Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six Food Delivery to Su Zhang, Mubing Prefecture
Chapter 126 Mu Bingzhou Su Zhang delivers grain
Bingzhou is one of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, covering nine counties including Taiyuan, Shangdang, Xihe, Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Yanmen, Shuofang, Wuyuan and Shangjun. Jinyang is the seat of Bingzhou, located in Taiyuan County.
Jinyang City is also known as Taiyuan City in later generations. Of course, there are still some differences between Jinyang in ancient times and Taiyuan in later generations.
After several days of long journey, Liu Zhang and others finally arrived at Jinyang, the seat of Bingzhou. Looking at the tall but lifeless Jinyang City, Liu Zhang felt quite helpless. Everyone in the world wanted to be at ease, and he really didn't want to come to Bingzhou unless he had to.
Entering the city, Liu Zhang was even more disappointed. Although Jinyang is also a big city, it is quite shabby. Not to mention compared with big cities like Luoyang, even compared with Jixian County in Youzhou, it is slightly inferior.
When he came to the governor's office and checked the seal documents, Liu Zhang officially took over Bingzhou. Why did he choose the position of Bingzhou pastor by himself? Even if he regretted it, it was too late! Liu Zhang himself didn't like military affairs and government affairs, so he directly appointed Guo Jia.
As a farewell officer, Xi Zhicai serves as Zhizhong, Liu Ye serves as meritorious service officer, Zhang Ren serves as military officer officer, and Liu Ye's brother Liu Huan assists Guo Jia and the others as chief clerk.
Of course, although Guo Jia and the others only have the title of "Beijing", "Zhizhong" and "Gong Cao", in fact, the government affairs of Bingzhou are basically handled by them. They only ask Liu Zhang for instructions when they encounter major issues that they cannot decide. When people are bored, they need to find something to do.
As soon as the matter was done, Liu Zhang did not have the burden of government affairs, so he pulled out the defenders of Jinyang City for training. When everyone saw the defenders of Jinyang City, everyone was dumbfounded!
Is this an army? Looking at the Jinyang defenders in front of them with dull eyes, ragged clothes, and standing crookedly, there are people in their 50s and 60s at the top and 11 or 12 years old at the bottom. Liu Zhang and his generals all have dull eyes.
, this is not an army, it is worse than a beggar! Helpless Liu Zhang had no choice but to disband the army.
"Brother, is this the Jinyang garrison?" Back at the Prefecture Mufu, Zhang Fei's loud voice echoed in the hall, making Liu Zhang's ears buzz.
Liu Zhang nodded bitterly, and Zhang Ren smiled when he saw this: "Master, why should you worry? Didn't we develop slowly in Youzhou from nothing back then?"
"This is different!" Liu Zhang said helplessly: "Back in Youzhou, my father could recruit troops and buy horses, depending on whether he had money and food. But now, not only am I not qualified to recruit soldiers, but Bingzhou's money and food don't seem to be too much, so I
We can only take the route of elite soldiers. But look at those soldiers in Jinyang, let alone elite soldiers, they are not even the old, weak, sick and disabled!"
"Why is my lord not qualified to recruit troops?" Guo Jia picked up the gourd and took a sip. He looked at Liu Zhang with a puzzled expression. Liu Zhang had no choice but to tell him about Liu Hong's fear. Guo Jia said with a smile:
"My lord, why should you worry? This matter is too easy! Your Majesty is stupid now. Even if he thinks you are too powerful, he won't do anything to you. According to what my lord said, I think your Majesty gave Bingzhou to you just to make up for it."
The guilt in my heart!”
"Fengxiao means that Your Majesty wants me to come to Bingzhou and be the emperor of the country?" Liu Zhang was a little unconvinced.
Guo Jia said with a smile: "Bingzhou does not produce food, and the Qiang people are always harassing them. Even if the lord spends money to recruit soldiers and horses, the population of Bingzhou is too small, and the number of soldiers that can be recruited is limited. For your majesty, placing the lord here can not only make up for the loss.
The guilt in his heart can also restrict the development of the lord, which is the so-called emperor's mental skill."
Liu Zhang smiled and shook his head and said: "It seems that His Majesty really looks down on me! Can this problem stump me? Zhicai, please contact Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping in Youzhou immediately, I..."
"Lord, there are two people outside the door who call themselves Su Shuang. Zhang Shiping wants to see you!" Before Liu Zhang could finish speaking, a junior high school student walked in.
"Uh... please..." After the primary school went down, Guo Jia said with a smile: "The place in Bingzhou is so weird. I just mentioned Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, and these two people are here!"
"See my lord!" Under the leadership of Xiao Xiao, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping walked in. They were gorgeously dressed and no longer the downtrodden small businessmen they once were. Even the Yuan family in Jizhou had to give them three points of thin noodles because of their
The lord Liu Zhang, in the eyes of the wealthy family, is a complete lunatic! Of course, even though they were rich, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping also understood that without Liu Zhang, they would not exist. Therefore, the two of them came as soon as Liu Zhang arrived in Bingzhou.
"Please get up!" Liu Zhang raised his hands in vain. Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping continued to salute before standing up straight. Liu Zhang smiled and said: "I am not a formal person, so why should I be like this? You two, please sit down!"
"Thank you, Lord!" Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping sat down at the bottom. After all, they are pure businessmen and their status is not very high. If they were under other princes, they might not even be qualified to accompany the bottom. However,
, the people under Liu Zhang's command were either from poor families or people who didn't value etiquette, so they didn't care much about it.
