The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 90 Liu Bei’s kindness is not over yet, it is not over at all! (Subscribe!)

The sale of general salt is either operated by the government or authorized to local salt merchants and salt farmers.

Then salt merchants and salt workers have to pay corresponding salt taxes every year, and the government makes huge profits from this.

Li Yi's purpose of handing over refined salt to Yuan Tan to manage was to control the variables and prevent a large amount of refined salt from flowing out.

Just let Qingzhou be barely self-sufficient.

Li Yi continued:
"In addition to selling refined salt, our two states of Qing and Xu can also strengthen trade and have more frequent exchanges."

Yuan Tan nodded repeatedly, saying:

"That's nature! That's nature!"

"When I return to Qingzhou, I will dispatch soldiers to maintain stability on the border and allow both places to develop peacefully."

Li Yi then added:
"I will also send General Taishan to Langya to maintain the stability of Qingxu and will never harass the people of Qingzhou."

Li Yi mentioned Qingzhou all the time.

Yuan Shao was not mentioned at all, as if Yuan Tan was an outsider completely independent of Hebei.

Yuan Tan also noticed something and pretended to test him:

"I only hate that my father favors his youngest son and wants to appoint another heir. Otherwise, I will be the ruler of Hebei."

"I will mobilize the resources of Hebei to win the favor of Xuzhou."

Both explicitly and covertly, he hinted that he was at a disadvantage in the battle for succession in Li Yi's family.

He meant to seek support from Li Yi.

Of course Li Yi could see it, and immediately said:
"Although I am not talented, I think Brother Tan has made great contributions in pacifying Qingzhou, and he is also the eldest son of the Yuan family."

"Now you have to bow down to your young son. This is truly the greatest humiliation for a man!"

Not bad!

Li Yi's words touched Yuan Tan's heart.

But what made him even happier was Li Yi's attitude.

The second-in-command of Xuzhou supports him, so his say is still very important.

Perhaps Xuzhou could become Yuan Shang's support in the future when he competes for the position of crown prince of the Yuan family.

With this in mind, Yuan Tan secretly made up his mind to maintain good relations with Li Yi and Xuzhou.

Fortunately, Lord Xuande was magnanimous and did not hold the matter of deploying troops in Xuzhou against him.

Li Yi continued speaking.

"Just now Yi said that Qing and Xu could trade with each other. Yi thought that other goods could be traded with currency."

"This refined salt should be bartered for something else."

Salt was hard currency in ancient times, so using it to earn five-zhu coins was a huge loss.

"Then I wonder what Zi Yu wants to exchange for refined salt?" Yuan Tan asked.

"Oxen, horses, and food."

What Li Yi mentioned are the most precious things of this era.

Although Yuan Tan was abandoned in Qingzhou by his father, he still had the support of the Yuan family.

Yan and Zhao have many war horses, and Jizhou is prosperous.

As long as Yuan Tan could think of a way, he would be able to get war horses, oxen and food from the north.

What's more, refined salt is only cheap in Xuzhou because Li Yi forcibly lowered the price to benefit the people of Xuzhou.

If Yuan Tan could sell refined salt in other states and counties, the profit would definitely be much higher than that of coarse salt.

With money, you have start-up capital.

With his connections as the eldest son of the Yuan family, wouldn't it be easy for him to get some war horses, oxen and grain in Hebei?

"…It should be so. It should be so."

Yuan Tan thinks this price is still very reasonable.

In addition to the above three things, what else can be linked to salt?

Not to mention, this is refined salt that is several times better than coarse salt.

After the discussion was finalized, Li Yi continued to drink with Yuan Tan.

That night, all the guests were jubilant.

Liu Bei and the generals from Mount Tai and Qingzhou were all drunk, without exception.

The next day, Liu Bei personally sent Yuan Tan back to Qingzhou.

All the Qingzhou soldiers who had been captured before were also released.

After walking for forty miles, Yuan Tan took the initiative to ask Liu Bei to stop seeing him off.

Liu Bei held Yuan Tan's hand and said seriously:
"After this farewell, the mountains are far away and the road is long."

"Please take care of yourself, Xiansi."

