The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 382 East and West Compete for Sustainability

The emperor was silent, and a servant beside him chuckled, and cupped his hands at Sun Shao: "General Fuyi is really bold, and he is worth a thousand dollars if he makes a move. It seems that this expedition will be very rewarding."

Sun Shao glanced at the servant in surprise. Although the servant looked tall, he looked very young, that is, about sixteen or seventeen years old. Although he put on a dignified appearance, he still couldn't hide his immaturity.He secretly laughed, wondering which family's kid would dare to intervene on this occasion?He glanced at the emperor, saw that the emperor was not angry, and pretended not to hear, then he understood the meaning, and smiled slightly: "Xiao Lang is very handsome, but I don't know how to call him?"

"Your Highness has fought hard, and you don't know much about the affairs in the palace. Let me introduce you." Cao Rui smiled and walked in side by side with Liu Chan.With a gentle smile on Liu Chan's face, he bowed his hands to Sun Shao from afar.Cao Rui strode up to the emperor, bowed his body and bowed to the emperor: "Wei Wang Chenrui pays homage to His Majesty."

Liu Chan followed suit and saluted: "Shu Wangchen pays homage to His Majesty."

"The two lovers came just in time. Just now, my general Fuyi said that he would give a thousand gold to help me rebuild the Yuntai. Do you think so?"

Cao Rui and Liu Chan glanced at each other, and smiled wryly at the same time.The meaning of the emperor is obvious, that is to make them bleed a little.The queen is from the Cao family, so of course Cao Rui can't be compared to Sun Shao, but he might still have some confidence to compete with Sun Shao in military strength these days.He hesitated for a moment, and said with a smile: "The general returned from his expedition. It is said that the fleet loaded with spoils can't be seen at a glance. He paid a thousand dollars to rebuild the cloud platform, but it's just a matter of effort. The ministers don't dare to look up to him, so they can only be used as a foil. This time The great general went to war, and many barbarians came to congratulate him. Hearing that the barbarian mansion is not enough, it does not match the name of my great country, so I donated five hundred gold to help His Majesty build the barbarian mansion. Your Majesty, look..."

The emperor can't laugh or cry, these years are really helpless, the emperor wants to beg from the princes and kings, and the princes give some money, but they still have to use it for something, what's the matter?

Liu Chan hesitated for a long time: "Shu is small and poor, and cannot be compared with Wei and Yue. I... I would like to offer three hundred pieces of Shu brocade."

Sun Shao smiled, pointed at Cao Rui and Liu Chan, and said in an old-fashioned way: "You two young men, you are not honest in front of His Majesty, five hundred gold, three hundred pieces of brocade, thanks to you can get them. Don't talk nonsense, I You pay as much as you pay, and if there is one less money, I will deduct it from your business tax. That's the deal."

Cao Rui and Liu Chan shrugged their shoulders, looking helpless: "Since the king has opened his mouth, we have no choice but to be respectful rather than obedient.

The young servant who was left out sneered: "Your Highness, the poem says, 'Under the sky, is it the king's land; on the shore of the land, is it the king's minister', the three His Highnesses offer the emperor, do you also have to bargain?"

Sun Shao's smile turned cold, and without looking at him, he turned to Cao Rui and said, "Who is this?"

"Look, I was intimidated by your daughter, so I forgot to introduce you." Cao Rui clapped his hands and said with a smile, "This is Zhong Xiangguo's youngest son, Zhong Hui Zhong Shiji, a famous child prodigy."

Bell meeting?Sun Shao had a flash of inspiration, and immediately remembered the great man who was as famous as Deng Ai, but he didn't expect that he was still a brat now.In history, he was Deng Ai's opponent, and later killed Deng Ai, but I'm afraid it is impossible now, he is still a small servant, and Deng Ai is the leader of Wanli Nanhai, the difference between the two is too far.The Cao family has secured the throne and is making great efforts to clean up those big families. The aristocratic families in Yingchuan and Runan have all been excluded to varying degrees. Xun Zhong, Chen Han is no exception, and Zhong Hui's prominent family background can no longer bring him There are too many benefits, if he wants to be promoted, he can only rely on his own efforts.

