"Left general, it is really a waste to let you be the governor of this region!" Huang She said with satisfaction as he looked at the city walls of Jiangling city step by step.
Jiangling City used to be Jing Province's second granary. It was backed by Huarong Dao and in front of it was Xiangyang's Wu County. With the Yangtze River as a natural barrier, it was even more strategic than Xiangyang.
Unfortunately, because of the wrangling between Huang She and the dead Liu Pan, Liu Pan destroyed a large noble family in Jiangling, the Wu Family, and prepared to kill the chicken to warn the monkey. The Huang Family also took advantage of the situation and leaked the secret of Huarong Dao. Furthermore, the Huang Family did not report it.
In the end, Jiangling City was breached, and the Jiangling Governor was killed in battle. The provisions stored in Jiangling City were also taken away by Lu Xun of Yangzhou. The provisions that could not be taken away were distributed to the local people, and the provisions that could not be taken away were naturally burned by the Governor.
In the end, our late Governor of Jing Province, Liu Biao, spent tens of thousands of gold to buy Jiangling City back from Yangzhou.
The loss of Jiangling City made Liu Biao's heart ache. Fortunately, Jing Province was strong enough to hold on. After Liu Biao's death, Liu Zong took over. Liu Zong was still young, so everything was controlled by Huang She.
As a result, Huang She was not very concerned about Jiangling City. This was also why when Xiu Cheng's army reached Jiangling, our Huang She was not worried. Jiangling City had already been destroyed, so losing it was not a big deal.
Later on, Zhang Fei and Pang Tong helped Huang She take down Jiang Ling Cheng. After defeating Xiu Cheng, under Pang Tong's recommendation, Huang She successfully led the wolf into the house, leading Liu Big-eared to join him.
The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Perhaps Zhang Fei and the others resented Huang She because Huang She had cheated Liu Bei and the others. Zhang Fei's current situation was caused by Huang She. However, Huang She had not been cheated by Liu Bei. Liu Bei had indeed attacked Jing Province, but at that time, Liu Biao was in power.
Now, Huang She was in need of people. When he sat in Liu Biao's position, Huang She had already begun to feel melancholy. This was because there were many places and many talents that he did not have enough.
In the past, those scholars had given Liu Biao face to become officials. But now, Liu Biao had died, and his death was unclear. Huang She was also a junior to many people. They disdained to become officials for Huang She. The students of Lumen Academy had more or less been hinted at by Pang Degong. In addition to Yangzhou's growth, most of the talented people had gone to Yangzhou.
Yangzhou's examination had attracted the attention of all the students in the world.
He had the intention to find the Cai family and the Lao family to ease the tension, but he was afraid that the Cai family and the Lao family would seize the opportunity to seize the power. It was not easy for him to sit in that position. He didn't want to return to the time when the Huang family, the Lao family, and the Cai family were keeping each other in check. What's more, the Lord of Jingzhou was Cai Mao's nephew. If things went on like this, he, Huang She, would really be kicked out.
Lumen Academy did not have any talents. Many of the scholars had also left the bureaucracy. He did not dare to go to the Cai Clan and the Lao Clan.
In the end, he could only ask for help. At this time, Liu Bei, Big-eared Liu, brought a group of Yuzhou's civil and military officials. This really eased the awkwardness of Huang She's lack of officials.
Big-eared Liu's reputation was not undeserved. He was also very capable. For example, the city defenses in front of him were built by Big-eared Liu.
All the cities in Jiangling had been raised by three feet. Whether it was the main city or the citadel, they were all surrounded by arrow towers. It could be said that the scouts could see everything in Jiangling clearly from high up.
It was almost impossible for them to launch a sneak attack on Jiangling like before.
That was not all. Liu Bei had also renovated the city for the autumn harvest.
When Lu Xun came, he didn't destroy the paddy fields because he knew that destroying the paddy fields would prevent Jingzhou from receiving food. However, it would also harm the commoners. Without food, the commoners would starve to death.
"Good, good, good!" Huang She could not help but praise because everything here was decorated with symbols. "Left General is really talented!" Huang She could not help but praise.
