At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

The battle against Liaodong actually started very early.

Before the Northern Expedition to Yuan Shao, Guo Peng began to use Mi's caravan and some caravans in Qingzhou to trade with Liaodong, which also allowed Liaodong to develop by relying on materials from the Central Plains.

After occupying Hebei, Guo Peng's power further developed, and he included the formed Cao's caravan into this system, manipulating the Cao's caravan and some powerful caravans from Youzhou to enter Liaodong, and began to do business with Liaodong. trade.

Therefore, the standard five-baht coin minted by Guo was also circulated within the jurisdiction of the Gongsun regime and was very popular.

The standard five-baht coin minted by someone Guo is in sufficient amount and with superb casting technology, and the coins are also very exquisite. They completely replaced those privately minted bad coins in Liaodong, because the Central Plains business travel only recognizes the standard five-baht coin and does not recognize privately minted coins. Also refused to barter.

Gongsundu also tried to imitate the standard five baht coin, making short money and short two, trying to drive out good money with bad money, so as to harm the Central Plains business travelers and profit from it.

It's just that the craftsmen in Liaodong expressed surprise at the casting method of the standard five baht coins, and found that no matter how they were cast, they could not be exactly the same as the standard five baht coins, and there were always something wrong.

The minted coins are naturally worthless, and the appearance is very different from the standard five baht coins, which can be seen by the Central Plains Business Traveler at a glance, and they don't even need to be weighed.

After a few times, many business travelers sternly warned Liaodong businessmen, saying that if you continue to fool us with these privately minted five baht coins, we will not come, and at worst we will stop doing business.

There are still many places where we can do business, but you don't!

Beware that we will unite to boycott you and keep you from leaving Liaodong.

Being threatened like this, Gongsun Du was very angry, but frightened by the power of the Wei Empire behind these large caravans, he didn't dare to take action blatantly, fearing that it would trigger a war and be detrimental to him.

So Gongsun Du gave up the idea of ​​driving out good money with bad money, and instead fully used the standard five baht money.

Afterwards, he used his status and power in Liaodong to amass money, sent special personnel to trade with business travelers in the Central Plains, and squeezed out private caravans so that he could obtain abundant material enjoyment.

After winning the economic war, the standard five baht coin also gained a firm foothold in Liaodong.

After hearing the news, Guo Peng instructed the business travel team to purchase a large number of non-grain crops in Liaodong, such as medicinal materials, as well as a large amount of livestock such as fur, horses, cattle and sheep.

Because of the large number of acquisitions and the frequent acquisitions, Gongsun Du quickly realized the huge profit margin here.

He realized that he could get more five baht money in this way, buy more luxury goods he liked and even some Wei army's ordnance, and make himself stronger.

Driven by profit, he began to extensively use more land to grow those non-food crops.

Especially all kinds of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, as well as ginseng and other medicinal materials that are not available in the Central Plains but are very marketable.

They also sent special personnel to engage in animal husbandry, raise livestock such as cattle, sheep and horses, and do business with merchants in the Central Plains.

After this type of trade increased, Gongsun Du couldn't bear it even more when he saw his income rising steadily and getting richer.

He began to use his power to ask more households to use more land to plant more medicinal materials, to arrange unified planting arrangements, and to increase production, so as to sell them to the Central Plains business travel and obtain high profits, and in turn, with the Central Plains Merchant trades other stuff.

Chapter 864. 870 Four I have tens of thousands of powerful soldiers and the natural danger of Liaoze, why be afraid of it?

Through business and trade with the Central Plains, Gongsundu became richer and richer.

And more and more land and farmers in Liaodong began to grow medicinal materials instead of food.

There are also many people who simply abandon their land to engage in the animal husbandry industry, thinking of making a lot of money and buying more land to make a fortune.

They all discovered the huge profits in this area, and discovered that the Central Plains has a great demand for these things, and the money they can get from growing these things is far more than growing food.

