Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 358 The Turmoil in Jingzhou
“Brother Wenruo, I have persuaded the Right General to sell government grain and military supplies abroad. Is Yingchuan short of grain, iron oxen, and plows? If so, please go to the official granary in Jinan. You can buy them with just money, nothing else is needed… A bushel of millet costs only three hundred coins. The remaining grain is limited, so bring the money quickly…”

Perhaps because he had spent several months with Zhang Fei, Guo Jia's letter read like an advertisement...

Moreover, Guo Jia's letter box contained a large coin and a small bamboo slip. The bamboo slip contained a decree issued by Liu Bei, ordering that all official granaries in Qingzhou should only accept this type of large coin when selling grain. The large coin could be exchanged at the money exchange in the major counties of Qingzhou.

Xun Yu felt a bit of a headache watching this. He knew Guo Jia well and knew that this matter was definitely not as simple as just selling grain, cattle, and ironware.

But right now, Cao Cao's side is indeed short of food...

Food is urgently needed; otherwise, everyone will have to eat tree bark.

Cattle were also in dire need; otherwise, Cao Cao's military farms would have had to be dug up by hand.

If we don't buy oxen, we must build a large number of pedal plows to make farming suitable for human labor...

Although the agricultural policy was only issued in Qingzhou, Xun Yu had seen it.

In fact, most of the big shots had obtained a copy of the Agricultural Strategy Manual. They all understood its value, and most of them were wondering why Liu Bei would give away such a powerful tool for free.

Agricultural tools like treadle plows consume too much iron, and they need to be refined into steel to be effective. Cao Cao needed iron to forge weapons, so it was unlikely that they would be used on a large scale.

Grain and beef are now essential commodities.

Xun Yu had no choice but to take the letter to Cao Cao.

"The Right General wants to sell grain? Has Qingzhou become so wealthy?"

Upon learning of the situation, Cao Cao did not hesitate: "One bushel is only three hundred coins, buy it quickly, buy as much as you can..."

Currently, grain prices in Yanzhou and Yuzhou have soared to 20,000 coins... and there is no market for it, as no one is selling it.

"But it requires purchasing from the official granary in Jinan, and this round trip takes at least a month and costs a lot of money."

Xun Yu frowned and took out the large sum of money that had been attached to the letter: "Moreover, we don't have such a large sum of money. They said we have to go to the 'money exchange' in Qingzhou to exchange it..."

"Then transport all the money there, via the Eastern County Road. Even if a cartload of money can only buy one bushel of rice, we must get it!"

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and said, "Gold, jade, bronze, and iron are not edible; no matter how much money you have, it's just fleeting wealth. Only with food can you feed your army..."

The road to Dongjun should be relatively safe. Zhang Liao is currently stationed in Puyang and is also farming together with Weijun, which is north of the Yellow River.

The reason for transferring Zhuge Xuan to Jizhou and Guo Yuan to Jibei was to manage water resources and cultivate land.

Guan Yu, Xu Huang, and others have not sent troops out; they have been busy with these matters. Although the middle section of the Yellow River cannot be controlled in the short term and there are still places where it overflows, at least this year it has not affected the traffic on the imperial roads.

Xun Yu went to mobilize various households to raise money and procure carriages and horses.

Cao Cao then ordered Cheng Yu and Yue Jin to lead troops to plunder everywhere, amassing countless sums of money. He then ordered the two men to lead two thousand elite soldiers to escort the money-carrying convoy to Qingzhou, where they would buy grain and cattle and transport them back by oxcart.

……

Jingzhou, Xiangyang.

Xiangyang was not actually the seat of Jingzhou; the seat of Jingzhou was in Wuling and Hanshou.

However, Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, was unable to go to Hanshou and could only govern in Xiangyang because there were too many bandits in Jiangnan.

What does "along the Yangtze River" mean these days?
Ba Commandery, Wuling Commandery, Jiangxia Commandery, Changsha Commandery, Jiujiang Commandery, Lujiang Commandery, Danyang Commandery, Wu Commandery...

From upstream to downstream, these counties along the Yangtze River have one thing in common: rebellions can break out anytime and anywhere.

Throughout the centuries of the Han Dynasty, the most frequent rebellions occurred along the Yangtze River.

In order to protect themselves and to make profits, the gentry of Jiangnan all became warlords and traitors who guarded their own territories, which was very different from the gentry of the north. Even when the country was not in chaos, they were still warlords and basically did not recognize the imperial court.

As for Jingzhou... apart from Nanyang, all the other prefectures were in the same situation. The prefects of the southern prefectures were all military leaders, such as Sun Jian, the prefect of Changsha, and Cao Yin, the prefect of Wuling, who were all military leaders appointed to quell the rebellion.

