Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 194: What's the purpose of conquering territory? Of course, it's for population and mineral resources!

War broke out in Nanyang.

Generals such as Huang Zhong, Wen Pin, and Wang Wei volunteered to fight, wanting to send troops to defend the territory and the people.

However, Liu Biao did not respond to their request to fight, and his expression showed some hesitation.

"My lord, the situation is urgent. How should we respond?" Cai Mao asked hastily upon seeing this.

The message he received said that Cao Cao was ambushed and betrayed by Zhang Xiu, resulting in a major defeat.

Now, riding high on his great victory, Zhang Xiu seems poised to seize the entire Nanyang Commandery.

Liu Biao paced back and forth in the hall, pondered for a long time, and then slowly sighed, "I'm afraid the only way to relieve the crisis in Nanyang is to send troops to Xinye and drive out Zhang Xiu."

"My lord," Cai Mao suggested, "perhaps we could ask the Emperor to issue an order to hold Zhang Xiu accountable and demand the return of Nanyang. In that case, we might be able to recover the lost territory without a major war."

War is a drain on the people and resources; it would be best if it could be resolved peacefully through an imperial edict.

"The idea of ​​asking the Emperor to issue an edict is certainly good." Liu Biao nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with what he had been hearing.

Liu Biao did not want to fight in the first place, especially since the battlefield was in Nanyang, which was too close to Cao Cao.

However, Liu Biao's expression quickly fell again.

He looked embarrassed and said, "It's just that I recently submitted a memorial to the court, citing the rebellion in Jingnan as a reason to temporarily cease paying tribute..."

“This…” Cai Mao then remembered this matter, and that he was the one who raised his hand the highest back then.

After a moment of silence, Cai Mao finally spoke up and asked, "In your opinion, what should we do now? Perhaps we should first submit a memorial to the court, requesting an imperial edict to mediate, and then wait for the right opportunity to observe the situation in Nanyang."

Upon hearing this, Liu Biao nodded slightly, agreeing with Cai Mao's suggestion.

At this time, Jingnan was plagued by constant rebellions, so it was even more important to defend the region rather than start wars everywhere.

Moreover, he had suppressed the Jingnan rebels for many years without asking the court for military pay or troops, which was already considered giving the court enough face.

At this point, the imperial court is unlikely to hold anyone accountable.

Therefore, Liu Biao said to Cai Mao, "I will petition the court to mediate. However, you still need to strengthen the defense of Xiangyang and other places to prevent Zhang Xiu from taking the opportunity to move south."

"Understood, I will do it immediately!" Cai Mao accepted the order and left.

As for the pro-war faction members such as Wang Wei, Wen Pin, and Huang Zhong,
In Liu Biao's view, these warriors only knew how to fight and kill, and did not understand the principle of the best strategy: to subdue the enemy without fighting.

So he completely ignored her.

……

Nanyang County has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times.

This place has a superior geographical location and is extremely rich in resources.

This area is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with the Funiu Mountains, Wudang Mountains, Tongbai Dafu Mountains, and Lulin Mountains as its outermost ranges.

These mountain ranges act like barriers, protecting Nanyang County on three sides.

The county is traversed by the Dan River, Tuan River, Yu River, and Bi River, which are arranged in a fan shape, running from north to south, thus forming a basin.

The central area is a vast plain with fertile land and a mild climate, making it very suitable for people to farm and live.

The variety of local products is abundant, with crops such as wheat, rice, millet, beans, and sorghum widely cultivated in various regions; and forests such as mulberry, lacquer, pine, cypress, locust, and ailanthus.

Most importantly, Nanyang County is rich in mineral resources, including iron, copper, silver, and even gold mines, most of which are located in the Tongbai Dafushan Mountains outside Fuyang County.

In addition, the alkali ore purchased by the Yanzhou Chamber of Commerce from Nanyang County also came from Fuyang County in Nanyang County.

For Liu Biao, due to a lack of advanced mining technology and a deep understanding of the value of alkali ore, these mines and alkali ponds were not fully developed and utilized.

But Cao Yan was different. These mines and alkali ponds were all wealth, valuable assets for strengthening his own power.

