I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 349 Can you tolerate this?

Yuan Shao, in the name of the Emperor of Zhao, acknowledged Gongsun Du's status as Marquis of Liaodong and Governor of Pingzhou, and further bestowed upon him the title of General Who Guards the East of Zhao.

Clearly, Yuan Shao was willing to go to great lengths to win over Gongsun Du and cut off Liu Miao's supply of warhorses.

Upon learning this news, Lu Su and Zhuge Jin, who was Liu Miao's fellow townsman, Zhuge Liang's brother, and had personally facilitated the previous transaction between Liu Miao and Gongsun Du, also rushed over.

"His Majesty!"

Both Lu Su and Zhuge Jin had solemn expressions.

Clearly, both of them knew what would happen if the Han Dynasty lost Liaodong, a stable source of warhorses.

The Han Dynasty had previously agreed on three main channels for obtaining warhorses.

One of them was Gongsun Du's warhorses, which were imported from Liaodong by sea.

One was that the Langya Alliance forced Yuan Shao to trade warhorses from Hebei.

One method was to purchase Xiliang warhorses through Guanzhong, which was controlled by Cao Cao.

But now that Yuan Shao and Liu Miao have successively declared themselves emperors, the Langya Alliance has undoubtedly become a worthless piece of paper.

Now that the source of warhorses for Liaodong has been cut off, the only remaining source is from Guanzhong.

With the original three channels cut into one, the Han Dynasty's warhorse production will undoubtedly suffer a sudden and devastating blow!

Lu Su even brought the data directly to Liu Miao.

"In the two years between the third and fourth years of Jian'an, a total of more than 3,000 warhorses were purchased from Hebei, more than 2,000 warhorses were purchased from Liaodong, and more than 5,000 warhorses were purchased from Guanzhong."

"Now that we can no longer purchase warhorses from Hebei and Liaodong, relying solely on Guanzhong, I'm afraid..."

Zhuge Jin volunteered, saying, "Your Majesty! I have been to Liaodong and met Gongsun Du. I know he is a ruthless and ambitious man! He will not easily submit to Yuan Shao. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to go to Liaodong again and persuade Gongsun Du!"

Zhuge Liang, who was accompanying him, hesitated to speak, while Liu Miao had already started yawning.

"Gongsun Du is certainly a shrewd and ambitious man, which is why he can assess the situation and act accordingly."

"Ziyu... do you think there's a greater chance that Yuan Shao will mobilize the troops from Youzhou to fight Gongsun Du, or that I will gather a force now and head to Liaodong by sea to attack Gongsun Du?"

Zhuge Jin was speechless.

Although he is now in a supervisory position, he is not ignorant of other matters.

It was clearly impossible for Liu Miao to fight such a battle at this time without a chance of winning.

Moreover, even if Liu Miao were to defeat Gongsun Du and seize Liaodong, would Yuan Shao simply stand by and watch this enclave remain right next to him?

For Gongsun Du, Yuan Shao posed a far greater threat to Liaodong than Liu Miao! Why would he risk his own foundation to help Liu Miao? Just because Liu Miao's surname was Liu? Just because Liu Miao had now established the Han Dynasty?
Zhuge Jin was at a loss for what to do, but seeing that Liu Miao showed no signs of anxiety, he immediately guessed what was going on.

"Your Majesty...did you already have a plan in mind?"

"hey-hey!"

Liu Miao smiled when he saw the resentful look in Zhuge Jin's eyes.

"Just as Ziyu said, Gongsun Du is a ruthless and ambitious man!"

"How could someone like that listen to Yuan Shao?"

"It's true that we bought their warhorses, but they also benefited from us in many ways!"

In order to acquire warhorses, Liu Miao had not imposed any restrictions on the trade with Liaodong beforehand.

This means that weapons, armor, food, and even people are all benefits that Gongsun Du obtained from Liu Miao.

Liu Miao didn't believe Yuan Shao could afford to offer such a large amount of profit!
After all, Liu Miao lacked warhorses, which is why he used these items to trade with Gongsun Du. Yuan Shao, on the other hand, had no shortage of warhorses; he certainly wouldn't sell his own blood to feed Gongsun Du, would he?

After two years of enjoying the benefits, Liu Miao no longer believed that Gongsun Du would give up such a large amount of profit just to exchange for some worthless empty titles from Yuan Shao.

After all, judging from Gongsun Du's ruthless massacre of the Liaodong aristocratic families, he was definitely a profit-driven person, and a few worthless stones wouldn't satisfy him.

"And don't forget, to the east of Qingzhou, there's Yingzhou, which he's been cultivating for a long time!"

“If we completely sever ties with the Han Dynasty, Yingzhou will become a piece of meat to be thrown away for nothing. Gongsun Du will absolutely not do that.”

Zhuge Jin felt somewhat relieved upon hearing Liu Miao's words.

But he still had doubts: "But, is the document that Gongsun Du has now severed trade with us genuine?"

"Hahahahaha!"

Liu Miao immediately burst into laughter, pointed at Zhuge Jin, and said to Zhuge Liang beside him, "Kongming! I love your brother's seriousness! That's why I overruled the objections and appointed him as Imperial Censor at such a young age!"

"So what if it's torn up! At worst, we can find a few merchants, form a caravan, and smuggle goods secretly with Liaodong, right?"

"Anyway, it's smuggling! I don't know what happened, and Gongsun Du certainly doesn't know either! Even if Yuan Shao asks, Gongsun Du can just give him a quick excuse and it'll be over! Besides..."

Liu Miao stroked his chin, once again speculating maliciously about Gongsun Du: "Perhaps Gongsun Du will use someone and then discard them, killing a few people and handing them over to Yuan Shao, then double-crossing them..."

