Three Kingdoms: Peak Summons

Chapter 2943: The war in Yingzhou escalates, tempting Shu and Chu to end (Part 2)

Chapter 2939: The war in Yingzhou escalates, tempting Shu and Chu to end (Part 2)

As we all know, Shu and Chu are the most powerful countries after the Qin Dynasty, but what are the strengths of these two countries?

It certainly doesn't mean that there are more soldiers than generals. After all, in terms of the number of troops and the quality of generals, the three countries of the Central Plains are not inferior to the two countries of Shu and Chu.

Regarding this issue, Toyotomi Hideyoshi thought about it for two days, and finally came to the conclusion that Shuchu was strong because of its favorable location.

Among the four poles of the Central Plains, the Shu Kingdom exclusively occupies the southwest, and has the dangers of the Shu Road. It can be said that it can advance, attack, retreat, and defend.

As for the Chu State, although it is not as strategically located as the Shu State, it is about to destroy the Wu State. At that time, it will also occupy the southeast, one of the four poles, and will completely occupy the Yangtze River defense line. Rounding off, it can be considered as an advance or a retreat. Defended.

The first reason why Shu and Chu dared to provoke the Qin repeatedly was the geographical advantage. After all, the geographical advantage was of great importance to a big country.

If you look at Cao Wei, you will know that it was obviously a powerful country, but because of its poor geographical location and being flanked by the Qin army on three sides, it was defeated so quickly and miserably.

However, even if the geographical location of Shu and Chu was superior, the price of going against Qin was still very high.

The Shu Kingdom first lost Hanzhong because of this, and then was severely attacked by the Southern Barbarians supported by the Qin Dynasty. Not only did it lose the two counties in southern Shu, but it also lost nearly 100,000 soldiers, so that it has been recuperating to this day.

Although the losses of the Chu State were not as great as those of the Shu State, they also experienced many defeats. Jiangling City alone was fought over three times, which consumed a lot of national power.

But it was precisely because of this that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was able to draw the two countries into trouble.

Hearing Toyotomi Hideyoshi's words, Enrochi was completely confused and said in confusion: "If we go by what my senior brother said, Shu is busy recuperating and Chu is busy annexing Wu, so it is impossible for them to allocate their troops to intervene in Yingzhou. ah."

Toyonari Hideyoshi smiled when he heard this, and did not immediately give an explanation. Instead, Emperor Shakten pondered for a while and asked: "Could the breakthrough be in Shu."

"That's right."

Toyonari Hideyoshi smiled and nodded, and then said: "The Chu State is busy destroying Wu now. If we come alone, we will definitely not pay attention to us. But if we persuade the Shu State to send troops first, the Chu State will definitely send troops together. After all, these two countries are an iron alliance with each other."

"But the Shu Kingdom is also busy cultivating and recuperating. How could it send troops overseas at such a critical period?" Yuan Luzhi asked in confusion.

"Before Chu sent troops to destroy Wu, it also suffered a defeat in the southern barbarians. The situation was also not good, but it still resisted the pressure and devoted all its troops to attack Wu. Why is this?"

Toyonari Hideyoshi asked back, but Enryo Chi was stunned by the question and couldn't say anything. Instead, Emperor Shakten answered: "Chu will risk sending troops to annex Wu this time. Firstly, it is indeed a rare opportunity. Second, it is a last resort, because only by fully occupying the Yangtze River defense line can we continue to confront the Qin army. "

"Yes, the Chu State can still increase its national power through external expansion, and the Shu State, which sits on the Shu Road natural moat, seems to be safer than the Chu State on the surface, but in fact it has been caught in a north-south attack by the Qin Army in Hanzhong and the Southern Barbarian Army in Southern Shu. situation, and there is no room for external expansion.

If the Chu State wants to expand, it can only go to war with Da Qin and the Southern Barbarians. However, they have only suffered a loss at the hands of these two countries, and naturally they will not dare to provoke them again in the short term.

For the current Shu Kingdom, the only way to recover from battle damage is through cultivation, but this is still too slow after all.

But if we take the initiative to contact the Shu Kingdom at this time and provide it with a new expansion direction, I believe that the Shu Kingdom will not let this opportunity pass by. "

As soon as Toyotomi Hideyoshi said this, not only Emperor Shakten, but also Toro Chi also understood it.

Of course I won't let it go. After all, Yingzhou's gold and silver minerals can revitalize Shu's domestic market and quickly restore its national strength.

