Overlord!

Chapter 235 The number of war horses doubled!

In the twelfth lunar month of late winter, the entire Jiangdong was very busy. In addition to Wu County recruiting corvees to develop water conservancy, Jiankang was also sending money, grain, and baggage to Jiangxia on a large scale. At the same time, it was dispatching troops and generals and gathering an army to station in Jiangxia.

In terms of diplomacy, Jiankang City also welcomed people and sent them there. Envoys from Sun and Cao were arguing back and forth, and envoys from Jingnan came one after another.

And in the midst of all the busyness, Jiankang ushered in a mighty fleet.

The team heading to Youzhou City Ma finally returned successfully taking advantage of the last tail of the northwest monsoon!
If they don't return this twelfth lunar month, when the southeast monsoon begins to blow during the Chinese New Year, they will have to wait another year to return to Jiangdong.

Going to Youzhou for trade was a cooperative consensus reached between Sun Ce and the wealthy families in Jiangdong, and a large number of wealthy families in several counties in Jiangdong participated in it.So there were more than 200 ships at the time of departure.

On the way, two ships were sunk due to sea wind and running aground on rocks, and another batch went to Jizhou and Qingzhou, so there were more than a hundred Jiangdong ships returning.

However, the overall size of the fleet has not decreased. On the contrary, it is more powerful than before, with a scale of close to [-] ships!
This gave Sun Ce a clearer understanding of Youzhou's wealth, or more precisely, the legacy of the Han Dynasty to the world.

Although the Han Dynasty has been at war for nearly ten years, and heroes from all over the country are engaged in private activities and do not engage in production, even if they are searching for the legacy of the Han Dynasty and sorting out the wealth left by the Han Dynasty, they will be able to collect it on a very large scale.

Sun Ce always thought that the bitter cold land of Youzhou had little wealth, but they were able to gather hundreds of ships and follow Jiangdong's caravan to Jiangdong to participate in trade.

These nearly [-] ships were inspected and taxed by the Municipal Shipping Department at Chapu Base in Jiankang City. Sun Quan and Zhou Lin, who were in charge of the fleet and trade, arrived at Chui Gong Hall immediately to report the results of this trade to Sun Ce. Results.

Sun Quan was still young now, and it was Zhou Lin who first reported to the front: "General, in this official and merchant trade, we exchanged materials from Jiankang's treasury with Youzhou and obtained 850 war horses. We died of illness and lost more than [-] horses on the way. There are still [-] horses left."

"In addition, Youzhou also gave five stallions as gifts, and they were all successfully delivered to Wu County."

Sun Ce smiled and nodded slightly. The person in charge of Jiangdong's horse administration was Yan Zhen, the incorruptible minister. He was capable, simple and honest.With him presiding over the horse administration, Sun Ce does not need to worry about corruption in the horse administration. As long as a few stallions are taken care of properly, they will flourish in Jiangdong in just two years.

You must know that in order to raise horses, Sun Ce opened hundreds of thousands of acres of horse farms in Wu County, the richest and most prosperous county. The area is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and has mountain streams and river valleys. Starting from Wu Wangfu Chai, this area is the best in Jiangdong. The place where horses are raised.

With Yan Zhen's talents and strict supervision, he will surely be able to breed a large number of horses.

In terms of Ma politics, basically as long as corruption is controlled, the scale can be easily expanded.

Sun Ce looked at Sun Quan and asked, "How is the situation of the fleet?"

Sun Quan immediately replied: "The fleet went quite smoothly. Except for four powerful families who clashed with the locals in Youzhou and injured people to pay for their crimes, they all returned smoothly. All the ships returned with full loads. As far as I know, there were cattle, horses, sheep, etc. in the fleet. The quantity exceeds [-], in addition to countless leather, ginseng, pine nuts, sesame oil, placer gold, jade, etc. Before the merchant ship returned south, the cargo piled up like a mountain on the ferry, and was transported continuously for several days."

Seeing that Sun Ce frowned slightly and had no idea, Sun Quan elaborated: "Take the goods as an example. The Zhu family alone trades [-] jins of ginseng, [-] jins of sesame oil, [-] jins of pine nuts, [-] jins of hematoxylin, and rings. The first sword has more than four thousand handles."

Hearing this, Sun Ce finally smiled. There are so many things in just one family!

These are all goods that will be circulated in the market. Every transaction will provide the city with a large amount of market and loss estimates!
Once the cattle, horses, leather, ginseng and other goods on these hundreds of ships are all circulated, they will provide Jiangdong with at least tens of thousands of guan in commercial taxes.

Sun Ce said with a smile: "You two have lived up to everyone's expectations, and I am very relieved. You will both be rewarded with twenty kilograms of gold and forty pieces of pure brocade. Come on down."

The two of them immediately surrendered, but they obviously had no intention of receiving the reward, and both hurried to the shipping department.

Compared with what they gained from this trip to the north, Sun Ce's rewards were only a drop in the bucket!

As long as you can bring back one more shipment of goods, you can earn a huge amount of wealth.

Sun Quan especially deeply regretted that when he floated northward, he did not use all his family wealth to buy a few more ships of goods.

