Chapter 320: Wars Everywhere
Jin Mao agreed to release Chen Gong and provide 400,000 shi of grain and fodder, but he would send the grain and fodder to Bohai County by sending troops to escort them.

Chen Qun sensed something was wrong. Xuzhou and Bohai County were separated by Qingzhou. How could the grain be transported there?
Jin Mao only said one sentence: "Do you want it?"

Don’t give up. Exchanging a Chen Gong for a Xuzhou is also a big profit.

Helplessly, Chen Qun was in a weak position and had no bargaining chips, so he could only find ways to set conditions and impose more restrictions.

Jin Mao's attitude was very bad, and he responded with only one sentence: "I didn't bargain with you. Either you agree, or I will send troops to capture Xuzhou myself."

Ever since Cao Cao gave up Huailing County, the Xuzhou gentry have been extremely disappointed with him and no longer fully support Cao Cao.

The Chen family, a prominent family in Huailing County, became the guide for Jinmao and was secretly connecting various clans in Xuzhou.

It is only a matter of time before Jinmao takes over Xuzhou. It has the confidence to do so.

Finally, Chen Qun threw the question to Cao Cao: "I cannot make the final decision on this matter. I still need your approval."

"I can't make the decision. Did Cao Cao send you to tease me?"

Jin Mao angrily said, "Either agree now or don't go back. I will lead the troops to Jizhou to bring Cao Cao back and reunite with you two!"

"The flood is over, and my 300,000 soldiers are idle. I don't believe that we can't catch Cao Cao!"

Chen Qun was shocked. Why didn't he play by the rules?

People are knives and servants, and I am fish and meat.

Chen Qun racked his brains to try to make amends and said, "General, please calm down. This matter is of great importance and it is not something we can easily decide.

My lord is far away in Jizhou, planning and strategizing, so he naturally has a deeper understanding of the situation in Xuzhou. Although I am an envoy, it is my duty to convey the wishes of both parties accurately.

Chen deeply admires the general's ambition, and believes that the lord will understand and value the general's wishes.

How about this? I will write a letter immediately and send it to Jizhou as fast as I can, detailing the current situation and enclosing the general's sincerity and determination. After reading it, the lord will definitely give a satisfactory answer. How about that? "

Jin Mao said impatiently: "Why bother with so much trouble? We can explain it clearly when we meet in person."

Without waiting for Chen Qun to say anything, Jin Mao saw Zhao Yun and others coming, and waved his hand and said, "It's decided. You can go down and rest."

"I have military matters to attend to."

So, without asking any questions, they took Chen Qun away.

Afterwards, more than twenty main generals, including Zhao Yun, Wen Pin, Xu Huang, Cheng Pu, and Zhu Zhi, walked in.

"Greetings, my lord."

Jin Mao nodded and said, "No need to be polite."

He also had someone set up a huge feng shui map and placed it on the floor of the hall.

“This is Xuzhou.”

Jin Mao walked up to the feng shui map, holding a long wooden stick in his hand and pointing.

"This is Qingzhou, and further north is Bohai County."

"Zilong, you are familiar with Youzhou. Tell us, if all my land and sea coalition forces are in the north, where can we attack and defend? Will we aim at Jizhou?"

"Yes!" Zhao Yun, in his white robe and silver armor, stood out from the crowd in a very showy manner.

He took the long wooden stick from Jin Mao's hand and pointed it directly to a place in Jizhou.

"Piaoyu Town in Bohai County is only a hundred miles away from Gaocheng County. The people make a living by boiling salt. It is an important place in this county."

Jinmao looked around and found that Piaoyuyi was indeed a good place, with rivers connecting to the inland, flat terrain, and close proximity to the Bohai Sea.

The area nearby is all plains, very suitable for cavalry deployment.

As for the problem of having no strategic location to defend, the navy at sea is not a pushover and will shoot and kill anyone who dares to come.

The only two issues to worry about are, first, as Zhao Yun said, salt is produced here, so it will definitely be heavily guarded.

Second, food and fodder can only be placed on the water and cannot be stored on land.

The second point is not a big problem. Since it has been shipped thousands of miles away, it is okay to keep it on the ship for a few more days. It is just that it is easy to get damp.

The first point is a bit troublesome.

Even though Jin Mao sounded very happy just now, if Cao Cao didn't nod his head, he might not be able to gain a foothold in Bohai County.

Moreover, even if Cao Cao is willing to give up this place, it does not mean that Jinmao can do whatever it wants.

Cao Cao will definitely send heavy troops to guard it.

"Trouble is really trouble."

Jin Mao said with a headache: "Zilong, everyone is having a hard time this year. How many lives can be saved by 400,000 shi of grain?"

Zhao Yun bowed and said, "My lord, please be merciful."

"However, in addition to being merciful, we also need wisdom." Jin Mao pondered for a moment, looking into the distance with deep eyes, "There is a severe drought in the north, and food and grass are as valuable as gold."

"I can't bear to give it to Cao Cao like this."

Zhao Yun asked, "What do you want, my lord?"

Jin Mao glanced at Zhao Yun and thought he was very sensible.

