said the most simple truth. This is not wrong, after all, as long as their own strength far exceeds the sum of Cao Cao and Sun Quan, then even if Cao Cao and Sun Quan become one, it is impossible to pose any threat to themselves. "Let's let Cao Cao and Sun Quan look at each other for a while. Let our white clothes rest in peace, and there is no need to tighten the transfer of officials from Cao Cao and Sun Quan. We don't have any plans to fight them yet, so we can put everything on the back burner. But if there is any new technology on Cao Cao and Sun Quan's side...... Tell them to get their hands on as many new technologies as they can. Whether military or civilian. Li Sheng thought about it and made such a decision.

"I'll let the man in white take care of this." Zhuge Liang listened to Li Sheng's instructions, but nodded in one breath and agreed. He didn't think there was anything wrong with Li Sheng's emphasis on new technologies, because his wife herself was a "master" who often invented something.

According to Li Sheng's own plan, in the next few years of peace, his side will realize a series of big plans, a series of big plans in internal affairs, and a big plan for the army to change its equipment:

The first is agricultural. Li Sheng plans to popularize animal farming to all peasants within a few years, that is, to replace human labor with animal power. Livestock farming tools made of a large amount of good iron replaced the crude man-made farming tools in the past. At the same time, a large number of new water conservancy projects have been set up, so that Jingnan, Jiaonan, and Nanzhong are full of ditches and waterwheels, and new terraced fields have been reclaimed in the hilly mountains such as Changsha, Chengdu, and Jiangzhou, so that more farmers can use their own fields.

Secondly, in terms of "industry", it is not actually an industry, but a large handicraft workshop. Anyway, Li Sheng's plans in this regard are mainly in several aspects: the development of iron ore in Nanzhong, copper mine in Luhan (Philippines), and silver mine in Dongwei; increase the development of the paper industry and the printing industry; expand the production capacity of the shipbuilding base in the far north of Liaodong; the construction of an artillery production base in Luhan, etc......

In terms of commerce: Li Sheng's plan was to increase the size of the merchant fleet between Jiaozhou and the Nanyang and Western Ocean routes, and to increase the size of the merchant fleet between Jiaozhou and Liaodong, Sanhan, Buyeo, Waguo and other places, and to form a new caravan in the Western Regions to develop from the land to the west; At the same time, the "unequal treaty" signed with Cao Cao and Sun Quan was used to dump some high value-added items into Cao Cao and Sun Quan's territories.

As for the military, Li Sheng's plan is to complete the reorganization of the Liangzhou troops, and form a group of 60,000 light cavalry, 20,000 armored cavalry, and 20,000 firearms cavalry (saying that it is a firearms cavalry is actually a light cavalry equipped with small-caliber cavalry artillery, miniature thunder shells, and thunder rockets, but because of the equipped artillery, it also has a certain attack ability on the city. ）； Complete the standardization of the metal armor of the 300,000 field army in his hands, including metal scale armor for infantry, light short armor for infantry (metal scales on the chest, wrapped in hard leather elsewhere), metal scale armor for cavalry, and light short armor for cavalry; Expand the original naval fleet to two, and gradually complete the heavy and artillery of one of the naval fleets; Gradually complete the firearms of the elite infantry troops, such as the guards units of the main generals, the ordnance battalions in the army, and the mountain battalions, popularize thunder and fire bombs, and establish special grenadier battalions and artillery battalions.

According to Li Sheng's estimates, once his own forces complete this series of plans, his economic strength may swell to three times his current level, and his military strength may be twice as high as it is now.

"At that time, I may have the ability to face Cao Cao and Sun Quan at the same time." Li Sheng thought so. He is always looking forward to the future.

Twenty-two years of Jian'an, which had been chaotic for a year, passed quietly in the last few months of peace. With the amazing sound of firecrackers in Chengdu, the twenty-three years of Jian'an finally came to everyone. Everyone in the world thought that this should be an extremely peaceful year, but they didn't want to start from the first month of the twenty-third year of Jian'an, but a series of changes occurred in Cao Cao in the north. It was a shocking change for the world: Cao Cao was crowned king.