In fact, it was not just Shu, but also Wei, Song, Ming and Chu. Their own market itself was huge. After all, there was no shortage of food and materials. They only lacked funds to activate and expand the original market.

When there is sufficient financial support, the country's market can be activated and expanded, the economy will develop more prosperously, and the national strength will naturally increase.

This is also the main reason why the national finances of the Wei, Song, Ming, and Wu kingdoms grew rapidly after they colonized Yingzhou.

Daqin also earns huge amounts of funds through maritime trade, military purchases, and other various means, and invests them in the development and construction of the country, thereby completely activating the country's market, so it will not worry about lack of money.

In this regard, Shu and Chu naturally wanted to follow suit, but Shu did not even have a naval force and could not pursue overseas colonization at all.

As for the road to colonization, it was blocked by the Southern Kingdom, and the army could not go to Nanyang to plunder.

In comparison, Chu State's situation is much better. Whether on land or at sea, Chu State can regain blood through colonization, but the Great Qin blockade of Chu State is too tight.

Although the war between Chu State and Nanyang was passive, it only tasted some benefits from Nanyang. The Qin Dynasty united all the forces in Nanyang and even brought in the Southern Barbarians.

Liu Xiu naturally looked down upon the Nanyang countries, but Chi You of the Southern Barbarians had to care.

In order to prevent the snipe and the clam from fighting and benefit the fishermen of Qin Dynasty, Liu Xiucai stopped his strategy of conquering Nanyang and instead focused on attacking Wu State.

Whether it was the Qin Dynasty, Wei, Song, Ming, Wu, or Chu, they all embarked on the road of colonization and could increase additional fiscal revenue through colonies.

This naturally made the Shu Kingdom very envious, but Shu Kingdom had no access to the sea and no navy, so even if it wanted to colonize, there was no way.

Since he could not take the colonial route, Liu Yu had no choice but to find another way. He could only hope to find new gold mines in the country to relieve financial pressure.

Although Shu is mountainous and rich in mineral resources, there are not many gold and silver mines. The existing ones are being vigorously developed. It is obviously not easy to find a new one. It can be said that it depends entirely on luck. Not to mention, Liu Yu's luck was pretty good. After wasting a lot of manpower, he actually found a small gold mine in the mountainous area near Chengdu.

In order to develop this gold mine, Liu Yu recruited a hundred thousand laborers. By rotating excavations day and night, he not only offset the financial hole after losing the two counties of Yinan, but also greatly accelerated the recovery of war damage. .

But this is just a small gold mine after all, and the gold extracted is destined to be limited. Moreover, with such high-intensity excavation, the mountain will be hollowed out within a year or two. What will be done then?

Therefore, while Liu Yu was digging for gold, he was also lobbying other countries to join the overseas colonial teams of Wei, Song, Ming and Wu. After all, it was no secret that Yingzhou had gold and silver mines all over the place. He didn't want a share of the pie, just a drink. Just order soup.

But Cao Cao, Zhu Di, and Zhao Kuangyin are not stupid. The colonial plate is so big, and the majority of it is taken up by Da Qin. If Shu joins in, their interests will be reduced.

Therefore, the Shu Kingdom was eager to join overseas colonization, but the four kingdoms of Wei, Song, Ming, and Wu did not want to take it for fun.

Under such circumstances, if the Toyotomi family contacts Shu and actively invites them to enter Yingzhou, it is indeed unlikely that Shu will refuse.

Seeing that both Emperor Shitian and Enlu Zhi understood what he meant, Toyoshi Hideyoshi immediately took advantage of others to strike, and continued: "In addition, there is another big benefit in attracting Shu to Yingzhou."

"What's the benefit?" Di Shitian asked.

"The Kingdom of Shu is different from the Three Kingdoms of the Song and Ming Dynasties. These four kingdoms all have the ability to occupy permanently, so they don't want to leave when they come, and they all want to completely annex Yingzhou.

The Shu Kingdom had neither a naval force nor an outlet to the sea. No matter how much territory it conquered after coming to Yingzhou, it would still be rootless, and all it could get was money.

The lesser of two evils, so compared to the still powerful Song and Ming Dynasties, Wei and Wu, who are about to be destroyed, and Shu, which cannot take root, are more suitable for cooperation.

Similarly, once the Shu Kingdom comes to Yingzhou, if they don't want to be wiped out by the Three Kingdoms, they can only cooperate with us as the hosts and focus on us. Only in this way can they protect their interests. "

After hearing this, Emperor Shitian finally smiled and said: "Wonderful, Shu State urgently needs Yingzhou's financial resources to restore its national strength, and I, Yingzhou, need Shu's military strength to expel the Qin army. Cooperation between the two sides is indeed the best of both worlds. .