When Liu Biao took office as the governor of Jingzhou, he was bound to clash with these military commanders and prefects, since the governor's job was to supervise the prefects of each prefecture.

Liu Biao was from Shanyang, so you can imagine what kind of situation he faced when he went to Jingzhou.

When he first took office at the beginning of the year, he rode alone to Yicheng and appointed Liu He of Yicheng as the Prefect of Jingzhou.

Liu He was also from a collateral branch of the imperial clan, but since he was still surnamed Liu, he helped Liu Biao find many local gangsters and refugees in Yicheng.

Liu Biao, in his capacity as the governor of Jingzhou, gathered these gangsters and vagrants together, gave them the title of regular troops under the jurisdiction of the governor of Jingzhou, and appointed his nephew Liu Pan to lead this ragtag army.

In reality, Liu Biao had nothing at this time except for the seal of governor. He only had the title of former clan official. The newly organized gangster army under his command was incapable of fighting and had no money or food available.

However, Liu Biao used these assets to marry Cai Feng's second daughter as his second wife.

Cai Feng's eldest daughter married into the powerful Huang family in Jingzhou. After Liu Biao married his second daughter, he became related to Huang Chengyan by marriage. Cai Mao, a member of the Cai family, also decided to help Liu Biao.

With the help of the Cai and Huang families, Liu Biao was able to establish a firm foothold in Xiangyang, and the Pang and Kuai families also provided him with financial assistance.

Shortly thereafter, Yuan Shu's army marched westward into Nanyang, and Liu Xiang, the governor of Jiangxia, and Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha, both submitted to Yuan Shu.

This was all Jingzhou territory, and Liu Biao felt it was very dangerous, so he asked Cai Mao to invite Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang, two renowned scholars from Zhonglu, to discuss the matter.

Afterwards, he had Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, Huang Zu, Pang Ji and others invite powerful clan leaders from Xiangyang and Nanjun to a banquet, saying that the wedding for his wife had not yet been held in a grand manner, and that he would appoint the clan leaders as governors and commanders of their respective prefectures.

The families of Cai, Huang, Pang, and Kuai, among others, wielded considerable influence, and naturally, the various clan leaders were interested in such a lucrative opportunity as becoming officials.

However, Liu Biao secretly hid soldiers at the banquet and killed all the dozens of clan leaders who came to the banquet.

It was a bloody wedding; even Lady Cai was so frightened she vomited.

Subsequently, Cai Mao, Huang Zu, Liu Pan, and others led their troops to raid the homes of various clan leaders and their fortified villages, seizing their wealth and then using the money to recruit the clan leaders' followers.

Upon hearing this, most officials in various counties abandoned their official seals and fled, and Liu Biao indeed granted the official positions in various counties to the clans that were willing to submit.

In fact, Liu Biao's main force still consisted only of Liu Pan's troops, but Liu Biao had indeed controlled the area from Xiangyang to Nanjun.

At this time, Liu Xiang, the governor of Jiangxia, instigated a popular uprising in Nanyang, and was killed by the people of Nanyang.

When Yuan Shu learned of the peasant uprising in Nanyang, he ordered Sun Jian to hold off Dong Zhuo in Luyang while he retreated to Nanyang to quell the rebellion. He discovered that the peasants had looted Nanyang's money and grain, so he sent Ji Ling to Liu Biao to demand grain back.

Liu Biao naturally refused, so Ji Ling ordered his troops to plunder.

The two sides started fighting after a disagreement, but Liu Pan's troops were poorly equipped and suffered heavy losses as soon as they entered the battlefield.

Nanyang has numerous iron smelting sites, but Xiangyang does not; Yuan Shu would not sell military equipment to Liu Biao...

The armor and equipment of Liu Biao's main force were indeed very poor, after all, these troops were originally just gangsters and refugees.

The forces incorporated by Cai, Huang, Pang, and Kuai were merely bandit groups, not regular armies.

Now that war has begun, Liu Biao knows that he cannot rely solely on the various clans. If his own strength is insufficient, the clans that are currently attached to him will not only fail to contribute, but may also switch allegiance to Yuan Shu.

Just then, an envoy arrived from Qingzhou, bringing news that there was a large quantity of military equipment available for sale in Qingzhou.

It is said that all the equipment is of high quality and conforms to the Han army standard, including swords, spears, halberds, bows, and even high-quality items such as lamellar armor.

Because the troops in Qingzhou no longer use the old standard equipment... the extras naturally have to be sold off, otherwise they'll rust in the warehouse.

(End of this chapter)