I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 709 North-South Mutual Trade

Gu Yong couldn't figure out what Zhuge Liang was planning, but the conditions he proposed would not offend Gu Yong, because this matter was more beneficial to Jiangnan.

But there was always a trace of hesitation in his heart, because he couldn't figure out what Zhuge Liang wanted to do now.

This is the only thing Gu Yong is worried about now.

Not knowing what the other person is going to do makes him feel very insecure, as if everything is in the other person's hands, which makes him feel unreliable.

Zhuge Liang said:

"My prime minister governs the world with benevolence and righteousness."

"The people of the Han family in the world, whether they are under the rule of the Prime Minister or not. The Prime Minister regards them as the treasures of our Han Dynasty."

"The same goes for the people of Jiangdong."

"Gu Gong, don't have any scruples in your heart."

"We have no other purpose than to serve the people."

Although Zhuge Liang said so, how could Gu Yong not have any scruples in his heart?

Zhuge Liang's implication is that Liu Jian regards the people of Jiangdong as his people. Even if they are not under his governance now, he still hopes that the people of Jiangdong will live well.

Judging from Liu Jian's original behavior, this is not a lie, but if you want Gu Yong to believe it completely, he can't believe it.

At this time, a servant suddenly came to the door and said to Zhuge Liang: "Mr. Zhuge, the Mi family's father has come to meet you at the invitation of Mr. Zhuge."

Zhuge Liang's gently swaying feather fan paused for a moment.

Then, he was seen saying to the attendant: "Go and invite Mr. Mi to come in."

The guards left in response, and Zhuge Liang immediately looked at Gu Yong with a look of disdain.

"Gong Gu, there is no need to be confused. The head of the Mi family has no other intention in coming here."

"It's just that the head of the Mi family has joined the Hebei Chamber of Commerce and Trade since the Prime Minister pacified Xuzhou. Now he is the general director of the Xuzhou Commerce Department appointed by the Han Dynasty Commerce Department in Xuzhou. What Gu Gong talked about today is naturally the same for the head of the Mi family. knew."

"The head of the Mi family came here just to discuss with Mr. Gu. If the counties in the south of the Yangtze River and the counties in the north open ports and establish trade channels, there will inevitably be more business exchanges between the families in the north and the south. As the Mi family is in Xuzhou The largest household, representing hundreds of large merchants in Xuzhou, naturally wants to come here to talk with the public."

When Gu Yong heard this, he suddenly understood.

As a representative of one of the four major families in Jiangdong, Gu Yong can naturally hear the implication of Zhuge Liang's words at this moment.

If it is a port, the goods from Jiangnan and Jiangbei can interact with trade between the north and the south. This will not only be a good thing for the local people, but also be of great benefit to their families in Jiangdong.

Only a small number of families have the strength to participate in shipping. Most ordinary people simply do not have the ability to contract ships, or have enough manpower and funds to carry out such large-scale trade activities.

After all, for people of that era, maritime trade was still a newly opened field, and the investment was particularly large.

Among them, it is either led by the local government or supported by major families.

In Hebei, after the opening of maritime transportation, all channels were tightly controlled by the local government led by Liu Jian. This was because Liu Jian had a strong foundation and could do this.

The Jiangdong local government office currently in charge of Cao Cao does not have enough strength to fully undertake these matters.

He had to rely on the strength of some of the Jiangdong family to complete the construction of shipping channels.

There is no doubt that once the major families support this huge business, the profits of each family will naturally continue to flow. The people in the north and the south will benefit from the interoperability of commerce and trade, but the people who will benefit the most will definitely It's a local family.

As a member of the four major Jiangnan families, Gu Yong's mind began to become active at this time.

His mind was no longer just thinking about the official interests of Jiangdong's negotiations with the North, but part of his mind began to consider the future interests and development direction of his Gu family.

Once the negotiating envoy has this kind of mentality, the result of the negotiation can be imagined.

There was not much change in Gu Yong's face, but Zhuge Liang could already see his complicated thoughts, which was exactly what Zhuge Liang expected.

Not long after, Mi Zhu walked in.

Zhuge Liang and Gu Yong quickly stood up and saluted Mi Zhu.

Later, under Zhuge Liang's introduction, Mi Zhu and Gu Yong introduced themselves to each other.

As the state commerce chief appointed by the General Administration of Commerce of the Han Dynasty in Xuzhou, Mi Zhu was naturally familiar with the economic benefits Xuzhou had grown in recent years due to the frequent trade with Hebei and the opening of maritime ports.