It wasn't like that at first.

At the beginning, there were many people who had doubts, and they were unwilling to follow suit. What would they eat if they didn’t grow food?Are we going to starve to death?

The Central Plains Business Travel Co., Ltd. talked a lot and persuaded a few people to grow medicinal materials instead of food. They thought it was an experiment, and they mortgaged enough food to them to make them believe in themselves.

Then came harvest time.

After such a group of people who reluctantly believed that the Central Plains Business Traveler was the first to give up growing food and plant medicinal materials began to make a lot of money and make a fortune, everyone around them was jealous.

These people don't grow food, and they have found a way to grow medicinal materials. It seems that some merchants have sent special personnel to guide them in planting medicinal materials.

During the period, if the family’s food can’t keep up, the business travelers will mortgage the food for them to survive. When the medicinal materials are ready and start selling, they will be sold at a very good price, and there is no need to worry about sales.

Those people trembled while counting the money, and then those people became rich and began to use the money to buy food and meat, and they ate dry rice and meat every meal. .

Those small days are much more nourishing than those who grow grain.

With money in their hands and food in their stomachs, they flaunt their foresight everywhere.

How can this not make people jealous?

One spreads to ten, ten spreads to hundreds, the rich first drives the rich later, more and more people who are jealous have given up growing food and planted medicinal materials instead, and stretches of land have begun to grow medicinal materials instead of food.

Everyone likes money, not to mention that there are people around who have actually made a fortune under everyone's noses.

Showing off everywhere, holding a piece of roasted meat to show off, watching everyone's envious eyes and drooling while eating, the pride on the face is really undisguised.

Can this be tolerated?

Who doesn't want to make a lot of money and eat their stomachs?

So this trend swept across the land of Liaodong in just a few years, and more and more people began to engage in this kind of planting business and do business with the Central Plains business traveler.

Not only Han people, this business has also been done in other places, even in Goguryeo and Buyeo.

The Central Plains Business Hotel has expanded its business to the entire Liaodong region, as if this place is going to become a planting base for medicinal materials that the Central Plains urgently needs, and everyone will come to plant medicinal materials.

After this kind of trade gradually took shape, someone in Guo detected the fact that there was less and less land for growing grain in Gongsundu's jurisdiction, and the fact that grain production was declining year by year, and realized that his trick had succeeded.

Afterwards, someone from Guo began to guide the Cao and Mi caravans to use the abundant grain in Qingzhou and Jizhou to do grain business from the waterways to counties and counties in eastern Liaodong, gradually intervening in the grain market in eastern Liaodong.

This move not only directly stabilized the grain prices that had just started to take off in Liaodong, but also allowed the Central Plains merchants to use their absolute food advantages to control the grain prices in Liaodong, so that the rulers of Liaodong, who lacked economic common sense, were completely unaware of the food crisis that Liaodong was facing. .

The era of false economic prosperity has arrived, and the false prosperity has made many people lose their awareness of the crisis.

Soon, merchants from the Central Plains marched into Liaodong, bringing more benefits and prosperity to Liaodong. The grain prices in Liaodong counties, including Liaodong, Zhongliao, Liaoxi, Xuantu, and Lelang, also fell. It was manipulated by Zhongyuan Business Travel.

In order to get more money and become richer, Gongsundu further increased his support for medicinal materials and animal husbandry, and didn't care about the fact that fewer and fewer people grow food.

The merchants in the Central Plains controlled the price of grain in Liaodong within a reasonable range. In this way, they created a false prosperity, which made the officials and people in the Liaodong area more willing to plant medicinal materials and engage in animal husbandry, and provided medicinal materials to the Central Plains. And livestock.

It has to be said that some of the medicinal materials provided by Mr. Guo to the army were purchased from Liaodong, and some of the meat supplied to the army also came from Liaodong.

More than [-]% of Liaodong's grain comes from Jizhou and Qingzhou.