It was early March when the news spread from Xuchang to Chengdu. Originally, it didn't take so much time, but after Jia Xu on Cao Cao's side reorganized, the intelligence organization "Xuanhuang" caused a lot of trouble for Bai Yi on Li Sheng's side. They seem to have taken the white clothes as a target of the challenge, and sent a lot of people to stop the white clothes in passing on this information that did not seem very important.

However, the news eventually reached Chengdu. Under the spring flowers that bloomed in March, Li Sheng and his men began to discuss the matter. Because after this small matter, Li Sheng and they saw the traces of Cao Cao and Sun Quan joining forces.

“…… I heard that this introduction of Cao Cao's claim to be the king was caused by Sun Quan. Sun Quan sent a letter to Cao Cao saying that the merit of the public is incomparable to the country, and the mandate of heaven is in the public, and the prince is willing to uphold the mandate of heaven and ascend the throne as the earth. Cao Cao smiled bitterly at Sun Quan's letter, he seemed to have read it several times, and said two words: "Sun Quan, this kid wants to roast me on the fire rack." If the destiny of heaven is really on me, I should be the king of Zhou Wen. These were Cao Cao's own words, although an order was also issued at the time to keep them secret. But these words still caused the actions of Cao Cao's men. They acted quickly and suggested to the emperor that Cao Cao be canonized as King of Wei. Because this matter has little to do with his side, Luo Zhao is like telling a story, mixing this matter with some rumors and telling it very beautifully.

"The emperor just agreed? I remember that such a thing is not in harmony with the covenant made by the ancestors in the past? "Li Sheng has long known about Cao Cao's claim to be king. In the later generations in his memory, he just listened to this incident as a story, and basically heard it, but in this era, he really knows how much resistance there will be from the prince to the king. Now that he heard that Cao Cao was king, he was suddenly a little curious about what kind of associations and turmoil Cao Cao's claim to be king caused by people. "It must be thrilling, not bland." Li Sheng thinks so with certainty.

Of course, the emperor would not just agree, but what could he do? Although this is inconsistent with the White Horse Covenant formulated by Gaozu back then, now that the emperor's own life is in Cao Cao's hands, how can the emperor oppose what Cao Cao wants to do. The emperor can't even say a word of anger now, even if he has any dissatisfaction, he can only think about it in his heart. Luo Zhao gave a not surprising answer, which is also an extremely normal explanation, with Cao Cao's strong behavior, how could he give the emperor a chance to object? I think that under Cao Cao's oppression, the entire ceremony of sealing the king must have been carried out in a harmonious atmosphere, this seems to be certain.

"The emperor is an obvious puppet now, and we won't say anything about him. But isn't there any other news on Cao Cao's side? I vaguely remember that some people in Cao Cao's camp don't seem to have the same idea as Cao Cao in this regard. Are they doing anything here? Li Sheng didn't care much about the emperor's reaction, after all, the emperor was like that, and he was powerless for Cao Cao from the emperor all along.

"It's a move." Luo Zhao's expression became serious, "Cao Cao's military advisor Xun You expressed his vague objection to Cao Cao on this matter. At that moment, Cao Cao's face was very bad. After that, I don't know what happened, Xun You committed suicide at home. Although Cao Cao ordered Xun You to be buried thickly, the day of Xun You's funeral was at the same time as the day Cao Cao ascended the throne, and as a result, almost no one went to send Xun You. ”

"It's really pathetic." Hearing Luo Zhao say this, whether it was Li Sheng, Kong Ming, or other people who heard about this matter here, they were all stunned by this. They had all heard of Xun You's reputation and admired Xun You's ability. For such a wise man who has been doing his best for Cao Cao but finally died in the hands of his loyal master, they don't know how to feel in their hearts: it is not suitable to put forward when their lord is most excited, and it prevents his lord from making further suggestions, Xun You is indeed a little ignorant. However, with his past achievements, no matter how ignorant he is, he should not be forced to death by Cao Cao like this. Don't say anything about this matter that has nothing to do with Cao Cao. In this way, it's okay to deceive ordinary people, and it's not much better to deceive yourself than to cover your ears and steal the bell.