"Sir, you flatter me!" Liu Bei lowered his head and bowed to Huang She. Liu Bei did not have the slightest bit of face. He was a person who knew when to yield and when to stand tall.
He acted like a grandson in front of Lü Bu. In the blink of an eye, he brought Cao Cao to attack Lü Bu. He acted like a grandson in front of Cao Cao. In an instant, he bewitched Cao Cao, this ambitious and ruthless person, and occupied Xu Province.
If it was not for Liu Bei's poor background, which caused him to start late, Liu Bei's achievements would be immeasurable. Huang She, whether it was his official position or his title, even Huang She had to call Liu Bei uncle.
However, Imperial Uncle Liu did not mention this at all. He followed Huang She around and called him Sir. It was not easy to bow.
How could such an attitude not make Huang She happy?
Look, this is the Left General of the Great Han Dynasty, Imperial Uncle Liu. Look, this is the former Governor of Xu Province. But so what? Now, he has to kneel under my crotch and become my subject.
Huang She's mentality is very complacent.
"That fake King of Yangzhou, other things are not good, but this thing called cement is not bad!" Guan Yu, who was beside Liu Bei, also opened his mouth and said.
That's right. The reason why these inner and outer cities could be completed so quickly was because of the cement.
This thing was not as complicated as moving boulders and plaster in the past. The cement was directly transported out and laid on top of it with water and it would dry up quickly.
In the end, it would solidify. The only thing was that the price was a little expensive. It was transported from Yangzhou. In addition, there was a lot of rain in Jiangnan, so the preservation of this cement was a problem. The price also rose.
Liu Bei did not say anything. Instead, he smiled. The cement was bought at a high price. He even used Liu Bei's own savings.
However, Liu Bei was very happy. This was because Jiangling was his foundation. With these cement casted walls, even if there were ten times more soldiers than him, Liu Bei was confident that he could beat them back.
However, Liu Bei did not know that this cement was Yangzhou's civilian cement. It was third-grade. First-grade was used to build dikes and dams in Yangzhou. This was because those things were a hundred years old project. Even the inside was reinforced with steel.
Second-grade was the military city wall. It was very hard because it was used to build the city wall and some defensive fortifications.
Third-grade cement was what Liu Bei was using. In Yangzhou, it was considered as leftover cement. It was mainly used to pave the roads. All the roads in Yangzhou were paved with it. Even some rich commoners didn't use this kind of third-grade cement for their houses. Only in places like Jingzhou did they use it.
However, third-grade cement was selling very well in Jingzhou. Especially Liu Bei. He had the foresight to see that the cement casted walls were very sturdy. However, this sturdiness was only relative.
It was useful for the original siege stone catapults. Even Yangzhou's ballistae could not do anything to it. However, one should not forget that Yangzhou's ballistae had been phased out. Now, Yangzhou was using bronze cannons. Even first-grade cement might not be able to withstand it, not to mention the leftover materials used to build roads.
Of course, our Big Eared Liu didn't know about it.
"The autumn harvest is about to begin! Left General, do you have any plans? "Huang She walked around with satisfaction and asked Liu Bei.
"Autumn harvest?" Liu Bei rolled his eyes. He naturally knew why Huang She asked this question. What did the autumn harvest mean? It meant that the people had food. It meant that the rulers could collect grain taxes.
Looking at Huang She's greedy expression, Liu Bei knew that he might have to collect more taxes.
"Milord, Jiangling City has just been completed. There are a lot of materials. The people have also gone through two wars. I'm afraid that collecting taxes now is not appropriate. We should let the people rest and recuperate!" Yi Ji helped Liu Bei.
Liu Bei had already paid a big price for Jiangling City. It could be said that Liu Bei had used up all his resources. He was waiting for the autumn harvest to make a profit.
If you cut him off, then Liu Bei would really suffer a loss.
"Oh? Is that so? " Huang She's expression showed that he was not slow. "Jiangling City suffered from the war. Is Jingnan Wu Prefecture not affected? Is Nanyang Prefecture not affected? If no one pays taxes, where will my Jing Province's taxes come from? " This time, Huang She mainly came for the grain and fodder. Looking at those yellow grains, how can he not be moved? What does grain represent? In this troubled world, grain is your life's capital.