He did not hide his secrets, and talked directly with Gu Yong, carefully explaining to Gu Yong the tremendous changes that Xuzhou had brought about through maritime trade in recent years.

Of course, when elaborating on the changes in Xuzhou's business and trade, Mi Zhu also pointedly mentioned the benefits that families who joined the local business association in Xuzhou received after the opening of maritime transportation.

What Mi Zhu said was not just what he said, but it was well-founded and mostly true.

At the same time, in order to support what he said, Mi Zhu also brought an account book, which probably contained some of the income and expenditure of his Mi family through shipping over the years. Mi Zhu did not hide his secrets and gave these things directly to Gu Yong to see.

When Gu Yong looked at it, he couldn't pull his eyes out.

After all, he is also a person who runs a family, so he is naturally very knowledgeable about this kind of accounting policy. He just took a brief look at it and found that Mi Zhu's account book was definitely not a fraud. And the benefits obtained.

This amount made Gu Yong extremely envious.

Even as one of the four major families in Jiangdong, one cannot help but be attracted by the actual number of benefits.

"I didn't expect that shipping could bring such great benefits to people's livelihood. Hey! It seems... even if there are some conflicts between the two of us, we can't postpone the disaster to the common people."

Gu Yong put down the account book Mi Zhu handed him and said with emotion while stroking his beard.

Hearing Gu Yong speak like this, a smile flashed across Zhuge Liang's lips.

"Gong Gu, if that's the case, then Mr. Lao can take more time to promote the comprehensive development of trade between the two parties."

"That's natural, that's natural." Gu Yong nodded vigorously.

Mi Zhu said on the side: "Gu Gong is really a sensible person! Things on both sides of the Yangtze River and the north of the Yangtze River are not only related to the ordinary people in the area, but also have a close relationship with our other clans. Fighting is a war, but we and other local families should Development still requires development, and this cannot be changed!”

"In my opinion, if Duke Gu wants to persuade Duke Cao, he should go back and ask the fathers of the families in Jiangdong to come forward! Let us jointly explain the benefits of this matter to Duke Cao, so that everyone can report it to Duke Cao together. Only in this way can things be done. .”

"In order to be able to cooperate with Cao Gong, we are willing to officially hand over the Xiapi Kingdom and the county and land occupied by Cao Gong in Guangling Kingdom to Cao Gong's management. We will never disturb them in the future."

"At that time, the county towns occupied by Cao Gong, such as Xiapi and Guangling, can be used as special economic zones between us."

"This can deepen the commercial exchanges between people from the north and the south."

"What do you think, Mr. Gu?"

When things have reached this point, of course Gu Yong agrees with this matter, and not only does he agree, he will definitely find ways to promote this matter. But after all, this matter still requires Cao Cao's approval, and Gu Yong cannot make the decision without authorization.

He said to Zhuge Liang and Mi Zhu: "For the time being, I will return to Jiangdong and report this matter to my Duke Cao. After the matter is settled, I will return to Tancheng to negotiate with you two with Duke Cao's sincerity. Please also ask the two of you." Please tell Liu Xuzhou to wait for Gu for a while, can you?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "I let you wait for me in Tancheng for more than fifty days for free. Now it's time for us to wait for Gu Gong. This is also reasonable."

After saying that, several people couldn't help laughing.

……

Early the next morning, Gu Yong immediately left Tancheng and went south, quickly returning to Jiujiang County to meet Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was also quite nervous in Jiujiang County because he had no idea about this negotiation.

Comparing his feelings, Cao Cao felt that if he stood in Liu Bei's perspective, he would definitely want his side to cede back the lands occupied by Xiapi and Guangling.

But from Cao Cao's point of view, Xiapi and the county towns of Guangling State were the stepping stone for his attack on Xuzhou, and they were also related to Jiujiang County's forward position to the north. He could not give in to them easily.

Once this land is ceded, his reputation and prestige in Jiangdong will plummet.

Moreover, reports of wars in Jingzhou, Sili, Liangzhou, Guanzhong and other places also came back one after another.

After knowing that Liu Jian's side had achieved major victories in various wars, Cao Cao couldn't help but feel anxious.

If it continues like this, when Liu Jian has the battlefield situation under control elsewhere, Jiangdong may not be able to continue negotiations with Liu Jian.

Looking forward to the stars and the moon, I finally looked forward to Gu Yong's return.

