Once upon a time, this area was still under the rule of Tao Qian, and Tan County was also the seat of Xuzhou.
At this time... ten miles away from the west city gate, Long Xiaoying's convoy galloped and stopped here. Lu Yu slowly stepped down from the Siyu carriage.
At this moment, a group of officers and soldiers quickly came forward and opened a path, and soon...in the path, four figures walked out at the same time.
The four of them were all about forty years old, but when facing Lu Yu, they lowered their heads, as if a lower-ranking person was paying respect to a higher-ranking person.
"Hou Cheng, the governor of Donghai County, pays homage to Marquis Baima!"
"Wei Xu, the governor of Langya County, pays homage to Marquis Baima!"
"Song Xian, the governor of Guangling County, pays homage to Marquis Baima."
"The governor of Dongguan County, Cheng Lian, pays homage to Marquis Baima!"
Four voices came out one after another...
Lu Yu was a little surprised, but when he looked up, he saw that they were all old acquaintances... Aren't these four of Lu Bu's eight elite generals who once lived on the White Gate Tower in Xiapi City?
Just now the knight reported that Hou Cheng came out of the city ten miles away to meet him!
Who would have thought that instead of just one Hou Cheng, there would be four people gathered together!
Of course... none of this surprised Lu Yu. What surprised Lu Yu the most was that these four people actually became county guards in Xuzhou!
If you think about it, you will know that this is the so-called joining a group to keep warm. According to their temperament, they probably...have a lot to do, right?
Lu Yu murmured in his heart, if Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were not still in Guandu, all eight of Lu Bu's top generals would be reunited today!
"Everyone, please get up quickly..."
Lu Yu was also polite... he helped the four people in front of him one by one, "I never thought that my coming to the East China Sea would cause the four prefects to worry!"
"Where are you talking about Baimahou?" Hou Cheng opened his mouth and said: "When Baimahou sent Cheng Sima to Xiapi City, these brothers and I thought that Baimahou was probably already in Xuzhou. We sent people to inquire, and then we found out that Baimahou
Marquis Baima is about to reach our East China Sea, so a few of us have gathered together to escort Marquis Baima, and to do our best! We will help Marquis Baima in raising food!"
"That's right... Helping Marquis Baima raise food means helping Cao Sikong pacify the northern border. How can we be honored?"
Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Cheng Lian all agreed. Even though they were all powerful warriors, when facing Lu Yu, their tone was extremely gentle and they had smiles on their faces.
You know, these four of Lu Bu's eight strong generals are simply two extremes from the other four.
Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Zang Ba and others are all straight-tempered, they can do things but never speak.
And the four people in front of me have lively tempers... They are like human beings. Who should be hugged, who should be recognized as the big brother, and who has a clear heart!
In the past... with their status, they couldn't climb the big tree like Lu Yu. Now... with such an opportunity in front of them, they naturally have to perform well.
"Then... I would like to thank the four governors!" Lu Yu returned the favor with his hands in hand.
"Oh..." Hou Cheng thought of something and opened his mouth to remind: "By the way, we have properly arranged the three imperial students sent by Baima Hou... We have also arranged the large ships and huge ponds requested by the three imperial students.
Prepared in advance according to their instructions."
At this point, Hou Cheng paused...
"Now, the three students don't know that Marquis Baima is here. They are probably still inspecting the ships. Chi...Does Marquis Baima need us to send someone to invite them here?"
Hey…
Lu Yu's eyes were sure that Hou Cheng was very well-informed about the news. Not only did he detect the arrival of Long Xiaoying.
Even the arrival of the three imperial students "Zhuge Liang", Huang Xu and He Yan was detected in advance.
Not only that... the ships and pools that Lu Yu needed were ready, and the efficiency was very high, which made Lu Yu very fond of him!
Of course…
The ships and large pools mentioned in the middle!
It was Lu Yu who arranged for "Zhuge Liang", Huang Xu and He Yan to prepare it in advance. As for this large pond, Lu Yu planned to dry salt. For this reason... he also wrote many methods of drying salt on paper and sent people to Zhuge Jun in advance.
them!
Let these three imperial students discuss it and be mentally prepared.
In Lu Yu's opinion, the three of them are the most "ingenious" Tai students.