Without grain, people would starve to death. At the same time, grain could be sold for money.
He also saw that Liu Bei was using money to build Jiangling City. But so what? He, Huang She, was originally insatiable. He wanted Jiangling City, he also wanted the grain.
"Milord, even if you don't go to the grain god, can you collect less?" Yi Ji changed his way of persuading. Since he could not avoid it, then he should pay less. He had to let Liu Bei recoup his losses.
Huang She thought for a while and nodded. It was not realistic to want the horse to run and not eat grass. Huang She decided to exempt Liu Bei from paying some taxes.
"Milord!" Yi Ji wanted to persuade, but Liu Bei walked forward steadily.
"Milord is right. Jing Province has suffered from war. If we don't pay taxes for this and that, how can we afford to equip our army? If we have money to defend against foreign enemies, then Jing Province will still be invaded. The people will still suffer. In the long run, Jing Province will no longer be the prosperous Jing Province!" Liu Bei said righteously to Huang She.
"Hm?" Everyone was still in a daze. What was this big eared Liu Bei trying to do?
"Milord, please rest assured. The grain from Jiangling will be sent to Xiangyang. It will not be late or less. If there is a small amount, I am willing to apologize!" Liu Bei bowed to Huang She.
"Are you serious?" Huang She did not plan to collect all the taxes when he came. He just wanted to take some from Jiangling. However, he did not expect Liu Bei to be so good at talking. He actually wanted to collect all the taxes. This was a pleasant surprise. How could Huang She not be happy?
"Every word is true!" Liu Bei cupped his fist and said.
"Alright, I will believe you this time. Three days, no, I will give you five days to prepare the grain and taxes. I will wait for the good news in Xiangyang. If you complete it, I will reward you handsomely!" Huang She said.
After that, they chatted for a while. Liu Bei's flattery skills were not bad. Even Cao Cao was fooled, let alone Huang She.
"Farewell, milord!" "Huang She came in high spirits and left in a happy mood.
Huang She left, but there was one person who stayed behind.
"Lord Xuande, why are you doing this?" Yi Ji did not understand and asked Liu Bei. This Liu Bei was the democracy in Yi Ji's heart. He wanted to support Liu Bei and not Huang She.
He could not see that Jiangling was suffering losses. The reason why Jiangling could reach its current scale was because of Liu Bei's great efforts.
Originally, this Yi Ji was prepared to dissuade Huang She from collecting taxes. Even if he couldn't dissuade Huang She, he still wanted Huang She to collect less taxes. But he didn't expect that Xuande Gong didn't even care about the provisions. He directly asked for all the provisions like the other Jingzhou Prefectures and counties.
This Liu Bei even asked for help. This gave Yi Ji a headache.
"Haha!" Liu Bei laughed and said to Yi Ji, "Many thanks, Yi Ji! However, this tax must be paid to Lord Huang She! "
"En?" Yi Ji was even more puzzled.
"Yi Ji, how much is the tax in Jingzhou?" Liu Bei knew that Yi Ji was on his side, so he did not hide anything from Yi Ji and asked with a smile.
"In Xiangyang, it is 60%. In Jiangling, it is 40%!" Things like taxation still depended on the place. Some places had barren land, so they naturally didn't need to pay much taxes. However, some places had tens of thousands of mu of fertile land. How could they not pay taxes?
Jiangling was a barren place. It only needed to pay the taxes of the four cities.
"Go, pass down my order. All taxes must be paid 80%!" Liu Bei directly said.
"80%!" Yi Ji's eyes widened. This wasn't just a matter of words. If the taxes were too high, it might lead to a revolt among the people.
Moreover, Liu Bei had always been famous for his fame. It was his reputation! If he were to ask for 80% of the taxes, it would really be over.
At the very least, Liu Bei's reputation would be destroyed.
However, Liu Bei's subordinate, Yi Ji, had already left. Yi Ji could not stop him in time.
"Take it again. Tell the people that I said I will only take 60%!" “
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