If the food supply to Liaodong was suddenly withdrawn, Guo Peng couldn't even imagine what kind of scene it would be.

Anyway, for Gongsundu, that must not be a good thing.

And Guo Peng intends to do so.

Preparations have begun since knowing Liu Zhang surrendered.

Through secret channels, he ordered all the Cao family and Mi family grain merchants who went to Liaodong to do business to empty their stocks, leave Liaodong separately, stop doing grain business with Liaodong people, and never return.

Leave a mess to Gongsundu, and let Gongsundu worry about his serious illness.

At the same time, another imperial decree was issued, pretending to appease Gongsundu, so as to numb Gongsundu's nerves and prevent him from reacting so quickly.

The evil Guo has absolutely no intention of making Gongsundu feel better, and wants his regime to die amid poverty and illness.

Not a good death.

Even the resistance is weak, and it is impossible to concentrate on resisting the invading Wei army.

In fact, before that, Gongsun Du's life was very easy.

After all, he is the ruler of Liaodong. If his life is difficult, everyone's life will be difficult.

Through the trade with the Central Plains Business Traveler, he gained a lot of wealth and a lot of luxury goods, and his life became more and more luxurious, with the most expensive food and clothing.

For example, giant candles from Luoyang must be used for lighting, Shu brocade must be used for clothes, and fruits from the Central Plains, even citrus and sugarcane from the south of the Yangtze River, and high-quality rice must be eaten every day.

His life is like an emperor, and he is no worse than Guo in all aspects. He uses some things that Guo is reluctant to use, and he uses them very happily.

Before Guo Peng became emperor, Gongsun Du's life was so extravagant day by day.

After Guo Peng became emperor, his life became extravagant to a certain extent.

It seems that the older he is, the less ambitious he is, the more he cares about enjoying in time, the more he cares about enjoying what he didn't enjoy in his hard work before starting a business, and he completely loses the will to be enterprising.

About mid-June, the news of Guo Peng's pacification of Yizhou spread from Qingzhou to Liaodong, which caused some Gongsun's officials to feel uneasy.

Liu Yi and Yang Yi, his cronies, kept advising him, saying that he must carefully guard against threats from Liaoxi County and Tian Yu's threats, but Gongsun Du didn't take it seriously.

"I have tens of thousands of powerful soldiers, and Liaoze is dangerous, so why be afraid? If Tian Yu's son wants to cross Liaoze, can't I know in advance?"

Gongsun Du didn't listen to Liu Yi and Yang Yi's advice, but was impatient with their advice, thinking that such things were not what he wanted to hear.

He just wants to know how much money he has earned and how many luxuries he likes.

Moreover, his sick body really left him with little energy to worry about this aspect.

The current appearance of Gongsun Du is completely different from the appearance of his majestic and powerful fighting against the aliens in Liaodong in his early years.

Gongsundu who is obsessed with money and enjoyment is no longer the same Gongsundu he used to be.

Such Gongsun Du made Liu Yi and Yang Yi feel very embarrassed and worried.

And in recent days, the fact that Gongsun Du fell ill because of excessive drinking and having fun made them feel even more worried.

Now that Guo Peng has pacified the south, the next target is either Jiaozhou or Liaodong. Liaodong is already in a very dangerous situation, but Gongsundu doesn't take it seriously.

Liu Yi and Yang Yi thought it was impossible to go on like this, so they spoke to Gongsun Du on June [-] of the second year of Yande.

As a result, Gongsun Du did not forget to reprimand them while lying on the sickbed.

"He conquered Jingzhou and Yizhou in two years, yes! It's amazing! But is it over? Does he not want to govern? Does governance not take time? Does it cost money? If Guo Zifeng can immediately raise troops to Liaodong, he will be alone. The word Gongsun is written backwards!"

Gongsun Du waved Liu Yi and Yang Yi away in annoyance, and the two had to leave Gongsun Du's ward in frustration.

