The Three Kingdoms: A vicious plan was offered, and Liu Bei was stunned!

Chapter 86: Looking at the Northern Manor by the Zhang River, Meng Deqiang is pretending to be cool in the Bronze Sparrow Tower

Cao Cao's Bronze Sparrow Tower faces the Heluo River in front and the Zhang River in the back. It is a high platform and a garden called the Bronze Sparrow Garden. In addition to the Bronze Sparrow Tower, there are two other high platforms, one is the Golden Tiger and the other is the Ice Well. The three platforms stand in a row, connected by corners, which is magnificent.

It is said that when Cao Cao had just arrived in Yecheng, he saw a golden light rising at night. He ordered people to dig the ground and found a bronze sparrow. Xun You told Cao Cao that Shun's mother had dreamed of a jade sparrow entering her arms and then gave birth to Shun. Cao Cao thought this place was very auspicious!

The feng shui is good, so a building will be built immediately at the place where Tongque is located.

Luo Yuan brought Gan Ning and Huang Zhong to the dinner. Looking around, he felt that this was the summer resort that Cao Cao had built for himself!
There are hundreds of houses alone. Lao Cao is a man who knows how to enjoy life.

When Luo Yuan arrived, Cao Cao and the others had already arrived and greeted Luo Yuan at the door. Cao Cao looked proud and said, "Gongqi, what do you think?"

"Pretty good!" Luo Yuan looked straight ahead and had passed the Golden Tiger and Ice Well platforms. Looking straight ahead was the Bronze Sparrow Tower. The foundation was more than 20 meters high with a large hall on top. There were houses connected to it on the left and right, east and west, as if a person had opened his arms to embrace the world.

Unfortunately, it was not passed down to later generations. It is said that in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Bronze Sparrow Tower still had a certain size, but by the end of the Ming Dynasty, only some yellow earth and blue bricks of the foundation remained.

Not a single fart was left.

From the top, you can see Yecheng, which is only a dozen miles away. There are military camps nearby, and the soldiers are like water.

This is not only Cao Cao’s summer resort, but also a military fortress!

Luo He and Cao Cao laughed and said, "I heard that Dong Zhuo also built a house in Chang'an. Meng De must have seen it!"

Cao Cao had certainly seen it before, and he had even tried to assassinate Dong Zhuo. When Luo Yuan asked about it, Cao Cao said disdainfully, "Dong Zhuo's house is nothing compared to mine. It's simple, not as grand as my Bronze Sparrow Tower."

Am I asking you to show off?
Luo Yuan just wanted to find out that Meiwu was also burned down after Dong Zhuo died.

Everyone around Cao Cao was very proud. Seeing this, Luo Yuan simply stopped asking questions. These pretentious guys didn't understand what he meant.

No matter how great a building is, it is famous because of the people who built it. Without Cao Cao, the Bronze Sparrow Tower would be just an ordinary palace and would have no meaning at all.

Cao Cao took Luo Yuan on a tour around. All his concubines lived in the Bronze Sparrow Tower, and there was only one Lady Bian in Yecheng. Cao Cao was a man who could make clear distinctions.

The red flag is flying at home, and the colorful flags are fluttering outside.

Don't mess around at home. If you want to mess around, just build a palace yourself. At this time, Cao Cao's behavior would not be looked down upon, but it would be the dream of countless people.

In addition to visiting the Tongque Tower, Luo Yuan mainly looked at the surrounding situation. There were a large number of military farms near the Tongque Tower, which was actually an economic model.

There was chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty and the people were uneasy. Aristocrats from all over the country built large houses for people to live together, especially in the north, where there was a risk of foreign invasion.

The gentry and the common people used their manors as their strongholds, thus exerting certain military capabilities.

Europeans and Chinese regarded this model as the manor economic model and believed that they had invented it, and later used this manor economic model to colonize the world.

But in fact, the manor economy was invented by us. There were even people among the gentry in the late Han Dynasty who specialized in studying the manor economy and even wrote books about it. Relying on the manors, people could be self-sufficient and there was very little need to communicate with the outside world.

If the nearby resources were a little more abundant, it would even be possible to form a closed loop without communicating with the outside world. This would require various craftsmen and various techniques.

In other words, the foundation of the northern manor economy in the late Han Dynasty was advanced agricultural technology and handicraft technology. Without these technologies, it would be impossible for a manor to form a closed loop.

How can we farm if we can’t even repair broken farm tools?

"Is there a craftsman's camp here?" Luo Yuan asked directly, with sincerity as the main point.

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Of course there are. There is also a cavalry training ground nearby. I have stationed 100,000 troops here. While reclaiming wasteland and harvesting food for military rations, I also need craftsmen to train the army. I have many craftsmen under my command, some of whom are highly skilled. Gongqi, you would like to take a look!"

"No need for that. I'm just asking to understand the economy of the North!"

Ok?
Cao Cao was slightly stunned, and didn't understand. Cao Cao asked, "What do you mean?"

Luo Yuan whispered, "I already have a rough idea. Meng De, your army must be short of rations. All the supplies needed by the army have to be purchased. I already know why you set up the tomb raider!"

Cao Cao was shocked. This was his secret, and his subordinates didn't know about it. He also didn't dare let anyone know that he was digging up other people's ancestral graves to make money.

Cao Cao took Luo Yuan to one side. When the others saw this, they naturally did not dare to follow. Cao Cao hurriedly asked, "How did Gong Qi know about the tomb-robbing incident?"

"Why are you so anxious? I don't care. There is so much money hidden underground. What's wrong with taking it out and using it? If you dig the tombs of the kings and princes of the Han Dynasty, you can get countless money. If it were me, I would dig it too. It's not a big deal. If there are any bronze artifacts that you don't need, you can return them to me, or I will buy them from you. Besides, I am the governor of Changsha. There are many tombs in Changsha, and there are also Chang'an. If you want to dig tombs, of course you should go to Chang'an. There are also many in Luoyang. The Zhou royal family is in China. If you don't understand, you can ask me!"

As for how we know, of course it’s because people in later generations have dug up all your past. So many people depend on you for their livelihood.

Your own tomb is not gone. Although you have seventy-two suspected tombs, it still cannot escape the eyes of archaeologists who can discover things.

Luo Yuan understood Cao Cao's situation at a glance. Although Lao Cao was powerful, he had no money. He was a poor bastard!
The army needs to farm their own land, so how much money can they make? They are just farmers.

Look at Liu Biao, he doesn't farm and when he has no food he asks the people for it. Jingzhou is indeed rich.

By comparison, Luo Yuan understood more clearly the necessity of Cao Cao's taking Jingzhou. At this time, the wheat yield in the north was very impressive. It was not easy to feed the people.

The economic model of the north was the manor model, and Cao Cao was just a big landlord. This meant that more of Cao Cao's military supplies were in the hands of the gentry.

If he wanted military rations, he had to negotiate with the gentry; if he wanted iron ore, he had to buy it from them. His main income came from farming, and those insignificant commercial taxes. He had no control over the two important materials, salt and iron.

Salt and iron are also controlled by the gentry in the north!
"Meng De, are you very poor?"

"I have the Bronze Sparrow Tower, which is magnificent and splendid. How can I be poor?"

Are you not convinced?

"Shall I go and see your treasury?"

"The treasury is an important place, how can we just look at it casually!" Cao Cao said hurriedly, his face twitching. He knew whether he was rich or not.

It cost him a lot of money to build the Bronze Sparrow Tower, and Xiahou Dun was still fighting outside, and every day was a waste of money, which made Cao Cao want to cry.

(End of this chapter)