"But there's no way around it. Since Cao Cao said that he wanted to be the king of Zhou Wen, then he must think about his son. Cao Cao is now old, and I heard that his health is also very bad. After a pause, Li Sheng said, "It seems that Cao Cao has no confidence in his sons. By the way, who is the heir designated by Cao Cao at the canonization ceremony of King Wei? ”

"It's Cao Pi." Luo Zhao replied seriously.

"It's Cao Pi? Why not Cao Zhi? I heard that Cao Cao's favorite son is Cao Zhi. Zhuge Liang couldn't help frowning when he heard that Cao Cao had chosen Cao Pi as his heir, "How can this be?" ”

"Huh." Seeing Kong Ming frowning, Li Sheng laughed hehehe: "It's not strange to say this, Cao Cao is also a strong lord." For such people, practical considerations come first, and as for whether they like it emotionally or not, that's a matter of no question. I also know that Cao Zhi is very good at the level of literary talent, but in terms of political skills, he is far inferior to his brother Cao Pi. He doesn't have Cao Pi's ruthlessness. This may not be a big deal in normal times, but in the current chaotic world that has not yet ended, it is difficult to stabilize the development of the country without ruthless people. Well, as far as we are concerned, Cao Pi is definitely a more suitable person to be a monarch than Cao Zhi, although he is not as good as Cao Cao. ”

"This is also a reality of the situation. However, wouldn't Cao Zhi come up with something to oppose such a decision? After all, there is only one throne. Zhuge Liang asked expectantly. He was always interested in the possible civil strife on Cao Cao's side.

"How is that possible?" Li Sheng glanced at Kong Ming and shook his head gently: "Now Cao Cao is still there?" No matter how much Cao Zhi tries to do it, he won't be able to make any big mess. It is impossible now, and it will be impossible in the future, and Cao Pi's position will become more and more consolidated as time goes by. Unless Cao Cao dies mysteriously now, it will be very difficult for Cao Zhi to have a chance to ascend to the sky in one step. ”

"Forget it, anyway, the things here have nothing to do with us, we just need to work hard to develop our own strength." Zhou Li said with a big grin. He had no political acumen, and he had no interest in these intricate events that took place thousands of miles away in Xuchang, he just listened to them as a somewhat tortuous story.

"Who said it doesn't matter?" Hearing Zhou Li say this, Kong Ming's face suddenly became serious: "Cao Cao has already ascended the throne as the king of Wei." Although on the surface we have no influence, in fact it tells us a message that the world is no longer the world of the Liu family, as long as we have strength, we can be kings. The alliance of the white horse was broken by Cao Cao. Since there is such a one of them, what about another one of us? ”

"Huh?" Hearing Zhuge Liang say this, Luo Zhao, Zhou Li, and Xu Shu on the side suddenly came to their senses: "Kong Ming, what do you mean ......?" ”

"Please enter the throne ......!" Zhuge Liang did not answer their words, but knelt down and suggested to Li Sheng.

"Drink ......" was made by Zhuge Liang, although Xu Shu and they were a little caught off guard, but they quickly understood, they knelt down like Zhuge Liang, and at the same time asked Li Sheng: "Please lord is the throne." ”

"What?" Suddenly Kong Ming came to such a hand, Li Sheng was also very surprised. Of course, he has a great interest in being called the emperor by the king, but he is really a little uncomfortable with being asked to be asked like this, and after staying here for so many years, he has a certain understanding of the difficulties and the situation he will encounter after being called the king. At that moment, he asked everyone very cautiously: "Do you think that my current strength is really to the point where I can be called a king?" ”

"Why is the lord so unconfident? As far as we are concerned with Cao Cao, except that we are a little inferior to him in terms of territory and population, we are already superior to him in terms of economic strength and the overall combat level of the army. Yizhou has the danger of the mountains, Jingzhou has the natural danger of the Yangtze River, Jiaozhou has 100,000 mountains, and Liangzhou has a long way to go. Therefore, even if the lord follows Cao Cao and becomes the king, and Cao Cao, who wants to be exclusive to the world, is dissatisfied, Cao Cao has nothing to do with us. They can't send troops against us right now. The only thing we need to take into account is the shop we have in their territory, and if the lord is king, they are likely to raid our shop in a fit of rage, which is likely to cause some damage to our intelligence network. I think we need to be prepared as soon as possible. Zhuge Liang said eloquently. He seemed to have long planned to persuade Li Sheng to become king, so he thought everything through very carefully.