"Do you think daughters are rare?" Sun Shao asked lightly.

Zhong Hui opened his mouth and was about to argue, but when he saw Sun Shao's displeased eyes, he was startled, and he didn't dare to continue to argue.

"The law of the Han Dynasty, the princes and kings use gold to help sacrifices, and a thousand households have four taels of gold. I don't know how Wei, Shu and Wu are. It seems that my country of Yue has never owed a tael of gold, right?" Sun Shao said unhurriedly: "You want to do it? To be clear, my thousand gold is not a contribution, but an assistance in the cultivation of Yuntai. Ordinarily, such a thing should not be done by a vassal of my Yue Kingdom. Is it a bit presumptuous for me to do so? If it is true, then I am willing to take the blame."

The emperor smiled bitterly silently, who dares to make trouble with money, punish you, he turned around and scolded: "Ignorant Lizi, why don't you apologize to the general?"

When Zhong Hui saw the emperor speak, he didn't dare to say another word, so he could only salute honestly: "Meng Lang, my humble minister, please forgive me, Your Highness."

"Hmph..." Sun Shao laughed: "Meng Lang is not the same, I guess, like King Wei, you were deceived by someone, thinking that I returned from an expedition and gained a lot, that's why you said this ,Yes or no?"

Zhong Hui looked at Cao Rui in embarrassment, not daring to speak nonsense.However, Cao Rui smiled disapprovingly: "Why, isn't that the case? The soldiers who accompanied the king's expedition returned home, but spread the name of the king. An ordinary soldier can bring back ten gold pieces. Your dignified Isn't the king of Yue earning a lot of money?"

Sun Shao smiled, he knew that Cao Rui must be playing tricks behind this, maybe Liu Chan was also involved, don't look at him being a little slow to react, but the Zhuge Liang behind him is not a good character, the one who accompanied Liu Chan this time is exactly Zong Yu, who had just returned from an expedition, was Zhuge Liang's confidant, so it was impossible not to report the situation to Zhuge Liang.In this expeditionary force, two-thirds of the soldiers were reluctant to part with their homeland, and wanted to go home if they didn’t want the land. Some of them took the land, but they also wanted to take advantage of the army’s smooth sailing to go home and pick up their families. Therefore, the number of people who returned to the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu was very large. many.In order for those soldiers to settle down in West Asia with peace of mind, Sun Shao rewarded them generously. Not only did they distribute settlement allowances and land, but he also distributed slaves so that they could farm. I received a reward of ten gold, and there were a lot of other trophies. These two rewards almost exhausted the gains from this war. If Cui Qian hadn't discovered the golden coast of South Africa while sailing along the sea, he had found it again for Sun Shao. A big gold mine, Sun Shao almost lost money.

The advantage of doing this is that almost all the soldiers who went out are grateful to Sun Shao, and those who are willing to stay in West Asia feel stable and full of confidence in the future. When receiving a generous pension, he would also be grateful for Sun Shao's generosity, and no one would make irresponsible remarks on whether the war was worthwhile. On the contrary, he hoped that he would have the opportunity to go out to fight with the King of Yue next time.

"I made money, but it's not money." Sun Shao glanced at the people who couldn't hide their jealousy, and said slowly: "My income will be in the future, conquer Persia, open up business routes, and I won't have any more money." Someone collected my business tax. In other words, at least half of the business tax that was supposed to be handed over to the Persians was transferred to me, not much, about three to fifty thousand gold a year, maybe ten or eight years Yes, my efforts in this battle will be recouped, and I will make money from now on."

The emperor gasped, and even Cao Rui and Liu Chan were stunned.On the one hand, he was intimidated by Sun Shao's income, and on the other hand, he was shocked by Sun Shao's strength. The country of Yue has accumulated more than 20 gold savings in less than 80 years since its founding. No wonder he dared to launch this war.When the Han Kingdom was at its peak, its annual income was about 80 gold, half of which was the royal family’s expenses, and the other half had to pay the salaries of officials across the country, leaving about 1 gold a year. All public works, unconventional Military expenses are all spent from the 80 gold, so once there is a war, they will often be stretched to make ends meet.During the reign of Emperor Xiaohuan, Duan Jiong set off to conquer the Western Qiang with an army of more than [-]. In less than two years, he spent [-] gold. The battle was won, but a big financial hole was left. It is forced to sell officials to survive.

