Cao Cao stayed in Jiangling for more than half a month, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong had already left, they wanted to go back to Liangzhou, because of Murong Feng's changes, now not only Liangzhou is uneasy, but even the Western Regions, which has been calm, have some undercurrents, they want to rush back to preside over major events, only by stabilizing Liangzhou first, can they have the strength to support Zhang He in the Western Regions to stabilize the situation again. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Cao Cao then visited several counties in the vicinity of Jiangling. The entire southern county is within the scope of the Chu State, but according to the system of the Han Dynasty, the king of Chu only has the right to eat and rent, and does not govern the people, in other words, according to the system, Liu Xiu's orders can only be valid in the palace of the king of Chu, and when he leaves the palace, no local official will listen to him, and even the rent he should get is sent to his mansion by the magistrate, but he can't collect it himself. However, the reality made Cao Cao very nervous, and the people of Chu seemed to have forgotten that they were still the people of the Han Dynasty, and opened their mouths to our Chu State, and closed their mouths about the wise king, but few people mentioned the Son of Heaven who was far away in Luoyang.

This is not only the case in the Chu State, but even Jiangxia County outside the Chu State. The Guishan Iron Mine, founded by Liu Xiu, was located in Jiangxia, and after a year of trial operation, it has entered normal production, and has quickly become the No. 1 factory of Dahan Ordnance with its sophisticated refining technology and mature weapon-making technology. During the Han Dynasty, there were arsenals in many counties, and each region was responsible for building weapons and importing them into arsenals for wartime armament. The number of these ordnance is fixed, issued by the imperial court every year, and built in accordance with the regulations, not more, nor less, otherwise it is a big crime. Some counties do not produce iron, so it is necessary to transfer it from other iron-producing counties and re-process it locally. Now, because the superior processing technology of the Guishan Ordnance Workshop performed well in the Battle of Yanzhou last year, all the counties of Yanzhou have transferred new armament tasks to Guishan and entrusted them with processing.

Guishan has become the most important ordnance processing center in the Han Dynasty, and the most mysterious here is the Institute of Metallurgy and the Military Industry Institute, these two adjacent compounds are one of the most desirable places for students in Jingzhou and Yangzhou, every technician who enters and exits holds his head high, and he does not need to pretend to be the color when he sees the most arrogant soldiers, on the contrary, those soldiers see them but they have to be polite, and they smile when they speak.

Cao Cao visited this place accompanied by Huang Zu, and with them came the vassal kings and wealthy merchants who came from all over the country to mourn the king of Chu Hui, some of them had business dealings with the palace of the king of Chu, some had just lent money to the Son of Heaven with the king of Chu Hui, and some were still waiting to see if the contradiction between the king of Chu and the son of heaven could be resolved before making plans. No matter what kind of psychology they had, when they saw the workshops near Turtle Mountain, they all let out irrepressible admiration, especially for those technicians who were experimenting with concentration, and even didn't bother to salute when they saw General Cao Cao, many people were envious and wanted to snatch two people away.

Cao Cao felt more pressure, and after looking around, he knew that even if he smashed the pot and sold iron, he didn't have the strength to catch up with Liu Xiu. After more than ten years of accumulation, Liu Xiu's strength has long exceeded everyone's estimates. On the other hand, if you want Liu Xiu to give up these interests, even if Liu Xiu is willing, the big clans tied up with him are not willing. Don't look at Liu Xiu now if he doesn't lead the army and govern the people, just with these interests, anyone who wants to violate Liu Xiu's interests must first consider the blow he is about to receive. As long as Liu Xiu is alive, he is unshakable.

Cao Cao also heard some news, not only those who directly have capital investment, but even those officers who are far away from the border can get a lot of dividends, the number of these dividends changes with their respective military merits, but it is not completely linked to the military rank, like Xiahou Yuan mentioned the four little tigers in the north of the Saibei, their highest official position is only a captain, and there are two just inconspicuous commanders, but their dividend ratio is only lower than that of a heavy general like Xiahou Yuan, and much higher than other captains.

The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more nervous he became, in addition to sending the news back to Luoyang with a fast horse, he was waiting to talk to Liu Xiu in detail. He vaguely felt that it was definitely not a good thing to tear his face with Liu Xiu at this time. After receiving the edict that Xiao Tianzi wanted to borrow money from Liu Xiu to conquer Jizhou, he asked to see him alone, but Liu Xiu never saw him because he was not in good health, and there were too many guests in the past two days, even if he only met a few people, he was tired.

Cao Cao had no choice but to wait patiently. Every day, he looked at the people who came from all over the world to worship, watched Yu Chuan usher in the send-off, watched some people come with worry and walked with confidence, and some people came with gritted teeth and walked with righteous indignation, his heart kept sinking.