The most important thing is persistence, study, love of thinking, and proficiency in the craftsmanship subject in "Baigong".
Some clues can be seen from the previous wooden ox and flowing horse, thunder chariot, Zhuge divine crossbow, and white phosphorus.
In Lu Yu's opinion... these are even more precious than the bravery of Cao Ang, Xia Houba and others!
Of course…
In the Han Dynasty, salt is no stranger, but because most of the refining methods are "seawater boiled salt" or "well salt method", most of them are coarse salt, and even... there are poisonous salts from Longxi!
Not to mention the low quality, the key is the high price!
It consumes a lot of firewood and labor!
The method Lu Yu used to write on paper was the sun-salt method that started in the Northern Song Dynasty and was not completely perfected until the late Qing Dynasty.
To put it simply, the beach sand that has been dried by the sun is poured into seawater and filtered to make high-salt brine. The brine is then stored in the pool and evaporates and crystallizes into salt under the sun.
Of course, it’s easy to say, but each of these steps, like... seawater needs to be exposed to the sun twice, once into the evaporation pond and once into the crystallization pond!
There are also... some small designs in the evaporation pool and crystallization pool, concentration, saturation, and the quality of sea salt crystallization, all require repeated experiments and deliberation!
Zhuge Jun, Huang Xu, and He Yan are the best at this kind of thing!
As for...ships?
Lu Yu asked "Zhuge Liang" and the others to dispatch a large ship in advance and recruit nearby fishermen...because he wanted to do something big!
I never thought that Hou Cheng and the others were so discerning and had arranged everything in advance.
"There is no need to inform them. Since the ship, the pond...the four prefects are ready, then...let's go directly to the beach without further delay!" Lu Yu immediately ordered. "Let my three incompetent imperial students also go to the beach.
!”
this…
Hou Cheng, Wei Xu, Cheng Lian, and Song Xian looked at each other. "We have also prepared a banquet for Baimahou, and we want to wash away the dust for Baimahou! This..."
"Don't rush to eat at the banquet." Lu Yu waved his hand directly. "The top priority is to solve the problem of dry food for the 600,000 soldiers in Guandu! Their stomachs are more important than our banquet!"
Uh... Hou Cheng was stunned for a moment when he blurted out these words.
"What Bai Mahou said is true, but... we don't have much food reserves in the East China Sea. Food for 600,000 people... How much food storage do we need? In addition to our East China Sea being close to the sea, it seems..."
Before Hou Cheng could finish speaking, Lu Yu interrupted directly. "It's enough to be close to the sea..."
He blinked his eyes. "As the saying goes, if you rely on the mountain, you can eat the mountain. Of course, if you rely on the sea, you can also eat the sea!"
Speaking of which…
Lu Yu was thinking of the rich marine resources. Although the shipping industry and fishery in this era were not developed enough, and the idea of offshore fishing was basically impossible to realize, offshore fishing could still be achieved.
In addition, there were no sea bans in the Han Dynasty, so...many fishermen make a living from the sea, and they have rich fishing experience!
And these are the basis for "doing a big job" to solve Lao Cao's urgent need!
With this in mind, Lu Yu directly boarded the Siyu carriage.
"Lead the way!"
The words came out of my mouth...
Hou Cheng, Wei Xu, Cheng Lian, and Song Xian looked at each other again, as if there was a different meaning in their eyes.
Song Xian still couldn't calm down.
I saw Lu Yu boarding the carriage...
He murmured in a low voice, "We won't be discovered by Prince Charming of our affairs, right?"
Hearing this…
"Shhh"... Hou Cheng immediately raised his index finger. "If you don't tell me, I won't tell you... How will Baimahou find out?"
Uh...this...
Wei Xu, Cheng Lian, and Song Xian were all silent, but there was always a vague foreboding.
A fast horse arrived here quickly. The tiger warrior on the horse dismounted and quickly walked into the tent.
At this moment, Cao Cao was sitting at the table. In front of him, Xun You, Jia Xu, and Xi Zhicai were all there. They were discussing Yuan Shao's gathering of troops.
The general trend of Yuan Shao just discussed shows that the place where he goes south must be Cangting or Pingqiu!
Use Pingqiu as a springboard to bypass Guandu and directly attack Chenliu to attack Xudu!
