In recent days, good news has come frequently from the north.
The territory had just been expanded by 300 miles the day before yesterday, and a city was captured yesterday. Today, people are already selling slaves.
Wei Cheng does not prohibit the sale of slaves for the time being.
There is no way, the population of the Han Dynasty is too small. Compared with the population of 1.4 billion in later generations, the combined population of the entire country in this era is comparable to the base of the Magic City.
And with such a vast area and sparsely populated areas, it is simply a fantasy to want to develop the economy.
Therefore, Gongsun Zan's people were selling slaves in Luoyang, and Wei Cheng even asked the "Dragon and Tiger List of the Great Han Dynasty" to help promote it.
This day.
Wei Cheng took Hao Zhao to the sheep market in the city.
This is the largest trading market located in the east of the city. Traveling merchants and wealthy merchants from all over the country gather together to bid and sell goods. It is very lively.
Wei Cheng rode a tall horse, which was no worse than Lu Bu's red rabbit horse. He ate meat for three meals, especially rabbit meat.
"This white dragon is quite well-behaved. I thought he would jump around in crowded places."
Hao Zhao led Bai Long, walked to the front, turned around and said to Wei Cheng with a smile.
Wei Cheng touched the horse's mane and responded with a smile: "Bailong is not well-behaved, but obedient. Isn't it, Bailong?"
Bailong snorted, as if he really understood his master's words.
Hao Zhao laughed, turned around and wiped the white dragon with love, and fed him a handful of dog food.
Well, it’s really dog food.
When the two of them arrived at the door of a restaurant, a boy immediately came up and took Bai Long to a stable to wait on him.
Wei Cheng led Hao Zhao into the restaurant, and the noisy crowd suddenly became quiet and bowed to worship.
"Weijun!"
"I've met Mr. Wei."
Wei Cheng waved his hand, walked straight to the square table in the center of the hall, and looked at the bamboo cards and account books on the table.
The steward in charge of accounting hurriedly stepped forward and said flatteringly: "Wei Jun came at the right time. Ji Hou sent someone to send a dozen Wuhuan maids, saying they were gifts for Wei Jun. The younger ones have already ordered
I took them to freshen up, haha."
Although he was not opposed to the slave trade, Wei Cheng still couldn't accept this kind of thing.
He glanced at the steward, shook his head and said, "Just spare the beautiful maid and send her to Xiuhefang. There happens to be a shortage of manpower there."
"Ah, this..."
"how?"
The steward hurriedly bowed his hands and responded with fear: "Little, little, let's do it right now."
The steward was extremely distressed. If he had known this, he would have secretly intercepted one of them. It was said that those women were all from Wuhuan nobles, and they were all so tall and graceful. Alas, what a pity.
Wei Cheng didn't take it seriously and looked down at the bamboo sign on the table.
Not only on the table, there are more than a dozen bamboo baskets next to them, which are also full of bamboo cards.
Each of these bamboo cards represents a person. These are the Wuhuan and Xianbei people who were captured by Gongsun Zan.
Wei Cheng frowned slightly, without saying anything, and took Hao Zhao directly to the second floor.
At this time, Gongsun Zan had been waiting here for a long time.
Winter is about to begin and it will snow soon. The north is different from the south. While Sun Ce is planning how to capture Jiaonan, Gongsun Zan has already ceased fighting and his troops have returned to the court.
If we wanted to fight, we would have to wait until spring next year, so we simply went back to Luoyang to rest and recuperate.
"We have met Mr. Wei!"
As soon as I walked into the box, I saw six nanmu boxes placed at the door, filled with all kinds of gold, silver and jade articles.
Gongsun Zan stepped forward respectfully and said, "It's a small thought, but I hope Lord Wei will accept it."
Everyone in the Han Dynasty knows that Wei Cheng likes to collect these "useless things" the most.
In their opinion, these are just some decorative objects. They prefer swords, guns, swords, halberds and food to these gold, silver and jade articles.
But since Wei Cheng likes it, then whenever they meet, they must bring it back to Wei Cheng. This is their intention and loyalty.
Wei Cheng glanced at it without leaving any trace, and nodded with satisfaction.
These six large nanmu boxes are worth a lot of money, not to mention the gold, silver, jade, pearls and agate inside, which are worth a lot of money.
"Yes, Ji Hou is interested."
Gongsun Zan was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly took Wei Cheng to his seat.
"You all go down."
"Here."
After Gongsun Zan's men were gone, only Wei Cheng, Gongsun Zan and Hao Zhao were left in the room.
Gongsun Zan glanced at Hao Zhao, personally added a glass of wine to Wei Cheng, and said: "Your Majesty Wei, in this northern expedition, I have worked hard with my army to attack the enemy's key points several times, and helped me easily capture nearly 30% of Wuhuan's territory.