"You two are here, you must have some good news to tell me!" Liu Zhang smiled at Su and Zhang: "Every time you come, you surprise me. I wonder what you will bring me this time?
"
Su Shuang stood up and said with a smile: "We are here to ask for an official position from the lord!"
"Sit down and talk!" Liu Zhang asked with a smile, "I wonder what official positions you two are planning to seek?"
"My two abilities are limited, so a book to help me is enough!" Zhang Shiping said with a smile: "I don't have any other skills, so I can do some business. Since the lord has been appointed as the pastor of Bingzhou, and Bingzhou does not produce food and grass, we think,
The lord can develop business in Bingzhou. Business is our strength, so we would like to ask Bo Cao to take up the position of secretary!"
"You two are worthy of being businessmen, that's what I mean!" Liu Zhang said with a smile: "Bingzhou has very little grain output, but Jizhou, which borders it, has a large output. We can buy grain from Jizhou, even Yanzhou and Xuzhou. To
At that time, we needed a lot of money. However, although Bingzhou does not produce food, it does produce war horses and other strategic materials. Come to think of it, trading tea, horses, salt and iron is your specialty!"
"Those who know me are my lord!" Su Shuang said with a smile: "Brother Shiping and I just received the news that our lord was appointed as Bingzhou pastor, so we scattered all our family property and made large purchases in the five states of Hebei, Yan, Xu, Jing, and Yang.
We have now accumulated more than 20 million shi of grain, and the first batch of 5 million shi of grain has arrived in Jinyang!"
"What?!" After hearing Su Shuang's words, everyone in the hall was shocked. What is the concept of twenty million stones of grain? Even if one stone is two hundred catties, ten stones are one ton, twenty million stones is two million tons!
Even if one person eats three kilograms a day, it is enough to feed 200,000 people for nearly 20 years! You know, the annual grain output of the Han Dynasty is only 20 million shi. Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping spent a lot of money this time!
Everyone was stunned for a long time, and Guo Jia suddenly laughed and said: "My lord is really the master of destiny. Just now we were worried that we didn't have enough money and food to develop the state and recruit an army. Now someone sent us the money and food. Congratulations, lord!"
"This is all the work of Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping!" Liu Zhang said with a smile: "Two of you, from today on, you will be my assistants. You will temporarily work on behalf of Cao Cao and handle my money and food. However, food is the top priority.
Seriously, no matter what the situation, our Bingzhou can only collect grain and cannot sell grain to outsiders."
"I obey my lord's order!" Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping were very happy. Historically, they gave away money and food everywhere, didn't they just want to have some protection in troubled times?
"Lord, I have something else to do!" Su Shuang was a little embarrassed, and Zhang Shiping was also hesitant.
"Since you are my subordinate, tell me what you have to say! Even if you do something wrong, as long as you are not doing evil sincerely, I won't care too much about it. Of course, it won't work if the mistake is too big!" When Liu Zhang saw that Su and Zhang looked wrong, he gave them a warning.
I took a reassurance.
Zhang Shiping lowered his head and said: "Xuzhou is a big grain-producing state. We are hoarding grain and grass for the lord, so we can't let it go. When collecting grain, Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, and his subordinate Mi Zhu all contributed, and they intended to buy some from the lord.
We didn’t dare to agree to the superior war horses, but we agreed to introduce them to them..."
"You did nothing wrong!" Liu Zhang said with a smile: "It's just better to send someone to ask for instructions next time. If I'm not here, you can ask Mr. Xi and Mr. Guo!"
"Yes!" Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang saluted again. Putting down their heavy hearts, the two of them felt much more comfortable, and the fatigue on their faces gradually disappeared.
Seeing Su and Zhang, they breathed a sigh of relief. Liu Zhang smiled and asked, "When will Tao Xuzhou plan to send someone here?"
"Replying to my lord, the envoy sent by Tao Xuzhou is already on the way. This person is Xuzhou's Mi Zhu!" Seeing Liu Zhang's question, Su Shuang quickly stood up and answered. A businessman values credibility most, and he was really afraid that Liu Zhang would not see Tao Qian's envoy.
"Mi Zhu?" Liu Zhang thought for a while and said, "Okay, when he arrives, you can introduce him to me! I heard that Mi Zi Zhongnai of Xuzhou was an ancient gentleman, and I am quite interested in him! Also, who are you?
As a businessman, you can promote it in other states and counties and prepare to absorb refugees!"
"This..." Zhang Shiping said cautiously: "Some of those refugees were..."
"No matter!" Liu Zhang said categorically: "If you spread the news, no matter what they did before, as long as they live a good life in Bingzhou and abide by my regulations and the laws of the Han Dynasty, I will treat them as the people of Bingzhou. If they are willing, they can come to Bingzhou
The state and county governments register, and the government distributes land. As for things like seeds, the government will also lend them money, and even farm cattle! Filial piety and talent, this is the most important thing for us now, leave it to you
Alright! Lao Dian, assign one hundred tiger guards to these two gentlemen for personal protection!"
"Yes!" Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and Dian Wei stood up and obeyed the order seriously. When Xi Zhicai and Dian Wei sat down, Guo Jia asked: "Lord, if anyone is dissatisfied..."
Liu Zhang said with a ruthless face: "Kill! No matter it is a wealthy family or a refugee and a bandit, you can only hear my voice in Bingzhou. Anyone who dares to disobey will be killed without mercy! Of course, you can control the situation!"
"I understand!" Although Guo Jia is not a poisonous person, he will never be vague when he should be cruel.