Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 467 The Business of Golden Phoebe Wood

"Cao Zhen is dead?"

"Zhang He has surrendered?"

"Chang'an has fallen?"

"Guanzhong is gone?"

Upon learning of the dramatic turn of events in the Guanzhong campaign at the Luoyang Imperial Palace, Cao Rui was completely stunned.

The people in the court were filled with fear and made a great commotion.

The Shu army's offensive was too fierce.

From the moment we received news of the Shu Kingdom's northern invasion until now, it has only been a little over a month.

But the vast Guanzhong Plain was lost!

This fighting power is so strong it's terrifying.

"How could this be?"

A dejected Cao Rui slumped down, asking, "Where are the Grand Commander's tens of thousands of troops? How were we defeated?"

"Chang'an was a formidable city, how could it have fallen in a single battle?"

"We just received the news of the victory from the General of the Army, how come all of a sudden~"

The General Who Pacifies the Army was Sima Yi.

He successfully killed Meng Da in a surprise attack, thus quelling the rebellion in Xincheng County.

The good news had just arrived two days ago, and Cao Rui had even invited his ministers to celebrate.

But only two days later, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

The messenger, arriving on horseback, hurriedly reported on the battle situation in Guanzhong.

First, all the places in Longyou surrendered without a fight, collapsing on their own.

Then Prime Minister Zhuge Liang personally led his troops to fight Zhang He at Jieting.

Upon learning that Zhang He's main force had been completely annihilated in the Battle of Jieting, Cao Rui burst into tears.

That was the most elite legion of the Wei Kingdom!
Cao Rui, whose vision was going black, struggled to get up and went outside the main hall to roar at the sky.

'Zhang Junyi~Give me back my legion~~~'

Thirty thousand soldiers may not seem like many, but they are soldiers with a very high rate of leather armor!

These elite troops are the core foundation supporting the survival of the nation.

The Han army suffered tens of thousands of casualties in the first battle, and even Emperor Wu of Han had to issue an edict of self-reproach.

The messenger continued to report.

They learned that General Cao Zhen had set up an ambush to kill the veteran general Zhao Yun in the Baoxie Road.

The result was that, despite successfully setting up an ambush and gaining the upper hand, they were ultimately killed by the old man's counterattack.

"How can it be?!"

Cao Rui, holding his head in his hands, shook his head repeatedly. "A seventy-year-old man, taking the head of a general amidst ten thousand troops?"

"Are you sure it's Zhao Yun, and not Guan Yu resurrected?"

The reason for asking this question is because Guan Yu really did do this.

After thinking about it carefully, everyone realized that there seemed to be precedent for a seventy-year-old man doing something like this.

Xiahou Yuan of Dingjun Mountain~
"Chang'an has fallen, what is Xiahou Mao doing?"

"Is he a fat pig? How could he let someone take Chang'an in one battle!"

"Torn apart by five horses?"

"The Shu army is hateful! Why don't they cook this fat pig and eat it with them!"

"Wow~~~"

Enraged, Cao Rui's blood pressure spiked, his vision blurred, and he swayed as he collapsed to the ground amidst the horrified shouts of the crowd.

The imperial physician rushed to the scene and, after much effort, finally managed to revive Cao Rui.

"All officials, please leave. Minister of Works, please stay."

Cao Rui, lying on the bed, waved for everyone to leave, leaving only Chen Qun behind.

Before his death, Cao Pi left several regents for Cao Rui.

Chen Qun is one of them.

At such a critical moment, Cao Rui naturally placed even more trust in these veteran officials who had served three dynasties.

"Sikong~"

Cao Rui asked urgently, "At Tongguan!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured," Chen Qun replied softly. "I have already ordered the Tongguan garrison to block the pass, strengthen defenses, and prohibit anyone from leaving the pass."

Upon hearing this, Cao Rui's expression finally relaxed.

Tongguan Pass is located in the eastern part of the Guanzhong Plain, controlling a vital passage on the post road from Chang'an to Luoyang, and is the key to entering and exiting the Shaanxi region.

Therefore, it became an essential passage and strategic pass for those heading east into the Central Plains and west into Guanzhong and the Western Regions since the end of the Han Dynasty, and was undoubtedly a place of great strategic importance for military strategists.

It was established by Cao Cao thirty years ago after he abandoned Hangu Pass.

Soon after, a major battle broke out between Cao Cao and Ma Chao at Tong Pass.

At this time, Guanzhong was lost, and the situation was urgent.

Tongguan must be sealed off immediately to prevent the Shu army from leaving Tongguan and heading straight for Luoyang along the official road.

Some might think, "It's just the loss of Guanzhong and tens of thousands of troops, why are we so nervous?"

Cao Wei still has such a large territory and so many troops; we can just fight our way back.

In simple terms, the real world is not like a game screen.

In the game, losing troops is just that—losing them. It doesn't have much of an impact.

In the real world, however, the country lost vast tracts of vital territory and its main combat forces.

The first thing affected is people's hearts.

People are not NPCs; everyone has their own thoughts and ideas.

The Cao Wei regime had only been in power for less than ten years, and with such a major upheaval, it was inevitable that people's hearts would be unsettled.

Will the powerful local magnates and aristocratic families in the imperial court harbor ulterior motives, turn around and accept the conditions proposed by Zhuge Liang, and make a splendid turn to support the Han Dynasty?
When Zhuge Liang arrived in Longyou, the local people rebelled.

What if we came to the Central Plains?

Have any of those court officials secretly sent envoys to contact Zhuge Liang?

When Guan Yu launched his northern expedition, people south of the Yellow River rose up in response, and Cao Wei almost lost half of its territory.

