Three Kingdoms

"One more thing..." Fei Qian was silent for a while, and then asked his men to go to the back hall to get the heavy lacquer box sent from Pingyang.

Not long after, his subordinates brought the lacquer box over, and Fei Qian motioned to Pang Tong to take a look at it.

Pang Tong opened the lacquer box and saw a pile of black and gray slag objects inside. He weighed it with his hands and found that it was quite heavy but very loose. It could be seen that there were many holes on the surface and it was not a regular crystal. Just holding it like this, my hands were stained with a lot of black dust.

"this is……"

Although Pang Tong had some guesses in his mind, he couldn't make a conclusion immediately. After all, Zao was only in charge of agricultural and mulberry affairs. As for the industry, Pang Tong handled the daily affairs, so he could generally guess something.

"This is Dazuo Iron..." Fei Qian sighed and said somewhat depressedly, "Pingyang tried it several times... maybe the method is wrong, the steps may be wrong, or the temperature is wrong, etc. Maybe...it's not the same as the ore we had before..."

Iron is a naturally cheap thing. Even air and water like to mix with each other, not to mention other minerals. Therefore, there are many iron ores associated with it. In addition, most of the iron ores in China are poor iron ores. , like Australia...

Well, if we go all the way south, organize the southeastern indigenous people, use the Malay islands as bases, and go all the way south until we reach Australia...

Forget it, the current navigation skills are indeed not very good. The main reason is that China has basically never left the land since the Zhou Dynasty and the Han Dynasty. It cannot be compared with Rome in the Mediterranean. But having said that, if it really has a relationship with ancient Rome, it can Can't we introduce some Western navigation skills?

Fei Qian's mind started to jump again and he was silent.

Pang Tong thought Fei Qian was worried, so he quickly comforted him and said, "Maybe the craftsmen haven't found a way. Try again?"

Fei Qian shook his head and said: "If you want to try it, you can't try it in Pingyang... In order to refine the large iron ore we had before, two furnaces burned out, but luckily no one was hurt..."

Are the iron ore in Daze and the iron ore in Panzhihua in later generations so troublesome?

"Yuyang, Nanyang..." Fei Qian knocked on the table and said, "So Yuan Benchu ​​and Cao Mengde wanted to fight for the world, so they first seized these two places..."

"Then Da Ze..." Pang Tong pointed to the lacquer box.

Fei Qian rolled his eyes and said: "When the time comes when we really get the big bamboo, we will ask the craftsmen from Sichuan and Sichuan to go directly to the local area to build the furnace and see if there is any way. We will support some materials and equipment... But there are other minerals in Daze, such as copper ore. In addition, there may be some iron ore that is not this type of iron ore... But it is still too troublesome, so let the people from Sichuan and Shu look for it..."

Pang Tong frowned, pondered for a moment and said: "If it is completely left to the people of Sichuan and Sichuan, once the iron ore can be produced, it will be a bit difficult for us to intervene... It would be better to arrange some of our personnel... …”

Fei Qian thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, that's it... Also, have you got the manpower for the bamboo and paper workshop in Sichuan? How is the construction going?"

"People were arranged to enter Sichuan before the end of last year. Now..." Pang Tong took out a wooden tablet from his sleeve, took a look at it, and said, "The workshop in Chengdu has received a ready-made one. It should have started work in It has been built. The workshop in Langzhong is under construction. It is estimated that it will take another three months to start making paper. Guanghan also received one, but it was too small originally and is now being expanded. The one in Mianzhu was originally an official workshop and was later destroyed by fire, but The foundation is still there, and it can be used after some cleaning and repair... It is estimated that some bamboo paper will be available in Central Sichuan by this autumn, and by the middle of next year, there will be a relatively sufficient quantity..."

"The main thing is that Qinglong Temple needs it, so let's push it again..." Fei Qian nodded and said that the progress is relatively ideal, but it still needs to be faster, mainly to provide a sufficient batch of paper before the Qinglong Temple meeting. And use this to promote it. After all, paper was also a big business at this time.

After a pause, Fei Qian suddenly remembered something again, and said, "There are also copper mines in southern Sichuan...the one to the north of Jianning and close to the middle of Sichuan. It doesn't have to be too tough, but send more manpower to build it." Let’s look for it in the southern part of Ningxia... There should be other copper mines there that have not been discovered yet. If they are found, they will be ours. We can build a large mint in central Sichuan, which will be much more convenient..." Copper There are mineral deposits for iron. Fei Qian remembered that Yunnan in later generations was still rich in copper. Presumably not much of it must have been developed yet, and it was worth exploring.

