He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

As Lu Wan had predicted, his "Memorial on the Urgent Matters of Reclamation in Huaihe" caused a great uproar in Xuzhou as soon as it was issued. Everyone wondered why Governor Liu would announce a decree so suddenly, and with such sensitive content.

The people of Xuzhou didn't really care about recruiting refugees; as long as it didn't disrupt their normal lives, they were happy to let Governor Liu do whatever he wanted. However, everyone's attention was focused on why Lu Wan was treating the refugees this way.

Some say that Lu Wan was robbed by refugees when he was working for Yuan Shu; others say that he was robbed by refugees on his way to Xuzhou, which is why he arrived in Xuzhou in tattered clothes; the most outrageous claim is that Lu Wan committed a crime in Huainan and, in order to take revenge on the local officials who imprisoned him back then, is now torturing the local people in various ways.

To this, Lu Wan could only say that the fabrication wasn't good enough. Perhaps it would be better to say that the reason Lu Wan retained her experience working under Yuan Shu was because she was actually Yuan Shu's personal servant back then…

Some aristocratic families who originally wanted to get closer to Lu Wan quickly distanced themselves from him after seeing that his reputation was not good. However, this was only on the surface. In reality, more aristocratic families sent private letters expressing their desire to befriend Lu Wan.

In the eyes of the powerful families, Lu Wan's actions were a self-destructive act to completely align herself with Liu Bei. If Liu Bei were a sane person, he would undoubtedly entrust Lu Wan with important responsibilities.

Lu Wan is a stock that is bound to appreciate in value right now; she is the dream stock of all investors.

That's what Mi Zhu was thinking anyway. He had figured it out, and now was the best time to make a move.

As the swaying oxcart came to a stop, Mi Zhu slowly stepped down, his gaze fixed firmly on Lu Wan's residence, secretly calculating how to gain the upper hand in this game.

He's here to be an angel investor, not just a sucker.

During the brief moment the gatekeeper was announcing the news, Mi Zhu straightened the wrinkles in his clothes and adjusted his headdress.

Today was her day off, and Lu Wan didn't want to leave the house at all. This mansion originally belonged to a certain Danyang general, but now it had been assigned to Lu Wan.

Lu Wan had originally planned to stay home all day and enjoy a rare moment of leisure. However, the hurried footsteps of the gatekeeper broke the silence, announcing Mi Zhu's visit and forcing him to get up and greet him.

Lu Wan sighed inwardly, knowing that this day was destined to be anything but peaceful. He wished he hadn't accepted the visiting card. He straightened his robes and slowly walked towards the front hall.

The door opened wide, and Lu Wan saw a middle-aged man. She guessed that he was probably Mi Zhu, and greeted him first, "I should have come out to greet you, but I didn't expect you to arrive so early. Please forgive me for not welcoming you properly."

"Brother Wenyuan, I apologize for disturbing you today."

It wouldn't do for them to keep talking outside, so after exchanging pleasantries, they went inside to prepare for the next part of their conversation.

"Mr. Mi, you are too kind. Everyone in Xuzhou knows that you, Mi Zizhong, are the richest man. If anyone should be visiting, it should be me visiting you."

"The richest man is often just an empty shell. Every day, the moment he opens his eyes, tens of thousands of people have to wait on him for their every need, but how much money actually ends up in his pocket?"

Lu Wan raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. Mi Zhu was here to demonstrate his strength; tens of thousands of men under his command were a considerable force.

"Back when Tao Gong was alive, I paid for most of the expenses of raising troops and cultivating land. I thought I could keep this region safe in this chaotic world, but it was all in vain."

Mi Zhu chuckled lightly, but his eyes held a hint of helplessness as he said, "Wen Yuan, to put it nicely, I'm a private merchant, but in the eyes of those refined scholars, I'm just a lowly merchant. Why bother with such formalities? I don't think Mr. Lu is the kind of person who only knows empty talk, so let's not stand on ceremony."

