The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 244 Pirate Empire Troublemaker

The situation at the pier is tense.

Sun Deng never imagined that he was a dignified prince of the Wu Kingdom and the younger brother of Sun Shao, the king of Yue. He just wanted to go to his aunt's barracks, but he was stopped by a small captain. What made him even annoyed was that, The other party pointed a weapon at him and wanted to tie him up.

Isn't the soldier from Vietnam too arrogant?

Sun Deng was furious, but facing the gleaming weapon, he didn't dare to say anything, so he signaled Zhuge Ke to step forward to reason. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Ke had just stepped forward and before he could speak, the vicious schoolboy with thick eyebrows and big eyes Wei Fei kicked him in the stomach. Zhuge Ke didn't expect him to be violent, so he was caught off guard. He was hit hard, fell on his back, and fell to the ground. Sensen's saber was already on his neck, and a pair of broom eyebrows trembled in front of him: "Don't move around, or my hands will shake."

"You...you..." Zhuge Ke was tongue-tied.

"Take it!" The captain stood up, and two soldiers rushed over, holding Zhuge Ke down and about to tie him up.Zhuge Ke struggled desperately, but couldn't move an inch. At this moment, several horses passed by, and a general immediately glanced at him. He happened to see Zhuge Ke's distorted face. He was startled, waved his hand, and shouted: "Li Nong, what's going on?"

Li Nong, the school lieutenant who was still fierce just now, immediately changed into a flattering expression, and ran up to the horse: "Reporting to the fifth general, these people are pretending to be the prince of Wu and going to Feihuying. Subordinates Surrounding them, they actually bribed me and wanted to resist, so the subordinates took them down."

Sun Shangxiang glanced at Zhuge Ke who was pinned to the ground and Sun Deng who had just been dragged out of the car, flicked his horsewhip, and knocked Li Nong's helmet lightly and softly: "Zhuzi, I know you are upright and upright, but you don't have to do that." Show off? Well, I will ask General Yue for your credit. Give these people to me. They are not fakes. They are really the princes of Wu, or my sons."

"Oh, is it true?" Li Nong touched his helmet, but he didn't look nervous at all. He waved his hand to signal Zhuge Ke and the others to let go, and then said with a smile: "General, you have to educate this prince well. Don't run around in the future, luckily the general happened to pass by here, otherwise, who knows what he will suffer."

"Thank you Captain Li for reminding me, do you want me to buy you a drink?" Sun Shangxiang rolled his eyes.

Li Nong shrank his neck, and muttered in a low voice: "You want to be rewarded, I can't ask for it." But the voice was so low that Sun Shangxiang couldn't hear him clearly, and didn't care about him.At this time, two female soldiers under her had already run over to help Sun Deng up. Sun Deng's hair crown was knocked off, his scalp was a little messed up, and his expression was a little bit embarrassed. He looked at Li Nong with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Okay, don't look at it, he is not afraid of you." Sun Luban who had just rushed over from behind shouted: "What are you doing here at the barracks?"

"I want to see you." Sun Deng got into the car indignantly, and said to Sun Luban as he walked, "I heard that you are training in the aunt's camp. I don't know how you are doing. When will you be able to go out?"

"Zigao, don't inquire about our military affairs." Sun Shangxiang snorted in time: "If you want to inquire, go directly to the king. Why are you trying to trick the tiger?"

Only then did Sun Luban come to his senses, glared at Sun Deng angrily, shook the reins, and the horse ran briskly to the front.Sun Deng was so embarrassed that he had to tightly shut his mouth.Sun Shangxiang glanced at the more than 20 soldiers who looked like chickens with their necks cut off behind him, frowned and said, "This is your personal guard?"

"Well, yes." Sun Deng responded, and when he looked up, he saw the disdainful expression on Sun Shangxiang's face. Thinking of the situation just now, he couldn't help being short of breath: "You...you soldiers from the Yue Kingdom are not very reasonable. Do it."

"One sentence doesn't agree?" Sun Shangxiang sneered: "You are content, they didn't shoot you with short crossbows. If you bribe him with money, if he doesn't think you are a ghost, then he has failed in his duty."

