Cao Cao stayed in Jiangling for more than half a month. Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong had already left. They were going back to Liangzhou. Because of Murong Feng's abnormal movement, not only Liangzhou is uneasy, but even the calm Western Regions are undercurrents. They have to rush back to preside over major events. Only by stabilizing Liangzhou first can they have the strength to support Zhang He, who is in the Western Regions, stabilize the situation again.

Cao Cao immediately visited several counties near Jiangling. The entire Nanjun was in the scope of Chu. However, according to the Han system, the King of Chu only had the right to rent and taxes, and did not govern the people. In other words, according to the system, Liu Xiu's orders could only be valid in the King of Chu's mansion. After leaving the mansion, no local officials would listen to him. Even the rent and taxes he deserved were sent to his mansion by the local officials, but he could not collect them himself. However, the reality made Cao Cao very nervous. The people of Chu seemed to have forgotten that they were still the duty of the people of the Han Dynasty. They spoke of our Chu State and kept talking about the wise king, but few people mentioned the emperor far away in Luoyang.

Not only Chu State, but also Jiangxia County outside Chu State. The Guishan Iron Mine, created by Liu Xiu, was in Jiangxia. After a year of trial operation, it has entered normal production. It quickly became the first factory of the Han army ordnance with excellent governance and refining technology and mature weapon production technology. In the Han Dynasty, there were arsenals in many counties, where various places were responsible for building weapons and entering them as armaments during wartime. The number of these armaments was quota, and they were issued by the court every year. They were built according to regulations in various places. They could not be too much or less, otherwise they would be a serious crime. Some counties did not produce iron, so they needed to be allocated from other iron-producing counties to be processed locally. Now, because the superior processing technology of Guishan Ordnance Square had excellent performance in the Battle of Yanzhou last year, all counties in Yanzhou transferred new armament tasks to Guishan and entrusted them to process.

Guishan has become the most important military processing center of the Han Dynasty, and the most mysterious things here are the Jin Academy and the Military Industry Academy. These two adjacent courtyards are one of the places that students in and Yangzhou yearn for the most. Every technician entering and leaving holds his head up. He doesn't have to pretend to be the most arrogant soldiers. On the contrary, those soldiers have to be polite when they see them. They have a smile on their faces when they speak.

Cao Cao visited here with Huang Zu. With them, there were also vassal kings and wealthy businessmen from all over the country who came to mourn King Hui of Chu. Some of them had business dealings with the King of Chu. Some had just lent money to the emperor with King Hui of Chu, while others were still waiting and watching, wanting to see if the conflict between the King of Chu and the Emperor could be resolved before making plans. No matter what kind of mentality, when they saw the workshops lined up near Guishan, they all exclaimed irresistible, especially those technicians who were focused on experiments. Even when they saw General Cao Cao of the Guard, many people were envious and wanted to snatch two people away.

Cao Cao felt more pressure. After looking around, he knew that even if he was selling his own deeds, he would not have such strength to catch up with Liu Xiu. After more than ten years of accumulation, Liu Xiu's strength has long exceeded everyone's estimates. On the other hand, if Liu Xiu wants to give up these interests, even if Liu Xiu is willing, the big clans tied with him are not willing. Don't look at Liu Xiu's current situation and do not govern the people, just relying on these interests. Anyone who wants to violate Liu Xiu's interests must first consider the blow he is about to suffer. As long as Liu Xiu is still alive, he will be unshakable.

Cao Cao also heard some news, not only those big clans who had direct investment, but also those officers who were fighting far away in the frontier could get a considerable dividend from it. The number of these dividends changed with their respective military merits, but they were not completely linked to military positions. For example, the small four tigers in the north of the frontier mentioned by Xiahou Yuan, their highest official position was the lieutenant, and there were two only inconspicuous lieutenant lengths, but their dividend ratio was only lower than that of Xiahou Yuan and much higher than other lieutenants.

Cao Cao became more and more nervous as he thought about it. In addition to sending the news back to Luoyang with a fast horse, he was waiting to talk to Liu Xiu in detail. He vaguely felt that it was definitely not a good thing to break up with Liu Xiu at this time. After receiving the order from the young emperor to borrow money from Liu Xiu to conquer Jizhou, he asked to see him alone, but Liu Xiu never saw him because he was in poor health. There were too many guests in the past two days, and even if he only met a few people, it made him exhausted.

Cao Cao had no choice but to wait patiently. Every day, he looked at the people coming from all directions to worship, watching Yu Fan welcome and see him, watching some people coming and leaving with confidence, some people gritted their teeth, and left with righteous indignation, and his heart continued to sink.

Finally, Cao Cao waited for Liu Xiu's reception and followed Yu Fan into the heavily guarded courtyard. Cao Cao found Liu Xiu wearing white mourning clothes, standing in the corridor to wait. He felt relieved and a rare smile appeared on his face. Without waiting for Liu Xiu to speak, he caught up with a few steps, and took Liu Xiu's arm and complained intimately: "Deran, look at you, really, we have been together for many years, do you still have to be so polite? You are not in good health, hurry up and lie in the house and lie in the house."