Lu Wan thought about it and realized she didn't need to play hard to get. Since her reputation was already ruined, she might as well go all out and just say no: "Let's be frank, how much can your Mi family offer?"

Mi Zhu, no longer bothering to play the gentleman, directly adopted the role of a merchant and began to state his budget: "I am willing to donate twenty million coins to assist you, along with more than two thousand servants and one hundred oxen."

When Liu Bei first started his rise to power, he received investment from angel investors. Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang gave him fine horses, iron, and money, totaling about five million coins.

The difference in the figures doesn't simply mean that Mi Zhu was more willing to invest; it's based on Liu Bei's position. Liu Bei started as a commoner, so naturally his investment was only a few million. Now that Liu Bei is the governor of Xu Province, the amount he needs to invest has naturally increased significantly.

Providing too much investment upfront is not a good thing; it could have a counterproductive effect, like pulling up seedlings to help them grow. Not only that, it could also leave the investee with too many favors, potentially leading to a bitter falling out.

Even the most composed person would find it hard not to smile upon seeing such a massive sum, and Lu Wan was no exception. However, this was followed by a question: "Mr. Mi, are you really going to invest such a large sum? Your Mi family isn't that wealthy, is it?"

This sum of money is not particularly large in Mi Zhu's total assets, but most of the Mi family's assets are real estate, and 20 million coins is almost all of Mi Zhu's liquid funds.

"My Mi family has been one of the wealthiest families in Xuzhou for decades, so we can certainly afford this. However, before that, I have a question: what does Wen Yuan intend to do with this money?"

"Naturally, the most important thing right now is land reclamation."

"That's really a small amount of money. At least 300,000 refugees have been recruited in Xuzhou. I'm afraid my little bit of money and food won't last long."

Lu Wan understood perfectly well that these refugees were like money-devouring beasts; every movement, sitting, lying down, and walking required money. Although she would eventually earn that money back from them, it was a distant solution that couldn't address the immediate problem.

Most importantly, the refugees have consumed a large amount of grain, and Xuzhou's grain reserves are now in danger, urgently requiring new sources of food.

Mi Zhu wanted to cooperate with Lu Wan, and Lu Wan also wanted to use Mi Zhu's strength.

Lu Wan cupped her hands to Mi Zhu and said, "This is where Zi Zhong will have to lend his brother a hand again." After saying that, before Mi Zhu could react, Lu Wan walked to the door, called over the servant who was keeping a distance to avoid suspicion, whispered something in his ear, and then let the servant leave.

A moment later, a servant came in carrying a box, placed it on the table in front of Mi Zhu, and then quickly left.

"Wen Yuan, what's going on?" Mi Zhu was a little puzzled as to why Lu Wan was making such a big fuss.

Lu Wan remained silent, but simply lifted the lid, revealing a small mountain of tiny, frost-like crystals, so white that it was impossible to look away.

After receiving Lu Wan's signal, Mi Zhu pinched a little crystal and put it in his mouth, a salty taste melting on his tongue.

"Where did Wen Yuan get this quality of well salt? If there is such salt being sold, then the grain and fodder for the military farms will definitely be sufficient," Mi Zhu said with some surprise.

"Zizhong has guessed wrong this time. How could Xuzhou get well salt? This is sea salt."

Mi Zhu was completely shocked. The current method of sea salt production is the sun-drying method, which, in Lu Wan's opinion, is completely dependent on the weather. It can only be done when the weather is sunny, and the efficiency is extremely low. The quality of the salt produced is also poor, with a bitter taste, because it contains a lot of impurities. Eating too much of it can also have a negative impact on health.

Lu Wan naturally had to tamper with it, even if it wasn't for any other reason, it would allow her to live two more years in the future.

Without conducting materials science research, Lu Wan made some improvements to the existing salt-drying method, but due to some practical problems, he only managed to produce a few samples. Later, he informed Liu Bei, who also advised him to postpone the process.