However, it took only fifteen or sixteen years for Sun Shao to accumulate 80 gold or more, which is obviously unbelievable.

"Although I have made some money, I have more places to use it." Sun Shao ignored the surprised eyes of the emperor and others, "I am here this time, apart from offering prisoners, I just want to talk to you about cooperation. .I built a Roman bank in Rome, and I also promised Guishan people to build a bank. Now I need a lot of principal. Are you interested? In addition, I plan to build a railway in Funan to connect Temucheng and Nichinan The commercial road between them, this road may take ten or eight years to build, and the investment is not small. Once this railway is completed, I will have as much coal as I want in the future.”

In the astonishment of the emperor, Cao Rui, Liu Chan and others, Sun Shao explained his plan, and he stopped to explain something they didn't understand. The huge plan immediately attracted them firmly. up.

Although Cao Rui and the others have high and low IQs, they are obviously not at the same level as Sun Shao in terms of economics. They were fascinated by what they heard, but they may not be clear about how many opportunities and risks are contained in it, and Sun Shao does not insist. Said that there will be a detailed plan for them, for them to go back and carefully refer to.

Liu Chan nodded again and again. The large series of numbers Sun Shao said really made him a little dizzy. He intuitively felt that such a matter could only be solved by his father, Zhuge Liang. With his IQ, he must not be able to handle it.

Cao Rui finally asked a question that everyone wanted to ask: "Can doing business allow you to accumulate a fortune of 80 gold in fifteen or sixteen years?"

Sun Shao didn't answer him directly, but asked instead: "How much of each of your wealth and income is eaten and drunk, and how much is reinvested?"

"Investment?" Cao Rui didn't understand at once.

"To put it bluntly, it is to use money to make money and continuously expand its strength. I have defined it as sustainable development in a snowball style."

"Giving money?" Cao Rui frowned, and said a little amusedly, "Could it be to compete with the people for profit?"

Sun Shao laughed. He knew that these people, including the emperor, spent as much money as they had, and saved what they could not use up, and had no concept of reproduction.He rolled his eyes and smiled again: "Then what will you do with the money you have left over?"

Cao Rui rubbed his chin. Like his father Cao Pi, he is a relatively extravagant person. The economy of Wei State has benefited a lot these years, but there has been a war in northern Xinjiang a few days ago. There has been no war in the past two years, but He built a large number of palaces, and there was no surplus at all.The situation in Shu State is slightly better, but their income is limited, and they probably don’t have any savings. The situation in Wu State is similar. As for the emperor, he is the poorest. The destroyed Luoyang palaces have not been repaired so far, so there is no investment.

Of course, they didn't have the concept of investment. If the money is not enough to spend, just increase the tax.

"My country of Yue is like you. I take half of the total tax as private property of the royal family every year. However, I spend up to [-]% and invest the rest." Sun Shao smiled proudly: "Your Majesty, don't think that Luoyang is ruined. Ah, my special pastoral city is much worse than Luoyang. Until now, I basically used Fan Man’s palace. The Bingzhou Club, Jizhou Club, and Chengdu Club are all more beautiful than my palace. Don’t be fooled by them Lied, they are all rich people."

"Aiqing was joking, you are also a rich man." The emperor made a joke with a strong smile. Of course he knew that Wei Shu was richer than the emperor, but it was obviously not true that Sun Shao cried poor. Among them, Sun Shao is the richest.

"I don't say I don't have money, but to be honest, my annual expenses are definitely not as good as yours." Sun Shao said generously: "I want to make money with money, so I can't eat all the chickens. I always want to save some more to hatch chickens, and then the chickens will lay eggs, and the eggs will hatch chickens, so that it can snowball and get bigger and bigger.”

The emperor and others were thoughtful.