After Gu Yong met Cao Cao, he immediately relayed to Cao Cao the general content of his negotiations with Zhuge Liang in Tan County.

After Cao Cao heard that the other party did not cede the land but only asked for money and food, a big stone suddenly fell to the ground in his heart.

When Cao Cao heard that the other party wanted to open shipping ports with various places in Jiangdong, he couldn't help but look happy and suspicious.

Then, Cao Cao began to beat a drum in his heart.

This matter will be a great good thing for him in the future, but why does Zhuge Liang want to fulfill himself?

This is not what they should do!

After all, now that they are taking the initiative in every battlefield of the Han Dynasty, they should put forward more stringent requirements on themselves.

Although Cao Cao was suspicious, he could not refuse this offer, especially after the major families in Jiangdong received Gu Yong's command, they all advised Cao Cao, saying that this was a major event that was beneficial to Jiangnan.

Cao Cao couldn't figure out the intentions of Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei for a moment, and no matter how he viewed this matter, it was beneficial to Jiangnan.

If Cao Cao doesn't agree to this, I'm afraid none of the major families in Jiangnan will agree! By then he would have become passive.

Cao Cao discussed this matter with Xi Zhicai, but Xi Zhicai also felt that the matter was harmless to Jiangnan and did not understand the other party's true intentions.

However, Xi Zhicai told Cao Cao that since the matter had reached this point, the negotiation could not be canceled easily.

Because the imperial court has shown the greatest sincerity to itself, if the refusal at this moment will offend the imperial court, the Jiangdong nobles will also feel disgusted with Cao Cao.

No matter what the other party's plans are, as long as it is good for Jiangdong, then he will remain unchanged in the face of all changes!

Just promise him!

It's all an advantage anyway.

After hearing Xi Zhicai's words, Cao Cao did not reply immediately.

He found Zhou Yu again.

Ask Zhou Yu what he thinks about this matter.

The problem is that Zhou Yu is good at military affairs and foreign affairs, but he is not very good at local politics.

However, he didn't see any disadvantages in it.

He also felt that he could not refuse this matter.

After receiving such affirmation from these two people, Cao Cao felt that he had been too cautious.

Therefore, he sent Gu Yong as an envoy for the second time to Tancheng to discuss the details with the people of Xuzhou about opening a port and opening a north-south mutual trade in Xiapi State and Guangling.

As a result, Jiangnan and Jiangbei will launch an unprecedented north-south economic and trade cooperation around shipping and border trade zones!

……

Cao Cao began to develop economic and trade docking with Xuzhou.

As for Yuan Shao, Yuan Tan was ordered to go to Yuzhou to assist Sun Ce.

Yuan Shao's third son Yuan Shang, under Yuan Shao's instruction, went to the south to appease many families.

Afterwards, Yuan Shao concentrated his forces again and prepared to launch a general attack on Luoyang again!

He didn't believe that with the strength of Jingzhou, he couldn't defeat a mere Zhao Yun!

However, what Yuan Shao didn't know was that after the book "On Yuan" began to be printed and distributed, Liu Jian concentrated the power of Guanzhong, Sanhe, and Jizhou, and recruited a large number of civilians, war horses, grain, iron tools, and more. They continued to transport troops, horses and supplies to the land of Sili, and famous generals from all over Jizhou were also transferred to Sili by Liu Jian!

The situation in Liangzhou, Xuzhou, and Guanzhong has been temporarily stabilized. Although Liu Jian is now under great pressure, he decided to use half of the country's strength to concentrate his advantages as quickly as possible to hit Yuan Shao hard.

Yuan Shao's two wings now no longer have the support of Yuan Yi and Cao Cao. Liu Jian believes that he can defeat Yuan Shao.

As long as this period of beating hurts Yuan Shao, from now on, he will change his status, the north will switch from defense to offense, and Yuan Shao will be on the defensive from now on until the day of his demise.

This time Liu Jian mobilized more than 300,000 civilians, 100,000 camels and carriages, and countless grain and ordnance levies from various places.

The newly filled treasury in the Three Rivers Land was also embezzled by Liu Jian. ,

For no other reason than to give Yuan Shao a hard blow and teach him a huge lesson!

Moreover, Liu Jian had already led people from Chang'an to Luoyang in person and took over the command from Zhao Yun.

This time, he wanted to defeat Yuan Shao head-on, without any fancy means!

(End of this chapter)