Zhuge Ke rubbed his shoulders and snorted: "The king of Yue wants to learn from Emperor Xiaowen, isn't he afraid that these soldiers will be as rebellious as Zhou Yafu in the future?"

"Military man?" Sun Shangxiang's eyes suddenly turned three points cold, and Zhuge Ke was terrified when he saw it: "You don't respect the soldiers, how can the soldiers work for you? Look at your men, I will tell you bluntly, if you change me The soldiers of Yue State, let alone 50 soldiers, even if there are 500 soldiers, they will not be bound like this and let the prince be trapped."

Zhuge Ke curled his lips silently, dismissively.

……

Yecheng, Xuanwu Pool, Cao Cao was wearing a loose thin shirt, sitting by the pool with his arms open, holding a fishing rod in his hand, and was concentrating on watching the swaying silk thread in the water. His eyes were wide open and they were tightly closed. With his mouth open, as if he was afraid that he would scare away the fish that was about to take the bait, his two big hands covered with age spots firmly held the fishing rod, eager to try.

"Here we come!" Cao Cao suddenly shook his hand, the rod bent like a bow, and then rebounded again, a small silver fish the size of a palm broke through the water, flicked its tail in the air, and threw two drops of water onto Cao Cao's face superior.Cao Cao laughed, stretched out his hand, held the silk thread in the air, fiddled with it, and the fish fell into a bucket next to it.

In the bucket, seven or eight fish are swimming leisurely, not knowing that they have become prey.

"What did you just say?" Cao Cao put the bait back on and threw the hook into the water. Then he turned around and said to Cao Pi who was standing beside him. Before Cao Pi answered, he said to Cao Zhi who was also fishing next to him: "Zijian, your skills are not good. You haven't even caught half a fish in the past half a day?"

Cao Zhi smiled lightly: "With my father and king here, how can my sons dare to fight for the front?"

"Bullshit!" Cao Cao said "bah" and rolled his eyes: "I am so happy that you are better than me. Look at the children of the Sun family, one by one, I thought Sun Quan was good enough at the beginning I didn't expect Sun Ce's son to be promising, and after a few years he became the king of Yue and the general of Fuyi. All of you guys think that you are amazing and talented. Compared with him, you are all dogs. Ah bah, why did I scold me myself?"

Cao Zhi curled his lips helplessly, not daring to say anything.Cao Pi, who was standing behind Cao Cao, was also a little embarrassed, holding the urgent report he had just received, saying no, and no saying no.Cao Cao waited for a while, then turned his head and glared at him: "What did you just say, doing business with a sword?"

"Oh, it was Sun Shao who issued a notice to the people, saying that the mission of the army is to protect the lives and property of the people, and for the Yue State, the most important thing is to protect the safety of merchants." Cao Pi spoke fluently. Said: "Actually, from my son's point of view, what he said about holding a sword and doing business is nothing more than an excuse to conquer Funan. He wants money and goods for the expedition, and wants those aristocratic families to pay for it. Of course he has to say something nice."

"Nice?" Cao Cao smiled silently: "Zihuan, you can also say something nice. Let the Cui family, the Sima family, and the Yang family pay you some military expenses. The military expenses for the Western Expedition have not yet been paid. You As long as the military expenses can be obtained, I will let you go out and leave the tiger and leopard cavalry to you, okay?"

Cao Pi opened his mouth, but closed it wisely.Xia Houshang came back from Qiantang and said that Sun Shao had insufficient confidence in their expedition to Xiliang. He suggested that they join forces with the Kingdom of Shu and at the same time ask the emperor to issue an edict to coordinate.This suggestion is not feasible at all, or in other words, Sun Shao simply perfunctory them.Sun Shao's intention seems to be more inclined to unite with Cao Zhang's Northern Expedition, which made Cao Pi very dissatisfied. He felt that Xia Houshang went to Qiantang and reaped the benefits for himself, but failed to complete his task. Instead, he pushed Sun Shao to Cao Zhang's side .But looking at it now, Sun Shao was going to prepare for the Southern Expedition, and the matter of the Northern Expedition would probably come to naught. He was relieved, but he didn't expect that Cao Cao would see it, and grabbed his words and stabbed him back.