I would like to give you a drink first, Mr. Wei."
Wei Cheng smiled and took a sip.
Gongsun Zan drank it all in one gulp and said: "Today, I was supposed to go to the palace to meet you, but I asked Lord Wei to go there in person. I feel really sorry for you, so I'd like to offer another drink to Lord Wei."
Wei Cheng was not used to drinking liquor, so he waved his hand and said: "Okay, don't make these nonsense, let's talk about what we plan to do next."
Gongsun Zan raised his eyes and looked at Wei Cheng, who was sitting upright.
"Wei Jun, I would like to purchase 30,000 sets of Xuanjia."
"Thirty thousand sets?"
Wei Cheng looked at the six nanmu boxes at the door.
Seeing this, Gongsun Zan hurriedly said: "No, no, no, these are used to honor Lord Wei. The cost of purchasing Xuanjia has been prepared separately."
As he spoke, he took out a list from his arms. There were more than twenty items listed on it, including mines, pastures, and some random things. In Wei Cheng's opinion, they were not very valuable, but in this era, they considered them treasures.
, such as: slaves and beauties.
After Wei Cheng took it, he looked at it briefly, nodded and said, "Okay, besides Xuan Jia, is there anything else you need?"
Gongsun Zan was startled when he heard this, and asked flattered, "Can I mention anything else?"
Wei Cheng glanced at the items on the list, nodded and said, "You can mention weapons and equipment, whatever you want."
Good guy, if you give me assets worth tens of billions in future generations, you need 30,000 sets of stab-proof suits. I feel guilty for giving them to someone in my defense.
Gongsun Zan didn't know the price of stab-proof clothing, but he knew it well. Even the best type on the Internet only costs more than three thousand yuan for a complete set.
30,000 sets, the full amount is only 90 million, less than 100 million.
Leaving aside the items on this list, there are more than this number of gold, silver and jade items in the six nanmu boxes at the door.
Therefore, it is rare for Wei Cheng to be generous.
"Let's do this. I will give you another 10,000 weapons made of meteorite, including swords, guns, swords, halberds, axes, hooks and forks. Whatever you want, just make a list and send it to the guard station and give it to Xun Wenruo."
Wei Cheng also had a careful idea. Companies that influence modern time and space also need some ancillary industries. He might as well acquire a film and television props processing factory to specialize in the production of these weapons. As for sharpening, just take it to Longshan and let Hao Dadao do it.
This can be considered as making some contribution to the country.
"Weijun, I am so moved that I don't know what to say. Weijun, please accept your respects!"
Wei Cheng laughed, helped Gongsun Zan up, and said, "Don't be too excited, there will be a big gift for you tomorrow."
···
Late October.
The new issue of the "Dragon and Tiger List of the Han Dynasty" was distributed from Anyi to all parts of the Han Dynasty.
As long as the Wei caravan can reach any place, there are loyal readers of "The Great Han Dragon and Tiger List".
Among them, various forces and aristocratic families dominate.
After all, there are not many literate people in this era, and those who can understand the "Dragon and Tiger List of the Great Han Dynasty" are the nobles of these aristocratic families.
Because Yanzhou is close to Hedong, Cao Cao got the latest issue expedited from 800 miles away the next day.
Different from Sun Ce, although the two of them also planned to go to sea, Sun Ce already had a navy foundation. Although there was not a large sea ship, it was enough. A large sailing ship that could accommodate seventy or eighty people could be assembled at once.
There are dozens of ships.
Therefore, when Sun Ce had arrived in Dongya Prefecture and was planning to capture Jiaonan, Cao Cao was still busy building ships and at the same time went to Xuzhou to discuss borrowing ships.
However, in Xuzhou, the sea-going ship that Huang Chengyan was responsible for building now only has a general framework. If you want to launch it, you will probably have to wait for several months.
Therefore, Cao Cao has been in a bad mood recently. Every day when he sees the good news from Gongsun Zan, he has mixed feelings in his heart.
Then, all the emotions exploded today.
"Become a king, you are actually a king!?"
Cao Cao looked at the latest issue of the "Dragon and Tiger List of the Great Han Dynasty" and was filled with envy.
Guo Jia and others also each took a book and read it. Xiahou Dun frowned and said, "This is a king with a different surname. Could it be that Lord Wei wants to follow the example of Emperor Gaozu and enfeoff eight kings with different surnames?"
Cao Cao was startled when he heard this, and then said excitedly: "Yes, yes, it is possible. Gongsun Zan has opened a frontier of three hundred miles, so he deserves this honor. King Zhenbei, this time really made Gongsun Zan proud.
"
"Then... who will be next?" Guo Jia said suddenly.
Cao Cao was stunned and his face darkened.