Liu Xiu smiled apologetically and said, "I have been so tired these days. I have neglected Brother Meng De, so please forgive me."

"It's okay." Cao Cao laughed and said, "But I'm very happy to see you stand up. Health is the most important thing, you can't be careless."

Liu Xiu smiled and sat down on the sickbed, and ordered people to serve tea and snacks. Cao Cao was not restrained. He leaned against the table and threw the snacks into his mouth. He tasted a few pieces with great taste. Then he clapped his hands: "Deran is so elegant. He is so delicious. He never tires of fine food and fine stew. I have hardly tasted these good things."

"I think it's good, so I'll send some to you." Liu Xiu said: "There are some of the methods here that were made from India, and some of them were fruits sent by Zhang He from the Western Regions. It's not common in the Central Plains. The ones you have with you are dried mangoes from Jiaozhou. Mangos are good things, so you have to eat two more pieces."

"The Chu Prince's Mansion is full of friends all over the world." Cao Cao sighed.

Liu Xiu sighed with a sad face. "There are many good relationships in this place that my father made through traveling around the world. Unfortunately, he can't enjoy it, so he is all worthy of me, an unfilial son."

When talking about Liu Yuanqi, Cao Cao was a little uncomfortable, so he had to miss it and then slowly began to the topic. "Deran, I have looked around in Chu these days and went to Guishan. Jingzhou is indeed powerful, and it has achieved such achievements just one year after the implementation of the new policy. It is really enviable. If Yanzhou has such strength, I would not have to worry so much and just take down Yuan Shao's son."

Liu Xiu smiled faintly: "There are still difficulties? When my father was alive, didn't he raise more than 3 billion for the court?"

Cao Cao smiled helplessly: "Deran, you are a master of military use. Don't you know that this battle in Jizhou is not easy to fight? Not to mention, Yecheng alone can't get it in less than half a year. Three billion, even if you use it all, it may not be enough. What's more, you will get half of the military achievements of last year. In the next New Year, you will use half of the 3 billion. If you want to win Jizhou, the gap will have to be at least 2 billion."

Liu Xiu was silent for a moment and asked again: "Then what you mean when you come to me today is to borrow money?"

Cao Cao nodded and looked at Liu Xiu with his eyes wide open.

Liu Xiu scratched his head and smiled bitterly: "That may disappoint you. The Chu Palace is rich, but you also know that half of the 3 billion lent to the court last year were from the King of Chu. Although he claimed to be rich and enemy country, who could really be rich and rival country? If he was so rich, I am afraid that not only one or two people who miss him would not even sleep well." He raised his head and signaled that Cao Cao, who wanted to explain a few words, did not need to hurry, "My mansion still has some money now, but look, I also have a family to support. In the past, there was also the salary of the General of the Cavalry, and he could also get some rewards by making meritorious contributions. Now I am worried and sick, and only with this little money, I can't let my whole family cover my mouth."

Cao Cao heard the voice-over of the words and was so embarrassed that he couldn't answer the conversation. He had to pretend not to come out and begged: "Deran, what are you doing for so many years? Isn't it for peace in the world? Now only Jizhou is still undecided, and the great achievements are only one step away. You have to help you think of a solution no matter what."

Liu Xiu pondered for a long time before he said reluctantly: "There is a solution, but I am worried that the court will not agree."

"You say." Cao Cao said, "Come and listen, I will report to Your Majesty again. Whether it is OK or not, it will be decided by Your Majesty."

Liu Xiu didn't look at Cao Cao, squinted his eyes, looked at the sky that was getting darker outside, and then he suddenly woke up. He smiled apologetically: "I'm so sorry, I'm not energetic recently and often get distracted."

"It's okay." Cao Cao didn't know whether he was true or not, so he was not easy to point it out at this time, just smiled generously.

"That's right. Many people have come these days. I'm going to say that they come to mourn my father on one hand, and the most important thing is to talk about business. There are many people I have never heard of before. My father was in a hurry and never told me. It was only when they talked about it that I realized that they and my father were old friends and business partners. In addition to these people, there are many big families from all over the country who want to invest, so I have some money in my hands and I have to spend some to fund the war in Jizhou. The problem should not be big."

Cao Cao raised his eyebrows and raised his spirits. He knew that the next sentence would be a very important turning point.

"But, if I turn these funds for business, if I give them to the court to fight, the risks here will increase exponentially. Without a certain guarantee, it will be difficult for me to convince those partners." Liu Xiu twisted his finger and said slowly: "Besides, doing business is not only small, but also high. Lending to the court to fight is very risky and the cost cannot be recovered in the short term. Therefore, the money cannot be borrowed as much as the last time, and the interest rate is a bit high."

He raised his eyelids and looked at Cao Cao who was nervously thinking: "Two conditions, one, I need to know the candidates sent by the imperial generals. Second, the loan period is two years, the interest rate is 30% and the taxes in Jizhou are used as collateral. If you agree with these two conditions, I can come forward to negotiate with them. If you cannot agree, I will not be able to help me. I will ask Meng De to help me with a few good words. I am very grateful." (.If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations, monthly votes, and your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter completed!