It stands to reason that Cao Cao's response method is very simple, that is, Chen Bing confronts him head-on in Cangting!
Now that Cao Cao has an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, he has opened up multiple battlefields, which is even more detrimental to Yuan Shao...
only…
Food... or really food!
Now Yuan Shao is standing still, but Cao Cao, Xun You, Jia Xu, and Xi Zhicai all know that Yuan Shao is waiting... for the grain reserves in Guandu to disappear!
With 600,000 troops and 600,000 mouths, the daily food consumption rate is simply terrifying!
Yuan Shao was sure that Cao Cao's food reserves would not last long!
Cao's army was short of food, which was almost a secret known to everyone in the world.
Yuan Shao couldn't help but know that he just wanted to wait for Cao's army to run out of food before heading south from Cangting, making Cao's army unstoppable and unstoppable!
Yuan Shao's behavior this time cannot be said to have been deliberate!
This was his last act, his last stubbornness, Yuan Shao didn't dare to be careless in the slightest!
"Report to Cao Sikong, urgent news from Xiapi City, Xuzhou..."
At this moment, the Huben soldiers bowed their hands and worshiped Cao Cao...
"But it's about Lu Situ?" Cao Cao also seemed very anxious. Yu'er Xuzhou's food raising was of great importance...
It can be said that... in the decisive battle between Cao and Yuan, who wins and who loses?
Whether it was Cao Cao who wiped out the Yuan clan in one fell swoop, or whether Yuan Shao came back and dealt Cao Cao another fatal blow. The most important thing... does not lie with Cao Cao, but with Xuzhou and the amount of food Yu'er raised.
For this reason, Cao Cao acted extremely urgently with every urgent report from Xuzhou and every message regarding Yu'er's movements.
"Report to Cao Sikong that Lu Situ is not in Xiapi City." Soldier Huben reported truthfully, "However, he sent Sima Chengyu of the Longxiao Battalion to Xiapi to meet Xuzhou Mu Chen Deng!"
Hmm…
Yu'er is going to Xuzhou? Why not go to Xiapi, the seat of Xuzhou first? Cao Cao was a little surprised.
But... before he could think about it carefully, the words of Soldier Huben came out again.
"It seems that under Lu Situ's instruction, Cheng Sima and Chen Zhoumu jointly sold the 'Dahan Welfare Lottery'. Every citizen can spend one kilogram of grain to choose seven numbers. If they win all seven, they will win the big prize and earn ten thousand kilograms of grain!
"
Soldier Huben explained the rules of the "Dahan Welfare Lottery" in detail.
call…
Huben Jun blurted out these words, and the entire Chinese army tent fell silent.
One kilogram of grain? Exchange for ten thousand kilograms of grain?
This...isn't this blood loss?
Subconsciously, everyone thinks so, but... then I think about it, no, there is a trap here, and anyone who can discuss matters in this Chinese military tent is a very smart person!
With a little thought, they can realize that if they choose all seven numbers correctly, they must also follow the order, let alone one? Even if they choose one hundred, one thousand, or ten thousand numbers, they may not be able to choose correctly. There is too much chance.
Got it!
So…
Xi Zhicai's eyes blinked. They understood such a simple truth as soon as they thought about it. Although the common people may not be able to think of so many things, but... they should be very cautious when facing such new things? How can they dare to try it?
"How are the sales?" Cao Cao asked the question that everyone was concerned about.
"On the first day, it was only five hundred catties of grain!"
Huh... everyone exhaled softly. It seems that this is reasonable, right?
Who would have thought that before everyone could speak, the next sentence of Soldier Huben was shocking. "But...even if only 500 kilograms of grain were sold on the first day, there was still a winner, earning 10,000 kilograms of grain, and on the second day
The number of daily buyers increased dramatically, exceeding 30,000, and the amount of grain exceeded 200,000 jins! In the end, only one person won the prize."
"On the third day, the people's enthusiasm continued...even more people bought lottery tickets. The lottery tickets sold on this day alone exceeded 300,000 kilograms of grain. In the end, three people won the prize! When I rushed back from Xiapi City, I was the fourth
On that day, even early in the morning, there were long queues at all places selling lottery tickets, and the enthusiasm was even higher than the previous three days. Even a large number of people from the surrounding counties and counties poured in to participate!"
this…
The voice of Huben Jun was loud enough for everyone in the tent to hear clearly.