"The iron of Dazuo, the copper of Jianning..." Pang Tong nodded, suddenly stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "My lord, this strategy is very wonderful! Very wonderful!"

"Huh?" Fei Qian was also stunned for a moment.

Pang Tong winked and said, "My lord, I am fully aware of your wishes... Please don't worry, lord, I will make arrangements right away..." He immediately stood up, bowed his hands in a salute, took two steps back, and walked outside.

Fei Qian moved his fingers, hesitated, and finally gave up...

I just said that there is copper in the south of Jianning, that is, in Yunnan, and because China is already relatively proficient in mining copper mines, and copper metal is relatively stable, not as mean as iron atoms, So if a copper mine is found, mining and smelting will definitely be much less difficult than iron ore like Dazhe, which has no problem yet. But what kind of strategy is this?

Fei Qian blinked twice and looked at Pang Tong's back as he left happily. He resisted the urge to call Pang Tong back, but he was still a little embarrassed. He laughed twice and touched the beard on his chin.

What ploy did I really use? What did I say? Forget it, I'll find Pang Tong next time and ask him what he did. Then I should be able to find out what strategy I used...

…………………………………………

"Has the hussar strategy always been like this?" Xun You sat opposite Xun Chen and after drinking a bowl of tea, he couldn't help but sigh.

Xun Chen still lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyes. He finished the tea in silence, then put down the tea bowl and said lightly: "Hsiliers have always been like this."

"The hussar is really a strange person..." Xun You said, and couldn't help but sigh again, "I thought that three thousand soldiers and horses were just... I never thought that these three thousand soldiers and horses... plus the envoy of the Qin Dynasty... this, this It’s really…”

Whether it is from Liu Xie's point of view or from Cao Cao's point of view, they all hope to get some benefits from Fei Qian, whether it is soldiers and horses, equipment, or war horses, even better, so three thousand soldiers Both Liu Xie and Cao Cao would be willing to exchange their horses for a Huangmen servant. I'm afraid they would probably say that there are still about ten Huangmen servants here. Should they pack them up and exchange them together?

Therefore, Fu Dian acquiesced and eagerly took the troops back without saying a word. This was also expected by Xun You, but what Xun You didn't expect was that the hussar general Fei Qian actually sent these three thousand soldiers. There are still follow-up things about the horse, and he has played so many tricks...

After Xun You thought about this matter, he was surprised to find that no one suffered any loss!

Liu Xie naturally achieved his goal. As for the loss of Xun You, it was just that he lost a middleman to convey the message. In addition, Liu Xie now felt that he could not completely trust the people in Yingchuan, so Liu Xie naturally felt that he had made a profit. Not a loss...

Cao Cao is not at a loss either. Cao Cao was very worried at the moment. After gaining 3,000 troops, he would naturally be relieved in every aspect. If it was used in exchange for Xun Yu, Cao Cao would probably not be willing to do so. However, even if Cao Cao cared about a person like Xun You who belonged to the Xun clan's side branch, he would not be willing to do so. It's just for others to see. Maybe he will communicate with Fei Qian and ask if there are Xiahou En, Xiahou Qing, Xiahou Li and so on. Can we also exchange some troops and horses...

Xun Yu and the Xun family seemed to be doing well. After all, in this era, it is common for children of aristocratic families to serve in different princes. It is even common for children of aristocratic families to change jobs. It is not worth criticizing for this. They may even use this as an opportunity to express their relationship with Xun Chen. Restore the relationship…

Then the Cavalry General, who seemed to be at a loss, actually wasn't at a loss either. It's not that Xun You thinks he is very capable and worth more than three thousand soldiers, which is not easy to compare, but because after the hussar has done this, he must have the effect of a thousand gold horse bones, which spread to Shandong. From then on, there were great officials of the Five Dynasties in ancient times, and now there is Xun Gongda of Yingchuan, and the reputation of good hussars and talents was established...

And Xun You himself, after all this trouble, did not feel that he had suffered any loss. After all, Liu Xie was a relatively marginal figure on Cao Cao's side. He originally wanted to use Cao Cao and Yuan Shao to fight with each other this time and write a letter to express some ideas. There is no need for strategies and strategies to improve one's status now. According to General Hussar's wishes, he will take over some of Xun Chen's commercial matters and become General Hussar Fei's commercial director in Chang'an, whether from Both the authority and the treatment are much better than before...