Otherwise, he would have made a lot of money now that he had returned home.

You must know that many wealthy families earned hundreds of kilograms of gold this time!

But what Sun Quan didn't know was that just as he was leaving, the Xiu Yiwei's spies were reporting to Sun Ce about this trip: "General, the second young master went north to trade this time, concealed tens of thousands of goods, and embezzled gold and silver. More than a thousand kilograms, and more than ten war horses donated by powerful men, including a thousand-mile horse given to the general by the princes of Youzhou."

Sun Ce frowned slightly and asked Zhao Yun beside him, "What do you think of Zilong?"

Zhao Yun was filled with indignation and said: "The general has given such an important task to the second young master, but the second young master has embezzled public funds and enriched his own pocket. It is completely unworthy of reuse!"

Sun Ce frowned: "But he finally brought the fleet back successfully."

Zhao Yunzhonglie said generously: "Those who have merit should be rewarded, and those who are guilty should be punished!"

Sun Ce asked: "What is he doing now?"

Zhao Yun replied: "According to the report from Xiu Yiwei, the second master is gathering troops at the Shipping Department to transport goods and purchase new ships."

"Buying a new ship?" Sun Ce was surprised.

Zhao Yunnai explained: "Some powerful people have lost interest in traveling to Youzhou and are selling their ships. The second young master is gobbling up whales. It seems that they want to build another fleet to go north before next spring."

Sun Ce was really surprised and asked: "Can he organize a fleet on his own?"

Zhao Yun nodded and said: "The second young master has attracted many heroes to join him. This time when he went north to Youzhou, many local heroes and knights thought that the second young master was extremely talented and valuable, so they all joined him one after another. The second young master recruited heroes and hired heroes. , there are hundreds of guests under my command!”

"Also, Liu Pu, a powerful man from Youzhou, devoted himself to following him. He brought more than a hundred guests to the Second Young Master's command, and he recruited relatives, guests and talented people for the Second Young Master."

Sun Ce calculated that according to what Zhao Yun said, Sun Quan had close to [-] guests and tribes under his command!

Unexpectedly, during his trip to Youzhou, he would actually recruit a team for himself.

Sun Ce asked: "Besides Liu Pu, who else is working for Zhongmou?"

"The second young master also has Hu Zong, Bu Jing, Wu Can and others under his command. Among them, Hu Zong often accompanies the second young master to study, and he also controls the second young master to accompany him personally. Wu Can is a hero of the prince's fiefdom. He was born in Wucheng and was adopted by the second young master. The young master appreciates him. Bu Jing was born in Wu County and is as famous as Lu Xun, so he was treated politely by the second young master."

Sun Ce couldn't help but admire him. Sun Quan's team was very complete in both literature and military skills.It is already comparable to when Sun Ce founded his army.

When Sun Ce was in Shouchun, the scale was just like this.In addition to Sun He and Lu Fan who followed him, he recruited scholar-bureaucrats and was favored by Jiangbiao scholars and heroes. When he sent out troops, in addition to the thousand troops given by Yuan Shu, there were also hundreds of guests accompanying him.Moreover, when Sun Ce led the army in the battle, he was only the same age as Sun Quan is now.

If it weren't for Sun Quan's extraordinary ability in commanding troops, Sun Ce would have paid special attention to him.

After thinking about it, Sun Ce said: "Since he hid the money in order to organize the fleet to go north again, let's let him go for the time being. My husband's kindness and kindness are common in ancient and modern times. The eldest son Weicheng, as the poet called it. What's more, my Sun family is full of people. People may praise Xingchuji, or they may control the frontiers, and they may be able to do their job, but don’t they also add to their glory?”

Zhao Yun asked: "General, the second young master has such power, which may be a hidden danger."

Sun Ce smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Why do brothers stay in the wall and fight against each other? If Zhongmou has always been interested in overseas, Gu is not afraid of him building a force."

Sun Ce had no intention of cruelty to foreign countries or colonial barbarians. Such cruelty was neither in line with Zhu Xia's concept of justice nor the values ​​and ethics of the Central Plains.

In the moral concepts of the scholars in the Central Plains, it was obviously to spread the culture of kings and educate the barbarians.

Sun Ce planned to send Sun Quan and his team to a foreign country to build a country, establish a state, bring the advanced civilization and advanced technology of the Central Plains there, and then regularly pay tribute and trade with the Central Plains.

As long as these vassal kings do not engage in internal affairs in the Central Plains, Sun Ce will not interfere with how they want to expand their territory outside.

Anyway, they are all about spreading the culture of the Central Plains and building the civilization system of Zhuxia.

Sun Ce admired a sentence very much. The clan was under the control of the imperial power. If the imperial power was stable, they would be the supporters of the imperial power.If imperial power declined, they sought to restore it.If the imperial power has collapsed, there will be no way to recover.They will naturally become new contenders for imperial power.

The Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty showed this scene in a classic way. When the imperial power collapsed, Liu Yan, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, and Liu Yao all became vassal towns, and eventually began to compete for the supremacy.