"I heard that the northern land has a well-developed animal husbandry system and a large number of horses. If I use this batch of food and grass to exchange for 4,000 war horses, I won't suffer a small loss."

Zhao Yun understood. It turned out that he wanted to ask for horses. This was easy. He bowed and said, "My lord, you can go to Changli County or Liaodong County to ask for horses."

"This place is inhabited by the Wuhuan people, and they have many cavalrymen. If we go further north, we can get horses from the Xianbei and Xiongnu."

Jin Mao frowned and asked, "Isn't this bad? Doesn't this mean that the alien race will become stronger?"

Zhao Yun said contemptuously: "These despicable people are not worth mentioning. If you are really worried, I am willing to lead the army to defeat them!"

Jin Mao blinked, not knowing whether Zhao Yun was too confident or just blindly confident.

Are the Wuhuan, Xianbei and Xiongnu so weak?

If they were really that weak, the Han Dynasty wouldn't have had to resist for so many years.

As if seeing his master's confusion, Zhao Yun explained: "Yun once followed Yi Hou (Gongsun Zan) and conquered all the tribes in one year!"

"As long as our Han cavalry exceeds 10,000, the foreign races won't have to worry too much."

"Yun dares to guarantee it with his own life!"

Seeing Zhao Yun so confident, Jin Mao came up with a plan: "It would be too extravagant to exchange food for war horses."

"Zilong, tell me, what do these alien races like?"

Zhao Yun thought for a moment and said, "There is nothing in the Central Plains that I don't like."

"That's good!"

Jin Mao said happily: "Since we have the strength to travel across the ocean, why not open a border market in Youzhou and sell everything except armor and weapons!"

"My lord, this is a brilliant plan!" Zhao Yun heard this and a hint of approval flashed in his eyes.

"Once the border market is opened, it will not only attract foreigners to exchange horses, furs and other items for common goods such as silk, fine wine, and porcelain from the Central Plains, but it will also promote cultural exchanges and make foreigners yearn for our Han culture, thereby reducing conflicts and promoting peace."

"Moreover," Zhao Yun added, "we can use the border city as an outpost for intelligence gathering to understand the movements of other tribes, and even secretly support those tribes that are willing to befriend the Han Dynasty, forming a balancing force to prevent a certain force from becoming too powerful and threatening the security of the border."

Jin Mao nodded in agreement, his eyes sparkling. "Zilong is right. The border market is not only a bridge for trade, but also a political chessboard. We can take this opportunity to show the prosperity and strength of our Han Dynasty. At the same time, we must remain vigilant to prevent spies from infiltrating and ensure the safety and order of the border market."

Not only that, by dumping products on foreign races and controlling trade, once an accident occurs, the majority can be united to deal with the small part, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

As time goes by, we will strengthen ourselves and weaken the foreign races. We will win twice, a win-win situation! "We can also send Confucian scholars to educate and naturalize the foreign races. After a hundred years, there will be no foreign races in the world, only Han people!"

Jin Mao became more and more excited as he spoke, and said, "Zhong Xiang! As the person in charge of this mission, you will select a group of outstanding students from the school to go to Youzhou for education."

"Yes." Yu Fan agreed.

After years of development, the school has more than 30,000 students and is about to welcome its first batch of graduates, who will be sent out to teach.

This group of people have fanatical national sentiments and will never become traitors.

After lunch, Jinmao brought up the key points of this mission again.

"This time, the border market and the war horses are secondary. The most important thing is Jizhou."

Jin Mao said seriously: "We can't let Cao Cao easily gain control of Jizhou."

"No! The most important thing is to not let Cao Cao and Yuan Shao unite again."

Would Cao Cao really remain an enemy of Yuan Shao just because of Xun Chen?
Jin Mao didn't think this would happen. Once the two of them joined forces, together with Lu Bu, Yuan Shu and others, this force would become extremely terrifying.

By then, when they all head south together, Jinmao really won’t be able to figure out how to resist.

Yu Fan wrote them down one by one.

...

Runan County, Yuzhou.

When Sun Ce learned that there was another mission, he couldn't keep calm.

Farming all day long is really boring.

If Sun Ce was in his forties or fifties, there would not be any problem, but he is only twenty years old this year!
Is it the behavior of a real man to waste his best years of youth on farming?
Therefore, Sun Ce wanted to go to Jingzhou. No matter what, whether it was to beg for mercy or to ask for a fight, he must seize this opportunity!

Han Dang, Zu Mao, Wu Jing, Sun Ben and others had different expressions when they learned about it.

Han Dang was somewhat tempted. He was originally from the north, and going to the north was like returning to his hometown.

This was not the case with Zu Mao and others. They were either from Fuchun, the same hometown as Sun Jian, or from Wujun. The north was desolate and they were not used to living there.

Sun Ce knew this very well.

"Uncle Han, if I can go north this time, I will definitely bring you with me." Sun Ce said respectfully, "When the time comes, I will have to trouble you, my grandfather, my uncle, and my brother with the affairs of Yuzhou."

Zu Mao, Wu Jing and Sun Ben all said they dared not.