Zhuge Jin stared blankly at Liu Miao.

Without a doubt, this honest man's worldview has collapsed!

You are the emperor!

Why do you talk like a thug?
How come they've even admitted to smuggling?
If this gets out, what will people think?
However, Zhuge Jin also realized that Liu Miao was still Liu Miao; he had not changed just because he became emperor.

Seeing Zhuge Jin's increasingly blank gaze, Liu Miao chuckled: "Ziyu is still too honest! You're really holding onto your pride! The Zhuge family's traditions are truly remarkable."

"But I don't care about any of that, all I want are warhorses!"

"Moreover, Gongsun Du is no good either! When he broke the trade agreement, he didn't send an envoy to Jinling to see me. He was obviously trying to sell me at a higher price and squeeze me for money!"

Liu Miao had a pretty good idea of ​​Gongsun Du's thoughts.

There is nothing new in this world.

Although Gongsun Du was also a powerful figure, Liaodong was too small in scale. Neither the Han Dynasty nor the Zhao State to the north could be offended by Gongsun Du.

Swinging between left and right, trying to please both sides, is the way these small countries survive, so Liu Miao understood their way of dealing with people.

This is also why Liu Miao was willing to grant official positions to Lü Bu, Shi Xie, and even Ma Teng and Han Sui, allowing them to continue to maintain rule in the name of the Han Dynasty.

in contrast.

If someone like Liu Zhang couldn't see the bigger picture and actually thought that just because he had the surname Liu, he could take Liu Miao for a fool, Liu Miao simply wouldn't bother with him!

At this moment, Zhuge Jin had also recovered from his initial shock, but the way he looked at Liu Miao became increasingly strange...

Lu Su, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "Your Majesty, what I am worried about is not Liaodong."

"I know."

In fact, from the very beginning when they heard that Yuan Shao was forcing Gongsun Du to sever the warhorse trade with the Han Dynasty, Liu Miao and Zhuge Liang both realized that the real problem was not in Liaodong.

Lu Su clearly shared the same thoughts as Liu Miao and Zhuge Liang.

"What I am worried about is Guanzhong!"

Not bad!

See the big picture in the small details!

Judging from the severing of trade in Liaodong, the real danger was not Gongsun Du, the Liaodong overlord who was not in control of his own destiny, but Yuan Shao, who had already usurped the throne from the Han dynasty.

Yuan Shao had clearly seen the inherent weakness of the Han Dynasty, namely the lack of warhorses, which is why he took targeted measures against Liu Miao.

Now that measures have been taken, it is clear that Yuan Shao cannot simply block one side.

"Yuan Shao is probably going to make a move against Guanzhong."

This was exactly what Liu Miao and Zhuge Liang were worried about at the beginning.

Now that Yuan Shao has lost tens of thousands of able-bodied men in the Battle of Kunyang, he is clearly unable to confront Liu Miao head-on in the short term.

However, dealing with Guanzhong, which is right under their noses, would be more than enough.

Liu Miao also visited Guanzhong.

That place is no longer the land of abundance it was hundreds of years ago.

Having endured the devastation inflicted by two waves of Western Liang warlords, Dong Zhuo and Li Jue, as well as natural disasters such as earthquakes and droughts, and having been plundered by the Xiongnu, the area was completely stripped of its flesh and blood, reduced to nothing more than skin and bones struggling to survive.

Otherwise, Cao Cao wouldn't have invited Liu Miao to Guanzhong to help him defend against Yuan Tan; and Liu Miao wouldn't have stretched out such a long supply line to fight in Guanzhong.

With its current strength, Guanzhong is absolutely unable to resist Yuan Shao.

Let alone Xiahou Dun and Zhong Yao, even if you put Han Xin and Xiao He in the now completely devastated Guanzhong region, they still wouldn't be able to resist Yuan Shao.

Once Yuan Shao seizes Guanzhong, he will not only completely cut off Liu Miao's large-scale horse trade, but also spread the war to the Nanyang area, turning Liu Miao's Yuzhou into a salient and depriving it of stable flank protection.

"Guanzhong cannot be lost!"

The trade route connecting Guanzhong and Xiliang accounted for half of the increase in the number of warhorses in the Han Dynasty!
If this trade route is taken away, Liu Miao will never be able to have a decisive battle with Yuan Shao in the Central Plains again!
"But now, our army is also unable to continue fighting."

Lu Su reluctantly revealed the truth.

The previous battles of Hedong and Kunyang were no small-scale skirmishes.

The military, civilian, and material resources consumed will take at least a full harvest year to replenish.

Moreover, Yuan Shao wasn't stupid; he certainly knew that one learns from one's mistakes. To think that he could defeat Yuan Shao in the same way he toyed with Yuan Tan was clearly wishful thinking!

……

Just as everyone fell silent, Liu Miao suddenly whistled, sounding incredibly relaxed and... jarring!
Under the puzzled gazes of the others, Liu Miao spread out the paper, as if he were writing a letter.

"Little horse, little horse."

"You don't want your dream of revitalizing Xiliang to fall through, do you?"

“There’s some son of a bitch named Yuan Shao! They’re trying to cut off your source of income! Can you tolerate that? If you do, do you even deserve to be called a Ma? Do you even deserve to be a descendant of General Ma Yuan?”

Liu Miao muttered a bunch of nonsensical words to himself, then picked up his pen, grabbed the Imperial Seal of the State from the side, and stamped a large seal on the letter!
"Go! Send it to Ma Chao!"

"When that kid gets reckless, he'd dare to do anything, not just Yuan Shao, but even his own father!"

(End of this chapter)