If he could get military expenses from the aristocratic family, why would he stand in this place and read documents to Cao Cao? He would have gone to Xiliang to make meritorious service.

"This stick is a shit-stirring stick." Cao Cao threw down the fishing rod, straightened his waist, waved his hands, and said, "Zihuan, Zijian, walk with me."

"Alas." Cao Pi and Cao Zhi hurriedly followed.Cao Pi was dressed very formally, with three layers inside and three layers outside, meticulous, but it was very hot here, and the beads of sweat were streaming down one by one, looking a little embarrassed, far less comfortable than Cao Zhi's fluttering single clothes, of course, and open With his breasts exposed and trousers rolled up, Cao Cao, who looks like an old fisherman, is even more incomparable.

"Tell me, what do you think of Sun Shao's letter to the people?" Cao Cao walked forward slowly, with his hands behind his back, the cold light in his eyes did not match his short and fat body, and his whole person was as unshakable as a mountain.

Cao Pi licked his lips. He wanted to speak first, but Cao Cao stabbed him just now, which made him a little less confident.He looked at Cao Zhi, smiled and said, "Zijian, what's your opinion?"

Cao Zhi tilted his mouth, looked at Cao Pi who looked a little nervous, raised his hand and pinched his nose: "I don't have any good ideas, I haven't seen this Yue King until now, and I don't know what this Yue King looks like. But , my father knows countless people, and the one who can get my father's appreciation should be a talent. I am somewhat curious about him, somewhat appreciative, and somewhat grateful."

"You're grateful to him." Cao Cao swears without looking back, "He's made me miserable."

"Otherwise." Cao Zhi smiled: "If it wasn't for the Zhuifeng powder he offered, my father's head wind disease would not be cured, and if it wasn't for the fish oil he offered, my father's spirit would not be so good. Only by these two points , I want to be grateful to him, and if I meet him on the battlefield in the future, I will be more or less courteous, and then I will fight him again."

"Well, this is also a reason." Cao Cao showed a smile on his face: "There is a clear distinction between grievances and grievances, this is what a man should do. But Zijian, it's not that his father despises you. Sun Shao is full of tricks. Even if you don't let him go, you may not be his opponent. If you have a little bit of sympathy in your heart, I'm afraid it will be even worse. According to the father's plan, you should take him down first, and then express your gratitude to him Good." Thinking of what he was proud of, Cao Cao looked up and laughed loudly: "I really want to see if this Zhuzi can still laugh if he is captured."

Cao Zhi smiled slightly, but did not speak, but Cao Pi looked a little embarrassed.He had fought with Sun Shao, and was played around by Sun Shao. Cao Zhang had also fought with Sun Shao, and it was even worse. He was directly tied up, stripped of his clothes and hung outside in the north wind for an hour. In front of Shao, he had never taken advantage of it, and Cao Cao was a little entangled. Now that he puts his hope on Cao Zhi, will Cao Zhi be sent to fight because of this?

"Zijian, do you also think his letter to the people is a trick?"

"I don't think so." Cao Zhi shook his head, put away his smile, and said seriously: "I think he is expressing his heart to several parties through this letter to the people."

"How many aspects?" Cao Cao stopped, turned around and glanced at Cao Zhi.Cao Pi, who had been paying attention to his expression, clearly saw a look of admiration flashing through his eyes, and his heart tightened. "Tell me, what are the aspects?"

"First, it is to express his country-building strategy to the people of his country, to ask his farmers to farm well, to ask his craftsmen to work hard, to be his soldiers to fight bloody battles, to protect his businessmen, and then to collect money logically. High commercial tax, and then use the commercial tax to please his farmers, his craftsmen, and his soldiers. In this way, everyone will be grateful to him, and if the farmers don’t cultivate the land well, and the craftsmen don’t work hard, Soldiers can't protect the people, they will become the enemy of the people of the whole country. The more important thing is the merchants. The merchants are the center of gravity of the country. Almost everyone in the whole country is working hard for them. If the merchants evade taxes, they will naturally be heinous. , it is logical to punish the illegal traders brought out below. Not only will other people not object, even the merchants themselves will feel that it should be so.”