"In addition, I also want to tell you that the world is so big that it is beyond imagination. As for me, I am more curious and restless. I always want to take advantage of the boat to go out to sea to find gold and so on. It is also a big expense to subsidize those who are good at exploring. However, I think it is worth it, if it weren’t for the ten days of preparation, how could I have such a big profit.”

"But now that the world is under your control, do you still want to explore?" Liu Chan asked enviously with his mouth half open.

"Who said everything is under control?" Sun Shao shook his head again and again: "Gongsi, you are wrong. I have only conquered half of it at most, and there are more fertile lands waiting for us to develop. I am in Rome When I was a child, I heard people say that there is a wider land west of Rome, full of gold, and it is said that the people in those lands still have some relationship with our ancestors.”

"With our ancestors?" Cao Rui had a half-smile: "Isn't Your Highness the one who has traveled the furthest?"

"It seems not." Sun Shao pretended to be mysterious and said: "Do you know, according to the little information I have learned, those people may be descendants of the Shang Dynasty."

"Shang Dynasty?" Zhong Hui, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn't help but interjected: "Although merchants are good at doing business, they don't have such powerful warships as the Yue Kingdom. How could they go further than the king?"

"They are not heading west, but east." Sun Shao pointed to the east: "They first went north, then crossed a shallow strait, and set foot on that piece of fertile land. That piece of land is bigger than my man." It needs to be vast, but also rich, and you can live a relaxed life by sowing some seeds. There are also rich gold, diamonds, and stretches of sugarcane forests, and you can’t see the edge at a glance..."

Sun Shao opened his mouth and blew. He spoke with a nose and eyes, and his heart trembled when he said the emperor and others. He wished to reorganize the army and kill them now. Liu Chan opened his mouth. After a long time, he felt a little dry. He licked Licking some thick lips, he said longingly, "When is your Majesty planning to go on another expedition?"

"Well... it will take a while to prepare." Sun Shao stopped talking, turned around and looked around: "Why, you are also interested?"

"Yes, yes." Liu Chan nodded hurriedly.

Cao Rui smiled: "My lord, do you still have to prepare for ten years?"

"I don't know." Sun Shao spread his hands: "This expedition has wiped out all the property of the family. Let's wait until I recover. By the way, I have made an agreement with Cao Ziwen and the others. When the time comes, the Allied Forces of the Four Nations will come. I will go east, and they will go west." , Two-way attack."

"The Allied Forces of the Four Nations?" Everyone was stunned, and Cao Rui was the most surprised: "Do you want me to join forces with Wei, Shu and Wu?"

Sun Shao ignored him, turned around and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I implore your Majesty's quasi-minister to make Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi, and Li Yan three vassal kings. Persia is too far away from my great man. Only my descendants will serve as vassals. I'm afraid it's difficult to grasp the overall situation, please make these three kings and help me stabilize the newly opened territory."

The Son of Heaven had received Sun Shao's letter a long time ago, and he didn't seem surprised. He just glanced at Cao Rui, and said indifferently: "I invite you to come here today to discuss this matter. Zhong Hui, take the letter from King Yue , please take a look at the kings of Wei and Shu."

"Wei!" Zhong Hui answered, turned around and left.Cao Rui lowered his face, and looked at Sun Shao with a smirk: "No wonder my two uncles didn't even go home. Originally, the king wanted to invite them to be crowned princes."

"Isn't it good?" Sun Shao asked back: "Could it be that Wei Guo wants Ziwen and Zijian to come back victorious? He is the great general of the Wei State. What else can you reward him for? I helped you solve a big problem. Instead of thanking me, you talk to me in this tone. To be honest, I am a little disappointed in you what."

Cao Rui was at a loss for words, his face flushed instantly.It can be said that Sun Shao said that he has a weakness. If Cao Zhi comes back, it is really difficult for him to arrange it. Even if he is not crowned king, at least he should be added to the city.Moreover, Cao Zhi has made great contributions and his prestige in the army has greatly increased. It will not be so easy to control him in the future.

He originally wanted to gain the upper hand, but he didn't expect Sun Shao to push this problem directly in front of him without hiding it at all.

　The final ending is a bit long-winded. I originally planned to finish it together, but it seems that I have to write another chapter.

　　Try to get it done tomorrow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)