The current situation is ten or even a hundred times worse than it was then.

Another loss was tens of thousands of troops. This isn't the world of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where you can easily summon an army of 830,000.

Even during the most powerful reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the loss of 70,000 troops in a single battle caused national turmoil, and the emperor had to issue an edict of self-reproach to take responsibility.

Cao Zhen and Zhang He both brought elite mobile legions, all of them combat soldiers.

In addition, there were troops originally stationed in Guanzhong and Longyou, as well as the territory, troops, people and supplies in Liangzhou and other places that were destined to be lost.

All of this added up to a loss of far more than 100,000 troops.

The army numbered 100,000, most of whom were combat soldiers.

For Cao Wei, this kind of loss was not just a minor injury, but a devastating blow!
This is the real reason why Cao Rui could not accept it and even fainted from anger.

The best course of action now is to immediately prevent further losses.

"Quickly send the order to the Grand Marshal."

Cao Rui coughed twice and hurriedly ordered, "Lead the army back to Luoyang immediately."

"Someone needs to go to Wu to appease Sun Quan. If they can persuade him to send troops to Shu, that would be even better."

Chen Qun understood what Cao Rui meant; he was speaking to him.

"His Majesty."

Chen Qun bowed and said, "Your subject is willing to go."

"Thank you for your trouble, Minister." Cao Rui nodded. "Quickly send an order to Sima Yi to return to Luoyang immediately."

Cao Xiu, who was also a regent, controlled another powerful army of Cao Wei, which was aimed at Eastern Wu.

The situation is critical, and this army must be recalled to deal with the Shu Kingdom.

Therefore, someone of high enough status and strong enough ability is needed to persuade Eastern Wu not to cause trouble for Cao Wei at this time.

In terms of response, they have done a very good job.

From Cao Cao to Cao Rui, all three generations possessed remarkable abilities.

After leaving Cao Rui's bedchamber, Chen Qun paused and looked back.

His gaze held a hint of complexity.

"In the Emperor's heart, I am not as good as Sima Yi!"

Cao Rui's decision to send Chen Qun as an envoy to the Wu Kingdom was indeed an important task.

It would be far more important for them to stay by the emperor's side and devise strategies to deal with the Shu Kingdom's offensive.

However, Cao Rui chose to recall Sima Yi to assist him, rather than Chen Qun.
The difference in their standing in his heart was immediately apparent.

Shaking his head, Chen Qun withdrew his gaze and continued walking.

As they left the palace and were about to board the carriage, they looked up at the sky.

The leaden clouds were as thick as ink, giving the impression that a storm was brewing.

"The weather's about to change~~~"

Guanzhong, Chang'an City.

"That's all?" Lin Daoqing frowned as he finished counting the gold coins in front of him. "This little bit isn't even enough to pay off this month's debts."

"Prime Minister, do you think the situation is already settled and we no longer need supplies?"

"Zihou, you've overstated things." Prime Minister Zhuge waved his feather fan, smiling broadly. "There's absolutely no such thing."

"Guanzhong has been exhausted for many years."

"Moreover, Xiahou Mao had plundered a great deal."

"It is understandable that there is a slight shortage of yellow and white materials."

"However, there are many trees here, and Zihou can have as much timber as he needs."

Unexpectedly, Lin Dao simply shook his head.

"We don't need that much wood, especially the trees in Guanzhong. We should avoid cutting them down if possible."

"Only by preserving these forests in Guanzhong can we prevent future generations from living on the loess soil."

"What I need now are rarer types of wood, like Phoebe zhennan wood."

In the modern world, imports of logs and sawn timber are showing a continuous downward trend.

Moreover, although the timber provided by the forest road is cheap, its established channels built up over many years are not so easy to obtain.

Therefore, the demand for ordinary timber is decreasing significantly.

Undoubtedly, this has greatly impacted Lin Dao's income channels.

But he had no choice; he couldn't lower the price to the point of having no profit.

After that, Lin Dao turned his attention to high-end timber.

The most famous of these is, of course, Phoebe zhennan wood.

For high-end timbers like Phoebe zhennan, the most important thing is the supply. This stuff is so scarce that Lindao doesn't need to worry about competition from others.

"I've heard there's a lot of Phoebe zhennan wood in the South China region."

Lin Dao bluntly said, "You let those southern barbarians, Chief Meng Huo and his men, cut down the golden nanmu wood and transport it to Chengdu."

"I'll give you a high price."

"Zihou," Prime Minister Zhuge said with a troubled expression, "you also know that the southern barbarians are only nominally subjugated."

"Getting them to do things is not an easy task."

"Moreover, those golden nanmu trees all grow in deep mountains and old forests."

"Even for the various barbarian tribes, transporting the heavy nanmu wood out of the mountains would be an extremely difficult task."

"Transporting just one of these pills will cost at least several lives."

"This matter is somewhat difficult."

When it comes to business, Lin Dao's approach is always simple and direct.

"I'll add money."

"I am responsible for providing supplies such as sugar, ironware, salt, fine wine, medicine, glass beads, flashlights, rain gear, etc."

"I will give these things to the Prime Minister free of charge."

“You used these things to exchange for golden nanmu wood from the southern barbarians to pay off your debt.”

"I will not ask how much you can save, Prime Minister, or how much benefit you can get from the southern barbarian tribes."

"I only have requirements regarding quantity and quality."

"Prime Minister, what do you think of this deal?"

Prime Minister Zhuge, who was still worrying about how to distribute the rewards, immediately made a decision.

"make a deal!"

(End of this chapter)