After greeting Cao Cao, Cao Yan mustered Zhao Yun and Xiahou Lan's 10,000 Flying Dragon Cavalry, along with 15,000 troops led by Cao Ang and Xu Huang, and marched in a grand procession towards Fuyang County. The counties and prefectures along the way dared not resist Cao Yan's massive army of over 20,000, and wherever the army went, they surrendered without a fight.

Cao Yan took over Wuyin, Biyang, Pingshi and other places, and arrived in Fuyang County without any obstacles.

Fuyang County is located on the northern foothills of the Tongbai Mountains, in the upper reaches of the Huai River, in the hilly area on the northeastern edge of the Nanyang Basin, and is a vital transportation hub between the north and south.

The area is surrounded by steep mountains, dense forests, and well-developed water systems, which not only facilitates ore mining but also smelting and transportation.

Upon arriving in Fuyang County, Xu Huang was somewhat puzzled.

He discovered that this was just a small county town, so why would General Hou lead a large army to occupy it?

The city wall of Fuyang County is only one or two kilometers long, and it is all made of rammed earth, with only two city gates, one on the north and one on the south.

The city had a population of just over a thousand households, and they all seemed to be living in poverty.

It was learned that due to its proximity to mines and the lack of government oversight, many locals were illegally mining ore.

However, due to a lack of smelting technology, they could only rely on heavy physical labor to earn meager wages, while most of the profits were seized by wealthy households and powerful families who came to buy the ore.

After Cao Yan occupied Fuyang County, he immediately ordered: "Gongming, you shall immediately arrange for guards to be stationed around the mine and forbid the people from approaching without permission."

Xu Huang then realized that Cao Yan was interested in the area's abundant mineral resources.

"Your subordinate obeys!" Xu Huang accepted the order and left to faithfully carry out his mission.

"Zixiu, go and post the notices according to my instructions," Cao Yan said to Cao Ang.

"Yes, sir!" Cao Ang accepted the order and left.

Before long, more than ten notices were posted at the two city gates of the county town.

The soldiers of the Mandarin Duck Army all underwent compulsory literacy training, so their overall quality was significantly higher than that of ordinary soldiers.

At this moment, both city gates were guarded by the Mandarin Duck Army, and soldiers took turns interpreting the contents of the notices for the people.

"The General has ordered that the private mining or smelting of gold, silver, copper, and iron is strictly prohibited. Anyone who violates this order will be punished with corvée labor at the very least, and their entire family will be executed at the very least!"

"However, the imperial court will conduct official mining and recruit local laborers to participate in the mining, with compensation calculated based on the weight of ore extracted. The total income will be more than three times that of your previous earnings!"

The notice caused an uproar throughout the city as soon as it was posted.

Some people were extremely angry, believing that Cao Yan's actions had cut off their source of income.

But many more people applauded, because they had long harbored resentment towards the wealthy households, county bullies, and powerful families who oppressed them, and now someone was finally going to take care of them!

Initially, the local bullies wanted to capture Cao Yan by capturing the ringleader.

They actually gathered more than 3,000 private soldiers, planning to attack the government office at night and capture and kill Cao Yan.

Needless to say, these three thousand private soldiers were no match for Dian Wei's six hundred personal guards.

This incident, in turn, gave Cao Yan an excuse to purge the local gentry and powerful clans.

Cao Yan then launched a bloody and brutal suppression and purge in Fuyang County and the surrounding counties, just as he had done in Yanzhou years before...

After eliminating these unstable factors, Cao Yan began to recruit laborers on a large scale to mine various ores, bringing the mine completely under the control of the Cao Group.

At the same time, Cao Yan ordered the Eagle Guards to secretly deliver a message at full speed, summoning Wei Zhen, Ma Jun, and Zao Zhi.

Zhao Weizhen and Ma Jun were brought here to establish a workshop branch specializing in ore smelting and weapon forging, so as to make full use of local mineral resources and improve the manufacturing level of weapons, armor, agricultural tools and other items.

The reason for summoning Zao Zhi was to have him cultivate the sweet potatoes obtained after completing the word replacement task from Xun Yu.

In a short time, all sorts of confidential and important matters converged on this small county of Fuyang...

(End of this chapter)