The head of the Zhang family, Zhang Ze, was thinking about what Yangzhou's King of Han wanted to do.
Five thousand gold? To be honest, although it was a lot, Zhang Ze had seen it before. Even the Zhang family's deal with Yangzhou was worth tens of thousands of gold.
But the five thousand gold was free, so Zhang Ze had to think about it. There was no free lunch in the world. Although the Zhang Clan is Chen Liu's old clan, you have to know that he is still trembling with fear.
Because the previous head of the Zhang family betrayed Lao Cao because of Lü Bu. The current Zhang family was more like a branch of the previous Zhang family. The direct descendants had been eradicated by Lao Cao. After getting rid of the direct descendants, Lao Cao felt guilty, so he gave the Zhang family a chance to survive.
This transaction with Yangzhou was the same as the one with Yangzhou. Yangzhou's King of Han, Liu Mang, was also looking at the face of the deceased Clan Head of the previous Liu Mang to expand the trade route and open the door of convenience.
Now that Lü Bu's son-in-law, King of Han, had come to give benefits, Zhang Ze had to be careful.
"What conditions does His Highness want?" Zhang Ze asked the person who brought the letter.
"Reporting to the head of the family, His Highness King of Han has no conditions!" The messenger of the Zhang family, Gong Jin, said.
"Oh?" Zhang Ze did not believe it.
"The Zhang family also received the reward along with the Sun family!" The messenger of the Zhang family said.
"Sun family? Which Sun family? The Sun family of Jiangdong? " To be able to receive a reward from His Highness King of Han like his Zhang Family, their family affairs were no less than his Zhang Family's, and they might even surpass them. Naturally, Zhang Ze thought of Sun Ce's Sun family of Jiangdong.
"Head of the family, it's not the Sun family of Jiangdong!"
"Huh?" It was not the Sun family from Jiangdong. Could it be that there was a new Sun family in Yangzhou? How could Zhang Ze not know?
"It's the Sun family of Jiao Province!" the messenger said.
"The Sun family of Jiao Province? Which aristocratic family is this? "
"He's not an aristocratic family. He's just a small merchant from the Jiao Province!" The messenger explained to his master.
"A small merchant from Jiao Province?"
"When His Highness King of Han gave out the rewards, he said that the money was for the merchants who went out to sea!"
Only then did the head of the Zhang family understand that the money was given by the King of Han, Liu Mang, to the merchants who went out to sea. The Zhang family and the Sun family of Jiaozhou visited together because they weren't local merchants, but they rented the most ships.
The reason why the Zhang Family rented several ships was because Zhang Ze didn't care. But some people said that His Highness King of Han was interested in going to sea. So Zhang Ze rented several ships to please His Highness King of Han. He didn't expect that he would receive a reward.
Originally, Zhang Ze didn't dare to accept the money. If His Highness King of Han had any ulterior motives, the Zhang family would be miserable.
However, he was reluctant to give up the meat that was in his mouth. Now, there was the Sun family. As a comparison, the poor merchant of Jiao Province, the Sun family, received the 5,000 gold. This showed that His Highness King of Han didn't have any ulterior motives. His Highness King of Han didn't have any ulterior motives.
This was a reward from His Highness King of Han for going out to sea. This was to appease Zhang Ze's heart. More importantly, it was to give Boss Cao an explanation.
"Head of the family, His Highness King of Han said to borrow the money. The money needs to be used for going out to sea!" The messenger reminded.
Zhang Ze waved his hand. Borrow? Haha. Even if the money needed to be used for going out to sea, wouldn't the Zhang family get back the money they spent on going out to sea?
"After going out to sea, the 5,000 gold will need to be paid with Yangzhou's Golden Lü Bu!"
Zhang Ze muttered. The Golden Lü Bu was not allowed to enter Yan Province. This was an order from Xu Du. So, the Zhang family was still using real money to trade with Yangzhou.
Now that the 5,000 gold needed to be paid with Golden Lü Bu, Zhang Ze was a little annoyed.
"Head of the family, this Golden Lü Bu is very convenient. 5,000 gold is only 50 pieces. Yangzhou's King of Han, Liu Mang, has a very high reputation. Gold can be exchanged for gold. If it wasn't for Minister Xun, I'm afraid that the Golden Lü Bu would have already been circulated!" A manager of the Zhang family said.
Yangzhou's Golden Lü Bu had a high reputation and was very convenient. In addition, Yangzhou's trade route was very developed. Many Yangzhou's and Yan Province's merchants were willing to trade with each other. But now, there was a problem. When Yangzhou's merchants went to Yan Province, they would habitually bring along Golden Lü Bu. This thing was not allowed to circulate in Yan Province. It was just like waste paper.