Hearing this, Mi Zhu asked curiously, "A problem? What problem could possibly make our lord want to put it aside?"

Mi Zhu immediately shut his mouth; he knew right away what kind of real-world problem it was.

That was Mi Zhu himself.

The Mi family of Haidong became the richest family in Xuzhou today by trading salt and iron.

Now, suddenly coming up with a new method to mass-produce high-quality salt would inevitably clash with the Mi family, the current salt industry giant. Liu Bei hadn't forgotten Mi Zhu's contribution in supporting his rise to power, and it was precisely because of this that he asked Lu Wan to hold off for a while.

To solve the food problem, Liu Bei has already begun corresponding with Yuan Tan of Qingzhou, expressing his hope that his nephew can use grain to settle accounts when the time comes.

Although Mi Zhu didn't say anything, a warm feeling welled up in his heart. Mi Zhu's status in Xuzhou was not high at the moment, but he didn't expect Liu Bei to still care about his feelings. The intense emotions moved even a calm person like Mi Zhu.

He finally decided to bet everything on Liu Bei, not for any other reason than the respect he received from Lord Liu.

"I have an idea. Since you are worried about affecting the Mi family, why not cooperate directly? Wen Yuan can provide the technology, and my Mi family can provide the distribution channels. This will benefit both of us, while dividing the profits will harm both of us. As for the profits, my Mi family will only take 10%."

Now it was Lu Wan's turn to be shocked. Was Mi Zhu really that willing to give up something?

--------

"Brother, are you crazy? Why only 10%?"

Looking at his foolish younger brother, Mi Zhu took a deep breath and kept reminding himself that this was his own brother and he couldn't deny him.

But as for how to explain it, Mi Zhu himself couldn't say. He just felt that Liu Bei was too special. He didn't show his emotions. He had the composure of a dragon in the abyss and the benevolence of compassion.

Especially his facial features: a full forehead and a square jaw, making him look like a god descended to earth, born to be an emperor.

Such a reason was obviously not something that could be used, so Mi Zhu could only say, "It's alright, there will be many more opportunities for cooperation in the future, there's no need to rush."

"You keep saying 'later, later,' you said the same thing when that old bastard Tao Qian came to Xuzhou. And now? He's all rotten to the bone!"

Mi Fang felt that her elder brother was selling off his family's land without a care in the world, and that he hadn't earned much money but spent it lavishly.

"Mr. Lu has only brought out fine salt now. What if he brings out something new in the future? Wouldn't he give us priority?" Mi Zhu didn't even believe his own words. How could all the good things fall into his lap?

The reason Mi Zhu dared not ask for too much was that although he could amass a lot of money now, as Liu Bei's territory grew larger, the Mi family would become increasingly conspicuous. Even if Liu Bei remembered their past relationship, there would certainly be no shortage of people under his command who would want to deal with the Mi family.

"Brother! Do you still treat me like a child? Opportunities are rare; we must seize them first. How can we place our hopes on others!"

Mi Fang felt that her elder brother's head was getting more and more confused every day: "Don't be fooled by how high Liu Bei is jumping around now. He might just slink away tomorrow. Our family's top priority is to maintain good relations with other powerful families. Officials come and go, but powerful families remain."

Mi Fang's original intention was to let Mi Zhu take another look and think it over, but he never expected that his elder brother would be so easily overwhelmed by him:

"Do you think I haven't tried? Don't you know what those people are really like? They're all smiles when they're accepting gifts, but when it comes to getting things done, they don't say a word. They clearly look down on us, so why should we bother trying to curry favor with them?"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade his elder brother, Mi Fang angrily left the courtyard. As he approached the gate, he turned back and said, "Brother, you'll regret this."

Mi Zhu was now truly enraged. He adopted the air of a family head and sternly addressed Mi Fang, "Mi Fang, I am the head of the family!"

The door slammed shut with a loud "bang!", signaling the brothers' unpleasant parting that day.