"You mean, he won't encounter any resistance in this crackdown on corruption?" Cao Cao sat down on a stone bench next to him, squinting at the turbulent lake in the distance, thoughtful.

"It should go well." Cao Zhi lowered his voice: "I estimate that after the autumn harvest, it will be time for him to go to Funan."

Cao Cao didn't say a word, he thought about Cao Zhi's words and sighed secretly.It has been more than 20 years since he entered the official career at the age of 40. During this period, he has carried out countless anti-corruption efforts, and each time it will cause a backlash.People seem to have that kind of greedy desire, no matter if they are aristocratic families or military generals, whether they are powerful ministers or insignificant officials, as long as they have the opportunity, they will do whatever it takes to seek benefits.Corruption is a stubborn disease, and too many people and forces will be involved if it is moved, and a little carelessness will cause chaos.When he heard this letter of complaint to the people, his first reaction was that Sun Shao was too young, and such a big move to crack down on corruption would probably destroy all the previous achievements, but after listening to Cao Zhi's analysis, it seemed that Sun Shao Shao had already prepared.He thought about it carefully, and found that, as Cao Zhi said, Sun Shao had already placed those unscrupulous businessmen on the opposite side of the people of the whole country in advance, and he didn't need to say anything more, I am afraid that those people would take the initiative to demand that corruption be punished.He secretly praised, and was a little proud, what your Sun Shao can think of, my son can also think of it.

"What about the second aspect?"

"The second aspect is the state of Wu." Cao Zhi smiled lightly: "Sun Quan has been rectifying the administration of officials, but with little effect, it seems to be counterproductive. If he does this, he will sooner or later go against the aristocratic family in Jiangdong. Why would he Hurry to rectify the official administration? It is because the Jiangdong family has inextricably linked with Sun Shao. But now it seems that if he continues to rectify, he is afraid that these people will be forced to go to Sun Shao's side and dig themselves out. Tomb. What Sun Shao wants to show him is that he wants to march south, and he has no intention of competing with Wu for territory. In this way, Sun Quan has no excuse to divert the attention of the people, because everyone knows that the enemy of King Yue is Funan , not him Wu, if he wants to attack Yue again, he will be risking the world."

"Hehehe, he is very proficient in these tricks of playing hard to get." Cao Cao stroked his beard and smiled all over his face: "If Sun Quan wants to use troops against Qian Tang, he doesn't know how many counties he will have to pay."

"My father's opinion." Cao Zhi also smiled, and raised his third finger: "The third aspect refers to the emperor and I, Wei and Shu. , he has been showing the people of the world that the sword should be used externally, instead of focusing on killing each other within the territory of the Han Dynasty. This is also the reason why he has always been tolerant to Wu and refused to meet with swords and soldiers. Erchen estimates that the emperor will definitely respond positively For his proposal, he will be greatly rewarded, so that we, Wei, Shu and Wu, can focus on conquests abroad and avoid fighting with each other."

"Well, they have been cooperating very tacitly together." Cao Cao nodded, thought for a moment, and suddenly turned to look at Cao Pi: "Zihuan, so he suggested that Liu Bei and I join forces in the Western Expedition. Perfunctory."

Cao Pi was thinking about it, when he was suddenly asked by Cao Cao, he was taken aback for a moment, then hesitated for a moment before saying, "It seems... so."

"Alright then, prepare yourself and write to the Son of Heaven, requesting to unite with the Kingdom of Shu to go to Xiliang."

"Is this... suitable?" Cao Pi blurted out in surprise.

"Sun Shao is so flamboyant, so we can't keep silent, can we? We can't let him be alone in the limelight." Cao Cao smiled sinisterly: "Didn't he say that we will join the Western Expedition, and he will support our weapons and supplies? Then Okay, I am willing, let's see if the big-eared thief is willing, see if the emperor is interested, and see how much money he has."

Cao Pi suddenly realized that this was just a statement. Sun Shao made a proposal, and Wei Guo first expressed his support. If the matter is successful, Wei Guo will be the first to contribute to this matter. If it fails, then public criticism will also point to Liu Bei. Yes, the possibility of this matter is extremely small, not to mention whether Liu Bei is willing or not, even if they all agree, does Sun Shao really have so much financial resources?If Sun Shao couldn't come up with so many supplies, what would he become?Then he is a joke, an empty talker, a swindler for fame.