Liu Bei was just a little less talented, so he didn't compete with Cao Cao.If he has Liu Xiu's talent and wins many battles, he will be the natural successor to the imperial power.

Therefore, Sun Ce's restrictions on the clan were not strict.

If Sun Quan formed a team of more than 500 people for the purpose of exploring overseas and doing business with each other, then Sun Ce would just tolerate it.

Trading in Youzhou and Liaodong always requires a talented leader who can cut through the waves and arrive with the fleet.

Sun Ce then ordered: "The opening up of this Maritime Silk Road is of greater significance than anything else. If Zhongmou wants to make many trips back and forth, let him do it to his heart's content. The more trips he makes, the more sailors will remember the route and become more experienced. Yes. To me, Jiangdong, its meaning is comparable to one hundred thousand gold."

"After the sea route flourishes, our Jiangdong will prosper trade and there will be no shortage of war horses. The country will be rich and the army will be strong!"

"At the same time, let the chief minister allocate money to the pastoral supervisor and order Yan Zhen to sell horses."

Although the officials and merchants represented by Zhou Lin only brought back more than 800 war horses, the entire caravan brought back thousands of war horses and pack horses.

This number, no powerful household will completely keep it for themselves, and it will inevitably be traded on the market.

There is a city horse captain in Jiangdong. As long as he pays a lot of money for the market horses, maybe Jiangdong can buy two thousand war horses and thousands of pack horses this time!
Zhao Yun suggested: "Although the general intends to appoint the second young master, he cannot ignore his greed. It is better to recruit his horse to shake his heart."

Sun Ce thought for a while and said, "Yes. Send someone to retrieve the thousand-mile horse given by the princes. I will also fine him a hundred horses and bring them back during the next trade."

This is to beat Sun Quan and let him know that he is not unaware of his little actions.Let him have a sense of reverence and avoid random thoughts.

Shortly after Sun Ce made these arrangements, Xu Miao, the envoy from the princes of Youzhou, also arrived at Zhaoming Palace to visit Sun Ce.

Xu Miao traveled with the fleet. When he came to see Sun Ce again, his attitude changed and became more respectful.

This change in attitude made Sun Ce keenly aware that the situation in Youzhou might have reached a point where everyone could see the outcome at a glance.

Sun Ce asked: "Xu Qing returned to Jiangdong again despite the fatigue of traveling and traveling, but what happened in Youzhou?"

Xu Miao solemnly stood up and bowed again, cupped his hands and said, "I came here just to ask the general about the general situation. This year, Yuan Shao wrote a letter to Gongsun Zan, hoping to make peace with him. But Gongsun Zan did not reply, but strengthened his defense. This led Yuan Shao to mobilize a large number of troops to attack Gongsun Zan."

"Now Gongsun Zan's officers and men have all fallen apart. The only reason they can keep each other is because they care about where they live, young and old. Therefore, the three armies are gathered in Yijing."

"When I set off, Yuan Shao's army had already attacked the gate of Yijing. I heard that Gongsun Zan had already wanted to abandon Yijing and leave. He went to the southwestern mountain and supported the people of Heishan. He crossed the road to Liangjizhou and crossed Yuan Shao's rear."

"It can be seen that Gongsun Zan's defeat is imminent."

Sun Ce nodded, Gongsun Zan did not even dare to defend Yi Jingdu, and allowed Yuan Shao's army to attack the city gate. With no strong reinforcements from outside and no military morale inside, the city's fall was inevitable.

As we all know, if you hold on for too long, you will lose.Even the ordinary powerful people in Youzhou can see that Gongsun Zan's defeat is certain.

Xu Miao solemnly asked: "If Gongsun Zan dies, Yuan Shao will take control of Heshuo in the north, with the four prefectures of Ji, Qing, You, and Bing. The general thinks that he may become powerful. How should we treat him?"

Sun Ce immediately understood that Yuan Shao was swallowing up Hebei and had the potential to sweep them away, causing the heroes in Youzhou to panic and not know where they were going.

They wanted to separate themselves and defend themselves, but they were also afraid that Yuan Shao could really raise troops from Hebei and sweep the world like Emperor Guangwu did.Then these princes from Youzhou will become clowns.

Once Yuan Shao clears the Central Plains and returns to the north, he can defeat them in one fell swoop as long as he sends another general of Qu Yi's level to command the partial army.

All these princes are in danger of death and annihilation.

But if they are asked to defect to Yuan Shao now, they are afraid that Yuan Shao will not be able to gain power in the end, and they are afraid that he will collapse and suffer the consequences.

So Xu Miao once again went to Jiangdong on behalf of the princes to ask Sun Ce, a prince who was also outside the Central Plains, how he viewed the situation in the Central Plains.

Sun Ce couldn't help but smile and did not answer immediately, but asked: "How do you view the general trend of the Central Plains?"

The trend of history has been changed beyond recognition by Sun Ce. Sun Ce is also curious about how other heroes in today's world, except himself, think about the fate of the world!
Perhaps there are only a few dozen days left before the battle between Yuan and Cao. Who, Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, can defeat the enemy and dominate the Central Plains?

(End of this chapter)