Outside Gongsundu's ward, the two met Gongsun Kang who came to serve the sick.

Chapter 865. 870 Wuxiangping food prices have risen?

Gongsun Kang is the son of Gongsundu and his destined successor.

Gongsun Du's health is not good right now, and Gongsun Kang is in charge of serving the sick, which is obviously a manifestation of his status.

Gongsun Kang's mind is relatively clear, and he has always had a good reputation. Liu Yi and Yang Yi thought that Gongsun Kang should be able to listen to their advice, so they stopped Gongsun Kang.

"My lord, now I know that Jingzhou and Yizhou have been pacified by Guo Zifeng. Now that Guo Zifeng has occupied Jiangnan, he has no worries. He will definitely attack Liaodong next time. I think we should take precautions early."

Liu Yi took the lead in putting forward his views to Gongsun Kang.

Gongsun Kang was a little surprised at first, then shook his head.

"I have also talked to my father about this matter, but my father thought that Guo Zifeng pacified Jingzhou and Yizhou in two years, which is a big step. It will definitely take a lot of time to appease Jingzhou and Yizhou. It is impossible to use troops against me."

Gongsun Kang replied in this way: "And I also think that Guo Zifeng's steps are too big. If he continues to use troops against me in the short term, isn't he afraid of internal instability and financial problems?

Jingzhou and Yizhou occupy such a vast area. There was Jiangdong before it was settled. So many places need to be appeased and governed. At this time, if they start a war against Liaodong, their internal opposition will probably be very loud. "

"Even so, we have to guard against it."

Yang Yi said: "The people of Wei stationed [-] soldiers and horses in Liaoxi County for a long time, and Tian Yu led more than [-] soldiers and horses to practice all year round. He was eyeing me, and the construction of roads and post stations was clearly for the convenience of transporting troops. Guo Zifeng definitely Get your hands on us."

"This can't be regarded as a basis, right? If an army of [-] wants to invade Liaodong, Guo Zifeng's army can't be defeated by heavenly soldiers? And what if he only builds roads in the west of Liaoning? Can he cross Liaoze? Think carefully."

Gongsun Kang lowered his throat: "Recently, my father's condition is not good, and he is in a bad mood. The last thing I want to hear are things that worry him. The doctor also said to keep my father happy, so it's better not to say such things at this moment. "

"This is a major military matter, not a trivial matter. It is a matter of life and death. How can you take it lightly? My son, seeing that Guo Zifeng is about to rule the country, they will not give up on Liaodong."

Liu Yi was very worried: "Young Master, let's find a chance to talk to Junhou. You must be prepared. You must send troops to guard the main crossing and be ready to fight at any time. If this continues, I really doubt that something will go wrong."

"Liu Gong, it's not that I didn't say it, it's because my father is very angry."

Gongsun Kang was full of helplessness: "Before when my father wanted to organize a large number of people to plant medicinal materials, you strongly opposed it, which made him unhappy. Now that you talk about such things, your father will only get angrier. You have to think about yourself."

"But is my concern wrong?"

Liu Yi quickly said: "If everyone grows medicinal materials instead of food, what do we eat? Can medicinal materials be eaten as food? People will die if they don't eat food."

"There are not many people who grow food now, and everyone goes out to buy food, which is the same."

Gongsun Kang shook his head: "How many years has it been? Everyone has been buying food and earning a lot of money. Liaodong's military resources are abundant and the people's families are well-off. This is an achievement that my father is proud of. However, you have repeatedly Objection, isn't it normal for father to be angry?

Planting medicinal materials can be sold to the Central Plains, and then with five baht, you can buy food to eat, and my father has more money, and he can also buy a lot of excellent weapons from the Central Plains through special channels in the Central Plains, which can be equipped for soldiers , It is a good thing to increase the combat power of our army. "

"But this is not the right way after all."