It's a good game to push the boat smoothly.Cao Pi was amazed, and quickly nodded in agreement.

Cao Cao looked at Cao Zhi with a calm face, and suddenly smiled: "Zijian, do you think this can be done?"

Cao Zhi blinked his eyes and said with a smile: "With the proposal of two heroes like father and Sun Shao, how can it be unreasonable? Although the big-eared thief is timid, but father, don't forget that the general Guan Yu who is now in charge of the military in Shu But Sun Shao's father-in-law, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister in charge of civil affairs, is also Sun Shao's close friend, and they will definitely support Sun Shao. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just talking about the joint western expedition. I'm afraid Liu Bei will ask for Hanzhong again." Cao Zhi frowned slightly, and said with some concern: "Shu has always wanted to take back Hanzhong. Will you take the opportunity to ask for Hanzhong again?"

"Hanzhong?" Cao Cao curled his lips: "Why does he want it? Don't worry, he's just talking about it, and he won't really use it as an excuse. If he refuses to send troops to the west because of this, then we will I'm happy to see it come to fruition." He paused, and then said: "By the way, is Hanzhong learning the farming techniques of Yue State? If it can lead to the Western Expedition this time, Hanzhong and Guanzhong are grain bases. If we can take this opportunity If you sell it at a high price, you will definitely make a lot of money.”

"There are some achievements, but the effect is limited." Cao Zhi smiled bitterly: "Is there any place that can attract those skilled craftsmen more than Zhuya? Even the farmers in Litian have gone to Zhuya. The merchants of Yue Kingdom are all over the world. As long as these farmers are really capable, it is said that they can take a boat with the wind to move their families and travel thousands of miles without paying for a meal. Father, I can no longer tolerate the businessmen of Yue Kingdom going around like this..."

"Are you going to let me go to war with Sun Shao?" Cao Cao interrupted Cao Zhi: "Do you think his business with a sword is only aimed at Funan?"

Cao Zhi was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile.

"Besides, do you think we can make a profit by not allowing businessmen from the Yue Kingdom to come and go?" Cao Cao lowered his face and showed a sad expression: "I also considered controlling these interests in my own hands, but I found out later that I just said that I want to ban the merchants of the Yue Kingdom. Some people want to monopolize the management rights of the Yue Kingdom. They don’t even need to deal in actual goods. As long as they can get the certificate of entry and exit, they can make the biggest profit. Can people leave the goods from Yue? Do you know, who are the rare things that Sun Shao transported from the South China Sea and Yizhou sold to? Hmph! Control the confinement, these goods will still come in, but the price will change. Skyrocketing, in the end Sun Shao didn’t earn less, we didn’t spend less, but fattened up a batch of pigs, and even fell out with Sun Shao. It’s okay not to do such a thing.”

"Is it that serious?"

"You're not in Yecheng, so you don't know much about these things." Cao Cao sighed, "That Zhuzi not only speaks big words, but also has a moral advantage. You can only drink it. Let’s not talk about it, he established the country with business, supported the people with business tax, and attracted farmers to farm in Yue country. Can you do it? Sun Quan was taken away by him at once. Thousands of households, but Is there any way, did he catch Sun Shao? No, those people ran over on their own initiative. If you want to get it back, you must either start fighting, or you offer better conditions. Can Sun Quan beat him? Can't beat it. Can Sun Quan have better conditions? No. That's it. In order to prevent further loss of population, Sun Quan must reduce taxes. Once taxes are reduced, his strength will be damaged, let alone Sun Shao's opponent "Win without a fight, boy, remember, that's called victory without a fight."

"Father, that is not only a crisis for Wu, but also a crisis for Wei and Shu." Cao Zhi immediately realized the pros and cons.

"How about I say that he is a shit-stirring stick." Cao Cao shook his head helplessly: "He also said that others are black sheep. In my opinion, he is the biggest black sheep. If he does this, we will all have to lower taxes. Otherwise, you can spend all day chasing and intercepting farmers who want to live a better life."

(End of this chapter)