"Is that so?" Li Sheng thought about it, but agreed: "Since this is the case, then I will leave this matter to you." Let our people all urgently hide, and if we don't have very important information, don't take relays. Also, let all the people in the store prepare me to retreat, and transfer funds to me from now on. I think these things should be settled before I become king. From now on, our foreign trade, especially in Wu and Wei, should be stopped, and we should turn things that were originally to be sold to the two places for internal sales, and the production of all luxury goods must be reduced, while the output of daily necessities and tools and other practical things should be increased. Being a king is only a nominal thing, and if our own strength does not develop, it is useless for us to call ourselves gods. ”

"This too. I will do as my lord commands. However, the lord can underestimate the benefits of being king. Zhuge Liang shook his head and said with a smile.

"Why do you think it's low? What good is there for a nominal thing, something that can't be worn, something that can't be eaten? Li Sheng looked indifferent.

"Hey...... You can't say that. Although the king is only a title, it is a call to the people of the world. Cao Cao is still the strongest, but our strength is not weak, and after becoming king, we will completely occupy the other side of Cao Cao. Then we can use the name of king to attract a large number of people. Moreover, after being crowned king, the lord's territory can be set up according to the standards of the kingdom. The official positions of all officials will be linked to their duties, and there will be no confusion about the current distinction between officials and duties. And we, as courtiers, also hope that the lord can go further. After all, this can unite the hearts of people to a greater extent. Seeing that Li Sheng didn't care, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but explain the benefits of being the king to Li Sheng in detail.

"I know, I know......" Seeing that Kong Ming had the idea of continuing to speak, Li Sheng hurriedly interrupted Kong Ming's explanation: "I'll leave these things to you." To be honest, I'd like to move myself up to the next level. Hehe, the name of Wang is also quite majestic. Li Sheng laughed, he was different from other people in this world, for such a thing, he was not pretentiously modest, but very complacent.

"Understood." Everyone nodded in agreement, and they all went to prepare with smiles on their faces. They all looked very happy, as if it was not Li Sheng who claimed the king, but themselves.

The news was quickly pierced, and as the news came out, some strange things gradually appeared in everyone's ears. "Heaven! You don't see it, the dragon in the upper reaches of the river appeared, the jade seal was found in the ground, the divine soldier appeared in the stone, and there was yellow silk hidden in the turtle's belly? "Since March, all kinds of surprising news have come out one after another. Although they are all so bizarre that people can't believe that there really exists, everyone seems to be sure of one thing, that is, Li Sheng said that the king is destined to return.

Since the heavens have made all kinds of revelations, why don't these people on the earth who already have ideas wave their pens and persuade Li Sheng to take the position one after another. Some of them seemed to have already been taken care of by Kong Ming, so they directly persuaded Li Sheng to enter the throne. Some seem to be even more impatient, but they directly persuade Li Sheng to enter the throne. The scribes of Chengdu Shuhou Mansion are extremely busy these days. Li Sheng can not pay attention to these official documents that have no new ideas, but they can't help but file them one by one. It's not a brain-wrenching task, but it's a tiring errand -- there are so many of them.

"Hey...... I can't figure out how these adults can talk so much. It's such a simple sentence that can be said clearly, and they can write so much about it, I really admire them. In the face of nearly 50 pounds of persuasion documents a day, the scribes couldn't help but complain quietly even if they were energetic, and occasionally their complaints would involve their own lords: "...... However, it is our lord who is even more admirable. There was such a big deal going on outside, but he still had time to talk leisurely with the military advisors and them. ”

"What kind of talk about the enemy, I said that you are a guy who is unlearned, and you still don't admit it. The lord and the military advisor are talking about what they are doing. Are they discussing the country name, understand? Most of the scribes were literati who only knew how to play with pen and ink, and they still didn't understand the political implications of what Li Sheng and the others did, but one or two of them inevitably guessed the key to Li Sheng's moment. However, they guessed this key, but they were very curious about why there was such a big discussion about this key: Li Sheng and Kong Ming had been talking about this matter for several days, but they still didn't come up with a result, is it so difficult to decide on the matter of the national name?

"It's kind of weird." They shook their heads in unison.