When Yan Province's merchants went to Yangzhou, they needed to bring real money. Not to mention the trouble of transportation, the danger also increased. Naturally, the labor cost also increased.
As for those who transported goods to Yan Province, when the goods were sold, Yangzhou's merchants would usually give them gold. If you want to go back, you naturally have to exchange them for gold. But Yangzhou's Gold Exchange would only allow local merchants to exchange gold. If you were a foreign merchant, you would have to wait a while. If the amount was small, a county would be enough. If the amount was large, they would need to transfer it from other manors. It would take a long time.
Time was money. So, the Yanzhou's merchants who did trade with Yangzhou had long complained. But Xu Du had ordered that the Golden Lü Bu was not allowed to circulate.
"Head of the family, Minister Xun has already been transferred to Liaodong. He won't say anything about the Golden Lü Bu, right?" Xun Yu was the one who advocated to prohibit the circulation of the Golden Lü Bu. Cao Cao listened to him and gave him the authority. But this offended many nobles who wanted to trade with Yangzhou. In the past, Xun Yu was suppressing them, so they did not dare to say anything. Now that Xun Yu was gone, very few people dared to offend others.
This time, Zhang Ze had even less scruples.
"Okay, let the manager there accept His Highness King of Han's kindness. We will definitely arrange for the suitable time to go to sea. I remember that there are thousands of bolts of coarse cloth in Chenliu?" Zhang Ze asked his subordinate beside him.
"That's right!" The manager nodded. The coarse cloth that was piled up in Chenliu was collected from the households of the common people in the past. Now, most of the cloth was imported from Yangzhou. So this batch of goods was either sold cheaply or piled up in the warehouse to rot.
"Send this batch of coarse cloth over! We want to support His Highness King of Han's policy to go to sea! " Zhang Ze said generously. Yangzhou gave him five thousand gold and he was giving them face. At the very least, it was enough to fill several ships.
"Yes, this lowly one will go and let the servants load it onto the carriage and send it to Yangzhou!" The manager of the Zhang family said with a smile.
"Don't go by land. Go by sea. After passing Yingshui, go directly to Shouchun!" With another five thousand gold, the batch of coarse cloth could also be sold.
His Highness King of Han naturally did not know about the petty actions of the Zhang family. Even if he knew, he would just laugh. This sea route was a treasure. He did not believe that these people who had eaten crabs once would be willing to part with the delicacy of crabs. When the time came, Liu Mang could only use the Golden Lü Bu to trade. This was a trump card.
"Reporting, reporting to Milord, a letter from Xiliang!" In Liu Mang's main hall, the person in charge of intelligence handed over a letter that has not yet been opened.
"Quickly present it!" The letter from Xiliang said that Zhuge Liang had left for a few days. Logically speaking, he should have arrived in Xiliang.
Liu Mang opened the letter and excitedly read it. However, after reading a few sentences, the corner of his mouth twitched.
Because it said, "My wise Lord, did His Highness King of Han miss me?"
Liu Mang resisted the urge to tear the letter to shreds and continued to read. Village Zhuge Liang, will you die if you don't act cute?
After reading the letter, Liu Mang's ugly expression eased a little.
Ma Chao rebelled.
In the end, it was not because Zhuge Liang was eloquent. It was because Cao Cao was anxious. He thought that once he took down Ma Teng and gave Ma Chao the title of Marquis, Ma Chao would be able to submit to him. Therefore, Cao Cao ordered Ma Chao to send troops out of Hedong and attempt to attack Zhang Lu of Hanzhong through Ma Chao and the other Liangzhou warlords' territories. This caused Ma Chao and the others to panic.
This was because they thought that Cao Cao did not have good intentions. Attacking Zhang Lu of Hanzhong was fake. In reality, he was plotting against Xiliang.
If Ma Chao was not as ambitious, he could have gone with the flow and sent troops to Hanzhong together with Xiahou Yuan. Taking down Hanzhong would be another merit. At that time, Cao Cao would definitely reward Ma Chao greatly.
Unfortunately, our Ma Chao, also known as Little Lü Bu, had just tasted the taste of power and was naturally unwilling to let it go.
On the surface, he was comforting Cao Cao's army. However, he was secretly contacting Han Sui and the others. The arrival of Zhuge Liang was just a fuse that ignited the explosive.