Yuan Tan thanked him and said goodbye to Liu Bei reluctantly.

Along the way, Li Yi rode side by side with Zhang He.

In his conversation, he revealed his admiration to a greater or lesser extent.

This move surprised and delighted Zhang He.

He is now a prisoner, but Li Yi, as a military advisor, treats him with great courtesy and care.

This made Zhang He feel flattered.

Seeing that the battle was about to end, Li Yi said to Zhang He:

"He is a man of great talent, bravery and strategy, and his future is limitless."

"If you have any difficulties in the future, you can come to Xuzhou to find me."

As Zhang He was one of the Five Elite Generals, Li Yi began to make arrangements in advance.

There is a difference between voluntarily surrendering and voluntarily offering surrender.

People who take the initiative to apply will be relatively more cautious and work harder.

To prove yourself.

Li Yi is now planting a seed in Zhang He's heart. When the dispute over succession affects him in the future, Zhang He will seriously consider his position in order to protect himself.

Zhang He was also a smart man. He heard the hidden meaning in Li Yi's words and immediately bowed and said:
"Mr. Li is a rare talent in the world, with extraordinary ideas and good strategies, and there is no one in the world who can match him."

"He really admires you."

"No matter what happens in the future, I will never forget your kindness today!"

After he finished speaking, he urged his horse on and followed Yuan Tan.

……

Jizhou, Yecheng.

"Damn it!"

Yuan Shao was furious and shouted hysterically:

"How dare this rebellious son send troops to Xuzhou without authorization and disrupt our laws!"

A group of civil and military officials stood below, all sneering as if they were laughing at Yuan Tan's joke.

Jian Yong cupped his hands and said:
"My Lord knows very well that this dispatch of troops was definitely not Lord Yuan's original intention."

"I am afraid that Mr. Yuan has been kept in the dark and has not yet learned the truth, so I came to inform Mr. Yuan."

Jian Yong had actually been in Yecheng for some time, but Yuan Shao was not there before, so he could only wait here for more than ten days.

He was also extremely anxious, fearing that Old Liu in the back would not be able to hold on.

So when Yuan Shao returned to Yecheng, Jian Yong immediately stated his purpose.

Yuan Shao's brows were filled with dismay, and he said in a deep voice:
"This matter was neglected by Yuan. I will send Xu You to Xuzhou to negotiate peace and ask this rebellious son to withdraw his troops and return to Qingzhou immediately."

"I will buy food, horses, gold, silver and silk and send them to Xuzhou to apologize to Lord Xuande." Yuan Shao was a generous man, and he was in the wrong this time, so naturally he had to prepare some gifts to apologize.

What's more, his strategy was to focus on dealing with Gongsun Zan first, while appeasing Liu Bei.

Moreover, he really didn't want to have any grudges with Liu Bei now.

Because Yuan Shao was really too busy that year.

First, his younger brother Cao Cao was attacked by Lu Bu in Yanzhou.

Yuan Shao had no choice but to send Zang Hong to lead troops south to rescue.

In the north, because Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, Liu Yu's former subordinates Xianyu Fu and others brought in the Wuhuan people.

The Wuhuan people were grateful for Liu Yu's kindness, but also hated Gongsun Zan's high-pressure policy towards them, so they immediately agreed with Xianyu Fu.

Yuan Shao saw the opportunity and sent Qu Yi to assist.

He united with Xianyu Fu, the Wuhuan people, and some local clans in Youzhou who rebelled against Gongsun Zan.

He formed an army of 100,000 men to attack Gongsun Zan.

Yuan Shao is dealing with wars in both the north and the south at the same time. Do you think he would provoke Liu Bei at this time?

So when Yuan Shao heard the news that Yuan Tan had sent troops without authorization, he was naturally furious.

"Ziyuan, take my seal and go to Xuzhou to tell Yuan Tan immediately."

"Tell that rebellious son to get out of here and go back to Qingzhou immediately!"

"...here."

Xu You was just about to take the order and leave.

Another messenger arrived.

It was the messenger from Yuan Tan of Qingzhou himself.

It turned out that it was Yuan Tan who took the initiative to send someone to submit a petition to apologize.