After walking around in a circle, Xun You discovered that everyone seemed happy about this incident? No one suffers? But Xun You felt that something was wrong...

Just like the envoy of Great Qin.

The envoys from the Qin Dynasty came all the way to pay their respects. They knew that there was something strange about it, but who dared to say the question? Liu Xie will definitely be happy, and Cao Cao will probably take this opportunity to win over a wave of people in Yanzhou and Yuzhou. It seems that everyone is happy again...

In reality?

This is not to say that the three thousand soldiers and the envoy of the Qin Dynasty are bad and hypocritical. On the contrary, the three thousand soldiers are also regular soldiers who have been in the battle. They are fully equipped with armor. How can they not be regarded as old, weak, sick and disabled? The envoy of the Qin Dynasty is also a lustful person, and indeed he is from The coming of Great Qin cannot be considered a complete fabrication, but the problem is that when these things are put together, Xun You feels that what seems to be a happy event for everyone is actually full of pitfalls laid by Qiusi.

The three thousand soldiers, the Hussars General said, were given to His Majesty to protect His Majesty's safety. However, after arriving at Xu County, they did not even need to go to Xu County, and they must have been picked up by Cao Cao. Even when he arrived in Xu County, His Majesty could not afford military rations and military pay, nor could he afford it. But the problem is, according to Xun You's judgment, His Majesty would not think so, nor would he be willing for Cao Sikong to do this...

The envoy from the Qin Dynasty seems to indicate that the Hussar General is more concerned about the Western Regions and wants to send people like Gan Ying as far as Tiaozhi to complete the feat that Ban Dingyuan failed to complete in the past. This is undoubtedly a big deal for the people in Shandong It's a good thing, but it actually shows that the Cavalry General wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight...

These problems are foreseeable, but they are still unavoidable.

General Fei Qian of the Cavalry seemed to have put all his actions on the table, but he was still helpless. This is simply a multiple-choice question that seems to have many choices, but in fact there is only one option.

Xun You could even imagine that when Xun Yu learned about these things, he could only sigh and try his best to reconcile the relationship between Liu Xie and Cao Cao. There were also people in Shandong scolding the hussar general Fei Qian for his uneasy kindness. While the situation of life and death continues...

"My lord is fond of carrying out evil strategies..." Xun Chen brewed the tea for the third time, then poured out the tea and said calmly, as if he had experienced it, "Since the annexation of the north, internally and externally, It’s all like this…”

"Inside or outside?" Xun You asked, "What does uncle mean?"

Xun Chen still had an indifferent expression and said, "The dispute between Yuan and Cao is not about Yuan Benchu ​​and Cao Mengde. It is the land of Hebei and Henan. They have long-standing grievances... And we Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Sichuan, and Longyou , Where is it not like this between Liang and Yong? Only when the great righteousness is spread throughout the world can we move around and come in and out. It cannot be accomplished unless the Lord is great! This is one of them..."

"The second thing..." Xun Chen glanced at Xun You.

Xun You thought for a moment and said, "Checks and balances?"

Xun Chen nodded and said: "In the past, when the lord was still the middle man, he restored Pingyang, found a peach mountain in the west of Pingyang, and built a school palace. There was a Qumen at the foot of the mountain, the mountain path was called Youdao, and the school palace was called Shoushan... In this way, Lord Does Dako understand?"

"This..." Xun You gasped, "could it be that Hussar just..."

Xun Chen was silent for a while and then said: "... I don't know... But, my lord's concerns are always far-reaching and beyond our ability to guess... After two days, I will return to Pingyang, and Gongda will be able to live here." , Above official duties, one must do one's best, and one must not indulge in extravagance after taking a break..."

"Nephew, remember this!" Xun You quickly agreed.

Xun Chen nodded, then stood up and said: "My lord once said that you should take a broad view... This is a great saying... Gongda also needs to keep it in mind at all times..."

"My nephew understands. Thank you uncle for your advice!" Xun You looked straight and answered with his hands raised.

Xun Chen stopped talking. The reason why he said a few more words to Xun You was that he was worried that Xun You would have some unnecessary emotions and thoughts during this "replacement" process, which would lead to problems in the follow-up. See Xun You agreed, nodded, and then slowly turned his head and looked into the distance. With the breeze and white clouds, his mood became high. In just a few years, there has been such a scenery. If it happens again, After looking at it for a few years, it must be so wonderful...