Originally, Ma Chao thought that he was not a match for Cao Cao by relying on his own territory. Now that Yangzhou's King of Han was external help, he would fight. He would first defeat Liu Hongming and lead 100,000 troops (including Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Li Kan, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, Cheng Yi, Ma Wan, Yang Qiu and the other warlords of Liangzhou) to elect Han Sui as the Governor. They would gather at Wei River and Tong Pass and set up camp there.
"Good. If Xiliang's rebellion succeeds, Yangzhou will have precious time!" Xu Shu who was standing at the side also smiled. His junior brother Zhuge Liang was simply a great talent. Zhuge Liang could have come back, but he took the initiative to stay in Western Liang. This made Xu Shu feel very touched. This was called suffering first.
With Zhuge Liang's wisdom, it would be difficult for Cao Cao to pacify Xiliang.
"Villager Zhuge Liang actually wants to stay in Xiliang?" Liu Mang was a little confused. This guy would go wherever there was good fortune to enjoy. Going to Xiliang was as if his parents had died. Now, he actually took the initiative to stay there.
Liu Mang suddenly sniffed. What is this smell?
"Hm?" Xu Shu looked at his Lord in confusion. Where did this smell come from?
"Yuanzhi, can't you smell it? What is this smell on this letter?" Liu Mang said as he handed over the letter written by Zhuge Liang.
Xu Shu also smelled the smell, but he could not figure out what it was.
Suddenly, Liu Mang shouted. "I know!" Liu Mang shouted. This is the smell of good rouge and face powder.
Rouge and face powder first came from Yanzhi Mountain in the Xiongnu region of Northwest China. Xiongnu women often used rouge to make up their faces. In 139 BC, Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions to strengthen the relationship between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. Zhang Qian brought back a lot of foreign culture, including the way of life and ethnic customs of the various tribes in the Western Regions. The introduction of rouge also happened at this time.
Xiliang was close to the Western Regions. The rouge and face powder there was much purer than the Central Plains.
In Liu Mang's harem, he smelled these things every day. That's why he was familiar with this smell. Those concubines used the best rouge and face powder from the Western Regions. That's why he was familiar with this smell.
Liu Mang inadvertently flipped through the letter again. There was a red lipstick mark on the back of the letter.
Liu Mang finally knew why Zhuge Liang did not come. He did not get any benefits from Liu Mang. When he came to Xiliang, Ma Chao treated him like a master. Every day, there was good wine, good food, and beautiful women to accompany him. He did not have to go to the morning court or deal with government affairs. Why not?
"Hmph, I'll deal with you when I come back!" Liu Mang did not know whether to laugh or cry. He was about to inadvertently teach this letter to Madam Huang, who was still in Zhuge Manor. He wanted to see how Zhuge Liang would die.
"Xiliang is in chaos. We need to hurry!" The general trend of the world was getting clearer. Now, there was still Xiliang restraining Cao Cao. If Xiliang was beautiful, he really could not find a chance to restrain Cao Cao.
Liu Mang needed time. In addition to the autumn harvest, there was another important situation, which was to pacify Jingzhou. With Liu Big-eared beside him, Liu Mang was really uneasy.
Liu Big-eared was a careerist. There were few people in the world who could act like Liu Bei.
If he were to start a war with Cao Cao, Liu Bei would rise in power. That would be a huge joke.
Liu Mang's previous plan was to drive the wolf to devour the tiger. He used Liu Bei, the troublemaker, to completely mess up the situation in Jingzhou. There were many nobles in Jingzhou, and their power was also very strong. Moreover, Liu Mang had promised that as long as Liu Mang was in power, he would not touch Jingzhou.
Liu Bei was a backup plan he left behind. He allowed Liu Bei to smoothly enter Jingzhou and let Liu Bei be placed in an important position by the Huang Family. Liu Mang's shadow could be seen in all of these.
It was to let Liu Big-eared, who was the number one boss jinx in the Three Kingdoms, kill our Minion.
However, Jingzhou was too quiet now. It was so quiet that Liu Mang felt scared. This was because Liu Big-eared and the Minion were too harmonious.
Liu Bei seemed to be wholeheartedly enlightened. He was actually helping Huang She do things. Now, Huang She was very fond of him. Huang She even gave such an important place like Jiangling to Liu Bei to garrison.
"Liu Bei wants to boil the frog in warm water!" Liu Mang said. Liu Bei could wait. He wanted to boil the big frog Huang She. After all, Yizhou was not in his hands yet. However, Liu Mang could not wait. He did not have time to wait.
"If Liu Bei doesn't make a move, we will force him to!" Liu Mang's eyes lit up.
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