At this time, the thirteen-year-old Sun Quan happened to be visiting Sun Ce and was also in the meeting. He asked in confusion: "Since my brother wants to fight, why don't you find an opponent nearby?"

"Yanzhou Lu Bu, revenge for the murder of my father!"

"Brother, have you forgotten everything?"

Sun Quan had begun to grow and was only a head shorter than Sun Ce. At this time, he looked like a mad little lion.

"Zhongmou." Sun Ce sighed, "If you serve under my lord in the future, you should be careful with your words and actions."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I can't."

"Unless..." Sun Ce said aggrievedly, "Unless Lu Bu invades Yuzhou first."

This is obviously impossible. In order to avoid misunderstandings with Jin Mao, Lu Bu did not even come to the border with Yuzhou.

Therefore, Sun Ce returned to Runan to cultivate the land.

"Brother, how can you be sure that Lü Bu will not sneak into Yuzhou?"

Sun Quan made a startling statement: "This year there are floods in the south and droughts in the north."

"Even though Yuzhou has abundant water systems, many places cannot withstand drought. How can a common man like Lu Bu know how to farm?"

"At the end of the year and the autumn harvest, the people have no surplus food, and the army has no food and wages. Lu Bu will definitely go south to plunder. Why don't you make preparations early?"

“Zhongmou!” Sun Ce stood up excitedly, looked up to the sky and cried, “Father, Zhongmou has made it!”

Everyone looked at Sun Quan with kind eyes, and all kinds of compliments came pouring in.

Young people are bound to be proud, and Sun Quan is no exception. Deep down, he still wants to be a powerful general like Sun Jian and Sun Ce.

Unfortunately, his mother thought that there were enough reckless men in the family and there was no need for another one, so she gave him the name Zhongmou early on, hoping that Sun Quan would take on the responsibility of being the smartest man in the family.

Sun Ce is not without intelligence, but he is not steady enough.

"Since this happened, I should go and see the lord once!"

Sun Ce bowed to everyone and said, "My uncles, I'm in charge of Yuzhou."

At this time, it is already July, and there are only two months left until the autumn harvest.

Time is running out, Sun Ce must make preparations early, and Jin Mao's decision is naturally crucial.

When Han Dang heard that he had lost the chance to go north, he was extremely disappointed and lost all interest in answering the question.

Sun Ce saw this and came to Han Dang and said, "Uncle Han, your talent is not inferior to Uncle Cheng's. Why do you have to give up on yourself?"

"My father has passed away for two years. We who are still alive should look forward."

"I think my father in heaven would not want to see you like this."

Han Dang was moved and said, "Young Master, what you said makes sense. It is because I have been too obsessed with the past and have forgotten the responsibilities and missions on my shoulders.

The land of Yuzhou is related to the food and grass supply of our garrison troops. Although I, Han Dang, am not talented, I will do my best to help the young master. "

Sun Ce heard this, his eyes flashed with relief, and he patted Han Dang on the shoulder: "With Uncle Han's words, my Yuzhou affairs have a better chance of success. Next, we need to make close preparations, not only to ensure a smooth autumn harvest, but also to strengthen defense to prevent foreign enemies from taking advantage of the situation.

At the same time, I need to go to Jingzhou to consult the lord. Uncle Han is brave and resourceful, how about you go with me?"

Han Dang couldn't let go of his face, so he turned away and didn't answer.

Sun Ce looked at Sun Quan and gave him a wink.

Sun Quan was very upset, but he still stepped forward and said to Han Dang with a smile: "General Han, what you said is very true. You are not only our elder, but also our indispensable fighting force.

This trip to Jingzhou is not only about the safety of Yuzhou, but also about showing the Lord our determination to unite and overcome difficulties. Your experience and courage will surely be valued by the Lord, and you will win more support and resources for Yuzhou. "

When Han Dang heard this, a trace of emotion flashed across his face. He knew that he could no longer refuse. Moreover, he was full of passion in his heart and longed to make a name for himself in this chaotic world.

So he slowly turned around and said to Sun Ce and Sun Quan with a firm gaze: "Since this is the case, I will accompany the young master on this journey."

Sun Ce was overjoyed when he heard this. He patted Han Dang on the shoulder again and said with a smile, "With Uncle Han here, I have nothing to worry about!"

Afterwards, Sun Ce took only Han Dang with him, riding two horses, and traveled day and night, and met Jin Mao five days later.

After hearing what Sun Ce said, Jin Mao did not doubt him. However, the cavalry all followed Zhao Yun north and could not support Sun Ce.

"This is not easy to handle."

Jin Mao said helplessly: "How about this, I will give you autonomy, and all the captured items will be used to equip the Tuntian Camp first."

Everything else remains the same.

Sun Ce did not expect such a pleasant surprise. He was very satisfied to get the order to go to war. He seized priority equipment, which greatly enhanced the strength of the Tuntian Camp.

Seeing that his lord was willing to soften his stance, Sun Ce asked for a position as assistant military commander for Han Dang.

Jinmao agreed, but it was just an acting position.

That was enough, Sun Ce was very satisfied.

(End of this chapter)