He knew that truth would come to light sooner or later, and if he hid the truth from his father, his crime would only be more serious.

Just admit it proactively.

In the meantime, he told Yuan Shao everything about how he was defeated, how he was released by Liu Bei, and how he was even recommended as a talented person.

The purpose of Yuan Tan's doing this was to return a favor.

Liu Bei and Li Yi treated him well, so Yuan Tan passed on their good deeds to Yuan Shao.

Hope to promote the alliance between Yuan and Liu.

Yuan Shao was also quite moved after hearing this:

"I didn't expect Xuande to be so tolerant and generous. He is truly a great man of the time."

Jian Yong was even more surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect that he had wasted so much time in Hebei, and he was afraid that his lord could not hold on.

As a result, before he returned, his lord had already defeated Yuan Tan.

This is too fierce...

"My lord sent Yong here to improve the relationship between Yuan and Liu."

"When in Xuzhou, my master often mentioned Yuan Gong."

Yuan Shao nodded and praised:

"I have no enmity with your master, so how can we make peace?"

"Liu Xuande is magnanimous, magnanimous, and trustworthy. Now Xuzhou is happy to respect him. He truly lives up to expectations."

The implication was that he acknowledged Liu Bei's position as the governor of Xuzhou.

Now that the most powerful prince in the world has recognized Liu Bei, his position in Xuzhou will only become more stable.

in history,
After Liu Bei took over Xuzhou, he recommended Yuan Tan as a talented person in order to show his goodwill to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao also accepted Liu Bei's goodwill in releasing him, saying that Liu Bei taking over Xuzhou was what everyone expected.

"That's it, Ziyuan!"

Yuan Shao still named Xu You.

"You should keep your schedule and go to Xuzhou to meet Lord Xuande on my behalf and express my gratitude to him."

"The gold, silver, silk, food, fodder, and horses that were previously offered as compensation will be doubled."

"You should go with Envoy Jian."

"Here."

Xu You took the order and walked to Jian Yong's side.

"Envoy Jian, you and I will set off immediately."

"my pleasure."

Jian Yong bowed in return, but he didn't know why.

He vaguely saw a smile on Xu You's lips.

Seems very excited about the gift.

Could it be that he also has a crush on my Lord?
Jian Yong didn't think much about it, and he and Xu You escorted the gifts back to Xuzhou together.

Yuan Shao sent another 500 elite soldiers to escort the two men south.

……

Liu Bei stayed in Lanting for several days, and the number of refugees from Qingzhou who gathered there had reached 100,000.

This is indeed not a small number.

Just settling them is a huge task.

And the more people there are, the slower the journey will be.

Liu Bei still had two major concerns in the south that had not been resolved, so he did not dare to stay any longer.

He then took these 100,000 Qingzhou people and set off back to Xuzhou.

In the meantime, Lu Su and Mi Zhu in Xia Pi were informed in advance, telling them that Xuzhou would accept 100,000 people from Qingzhou.

Let the two of them make preparations in advance, especially money and food for settling down.

At the same time, Guan Yu was also asked to prepare his soldiers and maintain social order.

The most likely consequence of the influx of foreign population is social chaos.

A large number of soldiers must be deployed to maintain social order.

Then, rewards will be given according to merit as usual.

This time, Liu Bei crossed the river and headed north, loading his boats with a large amount of food, fodder, and money.

That is, preparations are made to reward the Langya Taishan soldiers.

It is not only to prepare for future victory, but also to win people's hearts and show kindness to the soldiers.

Each soldier in the army was given half a piece of linen, half a stone of millet, and fifty coins.

Officers at all levels will receive additional rewards.

This amount of money and grain may not sound like much, but if you really add them up, it is a huge number.

So, now you know why war costs money?
Just rewarding the soldiers would cost a lot of money and food.

And you have to give them rewards. Everyone fights hard on the battlefield just for this.

This reward from Liu Bei is already an improvement in treatment.

Under the original system in Xuzhou, only elite troops could receive such high bounties.

If it weren't for Mi Zhu and Li Yi's efforts, he would have been saved.

There was no way Liu Bei could raise so much money.

……

(End of this chapter)