The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

Time flies, and years pass quickly. After Qin Xuan returned to Tancheng from Wu County, he lived a peaceful and happy life, spending his days enjoying himself with Cao Yuan and the other two women, and traveling incognito.

Thanks to Qin Xuan's tireless campaigns, Cao Yuan finally became pregnant. When she learned that she was going to have an heir, Qin Xuan was all smiles every day, as were Liu Bowen and the others. After all, their lord finally had an heir, and their vast empire had a successor.

To ensure Cao Yuan's safe delivery, Qin Xuan not only had her mother come to the governor's mansion to take care of her, but also had the Black Ice Guard invite Hua Tuo to the governor's mansion to serve as his personal physician and take care of his unborn child.

However, Hua Tuo was a stubborn man. When he heard that Qin Xuan wanted him to serve as a physician in the governor's mansion, he was extremely unwilling and insisted on continuing to travel around and treat more people.

Inside the main hall of the Xuzhou governor's mansion, Qin Xuan was extremely troubled looking at the white-bearded old man before him. No matter how kindly he tried to persuade him, the other man simply wouldn't listen.

"Mr. Hua, I invited you with the best of intentions, why are you still so stubborn?"

"Aren't these conditions enough to sway you? Besides, things are chaotic outside. If someone as talented as you makes a mistake, the losses would be incalculable!"

Hua Tuo bowed respectfully to Qin Xuan and said, "Lord Qin, I have examined your wife. Her pulse is normal. As long as she takes the medicine I prescribed for her on time, there will be no problem. Therefore, you don't need to worry too much."

"There's not much need for me to stay at your residence. You can ask me to come when I'm about to give birth. I can treat more patients outside. I hope you can grant my request."

As a physician dedicated to saving all living beings, Hua Tuo didn't care about high-ranking official positions or generous salaries. He only wanted to travel all over the world and conquer more difficult and complicated diseases.

"Heh!" Qin Xuan looked disdainful upon hearing this, as if he had heard a great joke. Hua Tuo wanted to save the world, but that was simply impossible.

But since the other party was Hua Tuo, a medical expert, Qin Xuan patiently explained to him:

"Mr. Hua, your idea is beautiful, but reality is cruel. In this chaotic era, it is a pipe dream to think that you can travel all over the world to save more people."

"In this era when people couldn't even get enough to eat, those who could afford medical treatment were mostly from powerful families, local magnates, and high-ranking, cruel officials."

"Ordinary people simply can't afford treatment, nor do they have the awareness to seek medical care proactively. Therefore, your request seems like a joke to me!"

Upon hearing Qin Xuan's words, Hua Tuo wanted to refute them, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't say anything. He could only stare blankly at Qin Xuan as he continued to listen to his story.

Seeing Hua Tuo's expression, Qin Xuan was secretly delighted and continued to brainwash him:

"Mr. Hua, the terms I've offered you are extremely generous. Not only will I support your various medical innovations, but I'll also establish a medical training school where you will serve as a teacher. Aren't you tempted?"

This is Qin Xuan's vision for future development. He not only wants to establish medical colleges to cultivate medical talents, but also to establish related colleges in other fields to cultivate professionals. However, the conditions are not yet ripe. The people under his rule can't even get enough to eat, so where would they find the energy to learn these things?

But now that we've finally found such a talented professional, how can we let him slip away like this?

"Lord Qin, please let me leave. Your offer is indeed generous, and I have heard about your actions in Xuzhou. However, the conditions for establishing a medical school are not right now. There simply aren't enough people to study medicine."

"Therefore, you should let this old man leave!"

Faced with Qin Xuan's conditions, Hua Tuo remained unmoved. Medicine is different from other skills. Due to various practical factors and its small scale of development, the medical school Qin Xuan proposed was simply not feasible.

Medicine is mainly driven by interest. Without the initiative to learn, one cannot become a qualified practitioner. In addition, the training period is long. Even if a few good talents can be selected and cultivated, it will take forever.

Hua Tuo was therefore completely unmoved.

"Guards, take Mr. Hua away and take good care of him. Release him when he has fully come to his senses!"

Seeing that Hua Tuo remained unmoved, Qin Xuan decided not to be polite and immediately ordered his guards to place him under house arrest for a period of time.

As soon as he finished speaking, two soldiers from the Great Wall Legion walked in from outside the hall and stood behind Hua Tuo. They grabbed his arms on either side and carried him out of the hall.

"Qin Xuan~~, let me go, let me go~~~~"

"Qin Xuan, this is imprisonment... imprisonment!"

On his way out of the palace, Hua Tuo shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to persuade Qin Xuan to change his mind.

Watching Hua Tuo being led away, Qin Xuan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a smug smile:

"If you push me too far, I'll resort to violence. For an ordinary citizen to fight with an official is simply outrageous!"

For Qin Xuan, Hua Tuo's importance was self-evident, and it was impossible for him to travel the world at will unless he unified the country.

······

"Thump~~ Thump~~~ Thump!"

Just as Qin Xuan was pondering, he heard footsteps approaching. When he came to his senses, he saw Zhang Juzheng slowly walking in, carrying a bamboo basket covered with a cloth.

"My lord, has Doctor Hua not yet granted your request?" Zhang Juzheng put down the bamboo basket in his hand and asked curiously.

"No!" Qin Xuan shook his head. "Hua Tuo is still too stubborn. I can only keep him under house arrest until he comes to his senses, then I'll release him!"

"What are you carrying? And why are you covering it with a cloth?" Qin Xuan said, bending down to lift the cloth off the bamboo basket, revealing what was inside.

Qin Xuan's eyes lit up immediately when he saw what was in the bamboo basket. It was full of potatoes and sweet potatoes covered in soil, clearly freshly harvested.

"What is the yield per acre for this stuff?"

Qin Xuan's tone was filled with shock. This thing had finally matured. As long as the yield per acre was high enough, he would never have to worry about food again.

Zhang Juzheng said with a face full of joy:

"My lord, the yield of potatoes is about seven shi per mu, and the yield of sweet potatoes is thirteen shi per mu. This time we harvested a total of more than 54,000 shi of potatoes and more than 106,000 shi of sweet potatoes."

"If we planted all of these, Xuzhou would have no shortage of food!"

Qin Xuan didn't reply, but simply nodded, then instructed, "Store all those potatoes and sweet potatoes away. No one is allowed to touch them. We'll discuss it tonight and then decide what to do with them."

"And let Bowen and the others try these things too!"

Qin Xuan disagreed with Zhang Juzheng's proposal to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes on all the land in Xuzhou. These were now a major weapon for him, and their cultivation had to be strictly controlled by the government to prevent them from falling into the sphere of influence of other warlords.

Otherwise, where would we find an absolute advantage?

In the event of war, potatoes and sweet potatoes are easy to store and carry, allowing our soldiers to hold out on the front lines for much longer, thus reducing logistical pressure.

This advantage is even more pronounced in mountainous areas with rugged terrain.

War is not about who has the strongest army or the most powerful generals; it's more about who has the best logistical support.