Finally, Cao Cao waited for Liu Xiu's reception, and after following Yu into the heavily guarded courtyard, Cao Cao found Liu Xiu wearing a white filial piety suit, standing under the corridor and waiting, his heart was relieved, and a rare smile appeared on his face. He didn't wait for Liu Xiu to speak, caught up a few steps, stepped up the steps with an arrow, held Liu Xiu's arm, and complained affectionately: "Deran, look at you, it's true, we have been friends for many years, do you still need to be so polite?" You're not in good health, go in and lie down, go into the house and lie down. ”

Liu Xiu smiled apologetically: "I'm so tired these days, I neglected Brother Meng De, and invited Haihan." ”

"It's okay." Cao Cao laughed and said, "However, I am also very happy to see you stand up." Body, good health is the most important thing, you can't be careless. ”

Liu Xiu smiled, sat down on the sickbed, and ordered someone to serve tea and snacks. Cao Cao was not restrained, leaning on the desk, throwing the snacks into his mouth, [provided by Dawn Xiaodang] tasted a few pieces, and then clapped his hands: "Deran is so Yaxing, I really don't get tired of eating, I don't get tired of it, I almost haven't tasted these good things." ”

"Feel good, I'll have someone send you some when I get back." Liu Xiudao: "Some of these are made methods from Tianzhu, and some are fruits sent by Zhang He from the Western Regions, which are not common in the Central Plains. The ones you have on hand are dried mangoes from Jiaozhou, mangoes are good things, you have to eat two more pieces. ”

"The palace of the king of Chu is full of friends." Cao Cao said with emotion.

Liu Xiu sighed with a sad face. "There are a lot of good karma formed by my father's travels all over the world, but it's a pity that his old man can't enjoy it, and it's all cheap for me, an unfilial son."

When it came to Liu Yuanqi, Cao Cao was also a little difficult to speak, so he had to miss it, and then slowly got to the point. "Deran, I've been looking around in Chu these days, and I've even gone to Turtle Mountain. Jingzhou is indeed strong, and it has been just one year since the implementation of the new policy, and it has such an achievement, which is really enviable. If Yanzhou has such strength, I don't have to worry so much, and I will directly take down Yuan Shao's shaft. ”

Liu Xiu smiled faintly: "Still have difficulties?" When my father was alive, didn't he help the court raise more than three billion? ”

Cao Cao smiled helplessly: "Deran, you are a master of soldiers, don't you know that this battle in Jizhou is not easy to fight?" Not to mention anything else, just Yecheng, you can't take it in half a year. Three billion, even if it is used all, it may not be enough, not to mention that last year's military exploits will be rewarded, and in another year, half of the three billion will be used. If you want to win Jizhou, there will be a gap of at least two billion. ”

Liu Xiu was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Then you came to me today to borrow money?" ”

Cao Cao nodded and looked at Liu Xiu with blank eyes.

Liu Xiu scratched his head and smiled bitterly: "That may disappoint you, the Chu Wangfu is rich, but you also know that half of the three billion lent to the imperial court last year belonged to the King of Chu." Although it claims to be a rich enemy country, who can really be rich and rival the country. If he is really so rich, I am afraid that there will not be one or two people who think about him, and he will not even be able to sleep peacefully. He raised his head and signaled Cao Cao, who wanted to explain a few sentences, not to worry, "I still have some money in my house, but you see, I also have a large family to support." In the past, there were hussar generals who could take it, and they could get some rewards for meritorious service, but now I am sentimental and sick, and this is the only thing I have, so I can't wrap my whole family's mouth. ”

Cao Cao heard the voiceover, and was embarrassed to answer, so he had to pretend not to come out, and begged: "Deran, you see that you have been fighting for so many years, what are you for?" It's not for the sake of peace in the world. Now only Jizhou is undecided, and the world's achievements are only one step away, and you have to help think of a way no matter what. ”

Liu Xiu pondered for a long time, and then reluctantly said: "There is a way, but I am afraid that the imperial court will not agree." ”

"You say." Cao Cao said: "You say come and listen, I will report to Your Majesty, whether you can do it or not, your Majesty will decide." ”

Liu Xiu didn't look at Cao Cao either, squinted his eyes, looked at the sky outside that was getting darker, and was stunned for a while, and then suddenly woke up. He smiled apologetically: "I'm really sorry, I don't have enough energy lately, and I often wander away." ”

"It's okay." Cao Cao didn't know if he was true or not, and it was not easy to break it at this time, but he smiled generously.

"That's right, there are a lot of people who have come these days, and to tell you the truth, they have come to mourn my father on the one hand, and the most important thing is to talk about business. There are many people I have never heard of before, and my father is in a hurry, and he has not explained to me, but when they talk about it, I know that they and my father are old friends, business partners. In addition to these people, there are also many big clans from all over the country, and they want to invest, so I have some money in my hand, and I should take out some of it to fund the war in Jizhou, and it shouldn't be a big problem. ”

Cao Cao raised his eyebrows and raised his spirit, he knew that the next sentence would be a very important turning point.

"It's just that these funds were originally used for business, if I turn them to the imperial court to fight, the risk in this will increase exponentially, and if there is no certain guarantee, it will be difficult for me to convince those partners." Liu Xiu twisted his fingers and said unhurriedly: "Moreover, doing business is not only a small risk, but also a high return, lending it to the imperial court to fight can be risky, and the cost cannot be recovered in the short term, so this money can't be borrowed for nothing like the money last time, and the interest rate is a bit high." ”

He raised his eyelids and looked at Cao Cao, who was thinking nervously: "Two conditions, first, I want to know the candidates for the generals sent by the imperial court." Second, the loan period is two years, and the interest is 30%, which is collateralized by the taxes of Jizhou. Agree to these two conditions, I can come forward to negotiate with them, if I can't agree, then I can't help, and I will ask Meng De to help me with a few kind words, I am grateful. ”