But... for four consecutive days, from a loss of 10,000 jins of grain on the first day, to a net profit of 190,000 jins of grain on the next day, to a net profit of 270,000 jins of grain on the third day, this rate of earning food is simply...
Horrible!
Of course...this is not the most surprising thing. What shocked Cao Cao, Xi Zhicai, Xun You, and Jia Xu the most was the people flocking to them. What...what are they trying to do?
call…
A long exhalation sounded throughout the room, and everyone fell into deep thought.
Jia Xu smacked his mouth and kept rolling his eyes. In the end, he kept shaking his head and sighing: "Cao Sikong... I seem to understand Lu Situ's plan!"
Jia Xu blurted out these words.
All eyes turned to him...
Jia Xu whispered: "The so-called lottery tickets that people are flocking to, in the final analysis, are selling people's hearts, which is the psychology of every buyer who wants to win."
"On the first day, even though not many lottery tickets were sold, some people won the lottery, and some people suddenly became rich from poverty. This... will bury a seed in the hearts of every common people. A pound of food will do a lot for you."
For the people of Xuzhou, who live in this 'granary of the world', they are too insignificant, but the seeds buried in the hearts of every common people will continue to sprout, continue to fantasize, and continue to give rise to the hope of getting rich overnight!"
Speaking of this, Jia Xu paused. "All of this is just a 'trap' carefully prepared by Lu Situ. It's just that this 'trap' looks too beautiful and delicious. The poor...or those at the bottom...
People, they are willing to pay an insignificant pound of food for an illusory hope! Is this our Lu Situ’s business experience?"
As soon as this statement came out...
Cao Cao had a look of surprise in his eyes.
He has never done business, so he naturally doesn’t understand this so-called “business knowledge”!
However, what Jia Xu said was detailed enough for Cao Cao to understand clearly.
"Ha ha…"
Immediately, he laughed out loud, "It turns out... all of this is Lu Situ's plan! It's just..."
Suddenly, Cao Cao's laughter stopped.
"Raising food like this? Raising food from the hands of the people? I'm afraid it won't be too fast, right?"
No wonder Cao Cao said that...
Xuzhou, and even the Han Dynasty, still followed the terrible "eighty-two" law. Eighty percent of the world's food was in the hands of two people.
It is no exaggeration to say that 90% of Xuzhou’s food is in the hands of that group of wealthy clans or big merchants!
This Han Welfare Lottery is a good way to earn food from the people, but the quantity is limited. Even if it is promoted and implemented throughout Xuzhou, how can it earn enough for 600,000 armors?
What about the two to three years of food and grass needed for the Northern Expedition?
"Cao Sikong, don't think too much..." Jia Xu waved his hands slightly and comforted: "Maybe what we see in front of us is just what Lu Situ wants us to see!"
"Lu Situ has never used common sense and often finds opportunities from desperate situations... If his thoughts are so easy for us to figure out, does he still deserve to be called Hidden Lin?"
Hey…
Not to mention, Cao Cao felt really comfortable hearing what Jia Xu said!
What father doesn't like others to praise his son? This is simply more satisfying than praising himself.
yes…
Yu'er has never let him down in his work, so where did he end up now... The guarantee was incomplete, and the good show had just begun?
Thoughts on this…
Cao Cao opened his mouth and asked: "Where is Lu Situ? Where is he now?"
"East China Sea!" Soldier Hu Ben blurted out: "Just two days ago, Lu Situ rushed to Donghai County, Xuzhou. It seems... Lu Situ is planning to go to sea!"
Going to sea?
As soon as these words came out, Cao Cao's eyes narrowed, Yu'er... why did he want to go to sea? Could it be fishing?
This is a bit...
Cao Cao shook his head slightly, not to mention... how much fish could be caught? How could it be enough to feed an army of 600,000 people?
To put it bluntly, even if a sufficient amount of fish is caught, can the fish be preserved?
Not to mention the two to three years of food and grass needed for the Northern Expedition, just... How long will the fish from the East China Sea be fresh when it is shipped to Guandu? In such a hot weather, I am afraid that it will be spoiled, right?
this…
this…
At that moment, Cao Cao couldn't understand why Yu'er went to sea? What was his purpose?