He wants to be the next king with a different surname, but now he is still in Yanzhou and has never even stepped out of the country.
Everyone looked at each other in shock.
Cheng Yu said: "The next one is probably Old General Huangfu. The plan to march westward to the Qiang land is also going smoothly, and the main forces of the Longshan Army and the Hupo Army are over there."
Cao Cao frowned slightly, suddenly thought of something, and sneered: "That's right, I suddenly want to see the expressions of Yuan Jiujiu and Yuan Benchu with my own eyes. If they learn this news, they will definitely regret it and ask for anything.
People don’t want land anymore, hahaha.”
It's exactly what Cao Cao thought.
At this time, Xiliang was so powerful that Yuan Gongzhu regretted that his intestines were green.
"It's not fair, this is so unfair. I, the Yuan family, have also made great contributions to this Western Expedition. If the Huangfu family is really crowned king, Yuan will definitely go to Luodu in person and seek an explanation from Lord Wei."
In the big tent, Yuan Gongli was pacing back and forth anxiously. Several counselors and generals looked at each other, not knowing how to persuade him.
Yan Xiang smiled bitterly and said: "My lord, there is nothing we can do about this. Our people are still staying in Xiliang, and General Huangfu has already attacked the Qiuci area, thousands of miles deep into the Western Regions."
Yuan Shu had a frosty look on his face. It was too late to regret now. He just wanted to know whether it was too late to lead his people there.
However, God poured cold water on him that day...it snowed.
Looking at the fluttering fluff outside the tent, Yuan Shu's face turned gloomier than before.
Jingnan.
Liu Bei looked at the "Dragon and Tiger List of the Great Han Dynasty" in the book, and his breathing gradually became rapid. I, Liu Xuande, also want a king with a different surname.
"Hey, I wonder what the fighting situation is like over there with the second and third brothers. How come it has been so long and there is still no news?"
Liu Bei walked to the courtyard and looked up at the sky, expecting good news.
Then, Wei Cheng was so happy that he also granted him some kind of king title.
Well, if Gongsun Zan is called the King of Zhenbei, then I, Liu Xuande, should be called the King of Zhennan, hahaha!
Liu Bei was happily thinking about the future, but little did he know that a mutiny had already occurred on Guan Yu's side...
The legendary Wuliang Mountain also exists in reality.
In the endless rain forest, the first batch of deserters began to appear among the troops brought by Guan Yu.
Traveling through mountains and rivers for a long time, and having to face all kinds of terrifying poisonous insects, beasts, and unknown poisons, can make people suffer from mental breakdown.
Dozens of people have died one after another in the past few days, causing some people who were already shaken to escape at night.
At first, there were only a dozen or twenty people, but gradually they got out of control. The original team of five thousand people, seven or eight hundred people escaped in just a few days.
Including those who died, there were less than 4,000 people left in the army at this time, and they were far away from Jiaonan, but they didn't know how long it would take to get there.
The remaining people actually want to escape, but their families are still in Jingnan. If they escape, their families will inevitably be implicated.
Seeing the increasingly unstable military morale, Guan Yu was also at a loss what to do.
I just hope that I can cross these damn mountains as soon as possible and reach my destination as soon as possible.
Luoyang.
After learning that he had been given the title of King with a different surname, Gongsun Zan sat at the top of the hall under the watchful eyes of all the civil servants and generals.
One person is inferior to ten thousand people.
Wei Cheng personally placed the royal crown on Gongsun Zan's head and gave him a ruby scepter to symbolize power and status.
Gongsun Zan took the royal staff with respectful and pious hands and saluted Wei Cheng sincerely.
Wei Cheng smiled and said: "King Zhenbei, are you satisfied with this?"
Gongsun Zan grinned and said: "Satisfied, so satisfied, hahaha."
All the officials in the audience also laughed. It was not that no one objected to Gongsun Zan's appointment as king.
But Wei Cheng mentioned something.
If any of you can open up a territory of three hundred miles for my Han Dynasty and annihilate a foreign tribe, then the next king with a different surname will be you.
Everyone was speechless about this.
Some people say that it was not Gongsun Zan who was lucky, but Wuhuan, with a population of only a few hundred thousand, had the ability to fight against Xianbei and the Xiongnu.
But sometimes, luck is also part of strength.
Gongsun Zan had the right time, place, and people, so he should be the king with a different surname.
This is why Wei Cheng wanted to set an example. Gongsun Zan just happened to bump into him, and he was indeed extremely lucky.
"I hope that King Zhenbei can continue his efforts and strive to go three thousand miles north next year to capture Xianbei and the Huns as well."
Wei Cheng encouraged him a few more words, then walked up to the dragon couch and sat down.
"Okay, let's talk about the construction of the East-West Avenue and the excavation of the North-South Canal. You can talk freely."