But disciple, no matter how much Shu wants to enter Yingzhou, as long as we rush to ask for help, they will definitely put forward conditions. What are you going to rely on to impress Shu? "

Toyotomi Hideyoshi had naturally expected this. If possible, he would not want to be slaughtered by the Shu Kingdom. After all, the current situation of the Toyotomi family is not good, but if he does not take the initiative to contact the Shu Kingdom, he will not come, and once he takes the initiative to contact the Shu Kingdom, he will not come over. It's like sending someone to your door to be slaughtered. It's impossible without paying something.

After a moment of reflection, Toyonari Hideyoshi said: "Master, my disciple is prepared to use 30% of the output of Ishimi Silver Mountain in exchange for military support from the Kingdom of Shu."

"Iwami Ginzan?"

Emperor Shakten and Toro Chi were both stunned. It was not that he was reluctant to part with Iwami Ginzan, but that currently Iwami Ginzan was not in the hands of the Toyotomi family, but in the hands of Cao Wei.

As the largest silver mine in Yingzhou, the benefits contained in Shijian Yinshan are naturally huge. Daqin has installed 30,000 miners in this Yinshan Mountain alone.

Therefore, after the Yingzhou War broke out, the five families of Wei, Song, Ming, Wu, and Toyotomi all unanimously targeted the eight counties of Xihai County.

Faced with the fierce offensive from the five countries, Wang Jian had a premonition that Shijian Yinshan could not be saved, so he not only moved all the miners away before the coalition forces came, but also destroyed Yinshan so that it could not be excavated in the short term. This did not stop the five countries from competing for the Silver Mountain.

After a fierce battle, Cao Zhang finally took the lead in occupying Ishima Yin Mountain, and Cao Pi persuaded other countries to recognize Cao Wei's ownership of Ishima Yin Mountain.

Considering that the threat from the Qin Dynasty was still there, the four families of Song, Ming, Wu, and Toyotomi recognized Cao Wei's occupation of Yinshan in order to prevent conflicts from intensifying. The only condition was that after the excavation was resumed, all four families produced silver. To be divided into 10%.

Naturally, Cao Pi readily accepted this and immediately gathered people to reopen the mine. However, because Great Qin destroyed it so completely when he left, all the equipment could no longer be used. It would naturally take time to build it from scratch, so even now Iwami Ginzan has not resumed mining either.

However, under the leadership of Cao Pi, Shi Jian Yinshan recovered very quickly, and it would take at most half a month to recover.

How could Cao Pi be willing to ask Cao Wei to hand over Shi Jian Yinshan at this time.

"That boy Cao Pi can't possibly agree." Emperor Shitian shook his head.

Toyonari Hideyoshi sneered: "Cao Pi has to agree even if he doesn't agree. Everyone will agree to Cao Wei's occupation of Ishimi Yinshan because Cao Wei was still strong at that time, but now Cao Wei is about to perish. Cao Pi alone cannot defend it." Living in a stone and seeing a mountain of silver.

If Cao Pi gave up at this time, he could still keep 30% of his income, but once Cao Wei fell, he would really be unable to keep anything.

Cao Pi is a smart man and he knows how to choose. "

Although it was such a reasonable idea, Emperor Shitian still didn't think that Cao Pi would agree. But what he never expected was that when he and Toyonari Hideyoshi came to Cao Pi and explained their intention, Cao Pi not only agreed without any hesitation. , and also asked to jointly send envoys to Shu and Chu.

Toyoshi Hideyoshi would naturally not refuse this, and as for the envoys that needed to be sent, it was naturally impossible to send them from Yingzhou.

Yingzhou and Yizhou are thousands of miles apart, and the day lilies are cold when the envoys arrive. Therefore, the envoy sent by the Toyotomi family this time was the secret agent of the Xu family in the Central Plains. He was in Yizhou. After receiving the letter from Fei Ge, he met up with Cao Wei's spies in Yizhou, and then the two of them went directly to Yizhou as envoys. As an envoy to Shu.

When he learned that the envoys from Cao Wei and Toyotomi asked to see him, Liu Yu was a little confused. After all, Cao Wei was unable to protect himself, and the Toyotomi family was thousands of miles away. He really couldn't think of any connection between the two families, and These two families came to find out what happened to them.

(End of chapter)